Fieldwork Experience

Throughout this fieldwork experience, I have learned a lot of important things when it comes to lesson planning, implementing the lesson plans into the classroom, and working with my colleagues to design the lessons.

My groupmates and I were best friends so we had a really easy time getting along and designing the lesson plans.  Some of the things that we need to keep in mind when we were designing the first lesson, which was the direct instruction lesson were what the students knew from the pre-assessment that we gave them and what they did not know.  We also had to make sure that we were covering all the material that we included in the textbook that the students were using.  It was important that we included the key vocabulary terms from the chapter and make sure that the students were taking notes down throughout the lesson.  We provided the students with a special sheet for taking notes.  We also had to make sure that we had enough activities for the guided practice to make sure that the students are grasping the concepts.  We would also have check for understanding slides throughout our presentation to help see if the students understood the material that we just taught.  During our direct instruction lesson, we ran short on time and our activities for our guided practice did not go as planned and the students were a little confused as to what was going on.  I think that if we had planned a different activity than the students would have had more time to practice with the material.  When we were planning our inquiry and cooperative learning lessons we needed to keep in mind how we were going to group the students since it was kind of a wild class.  We also had to remember the scientific method for the inquiry lesson and we needed to make sure that the students understood that before moving on to the rest of the lesson.  In cooperative learning, we needed to plan the different roles that each of the students was going to have and how the students were going to self-evaluate at the end of the lesson.

Some of the things that my group had to keep in mind when we were teaching our lessons in the classroom were if the students were paying attention and retaining the information, this is why we had the notepad and we also used different strategies to check for understanding.  Some of the strategies that we used were thumbs up/down, and turn and talk with a partner.

This was the first education class where we were getting to work in groups to plan and teach lessons in the classroom, we were also teaching to the whole class.  Since my colleagues and I got along well it was easy to work on the lesson plans and implement them in the classroom.

After teaching my lesson it was good to watch the other groups teach their lessons and see the different kinds of strategies that they implemented into their lessons.  Each of the groups had a different way to get the students attention when the students were getting too loud.

This experience overall was a great learning experience.  The different techniques and lessons that I learned throughout this fieldwork will definitely help me in my future teaching career.

Job Interview

Today during class we did a role play job interview.  Four of our colleagues were administrators and asked us different questions on the content that we had learned throughtout the semester.  We first started out by having the administrators introduce themselves and the school that they work at, also the postion that is available.  Each of the administrators had a main focus that they use in their school, one was technology, one was direct instruction, one was the inquiry method, and one was the cooperative learning method.  The rest of the class was interviewing for the different jobs at the different schools.  The class was split up by our fieldwork groups, and the administrators rotated through the four differnt groups.  When the administrators came to our group each time they would start by introducing themselve and would shake our hand and we would introduce ourselve, we kept it very professional the whole time.  The different types of questions that we were asked were about Direct Instruction, Inquiry, and Cooperative Learning, and Technology.  The types of questions that were asked were how would we use the certain method in the classroom?  When we think of the method what is the first color or animal that comes to mind and why?  For technology some of the questions were how we would implement technology into our lessons, and what kind of technology it would be?  Some of the questions that I was asked were fairly simple to answer because I had the experience of teaching the different lesson methods in my fieldwork experience for the course.  I was able to connect some of my experiences from the fieldwork to better answer the question that was asked.  Other questions made me think a litter deeper.  Some of the questions on technology were a little challenging to answer because I did not use a lot of technology when teaching my lessons in the field.  After we had finished going through all the administrators they went and discussed who they thought would have been best for the postion at their school.  They then came back in and announced to the rest of the interviewers the people that got the jobs.

This simulation was a really great way to end the course.  It tested the knowledge that we had learned throughout the course in a different way, a way that would be useful to us.  It really gave me an idea of what a job interview could be like in the future and how to prepare, also an idea of some of the questions that could be asked.  The feedback that the class recieved from the administrators was also very helpful for the future.  They told us to be confident in what we were saying and to connect back to previous experiences that we have had in fieldwork.  Also some of the skills that are good for an effective job interview: communication, experience, and education.

Learning about Native American Tribes

Today in class we split up into different groups and did a jigsaw about Native Americans.  This jigsaw that we did was different from the one that we had done last time.  During this jigsaw, we all worked on the same topic together.  In the previous jigsaw, we had separate topics that we became experts on and then split up into expert groups created a presentation and then went back to our "home" groups and taught them about our topic. During this jigsaw, we were already in our expert groups and we were all becoming experts on the same topic.

