My 21st Century Classroom

Welcome

To my fourth grade classroom

                          

This is my "This I believe" video.  In this video I explain why I believe children don't participate.  I also state how I believe teachers should handle the situation.

Title- State of Matter
Goals-  Get a well rounded understanding about the different states of matter
Technology used- Using Google docs to create a PowerPoint - Use smartboard in order to conduct the activity

In my classroom I have round tables that are placed in a  U-shape.  This allows students to easily participate in collaborating in small groups or with the whole class.  The science and art areas are designed to allow the students to create their own work.  Giving them material and room to work gives them the opportunity to be creative by themselves or with a group.  The whole classroom is designed for students centered learning.  Allowing them free time in the drama, computer, and library allows them to explore new and exciting topics they are personally interested in.

Dramatic play allows for students to express their interest

in in real life experiences

The art area allows for students to have free choice in creativity and  to use their imagination

This classroom is made to accommodate his daily routines:

enter room, get settled, take attendance

take out homework, ask any questions about homework and turn it in
math 

group work

free time in computer, dramatic play, and art area

lunch count, restroom/drinks

specials

individual reading
line up for lunch, lunch, recess
teacher read aloud
science hands on activity
social studies
pack up/assignment books/silent reading
students leave

In the daily routine the children are able to use communication skills during their free time, group work, and hands on activities.  Collaboration is strongly used in the day in activities like group work and hands on activities. The whole classroom routine is based around student-centered learning.  It is really important that the students get to have free choice in most of what they learn. 

My Cool tool for schoolI found a tool called Student Publishing were students or teachers to create a real hard covered book filled with children's writings and illustrations.

Every student gets one free book! 

 

Teachers or students can register to create their own books. The website walks you through step by step creating the cover with a Title, a dedication, and “About-the-Author” bio page along with every page within the book. If the child would like to include their own illustrations just scan the picture and upload it into the book as a photo.

Why this is so helpful in the classroom

“Oftentimes, papers, research work, and stories written for class are lost and forgotten soon after the work is completed. By publishing these stories into hardbound copies, student work is honored and shared with others to provide that lasting memory. There is no more powerful motivation for young authors to work hard to improve a piece of writing than publishing for an audience who will appreciate the work.” Cheri Olmstead-- fourth grade teacher                                                                                 

Technology

In my classroom i will integrate technology such as the SmartBoard.  This board allows me to incorporate activities that would normally only work on a computer.  The students will be able to get more of a hands on experience with a more dramatic lesson. This board would also allow the class to save their progress for a lesson that is more then a day long.

I will also keep my parents updated with what their children are doing in the classroom using Blogger. I could also use this as a way for the parents to get involved in their child's learning by posting activities and games they can do as a family.

PLN

In order to learn the new techniques and technology I will keep updated with other  education professional websites such as Twitter and Facebook. 

Thank you!

Jamie Katarski

E-mail

Visual Essay

I believe participation is important..

                         

 

I did not enjoy this project because of unforeseen complications.  It made it very difficult for me to make the video.  Although it took longer then I had hoped I got through it.  Although it was frustrating it was a very good learning experience.  If I had the right equipment I believe this type of video would be easy to make.  It would also be very beneficial within the classroom.

OER

Open educational resources are resources available to anyone online that present learning material.  This material maybe lesson plans, books, quizzes, and others.  For the learner this tool is very useful because it allows the student to get a different approach to what they are learning.  This can greatly improve the information they take in and they are more likely going to be able to store the information in their long term memory.  For the teacher this tool is amazing!  They can literally find their lesson plans, activities, quizzes, syllabi, and anything they could possibly need in order to teach a class. There is also an opportunity for teachers to make comments on other teacher's lesson.  This is very helpful in bettering the material.  I think this tool is great and I am definitely going to be using it within my classroom.  

I have always been the student who second guesses my answers, it makes me nervous, and so I do not volunteer to answer the questions.  Sometimes I would have been right and others I would have been wrong.  The fear of being wrong in front of the whole class is enough for me to sit there silently.  There are always two to three people in one classroom who have the guts to answer questions.  They are the only students to participate in the classroom discussion.  While most of the time these students have the right answer it does not help anyone in the class when they directly answer them. If I had a teacher in my elementary years who made me feel comfortable with answering questions I probably would not have such a difficult time with it.   Something that simple could change a student's whole way of learning.     

