Using Digital Still Cameras in the Classroom

Chapter 7 of Boni Hamilton's book, Integrating  Technology in the Classroom, discusses the use digital cameras can have in today's classrooms. I had never thought about using a digital camera in the classroom, but it is a great idea and opens so many doors to activities and lessons for the students. There are many steps to take before they can be used at the primary level, but Hamilton provides important steps and tasks to successfully integrate them into the classroom.

First, the teacher must teach how to use the cameras and this can be done in many different ways. One way suggested that I would use, is by training 3 to 4 students on how to use them and then have them teach their classmates. This develops leadership skills, student-student learning, and differentiation for the various learners.

After teaching the students, it is important to come up with a plan for possible mishaps. For example: providing neck straps for easy mobility, creating a sharing protocol or schedule, keeping them in a common place, labeling all cameras, appropriate use, and creating time for downloading and editing pictures (Hamilton, 2015). After teaching students how to use the cameras and usage expectations, is when the fun part starts. Digital cameras can be used for SO MANY different learning purposes!

Digital cameras can be used for field trips, expressing emotions, year book, science projects, presentations, art projects, creating digital movies, learning vocabulary, and writing with visuals. These are just some of the ways a camera can be used in the classroom.

Personally, I would like to use cameras in my classroom next year in a couple different ways. One way being that I would like to collaborate with my other grade level teachers before going on field trips and allow the students to take pictures of what they are learning. This is a great way for them to remember and recall information after the field trip. They can refer back to the pictures and incorporate the pictures in a presentation or provide evidence for learned content. This also allows students to express their knowledge in a creative way.

Another way I would integrate the digital camera into my classroom is to build my students vocabulary, more specifically my ELs' vocabulary. By allowing EL students to have access to a digital camera at school and at their homes can provide them with the opportunity to take pictures of objects or concepts they do not understand, but want to understand. They can take pictures throughout the day or at home and then show them to us. We can show the student the English vocab and use their native language to help them make a strong connection. While we try to aid EL students as much as possible in the classroom through visual and audio tools, we do not always know what they understand or want to understand. This is an opportunity for them to take control of their education and help them both academically and socially.

One of the best parts about using digital cameras in the classroom is that they are now inexpensive, often can be donated, and many schools already have access to them for teachers. It is just a matter of communication and collaboration that can get the digital camera into the classrooms. They have unlimited uses and allow for teacher and student creativity.

Resources

Hamilton, Boni. (2015). Integrating Technology in the Classroom: Tools to Meet the Needs of Every Student. Eugene, OR: International Society for Technology in Education.

SnapChat in the Classroom?

#1: What is your initial reaction to SnapChat?

            I have been a SnapChat user for a little over a year now and I can say it is my most used social media. When first learning what SnapChat was a year ago, I was not that interested and figured it was just like all the other social medias and did not see why I should add another social media platform into my life. After some convincing from my friends, I decided to really check it out. Sounds a bit ridiculous, but I quickly fell in love with it and use it on a daily basis. I liked how different it was from Instagram and Facebook in that everything disappeared after 24 hours. I felt I could post various events throughout my day without being “that annoying person” blowing up someones feed. SnapChat gives everyone a choice to view your story, where you are forced to see everyones' posts from Instagram and Facebook. 

#2 What is the application to education?

            SnapChat can be motivational, engaging, personalized, and informative if applied in the right way. I think the idea of using current tools that our students are using in their everyday life is a great idea, but also must be done correctly. I think if I did ever use SnapChat as an educational tool, it would be something I only allow students to use outside of the classroom as it can be a distraction in the classroom. It is also a social media that I do not think has a lot restrictions and if not taught correctly, can be used for the wrong reasons. 

#3 How might you use SnapChat in teaching?

            I will not use SnapChat in my 5^th grade classroom next school year, with the biggest reason being, that the Privacy Policy clearly states you must be 13 years of age. Also, while majority of 5^th grade students have phones, I can’t expect that they all have one and would be allowed to use SnapChat.

I can see some ways in which using SnapChat can be beneficial in the secondary and college level classroom, but don’t see many benefits for it in the younger levels. If I were teaching at the secondary level I may use it to send some morning motivation. I think it can be a great tool to build rapport and let your students know you are thinking about them and want them to do well. For example: During testing week or finals, sending your students some morning motivation and words of encouragement can inspire them. Not only sending them words of encouragement, but even letting them into your morning routine. Perhaps showing them what you are eating for breakfast, or that your human and are running late too, but will get to school and make it a good day. It can also be a platform for students to ask us questions outside of the classroom, play trivia type games, ask extra credit questions, and address current social issues going on in the world.