Learning about the different tribes of Native Americans is a very important part of Social Studies.  Each of the different groups got a different tribe that we had never heard of before.  The different tribes that we were going to be learning about were the Dine, Muscogee, Tlingit, and Lakota.  We had to research and become experts on our tribe.  My group got the Lakota tribe, this was a very interesting tribe to learn about.  We then created powerpoints and fun activities for when we taught the lesson to the class.  In our powerpoint, we included all different things about the Lakota tribe like their history, some of the traditions that they had, their culture and religion, and many more.  The main thing that we focused on was the geography of the Lakota.  Since we were learning about how to teach geography in the previous class it only seemed right that we did this activity in the next class.  In our presentation, we had to include the five different themes of geography.  We found that the Lakota live in a very hilly and grassy region, they are mainly located in the two Dakotas and the surrounding states.  Most of the other tribes were located in the surrounding states as well.  All of the tribes lived in similar homes, their homes were made out of mud and sticks.  Some common things throughout all of the tribes were song and dance.  Each of the tribes would have certain ceremonial songs and dances that they would do for events.

After we became experts on each of the different tribes we presented our presentations to the rest of the class.  Each of the different groups had a fun activity that had something to do with the tribe that they researched.  One of the groups did a tribe that was very into art.  In order to get the class involved they had them color a symbol that would be found in the tribes' art, we also colored with the most popular colors that were found in the tribes' art. Some of the other groups showed videos of the certain dances that the tribes would do.  For my group, we had a dance that the class was going to do.  The moves from the dance are similar to some of the moves that the Lakota tribe would do in some of their dances.


  

Themes of Geography

In the area of geography there are five themes or areas that make up the study of geography.  The first theme is location the most common way of teaching students about locations is by using coordinates on a map.  Having students locate different places on the map not only teaches them about location but also helps them to improve their map skills.  The second theme is place, a place is defined by everything that is inside of it.  The third theme is region, a region is area that has the same characteristics.  The fourth theme is movement, which is how different things are transported from one place to another.  The fifth theme is human-environment interaction, this theme deals with us as humans and how we have an impact on the environment that we live in.  All of these different themes are important concepts for students to know.  A trick to help students remember the five different themes of geography is MR. HELP. 

 

There are many different ways in which teachers can make teaching geography fun and meaningful to students.  Some of the ways that I found interesting were having the students make a 60 second film, an activity called can of worms, and tell me a story.  For the 60 second film activity the students would create a mini video summarizing a concept that they just learned.  By doing this the teacher would be able to see their understanding and also their creativity.  The Can of Worms activity is a great acitivity for talking about topics that are controversial.  For this activity the teacher would have a can with paper "worms" in it and each of the students would pick a worm out and talk about it.  The worms would be on the topic so in this case geography and the students would have to talk about the what is on the worm for a certain amount of time.  For the Tell me a Story activity the teacher would have a game board with different pictures on it relating to geography and the students would role the dice and whatever picture they land on they would have to include that picture in their story.  The students are getting to create their own geographical story.  These are just a couple of ways that teachers can get students engaged in learning about geography, there are many more ways!  The video attached can be shown in a classroom to teach students about the five themes of geography.

There are also many different strategies to use to make geography meaningful to younger students.  Younger students should have a good foundation of geography skills so that they are better to able understand it more when they get older.  Some of the activities to use with younger students are songs to teach them the basic concepts.  Having them go out into the neighborhood and doing map making.  This way they are getting the basic skills that will help them later on.  When teachers use the students neighborhood it makes it more meaningful to the students because they can make connections.

Artifact Bag Presentation

Links to mine and my colleagues' presentations! 

• My Presentation
• Lexi Presentation
• Michaela Presentation
• Kim Presentation
• Kristen Presentation
• Cassandra Presentation
• Amanda Presentation
• Ganny Presentation
• Marie Presentation
• Cierra Presentation
• Aimee Presentation
• Angelina Presentation 

Today for our class we created our own artifact bags based on the topics that we taught to the students in our fieldwork.  The links mine and the rest of my colleagues' presentations can be found above.  We each picked three or four artifacts that had something to do with our topic and put them in a mystery bag.  We then designed presentations which we presented to our peers in the next class.  We also found websites and children's books that could be used for this activity to give students more information on the topic.