            I think children learn best when they are in an environment they feel comfortable in.  It is the teacher’s responsibility to create a classroom with a comfortable environment for the students.  The environment alone can increase or decrease the students' ability to learn. I think this is most important when it comes to questions.  When students are fearful of asking questions or answering questions it limits the students' ability to learn.  In order for a student to gain as much information that they crave and want to understand, they need to feel comfortable with communicating with the teacher and the rest of the class.  I believe that getting down to the child's level is really helpful in gaining participation.  This may mean actually sitting in the small seats made specifically for the students. The teacher should get down and ask the students individual questions along with picking at their brains by prompting them to express their answers or concerns.  Children should not be taught by a teacher standing over them demanding answers.  I think this blocks the child's true ability because they are nervous of disappointing the teacher and not getting their approval.  So rather than demanding answers teachers should guide the students to discover through hands on activities and praise them for participating even if their answer is wrong.      If a student had a idea of what the answer might be and volunteered it can then turn into a learning process for the whole class.  The teacher can ask questions like "how did you get to this point?" and prompt the student to talk through the question.  

Top 10

10) Bobs Interactive lessons is a very useful tool enabling the teacher to show the students what they are learning rather then just telling them

 

9)Rien Wetmore Smartboard allows students to participate in the lessons

 

8)Alicias WikiSpaces allows for students and teacher to stay connected

7) Demi Ask Dr. Math allows students to get help on all different types of math questions.

6)  Uniquely Nina Prezi is a different way to present information in the class. Keeps the class interesting

 

5) Education for You Teacher Tube allows for teacher to safely look up strictly educational videos

 

4)Carelys animated videos allows for students or teachers to take pictures and turn them into animated videos

3) Says who? Jeopardy allows for teacher to quiz their students for studying purposes

 

2) Aleah's Blog  Virtual book      was similar to my tool but only allows students to look at it online.

1)Dunlap's Blog   Pinterest I have personally found this tool very useful when find fun and exciting lesson plans and projects.

     

Cool Tool for School

A division of creations by YOU!

This site allows students or teachers to create a real hard covered book filled with children's writings and illustrations.

Every student gets one free book!

Try the demonstration to get a feel for how easy this tool is to use.

Here's what a couple teacher have to say about the site...

“Oftentimes, papers, research work, and stories written for class are lost and forgotten soon after the work is completed. By publishing these stories into hardbound copies, student work is honored and shared with others to provide that lasting memory. There is no more powerful motivation for young authors to work hard to improve a piece of writing than publishing for an audience who will appreciate the work.” Cheri Olmstead-- fourth grade teacher

“What does this project do for my students? It gives them a purpose for writing. It builds confidence as a writer. And it brings the families into the school for academic achievement to praise and honor their child’s efforts in writing. The power of this project is amazing.” Terry Melancon--third grade teacher

How it works
Teachers or students can register to create their own books. The website walks you through step by step creating the cover with a Title, a dedication, and “About-the-Author” bio page along with every page within the book.  If the child would like to include their own illustrations just scan the picture and  upload it into the book as a photo.

Recess in schools

                                                                           



"The playground as a classroom" is an article that describes the importance of recess.  It expands on many different ways that recess betters a child such as learning social skills, getting exercise, learning to create, and most importantly recess allows the child to be a more attentive student. 
            The article develops the theory that recess can be a creative learning environment.  It goes one to say that children, while exploring their natural world, are able to create their own worlds by creating forts, collecting rocks, and digging.  Children have shown that they succeed best when they are given choices.  On their own they are able to create and explore and learn from each other.  " The outdoors is a classroom of the students' own construction." 

            Current U.S. Department of Education reports that  18 percents of students in grades one through six are only get 15 minutes of free time each day.  While 40 percent have taken recess out completely because to allow for students to get the maximum amount of time spent on academics.   Left behind are the social skills, exercise, and creativity students learn from recess.

                Research shows that students who get the opportunity to play outdoors are more attentive and less restless in the classroom.  More in depth studies of the brain show that breaks in-between learning sessions provides the student with better recall abilities. Recess is also proven to have a huge impact in the students social abilities throughout his or her life.  " Pellegrino, Kato, Blatchford, and Baines found that primary school children's reciprocal social play predicts their social competence on year later."

