Final Bonus Blog

S3E1. Students will investigate the physical attributes of rocks and soil.

                  b. Recognize the physical attributes of rocks and minerals using observation (shape, color, texture) measurement, and simple tests (hardness).

Essential Question: How can the physical attributes of rocks and minerals reveal the type of rock it is? 

Bonus Blog #3

How are constructivist teaching and traditional science teaching alike? Give some specifics and examples.

Ultimately these are two different styles of teaching and I struggled to find similarities between the two. Constructivist and traditional teaching have a common goal of ensuring the student's success and gaining knowledge from the material that is being presented, but the way the material is presented to the students is completely different. Both methods of teaching also have some form of assessing the students, whether it be through a project or paper with a provided rubric or a test. Both methods work for getting the content to the students, but in my opinion, constructivism teaching has more of an impact with the students that will resonate for years to come.

Module 8 Blog

Reflect on the value (or lack thereof) of science education at the Pre-Kindergarten level

In my preschool field experience I never saw the teachers utilizing books to introduce new concepts with them. Truthfully I never saw the students do anything other than play. There are so many ways to involve the students in science at this age, especially through discovery and play, and I think introducing them to these concepts through literature is a great "hook."

Using Children's Literature to Teach Standard-Based Science Concepts in Early Years

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.kennesaw.edu/docview/228484782/fulltextPDF/13F4A7101B56D953407/1?accountid=11824 

Summary: Using different pieces of literature is one of the ways most teachers effectively introduce new concepts to their students. Offering children's literature to them at a young age allows students the opportunity to become engage and interested in a topic because of the how relatable children's literature is to our students. In a student's early years, science based literature supports the development of science concepts and can provide inquiry. There are several limitations the article mentions including: misconceptions in texts, inaccurate illustrations, and anthropomorphism. The study the researchers conducted used 73 children's literature books to demonstrate concepts about life, physical, and earth science.  16 of the 73 reviewed books were not recommended for use in preschool classrooms. Three books had misconceptions, ten books included content and vocabulary that was too advanced for preschool children, three books had inaccurate text, and four books had inaccurate illustrations.

Reflection: Using literature as a hook for my students is one of my favorite ways to capture their attention. It allows for great discussion and new opportunities to explore the content and vocabulary. I was surprised to hear of the misconception this article chose because I think they're great discussion topics. As for the illustrations, I know many students use the pictures to develop ideas and draw conclusions, so this was a great misconception that I had not previously thought about. I'm surprised at the amount of children's literature pieces that could be used to introduce new concepts to preschool children. 

AMERICAʼS CHILDREN: PROVIDING EARLY EXPOSURE TO STEM (SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING AND MATH) INITIATIVES

http://search.proquest.com.proxy.kennesaw.edu/docview/1062442552/fulltextPDF/13F4A95C69724AC22B0/15?accountid=11824

Summary: The professional fields that require a degree in one of the areas of STEM is growing rapidly. To spark our students' interests in one of these fields introduction to these concepts at a young age is key to their future success. STEM introduces important skills such as critical thinking and problem solving skills, communication, collaboration, and creativity for all students. Introducing STEM to our students as early as Pre-K allows for more inquiry and can let the students discover which subject area they excel at. The number of students enrolling in advanced math and science courses in high schools can increase if introduced to STEM at an early age.

Reflection: I'm so grateful for being able to learn so much more about STEM education through this course. It's something I wasn't too familiar with it previously but it is so beneficial for our students. There are many ways to introduce this to our students at a young age (particularly Pre-K) through play and discover, which ultimately allows for inquiry. At this young age students are like a sponge and are constantly absorbing the information that is around them and are learning all the time. In my experience students love to learn when they are actively engage and STEM allows for inquiry based learning.

Module 7 Blog

Backwards Design

Thinking back to my elementary school days, I don't remember spending much time doing hands-on activities and experiments. I remember reading aloud from the textbook, completing the review questions at the end of each section, and then taking the test on Friday. Other than the optional bonus science project (which was to be completed at home) I don't remember ever doing any science experiments. It was primarily textbooks and worksheets and traditional teaching methods, nothing about it sparked my interest.