Another way I could see myself using SnapChat is with my girls I coach. I coach 2 girl soccer teams and think it would be fun to send my older girls words of motivation before games. It could also be beneficial in that I can stay in touch with them during the off season and share individual drills they can be working on to build their skills. In my personal opinion there are educational ways to use SnapChat, but think I would chose to use it as a tool to become more personal with my students and make those strong student-teacher connections.

#4 How might you use SnapChat in your life?

            I use SnapChat on a daily basis and most often am documenting various events throughout my day. It may be something as simple as a picture of what I am eating to videos of my travel adventures. I also love using it to send close friends inside jokes and silly filters or faces. I can say that I only use it for social aspects and do not review the SnapChat stories they post of pop-culture gossip or events from the news. While I love SnapChat, I also think it can take up too much of my time and can be a distraction during times of working, but when used with digital citizenship it can have some positive impacts on you and your classroom.

ELA Essential Knowledge

The school year 17/18 will be my first year instructing inside of the classroom. While I have been working with K-5th grade students for 6 years now, it has always been outside, PE type, instruction. Next school year I will be a 5th grade English Language Arts (ELA) teacher and while I just found this out a couple months ago, I have began to build possible Web-based resources that I will use in the classroom. I hope other ELA teachers find this post both informative and useful. 

ELA essential knowledge can be broken into 5 key areas:

1) Reading- Students read and understand a variety of literary information and texts.

2) Writing- Students create a variety of written texts with main ideas, organization, and details.

3) Research- Students can access or locate a range of relevant and reliable sources and analyze, evaluate, and present ideas with supporting evidence.

4) Listening and Speaking- Students listen and respond to the ideas of others and can contribute their own perspective or ideas through conversation and group dialogues. 

5) Oral and Written Conventions- Students learn and use oral and written conventions of the English language when both speaking and writing. 

I plan to build these 5 areas in my students by engaging them in group/cooperative activities, building on their prior knowledge, using Web-based resources, and empower and encourage them to set personal goals for themselves. 

Below are some great resources I have recently learned about and am excited to try in my new 5th grade classroom. I hope some of you find them useful as well or perhaps you have personal experience using one of them and can provide me with feedback on successes or challenges using these in the classroom.

NewsELA

I recently discovered this resource when talking to a 4th grade teacher at my previous school. When I informed her I would be teaching 5th grade ELA, she suggested I look into this site. This is a great resource where students can read news articles about sports, science, social studies, health, arts, and more. What is so great about this site is that the entire class can be reading about the same topic, but in a format that is at their reading level. They have every article for every level that also have comprehension questions at their level. Teachers can instantly see their progress and use this as an assessment. The teacher can even add in annotations in the articles so the students can see these and you can be sure students are staying engaged. Another great feature is that they have every article in Spanish as well. This will be extremely beneficial to me as my school is 85% ELLs. Click on the link above and take a look at this great ELA tool.

No Red Ink
This is resource to help students improve their grammar and writing skills in a fun and engaging way. They pride themselves on getting rid of all the graded papers that are covered in red ink and so often get thrown in the trash. This is a way for the students to control their progress and review content as needed. As the students use this site, it gets to know them and their personal interests, such as sports, pop-culture, music, and their friends. Teachers can see progress and create assignment and quizzes that meet the specific needs of individual students.

To see a short video about this tool and the various features and resources it offers visit this hyper link: No Red Ink Teacher Resources










Scholastic 
This is a great resource that can be useful to teachers, students, and parents. This is a great site that offers a wide variety of resources ranging from unit plans, grade level and content specific lesson plans, printable worksheets, professional development training, top teacher blogs, student activities, and so much more. I know many teachers who use this resource on a daily basis in their classroom or to help them produce strong lessons. I know this will be a great tool for me in my classroom and to improve my teaching methods and strategies. 

Digital Literacy

I am what society considers a "Millennial" and grew up with early technology in my classrooms. In my elementary years the most technology I recall was the use of projectors and the few computers in the classrooms where we mostly used learning games and Word Processor. It wasn't until Jr. High and High School where I began to see more technology being incorporated into the classroom as well as the beginning of social media. I feel fortunate to have grown up when I did. I learned how to find and use resources without the easy access a phone gives us today, but also learned how to use computers and technology in their beginning phases. I feel this has helped me adapt to the ever changing technology and gave me a strong foundation of problem solving and critical thinking skills in the realm of technology.

