Field Experience Con't. & Substituting

during my time in schools whether is in Randall Elementary of even in Port Byron Elementary these are the places where i learn the most. I know these classes help us with how to present the material, but its knowing the students is where we can help us determine what the "stuff" we learn is going to be useful to us in your own classrooms. Hopefully if i can get a job. During my field experience i really learned what really works for the students and my host teacher was good of determining what would keep her students engage in their learning and how could they improve on their skills in all the subjects. She gave them opportunities to be successful, and the student must feel that the teacher has confidence in them or else they will not do the work for you. this is where i go back and say that you must know your students and really try to accomadate their needs.

Peace,
Ross

Quote that I bumped into.

"What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within us." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

I found this quote and i immediately fell in love with it. i think it is true that the past is over, what is in front of us is just a stepping stone in life, but what lies within us makes all the difference. Within us lies the most power in the universe. The trick is we need to find that power within us and expose it to everyone to show the world what your made of. "Dare to be Great?" -this could also be the question.

-Ross

Great Resources for Lesson Plans...

Who would have thought the well-known crayon manufacturor, Crayola, has great ideas for lesson plans for your classroom. I like their website because it asks you what grade, any subject area, theme, and you can also select what kind of product from Crayola you would like to use. I would definitely use this site in my classroom. Heres the website if anyone was curious: http://www.crayola.com/lesson-plans/

Ross likes waiting till the last minute...and my life.

You know i try not to procrastinate, but i'm guilty as charged. I really try to keep on top of things, but sometimes i just get side tracked. I don't know about you but i guess it's the pressure that actually makes me do the work that is suppose to be done. I feel bad most of the time because i tell myself that i'm gonna do things this night and complete this paper during the weekend. What do i do i wait till that last minute to do things. I really don't like that about me, but i'm gonna try to clean it up.

I mean life always gets you side tracked and then my homework always gets the back burner. I commute to school and i still live home, but it's hard sometimes because my family expects me to pitch in around the house. Especially now in the winter time! the last few days i think i spent more time outside shoveling snow than inside watching tv or doing homework combined. Its hard life sometimes because my father is getting older and i'm trying to help him out as best i can and do my Block 1 work.

Well it's been fun, but i think my bed is callin my name! This is Ross the Boss sayin Good Nite Blog.

Well my first Science Lesson "Plan"!

When i was doing my lesson plan for science i originally did a lesson on how a lemon can produce and electtic current. I never tried to build the model that was suppose to be constructed to see if would actually work. I really want to try it someday. It was said that the acids in the lemon spark the electricity to flow. The lemon was to light a small string of christmas lights. Hopefully sometime in the future i will try this experiment. Here are the websites that helped me with this lesson plan:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AY9qcDCFeVI

http://bizarrelabs.com/lemon.htm

http://www.proteacher.com/cgi-bin/outsidesite.cgi?id=281&external=http://www.miamisci.org/af/sln/frankenstein/&original=http://www.proteacher.com/110016.shtml&title=Frankensteins%20Lightning%20Laboratory &

VoiceThread from Ross

Hi kids! Well that's how intorduce my voice thread that i created for my project. i did the voice thread with a student in my field experience. I did a math lesson where the students where the student explained to me how to do three digit addition. She was a pleasure to work with on this project. She was really enthused to help me with this project. Copy this link: http://voicethread.com/share/1414300/

Block 1 Practicum

At the beginning of the semester I was very nervous about practicum. However, after meeting my host teacher I started to feel a sigh of relief. As the semester progressed and I got more comfortable within the classroom, the school day became shorter and shorter. Or at least that is how it felt.
I have learned a lot about myself as a future teacher. My strength and weaknesses became evident to me more than ever when working with a group of student, whether small or large. I know I will struggle most definitely with discipline in my classroom. Mrs. Riley has some very innovated ways of disciplining her students. She always tries to resist calling students out or embarrassing the students in front of their classmates. For example, when the topic of algebra was introduced for the first time, the students had a very difficult time focusing on the lesson. Instead of asking the students why are not paying attention or stopping the lesson to redirect the distracted students attention, discipline was integrated into the lesson. Mrs. Riley asked the distracted students questions about the lesson and if the students did not know the answer they were able to solicit help from their classmates.
I enjoyed my time at Randall School and I miss my fourth grades, but I am glad is over because I need all the time I have to work on my Taskstream.

Overall opinions from Ross for the 315

A technological experience for the ages i say. This class really opened my eyes in how much interactive tools can help a classroom. I think that technology can benefit students, but sometimes it can be too much for students to grasp. Some students are not capable of making these projects because to be honest with you i had trouble with the projects. I think if you keep it more simple for the students the better they will do i think. Overall the class had a lot of information, but it really expanded my horizons when it comes to completing projects and be interactive outside the classroom.

