Teaching Geography: Without Geography we would be Nowhere.

     Then there was six weeks. As the semester comes to a close, we are back in the classroom to learn about different aspects of Social Studies. This week we are focusing on Geography. Geography is probably the first thing that most Social Studies teachers focus on at the beginning of the year. I personally am excited to learn about Geography!

     On Tuesday, we finished our JIGSAW activity and presented n our expert groups the 5 PIGS. Tuesday was a good class, I felt that I learned a lot from the other groups in the class. I feel that the Individual Accountability group was very loud and kept their lesson to the point. Christina, Paola, Payge, and Sarah seemed very knowledgeable on their topic. The third group, group processing, included Elizabeth, Kelly, Lauren, and Keilani. This group was also knowledgeable and loud. I enjoyed the video that they included to teach us and show us real life examples of group processing. Overall, today was a great practice for the upcoming mini-lessons.

     In preparation for Thursday's class, we were asked to review the 103 Creatively Simple Ways to Teach Geography. When I looked at this PowerPoint on teaching Geography, I mostly felt confused. I felt that personally I did not understand the PowerPoint. Three that I would like to comment on are: the Mystery Box, the Landscape in a Box, and Sending and Receiving Postcards. The first aspect that I choose to comment on are the mystery boxes because I have seen this in action and I absolutely love the idea of this. I believe that it is a reward for students and it would encourage proper behavior to receive the mystery box on a Friday to go with their Geography lesson. The second aspect/element that I choose to comment on from this PowerPoint is the landscape in a box activity. This activity seems to be a very cool activity/element to implement during the geography unit because it is an activity you can implement during a cooperative learning lesson. This lesson also lets the students to see an in-depth view at the different layers of the land. The final element of the PowerPoint that I choose to comment on is sending and recovering postcards. I feel that this activity is special because the students are working on literacy and at the same time learning about geography. Different resources that I could use to teach geography are Google Earth, creating the landscape box, and using other projects made out of recycled materials. 

      On Thursday, the rest of the groups presented on the 5-PIGS. The group on social skills and face-to-face interaction and direct instruction versus cooperative learning. The last two groups presented well, they were knowledgeable and taught everything they were supposed to. Below is a picture of a graphic organizer we did for the last group. After the groups finished presenting we choose our Native American tribes for another lesson that we will be doing in class. After we picked our tribes we did an engaging activity with a small ball that looked similar to earth. I enjoyed "hugging" the earth and saying one thing we learned, and one way we plan to implement science into our classroom. This activity was very engaging and had all of the students participate. I thought it was a great activity, and one that I would like to implement in my own class one. day

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  Overall, this week went very well. I feel that I know everything that is going on in class and I like doing the hands-on activities with my peers. The class is turning into a great learning experience for my own classroom and ideas for other education classes. Hope next week goes as well as this week!

Spring Break is Here!

     The final days leading up to spring break were intense and rewarding. Tuesday was our last day of fieldwork and group four's last day of teaching. On Thursday, we collaborated in class on a "Jigsaw" activity. This past week was intense in so many ways that I cannot explain; however, our last day of fieldwork was bittersweet. 

     To start the week off we had our last day of fieldwork at Bishop Dunn Memorial School AND group four had their last day of teaching. Tuesday was a bit stressful, not for me personally, but I felt the stress for group four. Group four had to teach two lessons in a forty five minute period, so we could then have our Celebration of Learning. Group four had a fantastic lesson and time management. I really enjoyed their voting booth because it enhanced the students cooperative learning experience. Group four was very positive and they all seemed interactive and knowledgeable on their topics. I thought that the children really enjoyed all the activities and picked up the concept of voting. Next, the Celebration of Learning was on Tuesday. The celebration of learning was fun because we all, the teacher candidates, said what we enjoyed about teaching the students. We also got the teacher a gift because she was very understanding throughout the semester. I loved working with Mrs. Pozzulo's second grade class this semester. 

     The articles that were assigned for this week, were the same articles that were for last week. So, I read the articles last week and I thought that they interesting. These articles reinforced information that we had taught our self in the process of cooperative learning lesson plan. I did learn about the 5 PIGS and the SIM Model. I enjoyed reading these article and watching these videos because I feel like I deeply understand the cooperative learning process. Below is a video that I found on the JIGSAW activity. The JIGSAW activity is what we worked on in class on Thursday. We split into groups based on the five PIGS to teach the rest of the class. I really enjoyed the JIGSAW method because I feel that it is going to be highly successful for students to teach each other versus traditional lecture. I am excited to teach the class on Tuesday (after Spring Break!).

