I-Movie

As part of our experience in Educational Psychology, we were required to create a movie based off a book we read in class. The book my group read was "Teach Like Your Hair's On Fire" by Rafe Esquith. The experience in itself was very fun and great to get acquainted with for use with I-Movie in my classroom. I felt that our group worked together very well even though there may have been technical difficulties here and there :)

This learning experience of making a movie brought me to realize what it can be like for students to be learning a new concept that can be difficult to work with, especially if it's technology and things go awry. I think it is important to integrate technology into your classroom because this enables children to think creatively in other ways then the usual poster board or even power point. If anything students can at least learn that saving files is VERY VERY important. It's even wise to put it on an external hard-drive if possible.

If you want to check out our video here's a link- Search for Level 6

Lost Generation

Recently I viewed a clip on YouTube that involved looking at the future generation of America, my generation. The video brings up issues that I beleive many people in America would agree with, such as future generations don't care about the world nor do they care about creating interpersonal relationships because half the time their only form of communication is through technology. For the sake of my arguement lets forget the last thing I said about technology being the only form of communication (I in part am referring to this very blog). The way the video was formatted was very creative because it presented the negative things that people believe are generation will end up being proned to doing but when it gets to the end of the list it turns all of those things around to become positive aspects of what we can do.

I definitely would agree with this video that in the future I will be proactive about important issues as well as focus on the long term affects of things and not focus on the quick focuses. It is true that people seem to get caught up with new technology as well as the negative parts in the world, but I don't believe we are a part of a lost generation. I feel that because we had parents that grew up on "wholesome" values they rubbed off on us. As long as we focus on becoming better people we won't end up as the lost generation. I would say that for this it could be considered a mind of matter situation.

Reflections of a Blogger

Since the beginning of my blogging experience, I have come to realize what a great tool blogging can be. Not only do I get to express my views for the world to see, but I am able to check out fellow classmates and bloggers, seeing what they find interesting. Sometimes it can be hard for people to express their opinions and I am definitely one of those people. When I began blogging, I didn't know how to approach it or if it was really going to be worth while. Now that it is coming to a close (for now) I must say that it has been beneficial. Blogging allows me to point out key points I enjoyed in lectures and have a dialogue, even if it's with only myself.

Classrooms are a place where I can see blogs being used, especially with upper elementary students and even the teacher using it. Like websites, blogs can help keep the parents and other members of a students family in touch with the classroom. I feel like blogs help out a lot in this department because it allows the blogger to write their thoughts as if a conversation was going on. Although it is great for this use, I believe that it is still important to keep contact with the parents of the students and to not rely completely on the blog.

As we step into the future, new forms of communication are being formed and blogging is a major possibility in classrooms of all types. Whether teachers require their students to blog for an assignment or the teacher uses a blog to communicate with others about their clasroom, blogs are full of possibilities. The ease of the format and accessibility (for most) is great and allows for anyone to express opinions, thoughts, or ideas.


Check out this article for information on a teacher that uses blogs to teach composition

Alcohol, who knew it could damage your brain!

This evening our Psychology class had the opportunity to attend a lecture on the adolescent brain and alcohol. The beginning of the lecture began with the speaker, Karen Williams, explaining the brain and a bit of the anatomy that goes along with it. I found this lecture to be very informative and a great topic especially for middle school students(her intended audience). The main emphasis was on how the developing brain can be damaged when effected by alcohol.

As I sat listening to the lecture I was intrigued with the information she presented and how it was presented. I will not disagree that alcohol can have negative impacts on the brain, but I feel that the evidence provided was exaggerated and since Karen Williams is only interpreting the information, I don't know how much it is correct. So, on that note, I don't want to put down the lecture, so instead I tried to focus on the educational aspects of it, particularly her lecturing method.

The power point that Karen had was a very effective tool for the lecture. Unlike other power points that I have seen, this one had information that mainly consisted of pictures and videos. These quick videos helped to keep the audience engaged and focused on the visual kinesthetic needs of those listening. The way in which the information was presented was also very well done and it is evident that she usually talks with younger students. She was energetic and broke down concepts so that her targeted audience would be able to understand. There were a lot of analogies used which assisted in describing the concepts to a general audience.

Overall the lecture brought light the developing brain, and an unintentional example of an effective lecture. Karen demonstrated subject matter competence(though this could be argued) and audience interaction. This will be good to look back on to, especially with the great visuals she had.