Today, in the 21st century, I would describe myself as a life long learner who is most dependent on technology and peer-peer learning. My education gave me the skills to access information through a multitude of sources, including the internet. Because of the accessibility, I find the internet to be the most useful way of finding out information I do not know. I am on my phone all day long using both the internet and social media. I find it easiest to use the internet to find out new information, but I also like to learn through talking with other people. The art of listening can teach you a lot and open many opportunities for you. I hope to instill good listening skills in my future students.



As a soon-to-be elementary teacher it is difficult to say exactly what kind of 21st century teacher I am, but I would say it is a combination of using traditional strategies while incorporating the latest technology that today has to offer. I want to create a classroom that is learner-centered where creativity, collaboration, community, and globalization inspires my students to learn and ask questions. Today's children are growing up in a revolution of technology where they can easily access any information within seconds. While having easy access to information is great, we must teach our students how to understand this information and be able to apply it to the real world. 

Through technology, I want to create fun, engaging, and inspiring lessons where students are learning from each other and collaborating with one another to problem solve real world problems. Earlier in my credentialing program, I learned what Project Based Learning is and am excited to incorporate it into my classroom. This is a great way to build collaboration, communication, presentation, and critical thinking skills. These are all skills that our students will need in order to navigate and be successful in today's workforce. Not only does technology advance student skills, but it is also a great tool for educators to use to differentiate curriculum to the various types of learners. I hope to facilitate a 21st century classroom that uses new technologies as well as give my students the skills and resources to gain knowledge through traditional strategies and resources.

Teach Like a Champion

Lemov, D. (2015). Teach Like a Champion 2.0: 62 Techniques that put Students on the Path to College. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass., 468 pp.

- Doug Lemov holds a BA from Hamilton College, an MA from Indiana University, and an MBA from the Harvard Business School. He is a managing director of Uncommon Schools and leads its Teach Like a Champion team, designing and implementing teacher training based on the study of high-performing teachers.

- Teach Like a Champion became a global bestseller because it offered concrete, engaging, easy-to-implement techniques teachers could use to keep their students engaged, focused, and learning.

Teach Like a Champion is a great addition to my book shelf and is definitely a book I will refer back to during my years of teaching, especially my beginning years. The book is broken up into 4 different parts; Check for Understanding, Academic Ethos, Ratio, and Five Principles of Classroom Culture. Each part is broken down further into detailed strategies and methods to try in your everyday classroom instruction. Lemov gives specific ideas and strategies used by teachers from all over. Teach Like a Champion offers techniques for every type of teacher that aligns with the wide variety of students we may one day instruct. Some of the techniques are more invasive and can take time to implement, however majority of them are simple techniques that can make the world of difference in your classroom.

While I found many useful and new strategies I would like to try in my future classroom, there were a couple that really stuck out to me and caught my attention. One was in Part 4 the Five Principles of Classroom Culture and more specifically chapter 11, High Behavioral Expectations. I found many simple techniques I would like to try that include, but aren’t limited to using radar and how to make yourself be seen looking. This helps keep students on task and is really simple. We can keep our head on a swivel and strategically stand in angles of the classroom that allow us to see the entire class at a simple glance. Also, as we are walking around the classroom we can change our route so that we are unpredictable and they know they should be on task at all times. It is little techniques like this that can aid in keeping our students on task and hold them to high expectations.

Another strategy that really resonated with me in part 2 Academic Ethos, Chapter 6 is called “Cut Off Rally Killers”. When I first read through this strategy it made me giggle and recall many instances where I could have used this strategy. It is a technique to respectfully cut off students who are talking off topic or talking about something that is not contributing to the learning or lesson. This happens to me during my PE classes as well as with my soccer girls I coach. I know there has been times where I let them finish or I cut them off abruptly, but not always in the best manner. Ether I walk away feeling bad for cutting them off or we lost 5 minutes of practice time. This method gives you techniques to redirect the students respectfully and quickly.

I would give Teach Like a Champion 2 thumbs up!! A great book to have for an easy reference with some creative classroom techniques.

PBL Tips and Strategies

Differentiated Grouping

In order to have successful PBL activities the grouping strategies are important. There are many different ways to group students and it’s important to use strategic grouping for each individual project. Both heterogeneous and homogeneous grouping can be beneficial depending on what type of project it is. Grouping should be intentional and we should know why we are grouping students. We could group students for academic ability, collaboration skills, social/emotional reasons, and interests. To successfully group students we must know each individual student and design groups that will produce the best learning outcome for everyone.

