Chapter 10: Going Beyond The Classroom

"Make connections with the outside world..." (175). It is important to connect your material to the outside world because then students will value and appreciate what they are learning better. As they do this, this will open a door for a better learning environment allowing more students to learn. Not only do I think it is important to connect your subject to the outside world, but it is also important to connect your subject to other subjects, this will also spark interest.

Chapter 9: When Things Go Wrong

"We're going to crush your hope and pride. Teachers need to get a harder shell. After that, students won't see that you're scared" (168). I really like that quote a lot because a lot of what students do is to test you. They like to test their limits and see how far they can push you. Teachers need to expect to be given a hard time, especially new teachers. It's what high school kids do. I have the type of personality to be sarcastic back and not let them beat me at their game. In my opinion, it makes the situation a little more. But I definitely like the fact that this chapter stresses the idea that teachers need to get a stronger backbone.

Chapter 8: Teaching Teenagers Who Are Still Learning English

This chapter really stresses the idea and concepts to teaching students who are still learning English. The idea I liked most that this chapter presented was the idea of presenting photographs, movies, analogues, etc. to help these students make connections. Not only do these teaching ideas help students make connections, they also help students who learn more visually. It is also important to be flexible when students make mistakes using their English. It is an unfamiliar language and if you penalize students for these mistakes they will become more discouraged. Overall, this chapter provided great tips for teachers to use when they are teaching students who are still learning English

Chapter 7: Teaching Difficult Academic Material

"When things in the textbook seem really boring, do activities that force us to get involved and make connections" (135). I find that quote to be very interesting because I am training to become a math teacher and most math classes are mainly based on the textbook. I would like to create a math class where I can shy away from the textbook and I want to be able to design lesson plans that get my students active in other ways besides the textbook. Textbooks are normally mundane, hard to understand, and extremely boring, all of which causes a huge lack in learning.

Chapter 6: Motivation and Bordem

In the book Fires in the Bathroom by Kathleen Cushman, Chapter 6 discusses what motivates our students in schools. "The mark of a good teacher is that no matter how weird or boring you might think their subject is, their love for it is what pushes you to learn something" (103). I really found that quote interesting because now when I think back on my past educational experience both in college and high school, I have learned best from the teachers that have thoroughly enjoyed what they are teaching. It stimulates me to enjoy what I am learning, I like how this chapter represents that idea of motivating kids to learn.

Conic Sections

This past homework assignment has really given me an opportunity to discover the different conic sections I have found and interact with daily. For example,

Circle: clock, basketball, tires on cars, the shape of a bowl, a fan, cd's and dvd's,

Ellipses: shape of some bowls, race track designs, a football, planetary orbits, and an egg

Parabolas: satellite dishes, the St. Louise Arc, anytime you throw an object in the air it has a projectile motion

Hyperbolas: bottom of a guitar, three point lines on a basketball court, tree trunks can be shaped as a hyperbola

Those are just a few examples of conic sections I came up with by going through my house, and doing a little research. Here are a few websites I used to get an idea of the different shapes of the conic sections. Tell me what you think.
click here
click here
click here

Chapter 5: Teaching to the Individual, Working with the Group

Chapter five of Fires in the Bathroom by Kathleen Cushman talks about students working together in groups and the diverse students that make up each group. Throughout every class there is always at least one kid that represents your typical stereotype. As the book says you have : the eye roller, the hand waver, the wallflower, the dreamer, the con-artist, the goof-off, and the work horse. When integrating group activities into a classroom with such diverse students, it is important for the teacher to recognize and take advantage of the differences. It's important for the teacher to challenge every student and to include every student, perhaps in different ways. There will be times when you will have students that like to dominate a class, this is when the teacher needs to step in and manage a classroom where all students have the opportunity to participate equally. Teachers need to be aware of the differences and take into consideration why some people might not participate as much as others, but it is still important to challenge every student.

Chapter 4: Creating a Culture of Success

Chapter four in the book Fires in the Bathroom, by Kathleen Cushman talks about creating a culture of success. Creating this culture first starts off by encouraging the students efforts even if they are having trouble. It is important for teachers to consistently push their students into working hard. But it is also as equally important for teachers to recognize that sometimes students are not going to be doing their best and you can't hold that against them. Teachers should never give up on students because if they do that sends a message to the student that they're not worthy. The next part of creating a culture of success is about expecting the best from students but also providing support along the way. Overall, this chapter was about creating an environment where students feel safe to take risks and ask questions.

