Ok, so I was in class today and we were asked to do a few problems and raise our hands when we are done. It made me think of what we discussed in class yesterday about raising hands when you are done. I felt like I was pressured to finish my assignment fast and if I wasn't done and raising my hand the other students would have just stared at me waiting. I did not like this at all! I like the idea that you do something subtle so that you are not noticed if you did not finish.
It made me think about the way I would assess my class. I would not make them raise their hands I would probably do something like thumbs up, or cross your legs. Because I think that even when a teacher says when your done raise your hand, some students may not even finish their assignment and just raise their hands because everyone else is already done. They might just rush through it and not understand it because they don't want to be the last one. I do not think this is good. But doing something subtle would be better. I just thought I would tell you about my experience with it today and how I did not feel comfortable at all!

Make a Difference

The video we saw in class today got me thinking. Teachers are not there just to throw out the facts and make you memorize the material, teachers are here to help make a difference. The video shows us that as teachers we have to really know our students. We shouldn't favor anyone but sometimes we will have to give more attention to that student.
In my other education class, we just had a discussion on teachers getting to know their students the first week of class. Teachers should give surveys out or do something to see what interests the students. This is good because it gives the teacher an idea of the students personalities and that could affect how you teach. You can make your lesson around the students interests and maybe they would be more excited to learn. They also will realize that you do care about what they like.
At the end of the movie it shows that the teacher made such an impact on the students life just for paying attention to him. You could make an impact on a student but never even know you did until years later if he/she comes back to you. My middle school math teacher made an impact on me. She was the reason why I went for teaching math. If I needed help I knew I could go back to her. She didn't realize that she made a difference in my life until my senior year of high school when I told her. Teachers make differences.

Lock Down

Yesterday was one interesting day for Saint Peter's College. At first I thought a friend of mine was joking around about the lock down because he got a text message. I guess I should have read my email from campus safety to put my phone number on their list to get these kinds of text messages. I honestly did not even know that they did this. But anyway, my friend got this message but my teacher had no idea what was going on. Then I just thought it was another threat like last year where we had to go outside. That was the one thing that kept bothering me, that if it was a bomb threat why weren't we leaving the buildings. I realized then it must be something more. That's when I started to worry a little. I felt a little better knowing that the police were there and our school was taking such high precaution. I am actually happy it took a long time before we could go back to our rooms! It just amazes me what people are thinking when they make these threats. Why? I just don't understand how much anger someone has to do this. At least we are all safe now.
It never really hit me that this could happen to me or my school until now!! When I was student teaching we would have lock down drills, or evacuation drills to help the students incase something like this ever happened to them. You just never know.

Reducing the size of the classroom

I was just reading an article about classroom sizes. I thought it was kind of interesting because I think it is true that the size of the class can benefit the students. The NEA is trying to reduce the classroom size to make it a 15 to 1 ratio. I think 15 students in a classroom is better than having 25 because the smaller the classroom, the more students you will be able to reach.
As a teacher, you can spend more time with each student. The article also mentions that smaller classroom is better disciplined, and the students will learn more. I think that is why I wanted to go to a small college. I never liked the idea of being just another number in a class. I like the fact the the teachers here know their students. I also think that in a large classroom, students will try to hide from answering questions because they know it is hard for the teacher to call on every student if there is so many of them. A smaller classroom with be better for more interaction. I just thought this was interesting topic, and I believe that samller classroom is better for the education of our students.





http://www.nea.org/classsize/index.html

Assessments in the classroom

When I think of assessments I think of tests. Personally, I hate tests. I am definitely not a good test taker. I think tests are scary, and when I go to take one like the SAT or even the Praxis I blank out. As a future teacher, I want to try different ways of assessment because I know that a test can not prove everything you really know. Yes, I do believe to give a test at the end of a chapter, but it shouldn't be the only way to evaulate a students knowledge.
There are students who are great test takers, but do not understand the material. Then those who could tell you all the material before you go into the test, and then don't do well. I think there should be different assessements such as group work, activities, quizzes, etc. I would love to learn different techniques in assessments instead of just tests. Because most of the time students will take a test, but as soon as the test is over they forget everything, I am very used to that! We need to do things in the classroom for students to remember for years. Like I said in class, to learn the Preamble of the constitution our class had to make up a song and dance. This really helped me learn and remember.

Generations

In one of my education classes we looked at video on youtube. It was sort of like the video we watched about technology, but this video shows the diversity of America. I thought it was very interesting because I did not realize how much our world is changing. We as the future teachers need to know that we can not teach the same for every generation. Even today, I think that the curriculum and the expectations are different than when I was in elementray or middle school. The students are learning so much more at a younger age and the classrooms are more multicultural and this will continue.
Kids these days are smarter because they have the technology all around them to learn. Children TV shows are helping them learn at such a young age that when they go to school they are ready for more. So the curriculm now has to change and instead of learning just 1 plus 2 equals 3, the students will be learning that 2 is greater than 1. I know that even some of the work being done in middle schools today, I didn't learn until I was in high school, and that wasn't too long ago.
Take a look at this video. It is very intersting, and it makes you think about the education around the world. More and more new information is being developed everyday and as teachers we need to make sure our students will be ready for anything when they go into the real world.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pMcfrLYDm2U