Rules

In response to Mrs. Stevens' blog,

1. Keep your hands to yourselves. 
2. Do not shout over the teacher.
3. Do not argue.
4. Do not tattle over little things.
5. Think first things first.
6. Focus on your own problems.

If the students do not cooperate with these rules, then they will sit out of recess, or just owe time during recess. Whichever, is necessary. 

ThingLink

Here is my ThingLink about Ron Clark!

Failure

In response to Mrs. Stevens blog,

As a student, I veiw failure as being on of the worst things to happen. I am one of those student's that thinks when they fail an assignment or a test, they stay in a bad mood for the rest of the day. I can't stand failing. It makes me feel like I can't be a success.

 As a teacher, I view failure as not being able to be a good role model towards your students. If I can't make my students understand what I am trying to explain to them, then I feel like I have failed as a teacher trying to get my point across to them.

In my honest opinion, I dont think grades are a factor of knowledge. Grades a just a way for teachers to show their students how they are doing in their class. So yes, they are a small factor of knowledge, but the main facor is "How am I learning this material, and will it be helpful for me in the future?"

Being unsuccessful would definitely give me some perspective, and encourage me to try harder in class. If I were stuck in a situation where I was being very unsuccessful, and I needed to bring my grades up, I would definitely choose the more successful rate. I would rather take the more challenging, successful road, than the road that leads me to failure.

How do you handle criticism? Well, to answer that question, I handle criticism in a couple different ways. I will either take it as constructive criticism, and use to to get better. Then there are other times where I will take the criticism as something negative, and I will focus on the negative throughout the day. A majority of the time, I will try to make things better. 

LiveBinder

Look at this LiveBinder that we used from our class!

Let's Use Showbie!

My Web 2.0 tool is Showbie! 

Showbie is like an online classroom that you can use either on a computer, laptop, or an iPad!

Click here to see the APP for Showbie.

You can access Showbie easily through our school network.

Below, is an online tutorial for how to use the Showbie APP on the iPads.

In order to establish an account for Showbie, you need to do the following:

1. Go to the website
2. Click "Sign up free"
3. Click "I'm a Teacher"
4. Type in the information needed. (Don't worry about the promo code thing).
5. You've now made a Showbie account!

Showbie does include a free version and a paid version.  Listed below are the differences between the two.

Showbie does require parent permission in order for a student to be able to make a student account.

I could use this tool in my site school classroom, by giving my students certain math worksheets or reading assignments that have to be due by a certain date, and they would work on it, and then turn it in. It's that easy.
If I could use Showbie in any of my classes, I would definitely use it in U.S. History, so that when my teacher wants to give us assignments that can be done over a couple of days, I could work on it at my own pace, and then turn it in through the app or website.

In my thoughts, I think the best subject that would be fit for Showbie, would probably be History or English.
I honestly can see my mentor teacher using this in her classroom, because she is very tech savvy with  our student's, and they are very hands-on with the technology that we already have in our classrooms.

What is Rigor?

In response to Mrs. Stevens blog,

Rigor is the heightened standard at which you challenge yourself to accomplish a goal or activity.

In order to incorporate rigor into any activity, you basically have to set a higher standard for your students so that you can see how they are working "rigorously."

When you use rigor, then you are heightening the ability of work the students are able to acquire. For example, when you increase the amount of rigor that you put into an assignment for two different students, you will find that the two students will have different levels of difficulty because of the amount of rigor put into the assignment. 

How would I inject rigor into an assignment?

• For me to inject rigor into an assignment, I would probably make an assignment for my students that have more of a challenge for them to do. The students will end up using more critical thinking, and thus increasing the amount of rigor. 

Creativity Counts!

In response to Mrs. Stevens blog,

What is Creativity?

• Creativity is the "process of having original ideas that have value," according to Sir Ken Robinson. Now in my own words, creativity is the ability to put value forth an idea that you might have for any activity, lesson, etc. 

Why does Creativity matter in Education?

• Creativity matters in education because you need to be able to have a range of different things that you are teaching. You don't want to be considered boring, because you're teaching the same subject the exact same way every year. You're going to want to go outside of your comfort level, and come up with something that will be better for the students to want to concentrate.

How do we fix this?

• In order for us to fix this, then we are going to have to come out of our shells, and be more outgoing and thoughtful of our ideas that we have when we are doing lessons.