Music In the Classroom

          With the school year winding down, I’ve noticed an increase in the stress levels of students and in their ability to focus. As a student, and even as a teacher, I continually listen to music as I work to maintain focus and keep my stress levels down as I work. As a student, my school discouraged us from listening to music. I have pondered this idea for a while now as a future educator. Now that I am in schools, I think about what the positive effects on listening to music while completing work may be. I know there is research that shows a moderately strong relationship between music and student effectiveness and understanding while completing work; similar to that of chewing gum.
          My mentor teacher, will often let his students chew gum or have a mint while taking a quiz or test. I would like to try this with music. The difficult task I’m confronted with is determining if I should let the students choose their own music to listen to. There are also times when the classroom can get rowdy with a large number of students in conversation with their peers. Could music keep this volume of noise down?

Plan Ahead Ladies and Gentlemen!

                How obvious a statement right? I'm not just talking about being one or two days ahead in your planner either. If you're anything like me, when you started your placement, new responsibilities came at you quickly and began to pile up. Once it seemed as if you mastered those responsibilities, you were required to start teaching lessons.
            What I'm getting at, is that no one sat down with you and said "Hey, let's look at my planner and how I run things, and lets get yours filled in with what the week(s) are going to look like". That would have been nice though!
             I'm halfway through my placement here and I just barely started doing this. I pick one day that I can meet with each of my cooperating teachers, and sit down with them, We plan out what lessons I'm going to teach, and then I fill out what they'll be teaching in a different color. This allows me to see where my teaching fits into the larger picture. It also allows me to feel more confident and in control of how the week will look, and not be left feeling like things are just piling up on me or given to me last minute.
            I hope this was helpful to any of you reading this that may be feeling the same way as I was. Just remember, collaboration and communication are key to success. When teachers are on the same page, your students will recognize this and feel comfortable as well!


Happy teaching!

Jenn Adams :)

Including all of your students!

Hello all!

I guess to start this off, I can give you all a bit about who I am. My name is Zach Briggs. I am currently doing my student teaching in a special education placement in St. Albans, VT. I enjoy long walks on the beach, deep conversation, holding hands, romance novels, and pruning the garden. What? Too much?? Fine. I GUESS I’ll just keep it focused on our placements.

Sorry JT...

I, like all of you, am experiencing the TIME OF MY YOUNG LIFE being in a student teaching placement and, like it or not, we’re coming to the end of our time there and the real world is COMIN' IN HOT! We’re gonna be having our own classrooms, with our own students, and our OWN BENDY NECAP RULERS!!!

Yeah, that’s what I’m talking about.

I want to take my time here with this lovely blog post that's already going out of control to go over some of the inclusion strategies we can use for students who are in special education. I thought, with my current placement, it really makes the most sense and I can talk about some of the stuff that I see on a regular basis. NOW, I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that you’re probably thinking to yourself "Why are you telling me this? I’ve talked about inclusion strategies like 10,000 times” and to that I say, buckle-up sister! Cause this is 10,001!

*ding*

So let’s start with what inclusion means. Inclusion means supporting special education students by accommodating and modifying student work to help meet their needs. I believe that all educators should be doing this as much as possible. It’s not Ye Olden Days anymore, it’s time to get with the program and start teachin’ all the kiddos, not just the ones who are where you want them to be.

"Time to fight social oppression of special education!" - That guy.

Not to go into TOO much detail, cause again, we’ve heard it all already, let me list off some of the main examples of inclusion I have seen in my placement.

Scaffolding

Manipulatives

Strategic Grouping

Extra time (on assessments, time to think, support time)

Accommodating work (amount of work, differentiating to meet student level)

OF COURSE UNIVERSAL DESIGN OF LEARNING (UDL)

OH YEAH!

I want to go into one of these in more detail, Manipulatives. When I first think of Manipulatives I think of base ten blocks, play money, pattern blocks, and other math manipulatives but they really can be found all over. From puzzles and games to markers and other art supplies, manipulatives are anything that can give the student something to DO when learning. These items are multisensory, represent ideas in more than one way, promote communication, and increase confidence in a subject area. This idea helped create ACTION BASED LEARNING or ABL, which if you’ve never heard of it before, is a very kinesthetic way for students to move and interact with their environment and learn. Here is a link for more details on ABL and how you could be involved with it in the future.

Bright, beautiful, captivating, CoverGirl.

With that being said, you don't NEED to be a part of ABL in order to implement ABL's ideas. All classrooms can be action based and can have students interact and explore their environment. Even Middle and High school classrooms, which are typically more lecture based than exploring your surroundings don't need to be. The best part of Middle and High schoolers is they can be expected to do things without constant supervision (even though they don't always act like they can handle it. NO DISRESPECT TO THOSE STUDENTS, but I was one of them once and let's be honest. I probably STILL shouldn't be expected to do things without supervision). These are perfect times for students to go out and learn by doing. Have students plant a garden that they tend to every day and explore the life and water cycle. Have students go on nature hikes and explore their towns. have students find real life MATH (WHHHAAAATT?!) and find ways that it applies to their everyday life and real world implications from stop signs to money to dimensions of buildings and architecture all the way to the video games they play. These real life experiences are going to have a much longer lasting implication on these students and as far as I'm concerned, are the more important for students with special needs. 

