Module 6

Presentations

     This module discussed how to give an effective presentation.  After completing many presentations throughout my undergrad and graduate studies, much of this information was an overview, but it was a great refresher and an excellent way to get more ideas for future presentations.  One thing that I think is important to consider when preparing for a presentation is to only have one or two major points per slide, that way the audience will be able to listen and concentrate on what the presenter is saying.  Another factor to consider is to use the same format throughout the presentation, along with limiting animations, backgrounds, fonts, and colors that can be too distracting for viewers.    

     The next part of this module was the most beneficial to me as it gave examples of Web 2.0 tools that could be used either when giving presentations or when working with students in the classroom.  I feel like presentation software like Prezi, Author Stream, and Voicethread are great alternates to the traditional PowerPoint slides.  I enjoyed viewing some of the “extras” that were listed in this sections like Text 2 Mind Map and Blabberize.  I use a lot of mind maps in my classroom and I can definitely take advantage of text2mindmap.com when working with my class.  Student would also really enjoy Blabberize.com, they would think it was so hilarious to see silly animation put to their own words!  I also can definitely use some of the Kid Pix and Powerpoint projects created with my class.  They would just love working on the ABC Book and the Polar Express PowerPoints, and seeing their own work posted on the computer would really motivate and enhance their learning experience.   

Module 5

Literacy Centers

Computer software can really enhance children’s learning.  Like in the video entitled “Maximizing Literacy Centers” where children are working on word studies to increase their literacy skills.  While I do think technology is important because it increases children’s motivation and engagement and can help provide extra practice, I do not feel it should be solely used in the classroom.  Students, especially young children, need to experience a balance of traditional teaching with technology in order for social interactions to occur, that’s why I really like the example of the literacy activity that followed later of the partners working together on their word sorting activity on opposite words.  Students love working together in pairs or small groups to complete assignments. Literacy centers are great activities for this.  It brings students together where they are working to complete one task yet they are learning to understand different views/opinions from others.  Using a balanced literacy approach to teaching, gives teachers the opportunity to work with whole groups, small groups, and individual students.  I have found that my small group time is my favorite time of the day.  It lets me work with children on special skills, while other students are collaborating on a task.  I also can observe how those children are interacting with each other.  The students also seem to really enjoy this time and become engaged as they are completing specially assigned activities that they would not normally chose and working together with other students while developing friendships.

I also liked watching the videos on organizing your classroom.  I like to try and change up my classroom arrangement as well as seating every so often.  I do like to try and keep my classroom clutter-free and organized, even though sometimes it’s hard with all the activities and paperwork.  I know that children need that structure, routine, and organization.  Having the students help keep the classroom organized also develops their organizational and self-help skills.  I find that having everything labeled with the word and even a picture really helps keeping everything tidy, teaching that there’s a place for everything.

Module 4

Literacy Across the Curriculum

I think it is important to integrate literacy across the curriculum.  Literacy is more than just reading, but it has to do with speaking, listening, thinking, and writing skills.  I feel that students take more of an interest in learning when it is all related and there is a cumulative theme.  In my grade level, we collaborate and use unit themes that last for 2 weeks and all the activities are related to that certain topic.  I have found that the students become really involved in the learning and approach me asking questions in order to discover more information.  Sometimes the unit is even extended if the students find it highly engaging.  When planning for an integrated unit, it may be difficult think of activities that fit the topic especially if they are not obviously related.  However, integrating allows more time to fit in all subjects and reach the standards throughout the busy school day.  My students would love to have a pirate unit that was shown on the module, especially the boys.  They would particularly like the myth-busters part on why pirates wear eye-patches.   

