Journal 13

Well let's get started shall we? Now what are formative and summarize assessments? Formative assessments are given through the learning process and gives you better insight about how your students are progressing and how they are doing when it comes to trying to meet their goals. Summative assessments I'm the other hand are given at the end of a unit or year and assess how they are progressing to achieving mastering a certain topic. You can use a formative assessment by doing something as simple as a q&a session with students at the end of a lesson. Summative assessments can be done by giving quizzes as final exams. I can tell if they are valid and reliable by keeping track of both my results and my progress charts. Finally I can tell if my sources are reliable by looking at the .edu,and .org websites for checking their reliability.

BPH is FINALLY done!!!

Praise the Lord Hallelujah we are finally done with our BPH! Lord knows that we put a lot of blood, sweat, and tears into this project and it has finally paid off. I can't be 100% positive about the number but I'm almost positive that it's Standard 4, which is where we have to know what we are going to be teaching and honestly I think that there is no better example of this Standard. I mean honestly we have to be a jack of all trades when it comes to finding and using strategies that will be successful in the classroom. I definitely learned a lot about some great resources that I wouldn't have otherwise and call me crazy, but in the end I am very glad that we had to do this project

Teacher Interviews

I think that I definitely should have done ALL of my work for my Teacher Interview during Easter break because if I had I wouldn't have had to worry quite as much as I did when my iPad decided to self-destruct on Tuesday. I know that this ties in with the standard that Shaquavia mentioned in her blog, 4a, especially because as I think we have all discovered at one point or another that technology tends to have the uncanny ability to malfunction right when we need it the most. It's also so hard to believe that the semester is almost over. Good luck guys, let's push through this shall we?

Teaching our lessons: Practice makes Perfect

So today a lot of us got to teach our lessons along with Dr. Parker's class, which I think was great and a very beneficial learning experience. I definitely was able to think of some adjustments that I can make to my lesson before I teach it in the classroom because as Standard 3b1, which is knowing our content. Even though I definitely felt comfortable knowing my content, I feel like I could have done better with conveying that to my class. For example, in the beginning I think that it would have been better if I had handed out my "rice balls" before the story and then asked the class if they thought that it would have been possible to kill a snake with it. I think that would have made my lesson flow better or have a better hook in the beginning. I also think that would have given me more time to talk about sequencing so we would have had a chance to do a guided practice where we were going to draw a fairy tale hero or villain and a wacky location and then use those to do group re-tellings of Li Chi. In the end I think that having us practice our teaching like this is enormously beneficial. Now, I don't know about you but, let's get ready fo Easter break now shall we?

Week 9: Spring Break is over and it's out of the pan and into the fire. Yikes!

SoI think that it would be fair and safe to say that I am officially not the only one sweating, stressing, and also running around like chickens with their heads cut off, since it would seem that the Universe is throwing us a curve ball, with what seems like every assignment you could possibly think of is due this week or shortly after. I guess that this is going to be useful to us as future teachers and if that's the case, I don't know about you, but for me personally I'm going to need all the coffee and Monsters I can get. Personally for me the main focus for is this BPH and the 6 point lesson plan. Which, honestly, I feel more confident with the second time around and I think that working on the Best Practice Handbook has helped me do and I think that also ties in with standard 3a2, which says that we must use literacy instruction with all grade levels. Which don't get me wrong, these assignments are helping with that, but it just seems like we're in an endless project and homework tailspin right now.Easter Break is right around the corner and I do indeed plan to take full advantage since I'm no longer dealing with strep throat. Fun times right? Lol stay strong people remember we can do this!

Almost Spring Break and we're half way there. No pressure right?

Okay so nobody panic, but in case we failed to realize this semester is half way over already. Where in the heck did the time go? Like many of you I have yet to receive feedback on my six point lesson plan which gets my nerves mor than a little stressed, especially considering that I will be filling out my student teaching application this week so writing lesson plans should be a piece of cake right? Now to this week, this is the first time in a week that we have all met in the classroom, but I, like many of you have certainly not been lacking in having plenty to do. I can probably say that it is safe to say that we have all been meeting with our BPH groups to knock this beast of a project out and try to come out of it in one piece. I have to be honest, I have not been able to watch all of these Teachscape videos and with all of the classes and requirements there are a few things that are bound to slip through the cracks unfortunately. I do think however, that so far in this class that we are getting  more comfortable, and closer to accomplishing standard 3b1 which is knowing our content. Also, after today's lesson I think that we are getting more comfortable with standard 3b2 where we have to encourage our students to learn WITH each other and basically collaborate and build a stronger community for academic support within our classrooms. Which Shaquavia and her group did a fantastic job of teaching by the way. However, let's face it, in the real world some students might not be comfortable coming to us. Although our intentions as teachers are good, we should be prepared for handling situations like this, and in the meantime, it would be a great reassurance knowing that should something like this happen they have classmates that they can work, collaborate with and feel comfortable in doing so. That was a mouthful so, let's all take a deep breath, get through these projects one day at a time and take some time to try to gain some semblance of our sanity back shall we?

