Blog 13

Week 13 of Education 250 is here and it is so hard to believe that we are down to our last few classes together. I have gained such a breadth of knowledge in such a short amount of time! When I look back and reflect on this class, I know I have learned so much but in the big picture, I have only scratched the surface on all that I must know to be the best teacher I can be. We have begun sharing lesson plans with our classmates and presenting them. I was extremely nervous about this because I know how harshly my teachers can grade and I wanted to follow the 6 point lesson technique as best as I could and be engaging and creative at the same time. It was very difficult but I'm not too worried because I know it was only my first time and I will have 100s more to write in the future. After looking at feedback from Dr.Clark I realized many many things that I did wrong and what I need to improve when revising this lesson plan. I appreciated the compliments also given by my professor, but those were much harder to come by. I have lots of work to do!

While watching other lesson plans I really realized how important it is for teacher to actively keep their students engaged and interacting. The younger the students, the more vital this becomes. The speed answer games like Kahoot and such were really good uses of technology and I will surely use games like that online in my future classroom.

Good lesson plans require hard effort and patient planning. They cannot be rushed or disorganized! I can get a brief glance at this when I have been observing my peers lessons.

"it’s no secret that the face of education has changed dramatically over the past ten years or so. Teachers across the country are working hard to equip children with the skills needed for success in the 21st century world. In addition to instilling in students the flexibility to readily adapt to changing technologies, teachers must foster learning environments that encourage critical thinking, creativity, problem-solving, communication, collaboration, global awareness, and social responsibility. Listed below are six strategies early childhood teachers are currently using in classrooms to prepare kids for the boundless future ahead."

This all connects to the NCTOS because that is the basis that all their standards lay on. Incorporating everything needed so that the student learns everything necessary in that specific lesson. 

To connect with these the kids in our future classrooms, teachers must learn to speak their language and become conversant with the technology that comes so naturally to the young.
This is how we can be successful teachers in the 21st century!

Source: http://www.earlychildhoodteacher.org/blog/six-strategies-for-21st-century-early-childhood-teachers/

Week 12

Cannot believe this is week 12 in Education 250 already! This class has moved with tremendous speed and is finally winding down. We finished our last group project this week. The Assessment task was very helpful to me because I feel like I have a firm understanding on the art of assessment. Everything from this group ties into NCTCS so I am really thankful we spent so much time on it!
Getting feedback from Dr.Clark and correcting my work helped me understand what I needed to  elaborate on and I will be incorporating into my future classroom. In my future classroom I will use all different types of assessment in my class to get the best feedback from my students. I will use a variety of different types so that I can keep my classroom running smoothly and my students feel like they aren't ever falling through the cracks.

I studied the importance of assessment because I want to feel like I fully grasp the full extent to which assessment should be used in the classroom.

https://www.edutopia.org/assessment-guide-importance

"Asking students to demonstrate their understanding of the subject matter is critical to the learning process; it is essential to evaluate whether the educational goals and standards of the lessons are being met."

Assessment is an integral part of instruction, as it determines whether or not the goals of education are being met. Assessment affects decisions about grades, placement, advancement, instructional needs, curriculum, and, in some cases, funding. Assessment inspire us to ask these hard questions: "Are we teaching what we think we are teaching?" "Are students learning what they are supposed to be learning?" "Is there a way to teach the subject better, thereby promoting better learning?"

Blog 11

The goal of this week is to finish the lesson plan and finalize our lesson plans to get ready to submit to Taskstream. Soon we will be teaching these to the class and that will be my first time teaching a real lesson plan! I am very nervous and excited. I watched the blackboard video on SAMR. This means substitution, augmentation, modification, and redefinition. This is really important for the NCTCS because technology is becoming more and more integrated into every day teaching and lesson plans. It is evolving rapidly and teachers must learn how to use it in informative and advanced ways. I believe that when technology is integrated into classrooms into the right way, it will challenge kids and make the learning experience better.
I researched this model more extensively by watching some online videos and researching more on the model. By doing this I helped connect with it myself more and figure out how it will help me in my future classroom.

https://www.commonsensemedia.org/videos/introduction-to-the-samr-model

Dr. Ruben Puentedura developed the SAMR model as a way for teachers to evaluate how they are incorporating technology into their instructional practice. You can use SAMR to reflect upon how you are integrating technology into your classroom. Is it an act of Substitution? Augmentation? Modification? Or Redefinition?

Week 10 Blog

Today in class we learned about the TPACK Model. It stands for Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge. We learned that technology is a relevant tool for success in our generation, not an outcome. We learned Pedagogy must match the content. My biggest takeaway was the Venn Diagram as a whole. Learning that becoming a successful teacher includes being able to integrate content, pedagogy and technology into my everyday teaching style and allow them to fully flow together.The video we watched together as a class really made me think and helped me understand what we were going to be introduced to. 
Here is the link:https://www.smore.com/q3pb4-tpack

Technology is very heavily integrated into society today. Todays learner will have 10-15 jobs by the age of 36 “Did you know 2016" was such an informative video! I took a lot away from it and could see the connections in the way the North Carolina teachers and standards have had to adapt and evolve.

This is the first time in history that Traditionalist, Boomer, Gen X, Millennial generations are all working together. Parker elaborated that "E-Reputation" or basically everything we do on the internet can be our worst enemy. Our digital footprint will follow us! Advancements in technology are going to take away current jobs. We must know great Pedagogy. New teachers must know all content knowledge and be fluent in it!It is very hard for a child to unlearn something that is wrong and relearn it the wrong way. Teachers must know HOW to teach. They must blend content knowledge and pedagogical knowledge.

I liked how Dr. Parker showed us an example of formative assessment in class. This connected us back to last week when assessment was the main focus. He stopped in the middle of explaining the TPAK model and asked us how comfortable we were with the topic and if we thought we could explain it well. Most of us were a little unsure, so Parker stopped and went back and reviewed. This was a great example of how much this type of assessment helps. He asked us a question, got feedback, and changed the pace of the class. It was super helpful! 


This Venn Diagram was great because it shows how much each section is related to the other.