Makeal's story

I found Makeal’s story to be so inspiring! The video clip clearly demonstrated the power technology can have in helping students find their voice. Makeal’s apprenticeship and blogging has provided an avenue for him to develop confidence and a new set of skills. Makeal is eager to pursue and share his interests, knowing that he has an audience and that others are interested in what he has to say. It was amazing to watch him talk about his dreams of becoming an architect, video game designer, or firefighter!

I thought the students in the following video provided insightful reasons as to why they enjoy blogging in the classroom:

Time, Time, Time...

Time, time, time. Will there ever be enough? As I reflect on my first week at my dyad placement, I am astonished at how fast the day flies by. It seems that right after the students walk through the door, get unpacked and start on their early work, it’s already lunch-time, and then before I know it, it’s time for them to go home and another day has flown by. How can we fit everything into each school-day that we’d like to and that we need to? I experienced the reality of this dilemma when my cooperating teacher, in response to her students needs, tried to squeeze in a short lesson on bullying. Just as she and her students were reaching the heart of the issue that had arisen in the class, the bell rang and it was time for the students to go home. I spoke with her afterward and she said she would try to figure out another time within the next week or so that she could return to the topic with the children and finish the lesson. I guess the most concerning and daunting thing about the situation is seeing first hand that a topic as important as bullying can not find its way into a normal school-day and instructional time. How can we ensure that we are able to cover what we feel is essential for our students?

Global Education

Today I attended the Washington State Council for the Social Studies’ Legacies and Lessons Learned Conference. I found each presentation I sat in on to be very intriguing. However, the presentation I was most moved by was “Creating a Road Map for Global Education in Washington State.” This presentation was given by an organization called Global Washington, an organization dedicated to building a collaborative plan to incorporate global learning into Washington’s public schools. Presently, the opportunity for access to global education is quite varied depending on the resources available to children, families and schools, which is of no surprise. The presenter spoke of the need for, and importance of, improving access to a global education for every child here in Washington State.

I love the idea of striving for a more global education in our public schools. One of the most important ideas I took away from the presentation was that a global education, to me, highlights the study and practice of human connections, realizing that we are all connected and creating citizens who make decisions based on local and global considerations. There are a number of steps we can take now in an attempt to enrich and globalize our own teaching and curriculum including, striving to bring the world into the classroom through guest speakers who share their heritage or personal experiences, building community awareness, and enriching and fuel geography courses. According to Global Washington, 9/10 students want to know more about the rest of the world. Isn’t it time that we listen? 

Food journal reflection

            I found keeping a food and activity journal to be a great assignment! I have always thought of myself as being a relatively healthy eater and someone who lives an active lifestyle, but it was interesting to actually take the time to note everything I ate as well as the exercise that I participated in.

            Being a vegetarian, I make the choice to eat a variety of vegetables, fruits and dairy products on a daily basis. However, because of my decision to be a vegetarian, I know I tend to be lacking in my iron intake. After examining my food journal, I found that this is definitely something I need to work on. Finding ways to incorporate foods into my diet that are high in iron is very important, especially since I’m not getting iron from key sources like red meat. Another area I found that I could improve in is lowering my intake of sweets. Although I don’t eat a lot of greasy, fatty foods, I definitely have a sweet tooth and tend to eat at least one serving of dessert a day. After realizing the amount of sugar I was eating, I set my goal to cut my sugar/sweets intake in half during my second week of keeping my food journal. It was difficult, but I was able to eat dessert every other day rather than every single day. Even something as small as this can prove to be very beneficial to my health!

            I feel that keeping a food and activity journal has great potential for teaching and learning. While students are learning about topics such as nutrition, making smart dietary decisions and the benefits of an active lifestyle, having students examine their own eating and exercise habits can be a powerful tool. Often times, we don’t even realize everything we consume on a daily basis, but if we take the time to really look at the decisions we are making and their health implications, the result can be very influential. By choosing to drink one less soda a day, trying to eat one more serving of fruit, or going outside to play basketball rather than playing videogames, students can make important, healthy changes in their own lives.

Amazing indeed!

I really enjoyed our last day of our health and fitness methods class! Learning a little bit more about how amazing our brains truly are was so interesting and I found the activities to be very fun! I would love to incorporate some of them in my future classroom to spark students’ interests in the subject.

I also found our Brain Rules reading to be very interesting and informative. Although I felt that much of the information was a review for me personally, it was still great to read and think about the importance of discussing such things as the need for proper exercise, sleep and stress management with my students.

Teaching About Reproduction & Sexual Health

From today's discussions, I am realizing that I do not yet feel comfortable teaching about topics such as reproduction and sexual health. However, I found the few ice breaker activities we practiced in class to be helpful in thinking about ways in which to approach these sort of topics with children. Two of the ideas I especially liked that were brought up include having kids have a chance to get their giggles out by shouting out body parts that they have drawn from a hat. It is very important to be able to use correct terminology when discussing the body and I feel that this a great way to get kids a little more comfortable and get the discussion going. Another idea I really liked that I would definitely use in my own classroom is having an anonymous question box where students can ask any question they have anonymously. Because these topics can be difficult to discuss openly, I feel that this is a great way to provide students with an opportunity to ask personal questions that they may not be comfortable asking in front of an entire class.

Growth Mindset

I found Carol Dweck’s article Mindsets to be very interesting and quite thought provoking. One of the biggest take-home messages I got out of the reading was the emphasis placed on praising a student’s hard work and the overall learning process, rather than the end result. I feel that this is definitely something I will have to keep in mind as a beginning teacher because I know I have a tendency to want to praise student’s efforts as well as the work they’re doing. I found the list we created as a class regarding how we can support a growth mindset in our own classrooms to be helpful in thinking about this from a teacher’s standpoint. Making sure I encourage students to explain their thinking process or noticing the improvement a student is making in a particular subject area are great ways to uphold the growth mindset. I am so eager to learn more about Dweck’s ideas and hope to find time to read her book soon!