Trends:

Interactive White Boards

The use of Interactive White Boards, also known as SmartBoards have been increasing significantly in classrooms over the last couple years and are becoming a new efficient trend for teachers and students. These have replaced (although some still exist) ordinary white boards and offer a lot more features as well as providing more interaction between students, and between students and teachers. 

Interactive White Boards are primarily utilized for whole class lessons and discussions rather than being more "student centered". Even though this is a great technological way to teach lessons to a whole class, this can be detrimental to some. As teachers, we still need to make sure every single one of our students is getting the academic help they need, therefore if IWB doesn't cooperate with certain students academic needs, then an alternative route should be available.

This learning tool tends to make students constructivist rather than objectivist, which can be a good thing and a bad thing. It is positive because students are being more interactive with themselves and with their peers. The teacher can provide activities on the IWB for each lesson they are focused on. On the other hand, it could put objectives to standards on the back burner which may cause them not to be met. We have to make sure when using IWB, that students are making both ends meet.


Issues:

ID Theft

Child ID theft is something everyone must be aware of because it is common for people to steal children's social security numbers and have it go unnoticed for years.  If a child's identity is stolen and is overlooked, this could cause major issues for the child as they grow older. Some issues could consist of having difficultly approving for student loans, finding a job, or finding a place to live due to someone else's bad credit. This is why in elementary schools (and all other schools), teachers need to crack down and be aware of their students by being cautious of what information they give out about their students. 

The Study: 10% of Children Are Identity Theft Victims says, "The primary drivers for such attacks, the report says, include illegal immigration, organized crime, and friends and family attempting to circumvent bad credit ratings." 

http://www.uen.org/Lessonplan/preview.cgi?LPid=28963

^ This website has a great lesson plan attached for students to do with their peers to learn more about identity theft and how to avoid it. At the beginning of each year, teacher should make ID theft one of her main discussions to her students so they are aware it can happen and they need to be mindful at all times.

Web-Based Resources

There are many educational and helpful resources on the web to help or enhance lessons for teachers and for students! 

First Resource (Resource Portal)


Name: Teachers Pay Teachers
URL: https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/
How I found this resource: During my teacher assisting (Winter 2016) at Coopersville South Elementary I was placed in a fourth grade classroom. After getting settled in and learning the names of the students, their routine, and how my CT's classroom management worked, I started to ask her more questions about where she gets her resources (to set up the classroom as well as lesson plans). She introduced me to TPT and told me about how awesome this website was for lesson plans, templates, pre-made flashcards, etc. To sign up for an account is free, then there are hundreds of lessons to explore (some are free, some cost money) and you can share with other teachers! During one of my observations I did a math lesson with my fourth graders and I got all the ideas and resources from this website. I love it!
How you might use it in your final project: Since there are so many options for lessons and a wide variety of subjects, I found other ideas to keep students motivated during their spelling week.
TPT has flashcards you can purchase and use to create a word wall. Normally word walls are used for sight words, but in this case they can be used for spelling words as well. At the beginning of every week, the new spelling words will be posted on the word wall. They will be able to choose five of the most difficult words (to them) and practice spelling them. Their "exit card" out of the classroom each day will be to spell the word they practiced that day. This is a great exercise and good practice to get the words right on the test on Fridays.
What standards does the resource address: Common Core State Standards, CCSS



Second Resource


Name: Twitter
URL: https://twitter.com/
How I found this resource: I have known about Twitter for years now but at first I thought of it as a "diary" to share your thoughts with all your followers. Little did I know, you could connect with people, businesses, TV media, social media, and use it as an educational resource.
How you might use it for your final project: Since Twitter is big on using hashtags (searching a specific category), this is a great resource to connect with other teachers that are on Twitter, finding ideas for lessons or maybe even creating a class Twitter that students can use for assessments.

To incorporate Twitter and the use of hashtags in my spelling lesson, as a class we will create one account that everyone has access to along with a "classroom hashtag". By clicking on this hashtag, it will lead to a private class 'folder'. This will allow students to communicate with each other during the week and they are required to leave 4 comments (M,Tu,W,Th) to a different person. The comments can be what ever they want, as long as it either; A. Helps a peer with a word they are struggling with (ex. a funny way to remember how to spell the word, etc.) B. coming up with a sentence that has a spelling word in it (this will also be a bonus for their spelling tic-tac-toe assignment because they could possibly already have some of it done on Twitter). Teacher will check frequently during the week to make sure all students are partcipating and send out reminders.
What standards does the resource address: Any



Third Resource



Name: Pinterest
URL: https://www.pinterest.com/
How I found this resource: I found this amazing resource through friends and media. It has everything you could ever ask for! From an educational standpoint, there are many great resources, ideas and lessons you can pull off Pinterest and majority of it is free!
How you might use it for your final project: Search for alternative ideas on spelling lessons so students either have options or they can do different assessments throughout the year.

