EDU 1010
I really enjoyed this class, Introduction to Education. I learned a lot about how people learn and strategies to best help those who struggle in various educational areas. I know the knowledge I gained from this class will carry over to my other Education Courses and into my daily life as a mother too. Below are some of the assignments I did for the class.
Philosophy of Education
Everyone can learn. I believe it is my job as a teacher to help each student learn and grow in the best way for them individually. I believe it is important to teach students about basic core knowledge, critical thinking, decision-making, social issues, cultural understanding, and hands on learning. I want my students to leave with all areas of their minds expanded and enriched. I want them to be more confident and happy than when they came to me. I want them to understand how to use their knowledge in their everyday lives. I want them to love learning and respect everyone and everything in their world. I will use a rubric of standards to evaluate each student in many areas. I will use this information to customize each child’s education and be the most effective teacher possible.
Assessment Philosophy
My personal philosophy about assessments is this: Assessments don’t have to be boring!
In summative assessments, I will most frequently use informal assessments in my classroom by asking questions during instruction, or by having students explain the concept to a classmate or me. But, I also believe students need to have, and benefit from, having various ways of proving their understanding of a concept. I will, of course, prepare my students for the Standardized tests required, but it will not be in a “teach the test” format. I will include the information seamlessly with my own curriculum. I will also give frequent formal paper-and-pencil assessments, especially in areas of math, and spelling. I will also use formal performance assessments in science, reading and writing. I believe that if students know they are going to have some sort of a test everyday, they will be more prepared and understand the content better than students who are only tested periodically.
I will constantly use formative assessments during instruction to gauge how well a concept is being understood and applied, and to decide how and when to go on to the next material. I will also use this information to alter my teaching style and techniques if I see that I am not effectively teaching a certain concept.
Now all of this talk of testing may have you worried that my classroom is going to be boring, dull and quiet with students constantly taking tests at their desks. This is not my style! I love making tests fun with “jeopardy style” tests, or group tests where students write responses on white boards and raise them when ready, or having teams race to spell all of their words correctly before other groups. I have lots of ideas to make even the most formal tests fun. I plan on involving my student’s names, when possible, in the sentences I use for spelling tests. I also plan on having a rewards system set up for getting 100% on spelling tests, passing off math facts, etc. Once again, I believe that assessments don’t have to be boring!
Classroom Management Philosophy
My classroom management philosophy is prevention and fairness when it comes to developing learner responsibility. I will strive to prevent any issues and if anything occurs, I will strive to handle it quickly and fairly. At the beginning of the school year, I would have all the students suggest and vote on classroom rules and, possibly, consequences for breaking those rules.My classroom management philosophy is love and family when it comes to controlling the classroom climate. I would strive to make each student feel comfortable, loved, and part of a family of learners. I would have the children tell about themselves at the beginning of the year, and spotlight each one of them for a week during the school year.
For creating a community of learners, my classroom management philosophy is participation and respect. I would encourage each student to develop skills in public performance (reading aloud in front of the class, participating in class discussions, etc.) and also only have positive comments about each performance from their peers. There would be no place for negative comments about peers.
The final area of classroom management I wish to address is maximizing time and opportunities for learning. My philosophy in this area is efficiency and diversity. I have a very interactive teaching style, so the amount of academic learning time my students will be higher than normal. I also plan on doing most of my administrative tasks during the morning gathering time in which my students will talk about what they did the day before or over the weekend. They will have an allotted amount of time, and no one can speak unless they are holding the pass-around-item I choose (beanbag, stuffed animal, etc.). This also ties into my classroom climate of love and family because each day I will pick one student’s news to be on the calendar. My mentor teacher introduced me to this idea, and I LOVE IT!!! To the left is a photo of her calender from Feb 16th, 2011...
I plan on having a schedule that leaves little time lost in transition. I also plan on using diversity in my teaching style. I want to talk about one subject but use several different forms of study to explore it. For example, if I was teaching spelling, I would write the words on the board, hand out a list of the words, have the students say the words and spellings out loud, have students write the words several times while saying them, and offer a building activity where the students build the words with letter blocks, magnets, play-dough, etch a sketch, magnadoodle, or writing them in sand. I would strive to implement this in all areas of instruction…SEE, HEAR, DO. It is my firm belief that this teaching strategy is the most effective.
Philosophy of Education
Everyone can learn. I believe it is my job as a teacher to help each student learn and grow in the best way for them individually. I believe it is important to teach students about basic core knowledge, critical thinking, decision-making, social issues, cultural understanding, and hands on learning. I want my students to leave with all areas of their minds expanded and enriched. I want them to be more confident and happy than when they came to me. I want them to understand how to use their knowledge in their everyday lives. I want them to love learning and respect everyone and everything in their world. I will use a rubric of standards to evaluate each student in many areas. I will use this information to customize each child’s education and be the most effective teacher possible.
