From Caterpillar to Butterfly (part 2)

Before beginning any research I went over the basic uses of of a computer and how things work. This student caught on very quickly and I was quite impressed. Since he is such a young student, I was able to help steer him in the right direction for his research. As much as I could, I modeled what I wanted the student to do so that he could see what was expected.

My student not only wanted to do research but he really wanted to watch videos on how this process happened. I showed him a couple different videos on YouTube. This student also loves books and reading or hearing stories so we watched a reading of 'The Very Hungry Caterpillar' also.

Once we learned about the process we did an art activity where we drew what the caterpillar looked like at each stage. We also read books about it, and acted it out to check for understanding. It is always important to try different methods of checking for understanding just to make sure the student is really grasping it.

Assisstive Technology

Assisstive technology plays a huge role in special education classrooms today. Each student has a plan developed for their learning and what methods work best for them. Without assisstive technologies in the classroom some of the students may not be receiving the accommodations they need to be successful in the classroom.

One of the most fascinating assisstive technologies I have learned about is the Echo LiveScribe Smart Pen. It is a pen that is able to record everything you write and everything that is said by the teacher. This would be ideal for students that require having a note taker.

From Caterpillar to Butterfly (part 1)

This week one Pre-K student and I began studying the life cycle of a butterfly. This student is incredibly smart for being only 4 years old. I was amazed by just how much he knew about it already!

We chose to look at the questions, 'What do you think is the most important part of the life cycle and why do you think that?' for our essential question, and 'What environment do butterflies need to survive and grow?' for our unit question. Doing inquiry based learning was much easier than I expected it to be. This student was very cooperative and eager to learn about a the life cycle of the butterfly. A blog has been created for you to follow this students journey while he learns about the life cycle of a butterfly.

Copyright

Copyright laws have always been a huge concern especially with teachers and college students. In all honesty, I very rarely think about something I find on the internet to be copyrighted but little did I know anything on the internet is copyright protected. I was under the assumption that to an extent, we could use anything we find online. I have always sited my sources for pictures or a website I might have used to write a paper, but it never occurred to me that I need to do the same thing for anything I use to write my lesson plans ; it is technically stealing someones idea! Luckily, as teachers we are exempt under fair use. These references are great resources to use if you are unsure about breaking copyright rules.

Spreadsheets

Spreadsheets have come a long way. People seem to use them for many different things now a days. I personally like using spreadsheets. It's a great way to keep things organized. They are very beneficial when used in the classroom. In my current classroom, we use spreadsheets for behavior contracts, ABC charts, and to keep track of parent phone calls that have been made throughout the month. The students also have their own copy of a spreadsheet to keep track of their behaviors throughout the day. If they receive an infraction due to misbehavior it is their responsibility to mark it in their success folder.

I personally use a spreadsheet to keep track of my daily log for my arrival and departure time everyday during student teaching. Each morning once I get to school I write the time that I have arrived and write the time I left that day. Each row represents the different weeks and each column represents the different days of the week. There is a slot to write down our time in and time out each day. It helps me keep organized and helps me keep track of how many hours I have spent at the school each day.

Character Traits Video

The focus for our video was the different character traits the students learn throughout the year and how they incorporate them in the classroom. We chose to include science and health TEKs in our assignment. The 7 elements of digital storytelling were used to help create this video. A combination of different items were used to make the video. We used PowerPoint, Windows Live Movie Maker, a song from iTunes, and a digital camera. Schools now focus on one character trait each  month and take time to teach students about what they can do to model each one in the classroom and at home.

Storyboards

There is a lot that goes in to creating a digital story. For this assignment we decided to focus on character traits and how they are incorporated in science and health. We developed an activity plan of the TEKs we chose to use for this assignment. Once we completed everything we developed our storyboard. This shows frame by frame what the video will look like. After you have finished these few steps, you are now ready to make a movie.

Digital Storytelling

Before this class I hadn't learned about digital storytelling and had never done a storyboard. Using this in the classroom can be very beneficial to the students and the teacher. It is an interactive way to teach a lesson so that the students can enjoy it. Digital storytelling is a short form of a digital-film making that allows everyday people to share aspects of their life story.

This works with students because they are learning without actually realizing they are. It's not like the boring, typical lecture where the teacher just talks for hours but it a hands on way for the students to get involved. In a special education classroom, the teacher would have to make some modifications but it is still something the students can do.

Technology in today's classrooms

Technology has become a huge part of today's education. Now teachers have incorporated Smart boards, Mimios (and related technology), voice thread, and other various forms of technology students can use. Lessons are now becoming based around the internet and different websites that can be used in the classroom. 

When I was going through school technology was still uncommon. My teachers used textbooks for everything and taught primarily from them. Now that I am studying to be a teacher, I have realized what a difference it is. I probably enjoy using today's technology just as much as the students do. However, I have never written a blog or used it in the classroom, but I have used them as a resource for ideas to implement in my lessons. 

Since I will be a special education teacher, it would be difficult for me to use blogs for my students. Blogs in the classroom would be most beneficial as a means to communicate with my students' parents or guardians. One possibility to involve the students could be to implement a "weekly diary" for the students to reflect on their week. Another idea would be to post pictures of the assignments that we do each week like Karla, a Special Education Teacher, does in her blog. 

Inquiry & Project-Based Learning

Welcome to Ms. McMullen's blog.

Benjamin Franklin once said, "Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn". I could not agree more with this quote! Involving students in each and every lesson is crucial to their success, especially in a special education classroom.We as teachers can't just stand up at the board, lecture, and write down notes and expect the students to grasp the lesson. Instead, we need to make things interesting and check for understanding frequently, or do hands-on activities, just something to get the students involved and interested in what they are learning about. This is why both Inquiry and Project-based learning are important in the classroom.

• Inquiry-based learning is seeking for truth, information, or knowledge by questioning. This goes back to checking the students for understanding frequently. Every so often, we should pause the lesson and ask a Higher Order Thinking question to make sure the students are following along and really grasping the information. We want to make sure they aren't just memorizing it, but are actually learning it. 
• In project-based learning, students look at real-world problems and challenges. Using real-world examples is a great way to engage students. If it is something they are able to relate to, chances are, they will be more interested and will be able to remember whatever it is they are learning. 

Both of these should be incorporated in the classroom because it gets the students actively learning and thinking. When developing my unit plan, both project and inquiry- based learning were taken into consideration. The unit question that we are looking at, "What are the different holidays celebrated around the world in comparison to the United States?" causes the students to dig deeper than the knowledge they already know. It is something that will have to be well researched.