I really loved learning about best teaching practices and ways to get the students actively involved. In the online study of this section, we watched a video clip about "Edutopia, Educational Community" This video really inspired me for when I become a teacher. I have been doing research about children who bully and why, and this video really touched on that. It was about teachers who begin their day with a 20 min morning meeting, however this meeting is no regular meeting, instead what they do is have their students participate in games, or activities that establish empathy and are fun. The purpose of this, according to the video is to "Teach the students how to care for another, how to be a bigger person, and how to resolve conflict." In doing this they learn core social skills and how to see and treat others with respect and fairness. Some of the teachers in this video would use activities such as "Fill up our buckets" Where one student would sit in the spotlight chair and tell the class something that is special about them, and then each student in the classroom would tell that spotlight student something nice or positive about them. Then the teacher would ask questions about how did it make you feel to say something nice to someone, how did it make you feel to get a compliment, and they would discuss how this is filling up their buckets. I loved loved loved this, and there were different ways that each teacher approached this or games that were played but it was teaching the same concept of showing kindness towards others and receiving kindness back.
I noticed this in my field study and the different method teachers would use to get their students actively engaged. One teacher I was observing would start the day off by having a coloring activity sitting at each students table and they would work on that for the first 10 minutes, then they would have a thing also called morning meeting, where everyone would come sit on the rug and review the days of the week, counting chart, discuss the weather, questions like "do you like pizza, do you like reading books, do you have fun with the babysitter, ect? Class note, on the board so the teacher would say, "Dear Class, today is Tuesday. today we are going to go to music, then math, ect. . . I love you, love your teacher. " This class note gave the students an agenda of what they were going to be for the day so that class knew what to look for. Then the teacher would lead the class in a exercise routine where it helped them learn to count too, it was a cute little song about now do 20 jumping jacks and the kids would do them while counting, ect. . .
Another teacher I observed had spotlight days. Where one student in the class got to have a special spotlight day, They brought a poster from home with pictures and writings about things that student loved to to or didn't love to do. In the morning the student would get to sit in the giant rocking chair and where a special hat and the teacher would hang their posted on the board in front of the whole class and read the student would get to tell the class about their poster, then each student in the class got to ask the spotlight student questions like what is your favorite cartoon/ ect, then they all had a turn to say something nice about that student being spotlighted. As I was observing this I loved to watch the student being spotlight just grin as big as can be and they had the sparkle in their eye and were just the happiest ever. I thought this was such a great idea because every child needs to feel loved, appreciated, and important. and sadly enough, many don't get the feeling from their home life, they come from homes that are lacking empathy and love, so when they can come to school and feel loved and appreciated, what a difference that can make in their life. I want to make sure I am doing activities like this when I become a teacher. Making every child feel loved, important, and wanted, is so necessary in todays world, if we are to teach and raise the children of our future to believe in themselves and be successful individuals. So these were strategies I saw that related to that section of the video learning.
Other strategies I saw was one teacher let the students have a side walk chalk day and they went out to the black asphalt on the playground area and had the kindergarteners practice writing their names and writing their letters and numbers with side walk chalk and then let the students draw a picture of what ever they wanted too. I thought this was a great teaching method, because not only do they get to get outside and play with something fun, they are learning and being creative at the same time. Another activity I learned about, but didn't get to really see happening, was each student in the class got a chance to take home Thomas the Turtle for the week. He wasn't a real turtle, but a big green stuffed turtle. They were in charge of taking Thomas on adventures and activities and taking care of him, and each night they would write in a journal about what Thomas did today. and then draw a picture of it. If Thomas got really dirty, some kids would have their parents give him a bath (wash him in the washing machine) and write about how much fun Thomas had. This helped teach the kids to be responsible for a pet, without putting any animal endanger if they weren't, but also helped them practice their writing and report skills.
In our online class practices, we also read about different teaching terms and definitions. In my field study, I also noticed teachers applying these methods to their teaching. One of the most frequent ones I noticed was "Wait Time" where the teacher would ask a question, let the students reflect a moment or two on the question and how they wanted to answer it, and then she/he would call or ask a student to answer. Which also brings me to my next definition, "Equitable Distribution" That means the teacher will call on those that are raising their hands to answer, but also calls on those not raising their hands to answer. That way it gives even the shy kids a chance to answer and the teacher a window into seeing who is understanding the concepts being taught and who is not. This brings me to the last definition I frequently saw in the field, and that is prompting. The teacher asking certain prompting questions, to help the students figure out the answer, without the teacher telling them what the answer is. . . . I think this is so important as well because it forces the students to really think for themselves and get their minds turning and this is such an important thing to teach children to do.
