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Service-Learning Project.mp4Journal Entry # 1
I will be working with Ms. H at Springfield Middle School in Jacksonville, Florida. We have met to discuss the unique qualities of the class she teaches and the unique needs of her students. Ms. H teaches a gifted enrichment class to students in grades 6-8. This class is comprised of many activities that provide the students with extra learning in all subject areas. Ms. H and I have met to discuss my duties within the classroom, the dates we are available to work together, and some of the things I can learn from her. Ms. H has proposed a very interesting lesson about the concept of casein; a plastic made from milk first invented in the late 1800s. She is planning to do a hands-on activity with the students where they will make their own milk plastic. She has asked me to provide historical insight into the development and uses of casein for the students. We are not yet sure how we will present this information to students, but there is talk of making a Jeopardy game to test the students on the information. Some of the things that I am hoping to learn from my time with Ms. H are classroom management, administering hands-on activities to students, supplementing lessons with informal types of education, and how to plan for lessons. I am very much looking forward to working directly with the students and learning from them as well.
Journal Entry # 2
This weekend I spent some time learning how to utilize PowerPoint to create a fully functioning Jeopardy Template. Ms. H's classes feature a unique style of learning that encourages student participation and hands-on learning. However, her students are also extremely competitive and motivated by the notion of competition. I spoke with Ms. H at length about how she approaches these types of healthy student competition. Ms. H encourages the students to try their best, emphasizing the concept that putting forth maximum effort is what matters the most, but, she also utilizes student competitions to motivate the kids. I found this idea very engaging, so Ms. H asked me to create a competition based on what the students are learning.
PowerPoint proficiency is a must-have for teachers in school districts that utilize the Microsoft suite of products. Upon researching how to create an interactive slide show that can be used to facilitate a classroom competition I found a tutorial for recreating Jeopardy with PowerPoint. Through this tutorial, I learned more about PowerPoint than I thought was possible, as the features have greatly increased since I last dabbled in advanced slideshow creation. I was pleasantly surprised with the results of my own Jeopardy PowerPoint Template which I can now use throughout my career as a classroom teacher, and share with friends who are teachers. I thought it was a very successful foray into the world of slideshow magic that teachers must often utilize.
Journal Entry # 3
Springfield Middle School is a Math, Science, and Technology magnet school in Jacksonville, FL, and a part of the Duval County Public School district. My work this week was a short visit to Ms. H's class on Thursday to familiarize myself with the students and learn about the inner workings of the school. Ms. H provides enrichment for students in grades 6-8 who are labeled as Gifted and Talented. Her class includes a wide variety of material, methods, and experiences that are meant to provide supplementary educational opportunities for advanced students. The school itself offers an accelerated course path that allows students to start earning High School credits. Ms. H and I reviewed the district data related to Springfield Middle School in an effort to help me better understand how to evaluate a school's programs and methods. Springfield currently has over 850 students enrolled, 44% are considered economically disadvantaged, and 74% are African American. These are merely statistics though. The culture of Springfield is very much focused on accelerated study and S.T.E.A.M. classes, hobbies, and careers.
Ms. H's classes vary wildly from week to week. She develops her own unique curriculum and is heavily involved in the recruitment of new students for the next school year. This Thursday Ms. H gave me a tour of the school and we spoke about the strengths and weaknesses of the school and its programs. The amount of magnet students has been declining in recent years, especially post-COVID, but the school continues to acquire students either through recruitment or neighborhood assignment. Per a suggestion by Professor Farless, I inquired about the online learning game program called Kahoot. Ms. H was thrilled to show me several Kahoots that she has made over time. She also introduced me to the online study game Blooket. Both of these programs allow educators and students to create games based on information they need to be learning or studying. Some of the games are incredibly detailed and interactive. Ms. H was a teacher in the years before such programs were available and feels that access to these types of educational enrichment helps encourage students to study and practice the material they are given. She also told me that there are many more programs available, some specifically designed for the Social Sciences which is the area I plan to teach in.
Though I did not interact with the students much this week, I learned a lot about Ms. H's methods of teaching and the school in which the students reside. This information has given me a better understanding of the environment that I am delving into and offered suggestions for research that can help me better relate information as a future teacher. I learned a lot about the magnet program in Duval County and the specialized courses offered at Springfield that correlate to their magnet designation. I also learned a lot about online learning/study games that are used for student enrichment. This information will one day help me in providing enrichment in my own classroom.
Journal Entry #4
On my final day in Ms. H's class, I was given the privilege of directing the class through three different activities in an effort to reinforce the information they had most recently learned in the classroom. On A-days Ms. Hash has three different sections of students, one sixth-grade and two seventh-grade, that are provided with gifted enrichment. Recently the students had been learning about the Scientific Method in an effort to support the work they are doing in their science classes. In preparation for this lesson, Ms. H and I discussed her usual format for a class period which consists of a warm-up, a lesson and/or activity, and a closer for if the students finish early. I learned a lot about time and classroom management, but overall I definitely think we had a great day and the students learned a lot while also having fun. I do think that engaging students in fun activities makes them more likely to pay attention and retain the material.
Warm-Up: The warm-up consisted of a rousing game of two truths and a lie. Students were presented with three statements alluding to historical facts about the scientific method and instructed to determine which statement they believed to be false. I would call out the information and direct the students to stand in specific areas of the classroom for specific statements. I would then reveal which statement was the lie and the students standing in that area would be eliminated from the game.
Activity: I researched the website Teachers Pay Teachers and located a grade-level appropriate Virtual Escape Room based on standards associated with the scientific method. Students used their school laptops to access the virtual escape room and a Google form where they recorded the 'lock codes' they used to pass from room to room. The students were absolutely thrilled with this activity and totally engaged in the games provided in the escape room.
Closer: To close out the class, I utilized an online educational game called Blooket. On this website, you can upload a set of questions and answers and apply them to any of the games on the website. The questions and answers remain the same, but the games change in theme, difficulty, and fun! The students loved competing against each other.
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