Choice

Allowing freedom and choice for students in PBL activities can be beneficial in the overall learning and an effective way for teachers to access overall student learning. Giving students choice in their learning process can be a great motivational tool and gives the students a sense of power over their learning. There are many opportunities in PBLs that can allow for choices. For example; students can choose how they show their understanding at the end of the project. Perhaps a student loves writing and would like to do a written assessment, where some students may want to utilize technology to present their projects. By allowing choices we can truly access each student and give them the opportunity to express what they learned through a platform they are more comfortable with.

Individual and Group Work

While PBL is most commonly focused on collaboration it is just as important to use individual work as well. A well rounded PBL activity will incorporate both collaboration and individual learning. Some students work better on their own than in groups and visa-versa. We must give every student an opportunity to succeed and show their understanding both in groups and individually. This may look like letting students brain storm individually and then bring their ideas to the group or giving two assessments at the end, individual and group presentations. Not only does this method allow students to do what they are comfortable with, but gives them the opportunity to work on more challenging methods of learning.

Be a Facilitator

Because PBL is focused on peer-peer learning and collaboration, we must find a balance of being involved and giving the students control. It is important for the teacher to set the project up and make sure students understand what they are doing, but at some point we must step completely back and observe the learning process. We must become a facilitator of the project and help keep time and make sure students are on task. This is also an opportunity to check in with each group and answer questions or address any misconceptions. Not only is this step important for the students, but it is important for the teachers as well. By stepping back we can walk around the room and watch the students work together and assess the learning. This is a time for us to take notes, reflect, and make observations.

Student Survey/Reflection

I think a great tool to use at the end of the project are student surveys or reflections. It is important that each individual within each group was working and played a role in the project. By giving students a survey at the end can be a time for students to express how it was working in a group and any successes or challenges they may have had. This could also be beneficial for the teacher as we can ask questions regarding how they liked the project. By asking questions such as; Did you enjoy the project? What was your favorite part? What would you change about the project? What was challenging? Etc., we can take their opinions into consideration and make any adjustments for the next time we implement the project. 

Reading Comprehension Strategies

I have not formally taught in the classroom yet, so I was unsure of different techniques to teach reading comprehension, but after doing some research and talking to colleagues I have come up with 5 methods I think I would like to use in my future classroom.

Highlight and Doodle (Main Idea)

I learned this method from a 5^th grade teacher at my school. We were outside at recess and I noticed she had some copies of a page out of a book and noticed her drawing on it. I asked what she was working on and she said she was trying out a new way of finding main ideas and highlighting text and was creating an example for her students. She had 3 sentences highlighted on the page and in the rest of the text she was drawing pictures. This method appealed to me because I was that student who had doodles all over my note book and in the margins of my worksheets. This method definitely would have caught my attention as a student and got me interested in finding the main points of the text. One challenge I could see coming from this method is time, but as the teacher I can make sure students are working efficiently and spending time on both reading and their doodles. By teaching students different ways of finding the main idea of text allows them to have a choice in how they read text and how they pull important information from it.

Mind Movies (Visualizing)

It is important that when students are reading that they are visualizing what they are reading. I found a great resource that described it as creating a “mind movie”. Depending on what grade you are working with and the cognitive skills of the class, we can help teach them how to visualize by doing a read aloud and tell them what we are visualizing in our imagination. It is important to think about all 5 senses and different emotions. We can describe what we are seeing and then ask what they are seeing in their minds. For older students who can work more independently, we can have a chart up in the classroom that helps them remember how to visualize and ask them to draw what they are seeing. See below chart below:

Questions

Questions can be very helpful for reading comprehension. This can look like a few different forms. It may be giving students a list of questions to read before beginning the text so they know exactly what they are looking for and what to focus on. Questions can also be used during read alouds. It is important to develop their critical thinking skills by asking surface level questions and deeper level of thinking questions. Below is a small list of possible questions to get your students thinking.

-          Who is the main character?

-          Who is the main character’s best friend?

-          Why is the main character (sad/happy/mad/etc.)?

-          What is the setting?

-          What is the conflict?

-          How does the conflict get solved?

-          How would you feel if you were the main character?

-          How do you think the other characters are feeling?

-          What would you do in this situation?

