Well, I am done for the semester (except one final)! I can't believe I am already a junior. I have decided to add pre-medicine back into my agenda, but I am still keeping my pre-natural science secondary education major because I like it and it meets all of the requirements for UNMC entry. Seeing as only 11% of applicants make it in my degree is perfect to fall back on because I would enjoy teaching/coaching!
Schools and Society- The main issue I had with this class is that the large portion of our semester/grade was spent on a project that was kind of odd. It was a 12-15 page paper plus a case study in a group setting. The groups each had about five people and the paper was mainly based on research. I think it would have been easier to write if it was about something more factual (ex. a paper on a country and its culture) but it was about ethics. It was very difficult to get everyone in the group to think in the same direction and I felt like we were constantly having to redo what we already had done. We did learn how to compromise and by the end I thought we were all on the same brain wave. But if I were the one designing the assignment I would have shortened the page length and made it into a one person assignment. This class did help me to see different perspectives. In the beginning of this class we had a lot of group discussions and there was one student that lacked social graces and would just interrupt and talk endlessly. I thought the professor handled this very well, because it was important to realize that the student is on a different level. It is important to allow your students to express their thoughts and I admired the professor's patience. Also, we read a Deborah Meier's book that I found interesting.
Biology-We fell pretty far behind in the syllabus in this class. But I liked that rather than hurrying through material in order to stick to schedule he was not concerned about it. The material we did make it through we learned well because it was in detail. The lab was a LOT of work, probably an equal amount to the lecture. Seeing as I will teach high school I would definitely lesson the lab work. I like that we did the lab reports a section at a time, and the labs correlated to what we learning in lecture. I really liked the sea urchin reproduction lab and also the plant cells (nail polish, microscope) lab I think I could replicate those in my class.
Time for a break until summer classes! Whoo!
Monday, April 29, 2013
Monday, March 4, 2013
Sophomore Year-Second Semester
So this semester has been a lot of work! I am not the biggest fan of writing papers! I want to ask my professors for some books that are "must reads" for either their subject matter or education/teaching in general. If anyone knows any books please comment, I will add them to my summer reading list!
A couple things I wanted to talk about and remind myself to talk about later when I have more time to blog..
METR 200- My professor is very nice. Periodically he hands out little squares for us to write questions we have about the material we are going over and hand it in. I think this helps people who are too shy or embarrassed to ask out loud in class (especially since it is like 60 students..) He also ties in current events which I think makes it a lot more interesting. He doesn't use a lecture made from the book word by word. He writes his own and refers back to book. He provides lecture outlines online that we can print out and fill out during class. It helps me to know what is important to write down. He has two bigger homework assignments due at the end of the semester, but if you turn them in early (it is a certain date that I don't remember) then he gives you bonus. I think this is good because it prompts students to get it done sooner which helps with their studying as well as gives you more time to grade. He also has links and "modules" where we could go to learn more about meteorology if we wanted to.
TEAC 331? 330?- I can't remember what number this class is...but all of my professors are nice so I guess I don't need to say it everytime. It has been a good academic year for the professors I have been getting. REMINDER-talk about group work problems, group discussion (talking freely and respect), and ethics in teaching later. He does a great job of writing lots of feedback on our papers, you can tell he spends lots of time actually looking at them. He allows you to rewrite any paper for two weeks after you get it back. I think this is great, if you learned from his feedback and can make your paper better..shouldn't your grade reflect that?
BIOS 101-Lots of study opportunities. There are supplemental instruction times outside of class two times a week. He had a "how to study for exams in general" session. He holds reviews before every test. He has three videos that students watch, they must at least attend two and write papers about them. If you attend and write about all three then it is bonus. The viewing so far was about parasites. I think it is a good way to bring in an interesting part about biology. There are study questions due every week, which is good because it keeps the students reviewing the material. REMINDER-talk about keeping up with syllabus and falling behind
ATHC #-Coaching Track-LOVE this class. By far my favorite! But it is about track..what isn't to love? Plus the teacher was also a cross country coach so it focuses a lot on distance..another plus. REMINDER-talk about this class, guest speakers, enthusiasm, confidence in subject matter
A couple things I wanted to talk about and remind myself to talk about later when I have more time to blog..