RTI

This module went into detail to explain the RTI process.  RTI stands for Response to Intervention.  It is a program put into place that helps students increase their reach their potential and help decrease the chance that they enter into special education.  RTI has 4 different tiers, all students begin in tier 1.  The teacher will perform assessments in order to monitor the progress.  If a student is not achieving reading goals and standards, he/she will be brought into tier 2.  This involves an intervention of individualized instruction, much of it happens in a small group setting within the classroom.  It could also involve something like peer tutoring to help increase the student’s fluency.  If the student still shows difficulty, he/she will go into tier 3.  In this phase the student will receive monitoring by the SST (Student Support Team).  They will offer special strategies and modifications in order to help the student advance.   In tier 4, the student will receive specialized instruction and adapted content in order to help the student reach the standards through a special education program.  RTI is designed in a pyramid shape, with tier 1 at the base and tier 4 at the very top, representing that the majority of the students are in tier 1 and the least amount of student are in the top tier 4.  I feel that this program not only benefits a student’s academically, but also socially.  This program can help diagnose a student with a learning disability, help a teacher implement new strategies, as well as help close the learning gap.

Writing Express with First Graders- Video

I think this is an excellent brainstorming activity that will get the students thinking about parts of a sentence.  I liked how the teacher said first you need to name something and then tell what it does.  The students were inadvertently naming parts of a sentence, without really knowing the technical names.  I liked how the teacher didn’t write the sentences down, which kept the lesson moving, he just pulled the students to the front of the class to represent their part of the sentence.  That works great for those students that need to get up and move around a bit when learning.  I feel that I could use this activity in my own classroom as my students are learning more about literacy and how to speak and write in complete sentences.

Powerpoint Presentations

I thought that the powerpoints were very informative and I particularly liked the one about the Strategic Reading Instruction because it mainly focused on the age group of the children that I teach.  It reviewed how scaffolding and using content areas can help children learn.  I also think the presentation called Reading Strategies-Extending the Learning is a wonderful resource that I can refer back to in order to get more ideas on literacy instruction.  One of the strategies I currently use in my classroom is the word wall and my class is constantly referring to it for ideas and spelling.  Students even what to add their own words to it.  One game I would like to implement is the Guess the Word Game, where the students are given 5 clues to try and guess the word from the word wall.

Webquests

I have always liked webquests.  I think they are an excellent way for students to learn more information on their own.  The “mystery” webquests are my favorite, where you are given clues to figure out and solve the problem/question.  While I have never created one on my own, I think that webquests are most popular with the subject of social studies.  Students are always so excited to use technology as it is part of their day to day life.  I feel that they use technology they are more engaged in their learning and problem solving.     

Module 3

Encouraging Enthusiasm for Reading Video

This video is inspiring for teachers and parents alike.  Nothing encourages a child to read more than good experiences with books modeled from a teacher or parent. When parents read at home, their children read more too and I feel it is the same when students see their teachers read as well.  In my own pre-k classroom I love to see my students take a book I have just read and retell it to another child or even retell it to themselves.  It makes me happy to see them enjoying the story that much that they want to read it again.

Using the Smart Table for Collaboration- Video

I would love to have a smart table in my classroom.  I think it looks so fun and educational for students.  They would love it too!  What a great way to incorporate and present an activity and have so many children work on it together.   This type of technology could be used with any grade level.  They could learn literacy skills like reading, writing, speaking, phonics, phonological awareness, and grammar.  It could easily be used for other subjects as well.  I think it would be particularly useful for ELL students as they could work along side other students and develop language concepts.

Virtual Field Trips to Atlanta:

I enjoyed viewing the virtual field trips to my own local city.  Watching some of the videos reminded me of some of the attractions that I almost forgot about.  I think learning through virtual field trips is really the next best thing from actually traveling ourselves.  While I do think that there is nothing like seeing an attraction in person, schools can save on expenses if they use virtual learning.  I feel that it is extremely important for students to learn about the city and state that they live in, using virtual field trips makes it that much easier. 

Exploring Social Studies and Technology- Video

Technology is very useful when teaching, especially social studies.  Teachers can use it during their lesson planning to create an in depth look at historical events and people.  They can look at pictures of historic figures or photographs from certain time periods.  Students can participate in webquests where they navigate through sites and learn information on their own.  They can also use technology to learn about maps and globes.   Lessons can also incorporate music from other time periods or music from other parts of the world.  Technology can also be used for students’ projects and work samples.  They can create brochures or pamphlets, slide show presentations, or draw and use graphics with certain programs.  Using technology and a smart table will allow students to brainstorm and create visual webs individually or with a group.

