College!

Well it is official! Come 12/13/14 I will be a college graduate!!

This semester has been extremely busy. I have missed blogging like crazy. Now I have some free time so I will be posting more! 

College was difficult and very challenging but the experiences I learned throughout these past couple years I wouldn't trade for the world. Every bump in the road only made me grow more as a person and become ready to enter the real world. 

Now my 'job' is to start job hunting. I have began this process and I am excited. I cannot wait to see which exciting company I get to work with and the people I will meet. =)

Bill Nye/ Ken Ham debate

For my Teaching Science K-4 class we were asked to watch the Bill Nye and Ken Ham debate of evolution vs. creation.

 Both Bill Nye and Ken Ham made very valid arguments for their opposing sides. I feel that this is a topic that will never be agreed upon. When discussing something this controversial it becomes hard for some people to talk in a professional matter. I feel that these two men kept their emotions out of the debate enough so they both remained professional. 

Ken stated 'if you teach creation in a public school that's teaching religion. If you teach evolution that's science"

This is a very important topic in schools. Many districts in our country have opted to discuss the theory of evolution as part of their curriculum. This can make some teachers uncomfortable. They think 'what should I do?' 

Science should be all about DISCOVERY! Children love doing hands on learning and actually becoming 'scientists' discovering new ideas. Let science be messy and fun not lectures that half of the children will ignore. If we constantly lecture the students will not learn and they will not enjoy science as they should! 

In my opinion, since the school districts call for evolution to be taught, I believe the teachers should teach a little bit of  evolution and a little bit of creation. By teaching this we are educating children on the diverse thinking about how the world came to be about how it is now. It should be kept simple and contain the 'facts' from each side. We should not teach these two sides to try and cause tension in the school. They should be used as a tool to help show diversity in society. 

Where do you stand as teachers, educators, parents, grandparents, citizens? 

The Power of Education

While doing homework for my teaching social studies class I read an interesting part of my book. It said :

"Please understand this: Education is power. In general, the more education people have, the more likely they are to have a well-paying job, to tolerate diverse beliefs, to vote regularly, and in other ways to participate in government and, thereby, to write the rules we live by. "(Parker, 2012)

This really got me thinking. Education is very important. Education can shape individuals as well as countries. 

Education is something that starts when you are born. From the time that we come into the world until we leave we are constantly learning. Whether it is a formal education setting or just everyday life. 

Without education people in this country are not able to grow and prosper into their dreams. Every type of job needs some type of education even if it is not formal education. 

Education really is the key component for out society to grow and prosper. 

In order to have a society that can function properly during difficult times such as war, extreme weather, and economy hardships we have to have people in charge who value education. When these leaders value education they are constantly learning and adapting what they know in order to best help the citizens they look over. 

Works Cited

Parker, W. C. (2012). Social Studies In Elementary Education, Fourteenth Edition . Boston : Pearson Education, Inc .

Does your brain need a break?

Are your students fidgeting during class? Are you tired of losing the attention of the class? 

Instead of getting frustrated and losing valuable teaching time in the classroom give the children a brain break.  A brain break is when we give the brain an opportunity to take a break. 

During this time the children can stand up and get their sillies out! There are many ways to have a brain break.

 You can have the students:

Stand up 

Take a walk outside or inside if the weather is bad

Do jumping jacks

Play Simon says 

Play a game

Do an activity with the lesson 

Sing a song

Recite a poem 

Etc 

There are many different options that you can try with your students. This will save lots of teaching time and it will also help the students better understand the lessons because they will be concentrating more on the lessons at hand. 

Brain breaks can also be known as physical breaks. This is simply because you are giving the children a chance to take a break and do something physical to get let out some energy and to get the sillies out. 

This activity can and should be used for every age student. As a college student I know that during my classes which are 2 hours and 45 minutes long it is very nice to get a 3-5 minute break every once in a while. This makes the time go a little quicker and allows the students to take a few moments to refocus on the lecture. 

Have you used brain breaks? What worked in your classroom?

Stop Think Points

During this past semester I learned about a reading technique called Stop Think Points. Stop Think Points are places in a story where the teacher has the student stop and think about something. These can be made into a bookmark which each student will receive before beginning to read. 

This can be a great way to teach reading to the whole class. The teacher is able to have the class read a book and even with the different reading levels they are able to participate and do the same activities. 

When the students stop the teacher has a lot of options they can have the students:

•  think about a question and be ready to discuss 
• summarize what they have read
• draw a picture
• etc

This activity can be used for any grade and some Stop Think Points can be more challenging for the students who are reading above grade level. 

I used this activity in a second grade classroom where I taught a guided reading lesson. I had the children read a couple pages stop and pick out certain information to share with the group. This activity really worked for me and the children were all on task!

Here is the Stop Think Point I made :

This is a great  way to keep children on task and to see if they are fully understanding what they are reading! 

Communities

In the past couple of days I have talked about comments made by early childhood teachers and also from the families of the children in these early childhood classrooms. Let’s take a step back and look at the communities where these early childhood classrooms are located. The people living in the communities pay taxes that go to these schools and classrooms. With their money going into the school they sometimes get concerned with what their money is doing. Here are four comments that community members have made:

   1.       “I don’t want my tax money going to suppose preschool programs in the schools. Parents should take care of their own children.”

                                Me: Preschool is very beneficial for children. Schools are now teachings at a faster pace and children who have not attended a preschool can sometimes be behind the rest of their class. In Kindergarten they are now being taught to read. This means that children coming into Kindergarten need to know and recognize all the letters in the alphabet.

      2.        “Good parents don’t put their kids in child care. I will never do that to my children.”

                                Me: Most families have to work during the day and they do not have someone to take care of their children. Working in a child care center I see how much the children really learn there. I have watched children who could barely write letters able to write their name and other simple words easily.  The children also learn how to work in groups and at the center they make friends.

   3.       “Families don’t care about children like they used to. They want the community to build parks and to provide recreation so they can send their kids out of the house and ignore them.”

                                Me: Community parks are not for parents to ignore their children.  They are a fun place where children go and play. By giving children fun things to do they are less likely to go around and cause trouble in their communities. These parks are also a great way to help reduce obesity in children.

     4.       “I stayed home with my children when they were young. It’s a mother’s responsibility to care for their young ones.

                                Me: A mother does care for her child even if she does not stay home with the child. If a child goes to a child care center the mother has been responsible and found caring people to care for her child while she has to go and work.

The communities where children live and go to school have a huge impact on the early childhood education that these children receive. If the communities support these early childhood classrooms they will prosper and become stronger.