Communication

One of the most important skills a child will learn during the elementary school years is how to be an effective communicator. So much of what we do in society is reliant on how well we can communicate. I would like to help my students master three of the most important forms of communication: oral, written and non-verbal.

Oral: I believe that being a good communicator is not only being able to express yourself effective and eloquently but also being a good listener. I would like to give my students many opportunities to speak in front of the class so they will have enough experience with it to become comfortable talking in front of a group. I would do this through projects such as skits, role-playing and oral book reports. I would also like to teach my students to be a good audience and improve their listening skills.

Written: I would like to help my students improve their writing and reading skills. I will do this by giving them many opportunities to write such as in journals, in-class papers, poetry writing and reading and book reports which will also have an oral component. We will also do many projects that cross the curriculum (integration) that will involve a writing component.

Non-Verbal: I believe that honing your non-verbal skills is very important. The things you say are important but what you don't say through body language and gestures sometimes speaks louder than the words. I would like to make the children aware of the messages they are sending through their non-verbal communication.
Another form of non-verbal communication that I would like to explore in the class would be having the children express their thoughts and feelings through drawings and art work. Many children are afraid to draw or paint or do artwork because they are afraid of what people will think. I would like them to be able to express themselves, perhaps in a journal through pictures.
This would be a good form of communication also for a kindergartener who has not yet mastered the written word.

Podcasts

I would be like be able to use podcasts as a teaching tools in the classroom. After doing the podcast assignment in our EDM 310 class and listening to many other educational podcasts, I have a little better feel for what a useful tool a podcast could be.

I would like to use educational podcasts from itunes (since they are free) to use in my classroom as an instructional tool for my students. There are so many different topics which are covered in the various podcasts that the selections are almost endless.

I would also like to make a podcast in my class of my students, especially in the areas of reading. I think that making a podcast of the children reading would be a great way for them to hear themselves the way others do. They could hear how well they read or the areas in which they need improvement. This is something I would probably just use in the classroom though, not something I would want to publish. It would make a good audio portfolio for the children and parents to see how their reading has improved over the school year.


To hear the EDM 310 Fall 08 student podcasts, subscribe to iTunes or Click here

My Philosophies

The Thinker, Rodin, 1902

My Teaching Philosophies

I believe it is important for children to learn the social skills necessary to become good citizens. This social aspect is just as important as the knowledge they will acquire in the classroom. Learning to get along, being tolerant and accepting of others’ differences and learning respect, not just of the teacher (and other adults) but also of each other are vital in the growth of a child’s character. I believe it is also important for children to reach out to the world outside of the classroom and find ways to help others through community involvement. It’s important for children to learn how their roles in society impact the lives of others.

I believe that reading is one of the most vital skills a child will acquire during their education. Setting up a good foundation for reading, especially comprehension skills will benefit a child throughout their lifetime. I would also like to instill a love of reading in children by exposing them to a vast variety of literature and make reading a fun experience.

I believe in the importance of language and communication skills. Learning to write well along with developing good listening skills are the keys to effective communication. Teaching children how to express themselves both in writing and orally along with listening to other points of view are the first steps in being a great communicator.

I believe in the importance of goal setting. I would like to help children find the best in themselves and one way to do this is by goal setting. Teaching children how to set goals for themselves and follow the steps required in achieving their goals is a good way to build self confidence. I believe it will help them become more organized and inspire them to reach for and expect more of themselves.

I believe that children need a way to express their thoughts and feelings through either journal writing or arts and crafts. Even children not old enough to write can express feelings through pictures and symbols and are able to convey on paper what they may not be able to say out loud. Drawing a picture or writing a story is a way to express a feeling they are uncomfortable talking about in front of the class.

Google Tools

Here are a few examples of the some of the Google tools I'd like to use in the classroom:

• Docs: this would be used to create slide presentations. It would also be used as a tool to help the children learn to upload photos, pictures, etc onto the computer. It would be used as an introduction to power point. I would also use google docs to create spreadsheets as a database to keep up with student info and grades.
  

• Picasa: this would be used to store, edit, print photos I took for the class and of the class to be used in class activities or on a website or blog.

• igoogle: igoogle would be a good place to place information in an informal way for the students to access such as games, news, dictionary, etc. I would make the igoogle page public so all the students could access it. I will also be receiving RSS feeds here.
  

• Google Notebook: this would be used to store ongoing work such as projects, papers, ideas etc.

• Google Search Engine: Of course, this is a tool that will be used constantly, not only for me as a teacher to gather information for lessons, assignments, projects, etc. but also for the students to use for research.

• Google Reader: this will be used as a news source and also to receive RSS feeds from websites that I follow.