            Recommended by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service children over the age of 2 should get around 60 minutes of exercise a day.  In only 30 year the obesity rate has nearly doubles.  Almost 15 percent of children in the U.S. are obese and over 80 percent of the obese children will become obese adults.

            Children obviously need recess to succeed not only in academics but for their social skills and their health.

Even though research has shown again and again that students are more likely to pay attention and be less restless after having recess, some believe that recess should be taken out of school in order to have more time for learning.  Pellegrini and Davis have found that the longer a child sit the less attentive they become. In more in depth research of the brain, studies have shown that students without breaks do poorly on assignments and tests.  To me the obvious thing to do is have recess.  So, why are others insisting that it would benefit the children to have more class time when it is proven that is not true? I believe that physical activity should always be incorporated in a school day.  Not only will it help prevent the scary amount of child obesity, it will also help the children to pay attention during lessons and succeed academically.

 

Move Me

Recess Physical Activity Packs in Elementary Schools

Chapter one

In chapter one of Personal Learning Networks, Using the Power of Connection to Transform Education the main concept is bringing the classroom into the 21st century. They claim,  "Students are better prepare for life and work in the 21st century" if children are introduce and experience technology in the classroom.  This is obviously true because it will enable the students to be very skilled at many different programs that could be beneficial to the work force.   They also claim that learning online opens the door to an unlimited amount of teachers.  The students can read knowledge from all around the world with a couple clicks.  The book states, "Today we can turn to all sorts of professionals and collaborators from any where in the world to help us answer out questions, connect us to relevant content and resources, or just share their own experiences."  In English class this semester our professor asked if we believed getting on the Internet to look up a question, and how easy it is, is a good thing or a bad thing.  I automatically believed it was a good thing.  I wrote a short belief statement about how the other side of this argument didn't even make sense. How would it be a bad thing to have unlimited access to all your questions? The next day I was surprised on how many people said that it was a bad thing.  As I listened to their reasoning I began to change my view. Having access to the Internet in the classroom takes away the process of thinking, coming up with an idea, and questioning.  So children instead of coming up with ideas on the answers it might be instead they look it up online.  They get a simple answer to their question without any effort.   Without effort I do not believe that students are truely taking in the information.  I have googled many questions and I can honestly say that I do not remember the questions I have asked nor do I remember the answer.


The book also claims that the students will also become more engaged in the classroom.  I do not fully agree with this.  Although they would be able to make PowerPoint's and look up  information pertaining to the subject, I believe the students would be very distracted if we allowed students to always be connect to the Internet.

I think there are many good ideas on how technology can enhance the classroom experience but I do not think it should be 100% technology all the time. Even though the "traditional"classroom may not be 21st century it still has many qualities that technology can not cover.

Powerpoint

The PowerPoint that was assigned in SEDU 183 was very straight forward.  The assignment sheet gave step by step directions of how to complete the assignment along with the rubric of how we were going to get graded.  I thought the assignment was very easy. The only complication I had was that I was unable to link a word document (that I was going to use for a smartboard activity) onto the PowerPoint.  To solve this I made the document into a simple website and linked the website on my PowerPoint.  I thought the assignment tested our abilities in PowerPoint and allowed us to get to know a tool that will be very helpful within the classroom. Although I do think I need a lot more practice and instruction in order to successfully make lesson PowerPoints more advanced.
Extra Credit

Twitter

I think that bring Twitter into the classroom is a bad idea.  The fact that students already have twitters to have socail interaction makes it almost impossible to incorporate it into the classroom. Students will be distracted and teacher will not be able to tell if the student is actively participating or tweeting to friends.  I understand that the concept of Twitter may be useful within the classroom but using a site made for social networking in the classroom would be a disaster. If there was another site simular to Twitter I would definantly consider using it within my class.

Learning

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About me

Hi.  My name is Jamie Katarski.  I grew up in Edinboro, Pennsylvania. I now attend Edinboro University.  I am a Early Childhood and Special Education major.  My goal in teaching is to help children, to not only learn the basics such as English, Math, Social Studies, and Science, but also skilss such as social skills and organization skills.  I hope that my classroom is a very hands on and exciting for the students.  I hope to share my ideas for my classroom through these blogs.