     I really enjoyed these past few days of class. I feel that the class environment was more relaxed this week than ever before. I also enjoyed the Celebration of Learning, as well as, the JIGSAW method. I am excited to see what the rest of the semester has in-store for us. 

All About Different Assessments

     It is week seven of fifteen and we are officially halfway through the semester on Friday. This semester has gone by fast and it seems that life is in fast forward mode. On Tuesday this week, I had the lucky chance to visit New York City for the day whelky peers were observing group four teach their direct lesson plan. On Thursday in class we worked on our unit plans, edTPA, and discussed the first half of the semester and the second semester.
      I am blogging on what it was like to use assessment in my lesson plans and importance of using assessment throughout my lessons. As a teacher in training, I try to take note of what I dislike about other aspects of other teachers. To comment on assessment in the classrooms/lessons as asked, I think that it is important to constantly check for understanding because that is usually your tally marker for whether you can move on in the lesson or not. If a teacher does not assess, how can s/he really know where their students are? Assessment, however, can be controlled. I feel that professors/teachers/educators can overwork their students with assessment which is too much, especially young students. When referring the making of the pre/post test, I found that this task was easily attacked. When making questions for the second grade class, I felt that they were pretty basic questions. I would not label this task as difficult. I wrote my groups questions in, but we all created the questions together because that's what we were instructed to do.
     In today's class we discussed the beginning of the semester and the rest of the semester coming ahead. I felt that today's question was very frustrating and disturbing. Today in class we were informed that we need to get our cooperating teaching and her assistant teacher gifts because we were a burden on them. I COMPLETELY disagree, the teacher has said many times that she has enjoyed us (the students of the social studies methods class) in her class. I personally feel that I would gladly love to make something for Miss Pozzulo; however, it is rude to assume everyone in the class has money to give. Next, we were then informed of all of the assignments due in ONE WEEK. We have multiple assignments  due in one week with no advanced notice. We couldn't even see the assignments on eClass, so it was just sprung upon us. My frustration has reached an all new level. Otherwise, we worked on a variety of things for edTPA, reflections, and lesson plans.
     Overall, Week seven has been a hot mess and I have not felt more frustrated with the un-organization of this class more than now. I am not looking forward to the last week before spring break.

Group 3's Days to Shine

      This past week, during fieldwork, students were learning about the colonies and the American Revolution. Group three taught their direct, inquiry, and cooperative learning lesson plan. On Tuesday, group three started and today, on Thursday, group three finished their teaching with the inquiry and cooperative learning lesson plans.

     To start off, group three started with their direct lesson plan. Group three started off strong with their lesson plan about The American Revolution and the thirteen colonies. I thought that group three seemed very rehearsed and knowledgable about their topic. I enjoyed listening to the song they also used to help the students remember the thirteen colonies. Next, the teachers all went through the information. Although all of the teachers were knowledgable, I think that the development was too long. I found myself getting very antsy and impatient during the end of their development. It would have been beneficial for the teachers to split up the information with an activity. However, overall their development was strong and may have ended a bit weak. The guided practice was well thought out as well. Their activity was to fill out a booklet containing information about The American Revolution.  The booklet was a great idea because the students could keep it in their desk and always refer back to it. The other activity that group three did was a timeline, that the students had already filled out during the course of the development. I thought that this activity could have been included int he development and that it was kind of a waste of time to do it as a guided practice. Although, I understand it in the sense of the students being able to organize themselves. Towards the end of their time slot for the lesson, they began to rush. I could see that group three got through their conclusion but rushed through it and the same for the independent practice. It would have been better to maybe go over the first question for the independent practice and then had them do it at home. Overall, I think that group three had a pretty well thought out direct lesson plan!

     Today, group three taught their cooperative learning lesson plan and their inquiry lesson plan. The inquiry lesson plan was an activity working with artifact bags. Each of the artifact bags contained different pictures and elements from different events during the time period they were teaching. As the students entered the classroom they provided groups for the children to get into which saved time because the teachers were not trying to do this in the middle of their lesson. As the students started to finish, the teachers, had the students present their findings. Also, at the beginning of the group work they assigned roles for each of the students to have which was very smart. I also enjoyed that Ms. Melissa and Ms. Emily presented how to do the inquiry process in the beginning of the lesson because it helped the students figure out what they needed to be doing. For the independent practice the teachers had the students write to the first graders which was wonderful! They started the homework in class and they were told to finish at home. I loved this because as for the first two groups they did not get that far in the inquiry process. Overall, the inquiry process was very smart. The cooperative learning lesson plan was next. For the cooperative learning lesson plan the students were creating an acrostic poem for the word independence. The students were very excited about starting this poem. this was a great activity for the students. The students worked with their groups to create words for the word INDEPENDENCE. Next, the students were asked to write a sentence about what they learned over the course of the past two classes, to put altogether in a book for Ms. Pozzulo's book. This has to my favorite idea altogether!!! The teachers then had presented the poster, with the word: INDEPENDENCE and the students were able to contribute what they came up with in their groups. Overall, the cooperative learning lesson plan was FABULOUS!