Choosing the right book

It is important that students know how to pick a book at their reading level. Below is a chart I found online to help remind students how to know if the book is just right for them. As a teacher it is important to have a plethora of books in our class library that are labeled with reading levels and different genres to appeal to all interests. It is important for students to be able to identify a good book for them outside the classroom as well. They want to challenge themselves, but not to the point where they get discouraged and cannot comprehend what is happening in the story. See below:

Using Context Clues

Another great strategy I came across in my research was how to use context clues. I remember learning how to use context to figure out what a word or sentence meant and this is a strategy I use in my adult hood to decode what I am reading. I think this is one of the most important strategies to become a good reader. See below:

Resources:

https://www.weareteachers.com/21-anchor-charts-that-teach-reading-comprehension/

https://www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/instructional-strategies/6-tips-for-helping-your-child-improve-reading-comprehension#slide-1

Vocabulary Resources

It is easy to overlook implementing vocabulary lessons in the classroom due to all the pressure put on teachers to meet content standards and perform well on state tests. However, having a strong vocabulary is essential in all content areas. Having a strong foundation of vocabulary will improve skill areas such as listening, speaking, reading comprehension, and writing. I am not teaching in the classroom yet, but hope to find simple ways to utilize vocabulary resources in the classroom. Through some classroom observations, conversations with teachers, and some research, I found some great tools to use in my future classroom and wanted to share them with all of you.

http://flocabulary.com/

Flocabulary is a program designed for all grades K-12 and covers all content areas. The program uses hip-hop music to engage students and increase achievement across the curriculum. The program supplies videos, activities, lesson plans, educational hip-hop songs, and other tools to offer students more creativity in their learning. I had the opportunity to do an observation in a 3rd grade classroom that used Flocabulary and the students were so into it! They had been listening to the song and practicing it all week and the words in the song tied into activities in their packets. This is definitely a program I plan to use in my future classroom.

http://raz-kids.com/

The 2 elementary schools I currently work for use Raz-Kids and it is a great program. Raz-Kids has over 400 books online that students can access from anywhere. Students can use this program in the classroom, at home, and from any mobile device. Not only are there more than 400 books, but they are also all in Spanish and leveled. Students can listen to the story being read, record themselves reading the story, and each book comes with a comprehension quiz at the end. This program makes it easy for the students, teachers, and district to watch data and see how the students are progressing. According to the website, this program has received numerous awards including CODiE and EDDIE and a Teachers’ Choice Award for the Classroom.

https://quizlet.com/languages-and-vocab/

I came across this resource as I was doing research for creating a vocabulary lesson. It seems like a great tool that I would like to use in my future classroom. The program can create a schedule for you to study and what exactly to study. It helps keep students all over the world on track and prepared for an upcoming test or exam. It has resources for K-12, college students and even professional development. You can create specific vocabulary lists that include the definition, an illustration, and play the definition audially. This could be great for ELL students as well through not only the use of illustrations, but it can pair different languages with the English word next to it. This program can have many benefits in the classroom and is something I want to try out in my classroom.

https://getkahoot.com/

I discovered Kahoot early in my credentialing program and think it is a great tool to use in the classroom. While I have not personally gotten to see it being used, I have talked to some teacher friends who absolutely love it. Kahoot is designed to make learning fun by turning the “typical quiz” into a fun and interactive game. Kahoot can be used simultaneously by the entire class, individuals, or in groups. It adds a social aspect that makes taking a “quiz” fun. Not only is this program motivating for students, but also offers activities in 41 languages. Students can interact on Kahoot through computers, laptops, tablets, or smartphones. This program also makes it easy for educators to gauge student knowledge rather than having to individually grade a test or quiz. I wish there was something like Kahoot when I was going through school.

https://vocabulary.com/

When researching new technology to improve vocabulary, I came across vocabulary.com. What instantly caught my attention when looking over this website was in their explanation of the site, “you’ll read a friendly explanation that you’ll actually remember. It’s as if your favorite teacher were explaining the word to you.” I remember when I was learning vocabulary in school and so often the definitions were elaborate and difficult to comprehend, but when a teacher explained it in simple form it was easy to comprehend. Being able to give students simple explanations with a variety of questions and activities to help students associate words with real life situations is a great technique to teach vocabulary.

Cooperative Learning-3A

Evaluate how you can use grouping patterns to teach your grade level standards in the area of writing in your content area.

3^rd GRADE. W3.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.

Activity: Imagine you woke up and saw a dinosaur in your backyard. Write a story telling what you see and do.

