If you didn't already know, TED Talks are one of my favorite things. I have yet to watch a TED talk I didn't enjoy, and I always found inspiration from them.
The TED Talk from today's class was amazing, addressing a very important aspect of teaching. BUILDING RELATIONSHIPS WITH STUDENTS.
"Every Kid Needs a Champion" Rita Peison TED talk
It is so important that as teachers, we recognize that one of the most important aspects of teaching is creating relationships with our students. Through building relationships many things can happen.
First, students can have someone they can trust and talk to outside of family. Belonging is such an important need, that if a student feels like they don't belong, they will not enjoy school, and may even have difficulty concentrating i class.
In the video, Peirson talks about apologizing to students. It is important for students to realize that event their teacher is not perfect. If students can see their teacher admitting to mistakes, they can see that it is acceptable for them to make mistakes.
I really enjoyed the saying she gave her students to make them feel important and successful. Students need to know that they are enough, and that they can achieve their goals and dreams, and succeed in school and in life. All it takes is one person to believe in t a student and their whole educational experience is different.
My mom has been teaching in the same school for four years. Her first year she taught two half day Kindergarten class, and now she teaches second grade. Every time I visit her classroom, she has former students come to her room and visit her during their lunch. Her former students love her.
In fact, her students have asked to stay in second grade, just so they could have her as a teacher again.
Teachers really do make a difference. Often not through the things they teach, but through the relationships they build with their students.
Until next time...
Ashley
April 27
I read this article for class today that also talks about relationships and hope. Wanted to add it to this post.
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:fr9HLeNq20AJ:www.unco.edu/cebs/diversity/pdfs/duncan_note%2520to%2520educators_%2520hope%2520required%2520when%2520growing%2520roses%2520in%2520concrete.pdf+&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
Ashley
Monday, March 28, 2016
Wednesday, March 16, 2016
Denver Practicum
About two week ago, I had the opportunity to spend the day observing a 1st grade classroom in the Denver Public School District. It was one of the greatest learning experiences so far in my schooling. I gained many great ideas I hope to one day use in my own classroom. I will start from the begining of the day.
We arrived at our classroom shortly after the day began. When I entered the classroom, the students were reading individually while the teacher took attendance. I really like the idea of beginning the day with reading. I like this idea way better than having students do "morning work" such as English or math worksheets. Students are able to not only read and get focused for the day, but it can help build a love of reading.
The teacher gathered the class for morning meeting. There were multiple aspect of their morning meeting. A few of my favorites were counting the number of day they had been in school using coins. It was the 114th day of school, so the coins were a dollar coin, a dime, and 4 pennies. One of my other favorites were that the students would say good morning to each of their peer sitting on each side of them. This had to have been my absolute favorite part of the day.
Another really cool thing the class did was spelling with the fifth grade class. The first graders walked to the fifth grade room with their spelling list. The fifth graders gave the first graders their spelling test, and then wrote down their next list, which include two words of their choice. This gave the students more of a say in their learning.
The classroom included a lot of group work, as well as individual. There was a good mixture of direct instruction as well as self lead learning, such as literacy rotations.
I also noticed that, for the most part, the classroom as the school did not have any teacher chosen decorations, such as posters, bulletin boards with boarders, or theme decorations. The classroom only had student focused wall hangings. The teachers desk, while apparent, was not used very often. There was a significant use of technology by the students, including computers and tablets during literacy rotations. However the teacher did not use technology throughout the day. He used his computer for attendance, and a overhead projector to go over a worksheet.
My other favorite part of the day was watching the children in PE. Although I do not plan on being a PE teacher, this provided lots of inspiration. The PE teacher set up an obstacle course in the gym based off of the Indiana Jones movies. The student knew the rules and we excited to participate. The course included lots of mats and soft surfaces. The students truly enjoyed the course, and the teacher trusted them.
I truly enjoyed spending the day in a first grade classroom in Denver.
Untill next time...
Ashley
We arrived at our classroom shortly after the day began. When I entered the classroom, the students were reading individually while the teacher took attendance. I really like the idea of beginning the day with reading. I like this idea way better than having students do "morning work" such as English or math worksheets. Students are able to not only read and get focused for the day, but it can help build a love of reading.
The teacher gathered the class for morning meeting. There were multiple aspect of their morning meeting. A few of my favorites were counting the number of day they had been in school using coins. It was the 114th day of school, so the coins were a dollar coin, a dime, and 4 pennies. One of my other favorites were that the students would say good morning to each of their peer sitting on each side of them. This had to have been my absolute favorite part of the day.
Another really cool thing the class did was spelling with the fifth grade class. The first graders walked to the fifth grade room with their spelling list. The fifth graders gave the first graders their spelling test, and then wrote down their next list, which include two words of their choice. This gave the students more of a say in their learning.
The classroom included a lot of group work, as well as individual. There was a good mixture of direct instruction as well as self lead learning, such as literacy rotations.
I also noticed that, for the most part, the classroom as the school did not have any teacher chosen decorations, such as posters, bulletin boards with boarders, or theme decorations. The classroom only had student focused wall hangings. The teachers desk, while apparent, was not used very often. There was a significant use of technology by the students, including computers and tablets during literacy rotations. However the teacher did not use technology throughout the day. He used his computer for attendance, and a overhead projector to go over a worksheet.
My other favorite part of the day was watching the children in PE. Although I do not plan on being a PE teacher, this provided lots of inspiration. The PE teacher set up an obstacle course in the gym based off of the Indiana Jones movies. The student knew the rules and we excited to participate. The course included lots of mats and soft surfaces. The students truly enjoyed the course, and the teacher trusted them.
I truly enjoyed spending the day in a first grade classroom in Denver.
Untill next time...
Ashley
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