• Blogger: I would use this to create a blog for the classroom as well as one to use as a way to keep students and parents informed about what is going on in the class. It's a great tool to use for communication, especially if the students can post to it too.
  

• Gmail: as a more private way for students and parents to communicate with me.

The reasons I have decided to use Google tools in the classroom are:

• They're free
• They can be accessed from any computer with internet connection
• They can be ongoing: adding and deleting information as needed.
• They are easily updatable
• Google is always adding more tools to their database so there is so much to choose from.

Hand-on learning

I would like to encourage hands-on learning in my classroom as opposed to constant test-taking as a way to evaluate my students. I think that students learn more in the application of information covered in class rather than memorization of information and facts for a test that are soon forgotten. This leads to burp-back education which I am trying to avoid.

I believe application of information through projects will help the students put the information they learned into action, which is especially helpful in an assignment in science or social studies, where information would be hard to retain otherwise. I believe these kind of applications will also help our students to learn to ask questions and to think!

I also believe that projects help the students get a clearer understanding of the concepts being presented and make what they are studying more interesting.

I would love to do something in the classroom similar to "The Edible Schoolyard" where the students actually get to plant, harvest, and eat the things they grow. That is probably not feasible in most schools but we could grow plants in pots int he classroom or have window boxes to grow things in to learn more about the life cycle of plants.

I would also like to incorporate some computer technology into math and science lessons to help reinforce what is presented in the lesson. Computer programs are available to give students a chance to practice math skills and do chemistry lessons online through a virtual lab. I think this is something that would benefit many studetns who can't understand the concepts unless they actually get a chance to experiment with them and apply what they learn, such as a visual or bodily-kinesthetic learner.

Web Sites

I would like to use websites in my classroom as a learning tool. There is so much information available out on the world wide web that it will be an invaluable resource. We will use the educational websites for learning activites and the students can use the websites also for doing research.
I want to teach my students the values to technology as a learning tool and websites are a great place to start.
I will be using websites as sources of information for making lesson plans and activities and projects for the class. Once source I will be using frequently is ALEX (Alabama Learning Exchange). I will also be teaching my students how to use the Alabama Virtual Library (AVL) and make sure they have user names, passwords and know how to log in.
I also would like to create a website of my own for my students to use to get information about the class. It would contain information such as: assignments, homework, class news, information for parents and tools to help enhance learning.
This could be a good introduction to the resources they will have to use when they enter middle and high school.


These are some of my favorite websites:

Resources for teachers

http://www.educationworld.com/
Lots of good ideas for lesson plans and help in the classroom

http://www.suelebeau.com/
A Resource for Teachers, Students and Curious Adults
Dr. Le Beau has help for teachers and parents alike. Lots of websites, worksheets and activities you can print.

http://www.eduhound.com/
A great list of other educational websites to visit.

http://www.apples4theteacher.com/
Good resource for teachers plus you can sign up for the monthly newsletter.

http://school.discoveryeducation.com/
A good source for lesson plans plus an awesome clipart gallery geared towards educators. Lots of puzzles, games and more.

http://www.disciplinehelp.com/
Good suggestions on how to handle behavior problems


These are some websites you can use in the classroom:

http://www.philtulga.com/
Children use musical instruments to learn math, science and reading

http://www.edheads.org/
Children learn about weather, simple machines and can even perform knee surgery!

http://www.starfall.com/
Good website for Kindergartens just learning to read.

Blogs

I found out after taking this class what a useful tool blogs can be. I have learned so much by creating my own blog and this is something I would like to try make a blog for my classroom, one that all the students can contribute to.

While doing research for my blog I found some great ideas I would like to try in my classroom, such as letting the students post to the blog every week and having it available for the parents to view. This would also be a way for me to keep a record or online portfolio of the students reading/writing skills and how they have improved over the course of the year. What a great way to help students improve their reading and writing skills.

I want my students to have many opportunities to use technology in the classroom and by starting a class blog, we will be able to learn to do blog posts, upload pictures, create links and create and add videos. This will also serve as a good form of communication between the teacher and students, the students with the rest of their classmates, and the teacher, students and parents. The blog will be a vehicle in which parents can get a glimpse inside our classroom without actually being there (but they will be encouraged to come visit too!).

I think the students would enjoy reading what other classmates write. They can respond to each other's posts so the students will have feedback from many sources. I believe that children learn from each other so I think a blog would be an excellent teaching/learning tool and a great way to introduce my students to technology.

Welcome!

This blog will be a work in progress. It will be constantly changing as modifications are made and new material is added. Please come back often and see what new things I have discovered. Leave a comment if you wish. I also welcome any constructive criticism and advice anyone wishes to share. Thanks.