I would use flexible grouping patterns to teach to my grade level standards in the content area of writing. I have not taught in the classroom yet, so this is all a bit hypothetical and based off some research I have done. It seems that one great strategy is changing the groups throughout the activity or over an allotted time. I will begin my writing activity as a whole class discussion that will eventually break into small groups, working independently, then again into working with a partner.

Describe how you will form each group attaining a mixture of heterogeneous and homogeneous grouping.

It is important to use both heterogeneous and homogeneous grouping as both have their benefits. Working with the class as a whole would be heterogeneous grouping as every student is working together. As a class we will create a graphic organizer of the needed components for a good story (Character(s), setting, plot, conflict, and resolution.) This portion will be building off prior knowledge and a good reminder for how to create a strong story.

I would then place the students in smaller heterogeneous groups of 4-5 students. This group will use the graphic organizer we created together as a class and start to fill in each section and what sort of important details need to be included in the 5 main parts of the paper. For example: Characters need traits and descriptive words, the setting needs descriptive words as well and needs imagery, the plot needs details and events, and etc. Having a heterogeneous group for this portion is important as the more advanced students can supply some strong vocabulary and start to build off of each others ideas. After each group has created the graphic organizer, I will make copies of the finished product so each student can have it as reference when writing their story. It will act as a sort of checklist to make sure they are including all the needed pieces.

The next part of the lesson will be each student working independently for 45 minutes to create their story. I will then take these stories home and read each of them and then place students homogeneously with a partner based off of their writing skills. The next day they will partner with each other and read, edit, make suggestions, and ask questions about each others stories. I may repeat this step a second time with a new partner depending on how much time I have and how I feel progress is going. Maybe the second partner can be heterogeneous as this would really help the lower level students as well as build the higher level students editing and leadership skills.

Create at least three group configurations based on Gardner’s intelligences including whole group, small group, peer pairs and individual design.

I can use Gardner’s intelligences through the way the final product is presented. Every student will need to have a completed written story, but they can present their story in a number of different ways that targets the different types of learners.

Visual-Spatial: Students can make a poster board with pictures of their dinosaur and characters that illustrate the descriptive character traits written in their story.

Linguistic: Students who use words effectively and have high auditory skills may want to present their story in oral presentation by bringing their story to life in their ability to tell their story in front of the class or through a multimedia presentation.

Musical: Students who like to express themselves through rhythm or sound can create a presentation that incorporates instruments, music, or lyrics. Maybe they turn their story into a rap or song.

Explain how you will use each grouping pattern to reinforce the grade level content standard you selected in writing.

My grouping patterns will reinforce the grade level content in the following ways: 1) Higher skilled students will help the lower skilled students in their writing techniques and foundations. 2) Students will have opportunity to collaborate with one another and build off of personal experiences, opinions, methods, and interpretation. 3) Students will build their writing skills through peer-to-peer learning, editing, and organization.

Analyze how each grouping pattern will facilitate meeting the content area standard for each learner cluster. 

During the first portion of the activity, I am meeting the content area of establishing an event and flowing sequence that unfolds naturally through creating the graphic organizer. When they break into the second group I am meeting the content standard through creating a foundation of descriptors, feelings, specific events, character traits, and vocabulary to build a strong story. After they create their stories and come back together in homogeneous partners is an extension of the last step. It is in this step where they really get to dig deeper and use more critical thinking skills to improve their stories and make sure they have all components to make for a good story.

Defend cooperative learning (forming groups) allows for differentiation and increasing student performance.  

While it is important to be able to work independently, it is just as important to be able to successfully work together in the classroom setting. There are many benefits to cooperative learning. Cooperative learning can promote higher level of critical thinking skills, builds self-esteem, promotes positive learning experiences, develops social, communication, team-building skills, encourages student diversity, and places an emphasis on student responsibility and accountability. (Phew! That’s a ton!) These are just SOME of the benefits that can come from students working together in the classroom.

Cooperative learning is an opportunity for students to demonstrate their strengths while improving on their weaknesses as well. Through cooperative learning, students can build strong and meaningful relationships with one another that will result in a more positive classroom culture. There often will be instances where students do not understand the content after we teach, but their classmate may be able to teach it in a way they will understand. This is an opportunity to work on problem solving and learn about their classmates experiences and different perspectives on a variety of topics. 

Assignment 2B- Beginning Differentiation

A.    English Language Learners: I would differentiate my instruction by slowing my speech down, provide materials in both languages when possible, utilize technology, use visuals, and group strategies.

