Things are getting real!

Hello readers! It's been awhile since you have heard from me and tons has happened since my last post! In my last post I was just getting into the groove and figuring out what elementary education was all about but things have sped up. I no longer feel like a newby and can finally see myself in my classroom! With Dr. Parker constantly reminding us that this time is going to fly by before we know it and then we will have 25 kids looking up to us and be expected to prep them for life. It's a lot to take in but based on the conversations I have had with the teachers during observations they make their jobs seem like a pleasure. They mentioned that things don't always go as you expected and how you pictured in your head but some of those moments that you don't expect turn out to be the best ones. Like when a child says your their favorite teacher or when they feel comfortable enough with you to tell you whats on their mind. To your students your more than someone teaching them addition but a role model they look up to. We had the chance to go to three different schools observe a real class. We went to Township 3 Elementary, Crest Middle, and High School. As I expected I loved visiting the elementary school. We observed the teacher and tried to figure out their 6 point lesson plan within the class and we observed how the teacher interacted with the students. I was in a 1st-grade classroom and they were broken up into reading groups looking for "sight words". The teacher was so direct and personal with every student which seemed to have every student engaged and learning effectively. She constantly was giving direction and changing the way she was presenting the material to them in order to have them busy and not get distracted. We also visited the middle school and high school which I didn't favor as much but drew important messages from the visits. When visiting the high school safety was a topic that was being questioned after a recent school shooting. Dr. Parker brought to our attention that we are not only the students' teacher but we are also their protector for eight hours a day. If a student does not feel safe they will not be able to focus and learn anything so it's important to reassure the students they are safe and make sure they are comfortable. Dr. Parker explained that teachers may be expected and be allowed to carry guns within the classrooms in order to better protect their students which is incredibly depressing. How can a teacher be on guard to that extent but also be focused on teaching at the same exact time? It's a crazy time that we now live in and we have to protect our students the best we can because parents trust us with their babies and to return them home safely after every day. Besides the absorbing I have done inside the classroom itself I have also researched how to establish relationships with students and parents. Every website seemed to say the same thing that a personal relationship with parents makes them trust you with their child and forces them to believe that you have their best interest at heart. And when a personal relationship is made with a student they come to you more often when things are wrong either when not understanding material, things at home or possibly bullying within the classroom. The comfortability and trust of the student is key to having them want to listen to you. Behavior within the classroom will improve to create a more effective learning environment. By gaining personal relationships with your students you can better understand what helps them understand the material and how they specifically learn. My research goes with the NCTCS standard of Diversity. Diversity means as Dr. Parker said "all means all". As a teacher, you are not allowed a bias against any student and must welcome everyone and encourage them. Your job as a teacher is to make every student feel accepted and cared for. Diversity is more than culture and race. Diversity can be how students learn, religion, morals, language, politics, economic status or location. Diversity creates opportunities for every person within the classroom to learn including the teacher. Personal relationships are important to make with families who may be more diverse than the rest of the class and they must know that you appreciate their child and embrace the differences in all ways. This may be easier said then done but it is the job of a teacher to show compassion and kindness to all students. In my future classroom, I plan to establish relationships with the parents and students immediately within the first two weeks of school. I plan on making efforts to getting to know all my students very well and be able to recognize how each student learns the best. I will use this knowledge is future lessons for the rest of the year. I'll continue to strive to know more about my students past to the two-week introduction phase to guarantee the comfortability of all my students. In my future classroom, I want relationships and want my students and parents to trust me with anything. That's a goal I have for my future classroom. Once again this chunk of time has gotten me more excited to have my own classroom and it makes me want to start working with the kids as early as tomorrow!

And we're off!!

Brooke Myrick
Dr. Parker
Elementary Education 250
1/31/18

And We're Off! 

Wow! I have begun my first elementary education class in the Spring of 2018. Going into the class I was unsure how I would be taught how to teach others. Somehow the first class had made me feel as if I was already behind! I have mother nature and snow days to thank for that great start! Things settled down once I figured out how to use Google Docs and Dr. Parker's Blackboard. Just when things felt settled, I attended the student orientation hosted at Gardner-Webb for all Education Majors. I met tons of new people and by the end of the day, I knew this class was going to be rigorous. I enjoyed being a "student" in the classroom for other students to practice teaching and lesson plans on me. It gave me a lot of great ideas for when my time has come to do the exact same thing! Shout out to September 8th!! I had my work cut out for me, I had liability and volunteer forms and even background checks all due days later on a foreign website called Taskstream. I was tweeting about class and questions I was unsure about! I think my followers are loving the hashtag #educ250! We examined all sorts of standards and how to "unpack" them effectively. Standards are the requirements and expected as a teacher you are required to cover. Fortunately, North Carolina has a handy-dandy list of every standard for every grade, skill level, and class. It is called the NCSCOS which stands for the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. Throughout the class so far I have realized teachers LOVE acronyms making this is one of the many that is being ingrained in my head. Another great acronym "KUD" stands for know, understand, and do. This helps unpack standards to better comprehend what the objective of each standard. As a teacher, it's important for me to determine what my students already know by using their past experiences and knowledge. When teaching a lesson it is vital to start building off of previous understanding to increase the amount of comprehension. Previous understandings could be facts, vocabulary words, places, dates, and examples. If the students clearly KNOW these things they will be better prepared to build upon that information and learn.  After teaching the engaging lesson during the teacher input students should be challenged to expand but not overwhelmed completely. Guided practice and individual practice is important to make sure the students understand the new information. This can be determined if the students feel confident within the new information and are able to make correct assumptions or get correct answers by themselves. The last and most important part of the acronym is the "DO"! This truly tests the students and makes them apply the new information and concepts to everyday life. The "do" is what every teacher aims to do within every lesson and what I hope to accomplish daily in my future classroom!! There were many ways shown to me on how to make a lesson engaging. Dr. Parker had us walk around outside while listening to a podcast of the lesson on our phones. He called it a walking classroom, I was surprised at how much more information I retained from the lesson from being active while listening. This idea of a walking classroom would definitely be an idea I would hope to explore in my future classroom. Dr. Parker also used many teaching tools on his computer that could tell you how loud the classroom was being and how much time students still had to work! I thought these were great and hope to implement them into my classroom as well. I could use them when the students are in guided or independent practice to control their noise level and to also make sure it is clear how much time they have left to continue working. Outside the class elementary education 250, I have also been researching ways a teacher can keep control and respect in his/her classroom. The best way to gain the respect from the kids is to be consistent! If you say you're going to have a consequence you must go through with it if the rule is broken. This will show the students you are not messing around. Be confident and do not show that you are uncomfortable when assigning a punishment when a rule is broken. If that doesn't seem to work many websites suggested moving the seating chart around so the students can better focus on learning by not being around their friends. I am really excited to go visit the schools in Febuary! Many more updates to come! Thanks for reading and joining me on my pathway through elementary education!!