My topic that I taught on was Christopher Columbus so I included different artifacts that had to do with Columbus.  My first artifact was an Italian and Spanish flag.  Columbus was of Italian descent but in order to take his voyages he needed the money from Spain.  The flag is a representation of the two countries.  My next artifact was an image of the Santa Maria ship.  This ship was the largest of Columbus' three ships.  My last artifact was corn, this was a representation of the Columbian Exchange.  During the Columbian Exchange, Columbus transported all different kinds of goods including corn.  The main objective of the artifact bag activity was to have the other group members guess what was in the bag and why all of the objects were in the bag together.  All of these objects were in the bag together because they had to do with Christopher Columbus. 

The artifact bag activity can be used when introducing a new unit or topic, or to give students a more hands-on experience.  Using an artifact bag in the classroom is also a great way to get students to make inferences about a certain topic that they are learning about or they are going to be learning about.  It is a really great activity to use to get students excited about what they are going to be learning.  Students can even create their own artifact bag about themselves! 

Artifact Bag

Today in class we learned a new way to make history more exciting and memorable for students.  This fun way is by using an artifact bag, an artifact bag is a bag that contains different artifacts that all have something in common.  A teacher could use an artifact bag when getting ready to start a new topic in a social studies unit or throughout the unit to get the students more engaged and to have a hands-on experience.  

In class, we worked in our fieldwork groups to try the artifact bag activity.  We choose our bags and opened the artifacts one by one.  One of the artifacts that we had was a set of Russian nesting dolls which are used for decoration and entertainment in Russia.  Our next artifact was called gzhel which is a small porcelain plate.  It is both white and blue and it is also used for decoration and often times you can see candlesticks and dinnerware made out of it.  Our last artifact was a certificate that was written in Russian.  After translating it we came to find out that it belonged to our professor and it was a certificate that she received from a science school in Russia.  All of these artifacts were in the bag because they all had something to do with Russia and they represented the culture and history in Russia.  The nesting dolls and gzhel showed the art and decoration that Russia and how it is very precise.

After we gathered all of our thoughts about the artifact bag that we had and researched about each of the artifacts we presented our bag to the rest of the class.  It was really neat to see what the other groups had in their bag and how their artifacts also related to Russia and its culture.  In a typical artifact bag activity, the teacher can also use a book and a website to have the students gather more information on the artifacts before presenting.  This activity was a really great way to learn more about the Russian culture!  It will definitely be a good activity to use with students in the classroom!  

Making History Alive

Strategies to use in history are:
The EPIC Strategy which allows students to make connections between themselves and the topic of history that they are going to be learning about

Using Primary Sources and Documents allows the students to have a first-hand experience of what happened in history

Using Artifacts to get the students engaged in the lesson that you are going to be teaching.  Teaching with artifacts is a good way to.  Hands-on activity

Body Sculpting- acting out scenes in history with their bodies
Role-playing- giving students certain roles and having them act out

Local History- relating the history to the students' community and what is around them.  Have the students' interview people in their community or go to different places of historical importance in their community.

As future social studies teachers, we are always looking for ways to make social studies more engaging and exciting for our students.  In the reading from our textbook and an article that I read, I learned different ways that I could teach social studies to my students in an engaging way.  One of the main ways to get students engaged in history is to use primary sources and documents.  By using primary sources and documents the students are getting a first-hand experience of what happened in history and they are more interested in learning about it.  Another strategy to get the students involved in learning is to use artifacts.  By doing an activity like an artifact bag the students are getting to discover different objects that were used throughout a certain period of social studies.  It is a good activity because it is a hands-on activity and some students are better learners when they have a hands-on activity.  The students are also getting to see how these artifacts were important during the time period.

  
A good strategy to use with younger students and also older students as well to help them understand a certain scene or battle that happened in history is to have them do role-playing or do body sculpting.  In both of these strategies the students act out a scene or battle in history and through this the students gain a better understanding by doing instead of just reading about it from a textbook.  When students are engaged and participating in the lesson they are more likely to remember the information as opposed to when they just read it out of the textbook.  One other strategy that could be used to help make history more exciting for students is connecting it to their local history.  Relating the history to the students' community and what is around them.  Have the students' interview people in their community about the community used to be like back in the day.  Have the students go to different places of historical importance in their community.  Another strategy to use to have students make connections is the EPIC Strategy.  This strategy involves having the students make connections between themselves and to the topic of social studies that they are learning about.  When students are able to make connections to what they are learning about they are more engaged learning and they are also better able to understand the material that is being taught.

