Amber's Educational Thoughts

Moonbow Excursion

2008-12-10T23:44:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the moonbow that can be seen at Cumberland Falls at particular times of the year. It is located at the base of the fall. It is considered a moonbow because of reflecting off of the sun's rays like a rainbow, it reflects off of the rays given by moonlight.

It was arranged that the class would take a trip to Cumberland Falls on a weekend in November. However, due to bad weather and the illness of the teacher, the trip was "canceled". However, a couple of friends and I decided to go anyways. We climbed in a van and made our way to Cumberland Falls. As we left, we decided that this trip was going to be completely "fun" without the stress of trying to make it a learning experience. We were in for a rude awakening. We had a great time, running from spot to spot, climbing on rocks and exploring the different nooks and crannies of the area. However, all along the way, we would joke with each other about how it would make us a better teacher or how we were "like" a particular item of discovery. Although these comments were supposed to be puns on the assignments asked of us in class, such as the sketchbooks, we realized that we really were learning.

We were able to make true connections between our "fun" trip and learning to be a better teacher. One of these instances was when we climbed through this cave that led to a different place that we had already been. When jumping from one particularly difficult spot to top another rock on our journey, we had to help one of our friends by grabbing their hand and helping to pull them on top of the rock. When jokingly stating how this would make us a better teacher, we realized that this was a prime example of teamwork and how we had to work together in order to achieve our goal. Standing alone, one or more of us wouldn't have been able to succeed, but relying on those who were stronger in that area to help those of us who weren't so talented in that aspect to succeed.

I placed this in Inquiry because we were not instructed on what we were to learn or what we were to accomplish on this journey. We went there with no expectations and found that we made our own discoveries. We decided what we did with no interference from the teacher and we found things from those decisions. It was a learning experience without us realizing that was what it was.

Learning Centers Teaching Us!!!!

2008-12-10T23:35:00.001-08:00

This is a picture of a learning center that I found on the internet. It shows different activities in a limited amount of space that the students can participate in to expand their thinking and their learning.

We were asked to create a learning center. Basically, we were to create an area that fit within the space of one table and the surrounding floor that contained a multitude of activities for students to complete. These activities were to expand their thinking and allow for different learning styles. My learning center draws connections between mathematics and sports. Since my plan is to teach in high school, I decided to create my learning center for a high school classroom. I spent LOTS of time on the wrapping of my boxes and backboard. I spent an entire twelve hours over the course of one night in order to finish this project. Yet, I was very proud of how the center turned out.

I learned that the activities must be appropriate and flexible enough to incorporate the needs of those students who are at a lower skill level and those students who are at a higher skill level. I also realized that teachers can't be perfect. Thus, even though we would like to continue working on our preparations forever, we must stop somewhere and just admit that the work we gave was the best that we could do in the time given.

I placed this in The Nature of Learning because the activities that I designed for the learning center had to be able to fit those who were visual learners and those who weren't. Therefore, I had one activity that required students to look at a sheet of paper and analyze the charts of numbers. I had another activity that required students to experiment using a hands-on activity. I also had another activity that was a thinking activity with a legible basis behind it. A situation that they could build in their minds.

2008-12-10T23:30:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of a learning center that I found on the internet. It shows different activities in a limited amount of space that the students can participate in to expand their thinking and their learning.

We were asked to create a learning center. Basically, we were to create an area that fit within the space of one table and the surrounding floor that contained a multitude of activities for students to complete. These activities were to expand their thinking and allow for different learning styles. My learning center draws connections between mathematics and sports. Since my plan is to teach in high school, I decided to create my learning center for a high school classroom. I spent LOTS of time on the wrapping of my boxes and backboard. I spent an entire twelve hours over the course of one night in order to finish this project. Yet, I was very proud of how the center turned out.

I learned that the activities must be appropriate and flexible enough to incorporate the needs of those students who are at a lower skill level and those students who are at a higher skill level. I also realized that teachers can't be perfect. Thus, even though we would like to continue working on our preparations forever, we must stop somewhere and just admit that the work we gave was the best that we could do in the time given.

