The last blog...

Whew....

That is all I can say. I feel like a balloon that finally can deflate. This is the last blog for Social Studies Methods! And we all shout: HALLELUJAH!!!~

This week has been super busy with trying to complete the final assignments that wrap of the semester. I have been confined to my living room at my desk or to my kitchen table with doing projects, test, discussions, and of course a UNIT. I wish I was able to enjoy the blog experience, a little bit more, actually talk about thinks when they were more meaningful. But because I was overloaded with four classes, projects, home life, a full time job, extra-curricular activities, and more... this was just another assignment that HAD to be completed. I understand that Dr. Parker wanted us to become familiar with another avenue of technology-- but maybe for future DCP
students, maybe make it like a months worth of blogs (to get them familiar) and then let it go. This class alone comes with so many components that dragging out these types of assignments can make them become a nuisance.

But this class is now over. I appreciate the many ways that Dr. Parker has tried to bring different ways of teaching to his students.

Believe me when I say I take full responsibility in agreeing to take 3 other classes with this class. I think I got caught up in just wanting to finish my degree within a certain time period that I was making unrealistic commitments that aren't conducive with my life style. I have learned my lesson and plan to continue my DCP program according to the flow of my life.

As  future teacher, we all will have to learn how to not live in the OVERLOAD! But rest in the  OVERFLOW. This means we have to understand we are not superheroes. We cannot tackle everything at one time. That causes stress and eventually we become wore out and unproductive. We need to find time to rest in the overflow of Gods love and trust that He will provide and take care of you.

I relate my blog to standard 4: Teachers facilitate learning for their students- however, this time I am the student. I know the way that I learn best and know what I need to be successful in my future DCP classes. I am a consumer of my education and have to make sure that I am  doing whats best for me.

I did it!!!

So, do you remember when I said I was going to the fifth grade class to do a teaching lesson? Well I did it and it was a success. I was completely nervous, having being in front of a age group that I was not use too, but once I got in the flow of things-- I was off!

The teacher, Ms. Unferth, was very supportive in helping me to prepare my lesson. She wanted me to do a lesson on the American Revolutionist Patrick Henry. Of course, I had to refresh my memory on the events that lead up to the war and the role Patrick Henry played with in it. I had to seriously, "know the content (standard 3)" I was going to teach so I would not make a fool of myself. Most importantly, I did not want to confuse the students from what their teacher had already told them.
During my observation, Ms. Unferth provided me with handouts and her teacher resource website (password and login). She told me the suggested learning targets of the lesson.  From there, I conducted my own research, lesson plan, notes, and formulated a mini presentation introducing Patrick Henry on Google Slides.

Yes. You heard me right. I used GOOGLE SLIDES!!!  (Standard 4- teachers facilitate learning for their students; B and C)

When it was time to teach, I didnt believe I that I did as wonderful as I know I can do. My lesson plan was full of things that I could say to make the subject relate-able, different approaches-- basically I over planned (the words of Ms. Unferth), which I learned later was common for most teachers. Most important;y, the students were wonderful listeners. They were engaged during my lesson. They gave me deep, meaningful conversation. They enjoyed their learning tasks within the lesson. They had fun reciting part of the famous speech "Give me liberty, or Give me Death!"-- this was hilarious.
When I was finished, Ms. Unferth was amazed at how energetic I was. She said me being excited about social studies made them excited about learning it.
She also liked that I connect Patrick Henry to being a politician-- something the students can relate to with the upcoming election coming up. She found many highlights within my lesson that made me feel much better than what I had thought took place.


All in all, it went wonderfully. I enjoyed experiencing teaching through a different perspective and a completely different age group. But now it is time to get back to my preschool age babies and prepare for my future LOWER elementary students!!!

I think I Can, I think I Can, I think I Can...

Its Almost Over, and I am feeling like the little engine that could. Spring break was a good mind relief for me and I hope it was for everyone else.


