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Welcome to my PLP! - Alyssa
Practicum II
Practicum II
Goal: To build my student's confidence in using Google as a resource. This includes scaffolding for processes and skills to analyze sources for information. They have a lot to learn when it comes to digital research, sources, and bias.
Goal: To build my student's confidence in using Google as a resource. This includes scaffolding for processes and skills to analyze sources for information. They have a lot to learn when it comes to digital research, sources, and bias.
Expository Writing
Expository Writing
In Grade Four students get to learn about research writing! This was a big topic as students struggled to understand that they were not writing stories or opinions, but papers with a clear argument backed up by research. I assisted the students in choosing appropriate topics, and this was where so many students got to shine. They showed off what they found interesting and then presented their findings to the class. I learned so much from the students!
Step One:
The students picked "heart" topics that they cared about. This could be anything that they were passionate about. They then had a one on one meeting with me to help narrow their topic into three sections they could research and write on. These would later become the students paragraphs.
Step Two:
The students watched me use Google, Kiddle, and Youtube to help me research my topic. The students learned about plagiarism and how to copy & paste their credit into their work. The began researching with constant feedback from myself. The students would apply to be in my 'waiting room' where they could have an appointment to work one on one with me.
Step Three:
The students wrote their papers using all of thr research they had been collecting and finding! This included a lesson on how to write an introduction and conclusion.
The students learned what a paragraph was and how to indent on a computer!
Step Four:
The students presented their work to the class in presentations summerizing their research. We had Q&A sessions after each presenter so we could learn even more! The students loved hearing about everyones topics and what they wrote... Here are some of the amazing topic choices students made and researched!
TOPICS & STUDENT WORK
TOPICS & STUDENT WORK
Black Holes
Black Holes
By Jake
By Jake
Rare Horses
Rare Horses
By Iyla
By Iyla
Russia Ukraine War
Russia Ukraine War
By Charlie
By Charlie
Belgium
Belgium
By Axel
By Axel
Proper Hamster Care
Proper Hamster Care
By Jordyn
By Jordyn
Ocean Pollution
Ocean Pollution
By Chase
By Chase
Henry Box Brown
Henry Box Brown
By Isaiah
By Isaiah
Practicum I
Practicum I
Goal: To introduce my first graders to a new form of technology or digital experience for the purpose of knowledge or critical thinking. Technology is vital in the classroom and it is important to introduce the children to new forms of learning while they are young.
Goal: To introduce my first graders to a new form of technology or digital experience for the purpose of knowledge or critical thinking. Technology is vital in the classroom and it is important to introduce the children to new forms of learning while they are young.
Technology was a big part of our class! We used GoNoodle for movement breaks, YouTube for songs and timers, and even for ambiance! One of my favourite uses was the Document Camera which I used to show students' work, examples, and guided drawings!
In the picture to the left, you can see a student looking at a variety of fox pelts, deciding which one he likes the most! I pulled up this diagram so that the students could colour their guided drawings of foxes in unique but also realistic ways!
This read-aloud trick became a class favourite after my Pattern Fish lesson! With very little prep involved, I would screenshot pictures of each page in a book and add them to Google Slides, This meant I could read a book at my own pace, but all of the students were able to clearly see the pictures!
When doing traditional read alouds or using the Document Camera students would complain they could not see or people were in the way. By moving books to the SmartBoard every student could sit at their desk, see the pages, and even read the words!
This book, called Is This Panama? by Jan Thornhill was taught to the students so they could learn about migration! The students loved pointing Sammy the warbler out on the pages and were enthralled by the map page I featured at the end!
Overall this simple trick using technology opened a bunch of new doors for my students to learn and engage!
Another class favourite was their very first virtual fieldtrip!
It would be impractical to bring 22 Grade Ones to the forest! Not to mention the Pandemic also makes travelling harder! In order to introduce my students to some Canadian animals in a fun and engaging way I had the students pack their imaginary bags, use their fake train tickets, and ride through the woods to meet all of the animals!