I placed this in Teaching for Learning because I felt that the students were teaching themselves and their fellow groupmates when they were at this center. Thus, their teaching of each other helped them to learn.

Learning Centers Teaching Us!!!!

2008-12-10T21:33:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of a learning center that I found on the internet. It shows different activities in a limited amount of space that the students can participate in to expand their thinking and their learning.

We were asked to create a learning center. Basically, we were to create an area that fit within the space of one table and the surrounding floor that contained a multitude of activities for students to complete. These activities were to expand their thinking and allow for different learning styles. My learning center draws connections between mathematics and sports. Since my plan is to teach in high school, I decided to create my learning center for a high school classroom. I spent LOTS of time on the wrapping of my boxes and backboard. I spent an entire twelve hours over the course of one night in order to finish this project. Yet, I was very proud of how the center turned out.

I learned that the activities must be appropriate and flexible enough to incorporate the needs of those students who are at a lower skill level and those students who are at a higher skill level. I also realized that teachers can't be perfect. Thus, even though we would like to continue working on our preparations forever, we must stop somewhere and just admit that the work we gave was the best that we could do in the time given.

I have placed this in Field Work because we will probably at some point in our teaching careers, actually create learning centers for our students to use within the classroom. Therefore, this was an experience where we pretended as though we were actually in a classroom and creating a learning center for the students within that classroom. Thus, this was similar to my mock trial in the fact that it was an assimilation of the real thing.

Blogspot Mania

2008-12-10T21:30:00.000-08:00

This is a photo of a blog. This relates to our blogspots because it is an example of what we were supposed to create. It is a basis for information and the opinions of the creator.

We were asked to create a blog for this class. In this blog, we are supposed to write down our ideas, opinions, discoveries, explorations, goals, philosophies, and other educational thoughts. The goal is to have at least thirty blogs that are considered "acceptable" by the end of the semester. During finals week, we are to meet with the professor, presenting our blog in defense of the grade that we want for this class. An "acceptable" blog has a photo or caption along with four paragraphs. The first paragraph should be a description of the caption or photo, also stating the relevance of said photo or caption in the post. The second paragraph is to be a description of the activity. The third paragraph is a explanation of the importance of the activity, including what we learned from that experience. The last paragraph should be a explanation of why we labeled it in the way that we did. Meaning that if I was to place this post in the nature of learning category, I would have to explain why I chose to put it there.

Blogspots were an activity that we have done all semester. At first, my entries were very scattered and difficult to follow. Yet, during the semester, I have made corrections to the way I post my blogs in order to make them better and more efficient. Although I had trouble convincing myself to do them in the beginning of the semester, I have grown to become more fond of them. They are a way for me to document my thoughts and keep a running observation of my ideas as I grow and expand as a learner and as an expectant teacher.

I placed this in Reflections because this activity has given me the chance to reflect on everything that I have encountered within and outside of the classroom, connecting it to my learning and growth as a teacher. Every post is a reflection of the activity or idea that I am discussing, with a summary of what I have gained from that experience. Thus, blogspots have been like a large memory bank for me to store all of these valuable experiences.

Blogspot Mania

2008-12-10T20:01:00.000-08:00

This is a photo of a blog. This relates to our blogspots because it is an example of what we were supposed to create. It is a basis for information and the opinions of the creator.

We were asked to create a blog for this class. In this blog, we are supposed to write down our ideas, opinions, discoveries, explorations, goals, philosophies, and other educational thoughts. The goal is to have at least thirty blogs that are considered "acceptable" by the end of the semester. During finals week, we are to meet with the professor, presenting our blog in defense of the grade that we want for this class. An "acceptable" blog has a photo or caption along with four paragraphs. The first paragraph should be a description of the caption or photo, also stating the relevance of said photo or caption in the post. The second paragraph is to be a description of the activity. The third paragraph is a explanation of the importance of the activity, including what we learned from that experience. The last paragraph should be a explanation of why we labeled it in the way that we did. Meaning that if I was to place this post in the nature of learning category, I would have to explain why I chose to put it there.