Todays blog will be, once again, coming from personal experience. I was talking to a parent who was expressing her feelings about the way she felt things were going for her kindergartener child. She was worried that the teacher was not doing her best to make sure that she reached the needs of every student in her class- especially hers. Because of this, the parent begin to blame the school for experience that she was having from her child's teacher.

While I am a member of this particular student body, I had to handle this in a professional manner by NOT undermining the parents feelings and perception. I also did not want to throw my co-worker under the bus. So I proceeded to handle it the best I knew how. I redirected the situation with a question... "have you talk to you administration and addressed your concerns and perception to them?" The conversation continued, concluding with the parent realizing that she needed to speak to the teacher and/or her administration. I reassured her that often, a "teaching problem" is not always a "school problem".

Here's my point....
A lot of times we may think that what we teach and how we teach are the only factors that count in the classroom. But it is not. The parents matter just as much as the students. It is important, just like we have been taught in our professional teaching standards, to know your parents. Ask them what they need, what they want, what are their goals for their student, what is their perception of their childs learning experience. Make your face known to them. While I will probably never know why the parent is just now expressing these feelings with two months of school left, I do not want to have that issue ever in my own classroom.

We have to make sure that we put just as much effort into parent "building" as we do preparing our students for the future. Its like customer service-- its okay to ask them, "how may I help you?'

Now, you may have some parents that are not involved and don't seemed to interested in their child's academics. Its still okay to offer the same amount of availability to them as you would with an very active parent. You might even get some parents that want to be involved but don't know how. Its all about how you present yourself.

Remember...
Perception is greater than truth. If someone perceives something (good or bad) about you, its because you might have presented something that gave them a reason to believe that. Is that perception the truth about you? Sometimes not. But its up to us to change that perception into something positive.

Make the connections:
This blog is in connection to standard 2e. Teachers work collaboratively with the families and significant adults in the lives of their students. 

Out of My Element...

This week I had the privilege of going to the school where I will do my clinical observation and teaching at for this class. Surprisingly Dr. Parker put me in a 5th grade class. This is completely different than any other classroom that I had been sent to because I usually get a low elementary class. I had already been briefed about the excellence of the school, so I was a little anxious to see what lied in store for me.

Unfortunately, I was able to find the fifth grade help center that Dr. Parker was bragging about prior to me coming. I noticed where the station might have been because there was an "ask me" sign still out. However, there were no fifth graders out.  I assumed because they were in class already. None the less, I check in and make my way down to the assigned classroom. The first thing I had noticed was that this was not a "traditional" classroom setting.

There were a bunch of desk. The chairs were all different: some rolled, some were bar stools, others were in regular chairs. It seemed like a lot of differentiation just from the first impression perspective. Then I begin to notice the way she had her students grouped. I could tell who the stronger students were compared to the others. I could tell who required more attention and which peers were specifically placed to be peer leaders. After speaking with the teacher, I confirmed my assumption. She strategically placed her students where they were. The classroom flowed form strongest to weakest, with peer leaders in between. The student that had a table (not a desk) to herself said that she would rather work at a table and need some space to herself.

I also learned from the teacher that the school I was in was an individualized learning school- which means that they focus on keeping things student centered.She explained that the reason there were different types of chairs is because each student chose the chair that they are most comfortable in, The rolly, twisty chairs are for the students that just can not be still and have to move as they work. Each type of chair met the need of her students and they actually learned best that way.

I almost forgot the main reason I visited in the first place because I was so impressed from how the class was set up and the way her class flowed. My fear of fifth grade has been suppressed and now I am excited to interact with such a variety of learners.
***Disclaimer: I still want to teach lower elementary, but for the sake of this class-- exposure is beneficial.***
I can connect my experience with standard 2c. Teachers treat students as individuals. It was evident that the teacher was doing what she needed to do for the benefit of her students academic needs as well as social needs.She listened to what they said would help them learn and she made it happen. It is benefiting not only her students but her as the facilitator as well.

Parental Control...

Ok so who's ready for some real life classroom talk?