Celebration of Learning!!

Today was our final day of fieldwork in our fifth-grade class.  We had so many fun things planned for the students to celebrate their learning!  We first started by asking the students if we did a good job teaching them and if they remembered the preassessment that we did way back in the beginning of the month.  After we got the students feedback on how good of a job we did teaching them we gave them a quick test to see what they remembered from all of our groups teaching them.  While the students were taking the test the teachers were walking around the classroom and helping the students if they needed help.  Once the students had finished their tests we played one of their favorite games, Kahoot!  The students were so excited that we were playing this game with them one last time.  The game consisted of different questions from all of the different groups that taught throughout the month.  The students were getting very competitive during the game at some points we would have to remind them to stay quiet so that we could read the next question.  It was good to see the students competing in a fun manner and at the same time showing what they knew from what we taught them.  After playing the game we presented a gift to the class which was a two-volume set on the voyages of Columbus so that they could learn more about Columbus and the voyages that he took.

We then presented the class with certificates to celebrate their achievement of completing the unit plan that we had planned for them.  The students were very excited that they were getting certificates for all of the hard work that they put into each of our lessons.

After presenting the certificates to the students the teachers gave their feedback on what this experience has been like for them and what the students helped them to realize.  The students taught us to be knowledgeable about our topics and material because they asked a lot of good questions.  The students also taught us how to manage a classroom, when they were getting too louder or when they were getting off topic and we had to get their attention back to us.  Overall it was a great experience getting to teach to a whole class of students and getting to work with a group to create three different lesson plans.  The different skills that I learned in this experience I will definitely be able to use in my future classroom.

Poverty Simulation

On Wednesday, November 1, 2017, I had the chance to be part of an experience that changed my life for the better.  This experience was the poverty simulation, during this simulation you really got to see what the life of a person in poverty is like and what they have to go through just to make it from day to day.  Although I was not part of one of the families during this simulation I was the teacher in the public school.  It was very stressful and frustrating being the teacher because most of the time the students were not motivated to do the work and they did not want to be in school.  I would have to send home cards asking families for money for supplies and most of them would bring little money or no money back.  This is because school supplies was not some of the families priority at the time.  Being the school teacher I experienced a lot of different things.  Some of the things that I experienced were students selling drugs trying to make money for their families.  There were some students who stopped coming to school because they were trying to help their families make money and they did not think that school was important to them.  There was one student in the class who was pregnant and went into labor but did not have the insurance to go to the hospital or the doctor to have the baby.  The point of the simulation was to show us that we do not really know someone until we have walked in their shoes and that we should not judge other people.  We do not know what kind of a background others come from and what struggles they have been through in their lives.

Some of the struggles that the families would have to go through throughout the simulation were finding a way to feed their family from week to week, how they were going to pay their bills, and how they were going to get more money or transportation passes.  The families would only have 15 minutes to do whatever it was that they needed to do within in that week.  After the 15 minutes was up the agencies would close and the families would be sent back to their homes.  The people at the agencies could either make or break a deal for the families and they were the ones that decided whether they got what they needed.


This simulation was an overall very eye-opening experience.  It opened my eyes to something that is all around me every day.  I never knew that families had to go through this much trouble just to get from place to place and how hard it was to feed their children just for the week.  These are the things that we take for grant it and we don't realize that until we don't have them

What was life like in Spain?!?!

Today our teachers were teaching to our students about life in Spain!  They first started by establishing rules for the classroom and explaining a game that they were going to be playing with the students, Captains vs. Explorers.  This game was a way to manage the students' behavior throughout the lesson and also the noise level in the classroom.  The teachers gave each of the students their own explorer folders and inside the folders were all of the papers that the students would need throughout the lesson.  This was a really good idea so that way the teachers did not have to take time out of the lesson and pass out the different papers.  Throughout the lesson, the teachers had different ways to get the students engaged and involved in the lesson.  They played and ask the expert game where the teacher would ask questions and the students would stand up if they agree with the statement or sit down if they disagree.  There were also times for the students to turn and talk with their groups.  Whenever a key term would appear on the board the students would do a "firework motion", this kept the students focused on the lesson.  This lesson was very engaging for the students and they really seemed to enjoy learning about life in New Spain!

