Open Prompt #6: Practices Every Teacher Should Use

All students learn differently, some teaching methods are more effective to students than others.  As an educator it is important to know your students and how they learn in order to assist every student's needs to the best of your ability.  A teacher must be able to relate to their students and make them feel comfortable within the classroom.  A big part of making a student feel comfortable is being sure they understand what is being taught.  From what I have learned in my teacher education classes and from working in classrooms these are some of the big things every teacher needs to do to have a successful classroom:

1. Communicating with students: it is important for the students to fully understand what is being taught in the classroom and also for the students to feel comfortable asking questions.
2. Using Engaging Activities in the classroom: implementing activities into lessons can help the students to stay focused and to absorb more of what is being learned.
3. Be clear and thorough: this one is really important when it comes to working in elementary classrooms, things that come easy to us such as addition or subtraction, first graders have no idea what those words even mean.  When teaching a lesson every little step must be explained, it can be easy to skip things that come so natural to someone who already knows the basics of something like math.  Just be sure to explain everything thoroughly and always ask if there are any questions.
4. Be positive: be sure to motivate students with enthusiasm when they get a problem right, encourage students to always try their best.
5. Student involvement: having students not only participate in lessons but also have students play active roles, ask for their input, give them tasks to complete, also have them work in groups to help them learn how to work with others.  Keep the classroom interactive by having the students take an active part.
6. Love your job: students can tell if a teacher really cares or not, your level of enthusiasm is going to drive their level of enthusiasm.

Obviously there are many factors that are needed for a successful classroom, these are just some I feel are very important as well as more of the basics.  Thanks for reading!

Prompt #6: Should Technology be Incorporated into the Classroom?

In recent years technology has become a major part of every day life, it is a form of communication, it is used in businesses, it is used by consumers, and in education among many other daily activities.  Just like everything else in our society, technology is also incorporated into education, it is used in lessons, for homework, research, studying, and it has many other uses as well.  In Heejung's book, "Tables in K-12 Education: Integrated Experiences and Implications" talks all about the benefits and how to properly incorporate technology into the classroom.  Technology in the classroom is a controversial issue, some think technology can be extremely beneficial for students while others are concerned about the costs of technology and the distractions it may cause.  Chapter 5, "Mobile Devices and Classroom Management: Considerations and Applications for Effective Use in an Elementary School Classroom" is about a study done in a fifth grade classroom and it shows the success of iPad's in this particular classroom and how the teacher made these devices beneficial.

Devices such as Apple's iPad can “ be utilized in schools to increase teaching, learning, and ultimately school outcomes”(Heejung 71).  Obviously in order for technology to have a positive impact in classrooms it must be used in the correct way.  The devices have the potential to accomplish great things and can really aid students in learning, but if the teacher does not provide set rules or a system for operating the technology they also have the potential to lead to distractions.  In the study of the fifth grade classroom the iPad's the class was provided with were extremely effective due to the teacher, Ms. G's planning for the arrival of the devices and how she was going to use them within her classroom.

Distractions from the devices were eliminated by having “iPad positions”, when the lesson was being explained the iPads were to remain in “Position I” which was setting the device face down, allowing the teacher to have her students full attention.  Ms. G also assigned a “Tech Squad” each day, which was a group of students in charge of the distribution of iPads and also students who were given knowledge before the lesson on how to work the app for that days lesson, allowing there to be more hands helping the students rather than just the teacher alone.  The point of this study is that technology in the classroom can be good or bad depending on how the teacher goes about using the technology.  Ms. G eliminated the cons of having technology in her fifth grade classroom by being so prepared and the fact that her and her students knew the exact purpose of the iPads.

I think technology is a great thing to incorporate into the classroom because of how much of our society today depends on technology it is important for students to know how to effectively use devices such as iPads, chances are they will need to use these skills for their job some day.  If all teachers could use technology in their classroom similar to how Ms. G did students would become more interactive learners and develop new skills along the way.  Technology is the future of education.

An, Heejung. "Mobile Devices and Classroom Management: Considerations and    Applications for Effective Use in an Elementary School Classroom." Tablets in K-12 Education: Integrated Experiences and Implications. Print.