In high school I remember my chemistry teacher constantly doing science experiments with our class in the lab, but I never understood why I was doing them other than to complete the lab requirement in the class. None of my teachers throughout my K-12 experience posted essential questions, objectives, or  gave a reason of why we were doing certain things other than, it will be on the test. I remember my primary goal, largely thanks to my teachers, was to pass the high school graduation test and get an A in the class.

I don't believe any of my teachers ever used backwards designed largely because we would participate in review sessions and would ask, do we need to know this for the test, and would receive the response, "I don't know. I haven't made the test yet." It was frustrating because I knew I was just memorizing the material to get an A, not actually learning and comprehending what was being presented. That's not how I want my students to remember my class.

Module 6 Blog

Since I do not currently have my own classroom, I chose to use 10 students from my student teaching experience. These students were in the third grade at the time.

Student	Characteristic	Instruction
1	Female Tier 4 EIP for math and reading Intrapersonal Behavior disorder	Individual activities
2	Male Interpersonal Gifted Logical	Participate in experiments
3	Male Tactile learner ESOL	Provide manipulatives
4	Female Gifted Visual learner	Graphic organizers Visual presentations
5	Female Linguistic Gifted	Provide more writing opportunities
6	Female Interpersonal Kinesthetic learner	Process drama activities
7	Female ESOL EIP for math and reading Tactile learner	Have manipulative and hands on activities
8	Male EIP for math Tier 2 Abstract thinker Creative	Provide art and drawing opportunities
9	Male ESOL Tier 3 Logical	Provide rubrics
10	Male ESOL EIP for reading Musical	Provide written directions for activities Create songs

In my experiences I've learned how different each student learns in the classroom. I like to provide my students with different activities so each student can work individually or within a group. In my student teaching experience, I would constantly use informal assessments throughout the lessons to see where my students were at and how they were thinking. If a large majority of the students were not comprehending the material, I would try teaching it a different way. Since each child learns and processes knowledge differently, I would like to implement choice boards into my classroom. It provides the students with the chance to choose which assignment fits their needs and interests the most. I think if students have choose the assignment that interests them the most they are more likely to be able to remember the information and recall it more easily than using traditional methods.

Bonus Blog #2

Discuss how Science, Math, and Technology relate in the real world and in the classroom.

Science, math, and technology are constantly around us in the real world. Engineers need math and science to ensure that buildings and homes are able to stand. Meteorologist use science, math, and technology to predict the weather and determine how, when, and why certain weather events happen. An article I recently read said more than 8 million jobs will require a degree in science, math, engineering, or technology by 2018. Not only do many jobs use science, math, and technology daily, but we use them in our homes without realizing it. Technology makes our lives so much easier. We're able to boil water and monitor the temperature of it to make spaghetti, we count change every time we use money, and make can phone calls from anywhere through a cell phone or computer! The relationship between the three outside of the classroom is very obvious to see and can help us answer a question we often hear in the classroom, "When am I ever going to use this outside of school?"

In the classroom, it can be a challenge to show the relationship between the three, but it is up to the teacher to be confident and willing to integrate the three areas. Integration is a way of fixing this problem. Math often times is just strictly memorizing an algorithm and about finding the correct answer as opposed to how you determined the answer, which I believe helps students learn better. Science often requires math to solve equations and determine answers to problems. Students also need to learn how important and beneficial technology can be to their learning process. Teachers should allow students to conduct research in all content areas, not just math and science, and develop questions and answers through multiple kinds of technology to spark their interests. Many times I see these three subject areas taught separately in the classroom, but they really go hand-in-hand and if we continue to integrate our lessons it will benefit our students the most and help them out in the real world.

