First Blog!

Read Alouds:

Mrs. Spitzer's Garden by Edith Pattou     ISBN:0152019782
This is a perfect children's book to read for a first day of school.  It talks about how the teacher, Mrs. Spitzer, is in charge of all of her seeds that will soon grow into flowers.  This book shows the importance of teachers when it comes to the success of students.  I love seeing how much my teachers have made an impact on me by the end of the year like Mrs. Spitzer did for her students.

My Losing Season by Pat Conroy     ISBN:0553381903
I liked this book because it is a good portrayal of how teachers should challenge their students.  As a student I should strive to know more and want teachers who give me the extra knowledge that they aren't required to.  This book could be used in a middle school English class to show the importance of reading or in a college class to show the outcome of a little extra studying/research.

The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn     ISBN:1933718102
This was my favorite read aloud so far because it is exactly what I am going through as a senior.  Chester did not want to leave his mom when he went to school which is what we will all have to do for college pretty soon.  This book is perfect for seniors about to leave for college but it is also good for kindergartners leaving their parents for the first time.  Many activities can be done with this for all ages in between, though.  Mother's Day activities fit great with this book.

I Knew You Could by Craig Dorfman     ISBN: 0448431483
I thought this book was really cute and good for a younger crowd.  This is an inspiring book so it could be used in a guidance counselor's office when talking about self-esteem.  It could also be worked into an activity with trains for elementary school students.  It is all about moving from one phase of life to the next so this one could also be used for graduating seniors or even students starting high school.


Learning Experiences:

So far I have learned a lot about my fellow teacher cadets and what attributes teachers should have.  For some of us, we learned more about each other this past week than we have in all of the years we went to school together.  I can't wait for the rest of the year with everyone!  We have been learning a lot about teachers as a whole and what it takes to become a good teacher.  The topic that hit me the most is how much we can learn from a teacher that isn't in the curriculum.  The ones that invest their time in us and want us to succeed as people are the ones that leave the biggest impact on our lives, and that is the kind of teacher I would want to be.


Current Event:

http://blogs.kqed.org/mindshift/2012/08/best-practices-for-deploying-ipads-in-schools/

This article just talks about how to make iPads most effective.  It focuses in on teaching the students and teachers how to use the iPad by having tutorials and pictures all over the school as reminders on how to hold them.  A positive about moving to iPads is hopefully making the classroom completely paperless which would help the environment.  I think the way DF is introducing iPads is smarter compared to the one featured in this article.  Having to teach the teachers and students how to use new technology all at the same time is going to be difficult, transitioning from just teachers to everyone would have been a smarter move.


Quote of the Week:

"Any fool can know. The point is to understand.”  -Albert Einstein

This goes right along with being an effective teacher.  Any math teacher can give out formulas, but to help the students understand why the formula works and how to get there is to teach them.  I like this quote a lot because people seem to get the two mixed up when in fact there is a huge difference.  There is no gain by simply memorizing and cramming through life; one will only gain more knowledge by understanding what they are learning.


Observations:

In one of my classes all my teacher does is talk for an hour and a half.  I look around and watch as people pull out other homework or fall asleep.  This is something that I will not be doing when I get to work with students because it makes learning not fun anymore.  Getting students involved makes them want to learn and keeps them awake at the very least.


Reflections:

When I was doing Direction Connection I met this freshman boy after the tardy bell had rang for second block.  He came up to me crying and said he needed help finding the band room.  At the time I was standing by the French room so we were at the complete opposite side of the school but I could tell he was terrified and very upset he was already tardy for the first day of school.  I walked him to the band room and we talked the whole time.  By the time he got there he had stopped crying and I had convinced him that everyone was late on the first day.  It felt good being that senior that was helpful instead of scary.  I think a lot of people think that being a senior is some sort of entitlement to just be mean to everyone else, especially the freshman, but there is a much better alternative in using our "power".  I definitely developed my Teacher Heart on the first day.