Open Prompt #5: Teacher Preparation at MSU

Michigan State University has the best Elementary Teacher Education Program in the country (US News).  MSU's program prepares students to become teachers with all of the knowledge and skills needed to teach all subjects K-5th grade.  In this post I am going to talk about all the requirements Elementary Education majors need.  

To become an elementary teacher, first the student must pick a focus, a focus is the subject the student will be specializing in.  Although all teachers must have a strong foundation in all of the subjects for K-5, the focus allows teachers to teach their specialization in grades 6-8.  For example, my focus is language arts so I will be allowed to teach language arts in a middle school class room if I wanted to. To get a teaching degree, undergraduate studies must be completed including completion of a professional education program, and a fifth-year teaching internship is also required from Michigan State.  This assures all of MSU's teachers obtain the skills to be successful in the elementary classroom.  

There are many program requirements for Elementary Education Students which includes the following:

1. University Requirements 

• Integrative Studies Courses
• Writing Requirements
• Math Requirement

     2. Teacher Education Courses

     3. Teaching Major

• Classes directed at chosen focus

     4.  Elementary Planned Program

• Courses giving students knowledge needed to teach all elementary subjects
• Minimum of 20 credits

     5.  Examinations

• All education majors must take and pass the Michigan Test for Teacher Certification (MTTC) 

     6.  Bachelor Degree

     7.  Student Teaching

• A fifth-year, or internship year must be completed which includes experience in a classroom along with graduate level courses

These are the requirements to become an elementary teacher and Michigan State, it may seem like a lot but as you plan out your years with an advisor it will all fall into place, and in the end it will all be worth while because of how prestigious a teaching degree from MSU really is.

This information is from:

"Top Education Schools | Best Education Programs | US News - US News." US News RSS. US News & World Report LP, 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 17 Feb. 2015. <http://grad-schools.usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/best-graduate-schools/top-education-schools>.

"Academics." Summary of Program Requirements. MSU College of Education, 1 Jan. 2015. Web. 17 Feb. 2015. <http://education.msu.edu/academics/undergraduate/elementary/elementary-ed-program-summary.asp>.

Prompt #5: Urban Educators Cohort Program

At Michigan State University there are countless organizations that are available for MSU's students, that said within the College of Education there is also many organizations specified for education majors.  In this blog I am going to be talking about the Urban Educators Cohort Program.  To start out, UECP is aimed at helping students gain the knowledge and skills needed to teach in communities where services and resources are limited.  The reason I am picking this program to talk about is because I am actually a member of UECP so I can give you more of an insight of this program while learning more about it myself.

The great thing about UECP is that members join the summer going into their freshman year, so it is really nice to be apart of something before even coming to MSU, in addition to an easy way to meet new friends and expand your network.   The second thing I love about UECP is the specialized classes offered to freshmen and sophomores, these classes are small and allow students to take classes pertaining to their major starting their first semester at college.

UECP also allows students to get involved within Lansing's community by going into urban classrooms and helping the teachers and students during their school day.  It allows MSU students to get experience in their major and it benefits the schools all at the same time.

The main goal of UECP is to get students familiar with urban areas and how to best accommodate students in these areas, and through the vigorous courses, workshops, opportunities, and involvement in urban school UECP fulfills this goal.  Students in this program, myself included are motivated to help give students the best education possible, which is sometimes limited by school budgets among other factors.  "These schools need teachers who know how to cultivate the resources and potential other may fail to notice--so that all learners have the best chances to succeed"(UECP).

This program is very important and helps MSU students to learn about urban schools, being a part of the organization has been eye-opening to me and I would recommend it to anyone interested in education.  Below is a video explaining even more information about UECP and what UECP is about Thanks for reading! And for more information you can go to UECP!

 

Open Prompt #4: Private or Public

Recently my aunt was considering private school for my middle school cousin, so that had me thinking what are the big differences between private and public schools?  Of course private schools cost money and public schools are funded through government taxes, but I was curious to the other differences, because obviously parents must send their children to private schools and pay all of the extra money for something good in return.  So I did some searching and found some answers from both my aunt who went and toured a private school and from Private versus Public's article on the differences between the two types of schooling.

