Real and Relevant

Providing students with an education that is both relevant and REAL is important. We must not only make connection, but also show them how to use and apply what they are learning to do something purposeful in the real world. This makes learning more meaningful for them. Creating an environment that is conducive to being relevant and real engages the students in their learning. It can and SHOULD be done at all grade levels. Being a first grade teacher and with the examples given in the book, it made me ponder on how I provide my students with real-world connections.  I got to thinking and I am glad to say that I do! For example, my students were learning about surveys in which they had to conduct surveys, organize data, represent data, and interpret data. This was right around the time that the presidential election was going on, so it was a great opportunity to incorporate a current event with surveys. My students "voted" for who they wanted to be president. I did engage students with relevant and REAL learning! YAY! :)

3 Social Networking Ideas in the Classroom

I teach first graders so I would not necessarily use social networking to communicate directly with my students. However, it can be used in other useful and effective ways. 1. I currently use social networking to get ideas from and network with other first grade teachers. This is really helpful in setting up lessons for my students. 2. Another way I could use social networking is to communicate with parents through a class facebook/twitter page. This would allow parents to be familiar about any upcoming events and what we are learning in class. It would be a great home and school communication tool with parents. 3. As a step further into parent-teacher communication, it could also be used to share material, online games, apps, links, ideas, etc. with parents that supplement what we are learning in the classroom. There are many ways to incorporate social networking with students directly. However, being a first grade teacher, it would not be the most effective and efficient way to integrate technology. Like I said, it would be a great way to network with other teachers and as a parent-teacher communication tool for my current grade level.

True or False Prezi! :)

Back Up Plan!

This week my computers were not working, so I had to go with a backup plan. We learned about the life cycle of a butterfly.  We read about it and wrote about it. I originally had planned for my students to describe and illustrate pictures about the life cycle and later on in the week they were going to create the life cycle out of grains/pasta. However, since we did not have access to computers I had to implement a new center. That's where our butterfly of a life cycle concept comes it. Instead of a technology center, I had a science center. In this center the students created the life cycle of a butterfly out of the following grain/pasta:

Rice: Egg

Spiral Pasta: Caterpillar

Shell Pasta: Chrysalis

Bow Tie Pasta: Butterfly

The students loved this and were definitely engaged in the idea of the life cycle of a butterfly. Of course, I tied it into our learning as they were reading and writing about the life cycle of a butterfly.

Partnering Classroom Setup/Levels

As you all know, this week was our leading discussion week in which we presented the idea of "Moving To Partnering as a Pedagogy". There were great ideas of classroom setups that were presented. My classroom is setup in five tables of four. They have access to computers, ipods, listening centers, working with words centers, etc. Having students work in groups/partners helps them grow academically, socially, and emotionally. I provide my students with center-based activities at their level and they are able to work at their own pace. My level of partnering is very dependent on the concept they are learning, with basic and guided partnering being the most used. At the beginning of the year there is a ton of learning involved in just working together as they learn the parameters, expectations, etc. It is very rewarding to see their growth in collaboration as we gradually move through the year. :)

Podcasts & Vodcasts!

We learned about Podcasts and Vodcasts! I really like the idea of incorporating them into education. I don't think they would be appropriate for my younger students to create and produce. However, I think they do have promising potential in other ways in the classroom. They can be used to bring educational interviews into the classroom, on days when you have a substitute in order to explain concepts to children, or as a way to sort of keep in touch with parents. That is, we can incorporate them in order for parents to listen to at home if they need clarification on a topic. They would be great tools for English Language Learners. There is so much potential in them that the ideas are endless, but of course keeping in mind what is most effective and beneficial for our students.