Give me a second to remember... wait, what was the question?

Within the content areas of teaching, I would like to say that I have many strengths. It's hard to say that though because how much do you really know? I have learned a lot in books and what is to be done "theoretically" but is that truly enough when it comes to teaching? Over the years I have acquired a set of skills with problem solving, time-management, and even public speaking skills. Fortunately for me (and those around myself), I have been able to practice those skills in the real world and build on previous knowledge bases to get where I am at today with those skills. In teaching, it is important to be knowledgeable in your content area, especially when teaching others what you know. In our text it talks about expertise and the different expertise's with learning. I personally have a harder time with learning and comprehending things at first, but over time I am able to become more fluent with my retrieval of information. In the books section of expertise it talks of fluent retrieval and how over time one can get information out of the memory storage quicker. As I teach and become more informed of the classroom I will be able to retrieve said information more easily, as well as answer student questions about a given subject. Once you are able to get passed what I like to call the awkward stage of teaching(your first couple of years) can you truly succeed in the content areas of teaching. Of course, who am I to talk considering I am only a mere sophomore in college with no teaching experience. Yet, even though that is the case, in a sense we go through that awkward stage with any step of life and in a sense it's the initiation into the cool kids club of knowledge.

Chalk and Wire

Oh the life of a future teacher, filled with worries, tests, preparation, and... your favorite online portfolio,"Chalk and Wire!" In all sincerity, it really isn't that bad. I believe the idea is that we will use these to show future employers our wonderful ideas about teaching and the artifacts to back up our claims to fame of competencies. I definitely was confused the first day I walked into an Education class (not Ed. Psych) and heard about this. Now that every class I am in uses the system, I understand it a lot more. Although, I do wonder if these will actually be looked at in the future. I like to hope that my hard work will get checked out; this will be my motivation to make it spectacular.

It's important to understand the reasons behind teaching, ensuring that you understand why you are going into the profession. Each of the competencies that we are required to analyze brings to attention aspects of my future that I can't wait to embark on. Yet, at the same time I am freaked out by the idea that I, Sabrina, will be in charge of the minds that will go off into the world and help create everyone's future. Am I capable of doing such a big job? I like to think so at times, even if I am not getting A's on my lesson plans. Comprehending the competencies as well as putting them into practice within your classroom is the important part. I know that my classroom will be fantastic and my students will be just as great. So, thanks Chalk and Wire for creating more work in my school schedule, but helping out in the end :)

Relationships of all Sorts

Marriage is a topic that can be hard, especially when looking into the future of teaching and how that can change any path you are on. At our Monday night class for Ed. Psych. we had a wonderful speaker from Japan, Doan van Dieu, who discussed marriage as well as the role that parents play in the selection of a spouse. Dieu began by asking if in America we consider ourselves to be free to marry whomever we wish. A key thing to think about this topic is to consider the people that are influencing the choice of a spouse. Whether we like it or not, we are influenced by others, especially by our parents if they are in our lives. Dieu explained that our parents love their children and want the best for them as well as know things from experience. They(parents) are able to decide and see from an outside perspective what is right for their son or daughter.

Looking at the relationship of parents and marriage for their children, it shows how important parents are to children's lives. I definitely take advantage of my parents from time to time and the amazing help they give me with my everyday life. When I look into the future, it's hard to say what will happen in my classroom, and how involved my students parents will be. If they aren't that involved, it can be hard on that student to see how other parents interact with their child. I can only hope that in my classroom I make all my students feel loved as well as show them how adults can be positive influences in their life.

Oh what a class...

Classroom management is a topic that is important when considering the job of a teacher. Yet, when I watched the movie "Chalk" it was quite interesting the LACK of classroom management that was seen. Overall, I found the movie to be funny and depicted the lives of teachers in a comedic-over exaggerated-realistic way. One particular teacher, whom I believe anyone that watched the movie will remember, didn't seem to be aware of order in a classroom. From day one he was clearly unreceptive to proper body language and verbal language that should be portrayed in a classroom with students.

Looking into the future I can't help but fear that I will someday be lost in my own classroom, students throwing spit balls or threatening each other with switch blades. Granted, I don't know too many 1st graders that know what a switch blade is, but it still is a scary thought. Order is something that needs to be found in a classroom to make sure that the students are able to learn in a comfortable setting. Maslow created a hierarchy of needs and one that is important is safety needs. Creating an environment of a "family" helps students learn easier and even shows some that don't have good backgrounds how people should be treated.