So first off is the money, it is unknowingly assumed that because private schools come with a price they are automatically better that public schools.  This may be true for some but being that private schools do not have to follow government regulations or education requirements, private schools can basically teach anything they want, so depending on the school this could be better or worse, it would require looking into the actual school itself.  Definitely find out if that private school is what you want for your child and more though because according to Private versus Public the average tuition is around $17,441 a year.

Also, unlike public schools students must be admitted to private schools which would involve applications, testing, and interviews.  It could be good college prep, but stressful for students so young like my eleven year old cousin.

In public schools teachers are required to be state certified but in private schools there is no guarantee the teachers are certified teachers, instead they might just have "subject-area expertise"(Private versus Public).  As said earlier there is also a set curriculum in public schools, each teacher has guidelines for what they must teach and how much time must be spent on each subject, for example, every day my mother must spend 90 minutes teaching her 3rd grade class math.  Private schools though have the freedom to teach what they want, which could result in better or worse test scores.

Special needs programs are often not provided at private schools, and if they are it may result in even more of an expense for the family.  According to Private versus Public a lot of private schools practice "counseling out", where they recommend that children with learning disabilities go elsewhere for schooling.  I found this very offensive and believe it may change some families minds about private schooling, especially those with special needs children.

So there you have it, just some of the basics about private versus public schooling, there are pros and cons to both, each family is looking for and needs something different.  In my opinion, one isn't really better than the other it just depends on the individual.  I thought it was interesting all of the freedom private schools have, but that the qualifications may not be up to par.  It definitely takes some research to figure out what is the right choice for the student so choose wisely!

Prompt #4: Who Do We Trust?

Everyday we read and see things that give us new information, whether that information is about our government, schools, a story on the news, a product, a new study, or even the weather, how do we know that it is valid info?   I found two sources, both which have to do with elementary literacy.  The difference between the two is that one is an article written by a man which the audience knows nothing about and the other is also an article but it is from The Elementary School Journal and is written by three professionals in education.  

The first article was written by Paul Riismandel and it's focus is Video Literacy.  If you view his article you can just see from the site it does not look like it would contain valid information.  The article starts out asking what skills students need to excel in life, then Riismandel goes on saying how important video literacy has become and how students should learn these skills.  The problem is he doesn't elaborate on why it is so important or how to go about incorporating video literacy into schooling.  His only reasoning for video literacy is the fact that our society is "media-saturated", but what is the real benefit to students?  There are not studies or information backing up his idea of media literacy, therefore why would readers trust this source?  The style and delivery of this article may make readers unsure about the legitimacy of what they are reading.  Not only is there no proof or research backing the article up, but the reader also has not idea who the author is, if he is a professional in the field of education or just someone promoting video skills with no background information.  All of these factors must be taken into consideration if you want your readers to listen, no one wants false information.

The second article (Literacy Study) was written by three scholars, all from prestigious universities, whom are all professionals in the field of education.  This article is on a study that was done in nine first-grade classrooms to find what kind of literacy instruction was the most effective with students.  This was a much longer article being about twenty pages in length, but for the right audience the length would not matter; for example, parents with struggling children and teachers for sure would be very interested in this article and the findings from the study.  Everything throughout the article is cited, and there is a list of references at the end reassuring the reader that this is solid, valid information--unlike the other article that contained no sources.  This is a trustworthy source, you can tell it is legitimate just looking at the website and are then are minded again it is true information by the authors, the research and studies, and the fact that it is published by The University of Chicago Press. These are all things making this article much more informational and valid information than the previous article on video literacy.

When looking up information on anything make sure you know and understand where the information you are reading is coming from.  In education this can be especially important for parents searching for information concerning their children's education and other things where it is crucial that the facts you're receiving are correct.  To get an even better understanding on the differences between these two articles the links above will take you straight to the articles.  Thanks for reading!

Open Prompt #3: Why I Want to be a Teacher

Being that I am posting all of these blogs about teaching I thought it might be a good idea to share why I want to be a teacher and reasons why other people become teachers as well.  I mean there has to be reasons why people go into teaching, right?  So I looked up the top reasons to go into teaching and I found they all fit my reasons and I learned that I wanted the same thing out of teaching that other teachers did as well.