I have plenty to share with you all this week. If you do not already know, I work at a private Christian preschool as a K3/K4 teacher. We are different than your average preschool because we prepare our students for regular grade school. We plan real lessons for them- ranging from kindergarten/ first grade content, they learn Science and  Social Social studies, Sign language, and Spanish.


You can also imagine how much differentiation we have to put into play to make sure content is taught and learning takes place. Our lessons are very visual, exaggerated and hands on. In addition, students have homework assignments Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and possibly Friday. Not Wednesday due to church (chapel day is Wednesday).


Days, as you can imagine, can be very long, especially when you add the typical behavior of a 3-5 year old (sometimes two going on three) into factor. The students emotional development can sometimes seem like a learning disability and have to be treated sensitively. The accidents, runny noses, cries for mommy, or even power struggles can make you want to run and hide. But nothing-- I repeat, NOTHING-- is worse than the parents.

I wish there was a GWU class that helped you interact with parents. I mean, some of the ones that I have this year, I never knew existed.

Dont get me wrong, I understand that preschool age can make you "touchy" , but we are raising up the next generation. What happened to accountability? Teaching children to respect adults? Or parents that are involved in their students learning and school activities? 

Nowadays, it just seems like parents want teachers to do everything-- raise them and teach them," but don't tell me anything is wrong with them".

I just dont get it.

Specifically in my work situation, I play the role as the "teacher leader". This usually means, I handle the parent-teacher interaction (major conferences, parents concerns, questions, behavior concerns,etc.) that does not require my director to be present. Thankfully my director has trained me enough to tactfully handle these parent (sometimes irrational) concerns. For example:
 Me: Hello parent of Susie. Susie is doing a great job in Spanish. I can tell she enjoys it because she always remains engaged and attentive during the lesson. However, I have noticed that when Spanish is over and Susie has to transition back to her original classroom, she behaves a totally different way for her lead teacher. There is a lot of  back talk, loud interruptions, redirecting from her teacher, and sometimes she has to leave the classroom.
Parent of Susie:  Why is always my child. I just don't think her and this teacher mesh well. Is there any way she can stay with you during the day or you come down and check on her Mrs. Durham?

Me: I am with K3, and I don't want to start a habit of her coming into my class as her way of escape. Eventually, she will have to obey the rules of her teachers class.

Parent of Susie: Also, she stayed up late-- until one o'clock-- so that can be why she is misbehaving as well. 

Me : (in my head: are you kidding me!!) Outloud (with a smile): I can understand where that may effect her behavior today....
 
You would be amazed by the excuses parents make up for their students. If its like this in preschool, I can only imagine how it is in the upper grade levels. This is the fine print that goes along with being a teacher that I believe school cannot prepare you for. Luckily, I am blessed with experience now that will help me in my future.
 ALL I can say is get you best smiles in order. Hopefully one day one of us will be nominated a teacher award for best performance!

NCTCS number 1: Teachers demonstrate leadership, 1C: Teachers lead the teaching profession, and 2E: Teachers work collaboratively with families and significant adults in the lives of their students.

**please feel free to share any parent interactions that you might have experienced that you thought was unique**

It's like a box of chocolates...

To began this weeks blog, I just want to point out the differentiation discussion. I know that Melissa works with hearing impaired students and interprets for them in a first grade classroom and probably was the inspiration for this discussion this week. I never really put much though in how much consideration goes into having a hearing impaired student in my classroom. I could only imagine the type of planning that is involved, as well as instruction-- giving the interpreter enough time to transfer the information and the student enough time to comprehend it.
Teachers already have their plates full with just basic everyday instruction, but having a student that evidently needs assistance (yet still trying to keep them equal) can be challenging. I pray that I have the tools and strategies to conquer this challenge if this should be my story.