METR 200- My professor is very nice. Periodically he hands out little squares for us to write questions we have about the material we are going over and hand it in. I think this helps people who are too shy or embarrassed to ask out loud in class (especially since it is like 60 students..) He also ties in current events which I think makes it a lot more interesting. He doesn't use a lecture made from the book word by word. He writes his own and refers back to book. He provides lecture outlines online that we can print out and fill out during class. It helps me to know what is important to write down. He has two bigger homework assignments due at the end of the semester, but if you turn them in early (it is a certain date that I don't remember) then he gives you bonus. I think this is good because it prompts students to get it done sooner which helps with their studying as well as gives you more time to grade. He also has links and "modules" where we could go to learn more about meteorology if we wanted to.
TEAC 331? 330?- I can't remember what number this class is...but all of my professors are nice so I guess I don't need to say it everytime. It has been a good academic year for the professors I have been getting. REMINDER-talk about group work problems, group discussion (talking freely and respect), and ethics in teaching later. He does a great job of writing lots of feedback on our papers, you can tell he spends lots of time actually looking at them. He allows you to rewrite any paper for two weeks after you get it back. I think this is great, if you learned from his feedback and can make your paper better..shouldn't your grade reflect that?
BIOS 101-Lots of study opportunities. There are supplemental instruction times outside of class two times a week. He had a "how to study for exams in general" session. He holds reviews before every test. He has three videos that students watch, they must at least attend two and write papers about them. If you attend and write about all three then it is bonus. The viewing so far was about parasites. I think it is a good way to bring in an interesting part about biology. There are study questions due every week, which is good because it keeps the students reviewing the material. REMINDER-talk about keeping up with syllabus and falling behind
ATHC #-Coaching Track-LOVE this class. By far my favorite! But it is about track..what isn't to love? Plus the teacher was also a cross country coach so it focuses a lot on distance..another plus. REMINDER-talk about this class, guest speakers, enthusiasm, confidence in subject matter
Saturday, January 12, 2013
Review of Last Semester
The class that this blog was made for is now over. While I hope to routinely write things that I learn, it will probably not be as frequently. Last semester I took Instructional Technology and Multicultural Education. I am going to list out some things that I want to remember but aren't already on either my website or this blog.
Assessment-I want every student to get an A. This doesn't mean making the test a walk in the park but it means giving lots of review and practice opportunities for students before they are assessed. Go beyond just preparing your students for exams, the class should be about the learning not the grades. The grades will hopefully reflect the learning, therefore if a student does poorly on an exam and then learns the subject better let them do a retake or a way to make up more points from. One example this semester was having them write about each problem they got wrong and why its wrong and what the right answer is and why its right. Let them get full points back, if they now know 100% of the material they should get a 100%. "Oh what if all the students do poorly because they know they can make up the points?" Hopefully the students are a little more responsible than that. Plus it is going to be a lot of work to get back the points, it would be easier for them if they studied and just did it right the first time.
Lecturing- This wasn't necessarily part of the curriculum but just something I thought about. Keeping students engaged-make sure they feel comfortable asking questions and encourage it. I liked how some of my professors involved modern events into the curriculum for example learning about high and low pressure systems talk about Hurricane Sandy, talking about porosity or another thing to do with geology talk about the transcanadian pipe line. Talk about what made the hurricane worse than others (it ran into a pressure system that kept feeding it, talk about how hurricanes lose power once they hit over land because the rain to ocean cycle feeds its power and it can no longer do that over land).
Multicultural education-It is hard for me to explain what I took from this class..it was very abstract. They talked about how condensing one ethnic group down to a month (Black history month) is wrong. Every day should be about all cultures in America. Hard to say how I would incorporate that into teaching science. I guess I would be cautious when picking out a textbook, I want it to include scientists besides just "old white guys."
Technology-Most of this is on the website so no need to reiterate it! Just keep up on the times I suppose.