MLD or Netbook by Ross

I think that mobile learning devices are good and bad. in this class we were given a netbook, i thought it was a good idea because my own computer is very old and it has become very slow. Therefore i used my netbook very frequently. Even though i've heard that my classmates had a lot of trouble with their netbooks. Some of them were broken and some very slow. I wish could understand how they were feeling, but my netbook worked very well for me. I can see that this would be helpful for students and how it could be bad for students.

Field Experience by fibi

I learned a lot from observing Mrs.Pace fifth grade class, it gave me an idea of what to expect when I become a teacher. I have nothing negative to say about this class. I enjoyed every day I was there and it was said to say goodbye. I also learn a lot about classroom management from my host teacher. Mrs. Pace is someone who is very strict with her students and she will not allow them to act out. When I walked into the classroom I saw the way the students respected her when she spoke, and when they were doing something wrong Mrs. Pace would address the problem right way. She does not tell students what they should to, she ask them question on what they think they should be doing, or what they are doing wrong. Students were very quick to respond and correct their behavior. Her tone was firm and authoritative, I got scare at first but she is actually a very nice woman with a great sense of humor. Aside from that, Mrs. Pace is also open to new ideas and suggestion on strategies that can help her students.

Field Placement Experience by Ross

Well my field experience went very well for me. I believe my experience helped me a lot with my journey of becoming a teacher. My host teacher was very good with her students. It seemed that her students were very good in terms of following directions that the teacher gave. my teacher was very organized in every lessons. As my field experience went on i can tell how much children are influenced by the teacher. my final day of my field placement the students were very sad for me to leave. i thought to myself that this is the profession for me. i want to help students with their education and to inspire them for years to come.

Some of my fav. teacher quotes By fibi

The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called "truth." ~Dan Rather

Teaching is the profession that teaches all the other professions. ~Author Unknown

A teacher who is attempting to teach without inspiring the pupil with a desire to learn is hammering on cold iron. ~Horace Mann

A teacher's purpose is not to create students in his own image, but to develop students who can create their own image. ~Author Unknown

The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book. ~Author Unknown

Math fun

This is a great link for teacher, it has fun math games and great ideas for lesson plan

Last day of class By fibi

EDU 315, I will say my goodbye
Even though, I disliked waking up early for class and having positive attitude; I have to admit that I ended up enjoying the class at the end. We did a lot of projects that I can use in my classroom and I cannot wait to start teaching and put to use what I have learned in this class.

Practice what you preach!!!!!

This is a rhetorical question, but have you ever asked yourself why does professors insist on treating their students so poorly? In the education department, professors go on and on about treating students with dignity and respect, but they fail to treat their own students that way. What ever happen to “practice what you preach?”

I get so annoyed with professors who require lengthy lesson plans and reflections from their students when they refuse to do any of it themselves. If you are a professor and you working with teachers in an elementary school, when you teach a lesson in their classroom and they ask you for the lesson plan, do not laugh and declare that you do not need to do lesson plans. With that attitude you come off extremely arrogant. I understand that they are professionals and they have already graduated college, but that does not excuse their behavior.

Another thing, why does it seem like some professors do not understand the difference between constructive criticism and applying a militaristic approach? Let me clarify, constructive criticism does not cause you students to cry themselves to sleep and doubt themselves as future teachers. Constructive criticism helps them identify what they are lacking in their lesson plans and teaching approach. Why do you pride yourself on breaking your students down? If the success of your student is a reflection of your teaching, why wouldn't you help your students become better students and better teachers? I do not understand the need to constantly knock your students down and tell them that they are in the wrong profession and they will not make it as teachers. News flash you are not perfect! Perfection does not exist! You might think you are perfect, but you are not, you make grammatical mistakes and you are a college professor. If you are going to tell a student that their work needs improvement, tell them what they need to improve upon. Do not tell them that you will not accept their work after they have spent hours completing it. How can you students learn and grow if they are kept in the dark? Cortland has a great education program, but some of the professors need to reconsider their approach.

When I was at Hunter College as a nursing major, one of the first thing the dean said was to look to your right then look to your left, only one of you will make it. If I wanted to be part of a program that discourages, weed out and apply a Darwinistic approach I would have remain a nursing major at Hunter. Having high expectation for your students does not equate to weeding out the weak, but providing the adequate support in order to ensure their success. If you cannot provide that for you student then you should not be preparing future teachers. There is much more to being a teacher than teaching content.

I would like to say to all the students in the education program that has had a professor say to you, you are in the wrong profession or you will not be a good teacher, “no one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt. You are a work in progress and education is always a work in progress. If they do not understand that then they might be the ones in the wrong profession.