Instead of having the same assignment to do each week for spelling, on Pinterest I have found another fun activity for spelling that students can alternate throughout the weeks. This activity is called "Roll A Word". 
How it works:
For each word, student will roll a die. There will be a work sheet with a chart on it (a space for the word, a space for the number, and a space for the answer. After the student rolls the die; say it lands on 5...student will go to the key and look at the rule for #5.

If you roll a...
1. Give the definition
2. Give a synonym & antonym 
3. Write a sentence
4. Draw a picture
5. Make a connection
6. Your choice (choose one of the above)

Based on what you roll, student will have to fill in the answer part with the corresponding number.

This activity will take place every other week (tic-tac-toe on the other week) so students will have a break from just ONE activity, this is also a great way to keep students engaged and motivated if you give them choices!
What standards does the resource address: Any, CCSS

MythBuster Articles- Week 2

After reading and reviewing all the articles on educational myths, what type of learning styles there are, remembering only a percentage of what you read/learn, and if students are engaged or not, I have become unable to think clearly and not sure how I feel about it. My mind has been opened to what a good amount of other people think about or view education as and how to teach students successfully. After reading the "Will at Work Learning" article and the comments to go along with it, it seems that a lot of people are upset about the false information displayed. I do believe that there are many different learning styles and not every child learns the same way. As an educator it is important that you accommodate each student so they can meet the academic requirements for their grade. By doing this, you need to be prepared by having alternative resources available as well as scaffolding lessons throughout the year. This takes a lot of work, and that is why we need devoted teachers to be willing to do this. 

I realized throughout my college career I took a lot of classes that were based around only one learning style, and for some, that is truly difficult. During my teacher assisting placement in a fourth grade classroom I noticed that a lot more curriculum was interactive based. This seems to be typical for elementary schools because the students are younger and ultimately need to be interactive by actually doing activities by themselves or with their peers. If I ever come across a situation where I am told false information about students learning or forced to teach a certain way, I will do my best to stand up for what I believe and try to scaffold lessons as much as I can so each student of mine learns successfully. 

Why is Blogging Useful in Classrooms?

I think blogging in education is a very great way to expand creativity for students and teachers in multiple ways. Blogs are quite simple to use, and being involved in our world today with all the technology constantly changing, it is a great way to get students involved and engaged in a simple use of technology. One way it is great is because blogs allow for multi-faceted learning. It is important for teachers to teach material in different ways because students learn differently so this provides multiple ways to engage with assignments. Not everyone is good at giving their opinion by speaking or talking face to face, therefore blogging allows students to explain how they feel through writing. Another reason blogs are great for students is because it enhances their literacy and writing skills. When writing posts frequently it is good practice to only get better at these skills. Blogs also serve as a classroom management tool when it comes to in-class assignments. It is a great way to keep students on task and focused. The more each student posts on their blog, the more feedback they are able to receive from their peers!

Learner Analysis- Cory Matthews BMW

I chose the character Cory Matthews from the 90s sitcom Boy Meets World. A lot of the sitcom is based in their high school, John Adams High. Cory is one of the main characters in the show and as each episode has its own short story, there always seems to be a minuscule obstacle to overcome. Cory’s character seems to excel in school and get along with a wide group of friends. Any time there is a problem, he tries solving it himself. He has a stable family at home and a girlfriend Topanga that are all supporting of him. Although there are peers that distract him occasionally during school hours, Cory seems to stay focused and keeps his head on straight. Outside of school, Cory’s interests seem to be hanging out with his friends and girlfriend. If Cory was a student of mine I would make sure to encourage him to complete his studies before doing any extracurricular activities. This is because Cory seems to be a very popular guy and he is liked by everyone. For this reason, it can be hard for him to stay focused on school work. I would say if Cory was encouraged from a teacher standpoint and worked hard throughout the rest of his high school career, he would be more than ready for college academically and socially. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i_Cu8DEPISI

About Me

Hi! My name is Ashley Lenar and I am in the process of completing my degree at GVSU with a major in integrated sciences and minor in elementary certification. I have worked with children ages 0-12 for many years now and I have a lot of experience and prior knowledge in this area. I have many interests and hobbies to keep myself occupied outside of school and work. I enjoy traveling, being active outside, going to concerts, swimming, boating, running, being with my friends and family and my dogs! 

Before I decided to go into teaching I was focusing on my studies in nursing. I got my CNA license and worked in the health field for about 5 years. This is when I decided that nursing wasn't for me. I knew I had a passion for working with kids so that is why I decided to change my major and I couldn't be more happy with my decision! 

During my teacher assisting semester at Coopersville South Elementary I was exposed to a minimal amount of technology usage in elementary classrooms. Although a lot of the assignments and homework are paper based, there is still the use of computers and smart boards. For example; a literacy computer based program that helps students in practicing literacy in all 8 areas is called LEXIA. I feel that this program is an excellent source for students to practice language arts and it incorporates good use of technology. I think it is important to teach students how to use technology appropriately because it is an efficient way to get things done and easy to connect educational and academic practices.