Fun art lesson plans for All subjects...

I came across a website full of fun lesson plan ideas that we can use to follow up lessons in math, social studies, language arts, and science... Crayola.com. It is really great and has a lot of creative ideas for teachers to incorporate their lessons with. Look around the site and I bet you'll find something that interests you....

http://www.crayola.com/lesson-plans/

Comment on today's lesson

In the second lesson that was presented today the class was very quiet and well behaved in comparison to how behavior is and was for other lessons. As Dr. Luongo mentioned it most likely could have been due to the fact that there were a few students absent. In addition to this, I also think that when a lesson is something out of the ordinary or involves new materials that students never worked with, it plays a huge role in the students' behavior. I read a book about teaching art to elementary school and one point that was emphasized was the idea that a teacher should use a variety of materials, otherwise the students will become bored. For example, if every art lesson involved crayons only, then the students' work would not be as creative and they would not focus because they were bored. Thus, it is important to use a plethora of items such as paint (if your daring), oil pastels, colored pencils, markers, etc. The book insisted that these small changes would result in more successful outcomes amongst students' work. In Janira's lesson, the finger puppets kept the students challenged and interested. They took pride in their work and concentrated which ultimately resulted in a well behaved environment. All in all, I just wanted to reiterate the importance of using different materials while doing projects because a small detail such as that can make all the difference.

I <3 Rubrics...

As a future educator, I consider myself to be a more liberal teacher in comparision to a traditional one. I believe that school should not only be about facts from textbooks, but should also be about life lessons that can be applied outside of the classroom. Tests and quizzes should only account for one small part of a student's grade. So without a set format and percentage of correct or incorrect (such as a test), how can we teachers assess a student's progress? Rubrics allow teachers to grade their students outside of traditional "right" or "wrong" and give more leway toward other areas of concentration, such as neatness, teamwork, creativity, etc. Another aspect of rubrics is that it allows the student to understand what the teacher is looking for and what he/she will be graded on. It creates a much more fair system that allows the students to see the strengths and weaknesses of their asssignment. All in all, I love the benefits that come with rubrics which is why I will be using them in my classroom assessments.

Fairness in Assessment

Fairness is assessment is a key concept to recognize as a teacher. You cannot go easy on a student who has difficulty and hard on another who is more advanced. As a teacher, it is sometimes difficult to judge and grade students equally, because every student is at a different level. Some students may not take tests very well but maintain their homework, participate in class, and put forth effort. On the other hand, there may be some students who ace every test but do not complete their homework all the time and do not show interest or effort during class time. Therefore, in order to create equal opportunities for students of all levels and intelligences, formative and summative assessments should be used in the classroom.

Who are you voting for? Campaign 2008

No Child Left Behind

"[Teachers] feel betrayed and frustrated by No Child Left Behind. We shouldn't reauthorize it without changing it fundamentally. We left the money behind for [nclb]."
Obama would improve the tests and offer more support to schools that need help.




"No Child Left Behind was a good beginning. We now, after a number of years of examination and practice with it, know there's some things that badly need fixing."
McCain would consider changing the testing requirements for some students.

Teacher Pay

"We can find new ways to increase pay that are developed with teachers, not imposed on them and not based on some arbitrary test score. That's how we're going to close the achievement gap."
Obama supports pay based on individual teacher performance.

"Choice and competition is the key to success in education in America. That means...rewarding good teachers and finding bad teachers another line of work."
McCain supports merit pay for individual teachers.

Higher Education Affordability

"Putting a college education within reach of every American is the best investment we can make in our future. I'll create a new and fully refundable tax credit."
Obama would create a $4,000 tax credit to cover the costs of college tuition.

"We will draw on the great strengths of America's community colleges, applying the funds from federal training accounts to give displaced workers of every age a fresh start."
McCain has not revealed the details of his plans.

www.usnews.com

What assessment means to me...

The typical idea that is associated with the term assessment often goes along the line of long, boring, stressful, etc. Classroom assessment is a process which should be used to support and enhance students' learning. Assessment is used for diagnosis, grading, instruction, and accountability. A child can be assessed by various ways, most traditionally through tests and rubrics.

In my personal opinion, I think the most successful way to evaluate a student is a combination of traditional and non-traditional assessments. Tests and quizzes are reliable ways to judge a student's capabilities and level, but it should not be the only measurement used. A teacher should also challenge student's to tasks such as working well together, creativity, effort, etc., by observing them in activities that do not hold such negative pressures as tests. It is important for teachers to create an environment that students do not always feel stress because it will most likely suppress their true capability to learn. Through this, a teacher is also helping students to learn and intellectually grow as individuals in and outside of the classroom. Students must learn how to study, comprehend material, and be able to show their knowledge through tests and papers. It is equally important to teach children how to think outside of boxes and circles and to allow their mind to expand past them.

Mobile Learning

To add on to the debate of whether or not cell phones are a distraction for students, take a look at what Apple is promoting... (I thought you might like this Dr. Luongo)


http://www.apple.com/education/itunesu_mobilelearning/ipod.html