Day Five: Active Activities

I really enjoyed our challenges and relay races today, and it was very inspiring. The activities really kick started my thinking about integrating active exercises in all subjects and settings. Many schools cut PE and recess to make more room for more "academic" material, but without the movement, students are less likely to stay engaged and attentive when sitting still. However, if teachers utilize activities that require a lot of movement, we can make up for the deficit. Like art, movement and active games can be woven in to any subject, and it makes the material more engaging for the students. I'm excited to start trying out some of the ones we learned today and the ones I've just begun to think about.

Day Four: Micro-teaching

Presenting first for a class is never easy; especially when you only have a couple days to complete a group project. Giving my group micro-teaching lesson this morning was no different. It was particularly difficult due to the group aspect of the assignment and the limited amount of times we were able to meet. Although the content of our lesson ended up being strong, our presentation of said material could have worked much better. Each person got an unequal amount of speaking time during our lesson, and the flow from section to section was rough. I feel like if we could have had another day to work or even had the insight to figure out our exact groups the day we signed up for the project, we would have been able to even it out more and maybe even practice. Oh well; it is what it is, and all I can do is reflect and learn from the experience.

Third Day: Child Abuse

Since it was my third time taking a child abuse reporting course, there wasn't much content in today's class that I haven't seen.  However, it never ceases to surprise me how knowing the laws and signs and whatnot doesn't make many situations easier to determine whether there is an issue of child abuse or not. I plan to always err on the side of caution, but it's interesting how one case, of say not getting a child needed prescription glasses, can be completely different from another due to context, history, and even due to lens of observation. I know as a teacher I will always have support of my fellow teachers and administration to figure out what to make of situations, but from my experience I know it is still unnerving to always need to be watching for signs of child abuse regardless of support systems.

Second Day: Intro to Lesson Plans

In class today I learned about important things to think about and record when creating a lesson plan. One included section was academic language required for the lesson, and this was something I hadn't ever considered when thinking about lesson planning. It makes quite a bit of sense to draw attention to the terms and language that the students will be using during the lesson so that the teacher doesn't forget to emphasize new vocabulary and its meaning. Furthermore, it also draws reflection on whether there is fairly vocabulary being used that students may or may not have been exposed to yet in their lives. What an interesting thing to consider.

First Day: Initial Thoughts

We started out our class today creating a flowchart of important topics of health education. As our group started off, we initially thought of each topic and relationship linearly. We came to figure out fairly quickly that every topic and subtopic within health education is connected in an all encompassing way rather than branching linearly like we had initially thought to represent them. Physical Health cannot be completely separated from Emotional Health because things like physical exercise affects endorphin levels which directly affect ones happiness and energy levels for future exercise. One facet of health education cannot be separated without also talking about connections or effects each facet has on another. I think this will be an important idea to keep in mind for teaching topics in health.

Reflection on Community and Inclusion

I have come to understand some of the true meanings of community and inclusion throughout this quarter and particularly through reflecting upon these readings within the last week. Christenson (2007) and Lyman (2001) both taught me that sometimes the toughest topics are the most useful to creating and strengthening a classroom community. They also gave me quite a bit to reflect upon and contemplate ways I may be able to use death, violence, or other challenging topics to advance education rather than try to keep them hidden. Sapon-Shevin (2001) brought about a fuller reflection upon all-level student integration within the classroom, and how it could bring about positive environments and change in educational settings. Finally, Harris (2001) and Beaton (2001) opened my eyes to the toll traditional discipline takes on classroom communities and feelings of inclusion. I know that I still have much to continue to think about and reflect upon, but I am glad I read these articles to give me a foundation for my thoughts as I move forward.

Teaching Metaphor

Teaching is a jigsaw puzzle.

The parents, the principal, the volunteers, the superintendent, the curriculum, the other teachers, and the community; these are the exterior pieces. The ones who help frame and hold the puzzle together.

Each student is an interior piece in the puzzle with its own unique picture and shape. Each piece has its own unique interaction/fit within the puzzle that can be replace by no other piece, yet its fit may change with wear and time.

The teacher is the puzzle master, trying to figure out where each piece goes, how each piece interacts with the others, and how the pieces fit together to make a beautiful picture.

The entire picture/finished puzzle is a collaborative, functioning classroom. The pieces are interacting in their optimal capacity. Each child is learning and growing through the help of one another. The teacher can see the whole picture, see how the pieces fit together, and adjust the pieces if the picture or optimal fit needs amending or adjusting.

The puzzle is incomplete without any one of the pieces and will never be complete without a competent puzzle master.