Hands are not for Hitting!

This is one of my favorite books to read when children are having a hard time keeping their hands to themselves. In case you do not have the book or you can not find it here is a video of me reading the book:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8stcoX5mKrk

Some activities that you can do with this book :

• Have the children write what hands are for on a cut out of their hand. 
• Have the children trace and cut out their hand also helps with fine motor skills! 
• Make a classroom chart about what hands are for and what hands are not for. 
• Use this books to talk about our friends feelings and how they feel if they get hit. Etc. =) 

PA Common Core

Common core standards... a very common and hated phrase to many. As an education major this phrase came up.... A LOT! 

What are these standards?

These standards are  a state-led effort which is coordinated by the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices (NGA Center) & the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO). 

These standards were created with teachers, school administrators, and other education experts.The Common Core Standards define the knowledge and skills students should have within their K-12 education careers so that they will graduate high school able to succeed in entry-level, credit-bearing academic college courses and in workforce training programs.

I asked some teachers, parents and people becoming teachers what their feelings on the PA Common Core:

• one parent said "It's to confusing and complicated. In addition to that ... As a parent we can't help because we don't know it either. The teachers seem just as confused at times"
• Another parent who's child is not in school yet looked it up and said "Oh lord it looks scary"
• A Student teacher said " I think they limit creativity and doesn't allow students to learn in ways other than the way they outline."
• A teacher said " I think they are helpful but I don't think they should be the only thing that is taught. Like PA doesn't teach money at all until second grade because it's not common core. 

What are your thoughts?

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. =)

Start of something new

May 28th was my last day working in a daycare. It has been a very challenging time. I began working in daycare in 2010 since then I have known no other industry.


Working somewhere rather than a daycare is going to be very challenging for me. Working in the daycare has been the most rewarding job I have ever done. At ABCs the teachers were more than caregivers, we were part of the family. I have been so lucky to be able to watch some of these babies grow and turn into the wonderful preschoolers.



This summer I am taking a psychology class and this fall I have 3 classes left before I graduate. I am becoming nervous about my graduation. There are so many jobs I would like but I do not know where to start. I still would like to be involved with day-cares but I do not know which position I would like the best.

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! 

Shop Till You Drop!!

What do most girls love to do?? You guessed it SHOP! 

I don't know about you but I LOVE shopping! However I am a HUGE bargain shopper... especially when it comes to crafting supplies. 

When you are doing crafts with children or just for fun it can become costly quickly! 

The most helpful tip I can think of is shop wisely and plan ahead of time! Use coupons and shop during sales or clearances! (hopefully you can use them during these sales!!)

Last Saturday I decided to go to some estate sales with my Grandma (who I call Hammy). At one place I saw close to 20 shoe boxes on shelves. I could kind of see into these boxes and saw a couple of crafting items. So what did I do? 

I went through all 20 boxes! Yes I probably looked a bit mad while sorting through all of this but I did not want to miss one single good item!

Out of the 20 boxes I only got 8 (7 pictured below) and a box of craft sticks (around 1,000 craft sticks) for .....

$7.75 

I am so excited to start making projects with all of these awesome items! The lady that had these also had a couple started projects inside which I can not wait to learn about and try to finish. 

Just from this amazing buy I have project supplies and ideas that I could use for an entire unit about letters! I would say I got a pretty good deal! 

When on a budget for crafting supplies and other educational or organizational products look into yard and estate sales! Chances are you will find amazing brand new products that will bring you and your classroom or even just you and your children/grandchildren lots of fun and new projects!

Education or Experience??

Let’s take some time and talk about education and experience. When you begin to apply for jobs some will say Associates or Bachelors degree preferred or 2-5 years experience. Which is better education or experience?

While education is important I feel that experience sometimes triumphs over education. As you know I am currently in school to become an early childhood educator. While in school I have been working in a daycare for around three and a half years. I feel that I have learned so much more while working here than in school.

A lot of professors in college teach to a test rather than teaching what they feel is the most important and what the children will actually use. I feel that the tests should be made off of what the teacher teaches and the class itself.

I have found one teacher who does not just teach to the test and who does not need to read word for word in the book but instead has a passion for what she is teaching. She teaches future teachers and has taught at different schools with these early childhood children.  So when she taught about family involvement she has seen firsthand just what happens in these schools. She is also able to give suggestions that she has seen work at different times. A teacher who has not been inside an early childhood school would not have the same understanding of what happens. Experience shows you that parents can react differently to the same situation. The more experience you have, the better you become at handling these situations. A book cannot teach this.

While working in different day cares I feel that I have gained an enormous amount of experience that will help me throughout my teaching career. I have seen different types of families and children. It is one thing to read a book about families and children but experiencing it firsthand really changes how you think and how you react to different situations with families and their children. Also while working in the day cares I have gotten many ideas that I will use once I have my own classroom. It also allows me to think of various lessons that the children will love!

I believe that experience should go along side education because you really need to make sure that you like what you do before you make it your career.  As a future teacher I have had to do many observation hours with different grades and document what I have seen and done with the children. I will also have to student teach for half of the school year to get more experience in the field. Through experience you learn new ways to do different things and new ways to use materials. 

ABCya!

At the daycare center where I work one of the main pages the children go on when they choose the computer center is abcya.com. I have only seen a couple of the games that they play on there but I decided to go on for myself and take a look. 

This site has educational games for grades K-5. It does not just stop there! Some of these games like Spanish Bingo which can be found in as early as first grade can be used for adults who are learning Spanish! I went in to see what topics are covered. The child will pick at least two of the following:

• animals
• clothing
• colors
• days of the week
• food
• around the house
• months of the year
• numbers 1-20
• people
• sports 
• transportation

After they pick they will then decide if they want a 3X3, 4X4 or 5X5 grid. The game allows the word to be shown while it is said and will tell the child if they are correct when they find it on their board. They are also able to say if they want English to Spanish or Spanish to English. This would help ESL students learn English as well. 

As I continued my search on this website I found starting in the 2nd grade section there is a typing race. Here students are a vehicle and they have to type the words that appear during the race. You can select from 17 different levels. The 1st level has the home row keys (asdf jkl;) and level 17 has all of the keys. During the game there are single letters, simple/shorter words and longer words. These can come in all lower case letters all upper case or a mixture of the two. It keeps track of you accuracy and tells you the WPM that you type also. I have been using this game to help improve my typing skills. 

There are also pac man like games. There are holiday, math, alphabet/language, other and just for fun games. This website offers many great games and I highly recommend going here and trying them out. Your kids will surely be happy to learn! Or even as adults you will have fun trying to improve your Spanish or even typing skills.