Module 5 Blog

Standard: S3L1. Students will investigate the habitats of different organisms and the dependence of organisms on their habitat.
a. Differentiate between habitats of Georgia (mountains, marsh/swamp, coast, Piedmont, Atlantic Ocean) and the organisms that live there.
b. Identify features of green plants that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of Georgia.
c. Identify features of animals that allow them to live and thrive in different regions of Georgia.
d. Explain what will happen to an organism if the habitat is changed. 
Problem: You are a travel agent that specializes in nature expeditions. You want to sell your clients on an exciting new package in one of the regions of Georgia. Your task is to create a travel brochure that would make someone want to visit that region. Be sure to include any plants and organisms that live in that region and include a detailed description of them. 

Authentic Assessment: Choose a region of Georgia. Research to find out more about its features, plants and animals in the region and what each needs to survive in that particular region. Create a travel brochure that includes a information about the plants and organisms in that region that may interest an outdoor explorer.  Include reasons why certain plants and organisms cannot survive in other regions in a separate paper.

Rubric: 
  Category                          3                                 2                              1                                   0

Habitat description	A brief description of habitat is given.	-------------	---------------	No description of the habitat is given.
Pictures of animals that live in the habitat	Has 3 pictures of animals that live in the habitat.	Has 2 pictures of animals that live in the habitat.	Has 1 picture of an animal that lives in the habitat.	No pictures of animals that live in that habitat.
Adaptations of animals that live in the habitat	Has adaptations for 3 animals that live in the habitat.	Has adaptations for 2 animals that live in the habitat.	Has adaptations for 1 animal that lives in the habitat.	No adaptations of animals that live in that habitat.
Pictures of plants that grow in the habitat	Has 3 pictures of plants that grow in the habitat.	Has 2 pictures of plants that grow in the habitat.	Has 1 picture of plant that grows in the habitat.	No pictures of plants that live in that habitat.
Adaptations of plants that grow in the habitat	Has adaptations for 3 plants that grow in the habitat.	Has adaptations for 2 plants that grow in the habitat.	Has adaptations for 1 plant that grow in the habitat.	No adaptations of plants that live in that habitat.
Mechanics and Appearance	The project is neat with no spelling and punctuation errors.	The project is somewhat neat with a few spelling and punctuation errors.	The project is messy or has many spelling and punctuation errors that interfere with the understanding.	-------------

Article #3:
STEM Education -- It's Elementary
By: Tony Murphy
http://www.usnews.com/news/articles/2011/08/29/stem-education--its-elementary

Summary: STEM is a vital and key issue in education. It's important in our current education system for the US to remain an economic power. A study conducted by Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce shows that nearly 8 million jobs will require a degree in STEM by the year 2018. In order to achieve this kind of success, we must begin by teaching our students early. Children are natural scientists. They begin learning and developing through observations at a very early age. Teachers and parents play a key role in helping students achieve success in these areas. STEM teachers in high school and middle school typically have a degree in their subject areas, but elementary teachers major in education and don't specialize in STEM areas and often lack a passion of teaching these content areas. We must ask ourselves, if we lack passion and confidence in teaching these subject areas, how can we instill this same passion in our students? St. Catherine's University has developed a program to help teachers overcome this issue. Working with elementary teachers to develop confidence is a necessary tool to ensure the success of our students at an early age.

Reflection: I loved this article. It showed just how important STEM is to students and made me consider why I hadn't already been implementing more integration in my own classroom. During student teaching I often times found myself rushing to get to science and social studies at the end of the day becasue of the strong focus on math, reading, and writing. By the time I was able to get to science my students were exhausted, ready to go home for the day, and usually uninterested in the content. STEM allows for the opportunity to eliminate this problem. Through integration I can have my students be excited about math and science. I couldn't believe the study that was conducted by Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce that stated nearly 8 million jobs would require a degree in STEM by 2018. It's crucial to ensure our students long-term success that we start teaching and instilling the passion for math and science at a young age. I know personally I will be working on integrating more content areas in my future classroom.