Once the teachers had finished teaching the students all about life in New Spain it was time for the students to apply what they learned from the previous lesson into the next lesson.  For their inquiry lesson, the teachers had the students search in the corners of the room for gold.  Each of the students had a different role within the group, which helped to keep the students on task and engaged in the activity.  At each of the different stops the students would have to answer questions as a group about how they would use the gold in their society.  At the end of the activity the class regrouped and each of the groups shared how they would use the gold in their society for each of the questions.  After the students shared with the class they had one final task which was to write a story about themselves and how well they worked in their groups.

For their last lesson, the teachers kept the students in the groups that they were in for the previous lesson.  In this lesson the students would have to would have to work together to create a presentation.  Each of the different groups had a different topic and created a different kind of presentation and it was kept a secret until the end!  The students each were assigned roles in their group, which was a big part of this lesson because each of the students was responsible for a certain part of the work.  Once the students finished their projects they presented them to the rest of the class and after each of the students had to grade themselves on how well they worked in their groups.  Self-evaluation is a big part of cooperative learning so it was good that the teachers had the students evaluate themselves at the end.

Columbus Treasure Hunt & Poetry Slam!!

Today we taught our fifth graders using two methods that would get them working together!  These two methods were inquiry learning and cooperative learning.  Inquiry learning and cooperative learning were both new lesson methods for me and my group mates but we put together two good lessons for the students.

The first lesson we taught using inquiry learning, which uses the steps of the scientific method.  My group and I made a Columbus treasure hunt and gave the students the problem of the King and Queen not wanting to fund another voyage for Columbus and he needs your help to convince them.  The first thing that we had the students do was formulate a hypothesis based off of the problem that we had just given them.  After they formulated their hypothesis they were given their first clue which was to help Columbus locate the coordinates of different places.  Once the students had gone through all of the different clues they wrote a letter to the King and Queen about why they believed Columbus should go on another voyage.  They used the data that they found throughout the activity to help them write their letter.  One thing that we could have had the students do was after they had finished finding all of their clues we could have had them share if their hypothesis was right or wrong with the class.  After we finished with our inquiry lesson we moved right to our cooperative learning lesson which was a poetry slam.

For this lesson, we started with a quick presentation of what the students were going to be doing.  How they were going to be working together to make a poem and at the end they were going to present it to the class.  We also went over presenting skills with the students, so that they did their best!  We kept the students in the same groups that they were already in and we assigned each group a topic based on what they learned in direct instruction.  Within the groups we gave each of the students a role, one student was the scribe, one was the illustrator and there were many others.  This way each student was contributing to the group and also staying on task.  Once the groups were finished with their poems it was time to present!  I noticed that while some of the groups were presenting other students were talking with their friends, so making sure that the class is quiet before the group presents.  The students did a really good job creating poems and pictures about their topics!

Overall it was a really great experience getting to teach three different lessons to a whole class.  The different types of lessons that I learned I will definitely want to incorporate when I have my future classroom.  The techniques that I have learned from this experience will help me all throughout my future teaching career.

First Day of Teaching

Today we had our first day of teaching our fifth-grade students at Bishop Dunn Memorial School.  My group mates and I were very excited to start teaching the students about Christopher Columbus.  The first lesson that we taught we used direct instruction so that we could get all the important information to the students.  When the students came in from recess they were very eager to start learning about Columbus!

We first started off our lesson by establishing ground rules for the class to follow so that things would not get out of control when it came to the different parts of our lesson.  We had a silent method to get the students attention but throughout the lesson, we found that it did not really work because a lot of the students were not really paying attention to what was going on up front. We then moved into our presentation.  The students seemed to be really engaged in the lesson but I feel that we could have called on different students to answer our questions.  Often times it was the same students raising their hands.  Another thing that I think we could have done differently is check with the whole class once a student answered the question.  This way we know that the whole class is paying attention and that they also know the answer to the question that we just asked.  A couple of times we would use the thumbs up/thumbs down method to get a response from the whole class.

After we had finished our powerpoint presentation we moved on to guided practice with the students.  For this, we had a Columbus web and a Columbian Exchange poster.  We had the students brainstorm in their groups for facts and other things about Columbus that they could put on the web.  One thing that we could have done differently is instead of having the students say something from their seats and having us write it on the web we could have them come up to the board and write it.  Another activity that we had for the students was a Columbian Exchange poster where the students came up and put the things that Columbus brought back and forth throughout his voyages.  The students seemed to really be engaged in both of the activities that we had for them.

