Goal Setting

 While going to school to become a teacher, sometimes we become so involved in our studies, we forget why we wanted to teach in the first place. I loved this chapter because it really made me take a step back and daydream about my future classroom. While writing about how I visualize my classroom and about my future goals, it reminded me about why I am becoming a teacher. I liked getting a chance to brainstorm about how my class would look, feel and help my students learn. Setting goals was also a really great part of that chapter because it helped me remember that I am not just doing this for a paycheck, but to help students learn and thrive. The goal setting helped me set my goals and HOW I would achieve them.

Spreadsheets

The lesson plan that I chose to review was “Volcano Spreadsheets”. This lesson plan was intended for students to not only learn about volcanoes, but to turn what they learned into data on spreadsheets. This teacher had her class split into groups and find information about a few chosen volcanoes. They then, with the use of the Internet, researched those volcanoes to find specific information such as height, location, etc. After they gathered that information, the class as a whole entered their data onto a spreadsheet. That spreadsheet data then could be turned into graphs to help answer questions such as what the tallest volcano was or the difference between the shortest and tallest volcano. Ideally, I would like to be teaching in a first or second grade classroom. To make this fit the needs of students a little younger, I would make the data they need to collect a little simpler and a little more accessible. For example, instead of having students research volcanoes, they could collect data that they can find in the classroom or in books. The data they would collect would also be simpler and more age appropriate (i.e. smaller numbers).

Jigsaw Puzzle

The jigsaw method is a great way to help students learn about a new subject with the help of their peers. If I had only 5 computers in my classroom, and I needed students to do learn on a subject as a group, a jigsaw method would be a great way to do this. The way I would do this is, I would split the class into teams of 5. Every student would have a category to learn and become an “expertise” on to teach the rest of their group. I would have all the “experts” (the students with the same category) get in groups to do research on their subject together. The groups can then take turns at “stations”, including the classroom computers, library (computers and books), classroom text books, and even a station could be with the teacher to talk about the subject. After adequate time to do their research, they will come back into their “jigsaw” groups to present what they have learned. The jigsaw method would be a fun way to switch things up in a classroom instead of students just listening to a teacher lecture. A lot of students would enjoy the opportunity to become an expert and teach it to their peers. It would give them an opportunity to research in many different ways and may improve what they learn. A disadvantage might be the plethora of information that students would have to sift through to find what points a teacher wants them to learn. A way to solve this disadvantage would be to give students “guides” and hints at to what quiz/test questions may be so they do research in the right area and teach their peers what they need to know. Another disadvantage may be if students don’t get along or if one student doesn’t participate as much, and does not help his or her fellow classmates learn.

Netiquette