I know I picked the right profession.

I know that I picked the right profession from the very beginning. I chose to be a teacher when I was in first grade. I have never wavered from this because every time I looked at another career I could find something about it that I wouldn't be able to deal with...
Well this year has so far just solidified that I picked the right profession. My classes are stressful this term but I get to see my little super bees on Tuesdays and Thursdays to take some of that stress away (and add some other types) but I LOVE it! Well today in class I got to make a sack puppet. When you get to go to class (college classes especially) and have a good time with a great group of future teachers, the only thing better is getting to teach little ones. Well here is a picture of s couple of the puppets from class. We had too much fun!
Tomorrow it is back to my Super Bees!

first observed lesson

So I finally got to write and teach a lesson. it went GREAT! I have been teaching here and there since the beginning of the year. But today was the first time I actually wrote out the lesson I taught. The lesson fit perfectly in the time slot I had and I think the students really enjoyed the lesson. Listening to the students talk today while they were doing a couple of different projects provided plenty of entertaining. FOr instance I learned via one of our super bees that my mentor teach does all of her planning on the first day of school. I found this to be hilarious because the first day is so completely insane especially in the first grade. My mentor is organized but I don't think anyone could do that if they can then they are my hero.

I will try to update this blog as I go through my student teaching and as I hopefully start my first year of teaching in the fall.

100 childrens books

top 100 children's novels
I got this list from a teacher blog that I enjoy reading. Thought I would share it here. So many fabulous books. I put ones I've read in bold.I added a * if I read it more than once.

100. The Egypt Game - Snyder (1967)
99. The Indian in the Cupboard - Banks (1980)
98. Children of Green Knowe - Boston (1954)
97. The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane - DiCamillo (2006)
96. The Witches - Dahl (1983)
95. Pippi Longstocking - Lindgren (1950) **
94. Swallows and Amazons - Ransome (1930)
93. Caddie Woodlawn - Brink (1935)**
92. Ella Enchanted - Levine (1997)
91. Sideways Stories from Wayside School - Sachar (1978)*
90. Sarah, Plain and Tall - MacLachlan (1985)
89. Ramona and Her Father - Cleary (1977)
88. The High King - Alexander (1968)
87. The View from Saturday - Konigsburg (1996) *
86. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets - Rowling (1999)**
85. On the Banks of Plum Creek - Wilder (1937)**
84. The Little White Horse - Goudge (1946)
83. The Thief - Turner (1997)
82. The Book of Three - Alexander (1964)
81. Where the Mountain Meets the Moon - Lin (2009)
80. The Graveyard Book - Gaiman (2008)
79. All-of-a-Kind-Family - Taylor (1951)
78. Johnny Tremain - Forbes (1943)
77. The City of Ember - DuPrau (2003)
76. Out of the Dust - Hesse (1997)
75. Love That Dog - Creech (2001)
74. The Borrowers - Norton (1953)
73. My Side of the Mountain - George (1959)
72. My Father's Dragon - Gannett (1948)**
71. The Bad Beginning - Snicket (1999)
70. Betsy-Tacy - Lovelae (1940)
69. The Mysterious Benedict Society - Stewart ( 2007)
68. Walk Two Moons - Creech (1994)
67. Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher - Coville (1991)
66. Henry Huggins - Cleary (1950)
65. Ballet Shoes - Stratfeild (1936)
64. A Long Way from Chicago - Peck (1998)
63. Gone-Away Lake - Enright (1957)
62. The Secret of the Old Clock - Keene (1959)
61. Stargirl - Spinelli (2000)
60. The True Confessions of Charlotte Doyle - Avi (1990)
59. Inkheart - Funke (2003)
58. The Wolves of Willoughby Chase - Aiken (1962)
57. Ramona Quimby, Age 8 - Cleary (1981)*
56. Number the Stars - Lowry (1989)**
55. The Great Gilly Hopkins - Paterson (1978)
54. The BFG - Dahl (1982)
53. Wind in the Willows - Grahame (1908)
52. The Invention of Hugo Cabret (2007)
51. The Saturdays - Enright (1941)
50. Island of the Blue Dolphins - O'Dell (1960)
49. Frindle - Clements (1996)
48. The Penderwicks - Birdsall (2005)
47. Bud, Not Buddy - Curtis (1999)
46. Where the Red Fern Grows - Rawls (1961)
45. The Golden Compass - Pullman (1995)
44. Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing - Blume (1972)**
43. Ramona the Pest - Cleary (1968)*
42. Little House on the Prairie - Wilder (1935)
41. The Witch of Blackbird Pond - Speare (1958)
40. The Wonderful Wizard of Oz - Baum (1900)
39. When You Reach Me - Stead (2009)
38. HP and the Order of the Phoenix - Rowling (2003)*
37. Roll of Thunder, Hear My Cry - Taylor (1976)**
36. Are You there, God? It's Me, Margaret - Blume (1970)
35. HP and the Goblet of Fire - Rowling (2000)*
34. The Watson's Go to Birmingham - Curtis (1995)
33. James and the Giant Peach - Dahl (1961)
32. Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH - O'Brian (1971)
31. Half Magic - Eager (1954)
30. Winnie-the-Pooh - Milne (1926)
29. The Dark Is Rising - Cooper (1973)
28. A Little Princess - Burnett (1905)
27. Alice I and II - Carroll (1865/72)
26. Hatchet - Paulsen (1989)
25. Little Women - Alcott (1868/9)
24. HP and the Deathly Hallows - Rowling (2007)*
23. Little House in the Big Woods - Wilder (1932)
22. The Tale of Despereaux - DiCamillo (2003)
21. The Lightening Thief - Riordan (2005)
20. Tuck Everlasting - Babbitt (1975)
19. Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Dahl (1964)
18. Matilda - Dahl (1988)
17. Maniac Magee - Spinelli (1990)
16. Harriet the Spy - Fitzhugh (1964)
15. Because of Winn-Dixie - DiCamillo (2000)
14. HP and the Prisoner of Azkaban - Rowling (1999)*
13. Bridge to Terabithia - Paterson (1977)
12. The Hobbit - Tolkien (1938)
11. The Westing Game - Raskin (1978)
10. The Phantom Tollbooth - Juster (1961)
9. Anne of Green Gables - Montgomery (1908)
8. The Secret Garden - Burnett (1911)
7. The Giver -Lowry (1993)
6. Holes - Sachar (1998)
5. From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler - Koningsburg (1967)
4. The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe - Lewis (1950)
3. Harry Potter #1 - Rowling (1997)*
2. A Wrinkle in Time - L'Engle (1962)
1. Charlotte's Web - White (1952)*