Secondly, I find the TPACK and the SAMR are great benchmarks for making sure that teachers are teaching through a pedagogical, technological and conceptual lenses-- along with being able to measure the level of technology use. I remember being introducesd to these two frameworks in a class with Dr. Clark , so its nice to not be totally oblivious to what they are. I found TPACK to be interesting because it is a combination of everything that I have learned separately (pedagogy, technology, and concepts) wrapped into one framework. SAMR gets a little bit tricky as you have to measure the the level of technology within the content. These infographs were easy for me to follow as I trully begin to undersatnd what both of these frameworks mean and how I use them within my own classroom. I really liked the SAMR inforgraph because it correlates with Bloom's taxonomy, which I am more familiar and comfortable with.

Outside of being reintroduced to TPACK and SAMR and a refreshing differentiation discussion, it has been work as usual. We are learning so much in this class. It's been like a box of chocolates, you just never know what you are going to get! But I hope everyone is continuing to give it all they've got and push through the semester. We are half way there!!

Connection to the standards: 4c. Teachers use a variety of instructional methods. 4d.Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction.

Celebrating Black History Month

So my experience from this week comes from my own preschool classrooms. Like almost every classroom, we have been talking about Black History Month : why it is important and acknowledging some achievements of certain individuals. February is almost over and I wanted to make sure that the students were grasping what MLK, Rosa Parks, Harriet Tubman, etc.., helped do for our community as well as our country. I had remembered a lesson that I had watched in our diversity class. It was of the teacher that separated her students-- giving one group hats and the others a white collar. She picked one group and told the class that the groups she picked, whether collared or hats, was the better, smarter, prettier group. However, the other group was mean, stupid, smelly (negative things).

So I tried this approach with my preschoolers. Since we wear  uniform shirts that the students choose from to wear daily, I chose the color I was wearing (blue) as the "better" group. The other students not wearing my color was a bunch of negative things (preschool lingo: bed wetters, booger eaters, do not color in the lines). The blue group was deemed smarter, prettier, never had accidents, not cry babies, colors in the lines, etc. and I began to reward them with treats and goodies fir their "awesomeness". Eventually everyone began to react to the things I was telling them.

To my surprise, majority of the non-blue shirts denied everything I told them they was not. They said, "yes we are smart!" "Yes, we are pretty, or handsome!" Some of the younger ones revoked their friendship of the blue shirts, others cried. The blues shirt students began to tease the other shirt students. They began to call them "pee-pee" kids and saying "na na na na na, we are smarter!" Even when I asked the blue shirt students if they were friends with the other students, they replied "NO!"

I did not allow the example to go as long as the other teacher but I just long enough to be able to get my point across to them.I showed them that just from one person saying something can divide or unify people. MLK fought for unity along with many others. I elaborated from here asking them if it was fair for the blue shirts to turn on them the way they did. I asked both side how it made them feel. You would be amazed how three and four years old respond to prejudice and discrimination.

I enjoyed doing this example with my preschool students. It opened up for a bunch of discussion and they were make a connection in their own lives. I even learned from them as well. I can  connect this experience to Standard 2:Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students, with a focus on standard 2b. Teachers embrace diversity in the school community and in the world. I can also related to standard 3d. Teachers make instruction relevant to students.

Re-Vampped.. On my way...

Okay, so last week I was little emotional about things was turning out within this class. The grading and workload was beginning to get to me and I was seriously contemplating everything about this program. But as you can see I am still here, I have talked about my struggles in the Monday night meeting, released and forgave, and now I am re-vamped and on my way to begin again.

So we have been putting in a lot of work in our units and some on our museum. These assignments require us to think outside the box (or comfort zone) to make Social Studies lessons powerful and meaningful. Within in this, I have been trying to get use to new avenues of technology (which is one of my goals on my PDP) so that I can present lesson/ assignments on something other than a PowerPoint. Fortunately, I came across something called Powtoons. Powtoons is a free Internet software where you create animated videos. It allows you to add images, movement, music, voice overs and much more. I was going to try to use it in my wisdom from experience assignment, but I think I was over thinking it and was therefore unable to bring it together.

I  definitely think that Powtoons is a great asset to the technology resources that I am endeavoring to learn.So far,  I have enjoyed getting to know all that it can do on Powtoons and playing with the voice over tools. I know that if I gave it more time, I could master me a Powtoons video and probably love it. If you guys find yourself in need of a new technology tool, for this class or any other class, give Powtoons a chance.

