Learning...

History is more than past events

2006-04-22T19:51:00.000-05:00

I recently was roaming through edu bloggers, and I came across a blog that just caught my attention with its title http://historyiselementary.blogspot.com/. Its all about teaching history at an elementary school level. This blog interests me because involves two of my loves: history and elementary education.

The blog brought up some very good points about how a teacher should teach history to elementary students. I just would like to highlight two points that were made. First, have the children connect to history through their family's history. Second, teach history in the context of the past and from the perspective of the people in the past.

For anyone who studies or teaches history, they need to keep these points in mind. History is such a subjective subject that children or people in general can get lost and miss the point of a history lesson. History is to be studied so that we as people learn from other's mistakes or successes' and make the world a better place than what it was in the past.

I remember the history teachers who taught history in this way. In elementary school, I remember researching about my family history. I just thought it was the coolest thing to have some connection to the past. Also, and more importantly, it was my history professor at my community college who taught history in the context of the past. It made the history more real to me. I would try and put myself in those people's shoes, and try to understand why, for example, slavery was tolerated in the old south; but also, why there is no way that slavery could exist today because times have changed since then. I like to learn about the past from the past's perspective; it makes history more real and worthwhile.

It is just some advice to keep in mind when teaching history!!

2006-04-20T16:08:00.000-05:00

Oh, the joys of field trips. Are they a thing of the past? In a blog, http://noteachersleftbehind.org/, there is major concern about the number of field trips that teachers are allowed to take. Previous to the No Child Left Behind Act, there were numerous field trips with in a school year. Field trips were used to captivate the students interest in a particular area, and give them a chance for hands on activity especially in the sciences. Now, however, there is concern that field trips are too limited in number and children are missing out on the hands on activity received from such trips.

Since, I am a pre-service teacher and do not have a lot of experience with teaching and grabbing the student's interests, I may not be at liberty to voice my opinion, but I am going to anyway. I come from the perspective of a former elementary student and a rising educator who wants to provide as much as I can to the children that I teach. When I was a young child, I LOVED field trips. I loved them because I was out of the classroom and did not have to hear my teacher's boring lessons. There was some hands on activity, but I do not recall a lot. Now, today's teachers may use field trips for educational purposes, but I do not remember learning much from my elementary field trips.

Now with that said, and with all that I have been learning in my classes, I think field trips would be a great thing for teaching and specifically for teaching SOLs. There has been so much said in my edu classes about captivating the student's interests and maintaining their attention. I believe field trips can do that, but I also believe that having the right captivating classroom can also provide students with the motivation and attention they need to succeed in school. It comes down to the teacher and how much he/she wants to create a creative environment for the students. Yes, I believe that it is sad that in today's world, the students do not get to go on as many field trips; but why can' t the teacher bring the field trip and the hands on activity into the classroom? When teaching the SOLs, the best way to reach a student, is to teach beyond the SOL and have creative instruction more times than not in the classroom. Therefore, even though the kids may not be going on as many field trips, at least they have the hands on fun learning in their classrooms. My best example for this kind of an classroom would come from edu technology instructor, she showed us in class through pictures, a classroom environment and instruction that was all hands on and the learners constructed their own learning. It was an amazing classroom of colors, movement, and learners having fun and learning.

I want to be a GREAT teacher and I will do whatever it takes to get the lesson across to my students. I will take field trips when I can, but I will also have an interactive classroom and instruction. My goals are the same kind of goals that were addressed in the blog: I want to have my students doing hands on activites so that they will underdstand what I am teaching them.

Such an emphasis on hands on activity

2006-04-20T15:53:00.000-05:00

WOW, I love to read stuff that actually applies to the things that I am learning in class, it just goes to show that what I am learning in class is the right way to teach. After seeing this brief excerpt on bud the teacher's blog, http://budtheteacher.typepad.com/bud_the_teacher/teaching_reflection/index.html, I went on to read the full blog that was taken from http://www.techlearning.com/blog/main/archives/2006/04/how_to_make_edu.html#more and I read exactly what I am learning about in class. Teaching needs to be hands on, needs to challenge the students, needs to fit their level of knowledge.

It never hurts to re-read what you have studied because then it is implanted onto the brain. There has been so much said in my classes about giving the children hands on, concrete examples that it is almost second nature for me to think of ways to get the lesson across to the children through the children doing it. Of course, I am a pre-service teacher, so I am sure that it will be hard to think of such things all the time. But with all the emphasis on hands on learning, I hope to research and find ways to implement it into my lesson plans when I student teach and of course beyond that time too.