Assessment-I want every student to get an A. This doesn't mean making the test a walk in the park but it means giving lots of review and practice opportunities for students before they are assessed. Go beyond just preparing your students for exams, the class should be about the learning not the grades. The grades will hopefully reflect the learning, therefore if a student does poorly on an exam and then learns the subject better let them do a retake or a way to make up more points from. One example this semester was having them write about each problem they got wrong and why its wrong and what the right answer is and why its right. Let them get full points back, if they now know 100% of the material they should get a 100%. "Oh what if all the students do poorly because they know they can make up the points?" Hopefully the students are a little more responsible than that. Plus it is going to be a lot of work to get back the points, it would be easier for them if they studied and just did it right the first time.
Lecturing- This wasn't necessarily part of the curriculum but just something I thought about. Keeping students engaged-make sure they feel comfortable asking questions and encourage it. I liked how some of my professors involved modern events into the curriculum for example learning about high and low pressure systems talk about Hurricane Sandy, talking about porosity or another thing to do with geology talk about the transcanadian pipe line. Talk about what made the hurricane worse than others (it ran into a pressure system that kept feeding it, talk about how hurricanes lose power once they hit over land because the rain to ocean cycle feeds its power and it can no longer do that over land).
Multicultural education-It is hard for me to explain what I took from this class..it was very abstract. They talked about how condensing one ethnic group down to a month (Black history month) is wrong. Every day should be about all cultures in America. Hard to say how I would incorporate that into teaching science. I guess I would be cautious when picking out a textbook, I want it to include scientists besides just "old white guys."
Technology-Most of this is on the website so no need to reiterate it! Just keep up on the times I suppose.
Sunday, November 18, 2012
11/18/2012
"Using the web to teach yourself something"
I chose how to make the 'perfect' brownies. I started on my Pinterest page because I knew I had some different recipes on there. It was easy, there were tons to pick from. I picked one from a guy's blog. He even had a Youtube video to watch if the instructions weren't clear enough. He claimed in would take two minutes to make them, which wasn't how long it took me.. I had to go get the supplies and then preheating the oven took a while. I could comment back on his blog about how the brownies turned out, if I had any suggestions for the recipes, if I had any ideas for making his instructions more clear. I could use this for student learning purposes. They can learn about lots of things from class on their own. In the lesson plan, I had them look up information about the dissection. I could use it to teach myself things as technology advances so I don't fall behind. I could also find lots of ideas for lesson plans online.
How to Make Perfect Brownies by Drew Hime available at http://cooklikeyourgrandmother.com/2009/07/how-to-make-perfect-brownies/
I chose how to make the 'perfect' brownies. I started on my Pinterest page because I knew I had some different recipes on there. It was easy, there were tons to pick from. I picked one from a guy's blog. He even had a Youtube video to watch if the instructions weren't clear enough. He claimed in would take two minutes to make them, which wasn't how long it took me.. I had to go get the supplies and then preheating the oven took a while. I could comment back on his blog about how the brownies turned out, if I had any suggestions for the recipes, if I had any ideas for making his instructions more clear. I could use this for student learning purposes. They can learn about lots of things from class on their own. In the lesson plan, I had them look up information about the dissection. I could use it to teach myself things as technology advances so I don't fall behind. I could also find lots of ideas for lesson plans online.
How to Make Perfect Brownies by Drew Hime available at http://cooklikeyourgrandmother.com/2009/07/how-to-make-perfect-brownies/
Saturday, November 3, 2012
11/3/2012
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/may07/vol64/num08/Assessment-Through-the-Student%27s-Eyes.aspx
This article is about using assessment to help students instead of it just being another mark in the grade book. Some students get on a winning streak where they do good on a test and they continue to do well. On the other hand some students fail which discourages them and then they continue to fail. One thing it mentioned was showing your expectations through examples of excellent student work. This way students know what you are expecting so they can work towards that. I remember a few different classes where there assignments that I wasn't sure what the teacher wanted me to do so I did what I thought he/she wanted and I didn't get as high of a grade as I expected. I think if I would have got an example I would have done a lot better.