One professor's opinion should not dictate your future. You are strong, intelligent young ladies. If you weren't you would not have made it this far.

By: Bibi H.

http://holaminora.files.wordpress.com/2009/12/broken_heart_by_starry_eyedkid-11.jpg

Mending

A giant hand inside my chest
Stretches out and takes
My heart within its mighty grasp
And squeezes till it breaks.

A gentle hand inside my chest,
With mending tape and glue,
Patches up my heart until
It’s almost good as new.

I ought to know by now that
Broken hearts will heal again,.
But while I wait for glue and tape,
The pain!
The pain!
The pain!

It one of those days

Yellowstone National Park

Yellowstone National Park is my favorite of all the national parks in the US. I can not wait to visit it for myself. Every time there is a Yellowstone special on television, whether I have seen it before or not, I will sit for hours and watch it.

Create your own video slideshow at animoto.com.

Yellowstone National Park is America's first national park. It was established in 1872. Yellowstone extends through Wyoming, Montana, and Idaho. The park's name is derived from the Yellowstone River, which runs through the park. It's unclear if the name first referred to the sulfurous yellow rocks below the falls of the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River or to the sandstone bluffs that border its shores.

Within the massive park boundaries, you can find mountains, rivers, lakes, and some of the most concentrated geothermal activity in the world. The park has 60% of the world’s geysers as well as many hot springs and several mud pots. Perhaps the most famous feature of the park is the geyser Old Faithful.

You can also see the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, one of the world’s largest petrified forests, and countless waterfalls. The park is also home to diverse wildlife, including grizzly bears, wolves, bison, and elk.

Outdoor recreation is boundless in this iconic national park. Madison and Yellowstone River are stocked with brown and rainbow trout and mountain whitefish. The many bike trails include an abandoned railroad bed that winds along with the wild Yellowstone River. You can backcountry camp or hike on the extensive trail system throughout the entire park, or boat on Yellowstone Lake. Stock outfitters lead horse and llama trips into the backcountry.

Historic points of interest include Fort Yellowstone, the permanent post of the cavalry when they managed the park in the late 19th century before the National Park Service was established in 1916. Old Faithful Inn is one of the last log hotels in the United States and is an impressive seven-story building of beautiful rustic architecture.

The original American national park and an icon of the entire National Park System, Yellowstone National Park is an American gem with millions of park visitors each year. Because of its magnitude and diversity, it is a park that really requires several visits to appreciate all it has to offer. Created in 1872 as the first national park in America, it set the standard for the entire national park system and is for many the most iconic park in the country.

—Caroline Griffith and Felicia Carr


By: Bibi H.

Fun Poems for children.

 

Some people

by Rachel Field

Isn’t it strange some people

make you feel so tired inside,
Your thoughts begin to shrivel up

like leaves all brown and dried!

But when you’re with some other ones,

it’s stranger still to find
Your thoughts as thick as fireflies

all shiny in your mind!

 

 

We Could Be Friends

Myra Cohn Livingston

We could be friends

Like friends are supposed to be.

You, picking up the telephone

Calling me

to come over and play

or take a walk,

finding a place

to sit and talk,

Or just goof around

Like friends do,

Me, picking up the telephone

Calling you.

 

 

And the Answer Is…
 by Carol Diggory Shields

Lunch Money and Other Poems About School

Teacher, please don't look at me
The answer is a mystery.
I'm staring into empty air,
I'm sliding underneath my chair.
I'm making myself very small,
I wish I wasn't here at all.
Teacher, teacher, pass me by,
Please pick on some other guy.

Teacher, teacher, call on me
I know the answer, can't you see?
This one's a wrap, a snap, a breeze.
Just look in my direction, please!
I'm almost bouncing off my chair.
I'm waiving both hands in the air.
Teacher, teacher, ask me first,
'Cause it you don't, I think I'll burst.

I Am Tired of Being Little

By Jack Prelutsky

I am tired of being little,

I am sick of being thin,

I wish that I were giant size,

with whiskers on my chin.

No one would dare to tease me,

or to take away my toys,

for I would be much bigger

than the biggest bigger boys.

My folks would pay attention

to everything I said,

they couldn’t make me eat my peas

or tell me, “Go to bed!”

I’d never be afraid again

If I were ten-foot-three,

I wish that I were giant size,

Instead of small like me.

Walking under the moonlit sky.

