Week 2
This week we learned about phenomena in SCED330. Phenomena is something I feel we take for granted. It can be something as simple as a hummingbird hovering or a rainbow in the sky. The 3D learning and phenomena discussion was very insightful. Teachers use the 3D learning and phenomena together to help students learn. When choosing a phenomena teachers must choose wisely. Choosing one that hooks your student's interest driving them to explore, discover, and learn about it. Making connections to the teaching standards was very easy. Standard 3: Teachers make instruction relevant to students. A teacher chooses a phenomena to study that applies to the essential science standards and relates to what they are learning. Standard 4: Teachers facilitate learning for their students, relates to collaborating together to learn from one another, critically think and problem solve. Also, this week we discussed in great detail our ecosystem models. I'm really looking forward to building my ecosystem this weekend. I think I will be able to find a lot of interesting creatures in the creek behind my house due to all the rainfall. In EDU435 this week I had my chance to meet my 3rd grade class for the first time. On day one my class was energetic and a bit unruly. I never once saw my teacher loose her patience. She continued to work with her students on understanding the rules and consequences for their actions. She used verbal and nonverbal cues to signal the bad behavior. She also used classroom dojo to keep track of behavior and reward good students for their behavior. I think she displayed excellent classroom management skills considering. I used as much of my own classroom management skills as I could. I think for the most part it worked for me , except with the one student I mentioned during debriefing. When I returned on Wednesday, I was shocked on how good the classes behavior was. They were for the most part all in their seats. Some of the students were excited to see me and wanted to come over to me. I simply signaled them to sit and they waited until break. The teacher placed me in control of class dojo and I was able to give out points. By using the app. and rewarding students, other students were able to see that they could be rewarded for good behavior as well. I only took away points when necessary. I could see the more I called out "Great job Student A. You look like your ready to start the next part of Daily Five. You get another point." The students straightened up in their seats to get more points. We were able to give a full class point in minutes. When connecting this weeks clinical to the teaching standards I wasn't sure which applied. I believe that Standard 2: Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students. I kept a positive attitude and treated all my students as equals. I think my classroom is extremely diverse. I have many kids from different backgrounds. I got to know my students and allowed them to get the know me. I was able to relate to them and found a common ground of interest. There was even a moment on the second day when I was greeted by a student who was very happy to see me and share his day with me without even asking. I think my proudest moment was during math. I was able to help a student better understand how to add using 3D cubes. Some of the students had never used the column method, so by using the cubes it helped them understand what the shapes represented in the columns. For my tweets of the week I chose a couple SCED330 and one for EDU435. The first is a teacher who tried a whole class approach to classroom management. The next tweet is about NASA, it involve new details about Saturn. The last tweet is this week focus phenomena. Please check them out.
This week we learned about phenomena in SCED330. Phenomena is something I feel we take for granted. It can be something as simple as a hummingbird hovering or a rainbow in the sky. The 3D learning and phenomena discussion was very insightful. Teachers use the 3D learning and phenomena together to help students learn. When choosing a phenomena teachers must choose wisely. Choosing one that hooks your student's interest driving them to explore, discover, and learn about it. Making connections to the teaching standards was very easy. Standard 3: Teachers make instruction relevant to students. A teacher chooses a phenomena to study that applies to the essential science standards and relates to what they are learning. Standard 4: Teachers facilitate learning for their students, relates to collaborating together to learn from one another, critically think and problem solve. Also, this week we discussed in great detail our ecosystem models. I'm really looking forward to building my ecosystem this weekend. I think I will be able to find a lot of interesting creatures in the creek behind my house due to all the rainfall. In EDU435 this week I had my chance to meet my 3rd grade class for the first time. On day one my class was energetic and a bit unruly. I never once saw my teacher loose her patience. She continued to work with her students on understanding the rules and consequences for their actions. She used verbal and nonverbal cues to signal the bad behavior. She also used classroom dojo to keep track of behavior and reward good students for their behavior. I think she displayed excellent classroom management skills considering. I used as much of my own classroom management skills as I could. I think for the most part it worked for me , except with the one student I mentioned during debriefing. When I returned on Wednesday, I was shocked on how good the classes behavior was. They were for the most part all in their seats. Some of the students were excited to see me and wanted to come over to me. I simply signaled them to sit and they waited until break. The teacher placed me in control of class dojo and I was able to give out points. By using the app. and rewarding students, other students were able to see that they could be rewarded for good behavior as well. I only took away points when necessary. I could see the more I called out "Great job Student A. You look like your ready to start the next part of Daily Five. You get another point." The students straightened up in their seats to get more points. We were able to give a full class point in minutes. When connecting this weeks clinical to the teaching standards I wasn't sure which applied. I believe that Standard 2: Teachers establish a respectful environment for a diverse population of students. I kept a positive attitude and treated all my students as equals. I think my classroom is extremely diverse. I have many kids from different backgrounds. I got to know my students and allowed them to get the know me. I was able to relate to them and found a common ground of interest. There was even a moment on the second day when I was greeted by a student who was very happy to see me and share his day with me without even asking. I think my proudest moment was during math. I was able to help a student better understand how to add using 3D cubes. Some of the students had never used the column method, so by using the cubes it helped them understand what the shapes represented in the columns. For my tweets of the week I chose a couple SCED330 and one for EDU435. The first is a teacher who tried a whole class approach to classroom management. The next tweet is about NASA, it involve new details about Saturn. The last tweet is this week focus phenomena. Please check them out.
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteI really like the idea of the class dojo your teacher uses. I am sure the reason why students were more well behaved on Wednesday was because of the points system. Many of them wanted to work toward a prize. We have a system called the clip down chart at Forrest Hunt. The chart has seven different color coded sections in rainbow order. Green, in the middle, is when students begin the new day. Students are able to clip up, using cloths pins with their name, for good behavior or clip down for bad behavior. If students clip up to the very top which is pink, they can go to the school office and get a prize. Incentives help with good behavior.
I hope you have a great weekend.
Hi Chris,
ReplyDeleteI have heard about class dojo but I have not had a chance to explore with it. It sounds like a great classroom management tool. As a middle grades major, I wonder how well it would work with older kids. However, everyone loves being rewarded right?
My CE does not use class dojo (at least that I'm aware of). She gives out candy, but she does not call it candy. She calls it "motivation." She has a minion bucket that she calls the "motivation minion." This works as a reward system but also as a motivation system. If a student comes dragging into class, sleeping, not paying attention, etc... She may offer them some motivation. Some people may see this as rewarding a student who is not doing what they should be doing. I see it as a way to perk a student up. You really have no idea why that student is sleeping, dragging, or not paying attention. A little motivation may be just what they need to get their mind focused on school.
Chris,
ReplyDeleteMy classroom this year is using Class Dojo as well and it works really well for them. I think it is great that your CE gave you the ability to be in charge of that for the day. It's exciting that your class responded so positively to that! I'm sure your students really appreciated the positive feedback you were giving them. I like your tweet about whole class management. I think that as student teachers and eventually as teachers, that will be one our biggest struggles no matter the grade. It's a good idea to start researching different methods now.
Love that you are already starting to manage the class and establish yourself as "just another teacher" in the classroom!
ReplyDeleteChris,
ReplyDeleteGood connections with phenomena. You have already made a great realization - phenomena are everywhere - we just have to open our eyes and see!