Penn Project

Hey everybody- Our names are Whitney, Allison, Ann, Donya, and Melanie!

We are senior Elementary Education majors at the University of Southern Mississippi.  Three of us (Melanie, Allison, and Whitney) are regular K-6 education majors and will be student teaching in the fall. The other two (Donya and Ann) are Special Education majors. 

Allison:  From Pascagoula MS who would like to teach math ONLY in upper grades. She enjoys eating and being at home on the beach. (Front row - far right)

Ann: From Annapolis MD who would like to teach between 3rd-6th grade.  She is flexible about what subject she would want to teach. she enjoys being with her family and friends and watching sports( Back row- far right)

Melanie: From Foxworth MS who would like to teach lower elementary grade.  She would like to teach language arts.  She enjoys spending time with her family and just getting out of the house every now and then. (Front row- far left)

Donya: From Seminary MS who would like to teach upper elementary grade.  She is special education so she will teach it all! She enjoys being outdoors and traveling. (Back row- far left)

Whitney : From Jackson MS who would like to teach any grade and any subject. She enjoys dancing (ballet, jazz, and hip hop) any free chance she gets. (front row- middle)

Teaching Challenge:

How to gain the students respect as a "teacher" when you are not the sole authority.  If you do not want to step on the teacher toes how can you manage a classroom effectively?

NOT your Classroom:

Blog #6

Chapter 7: Getting It Down: Making and Taking Notes Across the Curriculum


The book states a quote from a teacher that says "while people may have different ways of taking notes, I do believe that it's a skill that can be taught.  I also believe that students need to be show how to take notes-good notes-that they can use later" (pg121).  I definitely agree with this teacher.  Note taking is a skill that can be taught and SHOULD be taught in the classroom.  I think it would be beneficial to have taken a note-taking class in school.  This is something that a lot of students struggle with.  Struggling with this can greatly effect a student's performance in the classroom.  The book also states that "better note-takers generally do better in school and specific types of note-taking produce better results" (pg124).  This is absolutely true, the student who is organized and takes good notes will most likely do better in school than the student who has a DISASTROUS notebook and no note-taking skills!  There were only a few classes in high school where my teacher showed us an example of good note-taking and required us to have an organized notebook for a grade.  If my dreams come true and I am teaching middle school math I will definitely require this is my classroom.  I will require my students to have a notebook with dividers and specific divider headings.  Organization and good note-taking skills are things that prevent students from succeeding in college in my opinion.
However, not only do you need to know how to take the notes in class but you need to know what the other steps are in order for your notes to be effective.  The book states that "note-taking requires both a process and product function" (pg124).  The process function is simply taking the notes, this part I have mastered throughout college!  However, the product function is REVIEWING THE NOTES later.  This, I have NOT mastered.  I find it hard to motivate myself to look back over my notes unless there is a major test in a day or so.  This is something that I would like to improve.  I would also like to help my future students understand how important this is.  It will actually help you LEARN the information rather than trying to cram it all in your brain before the test.  This is something that I am sure many of us are guilty of!  I found the information in this chapter to be very useful and I hope to use the ideas in my future classroom!

What are some good ways to motivate students to WANT to take notes and be organized?
Is there a book I can purchase with a ton of different note taking styles?

Blog #5

Throughout this chapter two main things stuck out to me.  The first section that I really enjoyed reading was the Focusing on Words With Multiple Meanings.  After observing so many students this past year I have noticed that this is a big problem for all students, not just English language learners.  I was amazed when I read that the word run had 69 meanings. This is obviously why the English language is so difficult to learn and understand.  This section reminded me of why comprehension was so difficult to learn.  Having a larger vocabulary will increase comprehension.

The other thing that really stuck out to me was the vocabulary cards.  This would be a great thing to use in the classroom for all subjects.  As I have said before, I would love to teach math.  These would be great to use in the classroom when learning the meaning of words. You could make them into a booklet for the students to use in the future and in the classroom.  It could be a type of art project also.  Therefore, this would also help incorporate art into the classroom.

I REALLY loved this chapter because it gave so many examples for math! My favorite subject :)

How often should you review vocabulary?
What else does vocabulary effect?

Blog #4

While reading chapter one I had another flashback to Dr. Boyce’s class that I took last semester.  We discussed many different strategies that can be used in order to help students with comprehension.  The chapter mentioned the DR-TA which is the first strategy we discussed in her classroom.  Think-Pair-Share was also in this chapter; Dr. Boyce would have us use this strategy many times in the classroom after reading something.  We would turn to the person next to us and discuss our opinions about a subject or what we had read.  This is a great strategy in order to develop literacy skills through discussing thoughts with another classmate.  When I saw that there was a section on reciprocal teaching, I remembered a video from Dr. Boyce’s class.  We watched a video of a teacher who was using the reciprocal teaching strategy while reading a book.  It was very helpful for teachers planning to use this strategy. 

