MY LESSON!!!

Honestly, I think that my lesson went well. Like I said, the only thing that I would have changed was how I would go about passing the book around. I didn't really think about it. Aside from that, I think it was great. I would have to say that I COMPLETELY DISAGREE with some of my classmates that said that I was too "mean". When you have a crazy class like the one that I did, you have to be strict or else the students will walk all over you. Obviously that is not how I will be every single day but on crazy days like these, you must put your foot down and you can't baby your kids or reward them when they are misbehaving. It doesn't work like that. I work with Preschoolers and they are adorable and innocent and what not and the moment that I saw them, I said the same thing to myself" OH MY GOODNESS, I CAN'T YELL AT THESE KIDS, THEY ARE SO CUTE AND SMALL"but eventually I found myself placing them in time out or raising my voice on several occasions. That doesn't mean that I am a mean teacher. My kids love me! I am so nice to them , when they deserve it of course. I even have my favorite, which I know we are not supposed to but I can't help it. I have raised my voice with her many many times simply because she doesn't listen and if I baby talk to her or even talk to her in a normal tone, she won't listen because she will think it's a joke. So I think my tone during my presentation was good and it was for first or second graders. It's fine!

As far as the book, I was aware that it said "Baby to 3 years" but the point was to explain the basic steps of building a snowman and getting to the point. I had a longer book but I wanted everyone to finish the art project and well look at that, you did! We didn't exactly have a full day you know.

AND IT IS POSSIBLE to have a quiet classroom in that grade because I have seen it and it has been proven. Once a teacher raises her voice and says "NO TALKING", first graders will know that the teacher is serious and well do as they are told. Those are the consequences when you can't follow the rules! Thank you!

Teacher or Anchor

I will be honest with all of you and admit that my first choice of major was Communications. Yes I want to be an anchor and I want it really bad!haha. I want to travel and see what is going on all over the world. I want to tell viewers what is happening in their hometown, the good and the bad. I watch the news a alot and I think that it is such an amazing job which seems to be so easy but I know that it requires alot of hard work and dedication as well as most jobs. I am also aware that it is hard to get into this field but I am going to do the best I can and I know it will take several years but I am determined and I know that I can do it!=D

So most of you are wondering now, "so why are you majoring in EE"? Well I wish I could be a teacher by day and an anchor at night but that's not going to happen.ha! The reason why I am majoring in EE is because my idol has been my Kindergarten teacher ever since well I was in Kindergarten. She was a great teacher, now she is the assistant principal of an Elementary School. I've always looked up to her and said that one day I will be a great teacher just like her. Aside from that I love kids and I like standing up in the middle of a room and well teaching! I am very creative and I see myself as a strict but at the same time fun teacher. If that makes any sense. There are teachers that I have seen that are just so mean, as horrible as it sounds it's true and we all know it. We don't need anymore teachers like that, we need nice good teachers (like me..hehe) and if I do become a teacher, I will also eventually become a Principal and run my own school! Hey it can happen! Well thanks for reading this! And I pretty much cut it down because I had tons more to say but I can't write forever!

Christmas

So since I don't know what to write about, I am going to write about what I am thinking about teaching for my mini lesson. I love Christmas and since my lesson will be in December (Tuesday), I am going to start off with something Christmas-ish. Christmas to me is about alot of things and one of the words that come to mind is "fun". I want to make my lesson fun and have everyone enjoy it. Something like an art project sounds good.

I remember I loved Christmas because in Grammar School, we would always do a lot of fun activities. Art projects, reading and writing, whatever had to do with Christmas I enjoyed! So I am not telling what I am going to do exactly but well now you know it's about Christmas. I can't say that it will be a blast because we will have over 10 interruptions and probably a mess but we can make the most out of it.=D

See you all Tuesday!

Lessons

Overall. I think that all of the lessons have been good. I've learned a lot from them. I wasn't there for the first two lessons but Janira told me about the index cards and I was like "wow". That is such as great idea because it's the reality part of teaching. All the other classes where I have done mini lessons have been a piece of cake. Everyone listens and everyone does what they are supposed to do. Yeah right, if only it was that easy I think there would be hundreds of more teachers. I am an assistant teacher in Preschool and sometimes I have to chase them around so that they can actually sit. They literally run away from me so that I can catch them. It's crazy which is why I prefer to teach 4th or 5th graders. Hopefully I won't have to chase them around the classroom. Well good luck to everyone who hasn't gone yet (I am one of them!). and Good Job to the ones that already did!

Report Cards

It's funny how this topic just makes me remember of how scared I was everytime the teacher mentioned Report Cards. The funny part is that I always did well. I was one those "smart kids". I don't mean to brag but it's true. I had classmates wanting to copy from me and sit next to me when there was a test. Of course, I wasn't the only one. I was just one of them. Anyways, I guess I was just never sure of how I did because I always remembered like, "Oh I didn't do my homework one time because I was absent" and then just felt like that was the end of my good grades. It's silly now when I think about it but I think that a lot people felt like that. You never know what to expect for sure. Once I made it to High School, Report Cards were mailed to your house and I was always checking the mailbox before my parents could. I would open it up and see my grades and then decided if I should give it to my parents or not. Sometimes I would even forget.

Every Vote Counts!!!

