The End Of A Great Chapter

If I'm being honest, I was horrified of taking this class with Dr. Smirnova.  I had heard from many other students that it was a crazy amount of work and time.  That she expected so much from her students and could keep piling the work on.  Going into this class I did not know if I would make it out alive.  I spent the first class doubting if I had made the right choice in careers and if I had the skills to complete this class.  In the beginning of the semester I constructed some goals for myself regarding this course. 

These are my goals: In this course I had many goals regarding social studies and my personal learning.  The goals in general knowledge of learning theories/planning/teaching are I would like to achieve is to learn more about the different lesson structures.  Another goal for this session is teaching in front of a whole class.  The goals in  basic knowledge/skills for the social studies unit/lesson plans design and edTPA are to know social studies standards.  I would also like to achieve the knowledge to select and design different types of assessment methods.  In the personal learning/study and technology skills I would like to achieve the understanding of how to use google docs and drives.  I would also like to achieve the knowledge to select technology tools that enhance student’s learning.  

Now that the semester is over, I am so glad I took this course.  Not only is Dr. Smirnova a book of great resources,  she also will give you all the support you need.  No matter the time of day or the amount of question, she always has an answer for you.  At the end of this class, I feel like I am a stronger teacher.  I know that teachers are not perfect but, they strive to be.  I have learned how to incorporate all three lesson styles into a unit plan, how to use great internet tools into lessons, and how google docs can be a great asset to your classroom.  I will use all the tools and strategies that Dr. Smirnova has taught throughout this semesters . 

Here is the reflection on the beginning of the semester goals:  Throughout the journey through this course I have grown as a teacher and a person.  I feel that I have reached the majority of the goals I have set for myself for this semester.  In the learning theories/planning.teaching section I believe I know have stronger knowledge of the different lesson structures. I am comfortable with writing lessons in any of the styles and know the components of each style.  I also feel comfortable teaching in front of a whole class. This is a skill that I have not had to do in my course work until this course.  I feel like I have more tools to think on my feet and engage students in their learning.  In the section of basic knowledge/skills for the social studies unit/lesson plans design and edTPA I have a better understanding of the social studies standards and how to incorporate these standards into my lessons.  I have also learned the art of selecting and designing different types of assessment methods.  Not all assessment must be by way of a test, you can use class discussions, focus questions, and cumulating projects.  In the section personal learning/study and technology skills I have accomplished the understanding of how to use google docs and drives.  I find this technique of keeping documents a great way to work.  I have also achieved greater knowledge of technology tools that enhance student’s learning.  The web holds such great tools to help teachers enhance their students learning.  In all, I feel that I have learned a large amount of knowledge this semester and plan on using it in my future classroom.

As the semester comes to a close I am sad to leave this class and will always be grateful to Dr. Smirnova's amazing teaching.





Thank you for everything Dr. Smirnova!


.




 

To Have My Ph.D. For One Night

Sometimes its great to pretend.  I got to be a doctor for a couple of hours and it was a lot of fun.  I was giving the task of designing a person who runs a school and is looking to hire new teachers.  My school was based on social/cooperative and inquiry based learning.  I then had to create questions to ask the teacher-candidates in a mock job interview.  At the end of the interviews we got to hire who we thought was the best fit for our school.

Good Evening everyone.  My name is Dr. Corrigan and I am the principle of Imagination Elementary School.  I have been in the world of education for almost 35 years.  In the years leading up to becoming a teacher and principal I obtained a bachelor degree in Psychology and then received a masters in Elementary education from Mount St. Mary College in Newburgh.   I then went on to teach in a 1st grade classroom for 15 years, I then returned to school.  I received my Ph.D. in special education leadership from Capella University. Upon receiving my Ph.D. I opened up the very school I work in now.

Imagination Elementary School is base on three principal ideals.  These ideals are exploration, imagination, and teamwork.  Teachers at my school must be able to use methods of exploration learning and group work.


The Questions I created to test the possible teachers knowledge on inquiry and cooperative learning were:

1. (Ice-Breaker) What is your favorite book to read to your class? Why?
2. During a cooperative lesson Mrs. May notices that in one group only one student is doing the work.  How can Mrs. May restore the group to a positive and productive working group?
3. During a cooperative lesson Mrs. May notices that in one group all three students are working individually and not as one whole unit.  How can Mrs. May encourage the group to work in a positive and productive manner? 
4. Within our school we feel the need to allow students to explore their world and come to their own conclusion.  What are some methods a teacher can use the allow this within the classroom?
5. Students have many questions about the information that is given to them in class. How can a teacher encourage a student to expand their knowledge through exploration.
6. Mr. Smith's classroom is set up in 4 rows of 5.  He is realizing that this set up is not working for the cooperative work the class is doing.  How can Mr. Smith make his classroom more cooperative work friendly?
7. Mrs. Sunshine wants to allow students more areas in the classroom to do their own exploration.  What can Mrs. Sunshine do in her classroom to allow the students to work independently (on their own)?

What's In That Bag?

What's in that bag? is a great way to get students to think outside the box.  In this project we were to create a artifact bag to present to our class.  I did my artifact bag on Ancient China and then used this activity in my unit plan.  I remember my sixth grade teacher using artifact bags every time she would introduce a new book that we were going to read in class.  By using the bag everyone got very excited to guess what we were going to read next. 

For my bag I placed three photos rolled up as scrolls in the bag along with three photos rolled up as scrolls taped to the front of the bag.  The three pictures were some common topics from Ancient China. 

Here are the three pictures from inside the bag:

The Great Wall of China
Terra-Cotta Warriors
Huang He/Yellow River
Students are to work together and come up with the names of the pictures and a fact or two about each one.  They then will create a slide with their information and then present it to the class.

