Instructional Videos

There are many creative ways to make the class get active and involved.

Mix It Up

Kids can get very noisy and they just can't help it at such a young age! Sometimes you have to make it fun to be organized and quiet. I like this video because it addresses some very specific things.

Circle Maps

This video shows you how kids can organize their thinking and gives them more of a visual. I liket eh idea of this because this is surprisingly something we do in AP class as well. Kids will need to learn this in the future and this expands their minds to think further into detail.

Humor In the Classroom?

"Don't make me laugh, no seriously don't, the classroom is a no goofing off zone." 

There are some teachers that probably think like that quote and it's not a good mentality. Humor is needed for the students to be more interested in the classroom. When there is no humor the students end up hating the class and a result of that is being less attentive to work. 

Since I am interning at a kindergarten classroom, the humor there is a lot easier to please. Kids are still developing and a lot of out of the ordinary things make them laugh. So almost anything could make them laugh.  Like some of these pictures. 

You could find creative ways to infuses them into your lesson. Ask some questions like why did the dog do this? Obviously the owner dressed him up and you could mention how the dog could not have done this because the dog has no thumbs. Then make a lesson on how important your fingers and thumbs are. 

My Internship So Far

So for my internship this year I have been placed at foster Village Elementary School. It's a kindergarten class and the teacher that I am with is Jessica Simmons, who has been teaching for nine years. Her website. 

Since it is a kindergarten class there's a little bit of everything going on while I am there. They work on handwriting, math, or science, and calender. When I first walked into the classroom I felt nostalgic to be frank. I didn't know how these kids would react to me or how I'm going to react to them. But I love all my kids and they are the sweetest things. I try to help all the students when I'm there and mostly attend to those that need a little extra attention to make sure they get work done. I try not to get in the teacher's way and help her in any way I can without intruding. I can make sure the kids are behaving and I also add an extra authority to the classroom to keep the kids on task. They may not think of me as so but that's what I try to be. I'm looking forward to gaining experience on how to deal with little kids and hopefully be apart of these kids education experience as well.

Reflection on TAFE events

     

So this past weekend was the TAFE region XI competition. I was participating in Exploring Administration Careers as well as Children's literature. I was really surprised and glad that there were finals for both of them; it saves a lot of patience and nerves. I made it in the finals for Exploring Administration Careers to my surprise but not in the other. Since I put a lot more thinking in the book I didn't necessarily have a thought out plan for the other event. I had to think a little more on my feet going into the finals event. In the first round of the Exploring Administration Careers, I got to talk to the judges more and they gave a lot of feedback. It was really easy to talk to them considering that they asked a lot of outside questions about me. In the other event it felt more non-chalant in the room and with having to read the book like it was for kids it was very hard to follow through.
      So what I learned was to be prepared for whatever the outcome is and to make yourself memorable.

An hour for what?

So we all know that having time management in a classroom is key. But what if you had a free hour during internship to do anything you want? It's very important to take advantage of this time. I would personally focus on what my kids want to do as long as it is productive. Sometimes school is a bit to uptight at times and not a lot of kids like to learn this way. But no matter what kids always love to learn about their own interests. Maybe some like animals and wants to become vets. or maybe some like to draw and would like to become artists.
We could let one hour for these kids to explore their options and decide. The whole reason of going to school is preparing for that job or interest so why not create a variety of activities or stations specifically for these. Not normal old boring stations like reading, writing, or math. These stations do not the the students explore and let their minds wander because it's just another way of beating material into their heads. Stations like art, learning about animals, role playing, and etc.let the kids explore. If you have an extra hour, you could make extra room in the student's brain for themselves for once. Exploring is just another way of learning, without the school standards. The point is to focus on the student's interest.

A Sticky Situation?

So my fellow intern left for an early dismissal today for a dentist appointment. They however, did not sign out of the school. Being their fellow intern as well they ask me to sign out for them. No harm done right?

It depends on how you handle it. What I would do is send my teacher a text explaining the situation. If the teacher is not happy they can go deal with your fellow intern. You did your part by letting the teacher know what's going on so you shouldn't get in trouble for that. Also, I would go ahead and sign the student off so it doesn't mess anything up later. Usually, you would get in trouble for that but since you let the teacher know it's ok. It may not be okay for the other intern but at least for you yes. 

At times you only got in trouble because the teacher thinks or catches you doing something intentionally bad. Sometimes we don't mean it to look bad but by letting the teacher know beforehand it eases off any hard blows.

Significant Relationships

Hopefully we have all experienced at the very least one teacher that helped push us to become better and stronger. I am lucky to have that experience with just more than one teacher. It's hard to say which teacher is better than the other because each of them were just as essential as the other one. Otherwise, I wouldn't have passed up till this day every one of my grade levels.

And you know what, I just simply cannot decide on just one to talk about. The description describe all of them that helped push and encourage me to try harder. 

They all were fair, meaning they didn't have any special students that they treated any more special than the others. Just because one student is more likable than another doesn't mean that he or she wouldn't be punished for breaking a rule. Things like turning work in late, being late, following protocol , being quiet, and etc. This means when you get in trouble or have bad grades it's not because they didn't like you, it was because you can't pass being under the standards in any way. 

That was probably the most important thing I learned from all my teachers. There is no special treatment in the real world and some may have higher standards than others. All in all it's all helpful to encourage and push you to try harder and I thank all of my teachers that helped me. That's what teachers are here for and if you don't do that then teaching is probably not for you. 

There are tips for teachers to be encouraging. 

http://www.cyc-net.org/cyc-online/cycol-0205-encouragement.html

Lectures or Pretend Play?

This Article  explains why pretend play is preferable over the boring usual lectures for kids to learn. And how does this relate to me wanting to be a pre-k teacher?

Well as a kid I always loved hearing that beep on the cash register when going shopping with my mother. I would pretend to be a cashier and play the game "shopping" with my twin sister. We just knew that something MUST beep before going in the shopping bag and years later we learn why. That's how pretty much how pretend play has affected us and much more.

Although most people tend to think lectures are more informational and make the kids a lot more intellectual. According to this article however, this is not the case. Pretend play to me sort of expands the children's mind to readily take information in. It doesn't matter how much information is in a lecture because there's no point if the kids aren't ready to take it in.And well, pretend play is so much more fun.  

Helping a child grow especially in an exciting way like pretend play is all in why I want to be a pre-k teacher. I could have nostalgic feelings and at the same time help these kids expand their minds. What a delightful combination!