Reflection of My Classmates' Lessons

All of my classmates’ lesson plan presentations seemed to go very well also. Normally, a half an hour seems like a long time for a presentation, but for this particular one it went by so quickly. I think the girls who presented on days by themselves, as opposed to two groups going, were the only ones who got to finish their entire lesson plan. The bunny ear activity Marie and her partner did during their lesson really stuck out for me. I thought it was cute for the students to make their own bunny ears and wear them for the remainder of the lesson. Like we talked about in class, the way they used the three primary colors for the head bands could easily branch off into so many different other activities. I think that is what makes an excellent activity in the classroom. It is something that can be used in a multitude of ways.

The different teaching styles I witnessed throughout the lesson plans were also quite interesting. As we all know, teachers all teach differently and some methods work better than others. We got a firsthand account of this right in the classroom from watching each other. Some of the girls were more soft spoken and laid back. Some were the loud, disciplinarians. We all taught differently and with time and experience, hopefully we will all perfect the teaching style that works best for us.

My only critique about the lesson plans, which we did discuss in class on numerous occasions, is the language. When speaking to a classroom full of students, you can’t talk the same way you do when you’re out with your friends. I can be guilty of this as well. I’ve noticed that I sometimes slip and say things like “you guys.” The language issue is something we are all going to have to deal with at one point or another. Learning to watch our accents, slang, and the use of different phrases is a major part of being a good teacher.

Reflection of My Lesson Plan

Overall, I think the lesson plan went pretty well. I’ve done plenty of lesson plan presentations for other classes, as well as teaching in an actual classroom, but the behavior cards in this class made doing the lesson much more difficult. In order to prepare for the lesson, my partner Kathy and I created the lesson plan and activities needed for the centers. We also made a “Sticking to Great Behavior” chart to use for classroom management with regards to the behavior cards. The first objective of the lesson was for the students to be able to write a prediction about the story after listening to the beginning portion of it. This was assessed using a rubric, which is a summative type of assessment. The other objective was for students to work cooperatively in groups during their centers. We assessed this formatively by just walking around and observing the students at each center. Our lesson plan was not executed exactly how we planned it on paper. First of all our podcast was not loud either and we had to read the story aloud to the students. Also, we did not have enough time for the students to spend at least five minutes at each center. Aside from these two minor glitches, the lesson plan went pretty well. I learned from the students that, as a teacher, you have to have eyes in the back of your head. You always have to be aware and observant of everything that’s going on in your classroom—with both the students who are behaving and especially those who are misbehaving. We definitely could have improved on our podcast. Looking back, the first mistake we made with that was doing it in four different “episodes,” because the story was long. When we went to make the lesson plan, we had to figure out how to incorporate the breaks between each episode. It would have gone much more smoothly if we created only the two episodes—the beginning (where we stopped and had students make predictions) and then the rest of the story in one episode. The second mistake regarding the podcast we discovered when we went to do the lesson and the volume on it was way too low. No one could even hear the story.

Reflection of the Podcast:
As I briefly mentioned above, Kathy and I created four different podcasted “episodes.” We planned on listening to the first episode, stopping, and having the students do a writing activity predicting what will happen in the rest of the story. Then we would listen to the rest of the podcasts. We ended up not using the podcast because the volume on it was too low and the class could not hear it. Obviously, the podcast would have been more effective if we could actually hear it, but also if we only created the two podcasts. That would have made the lesson run more smoothly. Although our podcast for this lesson plan did not go so well, I think the idea of podcasting is extremely effective. It worked well in many of the other lesson plans and definitely could be used in future lesson plans. Aside from having students just listen to podcasts, they can make them themselves.

After Thoughts

Today, we accomplished a lot. Kathy podcasted the story in a series of differnt episodes; while I went back in and wrote brief descriptions of each and posted pictures for the episodes. We broke the story up into differnt "episodes" so we can stop throughout our lesson and ask the higher level thinking questions to the students. Now, we just have to work on our lesson plan and then we'll be all finished :)

Last Day in the Computer Lab

The past couple days have been rough ones, today I'm by far feeling the worst... hopefully working with partner will take my mind off things. Today, we're finishing up our podcast and reviewing the questions I worked on last week. After that we're going to get started on our lesson plan, that we will eventually teach to the class. We have a lot to do today and it's our last class here in room 215.

After Thoughts

I still didn't start my podcasting, but I have a 2 hour break between my next two classes, so I will be in here working on it. However, I did do my comprehension questions for the story. Since my partner is not here I did the questions by myself. The questions might be revised after I sit down with my partner and review them, depending on her input, but at least I got a head-start on them today.

Questions for Elizabeth, Larry, and Ed

Before the story...

1. Look at the cover page, which character do you think is Elizabeth? Which is Larry? and which is Ed? Why do you think that?

After the podcast...

2. What do you think Elizabeth's surprise for Larry is?

Once the students have read the entire story...