                I love walking. I would rather walk than driving anywhere as long as the distance is not more than three miles. When I am home in the in the Bronx I walk as much as I can but only during the day. However, when I am in Cortland, one of my guilty pleasures is walking under the moonlight along Waterworks. Sometimes there is no better remedy for a stressful day than a moonlit walk. I am a nature lover and personally nature is most beautiful at night. Although we are conditioned since we were young to fear the dark, I believe that you cannot say something is most beautiful during the day when you have not seen it during the night. I live in Whitaker Hall on the first floor. My entire wall made of glass and it faces Waterworks. During the day you can see the deer, birds, and other small animals. Occasionally you will see a few foxes. Sometime I would find myself standing by my window and looking over Waterworks without even realizing I have been standing in the same spot for 30 minutes.  

         Last night I walked for about an hour from Whitaker Hall down to 281 then to Groton then Broadway and back to Whitaker. That walk was one of the most peaceful experiences I have had since I have been in Cortland this semester. On my walk I noticed a lot of deer and ducks. If anyone has ever lived in Fitzgerald Hall, Clark Hall or Randall Hall then you can attest to the obnoxiousness of the ducks. I made sure I didn’t startle the ducks because I didn’t want anyone from the resident hall to strangle me. My heart almost jumped out of my chest when I was maybe 50 yards from Whitaker’s parking lot because there was a large buck sitting in the grass and I didn’t notice it at all. As I walked past it, the buck was startled by my unexpected presence and it jumped up and scared the living daylight out of me.

By: Bibi

Just one of those days!

So a teacher told me, not saying any names, that I will not make it as a teacher because I have problems with my writing. It mad me feel like I should just dropout now. Then I read my Horoscope and it said that I have a lot of thinking to do about my future career. OO that’s just great!

Not an Evil Minion!

Since my last post regarding my netbook my feelings towards this little machine had changed. As you may know, if you read my last post, my netbook was sent back to the company because it was an evil little minion. I was netbook-less for about two weeks. Thus I have not downloaded anything for EDU 315, but it is not my fault they should have given me a better computer. It really didn’t bother me that I didn’t have a netbook because the last one I had was such a pain. However, I did miss the convenience of having a small portable computer with internet connection wherever I went. So I finally went to Courtney and got a replacement.

Now I have a new netbook that actually works! I have absolutely no problem with this netbook. I love this one because it is not an evil minion and it understands that I am its master and it must obey me at all time. (hahahaha evil laugh) Ok that was a bit much, but yesterday was Halloween. Give me a break!

By: Bibi H

My passtime: by fibi

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=454623654834&set=a.434754464834.215747.627354834#!/video/video.php?v=85356226259&subj=627354834

I love being part of the Cortland Tae Kwando, we are a big family

Notebook Headach: by fibi

I like the idea of using new technology to learn but to be honest i have yet to learn anything useful from this notebook. The only thing i learn is that if i want to get a quick headache, any day, just try using the notebook. It is very slow and i barley get Ethernet services.  I do not have a lab top, but i rather use my desk top anytime then this notebook.

Math lesson

This is my math lesson and you can see how a student can use voicethread to do a moth problem and show their work. Personally i do not like the sound of my own voice but it was fun to make.

THE NETBOOK: Honesty is the BEST policy!

We all enjoy the convince of having a Netbook with 3G coverage. Well at least I do when I had a working Netbook. I don’t hate the idea of requiring Block 1 students to pay $180 for something they will use rather than buying a textbook. Okay maybe I did hate the idea at first but that was only because I have my own computer. However, what I hate is the fact that I spent $180 for a Netbook that lacks the programs I need to complete my assignments.  Project # 2, Publisher, when I had to create a brochure or whatever, I had to go to the library because my handy dandy Netbook doesn’t have Microsoft Publisher. I remember sitting in the library working on my project and being so annoyed because I felt like I totally wasted $180. I could have bought boots with that money!  My anger eventually subsided because I gave up on the Netbook. Now that we are required to use it in class my mouse does not work! I am currently Netbook-less because I got so fed-up with all the issues. My netbook had a mind of its own. It certainly didn’t understand the fact that it is a machine and I am its master, thus it must do what I wanted it to do! My netbook was returned to the company due to lack of cooperation. I await a new and improve netbook that can do what I need it to do.

Thank you for reading. I certainly hope you were entertained by my Netbook J

By: Bibi H

Project # 7

This VoiceThread assignment is supposed to be a learning activity related to Health. I wanted my VoiceThread to be entertaining for my second graders. This is meant to be a quick overview of healthy foods. It is not meant to be a complete lesson. I personally learn best when I am being entertained, hence why my voicethread seems more like a project for entertainment rather than a voicethread for educational purposes.

Nature walk

This is a mushroom, and it is a fungi. This picture was take in Raketlake during our nature walk one early morning. When you touch it, it felt very smooth and fussy and it was also wet.   The stem, which does not show on this picture, was white. The other mushroom on, the smaller one on the top, was try and it was not as smooth.
By: fibi

Name of the Game! or Block 1

This group is name OVERWORKED for a reason.