Moving on to the next chapter!

"The dream begins, most of the time, with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you on to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called truth." --Dan Rather


I never thought this moment would come as fast as it did. Sitting in class the first day, I imagined the end of this class being, what would feel like, years away. This semester flew by and I have learned so much about teaching, learning and myself in such a short time. In the beginning this class was one of the most stressful and complicated classes. Although I felt that way all semester, it is hard to admit that this class has helped me grow so much and I learned more than I thought was possible in a quick, short semester. I feel that I have never done as much work for another class as I did for this class. Everyday was a new challenge, but it only helped me to become a better learner, educator and future teacher! This is one class that has definitely prepared me for my future as a teacher.

Coming into this class, I knew it was focused heavily on technology. I thought I knew enough about technology and technological resources to use in the classroom. But, I was very, very wrong! I learned about so many new resources that I will definitely be using in the future.

The thought of having to create three lessons and teach them to a class in front of my classmates was one of the scariest thoughts. After doing it and succeeding, I felt so much more confident in front of the classroom and behind the scenes preparing lessons. Throughout this class I learned a lot about effectively working together and communication. A huge portion of this class was working with others and succeeding as a team. Although it was very difficult at times, it has shown me the importance of collaboration and team work.

I can take with me all the new skills, philosophies, knowledge and experience I learned in this class and use it in my future. I have prepared a lot of activities that I can see my future students loving! In the end, for the most part, the knowledge and wisdom I have gained was worth the stress!

Here are the links to my fellow classmates blog posts that I have commented on: 

Kelly Raich's blog

Mallory Menneci's blog

Keilani Wilhelm's blog

Melissa Kelly's blog

Emily Meehan's blog

Mock Interview

Time for an interview!

Today in class we had a mock interview. My four classmates, Mallory, Emily, Erin and Melissa took on the role of a principal/administrators and prepared thought provoking questions for us to answer.
We did not know what questions they were going to ask us. At the end, the administrators all came together and they chose who they would hire for their school. One person from each group got hired. 

This was certainly a nerve-wracking experience at first. We had to think on our toes and come up with well thought out, educated and relevant answer to the question. This was excellent practice for a real interview that most of us will be going on in the very near future. We had to reflect and think about everything that we learned all semester in order to come up with professional and accurate answers. One of the questions that really stood out to me was asked by Mallory. She asked "How would you manage a classroom during a cooperative lesson to ensure that there is valuable learning going on and not just chaos in the classroom?" This question stood out to me because it incorporated so many principles and values we learned in class. It goes to show that everything we learn overlaps. In order to answer this question you need to know about proper classroom management, cooperative lesson requirements as well as valuable learning. A question like this is one that we can all definitely except to get at a real job interview. 

Overall, this was a wonderful learning experience that really kept me on my toes. I got the chance to share my experience and opinions about different topics that we explored all semester in class. My classmates and I took this very serious and it really provided us all with a great learning experience. 

Keeping up with Current events

Each of us got into small groups and were to deliver a ten minute current events project to our class. My group and I connected our current events project to our unit plan we taught at Bishop Dunn. Our current events project had to do with politics and the budgets in schools. Before class we asked our classmates to read an article about Free School Lunches in schools. For our project we used a cooperative learning method of teaching and used the Think-Pair-Share strategy.

We created a PowerPoint for our class. In the third slide there were two videos for the class to watch. One video talked about how school lunch costs around $1.50, but some students cannot afford that. The second video was about how an elementary school kitchen manager got fired for giving free lunch to students who were crying because they were hungry. Since we only had ten minutes to teach our lesson we did not show these videos to the class, but encouraged the class to watch them on their own time. After the videos we explained the Think-Pair-Share model, what it is and what the students responsibilities are. Now, we asked the class a question "Should schools hire uncertified teachers as substitute teachers?" We asked the class to hold up their agree/disagree cards and then create two groups. All the students who agreed were instructed to go to one side of the classroom and the students who disagreed went to the other side. Now the class was split into two groups and we gave them about a minute to talk about why they felt that way. After a minute we posed another question to the class "Should schools provide the uniforms to their students?" We again

asked the class to hold up their agree and disagree cards. 

Our expectations were that the cycle of splitting up into groups would repeat and we would now have four groups. But, everyone in the class agreed that schools should provide uniforms to students. So, we decided to let the groups stay and just split up so that there was technically four groups that would work together. We gave the class another minute to discuss about the question and their thoughts. 

