Reflection

Reflection 

Looking back 

Looking back on this expience I have enjoyed blogging and sharing my thoughts with the world. I am so happy that I have decided to stick with blogging and feel along the way I have become a better blogger and communicator. I really enjoyed seeing the growth in my blogs from the first time I did one until now. When I first starting blogging I was stressed and confused on how to blog and how I wanted information to get across to readers in an engaging way, but now I am confident in my abilities and actually enjoy making weekly post. Looking back I am glad that this class introduced me to blogging and a whole new way to communicate with peers.

Moving forward 

Looking into the future I want blogging to be a part of how I communicate with others. I think blogging is a great way to post updates and communicate with families, students and peers as a teacher. Technology is such a big part of everyones life and as a teacher I think this is a great way for parents to get involved and have knowledge about what their children are doing in school, as a teacher I plan to use blogging as a way to communicate. I also hope to gain new knowledge of how to blog so I can make my post more fun and engaging to read and interact with.

Take Care Teachers!

Welcome back!

Teachers have had to change their way of teaching and impacting students during this strange time of a pandemic and a change to life as we know it. Although our lives seem strange right now, it is still vital that we take care of ourselves. Teachers, this is for you and I hope you find the blog this week helpful for you to destress and embrace the changes that are happening.

During these stressful and crazy times, we must understand that taking care of ourselves should be an essential part of our everyday life. Self care will keep you healthy and sane during these times of this pandemic.

Teachers, take some time each day to do something for yourself, we will get through this!

Yoga and Meditation 

Participating in yoga and/ or meditation can help with many things. Some of these benefits include:

  • Relaxtion
  • Improves overall mental well-being
  • Relieves stress
  • Sharpens concentration
  • Creates calmness and clarity in the mind
  • Increases awareness
  • Many more

Participating in this activity is a great way to prepare youself for stress and help with your well being. You can practice yoga and meditation for as little or long as you like; you can begin your day with it, end your day with it or practice it in between other activities. Below is a short example of a morning yoga session that is 15 minutes long and will set you up for success for the rest of the day.

15 minute Morning Yoga Routine | Full Body Yoga Flow

Good morning yogi! This 15 minute morning yoga routine is a full body yoga flow that will wake you up and get you moving for the day. Modifications in screen…

Self Care

During the time of the Covid-19 pandemic, it is very important we take time to care for ourselves. We can do this in many ways and for every person it will be different. Things we can do to show ourself care and love:

  • Exercise (one of my favorite ways to de-stress, refocus and recharge) we can do this by yoga, walking, biking, running, lifting weights, jump rope, etc.
  • Take a bath or do a face mask
  • Eat nutritious foods to energize you! (some of my favorites to incorporate into meals include: kale, vegtables, avocado, seeds/ nuts, protein, berries/ fruit)
  • Do a puzzle or play a board game
  • Watch a movie or read a book
  • Get fresh air and sunlight
  • Listen to music or a podcast
  • Take a nap or sleep in
  • Paint, draw, color or any crafts you enjoy

Stay in Contact With Students and Families

During this time, it is important to stay close to our students and our students families. We can do this in many ways, and it is essential in order to continue our teaching so our students can continue to learn and develop. We can do this through:

  • Phone calls
  • News letters
  • Blog post/ Moodle
  • Emails
  • Zoom- remote learning
  • Seesaw- remote learning
  • ClassDojo
  • Class websites
  • Etc.

Zoom is a program that many teachers and schools are using, and is a great way to have the chance to connect with all students. Zoom gives students a classroom experience where they can see their classmates and teachers. Teachers can also use this program to set up individual meetings where they can give specific help to students on a individual basis.

Overall

During this time we must support eachother and give eachother the help we need. We will get through this and we are all in this together. Hope this blog gave you ideas of how to take care of yourself and stay safe during this strange time.

Additional resources:

Teaching through a quarantine

Welcome back!

With the Covid-19 shutdown of schools, class is changing, but the good news is that learning and growing can continue! Throughout this blog I hope to give you ideas of things to do while staying home and safe.

ATTENTION PARENTS!!! At home with children?

We all are adjusting to the new normal and during these times parents are now becomming teachers to their own children. This is no easy feat, and many parents may not know how to get their children to stay learning and actually focus on school related topics at home without their usual teacher. Living thorugh a pandemic can be stressful and life changing and we can use this time to learn new ways to teach and grow as individuals. As parents it may be hard at first but there are ways to keep your children busy and learning while safe at home!

Stay active

During this time it is vital that we provide our youth with ways to stay moving and active for them to grow their muscles, have fun and learn. We can do this in many ways and here is a few ideas for our children to keep moving and/or entire families to stay active.