I got the new instructor magazine recently and loved the article about turning your classroom into Hogwarts. They had some fantastic ideas for getting kids even first graders excited about reading and Harry Potter.

My summer goal is to read all of these books:)

mini-lesson

What went well in your teaching?
Based on what you learned as an instructor, what changes would you make next time?


Based on what I learned I would probably move at a little bit slower pace. I would also go into more detail with young students but because Ellie already knew how to complete the task it made the teaching much easier. I think that I would also probably make sure that the students were provided with a pre-made PowerPoint that had picture boxes because that makes the task much easier.
I don't think that I would ask students to make a powerpoint that wasn't already set up because that would require extensive computer knowledge that 3rd graders wouldn't necessarily have.
I think that I would also perform the task myself before I would have the students try because then they would have already seen me preform the task.

LifeSaver Lesson

Based on your learning experience in the lifesaver lesson, describe the attributes of inquiry learning.





Inquiry learning is a hands on experience that makes gets students more excited and gives them a chance to explore their own ideas. I think that the lesson showed us that inquiry learning really revolves around the students and the ideas and questions that they come up with for the most part. Inquiry learning is a chance for students to go into detail about something within the lesson that really excites and/or interests them. I think that inquiry learning is very important for students because it shows them that learning can be engaging and exciting.

scaffolding

From the learner perspective, how did the lesson activities support your achievement of the task?

With all of the different activities and steps involved in this lesson it really required you to take a closer look at the problem. I think that having all of these steps was time consuming but I also think it was valuable. I do however think that one or two of the steps could have been shortened or left out in some cases. I think in some cases different activities would have better suited some learners while the activities we did could have helped others. I really think that it is important to know the students and what resources they need to succeed.




How did technology help you modify the files to meet your needs as a learner?
By using technology we were able to make our proposal into a slideshow to present to the administration. We were able to make the information easy to understand and easy to share. This also gave us the opportunity to share the proposal with multiple people at multiple times.

Widget

How do you envision discovery learning as part of your teaching and curriculum?



I think that discovery learning is a very important part of education because it allows the students to be creative while still learning new information. I would use discovery learning a little differently in my classroom than we did in class because I plan on teaching the younger elementary grades. I think that it is important that students get the chance to really get creative with their work and giving them a somewhat open prompt is a good way of allowing this. I think that it is also important to give structure though. I think that giving the opportunity for discovery learning is important but leaving the children the free range that we were given would be quite chaotic. I think that doing something more like a web quest might be a better way to allow for the creativity with younger students so as to keep some control of the situation.
With all of the requirements in the educational system it is difficult to give the students all of the creative time that I was given as I grew up but I think that with the use of the internet and books you could easily give a good structured assignment using a webquest.