Now, we asked the students to pull up the Padlet that was linked in to our PowerPoint and answer the three questions. We wanted the students to work collaboratively on this quick assignment. We gave the class about two minutes to work on this. We then went around to each group and began to share. The students had some very well thought out answers to the questions! As an independent practice we wanted to see what the students in our class felt were the top three most important services they felt should be included in school budgets. We taped a string to

the board in the front of the classroom and gave each student a clothespin and small piece of paper. They were to write their
answers on the paper and when they were finished we asked them to hang them on the string on the board! This part worked out really well, the students seemed to really enjoy it and it looked fantastic! Lastly, we had a 123 contact form where the class filled out a final evaluation of their thoughts on our presentation and topic. 

The point of our lesson was to show that politics isn't always black and white. There is usually a grey area. If you are a Republican you may not agree with the Republican party on every single issue, same with Democrat or any other party. We wanted the class to see that there are multiple opinions on issues and because you agree with one issue or topic does not mean you will agree with every issue/topic. Overall, I think our lesson went fantastic! As a group, we really enjoyed planning it and delivering it to the class. The class seemed to enjoy it as well!

Fun with Artifact Bags

  

An artifact bag is an activity that goes along with an inquiry lesson. An artifact bag is like a mystery bag that students have to figure out what is inside. Inside is a multitude of artifacts that students have to investigate to figure out what they are and why they are significant.  In the end, the students are responsible to come to a conclusion about the artifacts inside the artifact bag. The students are encouraged to use the 5 W’s when trying to figure out the importance of the artifacts which are: Who, What, When, Where and Why. 

            Prior to taking part in the artifact bag activity, I had never heard of it or had any idea of what to expect. After taking part in the activity I was amazed at how enjoyable the activity was even as a college student. It gave me a better sense of the importance of artifacts as well as primary sources. For me, it showed the true difference between primary and secondary sources and reinforced how genuine primary sources are as compared to secondary sources. Being a college student, this activity also furthered my knowledge of historical skills. During this activity I got the chance to put certain skills into use. Taking part in this activity you have to be ready to use skills such as reasoning, deductive skills and effectively coming to conclusions. What helped in gaining new knowledge were the connections that one has to make when discovering and investigating the artifacts. You have to use your skills to make connections between the artifacts and their significance.

            An Artifact bag is a great activity to go along with a social studies lesson, but it gives the students the opportunity to learn and grow in many other areas. According to an article written by Carol Fuhler (2006), artifacts give students motivation to want to learn and investigate more. By having something in your hands, students become intrigued and want to find out more about the item. Students can begin to make connections between the artifacts and discuss possible ideas of where these artifacts could have come from. Students can make connections between the past and the present. During this lesson, a teacher can even put students into discussion or literature circles and integrate reading with social studies (Fuhler, 2006). Artifact bags open up a whole new world of possibilities for students where they become so curious. Students take on new roles of being investigators to find out more about the artifacts, but the fun does not even have to stop there. So many other activities can be roped into an artifact bag lesson to give children even more of an opportunity to investigate and make connections.

            Using an artifact bag is a great idea for any grade level and really gets students involved in the lesson with a hands-on activity. I created my artifact bag for second grade which I would use to go along with my unit plan which was “Choosing our Country’s Leader’s”. The artifact bag activity aligns with the national standards to have students examine the interaction of human beings and their physical environment, the use of land, building of cities, and ecosystem changes in selected local regions. As well as the national standard of recognizing different forms of evidence used to make meaning in social studies including primary and secondary sources, such as art and photographs, artifacts, oral histories, maps and graphs. This activity is great for any age, but second graders would thrive on the investigation and conclusion aspect of this activity. An activity like this would certainly engage and fascinate students at this grade level and make for a memorable experience for them.

In my particular artifact bag the outside was decorated with stickers and print outs that followed the theme of America, which related to my unit plan. There were many flags, red white and blue ribbons and sayings that said “USA” and “God Bless America”. After investigating the artifacts, the word that the students should have concluded was voting. Inside my bag I had three artifacts. The first artifact was an “I Voted Today” Button which people are given after they vote. I chose this artifact because it was simple and helped to get the point that someone just voted. My next artifact was an American Flag. I chose the American flag because it is a symbol of our country and you must be a citizen in order to vote. My third and final artifact was a voter registration card. I chose this artifact because before someone can vote, they have to make sure they are registered to vote.  All three of these artifacts went together very well and made it clear that the bag and artifacts were symbolic of voting. In a classroom I would use the artifact bag after teaching the students the vocabulary words of the unit, voting being one of them. This would give the students another opportunity to learn about voting but through a different style and approach.