Article #4:
STEM is the future: Top programs unlock kids’ exponential potential

By: Ben Chapman
http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/education/stem/stem-future-article-1.1255407

Summary: STEM is the basis of a nationwide push to transform education. Elementary students are where the transformation begins It provides the students with the opportunity to become comfortable with science and math at an early age to become successful in the future. In order for students to be successful, it begins with their teachers. Recently, many elementary schools in New York City have been providing math and science training to teachers’ professional development programs. In New York City, many students have been given laptops as a mean to improve their confidence with technology. At one school in Manhattan, students receive weekly computer lessons and fourth-graders use digital notebooks on loan from Sony to take notes during class time. Not all students are as fortunate to use such technology in the classroom or at home, despite this STEM has made it to less-advantaged schools. At PS 15 in the Bronx, half of students don’t have access to computers or smartphones in their homes. PS 15 has intensive classes in both subjects for all students, a computer lab, math coaches and other resources that helped it outperform the city average on math and science tests. 

Several teachers use hands-on classroom experiments to teach science whenever possible and also use real-life examples to show scientific concepts.

Reflection: The students in Manhattan are so fortunate! I love how the students are able to receive a laptop to improve their confidence with technology. So many students don't receive that chance and can struggle later in life. Elementary education in where we provide the foundation for what they will build their knowledge upon as the continue their education and development. In order for us to ensure that they are confident, successful learners we need to provide the students with the chance to become comfortable with science and math at an early age. Even the students at PS 15 that had little to no technology access at home and sounded similar to the Title I school I student taught at, had made advances by using STEM and integration to help their students achieve better results on tests. Another thing I was so grateful to hear is that the schools are providing teachers with professional development in these programs to gain more confidence with teaching these subject areas. Learning begins with us and the expectations that we deliver to our students. If we are not comfortable or confident teaching the material, the students won't be either.

Module 4: Constructivism vs. Traditional

Constructivism in the classroom in my opinion is the most effective way of meeting the needs of our students while having them become subject matter experts. As stated in the reading, constructivism allows students to construct their own understanding and knowledge of the world, through experiencing things and reflecting on those experiences. I think one of the most exciting new way to implement constructivism is through a flipped classroom. Both a flipped classroom and constructivism allow the students to be at the center of the learning and thinking as opposed to traditional teaching, where a teacher will just teach at the students instead of including them in the thinking and learning process. One of my favorite things about constructivism is that the teacher guides the students with questions that encourages deeper, critical thinking and allows the student to be an active participant in the learning process. A quote that really stuck out to me from the reading was, "Constructivism is also often misconstrued as a learning theory that compels students to reinvent the wheel... Students do not reinvent the wheel but, rather, attempt to understand how it turns, how it functions." Reflecting on my previous lessons that I have taught I believe that I have primarily used constructivism in my teaching style, however, I could use it more often. Based on some research and discussions with my classmates I may try implementing a flipped classroom and have more student driven activities.

S3P2. Students will investigate magnets and how they affect other magnets and common objects. 

a. Investigate to find common objects that are attracted to magnets. 

b. Investigate how magnets attract and repel each other. 

Excite

• Provide students with different types of objects at each table and have them experiment with which object are attracted to the magnet.
• Create a KWL chart

Explore

• Watch a BrainPOP on magnets
• Give the students a magnet and go on a scavenger hunt to find magnetic objects around the classroom. 

Explain

• Write observations in science journal
• Participate in student discussion
• Think-Pair-Share

Expand

• Student will come up with an invention that uses magnet, draw the invention, and write a short description.

Extend

• Have the students hunt for everyday objects that use magnets in them and draw those objects in their science journal.
• Participate in a class discussion that include the questions: How do magnets help us everyday? How do we use them? 

Exchange

• Create Glogster, Prezi, or PowerPoint about magnets with group
• Students will experiment with magnets, a variety of sizes of magnetic objects, and write observations about strengths of different combinations of magnets.

Examine

• Complete KWL chart
• Complete WebQuest on magnets

Bonus Blog: Homework

Do you (or would you) give homework?