Next Challenge... a Prezi Presentation..


Connect the Standards 
d. Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction.

Teachers know when and how to use technology to maximize student learning. Teachers help students use technology to learn content, think critically, solve problems, discern reliability,use information, communicate, innovate, and collaborate.

1.Integrates technology with instruction to maximize students’ learning.

It's Gonna Get Better...

Whew, I am ready for this week to be over!! It has been a little challenging staying on top of things in this class with a full-time job, family life, and 3 other classes. I feel like I am trying to learn my whole degree in one class. I get that eventually this will benefit me in the long run, and I am grateful for the experience, but sometimes I feel like this class is not family-life (or any other life) friendly. Its like, where is everyone finding all this time? Just when I think I am getting it all done, something slips through the cracks. This week my emotions have tried to take the best of me. I felt like my life could not fit such a large workload in it. But thank God for a great support system.

My husband is my anchor (after Jesus). He reminded me that it is going to get better. This week may have been rough, but I cant let it set the tone for the rest of the semester. I have work to do, goals to accomplish and children to impact. I have to keep my eyes on the prize. I also want to shout out to my friend Melissa Meekins, who was placed in my life through divine appointment. We have each others back and refuse to let one other quit. It was a "mistake" that led us right to each other, and since then we have build a strong friendship and support.

Having a strong support system can be important to your success. Who is to say that you wont be placed in a teaching environment where you may feel "inadequate" or discouraged? Do you just quit? No. IT WILL GET BETTER. Sometimes I feel like I do not have it all together, even when I think I should. Being a mom and a wife alone can make me feel like a super hero-- but I'm not. That is why God places certain people in our lives to lift us when we are weak. In this case it was my husband and Melissa.  We are supposed to pray for one another, and encourage one another-- and sometimes that may mean you are the one who needs it.


I just want to encourage everyone that may be in their emotions about their class(es), jobs, or even home-life-- It is going to get better!We can do it: Greater is He who is in me, than he who is in the world ( 1 John 4:4)! We are more than conquers, world over-comers and have the VICTORY!!!

Appreciate your support team. Allow them to lift up your arms, encourage you, and pray for you!!

I am learning a lot from this class: differentiation, how to write a SS unit, how to flip a classroom and much more. But this week, I have really learned the importance of a support team.  I can connect my experience to standard 5B: Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals. I realize where support teams can be important within my personal life, professional life, and future career. I set a goal to embrace my support team, collaboration, and team work-- at home,school and in a teaching community.

Getting Into the Flow of things...

       OK, so this week I have been proud of myself. To start of, I enjoyed the Monday night meeting that we had for class. We really went in depth with finding generalizations for our units. This helped me to get the flow of my unit and I think I might actually be enjoying it (Scary, huh?). I am doing a first grade unit on Government and Leadership. The only problem that I have come across would be thinking in the Backwards design mindset. I want to plan my learning tasks and assessments before I have my"big idea" of the unit plan.  I also tend to over think, which is not always helpful. But I can honestly say, I am really learning something in the process of it all.
   
      This week I had the opportunity of talking with some great teachers in relation to Social Studies and instruction. I was amazed how, though  I asked the same questions to both teachers, the answers were COMPLETELY different. In one of my questions, I asked about differentiation instruction. I heard some interesting remarks about that. One teacher (3rd grade) spoke of differentiation as in independent learning and the other teacher (Kindergarten) spoke of differentiation in whole group. It was amazing how differentiation is used do differently.Speaking of differentiation, I enjoyed the differentiate video in  the google community this week. That video of Mr. Smith gave a clear and concise example of what differentiation can look like in a real classroom (even though he was a cartoon). Great job Meghan and Lacey!