I really enjoyed this chapter of learning and am just even more excited now to become a teacher and hopefully inspire children to believe in themselves, and give them the love and confidence they need to succeed in life.
I noticed this in my field study and the different method teachers would use to get their students actively engaged. One teacher I was observing would start the day off by having a coloring activity sitting at each students table and they would work on that for the first 10 minutes, then they would have a thing also called morning meeting, where everyone would come sit on the rug and review the days of the week, counting chart, discuss the weather, questions like "do you like pizza, do you like reading books, do you have fun with the babysitter, ect? Class note, on the board so the teacher would say, "Dear Class, today is Tuesday. today we are going to go to music, then math, ect. . . I love you, love your teacher. " This class note gave the students an agenda of what they were going to be for the day so that class knew what to look for. Then the teacher would lead the class in a exercise routine where it helped them learn to count too, it was a cute little song about now do 20 jumping jacks and the kids would do them while counting, ect. . .
Another teacher I observed had spotlight days. Where one student in the class got to have a special spotlight day, They brought a poster from home with pictures and writings about things that student loved to to or didn't love to do. In the morning the student would get to sit in the giant rocking chair and where a special hat and the teacher would hang their posted on the board in front of the whole class and read the student would get to tell the class about their poster, then each student in the class got to ask the spotlight student questions like what is your favorite cartoon/ ect, then they all had a turn to say something nice about that student being spotlighted. As I was observing this I loved to watch the student being spotlight just grin as big as can be and they had the sparkle in their eye and were just the happiest ever. I thought this was such a great idea because every child needs to feel loved, appreciated, and important. and sadly enough, many don't get the feeling from their home life, they come from homes that are lacking empathy and love, so when they can come to school and feel loved and appreciated, what a difference that can make in their life. I want to make sure I am doing activities like this when I become a teacher. Making every child feel loved, important, and wanted, is so necessary in todays world, if we are to teach and raise the children of our future to believe in themselves and be successful individuals. So these were strategies I saw that related to that section of the video learning.
Other strategies I saw was one teacher let the students have a side walk chalk day and they went out to the black asphalt on the playground area and had the kindergarteners practice writing their names and writing their letters and numbers with side walk chalk and then let the students draw a picture of what ever they wanted too. I thought this was a great teaching method, because not only do they get to get outside and play with something fun, they are learning and being creative at the same time. Another activity I learned about, but didn't get to really see happening, was each student in the class got a chance to take home Thomas the Turtle for the week. He wasn't a real turtle, but a big green stuffed turtle. They were in charge of taking Thomas on adventures and activities and taking care of him, and each night they would write in a journal about what Thomas did today. and then draw a picture of it. If Thomas got really dirty, some kids would have their parents give him a bath (wash him in the washing machine) and write about how much fun Thomas had. This helped teach the kids to be responsible for a pet, without putting any animal endanger if they weren't, but also helped them practice their writing and report skills.
In our online class practices, we also read about different teaching terms and definitions. In my field study, I also noticed teachers applying these methods to their teaching. One of the most frequent ones I noticed was "Wait Time" where the teacher would ask a question, let the students reflect a moment or two on the question and how they wanted to answer it, and then she/he would call or ask a student to answer. Which also brings me to my next definition, "Equitable Distribution" That means the teacher will call on those that are raising their hands to answer, but also calls on those not raising their hands to answer. That way it gives even the shy kids a chance to answer and the teacher a window into seeing who is understanding the concepts being taught and who is not. This brings me to the last definition I frequently saw in the field, and that is prompting. The teacher asking certain prompting questions, to help the students figure out the answer, without the teacher telling them what the answer is. . . . I think this is so important as well because it forces the students to really think for themselves and get their minds turning and this is such an important thing to teach children to do.
I really enjoyed this chapter of learning and am just even more excited now to become a teacher and hopefully inspire children to believe in themselves, and give them the love and confidence they need to succeed in life.
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