Sunday, July 24, 2011
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Instructional Strategies
1) Manipulatives
2) Hands-on activities
3) Group participation-using students to represent numbers in working through a problem.
Wednesday, July 13, 2011
Monday, July 4, 2011
ESR-Social Situation
Place: I joined XSport a few weeks ago and have been attending almost daily. I'm usually at the gym about 7 pm every night. Majority of the the time it is very busy, very packed, and loud. There are two floors to this gym. The downstairs consists of a pool, treadmills, ellipticals, a gym, and a variety of machines for specific core areas of the body. Upstairs consists of a lot of the free and heavy weights, which is pretty much considered the men section, and then theres a few machines on the other side of the floor for the women. As sexist as it may seem, I have met some women who are too shy to work out with the men. Next to the women's section, there are two studios for classes and cycling.
Actors: The actors in this situation would be the members, trainers, and staff within XSport. The members are either working out individually, in pairs, or in small groups. Those that work out individually usually have their Ipods on or watching on of the TVs set up. Those that are working out in pairs are usually a member working with a trainer. The trainers push the members to their limits and test their boundaries. Finally, there are members who work in groups of about 3. It gives them a chance to talk while working out, as well as push each other on the machines. The staff of XSport are usually working at the front desk where they will see you check in, make a drink for you if you'd like, ring up any orders that you may have, or even answer any questions or concerns.
Activities: On this particular evening, I was just observing three male individuals working out together. The way that they were working out, is that they would each take a turn doing an exercise while the other two would encourage their friend and count the number of reps he was doing. They did a series of exercises, almost as if they were competing against each other. But, from personal experience, that is to be expected. I also saw them looking around the gym a lot too, almost as if they were comparing themselves to the other members there, or simply just observing who was there. Once they had finished downstairs with their exercises, they moved to the machines and continued their competition there.
Even as I was observing this group of men working out, I glanced around the gym observing some of the other members as well. One thing that I noticed from many of the members is that they all look around at others working out. Whether they are just curious about the other members in the gym, or if they were judging their fellow members, taking in their appearances and making judgment calls to themselves. I then realized that I glance around a lot at my fellow member too. Personally, though, it's just out of mere curiosity.
ESR-Boy Meets World
This clip is from Boy Meets World episode, Teacher's Bet. In this clip, the teacher, Mr. Feeny, makes a bet with one of his students, Cory. The debate between Cory and Mr. Feeny was that Cory believes being a teacher is easy, whereas being a student is much more difficult. Mr. Feeny believes it is the opposite. So, he proposed a bet. For one week, Cory is allowed to teach Mr. Feeny's Social Studies class. At the end of the week, if more students pass the test than normal, then Mr. Feeny wins. If not, then Cory wins.
Cory goes on for the next day or two changing the rules in the classroom and running the class his own way. Mr. Feeny begins to act like his students and disregarding what Cory says in class. The clip goes on to show that Cory has learned a valuable lesson in that, it isn't right to make such hasty judgments about others. He even uses the book the students are reading for the week, "Pride and Prejudice" to make his point.
By doing this little experiment, Mr. Feeny allowed Cory to see things from his perspective and to acknowledge that not everybody has things easier than others. That everyone works hard in every aspect of their life. And by the end of this episode, Cory has done a complete 180 on his perspective of things and has learned a valuable lesson.
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
Educational Philosophy
As teachers, there are many factors to consider that could be implemented into the classroom, as well as into the teaching strategies. Teachers need to consider their students, their community and the resources surrounding them in order to provide the best education possible for each child in the classroom.
The role of the teacher in the classroom is to provide guidance to their students. They are the mentors and the supervisor of the classroom. Teachers provide a safe and stable environment for their students to ask questions, search for the answers, and continue to be curious throughout their academic careers. Teachers bring in every resource possible to further enhance their students’ learning and inquiries. Teachers go above and beyond their call of duty to make sure that every child in their classroom gets the best education possible.
I believe that student-directed learning is the best way that students can learn. By giving students the opportunity to get the full hands-on experience of learning. Give students the chance to work out the problems themselves. Make the students ask questions in order to find the answers themselves. Having the teacher as a fellow learner in the classroom will greatly influence students to push themselves into the learning.
In order to be an effective teacher, a teacher must have passion for her profession. Along with passion, a teacher must have knowledge of the material being taught, respect for herself and her students, patience, and creativity for their lesson plans. All these traits and more provides the best, most effective teacher.
As a teacher, I owe my students to give them the best education they deserve. I owe it to them to work hard, to encourage them to be curious, and to help them strive to take the learning into their own hands. As a teacher, I owe my students my very best to help them receive all the information and knowledge that they can achieve in my classroom. I owe it to my students that from the moment they walk into the door, to the moment that they walk out, I give them my full dedication and attention; to provide each of them with one on one assistance; to answer any and all questions that they may have that they can’t figure out on their own. I owe it to my students, and to myself, to give my absolute best to each and every one of my students.