     

To take the cake of this week has got to be the flipped classroom. Is this not the best idea ever? I like the idea of allowing mys students to look at the lesson prior to the classroom. That way the students are ale to fully engage in what they are suppose to gain, without having to spend to much time on the "background information". I personally think this would especially be helpful in math (especially college math-- hint, hint). The only thing I would question about the flipped classroom theory would be, what happens if the students do not go home and watch the video's? Then would you still have to teach the lesson, making the flipped classroom strategy ineffective? Or what if they do not have a computer, laptop, or technology in the home? I guess that is why its important to know your students and their demographics.

All in all I can honestly say that this has been a pretty productive week for me and it feels good. Now, what about this virtual museum????


Tying it in with the standards... 
This week my focus was surrounded with preparing myself for teaching, research and planning, and collaboration. Therefore the standards that I feel most appropriate to tie in this weeks learning experiences would be: 

3a. Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study: Finding the appropriate standards to go in our unit 
4b. Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students: collaborating with classmates on differentiation as well as teacher interviewee's.
4c. Teachers use a variety of instructional methods: Using the flipped classroom approach

Get 'ERR Done!!!

Okay, so raise your hand if you can possibly see the light at the end of the tunnel...?

(I raised my hand)

So now we are in our third week of SSED307 and I am happy to say that I am no longer afraid. Has anything changed- the workload, content, or teacher? No. But it is very comforting to know that, in the mist of it all, we have a teacher that is going to do everything he can to ensure that we are prepared, paced, and successful. I really appreciate it. Thanks Dr. Parker.

Now on to the good stuff. In the mist of us doing a million and one task, we have been involved in the google community-- where we have been doing a lot of discussing about differentiation. Differentiation, as a term, is new to me, but the concept was something that I had been doing all along.From experience, I know that all students do not learn the same.In my own classroom, I would sit students together based off skills/academics and give each group a color (which specified their levels). Through differentiating, I have allowed my students to sometimes choose learning task, I have learned different ways of assessing students, and kept my assessments ongoing. 

Of course, my way of differentiating was no where as in depth than what I have been learning from my degree program. I did not even know that the little I was doing had a name. Now, I am enjoying this continuous discussion about what differentiation is, what it looks like, and how to implement it within instruction.

So what does differentiation mean to me? 

• Knowing my students and how they learn
• Providing my students with RICH instruction that maximizes learning
• Using a variety teaching strategies and resources
• Using a variety of assessments to show learning.
• Grouping (to allow peer to peer learning and collaboration) 

In addition to differentiated instruction, Ben and David provided an article in the google community on differentiation in reading.It introduced us to some valuable information on practices that will helps to make reading differentiation successful in our classrooms. I plan to continue to use all that I am learning about differentiation in my pre-k classroom as well as my future classroom.

How Does This Connect to the Teacher Candidate Standards?
 Standard 4: Teachers Facilitate Students Learning connects well with differentiation. Specifically, sub-standards 4a, 4b, 4c, and 4e, all work together to explain why teachers should use differentiation or any other strategy that  may enhance students learning. Teachers can create learning experiences  by knowing their students,planning, using a variety of teaching methods, and promoting critical thinking.

And We're Off..

Congratulations classmates we have made it to the second week of social studies methods. We are well on our way to being technology connoisseurs. We are tweeting, blogging, videoing, and viewing all types of information that will help us to become a great asset to 21st Century teaching and learning.
I must admit that i have found some interesting things on from the tweets that I have been following for the Ttotw. Does anyone else get excited when they see something about a concept that we have learned or are learning?! The words PBL (Project Based Learning) or CBI are not foreign abbreviations anymore. I think we are off to a great start. Keep it up guys!


So what have I been learning? 
We have focused on concepts vs. topics this week and boy I must say, it is an eye opener. As a child you don't really know what is the right or wrong way your teacher is supposed to be teaching. You are just the receiver of all the topics, facts, and information that they believe will make you knowledgeable. Sometimes it's easy for teachers to get stuck in teaching what's required so the students can pass the test, meet the standards, and get the funding. But what about what happens after the class? What imprint are teachers leaving after the lesson? How did teaching/ learning that topic help alter a students view or perspective of the "their " real world? 