Along with my artifact bag I had a book and a website that went along with the theme. I chose

the book “Vote” by Eileen Christelow. This is a wonderful children’s book that would be perfect for second graders. It goes through the process of voting and helps to make it very clear to the readers the steps that one goes through to vote. In the book they are voting for a new town mayor. The reader’s get an inside look into the campaign and the voting process. In my classroom I would read this book to my class after they have completed the artifact bag. The students would have the general knowledge from the previous lesson where they learned about the word vote. Therefore, the book would be another reinforcement to allow the kids to become more familiar with word and the overall process of voting. A website I would use would be extremely helpful to give students even more of an insight into voting and the whole process. This extraordinary website gives students the chance to see what a difference one vote can make, step into a virtual voting booth, cast a vote and see how they can become part of an election. This website provides so many learning opportunities for children and is an excellent way for them to learn even more about the voting process and how important it is to vote. Since students are not old enough to vote in an actual election, they can vote on other issues on this website. In a lesson I would use this as an extension activity and for students who finish early. This way students can have what seems like a break from learning on the computer, but they are really furthering their knowledge on voting and the process.

            Artifact bags provide an experience unlike any other for both the students and the teacher. This may be the first time students are getting the opportunity to uncover and detect artifacts. All teachers should incorporate artifact bags into lessons because it really helps to provide a different form of instruction to students. The artifact bag activity also helps to develop student’s pedagogical and content knowledge. This lesson helps students to further their skills through the use of a hands-on, motivating and engaging activity. Students need to develop reasoning skills and goals during this lesson as well. They need to be able to reason with each other and come to conclusions about the artifacts. It would also be useful to teach students about primary vs. secondary sources before this activity if it had not been previously discussed. Students will then get experience with the difference between primary and secondary sources and can see how the bias changes depending on what source they are using.

            The artifact bag also plays into the importance of the five elements of teaching. These five elements are meaningful, integrative, active, challenging and value-based. The artifact bag contributes to each of these elements in a different way. First of all, the artifact bag is active because it is hands on and students are taking on another role of investigating. In this activity the students are constructing their own knowledge independently. It is meaningful because the students are making connections, examining artifacts and are can even bring personal experience and impressions into their ultimate end conclusion. This activity is value-based because it is contributing to their overall knowledge and connects to standards and what students should be learning. It is also an integrative activity because students are piecing together the artifacts they are finding; it is not one simple task that they are completing. This activity can also be paired up with a multitude of other resources, content areas and forms of technology to further students learning beyond belief. This activity provides almost a limitless amount of opportunities for students. Lastly, the artifact bag activity is challenging because the answers are not given to the students. The students are given clues and they have to use their prior knowledge to uncover the meaning behind these artifacts, make connections and find out their significance.  Students must use the inquiry process in order to uncover the final answers from the artifacts. Therefore, students have to use their past knowledge of the inquiry lesson and build on to it with this activity.

            Although this particular artifact bag is geared for a second grade lesson, it can be adapted to align with other grades and the standards. This lesson can be modified for older grades and have more artifacts. The artifacts for older students could also be more in depth and not as straightforward as the artifacts would be for younger students. Field trips can also be paired up with this activity. Students can uncover replica artifacts in their bags and then after the lesson is completed the class can take a trip to a library or museum to see the real artifacts.

            Overall, the artifact bag is an excellent activity that can fit into many lessons. The bag also opens the door for other opportunities and other content areas to be intertwined with it. Artifact bags are a genuine activity that not only motivates but engages students as well. Every teacher should incorporate artifact bags into their teaching platform. Students simultaneously have an enjoyable time while constructing knowledge and furthering many of their skills. Since the artifacts are tangible, it is a lot different than most work that students are used to such as looking through a textbook or doing something online. Artifact bags are definitely something that I would use in my classroom because the possibilities are endless. This activity would leave a lasting positive impact on students and be something they remember throughout their school years.

Here is the PowerPoint I made to accompany my artifact bag to show my classmates. 

Resources

Fuhler, C. (20016) Building literacy skills across the curriculum: Forging        connections with the past through artifacts. The Reading Teacher. Retrieved             on April 7, 2016 from https://drive.google.com/a/my.msmc.edu/file/   d/0BwC7OGFCEPfydmZyOVREOXNDSUE/view

National Governors Association Center for Best Practices, Council of Chief State         School Officers (2010). Social studies common core standards. Retrieved on          April 7, 2016 from http://www.p12.nysed.gov/ciai/socst/pub/sscore1.pdf

Piecing together information through Jigsaw

As a class, we took part in a Jigsaw method of learning. The Jigsaw method involves students breaking up into groups, called their home or base groups. Each member of the base group is assigned a topic, in our case it was a different Native American Tribe. Then, everyone in the class that is assigned the same topic forms another group. These new groups are called your expert groups. So, I met with four of my other classmates and this was our expert group. Together, we each researched about our Native American Tribe, which was the Muscogee Tribe. We each took a different element of the tribe to research. In our PowerPoint I personally researched the history of the Muscogee Tribe and the important people associated with tribe. We continued researching until we all essentially became "experts" on our tribe. After we declared ourselves experts, we returned to our home/base groups. Then, we each taught our classmates about our Native American Tribe through the use of some form of technology. My expert group and I chose to use a PowerPoint. 