Blogspots were an activity that we have done all semester. At first, my entries were very scattered and difficult to follow. Yet, during the semester, I have made corrections to the way I post my blogs in order to make them better and more efficient. Although I had trouble convincing myself to do them in the beginning of the semester, I have grown to become more fond of them. They are a way for me to document my thoughts and keep a running observation of my ideas as I grow and expand as a learner and as an expectant teacher.

I have placed this in Personal Development because I have grown and changed in the way that I do my posts. Although I started my posts in one manner, I have developed them into efficient manners of documenting my thoughts and ideas. They have also helped me to develop as a more organized and critical thinker.

Activity Strands

2008-12-10T19:57:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of a web, connected by separate strands. All of these strands connect together to create an entire picture, although each strand has to be able to stand on their own. This connects to activity strands because each strand has to be able to stand on their own, but all of the strands interconnect to the same experience. Thus, teachers must learn to create webs of learning that the students can weave in and out of.

We were asked to create activity strands off of the experiences at the pumpkin patch. We had to create these activities for the same grade levels that we anticipate teaching in our future careers. For me, this was a high school mathematics class. We were supposed to identify five different content areas and compose at least three activities for each content area.

This assignment was also very difficult for me because I had trouble creating ideas for a class that didn't exist. I was unable to classify what previous information they already knew and what information they didn't know. Every class is different and I was afraid that if I tried to create assignments that I wouldn't fit the needs of students within an actual classroom. Abstract thinking was a very difficult part of this assignment for me.

I placed this in the nature of learning because we had to realize that there are different learning styles and different levels of learning. Thus, we could not create all of our activities in a similar manner. We could not cover all fifteen activity strands by worksheets or by group work. We had to make all of the activities different and unique in order to incorporate the needs and interests of all the students.

Activity Strands

2008-12-10T19:49:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of a web, connected by separate strands. All of these strands connect together to create an entire picture, although each strand has to be able to stand on their own. This connects to activity strands because each strand has to be able to stand on their own, but all of the strands interconnect to the same experience. Thus, teachers must learn to create webs of learning that the students can weave in and out of.

We were asked to create activity strands off of the experiences at the pumpkin patch. We had to create these activities for the same grade levels that we anticipate teaching in our future careers. For me, this was a high school mathematics class. We were supposed to identify five different content areas and compose at least three activities for each content area.

This assignment was also very difficult for me because I had trouble creating ideas for a class that didn't exist. I was unable to classify what previous information they already knew and what information they didn't know. Every class is different and I was afraid that if I tried to create assignments that I wouldn't fit the needs of students within an actual classroom. Abstract thinking was a very difficult part of this assignment for me.

I placed this in field work because this was an assimilation of what we will have to do once we are teachers in the educational field. Part of our obligations will be to create activities that stem off of each other and make connections in the brains of the students. Therefore, we must be able to think in a manner that allows us to create activities that will do this.

Activity Strands

2008-12-10T18:30:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of a web, connected by separate strands. All of these strands connect together to create an entire picture, although each strand has to be able to stand on their own. This connects to activity strands because each strand has to be able to stand on their own, but all of the strands interconnect to the same experience. Thus, teachers must learn to create webs of learning that the students can weave in and out of.

We were asked to create activity strands off of the experiences at the pumpkin patch. We had to create these activities for the same grade levels that we anticipate teaching in our future careers. For me, this was a high school mathematics class. We were supposed to identify five different content areas and compose at least three activities for each content area.

This assignment was also very difficult for me because I had trouble creating ideas for a class that didn't exist. I was unable to classify what previous information they already knew and what information they didn't know. Every class is different and I was afraid that if I tried to create assignments that I wouldn't fit the needs of students within an actual classroom. Abstract thinking was a very difficult part of this assignment for me.