Chapter 3: Classroom Behavior

Chapter 3 in the book Fires in the Bathroom by Kathleen Cushman discussed the importance of maintaining classroom behavior. The chapter provided many different ways to manage classroom behavior. It begins with the teacher. Teachers need to set the stage when it comes to classroom behavior. They must demonstrate proper behavior in order for students to understand what the expectations of proper behavior is. It is also important for teachers to set expectations early on and to continue to follow and uphold those expectations. If those expectations are not withheld throughout the year, students will not respect you or the expectations which stimulates misbehavior in the classroom. Overall, this chapter provided preventative measures teachers can take in order to maintain classroom behavior.

My Contributions to the Webquest Wiki's

Introduction:
Conic Cruise
As Time Goes by in Weather Forecasting
Bobo's Space Adventure

Palm of Your Hand

This is a video of a talk show talking about PDA's. Personal digital Assistance are small hand held computers that were are persuading people to incorporate into their classroom. Here you can listen to and see depictions of PDA's and why they are useful for teaching meaningful engaged lessons. Also, here are a few lesson plans that give you ideas on how to use this device in the classroom.

Copyright and Fair Use LR

There wasn't one particular question that really stuck out to me; however, there were a few questions that were similar that I have the most to say about. The questions about compiling different clips or music or whatever it was to use in a classroom for a lesson plan was prohibited. I disagree with that because I think those are very creative ideas that will keep students engaged. It is an entertaining tool that is not allowed. I think teachers should be able to use these tools but they must cite the source from which they compiled from. I also think they should be able to share their idea with other teachers because it just spreads the creativity. I do understand however, why it is prohibited to distribute such compilations but I don't like the rule. Anyway, that was the main idea from a few different questions that stuck out the most to me.

Copyright and Fair Use SR

In the copyright and fair use quiz there were a few questions that stuck out to me:
7. An elementary school designs a password-protected Web site for families and faculty only. It's OK for teachers to post student work there, even when it uses copyright material without permission.
That is true, however, i feel as though it shouldn't be allowed because they cannot guarantee it will not be seen by other people.
8. A student film buff downloads a new release from a Taiwanese Web site to use for a humanities project. As long as the student gives credit to the sites from which he's downloaded material, this is covered under fair use.
This is false, but my question is how do they know the information isn't accurate, i just think students need to be careful where they get their information from. They should not be prohibited from using a website like this for a project.
10. A teacher gets clip art and music from popular file-sharing sites, then creates a lesson plan and posts it on the school Web site to share with other teachers. This is permissible.
I think this is a great way for teachers to be creative; however, I think it is sharing it with other teachers that is the problem. I think teachers should be able to disperse their creative ideas with other teachers.
14. On Back-to-School night, an elementary school offers child care for students' younger siblings. They put the kids in the library and show them Disney VHS tapes bought by the PTA. This is permissible.
I completely disagree with this being false. I think if the tape is bought it should be able to be viewed by anyone. The problem I feel lies within burning it and then sharing it.
15. A teacher makes a compilation of movie clips from various VHS tapes to use in his classroom as lesson starters. This is covered under fair use.
I don't understand the problem here, as long as the teacher is citing the sources there should be no problem. This is another great way to be creative that teachers can't use.
16. At a local electronics show, a teacher buys a machine that defeats the copy protection on DVDs, CD-ROMs, and just about everything else. She lets her students use it so they can incorporate clips from rented DVDs into their film genre projects. This is fair use.
I originally had this as false, I didn't think teachers were allowed to "defeat" this copy protection on DVDS, and CD-ROMS, but I am glad it is true.
20. Last year, a school's science fair multimedia CD-ROM was so popular everyone wanted a copy of it. Everything in it was copied under fair use guidelines. It's permissible for the school to sell copies to recover the costs of reproduction.
I originally had this as true but I guess I didn't look at the big picture. I agree this should be false because you should not be able to sell copies to benefit yourself.

Web 2.0 Educator

After reading the two blogs by cool cat teacher Vikki-Davis and Wes Fryer, I decided to chose Wes Fryer. Wes provided a website called Virsona; this website is designed for people to talk to certain personalities. These personalities can include Abraham Lincoln, your hero, your dog, anything or anyone. He used this as an example to integrate technology into the classroom . I love the idea of having a program like this in the classroom. I think it is creative and fun. It is a great way to learn and it is a great way to keep your students engaged. This website allows to you be creative and sometimes that's hard to do when teaching. I like Wes' idea about technology in the classroom: you don't always have to use it but be aware what's out there and make sure you give your students an opportunity to have creative learning, and technology is a great way to do that.