COME ON, we all know that this game is actually FILLED with crazy mathematical concepts and students would be none the wiser.

So, to wrap it all up in a B-E-A-UTIFUL bow, I just want to end with this quote that I really believe are words to live by for all teachers:
"Our job is to teach the students we have. Not the ones we would like to have. Not the ones we used to have. Those we have right now. All of them." -Dr. Kevin Maxwell

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Licensing Portfolio Entry (LPE) for Dummies

Blog Post: Licensing Portfolio Entry (LPE) for Dummies               submitted by MM

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            NOTE To NON-JSCers: When I wrote this blog, I was unaware that although the themes, standards, and assessment tools are the same for all of us, we don’t all follow the same format. Therefore, please be aware that there may be possible differences in the format that your school is using.

           NOTE to fellow-JSCers: Dr. Brinegar has read and approved my comments. Hope you find them helpful!

*     *********************************************************************

Please don’t be offended by the title. I’m the dummy, not you! 

Here is what I think I’ve learned about writing licensing portfolio entries (LPEs). 

First, I will tell you what an LPE is not. Then, I will describe what it is. There are 5 parts of an LPE.

1. UNPACK THE PRINCIPLE

An LPE is NOT an opportunity to paraphrase what the principle says.

“They” already know what it says. “They” or “their colleagues” wrote it. Actually, I don’t know who wrote it. The point is…don’t just paraphrase the principle.

You need to show “them” that YOU understand what it says.

We keep hearing our professors say to make sure you UNPACK THE PRINCIPLE.

For those of you who think unpacking your luggage means to take all of your stuff out of your suitcase at the same time and shove it in the drawers, or worse, yet, put it in a pile, that’s not how to unpack a suitcase, or in this case, the principle.

   

[BTW when you unpack your luggage, you should take out each item or group of items neatly and place them together so that you can find them.]

For an LPE, read each sentence and explain what it means. It does not matter that you understand what it says and needs no explanation. 

You need to EXPLAIN IT IN YOUR OWN WORDS so that “they” can tell that YOU understand it. They can’t read your mind!

IN YOUR OWN WORDS, write out what the principle means. 

(BTW, I’m not yelling…just trying to make a point.)

2. GROUND THE PRINCIPLE IN LITERATURE

Again, I will begin with what an LPE is not. 

An LPE is NOT a review of every article you have ever read about topics that might be related to the entry.“They” can do their own research. 

It is NOT an opportunity to simply add a quote that has the same or similar word or words that you have in your paper.

Furthermore, grounding the principle does NOT mean that it (the principle) cannot use the family car or go out this weekend.

(If you missed my attempt at humor, don’t waste time thinking about it. Just keep reading.)

Grounding the principle means to find a quote from a scholarly piece of writing that supports what you are saying. Find something that somebody wrote that either agrees or disagrees with what you are saying. 

  

Note: You may want to wait until after you decide upon an episode to look for this. That’s up to you. 

My overall point is that the principle, the literature and the episode need to be interrelated. So…you may want to think about this while you’re choosing an episode. Please see next section.

3. LOCATE AN EPISODE / PROVIDE EVIDENCE

To be consistent, I will begin, once again, with what an LPE is not.

An LPE is NOT a deep, reflective essay in which you analyze a situation and re-think what you could have done better. 

Although reflective thinking is a highly recommended practice that you should do throughout your teaching career, the LPE is neither the time nor the place.

An EPISODE is something that you have seen or done that relates to the principle AND the literature.

Think of an episode of a TV show. It is usually a short part of an entire story. 

If you were to describe it to a friend, as in, “Hey, what happened in last night’s episode?”, you would provide a description of the setting, who was involved, when it happened and what occurred. 

You don’t need to provide TMI (too much information). Your friend will just walk away.

(Again, if you missed my attempt at humor, don’t waste time thinking about it. Just keep reading.)

For the LPE, an EPISODE is a short, concise description of what actually happened, where it occurred and who was involved. Be specific. Don’t just say that something happened over the course of your internship. Provide ONE specific time with details (who, where, when and what). 

EVIDENCE is more obvious. It is the required documentation, such as the actual lesson

plan, unit plan, samples of student work, or activity that you used. 

In any case, it needs to be related to the principle AND to the literature.

4. GAUGE THE CORRESPONDENCE

When I see the word gauge (which rhymes with cage, not George), I think gas gauge, as in, “How much gas is there left in my car before I need to get more?” (If you don’t drive a car, skip this part and go on.) In any case, a gauge is a measurement or a judgement.