The Jigsaw method requires all group members to contribute to the process and we each become dependent on each other. After we all finished our projects and teaching each other we were able to piece together all the information from each member to learn about all the Native American Tribes. So, in the end we were all educated and all the pieces of information we learned fit together just like a jigsaw puzzle!

This is an excellent method that I would definitely utilize in my classroom one day. This teaches students how to effectively work in groups and collaborate as well as giving them the chance to experience being both the student and the teacher! This method shows the importance of communication skills and responsibility. With younger students it would be practical to assign roles within the groups. This is a great form of cooperative learning that gives students the chance to stray away from the traditional learning styles in the classroom like a direct method. I think that students of all ages would benefit and thoroughly enjoy this activity. I am very glad that I got the chance to take part and experience it!

Primary vs. Secondary

A primary source can be looked at as an original source from the time. This can be something like an artifact, a recording, a letter or a document from that specific time. Some helpful places that one could find a primary source can include: a museum, libraries, schools etc. These places may have files from the time period that you need! To many people history is looked at as just a series of facts or times. By using primary sources it can help students realize that history is so much more than that. Many times, when you are reading a textbook, which is not a primary source, you are reading how the author is portraying the material. By using a primary source you are getting accounts from that exact time from whenever you are studying happened. This may provide a more meaningful look on the events in history. You will see that primary sources do not have a particular point of view like some secondary sources may have. Primary sources are real and interesting because you can evaluate and analyze evidence straight from a specific time period. Primary sources are so crucial when teaching history because it can make history so much more meaningful for students. Primary sources can also help to not only engage students more but help them to build and construct their own knowledge and develop better critical thinking skills. 

A secondary source are documents written after the events have taken place. Secondary sources often provide a certain point of view and analysis. Some places that you could find secondary sources would be: in a school textbook, in a book written later after the event has occurred, on the web or a newspaper article written at a later time. Secondary sources are usually based on primary sources. Secondary sources can often provide an analysis for the topic and include the author's point of view. When looking at a secondary source one should base the genuineness on these characteristics: authenticity, credibility and meaning. Secondary sources are usually very quick to find and can often answer questions you may have directly. Secondary sources are crucial when it comes to teaching history because it is another former evidence that can be used to study history and the past.
 
Both forms of sources are extremely important in history. Both sources can provide meaning to a specific topic you may be learning or researching. They can help to provide clarity and make the topic more interesting.   

Making geography fun!

There are 5 themes to geography, which are: Place, Location, Movement, Human-Environment interaction and Region. Let's review what these five themes mean!

• Place: An area that is defined by everything in it. Every place has unique features that distinguish them from another place. For example, a school is a place and it includes walls, floors, classrooms, students, teachers, staff etc.
• Location: Location helps us to determine where something is. There are two types of locations: Absolute and Relative. Absolute location is a specific location on a map using longitude and latitude. Relative location can be in a general location. For example, down the road a little, next to this building etc. It is not an exact point.
• Movement:movement is how ideas, people, products, information etc. move from one place to another. It can be as simple as how did you get to the store or as complex as analyzing a mass migration of people.
• Human-environment interaction: Human-environment looks at the relationship between people and their environment. When thinking about human-environment interaction you can think about three questions: How do people depend on the environment? How do people adapt to their environment? How do people modify the environment?
• Region:A region is an area defined by similar characteristics. The characteristics that make a region similar can be physical, natural, cultural or human.

In this creative google slide presentation, it shows many creative ways which we can teach geography and make it fun! One idea that I really like is idea #36: woordle stereotypes. This is great to introduce a topic and see what similar words students can think of. It's a great way to introduce students to a lesson and each student can make their own and share them with the class. Another great idea is #40: Describing photos. This is where one student has a photo and describes it to the second student while the second student draws what is being described to them. This is a wonderful way to also introduce a topic and gives students the opportunity to work on certain skills. Idea #48: Don't get "blogged" down is another useful way to teach geography. After each activity students would be responsible to go to their blog and write about the and their finding. Each students blog would be individual and unique and give students the chance to analyze their findings! I think #67 Mnemonic devices is one of the most handy ways for students to remember things. Students can associate a phrase or saying that helps them to remember certain vocab or important words. 

A Mnemonic device can  be used to help students remember the five themes of geography. A great Mnemonic device that can help students remember the five themes of Geography is "Mr. HELP"!

M ovement

R egion

H uman- E nvironment interaction

L ocation

P lace