Social Responsibility Projects

Social Responsibility is the central theme in our school and as a way to teach our students about what it means, my Cooperating Teacher and I worked together to create two projects that were shared in our classroom and around the school. 

Our first project was taking on the issue of bullying.  We brainstormed and created instructional videos of where we can be bullied in the school and what we could do as a response.  The students then went to each classroom around the school, presenting these videos and leading discussions around these scenarios.  This was a great opportunity for the students to be leaders in the school and to develop empathy and compassion. 

Our second project was taking on the issue of homelessness.  At Christmas time, we tend to take advantage of the important things in our lives and we wanted to teach our students about appreciation, empathy, and altruism.  The students had to raise money by doing chores around the house, and whatever they raised it would go to feeding the homeless at a local shelter.  We also held a luncheon for all the staff in the building and we encouraged them to donate as well.  The students did a majority of the work and we, the teachers, filled in the gaps when needed.  In the end, we raised over $1200 and the students raised most of that money on their own. 

These projects were amazing to be a part of as I saw tremendous growth in my students and it taught me that teaching is far more than just the curriculum, it's about the impacts we make in the lives of our students. 

Using Prezi to Teach Social Studies

To incorporate current technology and to engage my students, I chose to teach the Social Studies unit, Early European Colonization, using Prezi.  The format drew my students in and the note frames that I created for them allowed them to follow along and take notes as required.  I also incorporated use of the textbook and other online sources so that they could understand that information comes from different avenues.  I found I could easily manage all the information and was organized in a way that my students could clearly understand.  As a result of this technology, my students came up with a brilliant plan.  I had them doing research on a certain European explorer and they wanted to try making their own Prezis.  They ultimately changed my view of the project and I was surprised at how well they all did, with Prezi and accessing information.  This project also required them to create their own criteria, which they did with ease since they knew what they wanted to showcase through their research projects. I was completely surprised by how the use of technology can change the classroom atmosphere, making my students excited and engaged to learn more.

Early European Colonization: 

http://prezi.com/pppyq9njojgu/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

European Explorers:

http://prezi.com/lrmvssvwepk5/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Science Investigations

We were learning about “Properties and Changes of Substances” in my classroom, and as a way to showcase how substances change and keep them engaged, we did a number of science investigations.  My goal for this unit and several investigations was for my students to gather an understanding and effectively apply the scientific method.  Prior to any investigations, I outlined each step of the method and how each step works during our investigations.  This aspect was very important to me, as I believe that scientific inquiry and the method for displaying understanding is important to the comprehension of science.  One of our investigations had us conduct the experiment of reactions between Mentos and various pops.  We established our hypotheses and the purpose of this experiment before we conducted it.  It was not as successful as we had hoped, but as we worked through the factors that impacted it, the students could draw connections between their observations and their hypotheses and make sound conclusions.  This unit was great for establishing an understanding of the scientific method through engaging investigations.

Scientific Method Prezi:

http://prezi.com/gew4bgzb5ncc/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy&rc=ex0share

Exit Slips as Quick Assessment

As a way to quickly assess my students understanding of the material, I developed two different formats for that assessment.  

The first was a “Twitter board”.  The students and I both created profiles, or twitter handles, with profile pictures and names that described us and were laminated for multiple use. I would pose questions about their learning and model how their responses should be formatted and how to use hashtags (#).  I believe this was a safe and fun way to incorporate cultural influences, and allow me to see the students’ ability to reflect on their own learning.   

The second exit slip was a Traffic Light.   The colors of the traffic light represented a different level of understanding. The students were asked to stick a sticky note, with their name on it, on the color that best described their level of understanding after a specific lesson.  

 

I would to incorporate these more often in my next block to get a better gauge of how effective it is on my students’ learning. 

Goal Setting Activator

At the beginning of my teaching block, as a way to engage my Grade 5 students, I posed a question that would give them the opportunity to think about goal setting.  I asked “Where do you want to go?” – what places they would like to see and travel to.  After I gave them the chance to think about it, they wrote the place they wanted to travel to on the whiteboard.  Once every student had written one place, we stepped back and examined the board.  I was completely shocked by the variety of places they wanted to see and we discussed the importance of goals and why we need to have goals to succeed.  It was important for me to showcase goal setting because I wanted them to know my goals for the teaching block and what I hoped they would get out of my lessons.  From that point on, at every lesson I indicated what are goals were and how we were going to achieve those goals. I believe that by outlining the goals, which involve the students in the process of learning, the students can create authentic bonds to the material and we create a more cohesive classroom environment. 

Science Blog

For our Science course we were required to build a portfolio that demonstrated our understanding of teaching science, so I created a blog. Below you will find the link.

http://teachingscience-earlyyears.blogspot.ca/ 

Smartboard Math Cat in the Hat

As part of our 3D shapes unit, I created a booklet that showcased different 3D shapes and their names with the theme of the week, Cat in the Hat. In order for the students to practice writing the 3D shape names, I turned this activity into a Smartboard activity with the help of my cooperating teacher and the teacher librarian. The students’ enjoyed learning how to use the Smartboard and was a great fit into our theme.

