Children SEE, Children DO.

Need I say anything. Just watch.... the clip says it all.





Children SEE, Children DO.

Morning Meetings

I have learned about the responsive classroom many time and I have to say I love the morning meetings. This idea is so creative and wonderful. Not only do you get to know your students, but you get to observe how productive they may be in class today based on their actions and attitude, make them feel accepted in the classroom, and to provide an overall positive relationship between you and the student.

When I was on my latest observation at an elementary school, the teacher incorperated morning meeting into her Kindergarden classroom. She asked a few children what was one thing they did when they got home from school yesturday. She then proceded with the morning interactive song. Here the students sang along, made hand gestures that went along with the lyrics, and each child was to shake hands with at least everyone in the classroom while singing.... "Rise and Shine, Welcome to school today". I thought this song was very appropriate and wonderful. It made me happy and want to incorperate this into my class.

Here is an example of a Responsive Classroom morning meeting.



Did you nowtice after she demontrated and told the studetn's what to look for she had them repeat them back to her? Did you see the students reactions to each other?
I found this particular one to be a good example on how a morning meeting, such as this one, and build a strong relationships in the classroom community.

So tell me what did you see that the student's learned or experienced in this activity?

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Tools to use in the classroom

My fellow classmates and I got to experience some new technology tools that can be Incorporated into the classroom.  One tool that I thought was really cool was poplet.  This can be used as a unique discussion board and unlike Prezi you can embed links within the poplet. 

Storyjumper is another cool educational tool that I find to be my favorite so far.  With this tool it is done on-line where you can make a 16 page book on whatever you would like.  To top it off you can order a hard copy of the book you made.

Another tool i can see me using in the classroom is called wordle.  Wordle is a cluster of words and the words you choose or type more often are bigger in size.  I can see using this in an Elementary classroom for sight words or respect poster (for an example).

MuseumBox is another tool that I would love to use in my classroom.  It's basically a 3D PowerPoint, but you can make a whole lesson developed into one drawer of boxes composed of power points.

Brain Gym

The brain gym helps stimulate the two hemispheres by a series of exercises.

• drink water
• brain button
• cross crawl
• hook ups
• thinking caps

When doing these exercises students become alert, aware, have positive attitudes, and are energetic for learning.  A lot of educators have found this activity to improve the students attention in the classroom.  I can definitely see myself doing this in my class before a test.
http://esl.about.com/od/englishlessonplans/a/braingym.htm

Another tool that I found interesting and more to do with technology is BrainPOP.  www.brainpop.com is a really cool site that is free to educators.  On this site there are activities, quizzes, and movies involved in the subject matter.  Kids can use this site to learn more on subjects.  This web site "creates animated, curriculum-based content that engages students, supports educators, and bolsters achievement".  Topics that are provided are Arts and Music, Engineering and Tech, Social Studies, Science, English, Math, and Health.  The activities are available in English or Spanish, for children K-3, and for ESL or ELL students.

NCLB

Obama has introduced a NCLB (No Child Left Behind Act) wavier so teachers don't have to teach for a test, but to teach the children their educational knowledge and know hows for their future. He mentioned the reasoning of our economic problems and that we should be focusing on teaching our children to better function in this world of our economic failings. He also mentioned the truth that we as a nation are down in math and science scores and in overall knowledge compared to the other nations.

So this brings up the past "Nation at Risk"! Have we ever gone over that mark? Will the U.S. be able to get back on top of the educational post or will our children continue to stay behind in the world? I think with the reforms that Obama is planning on taking into action we will begin to see the climb, I just hope is doesn't have a negative affect on our educational systems.

 In this same speech that Obama gave about the NCLB waivers, he mentioned that the education does not just the involvement of the schools, but the encouragement from the home.  Parents involvement in a child's educational development is just as important as sending a child to school.  If we continue the education at home critiques will stop pointing the finger at schools and teachers for the mistakes that children have in their education.  It is not just one person's fault, it is a fault by a whole group.

Look into the Future

This video shows a new form of technology, a 3D Printer. This is deffinitly a glance into the future of what our technology is to become. What I find the uncanny part about this video is how cartoony the printed products look. I never thought this advancement in technology would happen in my life time.

So where can this technology lead us in the educational part of the world? How can this impact education? I can see field trips happening for the children or anyone of that matter who is inspiring to become a future engineer. Actually some firld trips have been made to educate the children on this 3D printer.
http://www.dimensionprinting.com/successstories/successstoryview.aspx?view=61&title=STARBASE+and+Dimension+Rocket+Elementary+Students%27+Design+Skills+to+New+Heights++