Activities:

1.      Technology- I can use Raz-Kids to aid them in reading. This app supplies both the English and Spanish version of 100s of books that are all labeled by reading levels. They can listen to it on audio as well and answer comprehension questions at the end.

2.      Grouping- If students were working on a science project together I can group my ELL students in a group with an advance student who speaks both English and their native language knowing they will help them through the project.

3.      Visuals/Pictures- During vocabulary I can provide pictures along with the vocabulary words. Depending on the students English fluency I can have the vocab in both English and their native language. This can be turned into a memory game or flashcards.

4.      Drawing- After reading a book they can draw what they read about and start to tie some key words in and build their English vocabulary.

5.      Sentence frames- For journal entries I can give them sentence starters and a list of words to use to feel in the rest.

B.     Special Needs Students: I would differentiate by using prior knowledge, visual aids, modeling, collaboration, and technology.

Activities:

1.      Role play- students can role play and apply their learning to real life situations and act them out in front of classmates or myself.

2.      Assistive technology- Provide access to computers, screen readers, and voice recognition software. For example I could show flash cards with different face expressions and they use technology to pick the emotion associated with the expression.

3.      Collaboration work- Group students with more academically capable students and build their social skills and practice being a contributing member of a team.

4.      Visual- Flashcards with words and pictures to teach sight words, emotions, and new concepts.

5.      Modeling- Demonstrate what I expect and want them to be doing and give a lot of verbal cues and gestures. Also, use call and response to make sure the students understand instructions.

C.    Gifted Students: I would use more open ended questions, supply more choices, PBL projects, creativity, and technology.

Activities:

1.      Internet- Teach them how to utilize the internet for research and how to find quality sites. After teaching them how to use the internet, I could let them do a research project on a topic of their interest.

2.      Delivery- I would change the way I deliver material to them and leave them with more open ended questions that will force them to use deeper critical thinking skills.

3.      Choices- I would empower them through having choices over their education and let them use their person interests to motivate them to dig deeper.

4.      Creativity- Access their creative side through extending lessons. For example, rewrite the ending of a book the students have read.

5.      PBL projects- Extend their learning through hands on activities that require multiple steps, collaboration, research, and presentations through technology. 

Differentiated Instruction

It wasn't until I began my credentialing program in August that I heard of differentiated instruction. I have not had the opportunity to teach in the classroom yet, but I am excited to try and incorporate differentiated strategies in my classroom as much as possible. After course work, research, and speaking with teachers, I realize how important differentiated instruction is and hope to develop my skills in this area.

There are a few ways I hope to differentiate, but one strategy that has really stuck out to me is using Project Based Learning (PBL). In my last course, I learned what PBL is and had to create a PBL idea to use in the classroom. While creating these can be a lot of work on the teachers end, I can see why they are so beneficial to student learning. PBL allows students to use and learn research skills, peer collaboration, self-assessment, technology, social skills, and cross analyze curriculum. I am going to set a goal for myself for my first year of teaching to incorporate at least one big PBL project. I hope I can incorporate it more, but after talking to other teachers it seems it is not the easiest task and they feel there isn't always enough time for them.

Some other ways I plan to differentiate in my classroom is through scaffolding, technology, and peer-peer learning. Differentiating is still a bit of a mystery to me as I have not seen a lot of it used, nor have I gotten to use it myself. All I can do at this point is learn as much as I can and learn through others and personal experience. I believe mastery of differentiated instruction will only come with hard work, time, and classroom experience. I am excited to continue to build my knowledge around differentiated instruction and learn from others' experiences.

Inspiration and Set Backs

I have had a few teachers in my academic career who have inspired me to do well and showed me how much they care. One teacher in particular really stands out to me. Her name was Mrs. Boyd and she was my 3rd grade teacher. She was hands down my favorite teacher in elementary school. She use to do a lot of fun activities with us as a class and I remember her embracing all of our personalities. I was a good student, but I also liked to have fun and could be a bit of a class clown at that age. I feel that she embraced my quirky behaviors and used other methods to redirect me. 

Every Friday we got to go outside first thing in the morning and play kickball as a class. This was an activity we could earn as a class through out the week. I cannot recall her exact criteria, but I remember we had to earn this time and I loved it. I was all about anything that had to do with sports or playing outside. She utilized our interests to inspire us to do well in the classroom. Mrs. Boyd is a huge inspiration in my journey to become an elementary teacher. I lived close to the school and would go visit her well after elementary school. She had a positive impact on my education and I am thankful to have had the opportunity to be in her class. 