Integrating Science and Literacy in Early Childhood

Literacy is more than just reading.  It involves reading, writing, thinking, listening, and speaking.  One of the main take aways I learned from watching this video was you can’t stand and deliver literacy, but you watch it happen and encourage it.  Some of the most important things we can do to help early childhood students in preschool and pre-k is to develop their oral language and give them exposure to read alouds.  Oral language in early childhood is used when singing songs, reading and discussing stories, and naming items.  It can promote memorization, organization, cause and effect reasoning, and vocabulary which are all the early foundations for math and science.  During reading alouds not only are children learning where to begin reading or how to turn the pages, but they are learning to associate spoken language with written language.

Development of Literacy Strategies

This presentation discussed information literacy.  It incorporated a model that generated ideas of 7 basic literacy pillars. In order to achieve information literacy, you need basic IT skills and library skills.   Knowing why you need information, where to get it, and how to evaluate is the main focus of information literacy.  With so many search engines and links, information found online can become misconstrued.  It’s important we make sure we are using reliable sources and providing that same high quality information when teaching our students.

Expository Texts- Signal Words

I thought this presentation got right to the point.  The visual display used in it was right up my ally and is something that I can easily learn from and gather ideas from.  The first graphic organizer displayed, the descriptive writing web, is really my favorite one because you can do so much with it.  If you teach young students, they can draw pictures inside the bubbles instead of write.  When teaching older students, they can extend the web adding further details.  It is also so easy to draw, so there is no need searching on the computer for a template and making copies.  I liked how this presentation made a list of signal words for each strategy to make it easy to identify what type of text you are reading.  I think that this presentation would be helpful for students to have displayed in their classroom as they could refer to it for deciding what types of texts they are reading.

Expository Text- Moss Article

I found this article interesting and I could relate to many parts of it.  When I first began teaching, I thought it was difficult to engage students and teach them using expository texts.  It made me think of my own experience, when I was going through school and I thought reading informational texts was boring and monotonous.  Some of it probably had to do with the topics and the materials at hand, but I think some of it had to do with the ability level and my comprehension.   Now I enjoy using these types of texts with my students.  I find that by selecting the proper level of text with the right structure, students are engaged and interested.  Even with my young students, we work on comprehension reading skills as they listen to books and offer their retelling.  Often times I have them draw a picture and I will write down their exact retelling of the text.  I really liked the small group retelling strategy that was discussed.  Where one student retells the first events in the story, then student 2 repeats student 1’s story but adds the next series of events, and it continues on until the entire book is retold.

Module 2

Differentiated Instruction Presentation

Differentiated instruction is a way of thinking and planning to make all students successful in learning.  I believe differentiated instruction is necessary to reach all abilities of our students.  Not only does differentiated instruction involve planning meaningful lessons and activities for the students, but it involves planning an array of tasks that the students can choose from that would best fit their interest.  Some students may enjoy creating a hands on project like designing a model, while others may like to present their work through drama or poetry.  Providing multiple means for a student to express themselves gives the student an opportunity to choose a task that best fits their style, strength, and developmental level. 

The Story of Differentiation-Carol Ann Tomlinson

I thought this video was interesting in the learning about Carol Ann Tomlinson and her beginnings as an educator.  She had to figure out how to teach her students that were either highly above grade level or very below grade level.  She stated that teaching to the middle of the class would be least beneficial as well as teaching to just would one group would lead to completely ignoring the other group of students.  She talks about how using flexible grouping strategies really brings children together where they are able to work with other students that may be on a different level and have a different background but are still able to learn from one another.  I think using a flexible grouping strategy is necessary.  I like to change my groupings every week.  I am able to work with students that need extra help this way and students are able to work together and help each other.  Plus, students are not stuck in the same group throughout the entire year and they are able to develop relationships with their peers that they may not develop on their own.

Learning Theories

This presentation discussed approaches to problem solving.  One approach was called the 6 A’s.  The first step Awareness which is to understand that there is a problem.  Step 2- Ask questions. Step 3- Accessing gather information. Step 4 -Analyze the collected information. Step 5- application and resolving problems.  Step 6 Assessment.