1. Make a Difference

• As a teacher you get to see your students grow and develop throughout the year.  I can't wait to experience the feeling of knowing I helped children along on their path to their future.  I also am aware that not every child comes from a good home life so I am excited to help my students to feel comfortable and happy when they come to school.

     2.  Having a Vocation Instead of a Job

• Being a teacher doesn't end, a teacher makes a difference in the world.  To your students you are not just an employee, they look up to you for guidance and as a teacher you help to create their future.  I cannot wait for this, I cannot wait to help students and to be excited to go to work each day.

     3. Variety 

• I personally could not image having a career where I have to go to work and do the same thing each day.  I am happy to know every day will be different, different lessons, different reactions from students and improvement from them.  Also, every year there will be new students.  Variety is very important to me.

     4. Learning

• As a teacher I will also learn, having to teach information requires the teacher to almost be an expert on the topic.  I love learning and it is refreshing to know I will deepen my knowledge a little more each day as an educator.

     5. Always Smiling

• Even without being a teacher at this point in my life children make me laugh and smile all the time.  There is constantly something amusing that they do.  As a teacher I am sure I will never experience a dull moment.

     6.  Family Time

• To me family is very important and eventually I know I will want to have a family of my own.  Teaching could not be a better fit for this.  I would work the same times as my children went to school and I also have weekends, breaks, and summers off to spend with my family.

These are some of the main reasons why I amongst other teachers chose their career.  It is a career you must love, not do for the money.  But if you like helping children learn and succeed, want family time, and are committed teaching could be something you may want to look into.  I know I couldn't be more happy with my decision.

The list of reasons to become a teacher were from http://www.unc.edu/uncbest/teacher.html.

Prompt #3: Communication in Education

It just so happens that I ended up picking the same career choice as my mother, so for this post I decided I would interview her, Gina Jacques. So I called her up and started asking her questions about her teaching career.  She teaches 3rd grade at a public school in Sault, MI, although throughout her career she has taught all grades up to 6th grade.  When I lived at home my mom would talk about her class and things going on in her classroom but it was interesting to hear some in-depth answers from her through this interview.  I had no idea how much work was really put into communicating as a teacher, among the parents, students, colleagues, principals, and the government my mother and all other educators never really experience a dull moment.

I started out asking who she communicates with on a daily basis, I was shocked to find out the countless people she has to keep in touch with, people you wouldn't even think of.  My mother communicates with: students, other teachers, paraprofessionals, janitors, lunch workers, recess supervisors, specials teachers, a speech therapist, an occupational therapist, and social workers.  She said this can be very stressful because there is a lot of people she works with, and she also has three special needs children in her classroom making for even more people to keep in contact with.  Obviously to communicate with this many people you would have to stay well organized and also stay on top of things.  I can definitely see this being stressful, but I am the type of person that is always organized and I am good at communicating, so it is nice to know these skills will come in handy as a teacher some day.

I proceeded to asking my mother about common misconceptions that happen to her as a teacher and as a communicator.  A lot of people believe that teachers have a lot of time to get things done, but this is not true.  My mom experiences constant interruptions, questions, people knocking on the door, unexpected visitors, and phone calls throughout her day.  She also has loads of paperwork aside from just papers she grades.  Teachers are expected to give all kinds of tests to her students, and she said a lot of the tests are done through the computer and she receives little to no help in the computer lab.  She said the best way to make sure things go smoothly is by communicating with other teachers and receiving support from her fellow teachers, she said if it wasn't for them her job would be a lot more difficult.

Another big part of communication as a teacher is keeping in touch with all of the parents.  My mom says she communicates with the parents by sending home a monthly newsletter with all of the events listed that are happening during that month in the classroom.  My mother must also write out monthly reports for her three special students.  Also, she has evaluations she must respond to from her principal.  And theres even more!  She still has to complete her lesson plans for her class, fill out report cards, and on professional development days comes more paperwork.  As a student interested in going into teaching I knew there was more work than the lesson plans aside, but I had no idea the work stretched out this far.

Even though it was my mother I interviewed, I still learned a lot of new information from her.  Her job is stressful at times, but she loves it--which again is a must as an educator.  She even offered for me to come into her classroom to observe and possibly teach a lesson.  I am very excited about going into education and it makes it even better having my mother to look up to as a professional in that field.