While I had many academic inspirations over the years, I also had set backs. When I was a senior in high school I took AP Calculus. I was always proficient in math and was excited to take the class. However, after failing the first test I began to doubt my abilities and worried I would fail the class. I had never failed a test or class previous of this. Because I was nervous to fail the class I decided to put in a request to drop the class. My calculus teacher, who I also had for statistics my junior year, heard of my request and reached out to me. She expressed to me that she knew I was intelligent and had the capability of doing well in her calculus class, but that it would take some extra work on my end. She said she would personally help me and recommended to get involved in the after school tutoring program. 

After some convincing I decided to stay in the class. I signed up for tutoring and met with her once a week during her office hours. I ended up finishing the class with a B. I am so glad that I decided to stay in the class and am thankful to have had a teacher who really cared about my education. She took time out of her busy schedule and gave me confidence in myself and instilled a sense of determination. My teachers confidence in my abilities restored my faith and I took extra initiative to get into tutoring and achieve success. 

As a teacher I will motivate my students by building trust, student confidence, and set high but reasonable learning expectations for them. I hope to embrace every student and give them a sense of inclusion and provide a space that is inspiring to learn in. I will attempt to achieve these by building rapport, getting to know my students in and outside of the classroom setting, using creative lessons, and using incentives. I will use praise and positive reinforcement to build them up and actively use different teaching strategies to target every students needs.

As a teacher I will work to avoid exploiting any of my students in a negative way in front of their peers, but rather use other teaching strategies to help motivate them. I also will avoid letting students see me frustrated and out of character. I know this is easier said than done, but I hope to show patience and consistency in my future classrooms. I want to inspire our youth to be the best they can.

  

Teaching Goals

My name is Bre Bolerjack and I was born and raised in Bakersfield, Ca. I grew up playing a lot of sports, but my one true passion was soccer. I played soccer from 5 years old into my college years. I moved to Hayward after getting my AA at Bakersfield Junior College and then attended Cal State East Bay where I played soccer and attained my BA in Sociology. Shortly after graduating from East Bay I started working for a non-profit organization called Playworks. This is where I found my true passion and realized how much I love working with the youth and being a part of the school community. I worked at an elementary school in Hayward for two years and have been working at two elementary schools in Oakland, Ca for the past four years. 

I currently wear many hats in my current position as I work with all 700 students doing PE, running the recess program, and developing the leadership program (Junior Coaches). This position has given me so many skills and tools and I am ready to transition these skills into the classroom. 

While I have not had the opportunity of being an in classroom teacher yet, I would describe myself as being a patient, caring, determined, encouraging, and creative teacher. I understand that every student is different and has different learning styles and needs. As an educator it is our job to get to know each and everyone of our students and find methods to help them succeed. Some students learn better through visual aids while some need hands on activities, and others need auditory instruction. As a future teacher my goal is to incorporate all three methods into my lessons to give every student the same ability to be successful.

Ideally, I would like to teach 3rd-5th grade. I believe that my personality fits this age group the best. While I enjoy working with kindergartners for small allotted times, I am not cut out for a full school day with them. It takes a special person to teach in general, but I believe it takes a very specific personality to work with the little ones that I just do not have.

Having said all that, I am a very patient and welcoming person and have a great ability to build rapport with students. Children are so observant and I believe they can see this in me and in return they feel comfortable sharing with me and trying new things. My honest interest in my students and their lives will hopefully inspire them to learn and give them a sense of belonging that encourages them to ask questions and be themselves.

After taking a couple questionnaires that broke down my learning and teaching styles, I fall some where in the middle in most areas. I believe that because I do not highly favor one method this will help me in my abilities to teach everyone. I have the ability to learn visually, interactively, and through auditory instruction. While I slightly prefer to learn and work independently I do not have an issue working in groups. This will be beneficial as a teacher in that collaboration is important with both the staff on campus and my students. Two areas I did score as "high" was in personal model and facilitator. As a leader to our youth I strive to set an example of my expectations and hope they learn through seeing me model what I expect.  As education has progressed and began to take a step away from using only teacher instruction, we have taken on the role of a facilitator of peer learning. Asking more open ended questions and allowing students to talk among each other and learn through peer discussions. Peer to peer learning can be a powerful tool in the classroom and I hope to be a successful facilitator of this.

I know this is all easier said than done, but I hope that when I have the opportunity to step into the classroom I will be successful in all these areas and can give my students the tools they need to succeed. 

Thank you for reading!

Bre Bolerjack