Planning Strategic Reading Lesson

I thought that this PowerPoint was extremely helpful in my lesson planning and tutoring.  It discusses strategic reading as purposely grouped together students that will work on skills to improve reading fluency and comprehension.  This approach is teacher directed and involves carefully selected texts where that teachers exploration.  One important part to making this successful is the planning process.  Like most lessons, teachers need to think about the objectives and standards they want to cover as well as how they are going to assess the students.  I like that the students are mainly focusing on just one point/skill.  It makes it easier for them to accomplish the goal.  Also the students must know before they begin reading what the purpose of the activity is.  I feel that students like to know what is required of them and using this type of lesson will help the students remain focused on the task at hand.  I also think it is important to provide the students with rubrics or how their score will be calculated.  This will provide better motivation for the students and give them a measure of expectations.  When concluding the lesson it is necessary to provide ways to reinforce the concept from the lesson, through reflections, discussions, journaling, or self-evaluations.

Literacy Content Reading and Scaffolding

I feel that many children struggle with content area reading in subjects like social studies, science, and math, because many of the concepts taught in these texts are new and foreign to them.  They are also not very interested in reading about this topics so they lack motivation and interest.  The presentation discusses how using scaffolding will help students learn to the best of their abilities.  Scaffolding requires support before, during, and after reading.  It requires the teacher to analyze the text for readability, looking at the vocabulary, and the complexity of the text in order to see what prerequisites the students need in order to comprehend the text.   If the text is too challenging for the student the teacher must modify it or paraphrase it.  In order for students to have an understanding of content area texts, they must be able to identify main ideas, supporting details, and comprehend vocabulary.  Teaching strategies that can be utilized for content area texts include graphic organizers, guided reading, and writing to learn.  I really liked all of the strategies listed at the end of this presentation.  I am a very visual learner and I enjoy using graphic organizers with my students.  I’m always looking for new ideas that I can implement in my own classroom.

Bloom’s Taxonomy Wheel of Knowledge

The Bloom’s Taxonomy wheel was a good refresher.  It reminds me of the importance of asking good critical thinking questions rather than literal questions where there is always a right or wrong answer.  I think the wheel presents the information in a way that is easy to follow and understand.  I like how it uses action words for what the students should be doing and then has a final culmination activity/project.  It is nice to be reminded that a final project does not always have to be a test.  Teachers can gather information for assessments through other means as stated on this example. 

Module 1

Reading Strategies for Struggling Readers Video

I thought that this video was an excellent resource that teachers can keep and refer to or even pass on to parents.  I like that I it also gives a summary of the activities that parents can follow along with on the video.  It gave a run through of reading topics like phonological awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension.  I particularly liked the phonological awareness activities that were demonstrated in the video.  I have used stretching the word and also blending the word back together in my classroom.  I have found that students have a hard time with this activity. They struggle at being able to manipulate those sounds that they hear.  I thought that the teacher working with the girl on her vocabulary words did a great job of first encouraging her to read the sentence again and try to use the context clues.  When she still couldn’t figure it out she had the student complete a vocabulary sketch where they talked about the word.  They looked the word up in the dictionary, wrote a sentence about it, and also an illustration.   The video talks about using a graphic organizer in for reading comprehension which really went along with other activities in this module.

Expository Texts

The powerpoint on expository texts went along with the video on graphic organizers stating that students will be able to remember the context and comprehend a better text when they are able to organize the material.  Expository texts have a structure of either: cause and effect, descriptive, comparison, problem and solution, and sequence.  I thought that the powerpoint was very informative in that it gave examples signal words that are used in expository text and looking for those key words will help students better understand what author is trying to communicate.  Children are learning that writers may organize their text in different approaches and patterns in order to get their ideas across.  The text went further to give examples of what to do if signal words are not found in the text and one strategy was to use a graphic organizer.  I feel that the more exposure students receive to expository texts and understand the structure of them, the better writers they will become.  They will understand better how to organize a paragraph, use signal words, and be able to transition from one sentence to another.  