                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    

For an LPE, this is when you look at the principle, the literature and the evidence and make a   judgement. How do they connect? Do they support one another? They don’t have to agree. You can explain how they contradict one another.

5. LAST BUT NOT LEAST (You’re almost done…)

Read your LPE from beginning to end and ask yourself:

1. Are all the elements (the principle, the episode/evidence, the literature) about the principle?

   

                                                                                                                                                                                                                          

2. Is it coherent? Are the elements (principle, literature, episode/evidence) linked to one another?

  

                               


 PRINCIPLE     EVIDENCE    LITERATURE

GOOD LUCK!

Technology in the classroom

Hi all,

I'm Megan, a senior at JSC currently student teaching in a kindergarten classroom. Something that has been on my mind quite often these past few weeks is the idea of using technology in the classroom. Many of our kindergarteners came into school this year knowing very few letters, but knowing every trick to using a tablet! Technology is a hot topic these days, especially with kids, and as it is becoming an ever-increasing part of our daily lives, it's no wonder why schools want to incorporate it into their curricula. But as we all know from the last couple of weeks in our seminar courses, sometimes technology does not always work as well as we hope it will...which leads me to wonder, when is it appropriate to use technology in the classroom, and at one point does it become more cumbersome than useful?

In our kindergarten classroom, we admittedly do not use a great deal of technology. We share a classroom set of iPads with the class next to us, and we have a Smart Board on our wall, but we rarely use these things. We typically give our students hands-on activities and projects -- paper worksheets, crafts, manipulatives, and so on. On the few occasions that we have used some form of tech, such as the Smart Board, it has tended not to work as well as we hoped it would. In a class of rambunctious elementary-age kids, something as simple as accidentally dragging the written numbers on the Smart Board too far and making them go flying across the screen can momentarily derail the lesson being taught. Add in a slow computer, near-constant pop-ups requesting updates, teachers or students not fully understanding how to work the technology in the first place, and it seems almost as if the lesson would be easier on a regular white/chalk board. It is hard to teach a lesson (especially if some students are really struggling with a concept) when the tools you are using to teach it are not working properly!

I have not included much technology into the lessons I have planned up to this point. I would like to consider adding more, especially for my unit, but I want to think long and hard about when and where it would be the most beneficial and relevant for my students to use -- as opposed to adding in technology just for the sake of including it. I want to make sure that the activities I am using it for would be made better by using some sort of tech -- something that is relevant to the lesson and adds to it, rather than makes it a burden to teach. I know part of this lies in knowing how to work the tech itself, but even when understanding how to use it, it can take away from the lesson to spend a couple minutes clicking on buttons just to erase something on the Smart Board!

I don't mean to sound totally anti-tech, because I am not at all! But as a student myself, I have had far too many classes that have turned towards technology for every purpose, only to have it end up not working and wasting time that should be spent learning. 

I was curious how others integrated the use of technology into their classrooms. What kinds of things do you think about when planning a lesson using technology? What do you use it for (teaching lessons, playing educational games, reading, assessments, etc.)?

[Also, I came across another blog post discussing some ways to integrate tech into read-alouds, if anyone is interested! As someone who loves reading to her students, I thought these ideas might be a good way to introduce some tech into our class at some point.]

Homework!

Hi! My name is Cassie Clark and am attending Castleton. I am student teaching at Whitehall Central School District in New York. I am currently working with mostly freshman but do have a few sophomores. All of my students are in Algebra, and with math comes homework. So many of my students do their homework and actively want to get it done. There are a handful of students that do not complete any homework assignment, and it drops their grade significantly. My mentor teacher grades homework on completeness not correctness. So in reality, they do not have to focus on getting any of it right, but attempting each problem.

Every class we go over the homework from the night before and those who didn't do it tend to just copy it down or don't do anything at all. The students do not get much credited for just copying the assignment down and handing it in. I personally feel that homework is great practice for the students, especially if they are struggling with certain topics. My question is: How do I get these students to actively try to do their homework? Unfortunately, these students are required to take multiple tests that determine if they graduate or not. So being able to understand and perform the material is important.

Host teacher away, students will...?

Hello fellow student teachers!

My name is Emily Corkins and I am a senior at Johnson State College. I’m an art ed major and I’m student teaching at Lake Region Union High School in Orleans in the art classroom. 

My host teacher was out of the classroom yesterday and there was a sub in the classroom with me.  I was pretty much running the classroom because I’m always in the classroom and I knew what was going on.  I had problems with a couple of students talking back to me when I would give them instructions, tell them to get off their phones, or trying to get them to focus on their work.  This never happens when my host teacher is here. 

I was wondering if any one else had experienced this in their placements?  I wasn’t expecting classes to go as smoothly as when my host teacher is here but I also wasn’t expecting my student’s respect for me to go out the window while she was gone.