3. Why did Ed move in with Elizabeth and Larry? How would you feel if that happened to you? Where would you go?

4. The last sentence of the story says, "And there was a special place set aside in the swamp for all of its unusual creatures." Who were some of the "unusual creatures" we met within this story. What makes them unusual? Do you know of any other unusual creatures and where they live?

Afterthoughts...

5. Go back to the beginning of the story, the illustration on the first page shows Elizabeth and Larry relaxing in front of their home. What do you think life was like for Elizabeth and Larry before the story began?

Podcasting Day 3

Well, our podcasting of the story is supposed to be finished by Friday... my partner and I didn't even start our story yet and she's not here today. Oh and of course, we possibly picked the longest story ever. Today, I am going to start podcasting our book. We orginally planned to read the first part to the class and listen to a podcasting of the ending, but since my partner isn't here and it's due the next class, I think I am going to start podcasting the beginning. This way if we do not get a chance to finish podcasting the rest of the story, our ideas for the lesson plan will still work using the first part of the book.

After Thoughts

Podcasting Day 2... We didn't actually do any podcasting. However, we did divide up the book and figure what how exactly we are going to do it. Since Elizabeth, Larry, and Ed is a long children's book we are not going to podcast the entire story. For the lesson plan using the podcast, we will read the beginning of the story aloud to the class and ask their predictions about what they think is going to happen. Students will then do some sort of activity using their predictions. Afterwards, they will listen to a podcast of the rest of the story (which is the one Kathy and I will be creating). Our podcast is going to be a little on the long side, because the introduction part, which allows for predictions, is quite short. We are also going to divide the podcast into two "episodes." I know which pages I will be reading, so I have time to practice reading them and the next time I podcast it should be easier.

Day 2 Podcasting

Today is my second class on podcasting. I remember from the first class that basic podcasting itself is pretty simple. However, I personally had some trouble speaking into the microphone and how my voice sounded recorded. Today will be another practice day and hopefully it will get easier. Also, my copy of the book finally came in. It actually was a funny story because the package came addressed to my mom and she couldn't understand why a bookstore from the UK was sending her a used copy of a children's book. Finally, when I saw her that day and she was telling my brother the story, I explained that I had to order it because Barnes and Noble did not have any copies. We all laughed and in the end, I finally got my book. Now it's time to start working on that lesson plan. Lesson plan aside, today's class is about podcasting... let's see how it goes.

Class Cancelled :)

Teaching Language Arts was cancelled today because of the snow... thank you Prof Luongo!! I figured the rest of my classes would be cancelled as well, so I decided to sleep in a little bit and figured I'd work on my blog later. Well clearly that is not what happened, but it is almost 10 o'clock and I am just getting to blog now. Although, I got to sleep in a little bit today, my other classes were not cancelled and I got called into work. Needless to say, its been a long day. As you can see, I decided to play with my blog's layout a little bit. I'm not sure if I like it more or less than the circle layout. I'll live with it for a little bit and see what else I can do. I attempted to put a picture of myself on it, but I did not have much luck. Hopefully during class on Friday, some one will be about to help me out.

In regards to the story for my podcast, Elizabeth, Larry, and Ed, I am still waiting for a copy of it in the mail. I decided to get myself a copy of it, so both my partner and I would each have a copy for when we work individually. Well, no Barnes and Noble in the Tri-State area had a copy, so I opted to order it online. However, when I ordered it, close to two weeks ago, I did not realize it was being shipped from the UK. Hopefully it should be here soon, being that I have a lesson plan due next. Wish me luck...

Today's Class - After Thoughts

Today's class was interesting to say the least. I feel like I am going to have a difficult time with podcasting. The basic concept seems simple enough, but actually speaking into the microphone was just as difficult as I thought it was going to be. My voice cracks when I speak regularly, so talking into a microphone and having to listen to it, is not a fun experience. Maybe with practice, this will get easier, we will just have to wait and see. My partner also doesn't like hearing her own voice recorded, however I think she sounds great. Maybe I will be able to convince her to read our book and I can do sound effects or something :)

Our first podcast can be found at: http://kathyandkatie.podomatic.com/entry/2010-02-12T08_42_45-08_00

Today's Class - Predictions

My name's Katie Wilson and my partner is Kathy Bailno. Together we will be working on the children's story, Elizabeth,Larry, and Ed, by Marilyn Sadler. I don't really know much about podcasting, but hopefully by the end of today's class I will have a better idea. Today started off as a rough day. The "blizzard" of the past couple of days made getting to class more difficult than usual. Hopefully, this class and the rest of my classes will go better than my commute to school. Last semester, I took a Teaching Reading course and was briefly introduced to pod casting by a guest speaker. She showed us ways to use Ipods within the classroom, and podcasting was one of these ways. I hope to learn more about what a podcast actually is, how to make them myself, how to use previously created podcasts in the classroom, and ultimately how to use different kinds of technology to make the classroom a more hands on learning experience.

Book Choice

Book: Elizabeth, Larry, and Ed written by Marilyn Sadler
Partner: Kathy

Hellooo

This is my first attempt at blogging, helloo everyone!