Vacca Chapter 14            

This chapter added to my understanding of expository texts.  While they are important for students to read and learn from, they can be challenging and need the right instructional support.  As every time a student reads they are reading to learn, not necessarily learning to read.  Expository texts are important for students to learn how to read and comprehend because once a person is in adulthood, the majority of his/her reading is from expository/non-fictional texts.  Teachers should research the text before using it their classroom.  Looking at the structure and reviewing the complexity of the sentences and vocabulary will help the students’ success at understanding it.  

Trip To Hawaii Module 1

I was really engaged in this video from just reading the tile of the video because I enjoy traveling so much.  The very beginning of the video was engaging to me as I felt like I was on the trip with you.  Once arriving in Hawaii and learning about the reading conference, I became intrigued to learn that we were going to hear more on graphic organizers.  I think graphic organizers are an excellent way students can focus their reading assignments.

They are great for readers struggling with comprehension.  Before reading a text, the student can glance over the graphic organizers and learn what he/she needs to watch out for during their reading, whether it is main idea, supporting details, or characters.  It also gives them the opportunity to visualize and make mental pictures from their readings.  What I found very interesting was all the different types of graphic organizers.  I have heard of and used ones like Venn-diagrams, story maps, beginning-middle-end chart, concept maps, and flow charts.  One type of graphic organizer I have found I use over and over again is the KWL chart.  I really like that one because it helps activate pre-knowledge and schema before reading.  Some other organizers mentioned in video 2 I have never heard of before like the problem solving grid, Frayer Model, and the vocabulary prediction chart.  Something that I took away from this that I would like to implement in my classroom would be the Frayer Model of a graphic organizer which shows the word, a definition, a picture, an example, and a non-example.  I also like the idea as using a graphic organizer for assessment as it gives the students another to demonstrate their understanding of material.

My Cultural Heritage

My Cultural Heritage

Ethnicity and Race

            I am part of the Kimmel Family.  We are Caucasian and have European ancestry.  My background consists of mainly German roots, with some Irish and French.  There are some German American generalizations having to do with food and drinking beer.  Hamburgers, bratwurst, sauerkraut, strudel, and pretzels are all foods commonly associated with the German community.  Other generalizations are that we are cheap, blunt, and unfriendly.  I do not find those stereotypes to be true.  While we do not spend on money lavishly, I do not consider my family cheap but hard working.  I think that we are very friendly and will give the shirt off our back.  Stereotypes happen when people do not understand others or they have a belief that people who look alike can all be grouped together.  One stereotype from the Caucasian race believed by some people is that we “do not have a culture” or are not diverse.  In fact everyone has a culture, it has to deal with your religion, beliefs, values, and how you celebrate holidays or traditions.  All people are included under the word diverse.  Diversity encompasses all races and ethnicities.

Family

            As I was growing up, my father went to work and my mother stayed home and took care of the house.  My mom would get up in the morning with my dad before he would leave for work and make breakfast for him and also pack a lunch for him to take to work.  As I got older and went to school my mother would also pack a lunch for me and make sure I got on the school bus on time.  She also took me to after school activities, like gymnastics, dance, tennis, or swimming.  My mother also took care of all the meals, she taught me how to set the table and eventually cook on my own.  Family meals were important as we would always sit down and eat together.  My father went to work and he took care of the maintenance of the house.  He would cut the grass, paint, and fix anything broken.  My father was raised to try and figure out how to fix things on his own before asking for help or paying someone to fix it.  If he had to pay for someone to fix the car, it was like a defeat.  When he was growing up he used to fix all the neighbors cars for free and only charge the cost of parts, because he enjoyed working with his hands so much. 

            My family is the most important to me.  They have pushed me to do my best and have always supported and loved me unconditionally.  We believe that we should never take our time together for granted as you are not guaranteed a tomorrow.   We also value respect and honesty.  I was taught that you should always use good manners and live by the “golden rule” of treat others how you would like to be treated.  Kindness and caring goes a long way.  We also believe in helping others and being thankful and grateful for help or gifts from other people.    

