Rounding Up

Time seems to have truly flown by this semester. I can't believe that we have actually made it this far! I feel that I have learned so much in the past three and a half years, and I'm ready to take on the real (class) world. I know that I still have so much more to learn, not only next semester, but even as I continue my career. 

Last week I talked about how we can reflect on ourselves. This involved looking at things we should stop doing, start doing, and continue doing. I think that it is a valuable part of our teaching and learning for us to take the time to reflect. But what about our kids? I also believe that reflection for them is a really important part of their learning. We are taught to teach and give assessments, but then what? Do students really understand what they gained from all that happened and all that they were exposed to? Did they take ownership of their learning? How do they feel about the work that they accomplished? 

I started researching on the internet and there are a lot of different strategies and resources that you can use to help students reflect! I found a resource on Edutopia that I found really exceptional. From the link that I'll provide, you can access 40 reflection questions for your students. I will say that I think this might be somewhat difficult to do in younger grades, because students are still learning to take ownership of their learning. However, I still think that it's possible if you really want to take the time to have your students learn the value of reflecting. 

There are four different types of questions that are included on the resource: backward-looking, inward-looking, outward-looking, and forward-looking. Choosing a few different questions from the different types would help students reflect on the overall experience and learning that took place. This could happen in several ways. Finding creative outlets for students would take them to the next level. This is also a great opportunity to incorporate critical thinking and communication in the classroom. 

I look forward to the upcoming semester and taking time to have my students and myself reflect. We can use the time to learn together. I encourage you to check out the 40 reflection questions and put it away in your resources! Good luck to everyone as they round up the semester and embark on their next journey!

Download the questions from the link below:

https://www.edutopia.org/resource/40-student-reflection-questions-download

Stop, Start, Continue

First, I want everyone to just a take a minute and think about the fact that we only have four weeks of the semester left after this week.

My CE and I were talking the other day, and I said "I can't believe I take over in 2 months, that makes me want to throw up." Her response was "That makes me want to have a party!" Hahaha. 

At this point I am just trying to prepare myself mentally, physically, and academically for January! Don't get me wrong, I'm scared, anxious, nervous, but I'm crazy excited and feel so blessed to have made it this far. 

As I prepare myself for this upcoming time, I have spent a lot of time reflecting on my practice. What are my strengths, and what do I really need to focus on before January? I think that it is important that we do different research and find different articles and blogs that we can connect to, learn from, and take new ideas. 

I found one article in particular on Edutopia that I really connected to this week. The article talks specifically about things that we need to stop doing in the classroom, things that we need to start doing, and things that we should continue doing. Maybe you aren't doing any of the "stop" points, and maybe you are already doing the "start" points, and if that's true for you, then good for you! I can definitely tell you that they were all things that I took something from though. I'm not going to go through and explain each of the things that they talk about, but I really encourage you to go look at what each of these mean. 

What Should We Stop Doing?

Stop teaching as if we have the answers.

Stop rushing.

Stop talking.

What Should We Start Doing?

Start looking for problems to solve, actions to take, and beauty to create.

Start teaching with new discoveries about the brain in mind.

Start seeking out authentic, high-stakes audiences for student work.

What Should We Continue Doing?

Continue with your professional development, and model the growth mindset in action.

Continue to place our work with students in global contexts.

Continue believing in the potential of every student.

Each of these things have really valuable points backing them up. I think that we all can take something away from this article and hopefully use them to reflect on our own practice and start building and working on our future practice! 

Check out the link below to read the full article:

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/stop-start-continue-conceptual-meets-applied-david-hawley?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=socialflow

Technology

Well, like always, I have trouble integrating technology into my lessons. My CE doesn't do this a whole lot, and it also can be difficult with kindergarten students, because they haven't had a lot of exposure to technology yet. My go to is always watching a short video, or showing something on the smart board. I want to be more intentional when trying to integrate technology and find new and creative ways to do this. Meredith introduced me to SeeSaw, which was just amazing to me, and I'm excited to try that out next semester. I think that this is something that could be done, even in kindergarten.

My CE doesn't integrate technology a lot either, besides some of the basic ways that I have always done in the past (show a video here and there, play a game on the smart board), but I will say that she has introduced me to some great websites that are fun for students to engage with on the smart board! Her and I are both experimenting with this and both want to learn more about different ways to integrate technology.

I think that sometimes this can be difficult for new teachers. We get so caught up in other things and either forget about it, or we simply don't know the right resources. I found this great article on the wonderful Edutopia that has access to many different resources and tools!

On this website you can look at:

• Resources by Topic
• Tips and Strategies to Get Started
• Standards, Models, and Frameworks
• Finding, Evaluating, and Selecting Technology Tools
• Managing Technology in the Classroom
• Teaching Digital Literacy and Citizenship

The website is laid out in a way that you can look for and access things easily. It is broken down into categories that makes it easy for you to look for the exact resource that you need. 

This is something that I think all of could use both now, when student teaching, and even when we have our own classroom. 

This directly relates to standard 4: integrating and utilizing technology. 

Check out the full site below!

https://www.edutopia.org/article/new-teachers-technology-integration-resources