I placed this in Diversity because I saw the differences between students in the classroom. Every student is different and will need specialization in different areas of the content area, while also knowing that students will not be on the same level of learning. Some may be very advanced in the subject, while others struggle.

A-Maz-ing Adventure

2008-12-10T18:23:00.000-08:00

In this photo, we are at the pumpkin patch, running through the maze. We had just began, going through our first round in the maze. In this photo, there is Antonio, Amanda, Brittany, Courtney, Kaela, and myself.

The goal was to get as many people through the maze as we could in a limited amount of time. In this particular instance, we were running for two minutes, I believe. Because of the limited number of students in the classroom, we had to go through the maze more than once in order to continue the experiment.

This activity was fun and exhilarating. It incorporated many different types of learning while also allowing us to explore the ideas for ourselves. We were taught math when we multiplied to see how many we would be able to get in ten minutes if we got so many in five minutes. We were able to exercise and explore the different ways that our bodies would move. We realized that a team is only as strong as it's weakest member, meaning that if one person was slow going through the maze, it held everyone else from finishing.

I placed this in the Nature of Learning because it shows us that there are different ways that students learn. Meaning that even though I may have even enjoyed the idea of a worksheet that gave me the information needed to answer the questions, others needed that physical movement and visual demonstration to help them understand what the questions were asking them. Thus, while I may be a desk learner, my fellow classmates may be visual or hands-on learners.

A-Maz-ing Adventure

2008-12-10T17:50:00.000-08:00

In this photo, we are at the pumpkin patch, running through the maze. We had just began, going through our first round in the maze. In this photo, the is Mark, Antonio, Amanda, Brittany, and myself.

The goal was to get as many people through the maze as we could in a limited amount of time. In this particular instance, we were running for two minutes, I believe. Because of the limited number of students in the classroom, we had to go through the maze more than once in order to continue the experiment.

This activity was fun and exhilarating. It incorporated many different types of learning while also allowing us to explore the ideas for ourselves. We were taught math when we multiplied to see how many we would be able to get in ten minutes if we got so many in five minutes. We were able to exercise and explore the different ways that our bodies would move. We realized that a team is only as strong as it's weakest member, meaning that if one person was slow going through the maze, it held everyone else from finishing.

I placed this in inquiry because we learned through experiences, rather than assimilating fake situations. We were able to actually test ourselves to create answers. It wasn't told to us by the teacher or given to us on a worksheet. We had to collect the data ourselves.

Sketchbook Chaos

2008-12-10T17:30:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of me trying to write in my sketchbook during class. I was trying to form some kind of story or essay form answer that connected the tables and prewriting located on the sheets previous to the one you see me writing on.

The activity was to compare ourselves to an inanimate object. My object was a CD. We were asked to create tables in which we made lists of things that described the inanimate object. We then created a diagram that allowed us to compare the descriptions of the inanimate objects to how we would describe ourselves. Then, we were to tie it all together with paragraphs that stated how we were like that inanimate object when we were learning. When we did them for homework, they were supposed to relate to us as a teacher.

This assignment was very stressful on me because I could not complete it to my satisfaction. The first time I did it for homework, I was supposed to compare myself to monopoly money. I was able to do the prewriting and write a two-page essay about how I was like a teacher in this manner, but I couldn't convince myself to turn it in. It was not, in my opinion, satisfactory. The result didn't make sense to me. I felt as though I was trying to stretch the similarities too far. The same thing happened with the second and third attempts at this assignment. On the second attempt, I was supposed to compare myself to keys, which I thought about, but couldn't convince myself that my similarities were strong enough. The third time we were asked to do this, we had to choose our own object. This made the assignment even more difficult for me because I had no idea how to choose something that I could relate to as a teacher. Besides, my experience is that you have to please the teacher, which I couldn't do if the teacher didn't tell me what I was supposed to do to make it work.