We have many traditions that we have developed throughout the years.  During Christmas we have a special pickle ornament that someone hides.  The first person to find the ornament gets to open the first gift.  Birthdays are another time we like to gather together.  When it’s your birthday, you get to pick out a special restaurant you would like to eat at.   We always give presents and have a birthday cake as well.  We also celebrate Oktoberfest, by gathering together for family time that also involves eating and drinking.  During this time, mother likes to make bratwurst, sauerkraut, pork, and potatoes.   

Values

            My family is Christian.  I was raised in a Lutheran Church and attended from infancy to adulthood.  Lutheran beliefs originally came from Martian Luther as he wanted to depart from the Roman Catholic Church, for that reason many of the elements to Lutheranism are similar to that of the catholic style of worship (Lutheranism, n.d).  The Lutheran Church is the oldest Protestant Christian tradition dating back to 1517 (Lutheranism, n.d). 

            The Kimmel Family has a strong work ethic.  Before I was of a legal working age my parents encouraged me to work in our community whether it was pet sitting or babysitting.   I was 15-years old when I got my first official job.  Since that day I have always had a job, sometimes two or three jobs at a time.  Growing up, I was also responsible for paying some of my bills, so that taught me lessons on savings and prioritizing my spending.  If I wanted to buy something, I had to earn and save money on my own.  My parents have taught me to be a reliable, responsible, and diligent employee and always show up and show a good attitude.  Showing a good work ethic will get you better positions and promotions.

            Education is very important to our family.  As I was going through middle school and high school, my mother and father expected me to always try my best and never give up.  My parents always discussed with me about going to college and expressed how earning a college degree is necessary to make a better life.  I was the first college graduate in my family.  My family believes in constantly bettering yourself, whether it is through reading books or taking classes, we believe never stop learning. 

Other Information

            Being a Christian, my family celebrates the traditional Christian holidays of Easter and Christmas.  We also celebrate Thanksgiving where my immediate family gathers together and eat turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberries, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie.  Since my father and both of my grandfathers are veterans, my family also celebrates Memorial Day and Fourth of July.  On Memorial Day we hang American flags on our front porch and by our mailbox for remembrance.  My mother also displays the flag that was draped over my grandfather’s coffin during his military style funeral.

Assumptions and Stereotypes

             Some stereotypes and assumptions of Americans are that we always we eat fast food, are overweight, and are obnoxious.  While there are times that we do eat fast food and we may eat more fast food than people from other countries, we do like to cook and eat nutritious meals.   I do not think that we are obnoxious people, in fact I think we are very caring individuals and we also like to keep to ourselves.  Positive stereotypes of our culture are that we are hardworking and optimistic.  I feel that this is accurate to our culture.  My family works very hard and we give everything we have to help others.  Even when our work day is over we go home and try to work to improve our house.  We try to look at the brighter side of every situation and try to turn a negative into a positive. 

Family Tree    

            My family tree has four generations present.  All generations are from St. Louis, Missouri.  My parents and I are the only family members that live outside the state of Missouri.  I was born in Missouri and have lived in Georgia since I was 10 years old.  My mother’s side is the Benz family.   My great-grandfather and great-grandmother on the Benz side are from Germany, while my great-grandparents on the Jourdain side are from France.  Both of my great-grandmothers were homemakers.  My great-grandfather Jourdain owned various businesses.  One was a moving company.  My mother is an only child.  She has a unique name, Laurene, and is actually named after her father, Lawrence.  Lawrence was a sheet metal worker.  I was never able to meet my grandfather, he died before I was born from cancer.   My grandmother Mildred lived to be 90 years old.  She was a key punch operator for the government.

            On the Kimmel side, my great-parents were all German.  My Great-Grandfather Eichermueller was a supervisor at a St. Louis power company, while My Great-Grandfather Kimmel worked in a shoe factory.  Both great-grandmothers were homemakers as well as my grandma.  My grandpa worked as a telephone switchman. 

Please see my family tree in the embedded box below:

References

Lutheranism (n.d) Religion Facts. Retrieved from:  http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/denominations/lutheranism.htm