The thing that stood out to me the most in chapter eight was the section on writing to learn in mathematics.  I really enjoyed this section because, as I have said before, I would love to teach math.  Every time that my teachers say we should incorporate writing into every subject I was always very concerned as to how I would incorporate it in a math classroom.  This is excellent information for math teachers who would like to incorporate writing in their classrooms.

student.TH!NK.center

I had a great experience at the student think center.  I would really like to go back so that I could get the individual assistance that they were talking about.  I really enjoyed the setup of the room that we were in.  I love the idea of the tables being covered in paper so that you can write any ideas on, or just doodle.  I did some of both.  I would love to use that in my future classroom!  The presentation was great and really kept me entertained for the entire hour.  The information was very interesting and I can’t wait to go back and learn more about myself.


What exactly are they going to tell me when I go back to the student think center?
Is there a type of survey I could give to my future student to help them figure out what type of                  learner they are??

Blog #3

While reading the design thinking article I really enjoyed the way they gave you specific examples of how to use this strategy in the classroom.  The six steps were very simple to follow and would work great in the classroom for solving a real life problem.  While reading, I focused more on the ways to use it in the classroom rather than the strategy itself.  It was a lot easier to understand rather than having to read the step and think of ways to use it in the classroom.

The article written my Barbara Moss was very interesting and actually brought up a lot of my own background knowledge from courses in the intermediate block.  I did not realize that informational text was such a big problem in the schools today.  When I was observing classrooms on Tuesdays and giving a reading lesson in a kindergarten classroom, I realized that students seem to enjoy expository text more than narratives.  Therefore, in my opinion, this article was correct when they discussed how reading to learn motivates students to learn to read.  The students loved when I read them expository texts and I was helping to build their background knowledge.  In my opinion, teachers would get a lot more feedback from their students if they used more expository text. 

The article also talked about using strategies to help students to comprehend what they read.  We learned a lot of different strategies that teachers can use in order to help their students comprehend what they read.  A great strategy that seems to work for a lot of different ages was the KWL strategy.  It helps students to comprehend what they have read and  has a specific format for them to follow. I plan to use these strategies in my classroom because I got the chance to experience them through a lesson and they were very helpful.  

What are some really good expository text topics that children enjoy reading?


What are some specific ways to incorporate expository text into a lesson?

Blog #2

I really enjoyed reading Crystal Wolf's blog because of all of her opinions about teachers! It is very true that we, as teachers, will be making a big impact on the lives of others.  Especially as an elementary school teacher, we will help determine what that child learns in a year.  I also enjoyed reading Kayla Kirk's blog because of her feelings towards math.  We have completely different opinions because I love math and she is not as confident! However, she enjoys science, which is not my favorite subject! Maybe we could help each other this semester!

While reading 'Writing to Learn across the Curriculum' written by Knipper and Duggan I learned a lot about different ways to get students to write to learn.  As I was reading, something that stood out to me was the way that a rubric was defined.  I always have trouble putting into works what exactly a rubric is and I think that their explanation was great.  The article stated that 'a rubric reveals the scoring rules and explains to the students the criteria by which their work will be judged.'  I thought this explanation was great!


I really enjoyed reading about the different strategies for helping students write to learn.  I wish that my teachers would have used some of these methods in the classroom when I was younger because I think I would be a lot more confident in my writing!  My favorite strategy to help students prepare for reading assignments was the structured note taking.  If I had started to learn note taking skills at a younger age I would have been a lot more confident going into high school and even college!  Note taking skills are a very important skill to have and this is a great way to start them at a young age.  My favorite strategy for reviewing and summarizing was the framed paragraphs!  These , like the note taking, is a great way to help students become confident in writing paragraphs.  Lastly, my favorite critical and creative writing-to-learn strategy was the ABC list.  This is a very creative and fun way of looking at important points!! You could do so many great things with this in the classroom!  Overall I really enjoyed reading this article!  It gave me a lot of great ideas for my future classroom!


What would be a good subject to use the ABC list in?
What are some ways to make framed paragraphs fun?

Introduction

Hi. My name is Allison Coon and I am a Senior Education Major. However, I am only 20 years old.  I am from the Mississippi Gulf Coast and plan to return there for my student teaching in the fall.  I absolutely love the water!  I have enjoyed my experience at USM in Hattiesburg; however, I am very excited about returning to the coast in May permanently.  

I have always wanted to be a teacher.  When I was a little girl I pretended to pay school all the time.  My grandmother was a teacher and I went to her classroom a few times to help out and loved it.  I have always also loved children.  Most of the jobs that I have had were with children.  I have been a counselor at many camps and my current job is at the YMCA in Petal.  These jobs have helped to reassure me that education is the right major for me.  Although I am majoring in Elementary Education,  I would love to teach middle school math.  I am endorsed in mathematics.  Math has always been my favorite subject and I am very confident in it.  Therefore, my dream job would be to actually teach my endorsement area.

As I was reading the syllabus the Elizabethtown Pennsylvania Project seemed to stand out the most.  This project seems very exciting because we get to communicate with people in Pennsylvania.

I am also excited about blogging.  I have only blogged once before and it was for a computer class.  However, I am concerned about blogging weekly.  Blogging seemed to be very time consuming but I do enjoy blogging and reading about my classmates and learning their opinions.  

I think that this course will teach us about different literacy practices to use in the classroom.  I hope to become a better teacher when this class is over.