I placed this in personal development because it is the first time that I have not been capable of completing an assignment to my satisfaction, although it would not be the last in this class. This shows how much of a perfectionist I am and how dependant I am on the boxes. You will see as I progress through this class that I start to think more outside the box and reach out to my more creative side.

Sketchbook Chaos

2008-12-10T17:06:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of me trying to write in my sketchbook during class. I was trying to form some kind of story or essay form answer that connected the tables and prewriting located on the sheets previous to the one you see me writing on.

The activity was to compare ourselves to an inanimate object. My object was a CD. We were asked to create tables in which we made lists of things that described the inanimate object. We then created a diagram that allowed us to compare the descriptions of the inanimate objects to how we would describe ourselves. Then, we were to tie it all together with paragraphs that stated how we were like that inanimate object when we were learning. When we did them for homework, they were supposed to relate to us as a teacher.

This assignment was very stressful on me because I could not complete it to my satisfaction. The first time I did it for homework, I was supposed to compare myself to monopoly money. I was able to do the prewriting and write a two-page essay about how I was like a teacher in this manner, but I couldn't convince myself to turn it in. It was not, in my opinion, satisfactory. The result didn't make sense to me. I felt as though I was trying to stretch the similarities too far. The same thing happened with the second and third attempts at this assignment. On the second attempt, I was supposed to compare myself to keys, which I thought about, but couldn't convince myself that my similarities were strong enough. The third time we were asked to do this, we had to choose our own object. This made the assignment even more difficult for me because I had no idea how to choose something that I could relate to as a teacher. Besides, my experience is that you have to please the teacher, which I couldn't do if the teacher didn't tell me what I was supposed to do to make it work.

I placed this in inquiry because I had to explore the different options and learn for myself. The teacher did not tell me what to do and then have me repeat it back to her. I had to decide where to go with each new transition I made. The teacher guidance was very limited.

Motivations

2008-10-27T22:10:00.000-07:00

As a personal agenda this week, I decided to reflect on my life as a student. Having missed Mountain Day, I wanted to make it up in my own way. When thinking about the student that I have been, I have realized that my motivations have changed over the years. I no longer strive to do well for the same reasons that I strived to do well in elementary school.

When I was young, I wanted to make my parents happy. When I would come home with a 100% on a spelling test, I would get a hug and they would tell me that they loved me. Coming from parents that didn't say that a lot, I was willing to do anything to see them smile. Then middle school changed some things for me. My parents had divorced a couple years ago and their opinions didn't mean that much to me anymore. However, throwing everything I had into my school work kept my mind off of the issues at home. In turn, I was always on the top 10 list of readers at my school. My motivation was to feel happy with myself and I always felt better when I was stacked with lots of work. High school changed my motivations again. I tried to discover what I would want to do with my life. This became a time about discovery and impressing the colleges. I was only happy if I had a great GPA and were receiving flyers from colleges constantly. This obsession led to me taking the ACT three times and the SAT once.

My senior year, I moved to another state due to family issues and had to start all over. Things were very tough that year, but my motivation kept me going. My goal now was to get back home to Berea. I didn't like Indiana and I was going to make it into Berea College. I devoted everything I had to that cause. Now, I'm here and what is my motivation now? I'm not sure. I know that I want to do well and become someone that I can be happy with for the rest of my life. I think about the options available to me and wonder which way I should go. Now, I guess I am going to have to teach myself that the motivation for me to do well here is so that I can know myself. If I don't do well here, I return to the life that my family has lived in. My goal is to prove everyone that said that I couldn't make it wrong. Every single family member that told me that I was wasting my time and should get out and find me a job will eat their words when I walk across that stage. However, I will be able to say that I know who I am and what I am. Whether it's a teacher or an attorney, I will walk across that stage and be confidant that I can do that with the motivation of impacting the lives of those who live in our world.

Since this is a reflection about my life as a student, it belongs in the reflection folder.

