Last weekend I visited my parents and we went to play basketball at the Metro Center (local exercise facility). There were several people there (it was pick-up). We formed teams and it was fun. However, that isn't the point of this post.

There was a couple there, husband and wife. The husband was a great player, he had a mighty serve and could bump, set and spike equally well. The wife was... not nearly as talented as her husband. When she went for the ball, she only made contact about half of the time and often the ball flew in the wrong direction. What caught my attention was not her lack of skill, but the way her husband encouraged her and uplifted her when she did well. While volleyball may not be her specialty, I'm sure she is great at doing many other activities.

This made me think of my students. Some are so easy to praise because schooling and reading comes easy to them. Others struggle to remember what sounds blend together to make which sounds. The ones that struggle are often the ones that need the most encouragement and praise. The wife obviously struggled, but kept at it because she had the support of her husband. Had she not, she might not have played. Struggling students need to know they have the support of their teacher (s). Without that knowledge and encouragement, students might give up and decide learning isn't for them.

Although I make a conscious effort to encourage all of my students equally, this reminded me that some students need it more than others. We are suppose to treat each student equally, yet some students will give up if they don't have the extra encouragement. My personal goal is to let each of my students know that they can learn. They can conquer those blends, learn to count by 10's, read those sentences. They need to know that I believe in them, because who knows what the rest of the world is telling them? As a teacher, one of my many roles is a cheerleader, and I will cheer consistently for those who often send the ball flying in the wrong direction.

Quotable

Upon browsing educational quotes, I came across one that really made me stop and think:

"The individual learning model is a foreign territory for most Net Genres, who have grown up collaborating, sharing, and creating together online." ~Don Tapscott in Growing Up Digital

I have not read his book, but it would appear to be that the Net Genres would be the students of today who have grown up with the genre of internet (net) as a key aspect in their lives. Or perhaps 'genres' is an abbreviation for generation, but either way, it refers to the students we are currently teaching.

Some may question how much our students know about and use technology. Allow me to provide you with a few examples. During the summertime I nanny children of a variety of ages. One household I work with there are two boys, ages 3, and 5. Their television is hooked up to an external hard drive, has wireless access, and is also used with a play station 2, a Wii and a blue ray player. Yes, it took me a few times to master switching between the devices. Could I do it, yes, it just took some time and understanding of what wires went where in order for the device I wanted to use to be turned on and hooked up to the right sources of power. The three year old and the five year old can and do switch between systems at a rate much more effective than I can. Do they use technology? Certainly. Another child I sit for told me that he has a time limit of five hours a day of video game and online computer playing time. Five hours?! He is certainly using technology on a daily basis, much more so than I. One of my students asked to be my facebook friend the other day. While I politely declined her invitation I wonder what reason a 10 year old has to have an account on a social networking site. I suppose it is the same reason I have an account-to keep in contact with other people. Our students are using technology.

Thinking back to the classrooms I grew up in, the teacher was lucky to have a computer in the classroom. Many classrooms now have at least three computers, and this is a good thing. But are they being used? Using computers simply for students to take Accelerated Reader tests is a waste of such a resource. There are wonderful sites online that challenge students to learn by making learning fun, and bringing it back to a format they are familiar with. We no longer have to teach students how to read a website, they grow up learning that. We have to teach them how to read a newspaper and look up a number in the phone book, because those are the things teachers grew up learning, but students today lack understanding in.

Blogs are a wonderful avenue to express thoughts and exclaim in wonder over new-found knowledge. Obviously, I am using it as such, but do I take the time to show my students how to effectively blog? I could have integrated more of that into my student teaching. Had I more time, I could have made our blog into a conversation of literature, rather than a method of reporting. A blog can be used for both, that is part of the beauty of it. I would like to try that with my first class, provided there are resources available to do so.

I would also like to try setting up a classroom wiki with my students. It would be a page where parents could track what is going on in the lives of their children while at school, as well as a safe place for students to discuss educational related material with each other. The students of today need to be able to learn in groups, it is how they grew up learning, and will be a stronger method of learning for the majority of them.

Does this mean that individualized learning has no place in the classroom and should be entirely thrown out? Certainly not! Students also need to learn to work on their own, as life will require that of them at times as well (it certainly does in higher education). I value the individual learning model, so long as it is used in conjunction with the cooperartive learning that is likely to become the norm for students. Education needs a healthy balance of both to be effective. Who am I to teach solely one way when my students learn in so many different ways? It would be selfish for me to do so.

Seeing the School/Meeting the Teacher

I finally have my placement for PDS! I will be in a forth grade classroom with (what looks to be an) amazing teacher! Forth grade is my level of choice, so that in itself is super exciting.
On top of that the school I will be working in was recently built and has a wonderful layout. I have come to realize within the past couple of months that I am beginning to notice houses and buildings and appreciating the architecture and what can be done with the space provided. (My roommate tells me this is my inner teacher and I am looking to make the most out of the space I am given.) The school I will be working at have come up with a way to make a large school seem smaller through colored teams (of two classes from each grade:4-6). This is such a wonderful idea!
The library and media center are extremely high-tech and I am looking forward to finding fun ways to use them as well as increase the students' interest through use of technology.
Where I was slightly nervous before, now I am really excited to begin my journey in that classroom. It appears that there will be quite a bit of co-teaching going on between the other yellow 4th grade teacher. This will also be a new experience for me, as I have only read about this in my textbooks.
Overall, I feel much more comfortable with the changes that will be taking place in my life and am excited about the many opportunities this school will be able to offer me as I continue to grow and learn.

Ready, Set, Go!

I feel as if I just ended my spring semester (and I did, last week), yet I am embarking on a new journey. Tomorrow I meet my mentor and the person I will be co-teaching with in the fall.

So many things are running through my head. Yet of all the advice others have given, one thing stands out: BE YOURSELF. Although I have ideas about my future classroom and many lesson plans swimming around in my head, I need to remember what this encounter is about. Getting to meet this wonderful teacher (he/she must be wonderful for my advisers to have paired us up) and obtaining a glimpse of what next year might look like for me.

I am "readying" myself tonight (through preparation). I will "get set" as I get up in the morning, do devotions eat breakfast and drive there. Then I will be expected to "go". Go meet my mentor. Go meet the principal. Go set up the classroom. Go meet the students. Go co-teach. Go teach children to learn. Go: make in impact during my short time on earth.

Professional Development

Last week I went to my last classes at Illinois State University. This upcoming week I will complete my last set of final tests and move onto the Professional Development School portion of my learning.

Although technically I will be taking classes in addition to getting a jump start on student teaching this fall, I will be in an entirely new environment experiencing different things. It is a strange (but good) feeling to be moving beyond college into my professional career.