Assessment Philosophy
My personal philosophy about assessments is this: Assessments don’t have to be boring!
In summative assessments, I will most frequently use informal assessments in my classroom by asking questions during instruction, or by having students explain the concept to a classmate or me. But, I also believe students need to have, and benefit from, having various ways of proving their understanding of a concept. I will, of course, prepare my students for the Standardized tests required, but it will not be in a “teach the test” format. I will include the information seamlessly with my own curriculum. I will also give frequent formal paper-and-pencil assessments, especially in areas of math, and spelling. I will also use formal performance assessments in science, reading and writing. I believe that if students know they are going to have some sort of a test everyday, they will be more prepared and understand the content better than students who are only tested periodically.
I will constantly use formative assessments during instruction to gauge how well a concept is being understood and applied, and to decide how and when to go on to the next material. I will also use this information to alter my teaching style and techniques if I see that I am not effectively teaching a certain concept.
Now all of this talk of testing may have you worried that my classroom is going to be boring, dull and quiet with students constantly taking tests at their desks. This is not my style! I love making tests fun with “jeopardy style” tests, or group tests where students write responses on white boards and raise them when ready, or having teams race to spell all of their words correctly before other groups. I have lots of ideas to make even the most formal tests fun. I plan on involving my student’s names, when possible, in the sentences I use for spelling tests. I also plan on having a rewards system set up for getting 100% on spelling tests, passing off math facts, etc. Once again, I believe that assessments don’t have to be boring!
Classroom Management Philosophy
My classroom management philosophy is prevention and fairness when it comes to developing learner responsibility. I will strive to prevent any issues and if anything occurs, I will strive to handle it quickly and fairly. At the beginning of the school year, I would have all the students suggest and vote on classroom rules and, possibly, consequences for breaking those rules.My classroom management philosophy is love and family when it comes to controlling the classroom climate. I would strive to make each student feel comfortable, loved, and part of a family of learners. I would have the children tell about themselves at the beginning of the year, and spotlight each one of them for a week during the school year.
For creating a community of learners, my classroom management philosophy is participation and respect. I would encourage each student to develop skills in public performance (reading aloud in front of the class, participating in class discussions, etc.) and also only have positive comments about each performance from their peers. There would be no place for negative comments about peers.
The final area of classroom management I wish to address is maximizing time and opportunities for learning. My philosophy in this area is efficiency and diversity. I have a very interactive teaching style, so the amount of academic learning time my students will be higher than normal. I also plan on doing most of my administrative tasks during the morning gathering time in which my students will talk about what they did the day before or over the weekend. They will have an allotted amount of time, and no one can speak unless they are holding the pass-around-item I choose (beanbag, stuffed animal, etc.). This also ties into my classroom climate of love and family because each day I will pick one student’s news to be on the calendar. My mentor teacher introduced me to this idea, and I LOVE IT!!! To the left is a photo of her calender from Feb 16th, 2011...
I plan on having a schedule that leaves little time lost in transition. I also plan on using diversity in my teaching style. I want to talk about one subject but use several different forms of study to explore it. For example, if I was teaching spelling, I would write the words on the board, hand out a list of the words, have the students say the words and spellings out loud, have students write the words several times while saying them, and offer a building activity where the students build the words with letter blocks, magnets, play-dough, etch a sketch, magnadoodle, or writing them in sand. I would strive to implement this in all areas of instruction…SEE, HEAR, DO. It is my firm belief that this teaching strategy is the most effective.
Lesson Plan
I was required to make a lesson plan based on literacy that also incorporated another area of curriculum. I was required to videotape myself during this activity with the students in my mentor teacher's class in order to see my effectiveness as a teacher. My lesson plan is the Children's Literature Activity Lesson Plan posted below. I also have posted a video of myself reading the book discussed in the lesson plan "I Love You As Much" written by Laura Krauss Melmed. The parents of the children in the film signed video release forms for their child allowing this video to be posted online for educational purposes only.
I was required to make a lesson plan based on literacy that also incorporated another area of curriculum. I was required to videotape myself during this activity with the students in my mentor teacher's class in order to see my effectiveness as a teacher. My lesson plan is the Children's Literature Activity Lesson Plan posted below. I also have posted a video of myself reading the book discussed in the lesson plan "I Love You As Much" written by Laura Krauss Melmed. The parents of the children in the film signed video release forms for their child allowing this video to be posted online for educational purposes only.
Research Paper
My research paper was about the education of cultural minorities in the United States.