These are the questions, I now realize, the old way of teaching neglected. Much of teaching back then came with no intent other passing the test. To teach with intent is called " intentional teaching". When I was in school it was very few teachers that I realize was intentional. I can count on one hand how many of those intentional teachers were Social Studies teachers. Intentional teachers do not just teach topics. They are the teachers who educate their students and center their topics around the concept they are intending to teach. 


So what are concepts? Concepts are the "big idea"  of the lesson. Concepts are abstract, timeless, transferable, and universal.

On the other hand, topics are specific events or information that is conscious of time frame, centered around subject, facts, a small picture,and limited to one region.
Concept Based teaching helps teachers teach with the students needs in mind- centering topics around the " big idea" that they want students to grasp at the end of the unit. I plan to use this type of instruction within my own classroom. It will allow me to make my lessons centered around my students, and remove the old way of teaching from the book out of my class. I never plan to do anything in my class that does not have the best interest of my students in mind. I am an intentional teacher.


So what are the standards?? 
So each of our lessons come with some reference centered around the teacher candidate standards ( because our teacher is intentional). Everything we learn from this class makes a better teacher as well as more marketable for our career. So from this lesson I can connect it to standard 1c- teachers lead in the teaching profession and 4b- teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students.  21st Century teaching changes the mold of how we were taught and the old fashioned way of teaching. We will lead by sharing these strategies with other teachers and making a "imprint" in our students,school and community. Planning our instruction appropriately for our students indicate that we do understand how learning takes place in our classroom. We take time to plan our lessons that will demonstrate learning taking place in our students. We focus on the concept and make it center around topics that are relevant to the real world of our students. We are intentional. 

So Much to Do..

Ok so lets try this again.

Its been a whole semester since I have been on a blog and I think I can do it now. It was a bit overwhelming for me the last time I graced this environment with my thoughts, but now I am back, better, and ready to take this thing by F.O.R.C.E!
F- Focused
O-Organized
R- Resourceful
C-Calm
E-Elevate
Wow! I just made that up off the top of my head, but it is exactly the acronym I need to get through this semester. Thank you God for that insight!

Okay, so in this class (SSED307) there is much to do with the internet and technology. I understand that we are living in a digital age and it is important for us as 21st century teachers to be up to speed on the internet and its online tools. However, if you are a "technology alien"  like me, this can be intimidating. So I decided to do a little research to see how much technology teachers are using in their classroom/ instruction.

I did not find much as far as statistics. While technology has it standards within the common core requirements, there are certain setback that restrict schools from having accessibility to technology. Therefore, funding, demographics, and culture all play a role in who will or how much technology is available in a school (or teaching experience). Technology can play major roles in the classroom, but some schools may require more effort in integrating this tool with in classroom instruction.

On the other hand,  I was surprised to find that there was so much talk about using virtual reality within the classroom. In the article I read called "Could Virtual Reality be the Next Big Thing in Education?", the writer points out, "Virtual learning through a VR system could open up a new window of opportunity for STEM education, difficult and often mundane content to be presented in a new and exciting way." This seemed to be the point of view for frequent writers within the articles I found on the internet. So though I dread (at least for now) the thought of putting together my own virtual museum (a requirement for this class),  I do believe it will introduce me to some beneficial skills that I could use within my own classroom one day. If anything, it might get me some extra kuddos on my resume!

It looks like its going to be a great semester. I am confident that we will all get through this victoriously. Don't worry, but take it by F.O.R.C.E!!!!

***P.S: If you have any information (articcle, statistics, facts, etc.) regarding the amount or types of technology being exposed in classrooms or future classrooms, then please feel free to share them below.


Until next time....

 Links
http://www.forbes.com/sites/ptc/2014/08/27/could-virtual-reality-be-the-next-big-thing-in-education/ 

http://www.hypergridbusiness.com/2014/09/5-ways-virtual-reality-will-change-education/
Find the comic at: http://byotnetwork.com/