LEARN and BPH part 2

I know that in the last class period I definitely learned in a much more beneficial by dividing up the parts of the LEARN plan and then teaching each other about it. This really helped us develop standard 4g: Teachers communicate effectively which we had to do in order to teach each other. Also when meeting with my group this week, we were able to collaborate and work together to try to really hash this thing out and really get it figured out. I also found that this BPH also works well with standard 1c: Teachers leading the profession. I think that we could all use a breather soon though, heck I found out this week that my teacher could be testin till as late as April 4th so I still haven't had a chance to get into the classroom yet. Talk about no pressure sheesh.

BPH, NCTCS, and oh yeah did I mention more BPH?

So it would seem that we are all still in one piece which is great but let's be honest, did anyone else smell their brain smoking after taking our first crack at this Best Practices Handbook? I definitely see how the NCTCS standards are going to tie into the handbook though and I think that in the end this handbook is going to be a great tool and resource for us, especially as new teachers. The fact that it's based on best practices alone is going to help us more from a pedagogical aspect rather than just writing research papers and lesson plans until we can't see straight lol. Although I would like to say that I am most comfortable with relating to Standard 3, which is knowing the content you teach, the truth of the matter is that, while I am comfortable with teaching my students actual English, I still have more work to do as far as getting comfortable with content of other areas, particularly math and science because not only do we teach content of multiple subjects in ESL, we also teach from K-12 which is a heck of a lot of content, and a heck of a lot of pressure. In the end though this is exactly why I think that this Best Practices Handbook is going to be such a beneficial and useful tool and resource.

Week 3- Understanding the KUD and unpacking standards

Hey guys, so as we all know class was cancelled today and I have to say, although I hope Dr. Clark is feeling better, I was kinda bummed about it actually, especially the tech smackdown. I was also bummed about missing out on more about unpacking standards. I don't know about you guys but personally I am finding this part especially helpful considering that I didn't come to this school starting in education in addition to the fact that ESL majors don't take a lot of the same classes as other education majors. So even though I've always felt a little bit behind everyone else, I feel like this class will really help me not feel "caught up", but will help me understand to not necessarily help me plan lessons easier but help me plan more effectively and help me understand how to better answer questions in the next few education classes that I have to take.
I also think that the tech smackdown has been a big help, not only because we have to become more efficient and literate in technology, but because many ESL teachers have smaller classes and more limited resources than the average teacher. Therefore, the more effective and resourceful you can be the better. In conclusion, I think that this class, aside from student teaching will probably be one of the most beneficial classes to take.

Week 2: Technology in the classroom

I think that we've definitely learned plenty of important things this week. We've learned more about what we need in order to be successful in our classroom. However, I think that one of the most important things that we've done this week was the scavenger hunt that we did today. Not only did it help us incorporate the values and goals that we had previously established, but it also helped us get more comfortable and confident in using and utilizing our 21st century/ technology skills in the classroom. I think that there were many benefits to this activity.
First of all, we learned today that one word, such as literacy, can have many different definitions and meanings to different people. We also learned that for one problem, everyone has different ways of approaching and solving it. I was both impressed and surprised that one team got finished in five minutes, but that just goes to show that some strategies are more effective than others. I think that an activity like this would translate easily into a younger classroom. This also ties in with the standards, like standard 3D- Teachers make instruction relevant to students- Teachers incorporate 21st century life skills into their teaching deliberately, strategically, and broadly. In conclusion, if we as teachers incorporate more activities like this, then we will have no problem becoming effective and successful teachers.

We've only just begun

Well we've done it. We have officially survived the first week of the new semester, so let's take a breath of relief. This is the first education class dealing with reading and writing in content area that I have ever taken, and I have to say that Dr. Clark teaching our class, even though I still have plenty to learn both in this class and befor I graduate, I feel like I can be successful and come out as more prepared when it's all said and done. I feel like we did a very good job when it came to setting up an environment where we can all rely on each other and be successful.

I also particularly like the fact that this class is so engaging with both technology that we are already familiar with, as well as teaching us about new technologies that we can add to our teaching arsenal. I also find it to be very helpful that we have such quick access to the standards that we will need to be familiar with as well, as well as our course calendar and syllabus.I know that for me, this takes a big weight off of my shoulders and will help me breathe a little bit easier throughout the semester. I know that for me personally, I have never blogged before, so bear with me as this is just slightly intimidating. Hopefully, I will be far more confident in my blogging skills as well by the time the end of this semester rolls around. I look forward to getting to know you all better, especially with the possibility of running into each other as co-workers in the future. Take it easy and I'll see you guys in class tomorrow!