  • Dance party or GoNoodle- a great website to get up and dance and stay inside to be safe
  • Go on walks, runs, or bike rides
  • Play tag or jump rope
  • Read a book and act out what happens
  • Yoga and/ or stretching
  • Play a game with family like soccer and tossing a baseball or football

Doing fun and engaging activities

Although school will not be the same for our students, we can make the best of it through this difficult time. There are many ways we can engage our students at home in order for them to learn and develop! Some fun and engaging activites for our students to do at home can be:

  • Go on a virtual field trip to the zoo or aquarium! (My personal favorite) – Aquarium &  National Zoo
  • Go on a tour of the world and learn about culture google arts and culture
  • Do some science like this easy experiment about surface tension Pepper and water experiment
  • Play dress up and learn life skills like being a chef/ cooking, or doing things like; laundry, dishes, making beds, vacuuming, fire safety, personal hygiene
  • Teach a history lesson about Ellis Island,  Mount Rushmore or Liberty Bell
  • Do crafts, draw, paint, color!
  • Practice sight words and vocab by spelling it out with shaving cream https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NM-KbR6lCDE
  • Plant a garden and talk about the nutitious foods that can be grown in gardens, you can also make a chart and label plants

Staying safe and caring for yourself 

Staying safe and clean during this time is important for every person. We should strive to stay as safe as possible and also participate in self care in order to stay healthy. We should also use precautions in order to help stop the spread of the Coronavirus!

Safety:

  • Wear a mask when you go out in public
  • Use gloves and/ or hand-sanitizer when you are in public settings like the grocery store
  • Do not touch your face
  • Wash hands with warm water and soap for atleast 20 seconds
  • Limit trips to public places and only go out into public places for things you need like food, water, toiletries and medicine
  • Practice social distancing by staying six feet or futher away from people

Caring for yourself:

  • Take a warm bath
  • Read a book aloud with family or individually
  • Catch up on sleep
  • Learn new recipes with the family
  • Watch a movie
  • Yoga
  • Meditate

Extra Resources:

    1. https://www.cdc.gov/
    2. https://nationalzoo.si.edu/webcams 
    3. https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/animals/live-cams
    4. https://theeducatorsspinonit.com/virtual-field-trips-for-kids/

 

Incorporating Spanish and English in the classroom

WELCOME BACK!

I am currently in a Head Start classroom for my placement and am teaching three and four year olds. Many of these students are bilingual and speak both Spanish and English. My cooperating teacher tries to incorporate both languages throughout the day and overall I feel it connects the students and the teachers better.

The question I have is, How does speaking different languages in the classroom benefit the students?

Classroom Routines

As the students start their day they sit around the circle carpet and do their daily good mornings. After this, they begin to go over their schedule for the day and eventually sing a goodmorning song. The students sing a morning song in Spanish saying goodmorning to their classmmates and teachers completely in Spanish. The students that speak Spanish can connect the bridges from what they hear at home and now what they are doing in school; and students that speak in only English get the chance to begin learning another language. Throuhgout the day the teachers will also speak in Spanish when giving short instructions; things like: walk, go, sit, thank you, please, play, bathroom time, etc. These short sayings give students a chance to learn more Spanish and value other cultures.

Reflecting/ researching my question

After doing some research and reading this article , I have developed a better understanding of the benefits of using multiple languages during the day. Many benefits can come from learning different languages and some of the ones that stood out to me were the idea to close the achievement gap, memories grow stronger, and students can learn new cultures while improving their empathy. Although these are not the only benefits that come from learning multiple languages they were some of the ones that would influence me as a teacher to try to incorporate different languages in my own class. 

I really enjoyed watching this video!

Why Students Should Learn a Second Language

It’s a myth that learning a new language interferes with a child’s development.

Mathewson, T. (2015, October 7). Valuing Both Spanish and English in the Classroom. Retrieved by https://www.ewa.org/blog -latino-ed-beat/valuing-both-spanish-and-english-classroom

My Educational Gurus!

Welcome back!

Ever since I was in elementary school I have had the dream to become a teacher to inspire, encourage, and teach my students to the best of their abilities like my teachers did with me. The first person that inspired me to become a teacher was my fourth grade teacher. My fourth grade teacher was incredible and made every lesson interesting to her students. She kept us engaged, increased our collaboration and made us all genuinly enjoy coming and participating in school.

Once I began college, I began learning a lot about educational theorist and pedagogies. The main one that I connect to is Lev Vygotsky and his theory about Zone of Proximal Development (ZPD). This theory speaks to me because I feel it is vital to have all of the students in a classroom in a zone that they are learning and being pushed. This theory states how students should be in a zone that they can complete activities and learn with only “some” assistance. This theory also supports my views on the importance of differentiation and adjusting activities on an individual basis in order for every student to be pushed to their highest ability.

With this theory I also think that the ZPD is where many students have “lightbulbs” go off. One of the things that I love about teaching is when a student can finally understand a new concept and you as a teacher can witness the joy your student gets from learning.

When thinking about people who speak the truth to me, I trust that my professors, my co-op teachers and the theorist I study can help me grow and learn the best. I listen to the many different ideas I have learned and seen, and have an idea of what I want my future classroom to look like. I also understand that with time comes changes and although I have ideas on how to teach and the kind of teacher I want to be now, in the future I want to grow and constantly learn new and improved ways to learn and teach.

Overall, there have been many people, theories, observations, and ideas that have influenced my reasons for wanting to teach. I have a passion for studying these ideas because it is essential to learn different plans and ways to teach in order to become the best teacher possible for my future students.

Hello world!

Hello Everyone, welcome! My name is Haley Peachey. I am a junior at Millersville University and I am  majoring in Early childhood Education. This semester I will be posting about my experiences and lots of different things for my ERCH 496 class. Hope you enjoy and learn something new from my blog!