The Beginning of the End of Spring 2010

When I imagine myself as a teacher, this quote describes the person I would like to be. The journey so far in the class has been long and difficult, but worth it to me. I enjoy challenges and doing the best I can in everything I do because this is my life. Being a teacher is going to be one of my biggest milestones and I am looking forward to the rest of my journey that lies ahead in this course, my degree, and my future as a teacher.

Why are Standards Important?

I realized while we were learning about standards that they aren't just guidelines that teachers have to follow to know what to teach for their grade level. Standards to me are general statements that become the starting point for a teacher. I think that standards help the teacher to be able to expand the students knowledge and are general enough that the teacher can choose to go in any which direction he or she chooses, as long as they are following the standards.

The video is from a Kindergarten class that aligns their ELA standards with their curriculum. I think the way they do this is insightful and aides to what I said before about a teacher being able go in any direction he or she chooses. This class followed the standards, but the teacher did it in a creative and hands on way by having the children work in groups and use technology to help them learn the material they needed to know. When I am a teacher I want my students to feel as if their experience in my class was fun and rewarding. I want to teach the students that they can learn and have fun doing it. I thought that this class showed that perfectly. I think that it is also really important to have resources such as “star fall” for teachers to use in the classroom with students. Through searching the web I have found so many interactive websites and videos that help with math facts and tell stories that I can use when I am a teacher to help my students learn a concept. Overall, I want my students to be successful in my class and because of everything I have learned thus far in the class, I am confident that I will be able to do so in an educational and fun way.

Practicing with Aims, Goals, and Objectives

In class we practiced with writing aims, goals, and objectives because we are going to have to do so when we start our unit plans. I personally struggled with this, especially with writing objectives. I liked that we were given take home practice tests to feel more confident with these concepts because I am the kind of person that needs to have the opportunity to practice in order to have a new concept learned. I felt that after completing the take home tests I had significantly improved, but I feel that as a growing learner I could always improve my work and I am always willing to improve my work. I don’t think that this is supposed to be easy. I think that if you truly want to be a teacher, you should be willing to put in the time it takes to be successful. Even though I struggled, I put the time in to practice and improve my learning. If I hadn’t done these things I would still be making the same mistakes.

All Aboard! The Community Train

I can't even begin to explain how excited I am about beginning my unit plan for second grade on suburban communities. I have so many ideas that i want to implement in my planning. I decided to use a Wiki to complete my unit plan on because I want to be challenged and try something new. I am so used to taking the traditional route and I feel as if I could really expand my technological skills through completing my unit plan on the Wiki. I didn’t think setting it up was difficult as long as you watched the tutorials and paid close attention to the directions being given in class. I do wish there were more examples available to look at because I am not sure if I am on the right track with my unit plan. I feel a little nervous to write my objectives for my unit plan, because of how I struggle. Above all I really just want to be successful and create a really neat unit plan that I could possibly use with my own students when I am a teacher. I also want to be familiar with the pbworks website so that I could possibly use it to complete more units on when the time comes. I am just so anxious to get the ball rolling and to really get into the deeper stages of planning. I have collected many resources from the college curriculum library, the internet, and also through the library located in my town. Overall, I am so anxious to plan that I lay awake at night thinking about it because this is the most fun thing about teaching: being able to plan and come up with creative ideas to engage students in learning. If you don’t believe me, ask my family members and boyfriend (I never stop talking about it).

The Road Will Be Long

Looking back on my two previous blogs until now I found that I have come a long long way since the beginning of the semester, and i am proud of my efforts thus far. I look forward to seeing what the end of the semester will hold. I am excited to get started on the unit plan and to accomplish this will be very rewarding to me because I enjoy looking back on things I have done and thinking about the time and energy spent and knowing that it is all worth it, because in the end i will one day have my own classroom where i will teach everyday and go home at night to my own husband and children and live the life I have always dreamed for myself. I only want two things in life: 1. To teach and 2. To have a family. Although the road will be long, it is a road that will be an adventure each and every day with every step I take.