Closure

My last day at Hardeman Elementary School was one that I will never forget.

 I remember I went to go get the kids from recess and they were all sweaty and excited to see me just as always. As we entered the classroom, my mentor teacher Mrs. Hartman, asked the kids to sit in a circle on the carpet. She then asked me to sit in the middle of the circle. One by one, my students took the time to tell me how much they had enjoyed having me in their classroom.

My eyes started to water. I realized how much I had gotten attached to each and everyone of my students.

Once they finished, my mentor proceeded to hand me a gift she had gotten for me. I loved it! In the bag was a zebra hourglass tumbler (with a pink "B" for Brenda!!), a matching note pad and pen, and a thank you card with all of my students names that they had written themselves. Then my kids all lined up to give me a hug!

I was so happy and thankful for having had the chance and privilege to such a lovely experience...I just didn't want to leave.


                                   Here is my Animoto video of my internship this year.
                       

                                
                                       
                                        Here is the Photo Collage I made for my teacher.

Only Three More Monday's!!

With only three more Monday's to go, this year is almost finally over. It's amazing the progress that I have seen myself make this year as a teacher intern at Hardeman Elementary School.

 I can still remember those first few days where I felt so nervous being around the kids and my mentor. I dreaded every time my mentor asked me to do the Calendar Wall with the class. My hands would start to shake and I would get as red as a tomato...but that soon stopped once I got a hold of myself and started to get used to doing it everyday that I went.

I was surprised when I saw myself in a video presenting a lesson plan to my first graders this last semester. I no longer talked in a quiet voice, stuttered, or flushed red. I looked confident...and well, like a teacher.  

I'm glad I was able to have this experience this year. It showed me that being a teacher can be hard work but can also be very rewarding in the end. Hopefully becoming a teacher will be the right choice for me!

Smart Technology

This week we learned about new educational apps we can download for the iPads and that are useful to teach with in the classrooms along with Smartboard lessons.


Some apps I would use for my first grade class would be:

•  Kid Apps: All in 1 : This app has Common Words, Letter Tracing, Number Tracing, etc. With this app, I could help kids that are behind to recognize sight words. Also Number Tracing would be great for kids that tend to flip their numbers backwards when they write.
• My Spelling Test : With this app, you can input voice recordings along with the words. Taking spelling tests will become both fun and easy for my students!

A Samartboard lesson that I could use would be:

• Gumball Math- Graphing, Addition, Subtraction : With this, I could introduce graphing to my first grade students. I also really liked the word problems. This would make it easier to show both adding and subtracting number sentences.

Making Real World Connections

In an article from Edutopia, I learned that a school is making real world financial connections for their students. Doing so prepares them for their future and helps the students to make better decisions money-wise.

In my own years in school, I think that in math the teacher could have probably touched more on how we would exactly apply all of the equations we needed to learn in our daily life.  

I think the most useful subjects that I have taken have been Life Management Skills and Keyboarding class. In my Life Management Skills class I learned about relationships, how to finance a house, a family, etc. Keyboarding class helped me get more comfortable and faster with computers. This ability is needed and essential now days.

I feel okay about my ability to manage money and finances. I know that what I still don't know or need to learn on this matter, I'll learn from my parents.

I definitely think that I would feel more confidence in myself and on my ability to manage money if I had attended a school with a financial literacy curriculum.

What Teachers Want Parents to Know

I recently read an article written by Ron Clack called What Teachers Really Want to Tell Parents. 
After reading this, I learned that many parents are turning into prosecutors and critics instead of trying to support their child's teacher. More and more teachers are having "parent issues". These problems are making them want to throw in the towel and leave their profession. So, what two main things do teachers want parents to understand?

1) Teachers are not nannies. As educated professionals, if they give you advice, take it don't fight it. Some parents automatically start to fight and defend their child if anything negative is said about them. If parents took the advice instead of taking it in a bad way, their child would benefit from it.

2) Parents need to stop making excuses. Making excuses for their children will only make the kid irresponsible and teach him to turn to excuses when he isn't succeeding. This does not create a strong work ethic and will eventually only end up harming the child.

Parents need to be partners and not prosecutors. They should find a way to work with the teacher so they can both build a bright future for the student. By supporting the teacher and working with the system, the student will get a better education and learn to respect his teachers too.

Rule #1: We are a Family

Ron Clark's book has 55 rules that are essential for a classroom to function. Why is the first rule, "We are a Family", so important?

By having the students see each other as a family, it would unite them in a way that otherwise would have been impossible to achieve due to how different every individual looks, thinks, and acts. It would mean that the students would have to treat each other with kindness and respect. Instead of dividing into different cliques and gangs thinking that one is better than the other, they could come together as one.

My own classroom rules for my Education and Training class could be:

•  The Golden rule: Treat everyone the way you wish to be treated.
• Make the right decisions
• Get there on time
• Follow teacher's directions
• Do work before being distracted by YouTube
 

Glogster in the Classroom

The link to my Glogster for my first grade class is: http://s2jcukm.edu.glogster.com/first-grade-seasons/