We Made it!

I can't believe the semester is over. This has been the most difficult semester in my college years. Not only was I taking 6 major courses, I lost one of the most important people in my life a week before midterms. Dealing with all of life's issues can be very hard, but you have to push through. I would like to thank Dr. Smirnova for helping me throughout that hard time and being so understanding. At times it was extremely difficult, but I made it, and very much looking forward to Summer. 

Looking back, when I first walked in to Dr. Smirnova's Social Studies Methods course I was a ball of anxiety. Many people had told me this was the most challenging course they had ever taken. Hearing this got me more worked up because I was taking both Social Studies Methods and Science Methods with Dr. Smirnova this semester. Coming out of these courses, I am extremely happy with the goals I have accomplished. Nothing ever comes easy, and I think these courses are a prime example of that. I worked very hard in these courses, and from the projects I have presented, lessons I have taught, and live binders I am completing, I can see the changes in myself. I'm very proud of what I accomplished this semester amidst life's challenges. I would like to thank Dr. Smirnova for being a teacher that pushes her students. I am coming out of this course with so much new knowledge. I am so happy I took this course right before I student teach in the Fall, because I have many added tools to my teacher tool box from this course! I am looking forward to reflecting on this course this Summer as I prepare for student teaching in the Fall. 

Enjoy the Summer everyone! 

Practice Makes Perfect

In class today, we completed mock interviews. I really enjoyed this activity, and thought it was great practice. Four of our peers were interviewers while the rest of the class were interviewees. Being that it was in our classroom, among our friends and colleagues, I didn't think I would be stressed. Wow, was I wrong! When I walked into class, everyone came dressed for the part which added some intimidation factor, and I was actually very nervous. I think the atmosphere really transformed into an interview setting. We were unsure of what the interviewers were going to ask us, and we were unsure of how qualified our competition was. We sat in groups, and each interviewer came to each group. In the interview I found myself trying to answer questions to the best of my ability, and listening to my peers on their answers. It felt like a real interview. I really enjoyed this simulation and I think it bettered my understanding in the interview process. I have been on job interviews before, but none for an education position. I enjoyed that the questions were based on our activities and lessons we completed this semester. I believe it wasn't only good practice, but a good review of the entire semester. Based on the practice in this setting, I hope one day I will be able to look back on this experience and see how it bettered me for actual experiences. Hopefully one day this experience will help me say.....

                                                

Technology Tool Box

From the start of this semester, Dr. Smirnova stressed the importance of technology, and how much we would be using it. I was apprehensive at first because I am not that tech savy. Coming out of this course I am confident, and I enjoy all of the resources technology can provide to us. Right from the start, we were building our technology tool box with our about me projects. We learned about 30 new technology sites that, over the course of the semester, we became very confident with. Even better was most of these sites had a free option. The free option fit our needs just fine. Dr. Smirnova also gave us her personal access to some sites. It was great to become familiar with these sites without the cost, so one day when we have our own classrooms we can know which sites we may want to bring in. I had never heard of glogster, now I use it for everything! I learned how useful vokis and word clouds are. I also learned how to use sites like powtoon and voice over sites. All of these engaging and unique sites are key to having a successful 21st century classroom. 

This video provides great insight on the importance of creating a technological classroom. In this day and age, it is so important to have a digital classroom. Students today were born into technology, and can better their learning by learning through a digital environment. I am so excited to take what I learned in this class and embark on my adventure in creating a digital classroom for my students. 

Word Cloud Fun

Throughout this semester, I found myself using word clouds often. A word cloud is a picture that holds words about a topic. The above is a word cloud about word clouds. It has many words that all pertain to word clouds. WE used this for the introduction of our lesson on "The Colonies Become Free." We asked the students if they knew any of the words. It was a quick pre-assessment. Below is the word cloud we made for our lesson.  

We also used word clouds in our current event presentation. Using wordle, tagul or tagxedo, our peers created word clouds based on the 5 W's in regards to their articles. Our peers' word clouds are below. 

Jigsaw Method

We experienced the jigsaw learning method today in class. This is where there are groups of students, and then each student is assigned to a topic. The students then break into sub groups based on topics. These groups become expert groups on their topics. It is a fun and different approach to group work. 

This video is very helpful, and informative. The video shows history, the structure, and tips for teachers. The video goes on to say "increases student engagement, encourages collaboration, and results in better learning. " I enjoyed this learning environment, and feel it would work well in my classroom. I believe students would enjoy being an expert and teaching their peers. 

Economic 101!

We created a class economics 101 presentation. We each took a topic, and then researched it and created a presentation on it. It was an exciting way. Even though some did the same topics, no two presentations looked the same. I thought that was interesting and how creative each of us are. My topic was Macroeconomics vs Microeconomics. This is a challenging topic for young students but I found was to make it not so challenging. Because I enjoyed creating the glogster in the past, I made another for this presentation. This is link to my glogster, and there is a picture at the bottom of this blog post. I enjoyed presenting in out groups on our topics. It also helped build our technology toolbox, because many different sites were used. Here is the link to our class presentations. 