     The past week has been a fun learning experience for myself and for the students in Miss. Pozzulo's class. The children seemed to pick up a lot of the information from this group's lessons. I liked their lessons for the second day and I thought that they were very creative.  I am excited to see what group four has in store for us next week!

How many more weeks until Spring Break??

     This past week Bishop Dunn had another snow related closing, so we were back in the classroom. On Tuesday, we were in the classroom and on Thursday in fieldwork. It is now the start to week six and we will be in fieldwork for the week. We had to watch a video on how to blog mindfully and read an article on a different educational system in Finland.

     On Tuesday, we focused on edTPA. Well group one in particular focused on edTPA because the other groups were working on their lessons. It was nice to have some class time to work on edTPA but it was kind of frustrating. I feel that the groups are getting a foot ahead of my group because of the class time and personal attention they're getting from Dr. Smirnova. For me this was frustrating because I feel that other groups are getting more personal time with her than we got and she is looking over their lessons and pin point what they should change before their lesson. Otherwise, I accomplished  a lot in one period of time. I was able to finish most of Task 1 Part B. I am also finished with Task 1 Part A and E.

     The video we were asked to watch is a tutorial on how to comment and write in blogs. I thought this video was super helpful to our task at hand. For example, the first tip was to "comment the write in a specific way." This is important for all people to keep in mind when commenting because it makes your comment seem more thoughtful and meaningful. Also, by adding specific information to the comment makes it sound like you are really interested and you may be sharing information the writer does not yet know. By ending with a question you are leaving the topic open for discussion. You are inviting the writer, or possibly another person to comment and keep the conversation going. 

     The article How Finland broke every rule- and created a top school system was interesting. I really like the fact that the article talks about how America does it all wrong. I 100% believe that America's school systems are for money and not for the students. This is upsetting in a lot of ways because these kids, in America, depend on us and somehow I feel like we constantly fail them. Although coming out of school teachers can and most likely will be successful in being creative, most teachers burn out. Once a teacher is burned out their really isn't much jump back from that. Teachers are tired of politics taking over the Education system, so they are doing what they're told to do and leaving it there. There is no thanks, or prize around teachers anymore. I think that the Education system needs to make a huge change, but until then I will wait for one. 

     This video and reading were helpful and provided new insights for future endeavors. I enjoyed reading the article about school systems in Finland. The video on commenting on blogs was helpful as well. 

The First Travelers

     For the past week, Group 2 has been exploring with Miss Pozzulo's second grade class. First, they learned about Native Americans from my group, and now they will be furthering their knowledge on "Our Country Long Ago." I thought that group two's overall teaching experience has been a good one. I think that overall the students enjoyed the activities that group two has implemented for them. Group two consists of Erin, Samantha, Lauren, Christina, Moira, and Paola. This group seemed to have work and flowed well together.
     To begin, group two started off last week on Thursday, because of Bishop Dunn's snow day on Tuesday. Group two started out strong. Their direct lesson plan was well rehearsed and the group transitioned well. A few things that stuck out of their first teaching experience was their attention to details. For example, group two included pictures and GIF's into their power point that signaled different actions that the students should look out for. For example, they had an old explorers hat which the children associated with "thinking caps." For me this was really brilliant because when the students saw this figurine/picture, they understood what was expected of them. Another part of their lesson that I really enjoyed was the matching activity, otherwise known as the guided practice. This was an interactive, yet direct form of practice for the students, and the students were beyond eager to participate in this activity. My last favorite part from group two's direct lesson plan was the teacher candidates ability to function as a group. A lot of times, groups cannot/do not act efficiently during presentations, especially when their rare so many students, so I really enjoyed their professionalism and group work. Some thing that I believe group two could work on is their understanding of the direct lesson plan. Group two did not show complete understanding of the direct lesson plan by their actions throughout the lesson. For example, group two asked for the student's input before they were taught the material. In direct/explicit lessons it is important to not ask the students questions without teaching them the knowledge. Also, in the beginning of the lesson I noticed that one of the student's in the class, who has been determined as a child who needs one on one help, was not being assisted. It is important for assistance to be provided for students who need it. Group two did eventually sit with this student; however, I felt that it was not okay for him to start the lesson without help. Overall, group two's direct lesson was very well organized and created.
   

