Attention! Attention!

     As a teacher you need to make sure your class is focused and on task with the assignment. Whether the assignment is something the students are doing as a class or individually you want to make sure your class is doing it. In our class we have learned and put to use a thing we call, Signals for Attention! These signals for attention help teachers gain their students attention as well as keeping them focused. They can be called attention grabbers or response signals within a classroom as well. Below is a picture with a couple of attention signals that can be used.

Here is a link to a video that will help you learn more about attention signals and what types are more effective then others! 

     While in fieldwork I have noticed my colleagues using many different signals for attention. It is a good idea for teachers not to use the same signal for a significant amount of time because then the students will not respond to it as quickly then the first couple of times. They will start to get bored of it and choose not to listen. This will cause the teacher to have more trouble gaining control of her class.  Some of the different ones I have noticed my fellow colleagues have used were: 

• " One, two, three" "Eyes on you!"

• "Hocus Pocus" "Everybody Focus!" 

• "Ready to Rock" "Ready to Roll!" 

         However, there are four different types of attention signals. Like the ones listed above, those are called, call and response attentions signals. The other three are turn off lights, rising hands, and echo clapping. Throughout my time in school I have always found that my teachers would always use the last three methods, turning off lights, rising hands, and echo clapping. I think that it is good to use all four within a classroom and keep it as a variety of different attention signals. 

Online Class!

    Today was a very different day for our class! Instead of physically going to class we did an online class using microphones and webcams. It was definitely something I have never done before, but I really enjoyed it. At first when I logged on I thought to myself, "This is silly. I'm not going to learn anything. I'm going to be so distracted." I always thought I had to be in a physical classroom to learn and that I would not be able to learn anywhere else. This proved me wrong. I learned so much from this virtual classroom experience.
    As we were learning from Dr. Smirnova through webcam, I realized this is just one of the many ways techonolgy has changed education and the way teachers teach. Technology has definitely improved things in a positive way. Technology has made virtual classrooms possible, to do things from home for people who can not physically go to school. This was absolutely an experience I would like to experience again!

Assessments

Last week we learned about assessments and all the different kinds of assessments that you can give to your students. After reading and looking through all the different resources that have been provided, I have learned a lot about assessments. They are a very important part of learning. They help review, challenge the students knowledge, and give them a better understanding of what they truly know. They also help teachers find out what the students know, don't know, or are struggling with. The three types of assessments: Diagnostic, Formative, and Summative are the main parts to which teachers get that information. There are many ways to act out those three types of assessments to fit the needs of all different types of learners. I for one am excited to put them in action and use them in the field. Below I attached my graphic organizer which will help people get a better understanding of the assessments. 
Here is a link to my graphic organizer!

First day of Fieldwork!

 Today our class started our first day of fieldwork! In groups we will teach our lessons to a 5th grade class. I was in group one so today was our turn! To say I was a little bit nervous would be a huge understatement. I have never taught in front of an entire class before. When I first started my education classes here at MSMC my fieldwork consisted of observations and one on one instruction. Since we were the first group to go and it was our first time I think we did ok. There was without a doubt room for improvement but we did good.
     We did not get to finish part of our lesson due to the limited time that we were not aware of but we know for next time that we have to work on our time management. Time management is the key to teaching. We also could do better when presenting the information to the class. I know I have trouble with not reading off the slides from a presentation and not fully making eye contact. We are teaching again next class session so we are going to make sure that we are more prepared then before. I'm still a little nervous but hopefully since this is my second time I can go in more confident and be better.

Science and Me!

      Everyone has different experiences in science. Some love it, some hate it, and some don't really care and just get it over with.  When kids start school they are interested in what they are going to do. The students love to learn and love to be interactive with everything they do. Teachers help that process and help children learn. They shape kids minds. The way teachers teach is how kids will feel about the subjects. Some of my teachers were great and some not so great in that department.
       When I am a teacher I plan to do better then my teachers and help make sure everyone loves all the subjects. I will make everything more interesting and more engaging. I will do less notes and tests and more hands-on and interactive projects and activities.

Here is a link to my Scientific Me, which talks about my experiences with science.

Dr. Smith

     The second activity that we did on the first day was draw our idea of a scientist looks like. There are some stereotypes in which we associat scientist with. Some stereotypes include:

• male 
• messy hair 
• They wear glasses
• messy work place

My picture does not fully represent the stereotypes. Partically because I am not a very good drawer. I tried the best I could to draw what I thought was a scientist. I does not really show any stereotypes but if I could draw, mine would have crazy hair and classes. Now, after thinking about it I would have done more to my picture if I had the time.
    When we finished with our pictures we did a gallery walk, which I thought was a great way to see what everyone else thought a scientist was. Most people came up with the same stereotypes and all the drawings looked similar. A lot of the drawings looked definitely better then mine. Doing this gallery walk was also a great way for people to open up to their classmates and share their thinking. I believe this activity to be very interesting to do for any subject and I will definitely be doing this activity in the future when I start my teaching.

Back to School

   It's that time of year again! New semester, new classes, new schedule, and more learning! I can already tell that this semester is going to be packed with work and new experiences. I am excited to see what this semester brings for us all! The first class is always the most interesting. You meet your teachers, see all old friends and meet new ones. I can't wait to learn more interesting and new ways to teach children.
      The first day of class we did an activity called Mystery bags. At first our teacher held up the bag and asked us to guess what was in the bag. The whole class made a list of things that could possibly be in the bag. After, we passed it around the classroom and each made an educated guess on what it could be again based on touch and sound when examining the bag. However, we only had five seconds each person to examine it. We then worked together to come up with ways to test the bag to see if what was in the bag is what we thought it was. Lastly, we concluded that we should open the bag after doing all different tests and seeing if our hypothesis was correct. When learning the contents of what was inside the bag we found our guesses to be close to what was in the bag not fully correct.
       I found this activity to be very hands-on and interesting to start the first day of classes with. It had me excited for whats to come in the next few months. I cannot wait to do more of these interesting and fun activities with my class!