What's in the Bag?

In class today we did an activity called "Artifact Bag." This activity was extremely engaging, and interesting to all our students.  For my artifact bag I did the event, "Independence Day." I really enjoyed having students use the inquiry process to guess whats in the bag. I also enjoyed completing this process with my peers and their own bags. I loved some of the different props my colleagues put in their bag. This is a very fun and engaging activity for all students. Here is the link to my artifact bag presentation. The artifact bag was introduced to us via Dr. Smirnova, when she shared important life events with us in artifact bags.

My event was "Independence Day," so on the outside of my bag, there was a picture of fireworks. Inside the bag there were three items, a barbecue, a parade, and an Uncle Sam picture. All of these would help students use the inquiry process and guess the event. 

I loved all the artifact bags in my groups. They were enjoyable, and you could see that my peer's took a lot of time to put their bags together. My favorite was Sam's. She had tangible items, and I think from here the student's would be hands on, minds on, and would be able to perfectly execute the inquiry process, and accomplish the goal. 

Native American Tribes

Using the jigsaw method, we researched Native American Tribes. My expert group was assigned the Diné Tribe. The Diné Tribe is more commonly known as the Navajo Indians. The word Diné comes from the word people so the tribe is the peoples tribe. For our presentation, we took the technology challenge and used glogster. We all really enjoyed collaborating on the glogster, and I love the way it came out. Here is the link to the glogster, I will also post it on the bottom of this blog post. I enjoyed learning about the other tribes when we went back to our base groups to present. 

I also enjoyed  the scavenger hunt Dr. Smirnova had us complete at the end. The scavenger hunt really showed how much of experts we had all become because there were questions regarding all of our topics, and we all know the answers to our topic's questions. It was a great collaboration experience. 

Pre-Test and Post-Test

We conducted both a pre-test and a post-test in our fieldwork experience. I have learned so much about the importance of both assessments. The pre-test is used to assess what the students already know about the topic we are teaching. From the results of that pre-test, the teacher can then revise her lesson plan to cater to the needs of all her students. The teacher then teaches the objectives set out for her throughout the unit plan. After the unit plan, the teacher administers a post-test. The post test is a guide to see how well the students retained and learned the information. It is also a guide for the teacher. The teacher can reflect on her teaching and see what he/she may need to change in the future. I enjoyed the article, Pretests; Importance and Uses of Pretests, on the benefits of creating and administering pretests. Pretests can be extremely beneficial for not only the teacher, but also the student.

I enjoyed this video on pre-tests and post-tests. It shows that after completing the pre-tests, students can set goal for themselves. The goals can push the students to better themselves throughout the lesson, and ace the post-test.

P.I.G.S.

Since we had learned the jigsaw method, we implemented it to learn about the 5 P.I.G.S. We had base groups, and were each assigned a letter of P.I.G.S. We then went to our expert groups based on our letter. My letter was S. After learning about the P.I.G.S, from the other expert groups, the p stands for positive interdependence, the i stands for individual accountability, the g stands for group processing, and the s stands for social interaction and face to face. I enjoyed watching the presentations on all these because everyone had really become experts. 

I have included the links below to each of the presentations. I feel this is something that can help us as teachers later on in life. 

Positive Interdependence

Individual Accountability

Group Processing 

Social Skils

All Good Things Come to an End...

The last fieldwork group preformed their lessons today. I LOVED their lesson on voting. The students loved hearing what each candidate had to offer. I thought the voting booth, and the students voting was awesome! The students loved it, and really understood it. They knew they couldn't tell each other who they voted for, and that their voice was being heard. I think this has definitely prepared them for real-life, and their voting rights. 

Today was our last fieldwork day. I am sad because it was such a great experience. I think the quote above perfectly explains this situation. Although this fieldwork experience is ending, our new beginning as teachers is starting! I am very excited for this next chapter. I feel this course has bettered my, and ultimately prepared my so well for my future. This was the first fieldwork experience where I wasn't with one group of students, but teaching a whole class. Since it was the last day, we gave the students certificates. We called each of them up to receive their recognition. I think the students really enjoyed their time with us. We all enjoyed our time with them too. 

*Snow Day*

Spring semester always seems to be a tough one. Last Spring semester it seemed as though we could not catch a break from snow, this year hasn't been too bad! Today, we were supposed to go to a fieldwork session at Bishop Dunn Memorial School. Unfortunately,  the snow had cancelled their school day. Dr. Smirnova informed us we would be having a "virtual classroom." I was not too sure about what that meant, but after experiencing this type of setting, I loved it! It was run by Dr. Smirnova via a video chat and the rest of the class was incorporated via their own video chats. I really enjoyed it. Dr. Smirnova would ask a question, and then the class would respond via chat response or voice response. The site looked like this picture below. 

This was a great experience for us to go through. In this day and age, technology is key to a classroom. Although I don't think we could use this setting with elementary school students, peers colleagues, or parents could use this service. It is another type of technology tool I have learned from Dr. Smirnova's class. Below are some screen shots from the virtual classroom day!  