     Group two's second and final day of teaching was today, Thursday. On Tuesday, Bishop Dunn had a early dismissal due to more weather problems. Group two their inquiry and cooperative learning lesson plans. To start off, group two started strong. Their review and way of activating prior knowledge for the kids was great and it got the students engaged right off the bat. I thought that group two also did really well in going through the steps of the inquiry process. Group two could have modeled the inquiry process for the students but I think that the time constraint on the groups makes it impossible to cover everything in the "30" minute window we have. Next, the teachers all split off into their groups for the inquiry process, and from what I noticed the teacher candidates let the students make all of the inferences and didn't help them. From my group, this was a step up because we helped the students make inferences. Group two then went straight into their Cooperative Learning lesson plan which was different, but I think for the time constraint it worked. the group did not really get to a closure in their Inquiry lesson; however, it would have been pointless for them to go over the same information twice. For their presentation for their CL they were presenting their information from the Inquiry, so personally it wouldn't have made sense for them to make the students present twice. ALSO there is not enough time. Overall, I know that group two had problems with time management, but as I have said over and over, it is almost impossible to cover everything that is deemed necessary, (by the rubrics,) in an hour for TWO lessons. Group two got to their closure in the CL lesson and they had each of the groups present their posters. 

     Overall, group two did a wonderful job with all three of their lesson plans. I think that they nailed the concept of each lesson as well. Speaking from experience, I think time management is a problem every group will have so I am happy that group two combined the last two lessons. Great job group 2! I am excited to see what the last two groups to present. 

Three Types of Lessons Reflections

     Today, in the virtual class we discussed the three types of lessons which included: direct, inquiry, and cooperative learning lessons. Direct is a similar type of lesson to explicit. the inquiry lesson is about getting the students to critical think with problems given to them by the teacher. Last, the cooperative lesson is incorporating their social skills and group work. 

     The first type of lesson, the direct lesson plan, which is straight forward instruction. The direct lesson plan was a type of lesson plan that i had trouble with to begin. To talk in the lesson plan as a single teacher was difficult. It is new trying to learn how to just lecture the students, because I always felt that the elementary age group was too young to just lecture. My direct lesson plan was a journey learning how to teach explicitly. It was a new learning experience. When it came to teaching a direct lesson plan, it was actually surprisingly easier than other lessons. Just lecturing second graders turned out to be very easy for me. I really loved teaching the direct lesson plan in the end. I also think that the students retained a lot more of the information from the direct lesson than any other of the two lessons we did. 

     The second type of lesson is the inquiry lesson. this type of lesson was very difficult to follow. Overall the inquiry lesson was the hardest. I find that the critical thinking part of the lesson was very difficult to get the younger students to grasp. Also, I think that the students need a sufficient amount of time to be able to complete this type of lesson. The inquiry lesson is a long and developmental type of lesson, so to only give student maybe twenty minutes to work on the task is not fair. I also personally think that it is not only unfair, but almost impossible to do in twenty minutes. The students, who have little to no ability to think critically are now being asked to develop that skill in twenty minute intervals. The point I am trying to make is that for students to develop a strong sense of critical thinking, the students need time and good prompts. The ability to work with group members is one that the students will need for the next lesson, cooperative learning. 

     The last, and final type of lesson that I am going to mention is cooperative learning. The cooperative learning seemed to be less effort to put in the lesson and more within our actual materials. For instance, when putting together the lesson I just had to write down my ides, but when preparing it took a few hours just to plan out the materials and putting the materials altogether. Cooperative learning lessons are a little tricky when it comes to the 5-PIGS which are: positive independence, individual accountability, group processing, social skills, and face-to-face interaction. It is important to make sure that these 5 PIGS are included in the cooperative lesson because this is what you will be evaluating yourself on when finished with the lesson plan. Also, these are the most important skills that the students must pick up.

      Overall, I think it is important to know these types of lessons, especially cooperative learning and inquiry because these are the student centered lessons. This is also what edTPA focuses on: student centered learning. I think that the virtual meeting for class today was beneficial because it helped all of my colleagues and I elaborate on the different types of lessons. I am excited for Group 2 to start teaching on Thursday!