Ahh notetaking. For as long as I can remember I have been taking notes. Taking notes because I was freaked out about the test, taking them because I need a way to make myself stay awake in class, and taking them because I was sincerely interested in what I was learning. I am a definate notetaker and I found Chapter 7 to extremely interesting. I found myself as I was reading deciding on how I would present the idea of notetaking to my classroom one day. I find that it is extremely helpful to take notes and therefore I will more than likely suggest it in my classroom. I love how in the chapter it gave different ways to take notes for different subjects. Personally speaking, I always struggled taking notes in math (possibly why I always did awful) because there was no set way of doing it. All it was a bunch of numbers that I could make look presentable on my paper. I know that for students like myself notetaking is a must, however, not all students are like me. I know some people that can pretty much write down random words on their paper and when it comes time to study they know exactly what was meant by those words. I enjoyed how in the book it talked about setting a specific way of notetaking for your class. This seems that it would be super helpful, especially when you have those students that deny you ever taught something that was on the test.
In one of my classes our teacher had a set way of notetaking and it made the class instructional time seem to run so much more smoothly. When she got up to teach you know exactly what to write down because she told you. You knew what was very important because she would say, "Get out your purple marker and make 10 exclamation marks after that sentence." This made it extremely easy to organize and study my notes. Throughout the week our teacher would also take notes and when it came time to reveiw for the test she would go over her notes with the class.
I beleive that note taking and note making are very important. Obviously, you need to take notes because that is what you will be tested on. Note making is just as important though because the way you make your notes is directly related to how easy you will be able to prepare for the test.
Although I think it is a great idea to set a systematic way to take notes for your classroom what would you do if you had a student who just didn't understand the notes that way? How would you choose the format for your class notes in the first place? Classroom Vote?
Monday, March 26, 2012
Monday, March 5, 2012
Blog 5
Chapter three was a very interesting chapter on vocabulary. It offered many different concepts and strategies that one could use for vocabulary instruction. The strategy that stuck out to me the most was definately the word wall. In many classrooms that I have been in for general observations and practicum expeirences I have seen a shift in the "norm" of vocabulary teachings.
I always expeirenced vocabulary in the "look it up" strategy as I would call it. We would have our list of vocabulary and throughout the week we would be responsible for looking the words up in a dictionary and their would be a test on them on Friday. This is probably the one thing that I dreaded most about literature in general. However, it is refreshing to see that in today's classroom there is a much greater focus on vocabulary and teachers have gotten very creative in helping students learn these terms. For instance, in a 2nd grade classroom that I have observed in they had a word wall that literally was an entire wall. It was so colorful and informative. Each week the class would post seven new words to the wall. Throughout the week they would define these words in their own terms and act them out each day. They would also add illustrations to the wall throughout the week. I thought this was just stellar.
We went to a professional development seminar Friday and they spoke about how it is great to incorporate movement into the classroom and I think that with vocabulary there is a great need for movement since students retain 90% of what they do.
I am so excited to use some of the vocabulary strategies in my classroom. There are some things that I am unsure about such as, how much time would be sufficient for teaching vocabulary each day? Also, what would be some was to scaffold the students learning of the vocabulary each week?
I always expeirenced vocabulary in the "look it up" strategy as I would call it. We would have our list of vocabulary and throughout the week we would be responsible for looking the words up in a dictionary and their would be a test on them on Friday. This is probably the one thing that I dreaded most about literature in general. However, it is refreshing to see that in today's classroom there is a much greater focus on vocabulary and teachers have gotten very creative in helping students learn these terms. For instance, in a 2nd grade classroom that I have observed in they had a word wall that literally was an entire wall. It was so colorful and informative. Each week the class would post seven new words to the wall. Throughout the week they would define these words in their own terms and act them out each day. They would also add illustrations to the wall throughout the week. I thought this was just stellar.
We went to a professional development seminar Friday and they spoke about how it is great to incorporate movement into the classroom and I think that with vocabulary there is a great need for movement since students retain 90% of what they do.
I am so excited to use some of the vocabulary strategies in my classroom. There are some things that I am unsure about such as, how much time would be sufficient for teaching vocabulary each day? Also, what would be some was to scaffold the students learning of the vocabulary each week?
Monday, February 13, 2012
BLOG 4
I found the reading of Chapters 1 and 8 to really easy reads for me. The information was very easy to understand and very interesting. I felt as though Chapter 1 was a summarization of Dr. Boyce's class last semester. Honestly, I don't remember the name of the class but I do know we learned ALOT about strategies. Chapter 1 went into more depth on some strategies that I really enjoy. I am a huge fan of think-pair-shair. We did this alot in my high school social studies classroom, very similiar to the situations described in the book. I felt like it really encouraged the whole idea of a classroom community of learning. I also found it very interesting that the book somewhat broke down the content areas o give the reader a better understanding of the text that students were exposed to in those classrooms. That was very helpful.
