Week 4 SCED 330 and EDUC 410

SCED 330

In science class this Tuesday we had an activity where we had a hypothetical situation (which is 100% probable in our future classrooms) where we get a question from a student that we do not know the answer to. In class our question was “how do hurricanes form?” So we spent a set amount of time researching this question to where we could understand it and then turn around and explain it to the student. I thought this was great practice for the classroom and really helped us to see what would be a good practice in this sort of situation. This activity also went into standard 3 of NCTCS, teachers need to know the content they are teaching. We did not know the answer to this question so we had to research it. This will happen to us because we do not know everything there is to know about everything, but it is important for us to understand this, and we still have to find the information so that we can teach our students. This also goes with standard 1. As leaders we need to understand that our learning never ends, this was a great opportunity for us to see this and learn something new that we would then share with our students. 

We are continuing our work on our Ecocolumns this week. These things are so much fun, I am really enjoying the project, and I am proud in someways as to how mine is turning out. In other ways it is not turning out quite as I had hoped but that is how science goes. It is an experiment, these things do not always turn out as you expected. Another assignment I am really enjoying is the Science Through My Lens project. I mentioned this in my last blog but it has become a lot of fun trying to notice things that are happening around me. These things have always been happening but now I am focusing on them and really seeing them. It is harder for me to come up with questions to go with my pictures but I am starting to get the hang of it. I am excited about getting started on our experiments next week for our science fair group project as well. We have our plan all ready and I am raring to go.

One of my biggest struggles this week is still procrastination, I have gotten a lot better but I am still not quite there. I have done really well in getting this week’s things done in all of my classes but I have been struggling in getting ahead in next week’s assignments. I have to get them done because I know I will not have time to do them next week. The hardest things are the group projects though. Doing my own assignments early can be accomplished easier than getting my groups to meet earlier in the week to get those things done. But my plan is to get into contact with all of my groups to get those things done, or it least figure out my part and get my parts done early in the week. 

I went through the hyperdoc that was shared on chapter 2 this week. It is really cool and kind of fun to go through. I think the group did a great job with their links, with the videos and sites they found. I liked how they put arrows pointing out all of the links so that they were not missed. Something that stood out to me personally was the question “[What was] your most memorable science experiment?” This got me to thinking on all the science experiments and activities that I got to do during my public school years and even while I was homeschooled. It brought up all of those memories that have stuck with me, and it made me think about the impact those classes had on me. Through out all of school those science experiments are what have stuck with me the best. All of those hands on experiences have stayed with me, much better than what I just read out of a textbook. It made me think of what those certain teachers did for me, and made me realize how much I wanted to be able to do this for my future students.

EDUC 410

In 410 this week we have been working on Task 4 of edTPA. This has been really hard for me. We are using data collected to go back and come up with a strategy for re-teaching a lesson. However, we are making up the information right in the middle. It is one thing when you start creating a beginning lesson plan. It is another when you are trying to imagine what that first lesson was, then imagining what the students need extra work on and creating a new lesson from that. This has just been struggle for me this week. In our seminar we have been talking about feedback. I have always thought feedback was hugely important. I know as a student myself I always hated when teachers would just put a check mark or something on my work. Even if I got a 100 I wanted to know what I did well on on the assignment. If I got a lower grade I wanted to know why. Especially if I was going to have a similar assignment later because I wanted to know what I needed to improve on. This is highly important for students. They need to know what their strengths and weaknesses were on an assignment. The whole reason is for them to grow and improve. If we do not give them the information they need to do this, how will they know? This will definitely be something that I will be proactive in in my future classroom. I do not want my students to feel like I did as a student. I want them to have feedback so that they can grow.

Tweets

So this week all of my top tweets are lists of tools and strategies that teachers can use. I am bookmarking all of these links and I hope they are useful to you guys.

This first one is list of 20 strategies to help keep your students engaged. Even those reluctant to do anything in your class. It is just a list of ideas that you can do that might help, and it is highly useful. I was going to pick on thing off the list as an example but honestly I cannot pick one and I think everyone should read the whole list. 

https://ww2.kqed.org/mindshift/2016/03/03/20-strategies-for-motivating-reluctant-learners/ 

This link is focused more on a teachers relationship with their students. What are some ways that you can become a memorable educator? Again I like all of these strategies but I will pick one this time. One of the strategies is to be approachable. A simple thing to do to help with this is situating yourself or your desk to where your students are not intimidated or feel cut out. You want them to be able to come up to you with questions or feel like they can talk to you.

http://www.teachhub.com/teaching-strategies-become-memorable-educator

This last link could be used for teachers, parents, students, and ourselves. This is a list of strategies or tips to help get you organized. But these are categorized by learning styles. So there are tips for the best ways for a kinesthetic learner to get organized, an auditory learner, and a visual learner. I am a visual learner and looking through those tips I find that they are definitely things that help me. Some that I already like to do and others that I have never thought of. However, no learner is stuck in one category, each person fits into each style in different ways, so do not forget to look at the other categories because you may find something that would work for you there too. I know I did.

http://www.coolcatteacher.com/tips-organize-learning-styles/