In my student teaching experience I always gave homework to my students, but I think as teachers, we have to find homework that is challenging and the proper amount. I never want students to feel overwhelmed at home or that they need a parent to complete it for them. That's not why I give homework. I want the students to be successful in the class and the homework I give is to reinforce the concepts that have been taught in the classroom. Throughout student teaching my students were always required to read at home with a family member, I usually also gave some type of math homework as well, unless we had just learned a new concept, then I typically waited a day after I knew the student(s) had a better understanding. Unfortunately, many of my students had parents that did not care about their success in the classroom and never had them read or complete the assignments, which lead to students having to complete the missing homework or reading during recess. I hated doing this since the students that had to miss recess were usually the students that needed to get their energy out the most. I'm still working on finding a positive reinforcement system where I can get students to complete their homework at home and on time and not miss out on recess, but not overwhelm them either.

ECE 7706: Module 2 Blog

Article 1
Summary:
Educational reforms began after Sputnik's launch into space. In this article, the author focuses on the reforms in 1950's and 60's. According to the article, "post-Sputnik concerns were curricular, focusing on what was being taught and how, rather than who was being taught." Part of reforms with science education and advancements in technology were to get ahead of the curve. Sputnik's launch also helped us gain the understanding of the growing importance of science and its applications in the schools. Rutherford created a list of Sputnik’s positive contributions to science education, which include:  teachers and scientists working together on developmental projects, scientists bringing fresh ideas and new leadership energy to the challenge, stimulus was given to the inclusion of science in elementary school education and to having it be activity oriented, and teachers will respond enthusiastically and seriously to opportunities to improve their subject-matter knowledge and teaching skills and to upgrade their teaching circumstances.

Reflection: The reforms in science education since Sputnik's launch into brought new ideas that challenge our students and focus activities being student driven. This is something I've always tried to do in my classroom. I feel as though if I can incorporate hands-on activities that are students led my students will gain a more in depth understanding. Having the advancements in technology after Sputnik also important. Science and technology go hand in hand. The launch of Sputnik proved this to anyone that may have had doubts and because of it our use of technology in the schools also changed. My students have always enjoyed using technology with their lessons and activities. I think it helps them understand the content better and help them apply the skills they have learned in their everyday lives. One example was from my student teaching experience. I had just taught a lesson about rocks and minerals and the students had an opportunity to examine the samples I had provided with them. One student wrote down the different types he of the samples, went home and researched them all. The next morning he came back and was very excited about showing me all of the information he had discovered about the rocks he had seen the previous day. I believe technology has the opportunity to inspire children's learning and interests.

Link: http://www.nationalacademies.org/sputnik/ruther1.htm

Article 2
Summary:
Sputnik changed the face of education by making it clear that schools would have to change their subject matter at all levels to become scientists, or engineers, or mathematicians and compete with other nations to become number one. Support for science education and new curriculum immediately impacted the schools and challenged the students with more difficult material. The "space race" improved students' interest in science and math until a man walked on the moon in 1969, where interest began to drop dramatically. Fox said it best in her article, "we seem to have lost our curiosity about nature." As educators, we need to develop and adopt new technology and new ways to teach. We also need to recognize that our students learn completely differently than we did.

Reflection: Change is always scary and can be difficult to adapt to, however, in the case of science reform it has been for the best. The change of having a satellite being launched into space inspired many people to think differently and challenge old ideas. As educators we shouldn't be afraid of change and provide our students with new, innovative styles of teaching and meeting our students needs while using and incorporating technology throughout the lessons. In my previous field experience I worked with a teacher that was unwilling to change and incorporate technology into her lessons. The county she worked for spent a lot of money investing into several pieces of equipment that were in her classroom and could be utilized for the benefit of the students, however, this teacher was bitter that the county had chosen to provide this technology for all of its teachers and students as opposed to a raise for the teachers and refused to use the equipment. I believe this greatly impacted her students learning and is an example why we shouldn't be hesitant or unwilling to adapt to a change.