Chapter 8 was also a great read and more of a newer concept to me. I know that student's obviously write when they are in the classroom. However, many students are constently writing and have absolutely no idea what they are writing. Whether it be copying notes from the board or looking up vocabulary words to write many students' writings stop there and there is no learnin connected to it. I enjoyed reading through the different strategies of incorporating writing into the classroom in unique ways. These strategies seemed promising in extending the students thinking past the "surface" of a question or writing prompt. In our high school we did the "what if" writing prompts and the style of them changed throughout each content area. For example, in our history class each day we had "what if" writing prompts. If we were studying WWII, Monday's prompt may have been "what if Japan would have attacked the continental US?" There were no wrong answers it was just open to interpretation. Another example being English/Literature class, "What if Juliet would have not taken the poison?" It just got our brains going about what the days lesson may be about.
I would like to pose to questions to my reading on strategies and writing in the classroom. Is there a such thing as too much writing? I know I can sometimes become complete bored with the writing process and if the student's do become unammused with the amount of writing in the classroom what are some ways to motivate these students to want to write to learn?
Chapter 8 was also a great read and more of a newer concept to me. I know that student's obviously write when they are in the classroom. However, many students are constently writing and have absolutely no idea what they are writing. Whether it be copying notes from the board or looking up vocabulary words to write many students' writings stop there and there is no learnin connected to it. I enjoyed reading through the different strategies of incorporating writing into the classroom in unique ways. These strategies seemed promising in extending the students thinking past the "surface" of a question or writing prompt. In our high school we did the "what if" writing prompts and the style of them changed throughout each content area. For example, in our history class each day we had "what if" writing prompts. If we were studying WWII, Monday's prompt may have been "what if Japan would have attacked the continental US?" There were no wrong answers it was just open to interpretation. Another example being English/Literature class, "What if Juliet would have not taken the poison?" It just got our brains going about what the days lesson may be about.
I would like to pose to questions to my reading on strategies and writing in the classroom. Is there a such thing as too much writing? I know I can sometimes become complete bored with the writing process and if the student's do become unammused with the amount of writing in the classroom what are some ways to motivate these students to want to write to learn?
Monday, February 6, 2012
BLOG 3
The article on expository texts and their importance in the early grades was very interesting to me. I related it to my own expeirences that I had in elementary school and I must have been one of the "lucky ones" because starting in about first grade in our school every student had exposure to these types of texts. I remember reading the kid discovery types of magazines that were mentioned in the article. Our teachers would always have some sort of text to go along with each different "unit" that we did.
It is disapointing to know that many students are not getting this type of support in these key grades because I know that I am able to credit my love of new discoveries and just the pure ability to engage myself in those types of readings to the practice that I received long ago. For some people reading expository text is a "complete and total borefest." However,I love to read articles and such, especially the articles pertaining to animals. I credit this to my second grade teacher. Throughout the year that I was in her class every week a student would get to pick an information book about any animal from the library and the class would read it. We never took tests on these books and now I see that it was just to help us practice with this type of literature.
In the article what really stuck out to me was the section about how these types of texts motivate students to learn and that is so true. Last semester, Dr. Boyce showed us some great resources to use in the form of expository texts that I beleive would mesh very well into younger grades. For example, when teaching the class about amphibeans you could have informational text sets for the students to read that would be interesting such as 3d books. When the students are able to enjoy these types of readings not only are they preparing themselves for the future when being able read this type of text wil be more vital but the are motivating themselves to learn more.
I feel that I have gained a wealth of knowledge just by reading this article. I know that it is vital for these students to have the exposure to expository texts and it is exciting to think of the possiblilities when incorporating this type of learning in the classroom.
I found this picture and I know that it may not have much relevance to the expository texts but it looked like a fun animal encounter and I talked about animals in my blog.. RANDOM...but funny!
It is disapointing to know that many students are not getting this type of support in these key grades because I know that I am able to credit my love of new discoveries and just the pure ability to engage myself in those types of readings to the practice that I received long ago. For some people reading expository text is a "complete and total borefest." However,I love to read articles and such, especially the articles pertaining to animals. I credit this to my second grade teacher. Throughout the year that I was in her class every week a student would get to pick an information book about any animal from the library and the class would read it. We never took tests on these books and now I see that it was just to help us practice with this type of literature.
In the article what really stuck out to me was the section about how these types of texts motivate students to learn and that is so true. Last semester, Dr. Boyce showed us some great resources to use in the form of expository texts that I beleive would mesh very well into younger grades. For example, when teaching the class about amphibeans you could have informational text sets for the students to read that would be interesting such as 3d books. When the students are able to enjoy these types of readings not only are they preparing themselves for the future when being able read this type of text wil be more vital but the are motivating themselves to learn more.
I feel that I have gained a wealth of knowledge just by reading this article. I know that it is vital for these students to have the exposure to expository texts and it is exciting to think of the possiblilities when incorporating this type of learning in the classroom.