I agree with the blogger's point too that sometimes it is just better to be quiet and let the students do the activity. By watching the students do the activity, a teacher can quickly assess to see if the student has grasped the concept. This idea applies across the board in teaching not just in technology courses. However, I know from experience that the easiest way to learn a concept with the computer or the microscope in science class, one needs to do it. Just something to add though, I know hands on is the way to go, but it does not hurt to have a written or pictorial cue for the children to quickly reference so that they can figure out problems on their own before they come to the teacher. I add that point because this stretches across Gardner's Multiple Intelligence theory, in that, there is more than one way to teach something to the children so that children who take in information differently can also receive the content.

What does it mean to be a Teacher?

2006-04-20T15:28:00.000-05:00

As pre-service teacher, I wonder about a lot of things. Am I the right person for this job? Will I be able to provide a stimulating enough environment for my students? Will I be able to get the point across to the students? Am I ready for the big adventure!!??

I have heard that if you question about these types of things, then you are already showing how much you care about the profession you are getting into. If you care about something that much, then you will try your hardest to be a good as you can be.

I know that I do care about teaching and I know that I want to be a great teacher. When I hear all this great advice from my edu professors at William and Mary, I quickly write it down and I tell myself to make sure that I do that in my classroom. I know that it will be hard the first year, but even in the first year I do not want my first year students to miss out on anything cool, special, or creative. I want to give it my all every year that I teach.

How I feel about being a teacher is summed up in this quote, "When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece." John Ruskin
I just need to make sure that my skill equals my love for teaching!!

2006-02-22T18:24:00.000-05:00

REACTION::::::::::::to a ProTeacherBlogger

As I was searching for a Professional Teacher's blog, I came across a CA teacher's blog http://www.nvyblu789.blogspot.com/. Her name is Elizabeth, and her blog caught my attention because the introduction was very welcoming. As I was searching through her blog, a post caught my attention,"What's Your Homework Policy?". It was about her homework policy and what she thought about giving homework to the kids.She said that she was friendly with kids when giving it out. She had four rules about homework:quoting from her, the rules were....
#1: If I am not confident that the child can't work on it independently, then I don't bother assigning it to them. I can't assume that all parents sit-down with their children to help them on homework.
#2: If I cannot go over it during class time and correct it on time with some sort of thoughtful feedback, I shouldn't assign it.
#3: I really like this method of giving kids a choices on what HW assignment to work on. This method gets all kids to work on something they like, rather than something they very grudgingly have to do. This is how I get 100% participation in homework! Eventually, when it comes for me to assign something mandatory, I get 100% participation!
#4: No complaining, no grumbling. If students grumble or complain, I simply add more!
She also mentions how she helps the students organize their planner effectively.

I enjoyed reading this because as a pre-service teacher, I can use all the helpful advice that I can get my hands on. I really liked her rules, and I agree with them. I think that a child should only have as much homework as she/he can handle (I know from experience that overwhelment is not good and will not get you to do your homework any faster), and hopefully by "enjoying" to do it the child will get more out of it. Also, from my classes , I have learned that immediate feedback is important to do for both the students and teachers and there is no point of giving the children busy work or an extreme amount of homework if they will not learn from that work. When I say learn from that work, I mean that if they get something wrong on that work and don't know about it and can't learn from their mistakes, then there is no reason for the children to do it. Homework is such an important aspect to both learning and teaching; it provides the students feedback on their progress in class and provides the teachers feedback on the students understanding of the subject. I know that I will give the children homework because it is such an important tool. I just like to see how seasoned teachers deal with the homework issue, and what they feel about the homework issue.

2006-02-08T20:29:00.000-05:00

Technology Autobiography

I did not grow up with a computer in my household. I hardly even used a typewriter, truth be told, I could not even type quickly enough to get a paper done in a night. Sad, huh? I was okay with all of this because I was so scared of technology. I was scared that when I HAD to use a computer in school that I would break it. My first real experience with a computer was in 6th grade, and I only was in the computer class because I had to be there; I had no desire to be there. Some time went by and I began to get comfortable with a computer and the Word program, but a computer still did not enter my household until my junior year in high school.
Still to this day, I am not a computer geek but I can't go a day with out my computer. I use it as part of my daily life to keep track of what is going on personally and nationally. I check my email constantly and prefer that over phone communication. I use the web to check news, weather, and TV schedules. I google topics to learn more about them or to see them. I use facebook and AIM to talk to friends and loved ones. However, I do not consider myself a geek because when I hear computer lingo, I have no idea what is being said. Now if it gets broken down into what that lingo does, I may have a clue as to what that is. I can't wrap my head around the computer vocabulary:soft ware, hard ware, viruses, RAM, ROM, and all that other jargon. Computer technology is integrated into my life but its vocabulary has not.
I learn more everyday about technology by being in school. It is important to me to learn more so that I can teach that to my students. Technology is the key to the future. I see it everyday with my classes. Communication among the students and with teachers is done more often by email. Blackboard posts syllabi and additional information to a course. Powerpoints are used in all my classes but one. Technology is all around me and more than half the time I do not realize it because it is such a part of my everyday life.