Link: http://www.nationalacademies.org/sputnik/fox1.htm

Video:
I thought this speech was very motivational for both teachers and students. One particular statement that stuck with me from the video was when the President said, "A good job requires a good education." This will ensure that students will need to continue their education to be successful in the workplace and will instill a good work ethic in students. The students at TechBoston are lucky to receive a laptop upon entering the school, however, it's not realistic for other schools, but we should take it upon ourselves as educators to integrate more technology into subject areas and make learning more engaging for our students so they will want to continue their education.

ECE 7706: Module 1

Science Lesson

I haven't taught science in nearly two years. The last time I taught it was during my student teaching, however, a typical science lesson will begin with a motivation or a hook to catch the students' attention. Then we will discuss the vocabulary and create a KWL chart. One of my favorite lessons was on Rocks and Minerals. I gave them each a collection of rocks and had the students write down four different characteristics of the rocks individually and then collectively we discussed the characteristics on the board. Each student then explained where each type of rock could be found. In the following days, the students illustrated, described the shape, texture, color, mass, size, and hardness of the sample in their science journals. The students would then complete a ticket out the door as an end of the day assessment and a post test at the end of the unit.

Technology in Science

Technology is always important in the lesson. I think it really helps the students to connect with the lessons. Webquests and BrainPOP Jr. could have been incorporated into the lesson above. Also, the students could have completed their own research on rocks and minerals on the computer or have participated in some activities on the SMARTBoard. Technology should be used in the classroom as long as it is relevant and helpful to the students. It should never be a time filler.

Concept Mapping

I've never heard of concept maps being called concept maps, although I've used them frequently. Concept maps are a great way to organize information in a clear way that makes sense. As a visual learner it has always benefitted me and I would love to use this in my classroom with students that may be struggling.

Module 5 Summary

An Example of Effective Classroom Management Video
Literacy centers give students the opportunity to practice skills that have been modeled for them by the teacher quickly. Centers can be completed individually or with a partner. Teachers should make the centers work effective and related to the curriculum. Literacy centers should have materials changed out as necessary.

What is Literacy, and Why is it Important? Video
First of all, I love that the music in the video was Smooth Criminal! Although, I found it distracting at times when I was trying to read the information on the screen. Literacy is a key foundation and skill everyone needs to be successful in all aspects of life (personally, socially, financially, professionally). The video also featured one of my favorite quotes by Dr. Suess, "The more you read, the more you'll know. The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.” As the video explained, being illiterate makes life extremely difficult in many ways and can contribute to poverty. Literacy is one of the most valuable things a person can learn in his/her lifetime.

Using Literacy Centers to Strengthen Reading and Writing Instruction Video
Literacy centers give students the opportunity to practice and implement the skills they have learned. Teachers also have the opportunity to work with individuals in conferences or small groups. Centers also allow students to be engaged in a fun and interesting way that is directly related to the curriculum. Centers should not be used as busy work, but to reinforce literacy skills and content.

Designs for Balanced Literacy Video
The teacher in the video has designed her classroom based around her goals of allowing students to become strong, literate individuals. She arranges her classroom for students to be able to work independently and in small groups. She also has smaller space to allow room for buddy work and a larger, whole group space. She also gave the advice, "If you model something well the students will be able to do it," and suggests that you work and collaborate with your colleagues.

Spaces and Places Video
This video is about Debbie Diller's new book called Spaces and Places. She explains how you can set up classroom to make it effective for you and your students. The book is divided up into five sections. The most interesting part to me was the before and after pictures. It allows teachers can see how classrooms were transformed and the potential their own classroom has. It also explains how areas can be used and a challenging thing for many new teachers, how to get your room packed up at the end of the year. She designed the book to be a spiral book that can easily be written in.

Module 6 Summary

Making PowerPoint Slides
I thought this presentation was a great reminder to how to properly make an effective PowerPoint presentation. It included many great tips and reminders on what to do and what not to do. Often times we want to make are PowerPoints stand out and be fancy, but the most important thing is to keep it simple and inform the audience. The PowerPoints we create shouldn't be distracting or full of useless information and this PowerPoint provided key ideas on how to make your PowerPoint the best for your audience.