I found this picture and I know that it may not have much relevance to the expository texts but it looked like a fun animal encounter and I talked about animals in my blog.. RANDOM...but funny!Wednesday, February 1, 2012
BLOG 2
I really enjoyed reading throuh our classroom blogs and learning even more about my classmates. The pictures were also great. Gabby and Kaitlin Smith's blogs really were relatable to me when I was reading them. Like Gabby I am also nervous about haveing to teacher in the upper grades becasue as she stated, "some are too cool for school." Its a sad but true reality and it makes added stress on the teacher because many times those students make it hard to have decent classroom management. Gabby also is anxious about teaching math. I know that it is just an uncomfortanble thought to think about because I have never like it myself. Kaitlin and I share the same desire to work with third graders which is few and far to come by. We also both attended Jones before comming to USM to study elementary education.
The design thinking peice that I read I though was really great. It was very helpful in providing a step by step script of what could be done in the classroom. The idea of design thinking sounds great and I know, from having participated in the steps in class this week, that it is a great "tool" to use in order to get students really thinking and motivated to learn. As with everything there would more than likely be some flaws with the approach that was shown such as internet access. Although in today's world many of us carry the internet around with us in our pockets or purses there are still some student's that do not have this luxury. However, I beleive that with a teacher that knows what they are doing andy think can be tweaked for maximum effectiveness. One of my favorite ideas mention was that the teacher plays more of a "guide on the side" approach in the classroom. Personally, I love classroom discussion and when you and your peers become not only the learners but also the facilitators I think that the classroom tends to open up.
I have enjoyed using the design thinking process in our classes and I think that it would be very effective in promoting the students to be more individual learners in my future classroom.
The design thinking peice that I read I though was really great. It was very helpful in providing a step by step script of what could be done in the classroom. The idea of design thinking sounds great and I know, from having participated in the steps in class this week, that it is a great "tool" to use in order to get students really thinking and motivated to learn. As with everything there would more than likely be some flaws with the approach that was shown such as internet access. Although in today's world many of us carry the internet around with us in our pockets or purses there are still some student's that do not have this luxury. However, I beleive that with a teacher that knows what they are doing andy think can be tweaked for maximum effectiveness. One of my favorite ideas mention was that the teacher plays more of a "guide on the side" approach in the classroom. Personally, I love classroom discussion and when you and your peers become not only the learners but also the facilitators I think that the classroom tends to open up.
I have enjoyed using the design thinking process in our classes and I think that it would be very effective in promoting the students to be more individual learners in my future classroom.
Saturday, January 21, 2012
Hi Guys!
Hi everyone, my name is Jordon Zila and I am very excited about the upcoming semester. I am 21 and Magee, MS. I attented Jones County Junior College after graduation for a year and tranferred to USM to pursue my degree in Elementary Education.
I have always known that I wanted to be a teacher and therefore pursuing and elementary education degree only seemed right. Being around students and watching them learn is such a fasication of mine. I love to see a child understand something that the didn't realize they could acheive, it's such a rewarding moment. If I could teach any grade it would probably be third. Most new teachers are anxious to teach first or second but I find that the third grade is a time of transition and that makes for very interesting times in the classroom.
I have always been very comfortable with reading and language arts and those are the subjects that I most look forward to teaching. I have always had rough expeirences with math myself which makes me skeptical when thinking about teaching it to students. Nevertheless, I am very excited about learning just as much from my students and the will learn from me.
When reading the syllabus I learned alot more about the class and became really excited. I was very interested in the service learnng project that we are assigned becasue I really like volunteer work. I think that it will be a great learning expeirence. On the flip side I have never loved research papers so the fact that we have one to write is somewhat scary.
In the end though I beleive I will leave this class with an excellent source of knowledge and I am very excited to begin the semester and see what it has instore for me.
I have always known that I wanted to be a teacher and therefore pursuing and elementary education degree only seemed right. Being around students and watching them learn is such a fasication of mine. I love to see a child understand something that the didn't realize they could acheive, it's such a rewarding moment. If I could teach any grade it would probably be third. Most new teachers are anxious to teach first or second but I find that the third grade is a time of transition and that makes for very interesting times in the classroom.
I have always been very comfortable with reading and language arts and those are the subjects that I most look forward to teaching. I have always had rough expeirences with math myself which makes me skeptical when thinking about teaching it to students. Nevertheless, I am very excited about learning just as much from my students and the will learn from me.
When reading the syllabus I learned alot more about the class and became really excited. I was very interested in the service learnng project that we are assigned becasue I really like volunteer work. I think that it will be a great learning expeirence. On the flip side I have never loved research papers so the fact that we have one to write is somewhat scary.
In the end though I beleive I will leave this class with an excellent source of knowledge and I am very excited to begin the semester and see what it has instore for me.
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