Practicum Plan Post #2

The practicum plan that I created for myself this semester was extremely well organized. I am very happy with how it turned out and how much I relied on the plan. The way I created my individualized plan worked for my own personal needs. As I was reflecting on my plan and how I could make it even better I developed new ideas for next semester. Instead of only writing the week and the assignments due (organized by colors for readings, PDS activities, and assignments), I am going to incorporate the same ideas but in a chart instead of a list. The columns will be titled: Week of, Date, Class, Reading Due, Assignment Due, To Do at PDS. Hopefully this will be as effective as this semesters practicum plan. I think it will be a better visual representation and help me meet all of my learning goals because I will have a specific place for activities to do at my PDS.

Learning Goals Reflection #1

As I reflect on the learning goals I set for myself at the beginning of the semester, I realize what I have accomplished, not accomplished, and found difficult to accomplish. The learning goal I spent the most time focusing on was teaching through problem based learning. Every single day I was at my PDS, my host teacher let me use the lessons she created and adapt them to this learning goal. Using the retrofit approach was very helpful but I learned the most when I made my own lessons where I taught through problem based learning. I have changed my educational philosophy to include this teaching method. It is a method that I am still wondering about but that I have learned a great deal about this semester. I know that I want to use this method in my future classroom. 

The learning goal I spent the least amount of time focusing on was implementing technology. Besides using technology for my lessons that required technology I only used my Ipad once and the overhead multiple times. It is very difficult in my classroom because we only have 4 working computers. I wish I would of have had more time and resources to engage in this goal. Recently, all of the teachers in the school received MIMIO's. One of the teachers recently taught all of the participants how to use the MIMO. Hopefully, next semester I will be able to work harder at this implementing this learning goal into more of my lessons.

Effectiveness of a Blog for Reflection on Practice

At first I was very skeptical of using a blog for reflection on practice. Over the last year, I have learned positives and negatives about blogging.
Communicating with a partner through a blog is an effective way to quickly share ideas about practice. Blogging with Emily has given me many different ideas about the classroom and a different opinion on certain topics. Being able to read about her opinion allows me to think about topics from a different perspective. Also, Emily is in the same educational position so it is nice to be able to share ideas with someone who is familiar with situations I am experiencing. I feel very comfortable sharing my blog posts with Emily.
If I was not comfortable sharing my ideas about certain topics with a partner I do not think I would have a positive experience blogging. This is one of the negatives about blogging. When you post something on the internet it can never be erased. If something is posted that is taken in the wrong context it can significantly impact the person who posted the blog. I know that I will never blog with a large group of people. Posting ideas, comments, or situations on the internet to a large group of people (personally I view more than 5 people as a large group) could negatively impact someone in the blogging group. Every person must be very aware of what they are posting and trust the people who view their blog.
In the future, blogging with faculty can be beneficial if different blogs are created for different faculty members. If each individual teacher has their own personal blog with the principal then it would be an effective way for the teachers and principal to communicate privately. This may be similar to email but the blog allows for the bloggers to keep a log of their conversations. Teachers in a school can also create a blog for the different grades and for different subjects.
Emily- In your future career will you use blogging to communicate with faculty/staff?

Learning Goal

The major learning goal I wanted to focus on this semester was classroom management. Last semester, my teacher liked to control the classroom herself so I was unable to take an active role in management. I was hoping to take a stronger initiative in my placement; yet, what I was hoping has not taken place. My mentor teacher takes a very different approach to classroom management, especially disciplining, then what I feel comfortable with. At first, I was very discouraged by lack of management and the strong discipline in the kindergarten classroom. I was very shocked and unaware how I would fit into the classroom and partake in my learning goal. So far, I have only found classroom management strategies that I will never use in my future classroom. I feel that it is very important for me to look at the positive side of the situation, which is teaching me the qualities my classroom will not have. Since this learning goal is not really being met, I have recently been very interested in assessments in the classroom.

I have been carefully observing and collecting several of the assessments my students complete in the classroom. Again, I am opposed to the way in which my teacher gives the assessments, the assessments that she gives, and the students grouping based on their assessments. Looking at the positive side of things, I am learning a lot about assessments because I am very interested in how they can work effectively. Even though I do not agree with the classroom management or assessments I am learning the things I do not want in my future classroom; therefore, this experience is positive in shaping my classroom and my future students learning.

Digital Storytelling

I have thought of many wonderings/questions in the past three weeks. So far, I have experienced several different activities in my classroom. Each one of the activities has a story, from which, I have developed many questions and ideas. One of the main activities my kindergarten students participate in every morning is circle time. During circle time, they review the days of the week, months, weather, birthdays, and important events. This is a routine that all of the students are very familiar with.
After observing the morning routines several times, I have formulated several questions and ideas about exactly how educational this activity is. One important aspect of the routine is that it is something consistent and familiar that the students can relate to. Another important aspect is that the students get to review the material several times. Even though the students are consistently reviewing the material, I feel that it may not be very educational since the students typically rely on the peers who are the loudest and most sure of their answers to respond. Also, I do not see the students connecting the information they are learning in circle time to any other school related activity or their daily lives.
I think a good story involves an interesting topic and leaves listeners formulating their own wonderings about the story. A story should get readers to visualize and internalize the main messages of the story.  Listeners should be interested enough in the story to formulate their own wonderings and ideas. A great way to help listeners understand the main message of the story is to actually show them through technology. Using technology to show images or video of the experiences that are related to the story can help listeners have a deeper connection and interest.