ThingLink: Consumer and Community Health

     I used ThingLink in order to explore several healthcare services within the community. On each building or vehicle, I defined their purpose and an instance in which their service would be used. I decided to include some of the better known services since those would be the ones that my students would be more familiar with. I can show this to my class as an initial introduction to health services. Then, if I want to, I can have each of them create a ThingLink for a variety of assignments. They can either create one to talk about some less common services within the community or to go more in depth on one of the services that I covered. A student might create a ThingLink that has a picture of a hospital room and then explain what some of the different medical supplies are for.
     I liked the easy accessibility of the information. Instead of having to click on a link that would take me to a different page, I could roll my mouse over a link and learn about the health service. I like that it is a kind of interactive learning and I think that will help some of my students in the future. I liked how easy it was to add pictures and text to the links. I did not like that it took quite a bit of time to put together all of the links and the information to go with them. It will have to be something that I use when I have a bit more time to plan it out.
      My students can use this tool to describe environments (as a science standard), including labeling the living and nonliving organisms within it. They can either draw pictures and upload them (as I did), or download pictures from the internet to create the project on. They can also use this tool to explore the classroom during the summer, before class has started.

Standards:
ISTE: Knowledge Constructor. "I critically select, evaluate and synthesize digital resources into a collection that reflects my learning and builds my knowledge".
EdTech: Standard 8, "Use technology resources (e.g., calculators, data collection probes, videos, educational software) for problem-solving, self-directed learning, an extended learning activities. (5, 6)".
UEN Content: Health Education--Standard 7 Objective 3, "Summarize the role of health services in the community. a. List various health services. b. Define the role of each service. c. Identify situations in which the health services can or should be accessed."

Pinterest: Reading Comprehension

     I used my Pinterest Board to gather pins to teach reading comprehension to a third grade class. I included pins which had activities to practice and teach comprehension as well as how to assess comprehension. I can use Pinterest in my classroom as a place to gather creative ideas which will develop a more engaged classroom when I am teaching. It is also a place where I can post my own ideas and share them with fellow teachers or parents who homeschool. My students can use Pinterest for different projects. For example, if we read a book as a class I can have my students put together a Pinterest board that includes quotes that describe their favorite character(s). They can also make a board with pictures that describe different settings that were in the book. This would assess their comprehension of the book because they are required to find descriptions within the book in order to build their Pinterest board.
     I liked using Pinterest. I really liked that I could see ideas from teachers all over the country and the world in one place. It is a nice tool for organizing ideas into different subjects, especially since you can break them into even smaller categories. For example, I can have a science board and I can also have a biology board, chemistry board, etc. It can even have boards for lessons about cells, photosynthesis, and more narrow lessons. A small downside is seeing the same pins over and over again while searching for ideas, but this is a minor inconvenience and not a reason to avoid the tool.
     My students can use this resource to gather information about books or other subjects that we are learning in class (history, science, etc). They can use it as a way to gather inspiration for projects, or as a project itself, just creating boards with pins relevant to their subject. They can also use it as an introduction project, meaning that they pin things which they like/dislike (including whether or not they like it), or things they are interested in learning about.

Standards:
ISTE: Knowledge Constructor: "I critically select, evaluate and synthesize digital resources into a collection that reflects my learning and builds my knowledge."
EdTech: Standard 5, "Use technology tools (e.g., multimedia authoring, presentation, web tools, digital cameras, scanners) for individual and collaborative writing, communication, and publishing activities to create knowledge products for audiences inside and outside the classroom. (3, 4)".
UEN Content: Reading--Literature Standard 1, "Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers"

Pinterest Board: 3rd Grade Reading Standard 1

Additional Sources (Some favorite teachers' blogs with additional ideas):
Totally Terrific in Texas
Who's Who and Who's New

#4: Engaging Learners in Today's Classrooms

Three Examples of How My Cooperating Teacher Engages Learners:
1. When reviewing multiplication facts, my cooperating teacher would split the class into teams. She would have one member from each team come up at a time. She would write all of the answers on the board, and have the students turn their back to it. Then, my teacher would say a multiplication fact, like "4 times 6". As soon as she said it, the students would turn around. Whoever touched "24" on the board first won that round.
2.  When she was doing reading groups, my cooperating teacher would have the members of the group discuss what they thought would happen next in the book. She sometimes also asked them questions about what they liked, what they learned, and allowed each student to respond to the question. She required that each student respectfully listen to the others.
3.  When going over the spelling list of the week, my cooperating teacher would allow students to offer sentences that include the words. For example, the word might be "work". She would then let a student offer the example sentence, "My mom goes to work at a hospital". This was engaging because they were able to apply their real-life experiences to what they were learning.