I found this video and I think it has a good meaning so if you're interested please watch and please vote! =D

Portfolios

In class I saw different types of what people considered to be "portfolios". When I think of portfolios I think of folders with a collection of the student's best work. At least that is how portfolios worked when I was in school. I am pretty sure that I will use portfolios in my future classrooms. It's good to have your student's best work in a folder so that he/ she can see all of their accomplishments as the year goes by. It is also good for the teacher that the students will have the following year so that they can see the students best work and know that they are capeable of doing good work. When I was in high school, we had a checklist at the beginning of the year inside our portfolios. The list was of all the things that we would be putting inside our portfolios once the projects or essays were completed and revised. As we completed them, we would simply check it off the list and by the end of the year hopefully we had everything in our portfolios that was required because we also receieved a portfolio grade from our English teacher. I think that I will use my portfolios the same way as I did when I was in school unless there is a specific way that the school I am working at wants them done.

Rubrics

At first, I really didn't know much about rubrics because none of my teachers ever gave me one. Well at least, not that I remembered until now. Which is why I never realized how useful these rubrics can be. They are very helpful for both the student and the teacher. As far as the student, I think that they allow us to see exactly what the teacher is looking for and what he/ she expects from us in an essay, project or any assignment that is given. It is a great guide and we can check things off as we complete them. In my reading class, my professor gives the students a different kind of rubric as a guide when we make our lesson plans. I constantly look at it because it states everything that he will be looking for. I have gotten really good results because with a guide like that as help, you can't have many mistakes. There actually shouldn't be any at all if you pay close attention tot the rubric.

As far as the teacher, I think that it makes things easier for her as well. All the students will be graded equally no matter who they are or what is expected from them as an individual. They all were supposed to follow the same exact rubric so they will be graded according to what they did complete from the rubric or what they didn't. I will definitely use rubrics in my future classroom.

I <3 My Access

Today in class I was introduced to a program called My Access, and i was surprised by all the incredible things that this program has to offer. It is a great way for assigning homework or for classroom activities. It's also an excellent way for the students to practice and improve in certain areas. I hope that when I become a teacher this program is offered at my school. I plan to teach the 4th or fifth grade so I know that the students will find it easy once they get a hang of it. I enjoyed using the program today as both the teacher and the student because we got an idea of how it works both ways and we got a point of view from a students perspective. Well I liked it, hopefully others did too because it is a really great program and it will definitely come in handy in the future.( well for me it will!)

Homework

I think that homework is a good way to assess students. It's not the best way but I think that there are many accomplishments by giving homework. As a future teacher, I believe that giving homework is very important. However, too much homework will just overwhelm a student, and sometimes it might not even be completed or understood. I was once in Elementary School and I remember crying because I had alot of homework. It sounds silly but it happens. I will give my students homework, but just the right amount. Not too much but not too little. Enough so that I know that they will understand it and of course remember what they did. The only negative thing about homework is that the teacher is not watching his/her students actually do the homework. They might have their parents, a family member or even a friend in the same class or grade do it for them, but the truth comes out sooner or later.

Fairness in Assessment

Well this is just a short story about an experience I had when I felt that the way I was assesed was "not" fair!

During college, as we all know we have finals and midterms. My toughest class was history my freshmen year because during the lectures, I took two whole pages of notes for EACH class, FRONT AND BACK! Anyhow, a few weeks before our final, a student raised her hand and asked the teacher" Are we going to have a review for the final?" and the professor responded (confused)" A review???Well.....what do you think we have been doing the whole semester?" Meaning that ALL of those notes that we took every single class was our so called "review"! Not that I counted the pages or anything like that but they added up to about 150 pages! That night I stood up really late looking through my notebook trying to memorize as much as I could. First of all, it wasn't happening and plus it was HISTORY. Lets just say history and me are not a good match. After a while of skimming through the pages, I just closed my notebook and hoped for the best. Needless to say, when I saw the final in front of me, it seemed as if it was in another language.ha! I received a "D" and so did just about half of the class. My final grade for the class was a C+ though which I managed to live with.

Now I realize that this is a an "assessment no no". How are we supposed to learn this way? It is not fair and nothing is getting accomplished. As much as I hate to say it, I dont remember one thing from that class. I don't think that I learned anything because I was so stressed and worried.

What is Assessment?

"Assessment seeks to support and improve student learning." Teachers provide students with different forms of assessments so that the teacher will know what exactly their students have learned and what they have achieved. It is also done so that a teacher can see where students have difficulties and what areas they need to improve in."The process of gathering and judging evidence in order to decide whether a person has achieved a standard or objective"

Every teacher has their own way of assessing his/her students. Some I don't agree with because sometimes the way that they decide to assess their students is not exactly "fair". I have had several teachers that don't prepare their students enough for a big test and then judge them according to their grades. I belive that students should not only be assessed through testing but through other activities as well. Some students may be very smart but testing might put some pressure on them. Perhaps a class discussion or a game could be a very good type of assessment. I once had a professor who got us ready for a test by playing a game. She would ask a question and we had these machines where we could press a button if we knew the answer and then we would answer the question and she would give us points if we got it right. There was no multiple choice which made it a bit challenging but that was the point. It was fun but we were also reviewing for our exam. I found this to be very successful.=D

Hello

Helloooo everyone!

Well for those of you who don't know me, my name is Norma Angelika Perez and I am a double major in Media Communications and Elementary Education. I want to be either a News Anchor or a 4th grade teacher, maybe 5th and I also hope to get into Administration and be a principal of an Elementary school. Who Knows! I wish I could be it ALL. That would be cool. Anyways, I currently work in Secaucus at "Harmony Early Learning Center", I am a Preschool assistant teacher. I love my kids, they are so cute and so much fun!!! I like to read books and magazines when I have the time, mostly before bed. Random facts: I looooove pizza, I don't eat anything green...=/ and you're most likely to see me with a water bottle every day. That's it for now! =)