Another teacher that had an interesting method in dealing with students was the hopeful "Teacher of the Year." I'm not gonna lie, at first I found him to be a pretty cool guy and seemed to connect well with the students. I can recall a teacher from my high school that was very similar to him, always trying to be the friend of the students. As the movie continued there came a scene where he holds two students after class is dismissed and procedes to tell them that they need to "tone down" their smartness because they are making him look bad. If that doesn't scream unethical I don't know what does. Last time I checked it was the teachers job to encourage students to do their best and push for excellence. It is important for teachers to have their students strive for excellence. Later on in the movie, the same teacher had a discussion with one of the smart students about his dropping grade. Could this poor grade possibly be due to the fact that his teacher told him to not try so hard and to not be "smarter" then his teacher.

Words of Wisdom

Recently I had the opportunity to listen to some words of wisdom from a professional in the education field. Starting off as an elementary education major, Mr. Chambliss went on to work as a teacher, special education coordinator, and even the superintendent for Decorah schools. One thing that he stressed in his presentation was that teachers should not stick to one content area while teaching. In fact, teachers should switch every 5 years or so. I found this to be very interesting and do agree with it to an extent. Teachers should definitely keep themselves changing things up, but as long as you are successfully doing your job of helping children learn, you shouldn't necessarily have to change your job.

In my future, I don't know what I see. It's so hard to sit down and plan out something that is so up in the air. I noticed after listening to Mr. Chambliss and our new teacher panel, it seems that your life will always take on different paths then what you originally plan. Who knows where I'll end up, but I do know that I will keep an open mind. Right now I plan on starting off in an area where I am unfamiliar, like inner city. I'm from the Minneapolis area, so I have a feeling that's where I might end up. I know that whereever I end up, things will only be as good as I make them.

New-Teacher Panel

On Monday, our Educational Psychology class held a panel of new teachers located in the local area. As I sat there thinking about who they were and what they did as teachers, it was very interesting to see where each of them was in their careers.

When one starts off in the real world it can be incomprehensible at times what is expected of them. Teachers are constantly having to figure out what goes where, much like a puzzle piece. One thing that stood out to me was the way that each one talked about their classroom and the behavior that students displayed. It's not that the students were horribly behaved, spitting gum wads into each others hair or swearing at the teacher, it was more so the fact that many of the students seemed to not be receiving developmentally appropriate materials in their every day lives.

As a child, I grew up like many other children with my parents telling me the woes of their time and "How hard school was when everything needed to be done by hand." It seemed to them, much like the teachers that sat in front of me talking, that children were losing sight of the important things in life. One issue that was brought up included the use of technology in the classroom. Living in the 21st century has enabled us to generate more technological advances then anyone has ever seen. Children are very impressionable people and when they see people within their microsystem constantly using, they adapt similarly, even receiving cell phones at a very young age.

I feel as though with each new generation the developmental stages of children are slowly becoming sooner. Especially with technology, many children are lacking developmentally, not experiencing face-to-face interactions like "the good ol' days." An important part in a child's development is language and without practice it can hurt them severly in the future with reading, writing, and even social skills. In the tv ads with the babies talking, you gotta wonder if children will ever get like that.

Maybe we are right in criticizing children these days, but before we do, maybe it's time to look at reality and realize that times are changing and how much can we really stop it?



Check out this article discussing the littlest of technology users
http://www.babble.com.au/2009/02/25/the-littlest-surfers/

TV ad commercial: Babies talking
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_npD8zzFi0w

Paper Clips

Recently in our Educational Psychology class, we watched the movie "Paper Clips," a documentary covering the Holocaust project done by Whitwell Middle School in Tennessee. The movie was very well done and presented the story of Whitwell Middle School in a great way. I found the idea of the project very unique as well as a great experience for the students. As a future teacher it is great to hear of new techniques in getting students actively learning and interested in the subject matter.




One thing that I did wish the movie touched on was how they taught the unit of Holocaust. It was evident that the students collected paper clips to demonstrate the number of Jews killed, but we weren't shown how the students were taught. It was amazing to see the affect that the project had on some of the students and the community. The great thing about the Paper Clips project was that it not only got the students involved in learning, but guest speakers were held for the public, as well as the students, getting them involved in the lives of the students.