Our turn!

Finally! After a couple snow days, endless hours of work, and lots of anxious nerves, it is my fieldwork group's, group 3, turn to teach our lessons to the second grade! Our lesson is "The Colonies Become Free" which includes, the American Revolution, and the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This is a very exciting topic, and I am eager to get into the classroom and begin our lesson. 

For our direct lesson, we taught about important people in this period of history, we also taught about unfair taxes, the American Revolution, the signing of the Declaration of Independence, along with many other topics. The students were engaged throughout the lesson, and during the checks for understanding, the class was in agreement. They also enjoyed holding up their American flag response cards.

          To introduce the topic, we created a word cloud with thirty two words pertaining to our lesson. This word cloud had words that ranged from people, places, things, and events. The students did well with this, and knew a lot of the words we put into the word cloud. The rest of the direct lesson was a powerpoint, with checks for understand throughout, and then activities and independent practice at the end. 

We transitioned with a song. This was a great way to get the students involved and ready for the lesson. I sang that song once, and then asked the students to repeat with me. The kids loved it, and I think our peers enjoyed it too! This is a technology aspect we have to take advantage of! There are songs for everything. This one was only 20 seconds long, and the kids took a lot away from it. I may have been embarrassed to sing it at first but seeing the kids enjoy it as they did, it was fun! 

Both our inquiry lesson and cooperative lessons went well. We were a bit pressed for time on the cooperative but after hearing from our peers, we learned ways of bettering our time management. This was the first course at the Mount that I was able to teach to a whole class. I really enjoyed it, and I wish other courses would have this aspect, because after all, this is what we will be doing.  

First Day of Fieldwork!

Today we started our fieldwork experience at Bishop Dunn Memorial School. I really like this school, and have a lot of experience here because I have volunteered at the after school program since freshman year. I had never worked with Ms. Pozzulo, so I was excited to go in her classroom, and experience her class. The students were all very engaged, and interested in us and our materials. I think both they, and us are excited for the next few weeks! This first day was an introduction to the room and the students. Each fieldwork group brought a book, and went around to the different groups of students. We introduced ourselves and then said one thing we enjoy doing. The students did the same. This was a great way to break the ice, and make the kids feel a bit more comfortable with us before we all went in to teach our lessons! Each group also brought a book that went along with the topic they would be teaching in their lesson. It was a quick pre-assessment to see what the students, if anything, knew about the topic. Our topic, "The Colonies Become Free" was an interesting topic. The students seemed to know the concept, but did not know completely understand certain facts about the colonies or American Independence. I enjoyed the article, Pretests; Importance and Uses of Pretests, on the benefits of creating and administering pretests. Pretests can be extremely beneficial for not only the teacher, but also the student. After this first introductory day, I am very excited to begin this fieldwork experience! 

Pre-Adventure: Newness, Nerves, & Navigation!

So, the anticipation is building to the new semester! This will be, by far, my hardest semester. That being said, I am a bag of mixed emotions! Hence, this post's name! I know I have been in tough situations before, but I have learned to deal with the newness and nerves, and navigate through those feelings to get to the positive outcome. I think this action can be used for any of life's situations. Each event that occurs in our life is something that will change us in the future. Using those negative feelings such as nerves of the newness to power through can help to navigate the "unchartered waters." So, for this extremely difficult semester, that will be my goal. Little by little, I take the good and the bad, and get through it, knowing I will come out a better and more capable person on the other side. More importantly I will become a more enriched teacher, providing my students with the most engaging, and informational lessons and activities. 

Day One √

I made it through the first day of Social Studies Methods class! I am overwhelmed to say the least, but I know through this course I will become a better teacher, and become more comfortable in the social studies classroom, which is the ultimate goal. I liked Dr. Smirnova's honesty, in saying that this will be a rigorous course, but the outcomes far outweigh the temporary struggles. I also found comfort in reading the letters from previous students regarding this course.  Most of the letters said that this course was tough, but by the end of this course the technology skills you will learn will be immense. This makes me excited! I have always struggled with technology, and it was always a source that worked me up. Through this course I am hoping to become more comfortable in the technology area. I want to be the best teacher I can be, and I know with that comes the responsibility of knowings all the newest technology. Knowing the latest technology can help bring the most to your classroom, and bring learning to life for your students.


We were asked to view this video to the left, A Vision of K-12 Students Today. I really enjoyed watching this video. It showed the difference in classrooms today, as opposed to a couple years ago. It is no surprise that todays technology has deeply impacted teaching and learning alike. The video shows students with personal messages of surprising 21st century statistics. These statistics from 21st century learners show how we as teachers have to change our classrooms into 21st century learning environments. These students have had access to computers since they were toddlers, and they expect all of their learning to incorporate some sort of technology aspect. Based on comments I have heard prior to stepping in this classroom, and what I learned on the first day, I have no doubt in my mind that I will come out of the class with all of the necessary tools I need to create a 21st century classroom, and a positive and effective learning environment for my students.