I liked the part that said you aren't going to keep all failure from happening but you are trying to keep it from happening twice in a row. You can find what the student failed on and correct it. The steps were setting your students up for success and turning failure into success. I think it is important that your tests aren't just a regurgitation of material.
This article is about using assessment to help students instead of it just being another mark in the grade book. Some students get on a winning streak where they do good on a test and they continue to do well. On the other hand some students fail which discourages them and then they continue to fail. One thing it mentioned was showing your expectations through examples of excellent student work. This way students know what you are expecting so they can work towards that. I remember a few different classes where there assignments that I wasn't sure what the teacher wanted me to do so I did what I thought he/she wanted and I didn't get as high of a grade as I expected. I think if I would have got an example I would have done a lot better.
I liked the part that said you aren't going to keep all failure from happening but you are trying to keep it from happening twice in a row. You can find what the student failed on and correct it. The steps were setting your students up for success and turning failure into success. I think it is important that your tests aren't just a regurgitation of material.
Wednesday, October 31, 2012
10/31/12
http://www.eschoolnews.com/2010/02/16/11-programs-only-as-good-as-their-teachers/
The article wouldn't allow me to read all five pages, but I will blog about what I read from the first page. The article talks about how without the adaption of lesson plans, incorporating technology is useless. You can't take a plan that you made for class without laptops and then use it for a class with laptops without adjusting it. This is just lazy teaching. A good teacher can be able to reinvent their lessons to stay modern with the technology and to adapt to their student's needs. Classes wanting to involve a one-to-one program require a teacher that is willing to put in the extra time and effort that it is going to take to remodel their curriculum. For my class I really want to use laptops, I think there are a lot of great resources available.
The article wouldn't allow me to read all five pages, but I will blog about what I read from the first page. The article talks about how without the adaption of lesson plans, incorporating technology is useless. You can't take a plan that you made for class without laptops and then use it for a class with laptops without adjusting it. This is just lazy teaching. A good teacher can be able to reinvent their lessons to stay modern with the technology and to adapt to their student's needs. Classes wanting to involve a one-to-one program require a teacher that is willing to put in the extra time and effort that it is going to take to remodel their curriculum. For my class I really want to use laptops, I think there are a lot of great resources available.
Thursday, September 20, 2012
9/20/2012
Reflection on technology tools to use in the class room:
http://www.techlearning.com/article/back-to-school-product-showcase/46264
A lot of these tools were software or online downloads that look very useful. The online learning exchange is a site that a teacher can upload their course material alongside the information from the textbook for student access. They have different activities on the website to track the student's progress. One idea I thought was very interesting would be to have an independent learning class. Since I am a science teacher I would have one of my classes be an independent science class. The Gradpoint tool is an online program (http://www.pearsonschool.com/%20gradpoint) that has different elective courses a student could do. This class that I am envisioning would need to be in the computer lab or have enough laptops for each student in the class. Students could pick different science courses and do it at their own pace. I would be more of a facilitator than a teacher. If students had a problem with what they are learning I would be able to help them. I think this would be good to give them experience in courses they wouldn't normally encounter in high school. It would also give them experience being more independent in their learning to help them prepare for college.
http://www.techlearning.com/article/back-to-school-product-showcase/46264
A lot of these tools were software or online downloads that look very useful. The online learning exchange is a site that a teacher can upload their course material alongside the information from the textbook for student access. They have different activities on the website to track the student's progress. One idea I thought was very interesting would be to have an independent learning class. Since I am a science teacher I would have one of my classes be an independent science class. The Gradpoint tool is an online program (http://www.pearsonschool.com/%20gradpoint) that has different elective courses a student could do. This class that I am envisioning would need to be in the computer lab or have enough laptops for each student in the class. Students could pick different science courses and do it at their own pace. I would be more of a facilitator than a teacher. If students had a problem with what they are learning I would be able to help them. I think this would be good to give them experience in courses they wouldn't normally encounter in high school. It would also give them experience being more independent in their learning to help them prepare for college.
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