Thanksgiving Plans

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! This is one of my favorite times of the year. What can be better than a day to gather with family, reflect on all of the positive things in your life, and celebrate by eating lots of home cooked food? This year for Thanksgiving I am going to my grandma and grandpa’s house in South Fargo. I am very thankful to be celebrating with them this year because they usually go to Texas from October to April but decided to stay in Fargo for winter this year. It is nice to be with them for the holidays again this year! My dad, brother, aunt, and uncles will also be there to celebrate. We usually don’t do anything too fancy for Thanksgiving. It is nice to just catch up on each other’s lives, reminisce on old times, and enjoy a meal together. I hope everyone has a safe and happy holiday season! J

Paperless Education

I think that paperless education is a very positive practice. It encourages the use of technology and is good for the environment. However, there are still some situations that require paper paper in my opinion. I don’t think that students should solely rely on technology. There are some situations in which using paper allows for more creativity. I think that most things involving art need paper as well. Also, we should not completely get rid of paper because students will not get the required practice for handwriting. That being said, there are many ways teachers can cut down on the use of paper in the classroom to be more environmentally friendly. The following is a list of ideas that teachers could try:

• For writing, instead of using journals that use a lot of paper, students could write a blog. An added bonus is that parents can have access to their child’s writing!
• Use Google Docs or email as a way for students to turn in assignments
• Use Microsoft word or applications like Evernote to take notes in class
• Give tests or quizzes online. Zoho offers an easy way to do this.
• Create presentations online by using a website like Prezi

Build Your Wild Self!

The build your wild self website allows students to create themselves as a mix of many different animals. It is a fun and educational tool for students. Students start out by making a character that looks like them. They can choose from things like different hair and eye colors, hairstyle, and clothing. Then, there are options for different animal parts. Students can add tails, ears, and other things unique to many different animals. An example of the wild self that I created is on the right. This could be used when doing a unit on animals in science. Students can identify the different animals that they chose and identify if they are mammals, birds, reptiles, etc. Overall, I think students will really enjoy this creative 
website!

Poster Programs

Buying posters for the classroom can get to be expensive! There are many great resources online to get ideas or quotes to make your own posters. I found the idea on the left from Pinterest which let me to the blog technology rocks. seriously. I made this poster about thinking before you speak using Photoshop. You could also use Microsoft Word, Photoshop, or Gimp to make your own poster. This way you can add your own personal touch or make sure it goes with the theme of your classroom. Once you finish a poster you can order it online. Vistaprint is usually a good option because it is fairly cheap and offers a lot of options. These posters are great for the classroom used as little reminders for students! You can make them for various things from posting directions on how to use something, rules for the classroom, or positive quotes for inspiration. The possibilities are endless!

Favorite Teaching Blog

    My favorite teaching blog that I have come across recently is The Organized Classroom Blog by teacher Charity Preston. Charity gives endless cheap and simple ideas for organization. I especially like this blog because it gives a variety of ideas from how to set up a classroom to lesson ideas for many subjects and age groups. The layout of the website is very easy to follow and allows for quick searching. It is also a good place to start when searching for ideas for the classroom as it gives links to other helpful sister sites. Additionally, she has links for various other resources such as using QR codes. Finally, there is a link to the Organized Classroom store in which teachers can purchase some of the resources Charity blogs about. Overall, I really enjoy this site and have obtained many great ideas for my classroom in the future!

VCSU Practicum

For our Intro to Education class we have been assigned to a local elementary school classroom to observe and help out for a total of 40 hours. I have been assigned to a first grade classroom in the West Fargo School District. I am really enjoying my time there, getting to know my cooperating teacher and her students! This experience is really helpful because it allows me to see first-hand things that I have been learning about in my classes. I have gained a better understanding of how challenging it can be to manage a class of over 20 children that are at different levels. My cooperating teacher is very good at making sure that each student is on task and trying their best so I have learned many strategies for keeping students involved. I have also learned many behavior management strategies and have gained ideas for setting up my own classroom in the future. 

           Being in a teacher role rather than the role of a student is very exciting for me! So far in this experience I have only worked one-on-one with students or with a small group. However, I really enjoy teaching these students. It is interesting how they all have such different learning styles and habits. My favorite part of this experience is working with the students. I also have really enjoyed seeing their excitement about things like halloween, a school assembly, or a field trip. One thing I have not enjoyed as much is spending time in the workroom. I don’t mind helping out by making copies or working on projects for my cooperating teacher. However, she often has me prepare things for all five of the first grade classrooms which will lead to me being in the workroom for over an hour at a time. The downfall to this is that I feel like I am missing out on things that are going on in the classroom. Overall, my practicum has been a very positive experience and I have learned a lot. I look forward to getting to work with the students more over the next few weeks!

VCSU/NDSU Collaborative Teaching Program

Although I am an NDSU student, I am receiving a degree from VCSU. At first, I was a little skeptical of the idea of getting two separate degrees from two different universities at the same time. The application process and getting everything organized before I could take any classes was a little confusing. However, now that I have started taking Valley City classes, I have been very impressed with how smoothly everything has gone with this collaborative program. Since I love NDSU’s campus so much and most of my family and friends live in the area, I am really glad that all of the professors are able to come to campus so that we do not have to travel to Valley City. I love the education classes, and am really starting to become excited about my future as a teacher.

Through this program we are able to spend some time in an actual classroom. I am in a first grade class in the West Fargo District. I really like that age group and the activities that have been done in the class. It is an awesome way to see what we are going through in our classes put in practice. This leads to a much better understanding of the material covered in class. It is also helpful to compare my peers’ experiences with my own in order to understand how different districts work around the area and learn about even more strategies for the classroom.

In order to make sure I become a very effective teacher, there are many things I can improve on before the end of the semester. The most important thing I need to work on is to make sure I keep up on all of my homework. If an assignment is not due right away, I tend to put it off until right before it is due. I need to start working on assignments right way so that I don’t have as much work to do at the end. This will lead to a better final product and less stress along the way. I also think I could do a better job about reading the text in a lot of my classes. Overall, I am very pleased with how the teaching program is going and look forward to my future as a teacher.