Wireless Internet

2008-10-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

As known to those of us who live at Berea College, everyone receives a laptop equipped with wireless internet. Unlike most of us, I had never used the wireless componet on my laptop before. However, I was forced to try to use that ability this morning. After trying to figure it out on my own, I was forced to ask the person sitting there with me for help. Fortunately, that person works in IS&S here at the college. After trying a couple of times to open the internet for me, he gave up. Although I was never successful at using the wireless internet capability on my computer, I learned some new things that will be useful in my strive to be a good teacher.

I learned that it's okay to ask for help. In my past, it was never okay to ask for help. It meant that you were not as intelligent as your peers and that you were not as worthy of whatever grades you received. Even in this class, I have been very hesitant to speak with the professor when I have problems in or out of the class, often resulting in late assignments. Although I know that she is a kind and understanding professor, I cannot for some reason convince myself that I should ask for help. However, in this situation, I had no choice but to ask for help.

In difference to what I expected, I didn't get a negative response. Instead of being considered less intelligent or less competent because of my lack of knowledge about wireless internet, the friend was very considerate and went out of his way to try to help me. Although I was unsucessful in my main goal, I achieved other goals that are probably much more important.

This relates to me as a teacher because of my connection with the students. Having been in the situation of asking for help when I felt uncomfortable doing so and having been in the situation of facing a professor when I was unconfidant in doing so, I will be more considerate to students who will be placed in that position. I will not look down upon those students. In a cliche manner, I will teach them that "there is no stupid question except for the one left unasked." This is why this fits into personal development.

Criminal Trial

2008-10-27T20:24:00.000-07:00

In GSTR 110: Criminal Law, Truth and Justice, the class was split up into three different groups. One group is the prosecution, one is the defense counsel for the first defendant, and the last group is the defense counsel for the second defendant. I was placed in the defense counsel for the second defendant. The professor, Dr. Huck, created a mock crime in which the class must hold a mock trial. The professor will play the role of the judge and he has enlisted the help of volunteers to serve on the jury. When we first began this project, the professor created an actual crime scene for us to investigate and scope for clues. We were able to take pictures and interview witnesses that were on the scene. At the end of that class, we were able to request police reports, lab results, and other physical evidence that would be necessary for us to make accurate cases.

Over the next weeks, we were able to have access to the pictures that we took and were able to contact more witnesses. However, this means a lot of work outside of the classroom. We have had to conduct interviews and gather testimonies with witnesses on our own time, which can be a hassle. Yet, it is quite exhilarating because we are learning the information on our own. If we fail to ask the right questions, we don't recieve the information that we need in order to keep our defendant from being found guilty in the mock court of law.

The crime committed happened to be a murder. Two roommates are accused of murdering a person that lived on their floor in their dorm. Various witnesses have made eye witness identifications to confirm that the defendants were the ones that were at the crime scene at the time of the alleged crime.

This relates to me as a teacher because it shows me some of the real life examples of inquiry, not only in our educational lives, but also in our lives after school. Inquiry is also used in career fields, such as investigation. This shows us that the things learned in the classroom lasts much longer than just for the few years that we sit in the classroom. That is why this belongs in the understanding of content. The concepts learned in Criminal Law about the consequences for doing things that affect the community in a bad way can be applied to my teaching in the classroom.

Applying philosophy goals to my teaching

2008-10-13T20:24:00.000-07:00

Well, there has been some things on my mind lately. I was discussing these philosophies with a friend of mine, when they told me, "That's great that you want to do that for the students, but how are you going to incorporate all of that into a math class?" I wasn't sure how I was going to answer her. How do you incorporate justice, acceptance, and diversity in a math class? Then I realized that it is the little things that I have to do in order to accomplish these goals within the classroom. This can include anything as simple as helping the students decide how tests and assignments should be administered to how to handle issues and conflicts within the classroom. This also shows a scenario of democracy within the classroom. I was speaking to my advisor the other day when he told me that he had taught for seventeen years within a box and he knows that it can be done, but there are much better ways to teach. This is going to be something that I am going to have to acquire while studying to be a teacher here, because I am used to learning within a box. Even though I don't want to teach my students outside of the box, I have learned in that manner and it is a discomfort and a risk for me to learn in this way. I guess I'll just continue to observe and see how I can relate this to my classroom.