The students loved pretending to crouch and hide from the moose or pretending to sit in their train seats. While in their seats the students helped pack for the adventure! Students knew rubber duckies, flipflops, and shampoo would do us no good! Instead, they packed winter boots, mittens, and a compass!
After watching videos and learning about all of the animals, the students got back in their seats for the train ride home! BRRR! We were so cold! (or at least we pretended we were!)
Where Next..?
I love looking for inspiration on YouTube, Instagram, and Pinterest! Recently I saw an amazing video of a teacher planning a 'theme day' for her students! One example was Starbucks while the other was a trip to Disney World. While these activities seem like fun, the teachers managed to integrate their learning outcomes into the trip! For example, at Disney World, the students could visit rides by linking YouTube videos to the slides. The students would ride two rides and then would have to write about them for literacy. In Math, the students were given ten dollars and a menu, they had to figure out how much food they could buy. This theme day went on for every class they had! It is my goal to plan a fun and exciting theme day for a group of students, while also finding unique and fun ways to integrate all or most of the subjects meaningfully into the fun!
Year Two
Year Two
Goals, Growth, and Strategies.
Goals, Growth, and Strategies.
Although I missed out on teaching in a physical classroom this semester; I had my EDUC 2371 class to bounce ideas off of, discuss with, and of course compare and contrast ideas. We facilitated each other's learning this year by discussing the weekly participation logs or mentor teacher discussions. While I was unable to use my skills directly in the field, the online adaptations provided by Joy and the class helped me facilitate learning.
Goal: To learn how to properly and effectively introduce and integrate technology inside the classroom. I had used Nearpod last year but it was a fairly teacher-controlled system. I am wondering how a teacher can use technology to further students learning.
Action Plan: Given that Covid-19 has created a very technological-centric world, I will keep my eyes open for resources. I will then do some more research on the topic and pick what would work best for my vision.
By creating several different lessons at various grade levels I was able to "[use] a variety of teaching strategies to engage learners in rich learning experiences" (FL 2)
MRU Program Outcome:Use a variety of teaching strategies to engage learners in rich learning experiences
Meeting My Goals
Meeting My Goals
The first summarizes our group's opinions and takeaways to a piece of literature we read in class.
The second is a mini-lesson my group taught on the format of quest stories and how each part connects to a story.
The third was a collaboration of the entire class to help our Teaching ELA professor create a rubric for one of our assignments. In fact, it is the one for the artifact directly below this, the resource bank!
A resource that we used a lot this year is called Jamboard. Here we were able to collaborate ideas or teach mini-lessons digitally. It was versatile and could be used in just about any lesson. Students could be asked to match images to words, place items into groups (such as living or non-living items), or collaborate on feedback. It was straightforward but very effective. To the left, one can see screenshots of jamboards from two of my education courses.
Using technology is vital in teaching as teachers should "[...] build student capacity for [...] communicating and collaborating with others [and], critical-thinking [...]" (FL #3).
Not only did I get to explore resources for online learning, but I also became aware of a bunch of in-person learning resources that will allow me to use a "[...] variety of teaching strategies to engage learners in rich learning experiences" (FL #2).
For this project, I was able to partner with one of my lovely peers, another student teacher in the same class as my first-year field experience. We worked together to develop a Resource Bank for our EDUC 2103 course. As a team, we were challenged to find ten quality teaching strategies or resources for ELA. Each of the strategies had to be supported by academic research from our class or library.
These strategies are just the tip of the iceberg of teaching. New methods that are well researched and successful are being discovered and implemented into classrooms every day. We owe it to our students to create engaging and unique learning experiences. Teachers constantly need to grow and adapt to fit their student's needs, and these resources could be beneficial. In the future, I would like to try at least one of the resources outlined in the assignment and assess how successful or unsuccessful it was. I think that the Total Physical Response would be the easiest to adapt to any grade and would fit with cross circular outcomes.
By finishing this resource bank assignment, I was exposed to many teaching strategies that I will use to teach students rich and engaging lessons, which will lead to unique learning experiences that will stick with them forever.
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