Word Wall for Five Senses Unit

As a way to tie the studies of the individual senses, I created a word wall using pictures and words we used to describe the sense we were study. I also referred to it in following lessons in order to promote the students to use it independently. I would use it again with other topics and in other subject areas.

Plants Unit

The students had to learn about plants – their parts, needs and caring for them. We did numerous activities that included an experiment on the importance of water, planting and caring for our own plants, and recognizing the parts of plants. Many activities fit well with different subject areas and had an interactive portion that helped solidify the concepts being taught. 

Ear Diagram for Five Senses Unit

I created a mock up of an ear so that my Grade 1 students could see how sound travels through the ear in the form of vibrations.  The students responded well to “the ear”, everyone wanted to test it out and this was a good connector for our study of the sense of hearing. 

Dental Stations

After completing our study on dental health, I created learning centres for the students.  Each station was a skill or activity we had done earlier and it was my chance to see how much they had retained.  They would brush their teeth, floss their teeth, sort good and bad foods for teeth and, for fun, a word search.  This interactive conclusion was a lot of fun for them and for me, and had them on task the entire time.

Lost Tooth Activity for Dental Health

After a discussion on the number of primary teeth they had, the students were given mirrors and asked to count how many teeth they had lost.  They had to draw pictures of themselves and given marshmallows to represent their smiles and their gaps of missing teeth. It was an interactive activity that had the students’ full attention and they were excited to use marshmallows for teeth.

Green Eggs and Ham

As an introductory lesson to the works of Dr. Seuss, I read Green Eggs and Ham. Then followed with an activity that combined both reading and our five senses, which students had to imagine what they could hear, smell, taste, etc. while reading the story. That activity did not work out so well, I think I would have tried to explain it better and done a few more examples. As an end to our study, I made them green eggs and ham and hot chocolate.  The students enjoyed the book and having “green eggs and ham”.

Cat in the Hat

We spent a week reading and doing various activities with The Cat in the Hat. The students made cats in hats, created word families, and made our own 3D hats. At the end of the week, we had a Cat in the Hat themed day, watching the movie and eating cupcakes. I believe having themed weeks create meaningful connections to literature.

Assessment

Creating lessons and developing students skills are the first part of teaching, but assessing the value of those lessons and the comprehension of those skills are what matter to the entire classroom and the school community.  I believe that conducting different assessment strategies and putting an importance on self-assessment will make assessment more authentic to my teaching.

There are many different tools that I can use to assess the comprehension of material that I have taught.  Having conversations with students on a regular basis will provide me with informal information that can be used to sort students understanding and where I need to go back and reteach. Discussions with students are something that we take for granted because in some minds it does not provide a definitive result. Also, I believe in little tasks such as checking for understanding traffic lights, two stars and a wish, etc. They are great tools of assessment because they make students really think about their own ability to learn.   I have also found that some programs provide great tools not only for teaching but assessment as well.  Words Their Way is a great program that clearly states the level of word and sound recognition the student is at and tests them on it as well.  I have also had experience with conducting running records and have seen the importance those results have on dividing them into reading groups and developing strategies.  The endless amount of assessment strategies out there can create authentic representations of how my students learn.

For me, self – assessment is the most important form of assessment.  Students need to be responsible for their learning and have to be able to reflect upon the things they have learned.  Having students’ complete small survey –type forms, they must think about what is being asked of them and how they intend to make themselves learn more effectively.  Students learn at different rates and I believe that these self-discovery sessions can be very informative to both the teacher and the student.  A format in which this self-discovery can be presented is through a student portfolio. Portfolios are great for student-led conferences and showcase the students’ growth from the beginning of the year.  Portfolios should include items that the student is proud of, enjoyed and felt challenged by. Each portfolio will be a representation of the individual student but will contain core pieces with the self-reflections among them.  At the end of the school year, portfolios will be a memento that students can reflect upon later in life.

Expectations should be set ahead of time, so that students can draw upon it when completing their own work.  I believe that students should have a say in what they are being assessed on and what it should like. Collaboratively working together gets the kids excited about the project or assignment at hand.  Also providing different options, will allow students to demonstrate what they have learned in a format that is comfortable for them. 

Assessment includes so many things and can take many forms, including tests, self- assessment and option based projects.   I think that the importance of assessment should focus on how the student learns and whether they understand what they are learning, and not on the number.

Cross-Curricular Instruction

Since the school day seems to go by in such a blur and multiple topics need to be covered, their needs to be some intertwining of subject areas.   I find cross-curricular instruction makes the day flow much better and allows a connection to the material when students are asked to review.

During one of my teaching blocks, I created weekly plans that incorporated Math, ELA, Art and Science that followed a specific book from the collection of Dr. Seuss.  I started the week off by reading the book and in the following days we would do activities that related back to the story. The activities either included counting and graphing, word family sorting, recreating images through art, or earth science projects.  I found that students reacted well to it and would continuously ask about reading another book or doing another activity based on the book.

Creating lesson that do not just challenge one subject area but a whole of host of them allows the students to have fun and not even know that they are working on a number of different skills at one time.  

