Be careful about what you put on social networks

I finished reading an article on the latest eschoolnews website. The article was about instances where teachers were suspended/fired because of what they were posting on Facebook and other social networks. It is always said that once something is posted on the internet, it is there forever. Teacher are the role models for the students. As a future teacher, I need to be conscientious as to what I put on Facebook now. At any interview I go into, they can pull up my page and look into my social life. One tiny slip up could cost me the job. With little openings as there is in the teaching profession, I need to make the interviews that i do get for a job to be perfect. I can set my privacy settings, but that only helps so much. If there is something that I do not want the entire world to know, then i should not post it online.
A teacher in Pennsylvania was posting comments concerning her students that was very rude. She was saying that her students were, "frightfully dim, whiny, utterly loathsome." A teacher has no right to degrade her students, especially when it is made public for everyone to see. The article mentions that the students were scared to have this woman as their teacher because of the remarks that she would make about her students. A teacher needs to be welcoming to the students and create a community in the classroom. I can not believe that a teacher can be so blind that she can post a rude remark like that online where everyone can see it. I want my students to enjoy being in my classroom. I want them to trust me and build a strong bond. If the teacher does not have a strong relationship with the students, then there will be lots of academic potential that the students have that will never be noticed. I want my students to open up to me so I can really get to know them. I need to learn their learning preferences to help them be the best they can be.

Visiting West Hill School in Syracuse

Before going to the school, I was very nervous. I was going to a new classroom, with a new teacher. I had just gotten over this struggle a few weeks ago, and now I was being asked to do it again. It turned out to be a great experience though! I could not believe the classroom. The room was filled with color. Posters were everywhere. It was something so different than what I experienced in my host teacher's classroom. One of the big things that popped out to me was the 5 mac laptops located in the corner for the students to use. I was so shocked to see this. I just began to think of all the benefits that the students must get from having so many resources available for them to use in the classroom. The students can take part in interactive learning activities on the computer. There are so many learning issues that can be addressed so much simpler by having the computers in the room for the students to use. The technology proves that the teacher is willing to integrate technology into the classroom to bring improvements to the students' knowledge. Students that need modifications in a lesson can go over to the laptop and it will suffice their difficulty. The teacher can present a new way of teaching that will engage the students at a whole new level.
The students were very well behaved. I was pleased with how well they listened to directions. They were eager to participate in the activity that i had prepared for them. It just felt like because the students were in an environment that  encouraged interactive learning, it played a role in how the students viewed school. The attitude that the students had benefited the way they performed in the classroom. The experience in a different classroom than what I am used to was very beneficial. I now have knowledge in different classroom management and techniques that I can someday use in my own classroom. =]

Finally starting to get the BIG picture.. talking about SMART Board!!

I was able to see my host teacher's aid use a SMART Board in her classroom to get the students engaged in a math lesson. The teacher displayed an interesting way to portray the concept of place value. The concept was given that the ones house goes over to their neighbors, the tens house, if they need to borrow something. The tens would do the same to their neighbor, the hundreds. It was a neat way to present the idea to the students. The teacher found a way to use a different format in order to engage the students in a way that they had not had the chance to do yet. The teacher needs to always be thinking about different ways to present the information to the class that is going to catch their attention. the students loved getting up and using the pen and eraser feature on the SMART Board. There was one student that usually has trouble with the concept of borrowing and trading when it comes to subtraction, but he showed such an improvement while working with this new type of technology. This experience gave me the insight that let me know that differentiation in the lesson formats along with implementing technology, can bring many benefits to the students and teacher.

Technology in the classroom

I was very pleased to see technology in the classroom. I went with a group of students that were taking the math test in a separate room because they required assistance with the questions. The teacher's aid had a SMART Board in the classroom. The teacher's aid presented the same questions that were on the the student's test on the SMART Board. The students were given a better visual this way because the problems on the test paper are so small and crowded together. The teacher used the writing tool feature to write the problems, and used a different color to show the trading done in subtraction. The students were able to get a better visual of the problems to give them support in getting the problem set up to solve. Once the students were at a better understanding of the problem, they were able to complete it much easier.
I was happy to see that there are technology teaching tools available in the school building. Students should have access and be exposed to tools like the SMART Board. The students can look at a problem in a different way, which help differentiate the learning techniques that they are used to seeing. I hope to see more technology be involved in the classroom in the upcoming weeks in the classroom.

My first classroom observation!

I completed my first week in the classroom. I was so excited to get in there, and really see the concepts and strategies that I have been learning about in my block classes. I was given the chance to really play a role in the classroom. The third grade teacher welcomed me and made me feel comfortable in the class. I get to be a part of writing, math, social studies, and sometimes story time!
I was able to walk around the room during writing time and watch the students as they were in deep thought. It was my job to circle any words that were misspelled. If the word was a word that was on the word wall, I would draw a line and have the student write the word correctly as it corresponds to the wall. There was an overhead projector that the teacher would use to display her example of the writing activity, and then it would be the student's assignment to do an entry in their notebooks that revolved around the same topic as the teacher's. Using a projector that blew up the teacher's response was helpful because it gave the students better view of the example so that they would understand what their entry should look like.
During math, the students would group up into 3 groups into the corner of the room. This was neat because I could see differentiated learning happening, which I have been learning about a lot in Kim R's class. I worked with one student, and the teacher would supervise the larger group working in pairs, and the classroom aid would have a small group of about 5 students. The students were able to work with others that were at the same level as them. I had to modify the subtraction lesson by minimizing the problems to only 2 or 3 digit numbers, while some other students were doing 4. I would have to keep the student on task because he would have trouble paying attention to the problems.
The social studies lesson consisted of reading different article in the school newsletter. This was a great activity that combined reading with learning different events occurring. The students would take turns reading the articles aloud as they sat on the rug in a circle. The teacher would hold a discussion after each article and ask productive questions to help guide the students' thinking.
I did notice that there was minimal technology used in the classroom. I am aware that the school district is limited with what they can afford with the budget. There is a computer in the room, but all I have seen it used for is to send in the daily class attendance. I hope that there is a way for the teacher to integrate some more in the classroom if possible. Now that I know the benefits it can bring to the students, it would be a shame to have the students miss out on all that potential success.