Happy Summer!

Hello avid readers :)

This post has been a long time coming... I apologize for the lapse in posts, however, I AM going to be better about posting things! To make up for it, today I am going to post a couple of things. I hope you enjoy them!


The first is an idea that I remember my third grade teacher using. He turned an ordinary Jenga game, into a learning opportunity. What you had to do was, on your turn, someone took a Jenga block from the tower like normal. Except this time, if you successfully got the block out, then you would have to read the state then you had to say the capital. The capitals were on the opposite side of the block so you could check your answer.


This particular idea I found is the same idea except with multiplication Jenga. Here is the link:
http://www.theorganizedclassroomblog.com/index.php/blog/turning-noneducational-games-into-learning-fun

If you follow it, you can see this game, get the templates, and even find other ideas for turning regular games into educational ones!



My second post is a game that I learned at the summer camp I'm working at! This can be a fun outdoor game, or just a game in the classroom to get the kids up and moving. It's called riverbank. Have the kids stand on a line, tell them that to the left of the line is the river, and the right of the line is the bank. You then shout out words like: river, bank, hank, sliver, etc. When you say river, they hop with both feet over to the left (the river side) then if you say bank, they hop to the other side. You can repeat words, alternate them and even change the speed. If a student jumps to the wrong side, or if they mess up, they're out. We usually let the kids who get out be the judges, just so they're still engaged. 

It's a fun game and it's secretly a cardio workout too! The kids will love it, trust me! Plus you can use it with pretty much any age. We play with 5-12 year olds and they all play very well.

I hope you found these games to be something helpful for you :)

Enjoy!

Photo credits: 
http://www.theorganizedclassroomblog.com/index.php/blog/turning-noneducational-games-into-learning-fun
http://www.steeplemorden.cambs.sch.uk/steeple/pupils/year4.php

Now I know my ABC's

I found this this morning on Pinterest. I looked over it and thought it was so adorable! I hope that you can all enjoy this as much as I do. Hopefully you can use this in teaching or even in parenting!

Enjoy!

ABC Order!

http://mrsmorrowskindergarteners.blogspot
.com/2011/03/popcorn-word-activities.html

While patrolling Pinterest today I saw this awesome idea to have kids practice putting things in alphabetical order. All you do is write the words on clothespins, then give them a ruler, tell them to put them in order by clipping the clothes pins to the ruler in order! So cute, easy, and educational!


Enjoy!

Happy May!

Believe it or not, the month of May is upon us, and for this day, I decided to post a beautiful picture that is my inspiration to become a teacher. 

This child has down syndrome, but yet look at that smile! This picture is proof that children with special needs are no different than other kids. They smile, laugh, and play, just maybe a little differently. This picture is such an inspiration to me as a future educator, because I hope that one day, I will be the one responsible for a smile like this. To see a child succeed will no doubt be the best part of my job. I can't wait until I make that happen.

I hope this picture put a smile on your face!

Enjoy!

Photo credit: http://teaching.monster.com/benefits/articles/2073-special-education-an-introduction-for-new-teachers 

Food for thought...

Sorry it's been a while since I posted, it's getting close to exams and the fact that I should be studying is overwhelming, yet here I am. :)

I'm going to keep this one short because I think it speaks for itself. I recently heard this quote from one of my teachers. It was my Education of Children teacher. She said:

"Whoever holds the hand of a child, holds the heart of a mother..."

I'm not sure who said this quote, but I think it's awesome. I'll let this quote speak for itself.

-Enjoy!!

Learn Today Teach Tomorrow

So on the lovely campus of CMU, we host a special day just for future teachers. It is a wonderful conference that allows us to learn about being a better teacher, but also gives us a chance to meet other people that share our passion. Central invites people from our campus, as well as other campuses around the state to attend for just a small fee. It is from 8am-3pm on a Saturday and there is a keynote speaker, then you choose 4 sessions from the booklet that you want to go to.

Each participant receives a certificate as well as lunch, and a t-shirt. And who doesn't want another t-shirt? It's great because you can go to specialty workshops for your major, or check out any workshop you want!

This is my first year going, and I can honestly say it was a valuable experience not only for my future job, but also for my resume. Any opportunity like this one is a great one to take advantage of. I attended the following four sections:

Musical Ideas for the Classroom - presented by Kathy Wheeler
Finding a job - presented by Mark Moody
The new teacher preparation kit - presented by Lucas Foster & Greg Decourval
How to get and keep families involved in your program - presented by Mari Potter & Charlotte Galgoci


These were all valuable opportunities. I plan to post things that I learned from each of them throughout the rest of this month.

The fact that I want to share today is from professor Mark Moody. He is one of my professors, he teaches classroom management for special education. He is a wonderful teacher and is very knowledgeable. His presentation was about how to get a job:

For teachers it's important to have a portfolio when you go to an interview. The portfolio should include anything (besides babysitting) that involves children, especially volunteer experience. For questions about what else to include, ask your education department at your university or talk to an advisor. You could even go so far as to call the school and ask what they're looking for specifically. It doesn't matter how long it is, but make sure it's enough to show off how awesome you are, but not too long to overwhelm the interviewer. It is also important to make references to your portfolio during the interview when answering some questions.

A well done portfolio can give you that little extra lift that gets you hired. On the flip side, it can also be that one thing that loses the job for you. So make sure everything in your portfolio is important, spell checked, and personal. Leave your portfolio behind after an interview (unless specifically instructed to do differently) that way you can go back and pick it up later to make contact with your potential employer once again. This gives you a chance to ask any questions that may have come up since the interview. It's these small things that can make all the difference in the interview process.

Moral of the story is, make a portfolio and MAKE IT COUNT!

I hope this is helpful information! Stay tuned for more information about my experience at the LTTT conference. If you want more information right now, visit their website:

http://www.lttt.org/index.html

Enjoy!

Special Education

Alright, so as I post this, I have to warn you that it may seem a little biased... After all, I am a special education major. However, I feel that this is important to everyone going into education because you will all work with special education students.

So today we had a presentation in one of my classes by a woman named Susan Egan. She is the Teacher Consultant of Special Education at Novi school district. She basically talks to teachers and gives them advice, she also helps out with IEP (individualized education plan) meetings for students with special needs.

Some things that she mentioned that I thought were important I listed below:

• See what's going on with the student- are they bored? tired? lonely? sad?
• Is behavior a problem? Is the student trying?
• Occam's Razor: "Other things being equal, a simpler explanation is better than a more complex one"  - When you hear hoff beats, think horses, not zebras
• Take all sources of information into account like (what is the home language? What other schools (if any) have the students attended?  What is the student's health history? What are the student's previous test scores? What is the student's attendance?
• All of these affect student's performance
• People to talk to about the student:
• Parent(s)
• Previous teachers
• Specials Teachers (they see the student in a different way than you do)
• Child Care program
• Office staff
• Other support staff
• THE CHILD!
• Don't teach the textbook, teach the kid
• If they can't learn the way we teach, teach the way they learn

These are just a few examples of what we can do as teachers/parents. She is a great resource and one day I hope to be a teacher like that.

She gave us this website: www.http://www.oercommons.org/ to look at for free resources. From what I've looked at so far, it's awesome.

So I left out some of the special education stuff that maybe I'll post later. But for now, look over these tips and remember them!

Enjoy!

All the preceding information is from a presentation created by Susan Egan, it is her work and I give her credit. If you use this information for anything, I ask that you do the same. 

Photo credit: http://spectrum.mit.edu/articles/normal/campaign-for-students-enters-final-year/