November 5th Reflection

I have been working on my pbworks website for my science classes. I would like to get every kid signed into the website so that I can post assignments, and projects on there. They will also be able to post reflections on this website. I also discovered that there are lots of cool resources online using voice threads. I think voice threads could be a neat reflection tool as well where students listen to each others and learn from each others reflections.

E2T2 October 27 - Blogging

Blogging is a great way for professionals to communicate with each other. I think it might also be a good idea to start a classroom blog for my students to use to reflect on their goals, and successes for the week. I could put a reflection question or prompt on an edublog, and my students could reflect on that question or prompt. This would be a great way for students to become familiar with blogging, and it would also provide great feedback to me as to what they felt successful in or struggled with this week.

E2T2 October 27, 2010

As a science teacher, I think that creating a wiki through pbworks will be a great way to communicate with students online. I would like them to be able to find assignments/projects/labs on my wiki. I think that it is important that I use this in my classroom so that students can become familiar with the internet. When students are absent, they can easily find the assignments. This wiki will also allow students to work collaboratively with each other in projects and labs and upload them to the pbworks (santorosciencerocks.pbworks.com).

Differentiation and Labs

I do a lot of hands on work in my science classroom. I think that it's important to do hands on activities so that students are able to interact with the material. I also try to use many different ways of presentation in my classroom. Delivering instruction can occur in many ways, and it's vital that, as teachers, we constantly direct our instruction to different fields of learners.
I am loving teaching 6th grade, and I can't wait for our next unit. We are finishing up chemistry now, and moving onto human body and biology. I can't wait to dissect pigs!!

Love and Logic Classroom!

Classroom management is the key to being able to implement good classroom instruction. I love using Love and Logic in my classroom. Students know what is expected in my Love and Logic classroom, and I use it daily as a constant reminder of my expectations.
With Love and Logic, students are more respectful of me, and of each other.

*Being Active and Engaging in the Classroom*

Professional development last week was very active and engaging. I get a lot out of talking with other first year teachers, and reflecting on what has worked for me, and what hasn't worked so well. I enjoy learning from my peers, and it's comforting talking to others experiencing the same things.

I enjoy making my classroom activities active and engaging. I believe that students learn best when they are moving around, and working with others. When working in groups, I encourage students to help each other, and learn from each other.

I also liked the videos that were shown last week during the professional development session. They were helpful videos showing different prospectives on classroom management.

Love 6th Grade!

Week 10!! Wow this trimester is flyin' by. We just finished our Inquiry skills (scientific method, and metric system) unit, and now moving on to astronomy! My students have been logging the phase of the moon for the month of October in their "Phases of the Moon" log, and now they are starting a project where they are making a booklet for the phases of the moon for their entire Birthday month. The project is going well so far.

Parent Teacher conferences went well last week. It was good to meet the parents of my students. I feel like I learned a lot about my kids, and their home lives.

I'm lovin' my school, and my students. Red Ribbon week last week was awesome!! Had tons of fun decorating my classroom door!!