Differentiated Instruction

Each student learns differently and some require more attention than others, but I try to get to know my students and provide them with as much differentiation as possible.

In every lesson, I provide the students with both written and pictorial instructions and also try to incorporate interactive activities with each lesson that allows them to understand and master the skills or material being taught.  I believe that students need more than just worksheets to completely understand. Worksheets definitely still have their place in teaching and education but I think students take much more from hands – on experiences. Teaching to different learners requires an understanding of the students you have and adapting to the needs of the classroom.

I have encountered many students with different learning abilities and have had to dedicate more time to some than to others. I knew that the ones I could not dedicate time to could try and work it out themselves or work together with other students.  Those that need more one – on- one time, I tried to accommodate by helping them or giving them more time to work.  Creating lessons that provided time to see most if not all the students was beneficial not only to them but to me as well.  I could see where they were and what I needed to do to get them to the next level.

Teaching to different learning abilities can be difficult but can be beneficial to the students because they get the information in a wide range of formats. As a teacher, I can get to know my students better and help them move forward in their learning. 

Classroom Management

A classroom may be a place of exploration and discovery, but it needs structure in order to ensure student safety and provide an avenue for students to demonstrate responsibility and respectfulness.

When establishing classroom rules, I would begin the first day of school by having the students involved in a discussion about appropriate classroom behaviours and how they should look.  I would chart these rules under three specific headings: “To be safe, responsible and respectful”. And these rules would consist of “listening to the teacher”, “following instructions”, “waiting for your turn to share”, etc. Once the list of expected behaviours was established, I would post the rules around the classroom and constantly refer back to the list in order to have consistency within my classroom. 

The rules will be agreed upon by both the teacher and students, and the consequences will be laid out with a sample situation. If a student breaks the rules, I believe in the “three strikes, you’re out” rule. The first time a student breaks a rule, they will have to spend their recess time or choice time with me making up the work they missed out on. The second time, the student has to write a note home to mom/dad explain what rule they broke, why they did and what they are going to do in the future. By the third time, I will take the student out of the room and have him/her visit the principal.  If the behaviour continues, a plan will be established between me and the principal to ensure we provide the student with the proper consequences to their actions. In my experiences, I have encountered a class where all the students seem to have issues with the rules, so I introduced a tally game called “Teacher vs. Students”.  A rule for the day was written on the board and the kids had to show they could follow it.  When I caught them following the rule, the students got the tally, but if they were not I got the tally. If the students won, they received a treat. I found that the students had to regulate themselves and it worked sometimes.

I have found that some students get bored and fidgety and require breaks. I would provide students with “brain breaks” like yoga, Simon Says and other activities in order to provide rest periods and reengage them in the lesson. I would also limit carpet time/discussion time because students tend to drift off and will not participate in the activity. 

Routines will be established also within the first few days of school and will become second nature to our daily classroom life.  Things like calendar, agenda, schedule and attendance will be always be the first activities of the day. As well students will have jobs that they can help me with and will teach them about responsibility.

For classroom design, I will create seating arrangements that would try to accommodate a healthy learning environment for all students.  Materials for the classroom will be organized, clearly displayed and accessible to students so that they can retrieve the items when needed. The use of those materials will be demonstrated so that the students will know how to respectfully handle the material.

Classroom management encompasses a lot of different aspects of the classroom but I believe that students should have examples provided for them and constant reminders so that they can demonstrate safety, responsibility and respect. 

Teaching Philosophy

When it comes to my ideas toward teaching and the role of a teacher; I believe that in today’s society students must embark upon a journey of discovery.

The teacher must provide the students with hands-on experiences and interactive learning opportunities within the classroom setting.  In correlation with the universal design framework, the teacher must provide different avenues for learning which engage and incorporate student views and goes beyond the simple method of pencil and paper work.  In my experiences, students who have been provided with different learning forums have succeed greatly, have demonstrated better retention of the material taught and it has proven to provide valuable memories that the students can call upon later in life.

Also through this journey, I hope that students will discover themselves.  Education provides students with the opportunity to discover what they believe in and what paths they wish to follow.  Teachers hold a lot of power of influence over students but it is our responsibility to provide them with the unbiased truth and encourage them to make decisions based on their own feelings.  We, as teachers, should harness the students’ curiosity, help them sort through their own thinking and ensure they continue their journey of self-discovery.

Students are not the only ones on this journey of discovery, teachers are too.  I believe that as a teacher you must have a high level of compassion and understanding of a child’s situation.  Within a year, we connect with our students; discover their pasts, impact their present and dream with them about their future.  I believe each student comes into the classroom with something to offer and it is the teacher’s responsibility to discover and nurture that uniqueness within that student, and within all the students.  In my experiences, being a genuine caregiver to your students will greatly impact the safety and security of your classroom dynamics. But most importantly, provide them with the sense that someone cares about them and values them.

My teaching philosophy rests solely on the idea of a journey that both the students and teacher embark upon, but should be recognized as a journey that never ends as we continue to learn and discover the world around us.