An Instance That Was Not Engaging and How to Change It:
One instance that was not engaging was when we were doing reading groups, and the group who was not reading or on the computer would sit at their desk. They were supposed to be working on spelling, but most of the students ended up straying away from the task. I think one method that would have helped this activity to be more engaging would have been allowing them to study as a group. Whether they filled out the spelling assignment together or played a fun review game, working together instead of sitting silently at their desks would be more engaging.

#9: Is Teaching For Me?

     I have learned the full responsibilities of a teacher--especially those beyond the roles of teacher and grader. I have learned that grading takes a significantly longer amount of time than I had originally thought. In addition, planning lessons can take up more of your time, making it difficult to have time for yourself. I learned from my cooperating teacher that being a teacher can be very stressful. However, I learned that effort can lead a student to making progress that they may not have thought possible. The influences of a teacher can affect a child for the rest of his or her life, and change the way that he or she participates in the rest of his or her education.
     I have decided that I still want to be an elementary school teacher. I have decided that the pros to being a teacher still outweigh the cons. I have not decided on a desired grade yet, but I am drawn to third grade because of my SLP. I want to be a teacher because of the good that they can do in a student's life.
     The Service Learning Placement showed me first hand the difficulties and joys of teaching. It showed me how difficult it can be to manage a classroom when students have a lot of energy or are easily distracted. I was able to experience the importance of a schedule and the various activities that are done in the classroom. I also had the chance to watch students finally understand something that my cooperating teacher had been trying to teach them for a while. I was able to experience how fun it is to work one-on-one with students, and in groups, and get to know all of their individual personalities. Through the Service Learning Placement, I was able to see concepts that we learned in this class and decide what I thought of them in a more realistic setting.
     My next steps are to work on earning a few more credits before applying to the Education program. I want to do some hours in a few different classes, with different teachers and different grades. The goal of this is to better draw a conclusion of which grade I might prefer to teach in. I intend to try a few different schools as well, so I can develop an opinion of which schools I would like to teach in after earning my degree.

#8: Classroom Assessment

Through my Service Learning, I've been able to make connections between course topics and the Service Learning. Because of the real-life example of the classroom, the topics have become more solidified for me.
I feel that I have done a good job of articulating my learning and understanding. I have at least written what I felt I have learned and come to understand.
Blogging is helping me think and notice things in my Service Learning because I have a specific reason to watch for those things. For example, if I didn't have to report back on it, I might not notice examples of how the teacher treats students with cultural disadvantages. I at least wouldn't recognize that that is what they are. Knowing that I will have to write a blog encourages me to more carefully observe my experiences in the classroom. And, documenting my observations helps me to solidify what I have learned.
I published my first blog entry knowing almost nothing about education that I know now. I am glad that the blog has been a way for me to document my progress, and my pathway to becoming a teacher. I look forward to the next step in the journey, and hope that I will remember to revisit this blog and remember how it all started.

#7: Standards and Accountability

My cooperating teacher addresses the standards by having a consistent schedule in which she fits in a part of each standard every day. She has a time of the day where she will cover math standards, reading standards, and different art standards. She combines reading and social studies standards into the same assignments--such as a reading and writing assignment about the lives of Iroquois Indians. My teacher seems to use her time wisely in order to most effectively cover all of the standards.

Reading subject matter standards seem to be given more emphasis than others. However, this seems to be more because of her class's difficulty in meeting these standards. I don't quite see as many of the science standards being covered in the classroom. Part of this may be because I don't attend the full class, but the schedule also doesn't have a designated time for science. However, I don't see all of their assignments, so there may be some where standards are combined. My teacher understands the reasons behind the standards and standardized testing. But, like most teachers, she occasionally becomes stressed about all of the things that are required of her. I think that she does an exceptional job of realistically helping her students reach these standards.

#6: Diversity in Today's Schools

In my service-learning classroom, there is diversity regarding race, economic class, and family life. My teacher addresses them by treating all of her students equally. She doesn't choose favorites based on any of the differences possessed by her students.

This treatment is beneficial because she does not judge her students by their backgrounds. She expects all of them to accomplish the same amount of progress as the others. She holds them all to the same standard, and it empowers some of them to reach above the standards that may have been set for them by society.

There is one student who was not raised in America, and he is the only one who receives slightly different treatment. However, the only difference is the extra time that my teacher takes to help him understand the concepts (because of cultural knowledge that he lacks). He is still expected to succeed in the classroom and he is treated the same as the rest of the students, he just receives some assistance in cultural context.