It was a really good first day of teaching!  The students learned a lot about Christopher Columbus and they are going to learn even more in the next two lessons that we have planned for them!

Exploring Map Skills

Today was the first day that our colleagues were teaching in the classroom.  The first group had the topic of map skills and how they are important and relate to the rest of the unit.  The teachers started the lesson by showing the students how to use Google Maps and they located their school on there.  I liked how the teachers introduced the lesson by connecting what they were going to be teaching about to something that the students use on a daily basis. The teachers then went into talking about the different parts of the globe and the different lines on the globe.  The teachers had a fun way for the students to remember latitude and longitude using their arms, this helped the students to not get the two confused!  The teachers did a good job of engaging the students throughout the lesson and they got all of the students involved in the lesson.  The students created a word wall with all of vocabulary from the lesson, through this activity the students were able to get a good understanding of the vocabulary from the lesson.  The final activity that the teachers had for the students to do was a crossword puzzle that would really show if the students understood the vocabulary that was taught in the lesson.

After the teachers taught the students the main information it was time for the students to apply that information to a fun activity.  For their inquiry lesson the teachers had the students work in groups to find different coordinates of places on the map.  The students had to use their knowledge of latitude and longitude that they learned in the previous lesson in this lesson.  After the students had found their coordinates with their group members each group shared their findings with the rest of the class.  Since the students were already in groups the teachers kept the students in the same groups for their cooperative learning lesson.  During this lesson the students were working together to create a poem, song, or story about latitude and longitude.  During cooperative learning the students are working on their social skills and interacting with one another to complete the task.  The students were given time to work on their projects and then they presented them in front of the class.

Overall the first group did a really good job teaching!  They were really knowledgeable about their topic and they kept the students engaged in the lesson!

First Day of Fieldwork!

Today we had our first day of fieldwork for our Social Studies Methods class.  We got to meet the students that we are going to be teaching and play some fun icebreaker games with them.  Playing these games gave us the teachers an idea of what the students are like and also if they had any prior knowledge on what we are going to be teaching them.

The class was very energetic and engaged when we were playing our icebreaker games.  They were all really excited for my groups' icebreaker which involved a beach ball that had the globe on it.  The students would toss the ball around to each other.  We asked the students a variety of questions about themselves and also about the different topics that we are going to be teaching in our groups.  From playing this activity we learned about the students and where they have been in the world.  Most of the students have been out of the country, which really surprised us!

Some of the students were very knowledgeable about the different places on the globe.  One student was telling us all these different facts about Antarctica.  At the end of the class, we asked the students what they thought about all the different activities and which ones they found easy and which ones were a little challenging for them.  They liked all of the activities that all the groups had done but they found some of the social studies questions a little difficult to answer.

Overall, it was a great first day of fieldwork and getting to meet the students.  Seeing how the students were during our icebreakers gave us an idea of how they might be during our lesson and how we need to make sure that all students are participating and are engaged and focused on the lesson that we are teaching.

Cooperative Learning!!

As teachers, we are always looking for new ways to engage our students in the classroom.  Through cooperative learning, the students are not only working together but they are also learning from each other.  It is a more engaging way instead of having the teacher lecture to the students about a certain topic.  Studies have shown that students remember things better when they learn from each other which is what cooperative learning is all about.  Cooperative learning consists of five elements Positive Interdependence, Individual Accountability, Group Processing, Face- to- Face Promotion, and Social Skills.  These are skills that will be essential to students throughout their whole lives so why not learn them while they are young!

Cooperative learning is different from direct instruction in the fact that it is student-centered whereas direct instruction is teacher-centered.  The only role that the teacher plays in cooperative learning is passing out the materials and giving the students instructions at the beginning.  The students do all of the work together and some on their own.  Cooperative learning teaches individual accountability meaning that each student is responsible for a certain part of the task or a certain job.  This is also a way for the teacher to evaluate the students.  The students also give feedback to each other when they are finished working on their project.  This is a good way for them to assess how they work together in a group and also what they need to work on for next time.  There are tons of ways to incorporate cooperative learning into the classroom like the jigsaw method or stand up, hand up, pair up and so many others!