Type I and Type II Technology

The article Type II Applications of Technology in Education: New and Better Ways of Teaching and Learning by Cleborne D. Maddux, and D. LaMont Johnson talk about the different types of technology that was used when computers first became prominent in our schools. The first type they referred to as Type I. This type was basically the applications of technology in computers that used traditional ways of teaching. For example, a calculator, a television, and a book reading. All of these methods of teaching teach to the students in the same way.
The second application of technology this article talked about was the Type II applications. Type II applications are methods of technology that teach things new and improved ways. For example, the internet is an application of technology that allows students to explore and learn different ways. A spreadsheet is another type II application of technology. And lastly, word processor is a type II application.

Maddux, Cleborne D., and LaMont Johnson. "Type II Applications of Technology in Education: New and Better Ways of Teaching and Learning." 2005. The Haworth Press Inc. 8 Sept. 2008.

My MEL Experiences

Environment:
My senior year in high school I had a physics teacher who would use humor as a method of engaging the class. He didn't always use content from the class as a source of humor but he would sometimes tell us stories about his newborn daughter or something in his past life experience that would spark interest throughout the entire class. He kept a welcoming atmosphere throughout the entire year allowing myself as well as others to feel more comfortable. He allowed us to lighten up but he also maintained a well balance between having fun and learning.

Experience:
My calculus teacher my senior year in high school provided a profound experience in mathematics. Throughout the entire year we were encouraged to work in groups to figure out problems. He would also assign projects that related to real life allowing his students to see the meaning in the content we were learning. His method of teaching gave us an opportunity to experience an uplifting outlook on material that could sometimes be mundane and harder to learn.

Motivation:
As I mentioned previously under experience my calculus teacher would make up assignments in relevance to real life material. For example, learning about APR, loans and banking using calculus motivated me because I was able to relate to something that I needed to know in real life so I actually wanted to do the work. To my surprise I didn't think you could use calculus to compute daily things such as the things mentioned above. Another experience that gave me more motivation was the option of having choices. For instance, my English teacher once gave my class an option to choose between two different assignments each focusing on different learning styles.

Meaning:
Although there were many great classes I took throughout my education, there were of course a few I found to be meaningless. For example, a geology class here at UMF I found to be the most meaningless class I have ever taken in my life. The teacher shoved data and information into our heads that I only remembered long enough to take the test. This class proved to me to be both a waste of time and money.

All in all, the four components listed above are all essential when trying to be successful in the teaching profession. It is important to hit on each and every component because they all give a more engaging way of learning which will only give students the opportunity to learn better.

Chapter 2: Respect, Liking, Trust, and Fairness

In chapter 2 in the book Fires in the Bathroom by Kathleen Cushman, the most interesting thing I read was the part about how students make mistakes. "Teachers need to make allowance for the fact that we change from year to year and even from week to week" (30).
I found this to be very agreeable because I feel as though many teachers hold grudges against students when students misbehave or do something else to disrupt the class. Teachers need to understand that kids in high school are going through stages where they are more apt to misbehave. It is important for both the students and teachers to move on and recognize that mistakes happen. That is one thing I am going to work hard on as a teacher.

Chapter 1: Knowing Students Well

Throughout chapters one and two in the book Fires in the Bathroom by Kathleen Cushman, there were many things that popped out at me. The thing that I found to be most prominent was the section on getting to know your students. I wholeheartedly agree with the idea of getting to know your students.

The reason this part of the book popped out at me was because as a student I always wanted my teachers to take the time to get to know me; I wanted my teachers to know what I did outside of class and what other things interested me. So when this book talked about getting to know your students I insistently thought to myself that that was one thing I was going to do. The questionnaire the book provided on how to get to know your students is a great start. Another thing in relation to getting to know your students is letting your students get to know you. I absolutely love that idea because I think it’s important for students to be able to personally relate to their teachers. It provides a more comfortable atmosphere.

Learning Style Inventory Results

After taking seeing the results of the seventy question test, I’ve found the results to be fairly accurate. My top two styles were social and logical. I did however, find it to be pretty interesting that logical was my second style of learning. I thought physical would be the second style because I love hands on work and I feel as though that’s one of the best ways I learn; but it ended up coming in third. I also found the results not only to be accurate for my top two styles but they were also consistent with the rest of the styles of learning.

Style Scores

Visual	9
Social	20
Physical	11
Aural	6
Verbal	10
Solitary	12
Logical	14