Creating Good PowerPoints
This article focused on how to make an effective PowerPoint for your audience. The biggest thing I took from this was to have PowerPoints be a visual reinforcement. They should not be a replacement for the speaker, nor should they steal the attention from the speaker. I saw this happen many times in my undergraduate experience. Many teachers would read directly from the PowerPoint and it never captured my attention, nor did it help reiterate what I was learning. This article ties in nicely with the previous PowerPoint.

PowerPoint Slide Master
This video is a great visual aid for anyone that has not worked with PowerPoint before or is still learning how to use it. It would be great to show in a classroom of younger students that may be working on a new project. Personally, I'm very familiar with PowerPoint and this video was a refresher on some of the basic points of PowerPoint.

Kid Pix and PowerPoint
I've never heard of Kid Pix before, but it seems like a more kid friendly version of PowerPoint. Students can create their own artwork as the background and add text to the page as well. I think it would work well with students that are more artistic. Personally, I prefer to use PowerPoint as I'm not artistic, but I think many students would enjoy using Kid Pix over PowerPoint.

Module 4 Summary

Literacy Across Curriculum

I do believe that literacy should be taught across the curriculum. It is easier to integrate with all subject areas and include componenets of literacy in all content areas. It can difficult to teach all subjects throughout the day, but integrating allows for more opportunities to complete the required standards. Now with the addition of Common Core, integrating subject areas is easier than ever! In my opinion, Common Core places more emphasis on literacy and integrating it throughout the curriculum.

RTI

I'm already familiar with RTI as the classroom I student taught in had many students on the different tiers of the pyramid. But, it is always nice to have a refresher on the information since I have been out of the classroom for more than a year now. I found the pyramid in the RTI in Georgia presentation to be a great visual aid. We actually had this pyramid in our conference room on the wall at the school I student taught at and had little post-it flags with the students' names on them and were able to visually see where on the pyramid he/she was and could move them if necessary.

Reading Rainbow Video

I remember watching Reading Rainbow as a child, but I don't remember the theme song. I think the new theme song will inspire children to read more and encourage them to read more on their own for fun.

Writing Express with First Graders - Writing Sentences Video

I love how this teacher built sentences with his students. He allowed them to put their input into constructing the sentences. He used whole group, individuals, and partners to build sentences and constantly reiterate the different parts of the sentences and how we must remember to capitalize the first letter of the sentences. Having the students come up front and be part of the sentences is great for kinestetic learners as well. I would love to try this with a group of first graders. All of the students in the video seemed very engaged and interested in the lesson.

PPT Presentations

I enjoyed all of the PowerPoints in this module. They were great refreshers! My favorite was the Strategic Reading Instruction PowerPoint. I think it is great for new teachers, or for those of us that have been out of the classroom for long periods of time. It provided great examples for different centers and what students should be doing in small groups while the teacher is working with other students. It's definitely one I'll want to keep on file and refer back to.

Module 3 Summary

Encouraging Enthusiasm For Reading
This video is an excellent visual aid of showing how important reading with a child can be. As I was watching it I was immediately taken back to times when my parents would read aloud with me each night before I went to bed. Parents taking action by reading a short book or chapter each night with their child is an easy way to encourage them to read more. It's something I am grateful my parents did for me and I believe it is why I love to read for enjoyment as an adult.

Using the Smart Table for Collaboration
I absolutely love the idea of a Smart Table. I was fortunate enough to student teach in a classroom with a SmartBoard and the students absolutely loved getting the opportunity to use it. I can only imagine the possibilities and things they would be able to create with the Smart Table. One thing that they mentioned that is different from the SmartBoard I used was that it is multi-touch and multiple students would be able to collaborate on one assignment! Technology is constantly changing and moving forward for the benefit of our students. I would love to have a Smart Table in my future classroom!