At the end of all the presentations, the students will be instructed to take one of the scrolls of the front of the bag.  This will be their homework assignment.  When they opened the scroll there is a picture and website.  The student will need to research the picture at home and find 3-5 facts about the pictures.  The following day we as a class will review the homework pictures. 

Here are the three pictures from the outside of the bag:
Ancient Chinese Dragon 
Confucius
Shang Dynasty

What is Economics?

 Economics was not my favorite part of social studies when I was in school. I found in confessing and hard to understand.  Now, as an adult student I find it a little easier to understand.  Doing this project I focused on the importance of teaching economics in the younger grades.

Economic is the study of production, consumption, and transfer of wealth.  It is the way our money is made, saved, and spent.  How companies produce and sell their products and what effects the raise and fall of products.

Setting up a economic system in your classroom is a interesting and engaging way to teach young students how the system works.  When introduce the topic, you need to spend time teaching the students how the economic system works, what jobs they will have and how money will be given out and saved.  You will create jobs, salaries, paychecks, banks, stores, pay rent and tickets.  When they students do their jobs they will receive a paycheck every week.  The students will then pay the bank for any tickets they have received throughout the week.  Tickets are given when a student breaks the classroom rules.  After, the student pay back any tickets, they can either save their money in the bank or they can spend it in the classroom store. 

This technique of teaching economic helps students develop:

• how to budget their spending
• balance a checking account
• make scheduled payments
• hold a job
• discover the importance of money
  

The History of the Tribal People

Erika and I worked on a group project featuring the Muscogee tribe.  At the beginning of this process I had no idea who the Muscogge people were, their culture, where, they lived, and how to say their name.  The first thing I did was find out how to pronounce Muscogee.  It is pronounced muss-KOH-gee.  They were also know as the Creek People.  Moving on from their I loved learning about the Muscogee's lifestyles and history.
The Muscogee tribe was based in the southeastern areas of North America.  They were mostly settled in Alabama, Georgia, Florida, and South Carolina.  When the U.S. government started their relocation process of the Native Americans the Muscogee were moved to Oklahoma.
The Muscogee have a dance ritual called the Stomp Dance.  This dance was preformed at social and religious gatherings.  The Stomp Dance was a  demonstrative prayer.  The dance is done counter clockwise to stay in balance with the natural world.

The Muscogee tribe had typical villages built around a council house and a large field used for sports.  The houses had thatched roofs and were permanent dwellings.  When the Muscogee's moved west the houses changed the style.  The new dwellings were made out of logs and other woods from the surrounding area.
The Muscogee people had many important and influential tribe members.  One of them was Crazy Snake (Chitto Harjo).  He led a movement against Allotment and advocated for the traditional clan Creek Government that was being eliminated by the U.S..  The American people called Crazy Snake and his followers "Snake Indians".  Another influential Muscogee was Samuel Checote.  He was elected Principal Chief in 1867.  He was born in Chattahoochee Valley and was a Methodist minister who preached to the creek people.

What's Important About Current Events

 

Current events are a very interesting way to teach the five W's to your students.  The five W's are: Who, Where, What, When, and Why.  As small groups we created a activity to teach with current events.  Kristine and I used the website Newsela.  Newsela is a website that house current event articles.  Each article can be set to a certain reading level, students can take notes on the site, and teachers can create essays and quizzes.  For our presentation we decided to teach the five W's, how to take notes and how to find a main topic.  After, teaching the five W's we moved on to teach how to write in short hand to take knows. Some of the short hand we taught shorting of words like with-w/, without-w/o, very-v., and because-b/c.  Then, we gave the students the links to the articles and a graphic organizer to help them take their notes.  The graphic organizer was broken up into the five W's.  The students were to read the articles and fill out the five W's graphic organizer.  At the end, when the graphic organizer was filled out the students where asked to find what main idea the three articles shared.  The three articles where: "Platform for Action" provides a road map to gender equality, Boxing's old-school rules, a teen girl says, must catch up with the times, and Study says young women narrowing the wag gap at work.  Using current events is very important to teaching social studies.  The need to know what is going on in the world around us is an essential part of social studies.  I had a great time exploring Newsela and the functions that teachers and students have at the disposal.

Cooperation Is The Key To Learning

Cooperative learning lessons are very important in a classroom.  Teaching students to work together as a group gives them the tools to become better people.  Working cooperatively is a skill most people will need to use in many parts of their lives.  As a class we put together presentations to teach each other the parts of cooperative learning.  Cooperative learning is broken down into 5 parts:  Positive Interdependence, Individual Accountability, Group Processing, Social Skills, and Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction.  All these parts create a working cooperative classroom.

Positive Interdependence
Positive Interdependence is a skill students need to learn.  This is the skill working with others in a positive way.  Using the people in the group to complete a task and for support if there is a problem within the group.

Individual Accountability
Individual Accountability is when students working in a group they are still responsible for all the material that is learned.  If finding information is split up in the group at the end  all students are expected to know and understand the information.

Group Processing
Group Processing is how the group works together and manage the materials and task.  Classroom set up can help students with the group processing.  Setting desks into groups or having areas where students can me as a group can help facilitate the groups ability to function correctly.

Social Skills
Social Skills are a skill that students will use for the rest of their live.  Being able to communicate with others, share responsibilities, learn to agree and disagree and share ideas are skills we all use in our adult life.  By developing these skills early on will give the students a head start.

Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction
Face-to-Face Promotive Interaction is the ability to speak and work with another person face-to-face.  The saying is Face-to-Face and Knee-to-Knee.  Being able to use proper body language and speech while working in a group helps students develop their social skills.