I think cooperative learning is a great thing to incorporate into any lesson!  The students are really getting a better understanding by doing it themselves.  I know when I was in elementary school most of what I remember is from activities that I did with my classmates.  I feel this is a great way to get students excited about learning and I can't wait to use it in the classroom one day!

Technology in the Classroom

We live in a world where technology is a good chunk of our lives, and it is progressing faster than we can handle.  It seems like every day there is a new piece of technology coming out or a new website being developed.  All of these websites and programs in the world and we don't realize how many of them are or could be beneficial to us as future teachers.

I recently did a project where I had to use a tool that I had never heard of before.  By the time I was done using the program I had feel in love with it and I cannot wait to use it in my future classroom one day.  My classmates also used tools that they were not familiar with.  The point of this project was to get us familiar with all of the different tools that are out there.  These tools make learning a more fun and engaging experience and that is what we want to do as teachers.  Some of the programs allowed us to record our voices which are not only good for us but also for the students.  Students love doing a project and recording their voice and playing it back to the class.  Some of the tools allowed us to create lessons and show them in a way that was more interactive and fun than just a powerpoint.  The students would also be able to use some of the tools too.  A fun one for the students would be WordArt, where they can put in a whole bunch of words about themselves and make it into a fun shape.  It's using tools like these that get students excited and engaged about learning.

Not only are we getting the students engaged when we are using tools like these but we are also teaching to the way that they learn best.  Since technology is such a big part of their lives as well.  Using digital tools will help our students to achieve better in the classroom while also having more fun.

Climate Change

Today in class we had a guest speaker, Dr Michael Edelstein.  He has been teaching for a number of years and today was talking to us about Climate Change.  A topic that we will need to know how to teach for when we are future teachers.  The main object when talking about climate change is the Earth and how the earth and humans are affected.

Today we learned that Earth is both an open and a closed system.  It is open because it brings energy in from the sun, and it is closed because of matter which would be us, humans, we do not change.  Dr Edelstein talked about how we should rely more on the sun than on fossil fuels.  This is because with the sun we are not putting harmful chemicals back into the environment, thus we are not polluting it.  Also, the sun will also be there whereas there may not always be fuels.  The message of Climate Change is that we have to change and fast.  Al Gore whom Dr Edelstein based some of his lectures off of has three questions: Must we Change?, Can we Change?, and Will we Change?
The atmosphere is made up of two different spheres: the troposphere which is where we live and the stratosphere which is where gases are trapped.  As gases like CO2 increase, the boundary between space and the atmosphere thickens.  We are dumping 110 millions of Manmade global warming pollution into the atmosphere every 24 hours.  In the troposphere, this pollution causes cancer and makes it harder to breathe.  In the stratosphere it causes combustion.  Greenhouse gases are another cause of climate change things such as air transportation, industrial agriculture, and even a cow farting is releasing something harmful to the environment.

Climate change is caused by human activities, the hottest year ever measured was 2016, hotter years have more fires.  The largest fire was in Alberta, Canada in May 2016.

The heat of the Ocean- bleaching out and killing the coral reefs, taking away the habitat for much of the life in the ocean.  Hurricane changes depending on if the ocean is warm or cold.

The Hydrological Cycle- Precipitation, Water Returns to the Sea, Evaporation
The same extra heat that evaporates more water from the ocean, causing bigger downpours and floods...pulls moisture even more quickly from the soil, causing longer and deeper drought.

October 13, 2014- Climate change "will likely lead to food and water shortages, pandemic disease, disputes over refugees and natural disasters in regions across the globe."
"Climate Change is a Medical Emergency" Professor Hugh Montgomery
We now risk losing up to 50% of all land-based species in this century

Back to School!

From the first day of Social Studies Methods, I realized that we are going to be teaching digital learners.  Students are no longer going to be taught the way that I was taught.  There will be no more paper tests or assignments in the classrooms, everything is going to be totally online.  We as future teachers are learning to become digital teachers, and are learning techniques and strategies to teach the way students learn best.  With using more technology in the classroom our students will be more engaged in learning.  With using technology in the classroom we will be better able to assist our students.


From watching the video below I realized that there is little to no technology in the classrooms that these children are in.  The teachers are not teaching to the ways that the students learn best, and the students are not motivated or engaged to do their work.  As teachers in a time when technology is such a dominant factor, we need to be able to adapt in our classroom.