Exploring Social Studies and Technology
I love the idea of being able to incorporate technology and social studies with the Smart Table. Social Studies is often one of the subjects that students get bored with, but integrating this new technology with social studies would be an excellent way to get students engaged. I loved how someone on the video mentioned that it's like digital play dough! Students could make all sorts of projects and discover new ways of learning through this technology.

Integrating Science and Literacy in Early Childhood
This video really stressed the importance of working with the parents and having literacy at school and at home. One of the first things that caught my attention in this video was when literacy was defined as listening, speaking, thinking, reading, and writing. Often times we only think of literacy as reading and writing and its a culmination of so many things. Informational texts in science can often be boring for many readers, but they provide us with the background knowledge and allow us to travel to an exotic location that we may not be able to do on our own. 

Development of Literacy Strategies
I'm so grateful for the "Plain English Definition" in this presentation.  I believe literacy development begins well before children are in school and starts at home. It develops through hearing and speaking and continues to develop as they begin to read and write. I immediately think to my niece that is only two, but carries on full conversations in full sentences. Her parents and grandparents read to her constantly and never spoke to her in "baby talk." Now she is also able to write the entire alphabet and her name. I believe if her family had not put such an emphasis on literacy at such a young age her literacy would not be as developed as it is.

Expository Text Structures
I've seen something very similar to this graphic organizer before and have shared it with my previous students. The cue word really helped them be able to identity the pattern in the text.

Article: Expository Text Structure - Moss
This article not only stressed the importance of text structures, but also told the reader how to teach them. My favorite part of the article was the section that described the difference between a summary and retelling. This is something many of my previous students have struggled with and this is a great and easy way to explain to students how to properly differentiate between the two. I also really like that the author gave a list of trade book ideas that could be used in the classroom.

Effects of Explicit Instruction on Reading Preferences

This paper was an action research project performed with second grade students that explored the effects of explicit instruction on reading preference. I enjoyed reading this article and enjoyed seeing an example of a completed research assignment. I wasn’t surprised to learn that most classrooms have more fiction texts than non-fiction texts. Students I have worked with in the past typically like to read more non-fiction texts when we work or have worked on it in class and it catches their attention. I’ve had numerous students return from the library with non-fiction texts that relate to the content we were learning about because they were so intrigued by the subject(s). I believe these text help students to learn a wide variety of vocabulary and challenge their reading skills.

Module 2 Summary

Goals for Differentiated Instruction Video
This video was very informational. Differentiated instruction is something I have found to be the most beneficial for students. I loved the idea the video gave about providing students with a "menu" of options to choose from to complete a task. Differentiated instruction provides the opportunity to challenge students and meet their needs according to their skill levels. Like many new strategies, it can seem a bit more difficult to implement at first, but ultimately we are in the business to meet our students needs, not what is the easiest thing for us to do.

The Story of Differentiation by Tomlinson Video

I loved this video! The experience in the 7th grade classroom with about half of the student four years below grade level is abosolutely incredible to me! In my student teaching experience the majority of the students were below grade level. They were not as far behind as Tomlinson's students, but many were still reading on a Kindergarten/First grade level. The whole thought process about teaching to the middle is the most inefficeient thing she could've done is so true. This video stressed how we must pay attention to students’ learning styles and teach to their needs, not what is the easiest thing for us to do. Tomlinson is such an inspiration for a new teacher like me.

Planning Strategic Lesson Plans
This PowerPoint was so interesting! I love that it has the procedures for developing an effective strategic lesson plan and for motivating your students to read. I personally have never used the format that was discussed on this PowerPoint, I have used parts of it. I think using this particular lesson structure will allow for more students to have a positive attitude towards reading. I would love to try this lesson structure in my future classroom.

Literacy Reading Content & Strategy

This PowerPoint emphasized the importance of reading across subject areas and scaffolding. Integrating different subject areas with reading is something I have always strived to do in the classroom. I think it's important and a great way to students to become successful. It's even more important now with the adoption of the Common Core. I was fortunate enough to student teach in a classroom that was implementing Common Core last year in reading and writing and it is amazing how well it is when you integrate subject areas.