Should Santa be Allowed to Come to School?

In Fort Worth ISD, Santa has not been aloud to come into the classroom because of religious beliefs. If this were to happen where I am interning, then the activities and lessons we have done this past week would not have been able to happen! Last Thursday, my students did an activity where we learned a Christmas song, which talked about Santa, and decorated a stocking. If Santa were not aloud in the classroom, we would not have been able to do anything like this. Though I do believe that if Santa were not aloud in the classroom and the faculty really wanted to incorporate Santa somehow into school, they could have parties after school for children who choose to participate in it. I believe by doing that, it should help solve a lot of issues with religion in the classroom.

Favorite Internet Teaching Resource Site

Pinterest

For teachers who love being creative and fun in the classroom, I highly recommend the website above. This website gives super fun ideas for lesson plans and activities in the classroom. Not only does it do that, but it gives cute ideas to decorate your classroom also. I use this website a lot, because I enjoy doing activities that the kids have fun with and are also learning at the same time.

Reasons teachers should use Pinterest for making a lesson plan:

• Creative ideas
• Many options to choose from
• Activities that keeps kids involved
• The best website EVER! (:

Procrastination

I have to be one of the biggest procrastinators, granted I work better when I have a set time to get things done, because I actually work and don't get distracted. Though it always is not my best work. I try not to procrastinate, but I had a bad experience last year when I procrastinated on a huge paper I had due in my english class. For the assignment we had to do a lot of research on the internet and then write a 7 page essay over the research that we did. I ended up waiting till about 9 at night to start the paper, thats when I realized that it would be impossible to finish the paper. I had to skip school the next day and I missed a lot of assignments and homework that was due. I ended up getting a really good grade on the paper, but it was not worth missing a day of school over. In order for me to not procrastinate anymore, I set dates for myself to have certain things done by, so that by the time it is due the whole assignment is complete. I try not to procrastinate a lot, for the most part it has been very successful and has helped me a lot.

Week Three: Leadership Opportunity

This past Wednesday, November 2, my class mate Carlee and I were involved in a Count on Character Contest in the Region 11 TAFE Leadership Conference. For the Count on Character Contest we had to write and illustrate a child's book that portrayed a good value. We chose to write about a boy named Jack who looses his sandwich during recess. Come to find out, it was a little bird who stole his sandwich and him finally admitting that he took it. The value of the story is honesty and friendship, because the bird learned he had to be honest and at the end of the book the bird and Jack become the best of friends.
For the contest Carlee and I had to present the book to judges and make the characters have different voices as we read the book. We thought the book was really awesome and that we would have places, but only 2 books could be picked and we were not. I'm still really pleased how the contest went and now I have a book that I can use in my classroom!

Week 2: Student Behavior

This week in the class I am interning at, I had to watch the behavior of a student and identify their learning preferences. In my class there is a little girl who is very hands on and needs one on one attention to keep her focused. She gets very distracted and always gets up and starts walking around the classroom. My teacher has to constantly tell her to keep working on her work. In order for her to be some what focused my teacher had to move her to a table that is isolated from everyone else by her desk.When it comes to drawing and doing art things she tends to typically stay in her seat in work on her work. She loves making things and always makes me things and gives them to me as presents. She is very sweet, but just needs extra attention to keep her focused and work on the work where she has to by literal.

Week One: Classroom Description

This year I am interning in Mrs. Webster's 2nd grade classroom at Walker Creek Elementary. This Tuesday was my first day and when I got into her classroom I loved it because it is an outdoors theme! She has a little tent in the back corner for them to read in, which is really cute and a fun idea. When i arrived the kids were still at lunch and as soon as they got back Mrs. Webster had me read to them a chapter from the book. The kids loved when i read to them, which gave me a lot more confidence! The students are very sweet and seem to really like me. They are a little rowdy and very outgoing, but it is very understandable for 2nd graders; after all they are just coming back from lunch when i get there. The most exciting thing that had happened to me the first day i got there was when all the kids were sad when i had to leave and were asking if I was going to stay forever. I really liked it when they did this because it ment that they liked me and that it went very well for my first day! I'm very excited to go back next week and cannot wait to see what else I will be doing in the classroom!

Image Scrimmage

In the image scrimmage, I made a 230 out of 250 and the area that needed the most improvement is my demonstration on how to read a book. The part of that that needed improvement is getting the kids involved  and making eye contact with the group. In order to improve this I need to get out of my comfort zone and be more animated and keep the interested in what I am reading to them. If I had a do-over, I would make better eye contact and make sure i asked questions during the middle of my reading and when I introduced the book.

What Will Technology Look Like In My Classroom?

Years from now when I will be teaching, technology will look so much different from while I'm in school. There will most likely be no textbooks or just everyday reading books. Students will probably have either eBooks, nooks, ipads, etc. Also there will probably be some kind of different projector used to project notes and such onto the board, which the board will most likely be a Smartboard, or if they have invented something new by then it would be that. Most likely each student will have their  own laptop to use for school by then. I hope that these new technologies will be in the classroom that I will be teacher, because it will be a great learning experience for students!

What Facebook Does to Kids' Brains

In this article it talks about how children are using Facebook and how it affects them. My opinion of kids and Facebook is that they should not have a Facebook page until they are in middle school, other than that there is no reason for a child to have one.
Now a days teachers also use Facebook as a way to keep teaching out of the classroom, they make a page for their classroom where they post assignments, notes, and last year a teacher of mine had my class turn in an assignment onto Facebook. I think that that is completely fine, but other than that children that are not in middle school have no business in being on Facebook. Not only does it promote cyber bullying, but it can also teach inappropriate things that children that age do not need to know or see.

Credited source: http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/08/what-facebook-does-kids-brains/40973/#.TmTHQo33SKY.facebook

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