More Philosophy Ideas

2008-10-13T20:03:00.004-07:00

small goals: giving hope, raising self-esteems, mentoring, making bonds, giving sense of accomplishment, being a support and guidance system, finding commonalities with others, and giving individuality.
Large goal: helping students to have the confidence to stand out and be themselves; help students create their own definition of success that isn't based on outside influences of their surrounding environment.

Why is this important: because students are going to be more productive in society if they have the confidence to establish themselves as a supporting and demanding citizen in their community.

Questions to consider: what does your goal require of you? does it require you to gain knowledge? what's your job as a teacher? what's the job of a school?

Philosophy Statement

2008-10-13T19:15:00.001-07:00

I believe that the purpose of education is to create a community where students can feel free to learn and expand their creative thought.
Teachers' roles in the classroom is to guide the students through the learning process and being a support system ass those students find ways to learn.
It is important to learn core skills that will help the students in college and life, but also other skills not defined in core content.
People learn by finding a way that works for them and finding their analogy in order to make things understandable in their mind.

The Cinderella Story

2008-10-08T16:57:00.000-07:00

In this assignment, we had to create pictures to describe the Cinderella story. We were provided with all the materials needed, including the paper with the story outlined on the bottom of the sheets. This was a learning experience compared to the others, because there was different levels of learning, determining on the amount of work that the students had to do. For example, one group had to create a skit about the Cinderella story and had to gather their own materials. Another group had to color pictures already drawn with the story outline. After coloring, they cut out the pictures and stapled them together. The learning experiences are so different in these scenarios, even though they both taught the Cinderella story.

2008-10-08T16:43:00.000-07:00

At the beginning of the semester, we were asked to create name cards in which we would introduce ourselves. They were supposed to represent our culture. In mine, I used a striped background in order to symbolize the ability to stand side by side with others who are not the same as me, accepting diversity. Every student is different and we must adjust to that fact. This assignment allowed me to get insight into my fellow classmates, having a peek into what their histories are like. Again, this showed me the diversity and differences between us all, even though we all label ourselves the same aka aspiring teachers.

Ball and Ramp Experiment

2008-10-08T16:28:00.000-07:00

We spent a lot of time on this experiment, trying to make it perfect. The goal was to build a ramp that included at least a four inch incline somewhere within the course. After the last contact with the ramp, the ball was to roll six foot and stop. This was difficult, but helped me to learn something useful within the classroom. In order to make the ball top the incline, you had to prepare the ball with a drop, which in terms of students means that you must help them to understand and give them a background in order for them to top the obstacles that lay in the way of their learning experience. While we had to put rails onto the side of our ramp, we allowed the student to follow the course while giving it some guidance and direction. After it left the ramp, the ball was on it's own to go as far as it would and stop. The confusing and difficult part for me on this experiment was making the ball stop. Why would we need to stop the ball? If a student is continuing on the path through knowledge on their own, why would we want to stop that learning process? Wouldn't we be encouraging the students to go as far as they could and try our hardest to increase that distance? I'm not sure I understand why this needs to be done, but it must be important.

Definition

2008-09-25T08:25:00.000-07:00

I understand and can alternate my teaching methods to accommodate the diversity in the learning styles and experiences of the students.

Definition

2008-09-25T08:22:00.000-07:00

I can vary my teaching methods to include all different kinds of learning styles (including visual, audible, hands-on, etc.) in order to maximize the learning experience for all students while also making the material interesting and captivating.

Definition

2008-09-25T08:21:00.000-07:00

I can prove that the way of learning listed (inquiry, experience, time, interest, self correctioon, external criticism) make sense to me.

Definition

2008-09-25T08:18:00.000-07:00

I will demonstrate that I have general knowledge and in-depth understanding of content I'm responsible for in this class.