VALAREE RODRIGUEZ
TEACHING PHILOSOPHY
One of the reasons that I have always aspired to be a teacher is because being able to help children is one of the most rewarding things that you can experience. Not only that but children genuinely look up to you and want to learn from you. One of my goals when it comes to teaching is to give these children my all despite everything else. If one of my students needs help after school I will be willing to stay after school with them to work on what they need help with. If one of my students needs help learning in a different way I will find a new and more efficient way to help them understand the content. To me being a teacher is having to cater to all your students’ needs and not just teaching in one specific way. In my classroom, I would like to incorporate a lot of active learning for my students because I also feel that it is important to keep your students engaged in what you are teaching them. Especially because children tend to get side tracked so easily you have to find different effective ways to teach certain topics. Project work is also great for children because it is good to have all your students interacting with each other it helps them learn from one another. I am a firm believer that some students learn some things better from each other than they can learn from you. Another thing is that when students have questions it is good for them to communicate with their classmates first so that they can maybe get and answer and then if that doesn’t work out for them then they can come to you as their teacher. One way that I plan on meeting my goals as a teacher is to have my students trust me that I am not going to let them down. If there is anything that they need I want them to know that I am there for them. Another thing that I would love to master as a teacher is to be able to meet all of my students needs because at the end of the day not all of your students are going to learn the same way. My intentions are never to let any of my students feel left out. Once a child starts feeling left out that is when they start to act out and you can also start to see a drastic change in their attitude towards the classroom. I think the grading in my classroom will be an all-around type of thing I will incorporate some written tests but I will stress to the children that their whole grade will not be solely based on that one exam. The reason behind this is because when I was growing up I was never really good at taking written exams and it wasn’t because I didn’t know the material on the exam it was more because I would get so nervous that it was like as soon as they put that written exam in front of me I would completely space out. I think another good way to assess a child would be a project. Children seem to do better with more hands-on activities rather than written exams. And I know that I can’t completely cut out written exams because I know it is essential for the children to know and practice on how to take the exams but I would like all my students to know that they are not going to fail my class if they fail the exam. They need and deserve to know that I am not going to set them up for failure I am here to guide them every step of the way. Like I mentioned above my goal as a teacher is to always take all of my students into consideration and if they look like they are not understanding something I will do my best to intervene and fix the issue because at the end of the day that is my duty as their teacher. No matter if I have to teach the content to them in a different way or just simply reteach it in a slower manner. Another thing that I feel like I could always do to become a better teacher is ask some of the other teachers for some ideas and help with how they may have taught a specific lesson because they may have a better technique for teaching that specific lesson that I am just not grasping. And once you get help from them maybe I’ll have a better understanding on how to go about teaching my students. I think one way that you can know if you have taught the lesson effectively and if all the students understood what you had to say is if you give them some examples to work on after the lesson and you can walk around the classroom while they answer the question and see who is struggling a little bit more. With this method, you don’t have to single any of the students out you can just simply observe and then you can find a different way to intervene later on. I think technology can make a huge difference in education these days especially because now children are so tech savvy that if you give them work on the computer or their tablets they will be able to most likely complete the assignment on their own. Not only that but children are known for needing to be engaged with the content that you provide for them. Technology is one thing that is guaranteed to keep your students engaged. It is not always good to use technology but there is always some way that you can find to make it fit into the curriculum. With all this being said I look forward to being able to have my own classroom one day so that I can work with my students and build them up to their best potential.
LEARNING JOURNAL
JOURNAL #1
Hi class my name is Valaree Rodriguez I am a senior here at the University of Texas at El Paso. My major is EC-6 and I and currently trying to finish us my last few classes here so that I can begin my student teaching. I am currently expecting a baby boy and I am so excited for this new chapter in my life. The way that I view technology in the classroom is that it can be used as a tool and as an advantage for the students. I believe that it is always great to keep your class engaged and whether we as teachers like it or not technology plays a big role in our students lives. and the way that I see it is why not use it as and advantage for both of us. I think that technology has helped me a lot during my education because of the fact that when I don't understand certain topics and its too late to ask for help you can simply look up a video on the topic and it can help give you a better understanding. this is what a lot of teachers do for their students now, they use videos to get the children engaged in the new topic that they are learning. I plan on using technology as a tool for my students because the children are so good with it and there will be times that the educational content on the internet will help them more than a worksheet can.
JOURNAL #2
Canva was a very interactive website that I really enjoyed using I feel like the kids would really enjoy using this site because of all the features that were available. Also the templates are more colorful that those that are used on PowerPoint. I think this tool would be great when doing research projects. Let's say you way to assign the students to do a presentation on their favorite actor/ actress they can use this tool to organize all the information that they collect on that specific person. I believe that the ISTE Standard that would be addressed for teachers would be that teachers need to be "able to adapt to using a wide variety of technology for various classroom situations and environments." This is going to be to the teachers advantage because I do believe that the children from this generation engage more with technology so that will focus that much more on assignments and they will be eager to work on their projects. For the ISTE Standards for students I would say 1.2 would fit this the best. "Students recognize the rights, responsibilities and opportunities of living, learning and working in an interconnected digital world, and they act and model in ways that are safe, legal and ethical." This fits in perfectly because it is important that students learn the importance of digital citizenship so that adults can trust them when they are using technology for assignments. The new skills that students acquire are that they need to learn that not everything on the internet is true so when they are doing research they need to find the the difference between the true statements and the false ones. I believe that one of the disadvantages of using this program was that even I had a hard time navigating it at first so I feel that I as a teacher would have to mess around with the program that way I could give the students a thorough lesson on how to navigate the site.
JOURNAL #5
I think incorporating the Tiki Toki website into my classroom would be very ideal not only for assignments that have to do with social studies but the students could also use this website for reading assignments. The teacher could maybe assign the students to read a book of their choice and then after they could have the students log into the computer and create their own time line of the book that they have just finished reading. This will be helpful in the sense that the students will be more eager to finish the book that they have started so that they can have some time to work on the computer. I think that the ISTE Standard that would most apply to teachers when using Tiki Toki for their students would have to be 2.7.a Provide alternative ways for students to demonstrate competency and reflect on their learning using technology. Because like I explained before the assignment that would be given would help not only engage the students but also have the students showing what they learned. As for the ISTE student standard that would best fit using the Tiki Toki website I would have to say that 1.3 Knowledge Constructor, Students critically curate a variety of resources using digital tools to construct knowledge, produce creative artifacts and make meaningful learning experiences for themselves and others. I feel like with the assignment that I provided as the example once the students have completed their timelines they can share them with their classmates. I think one of the skills that the students could acquire from completing this assignment would be connectivity because they are able to use the technology to really engage them. I believe that the main advantage of using Tiki Toki is that it is something new for the students to experience using rather than them just having to write an essay on what they just learned.
JOURNAL #6
I think using Canva to create my Interactive Multimedia Poster was a very fun experience not only because it was very hands on but also because the site has a lot of different features that allow you to add different interactive items to your poster. This is a great idea when teaching young children because they get to stay engaged with the assignment. For my Interactive Multimedia Poster I used the water cycle as my example because I feel like these posters would be a great way to introduce topics to young children because it gives them a chance to click on the different items or read the different bits of information provided. I feel like students would much rather have the posters on their laptops or tablets rather than them getting a paper poster that they are going to lose anyways. I think the ISTE Standard for Teachers that this assignment relates most to is 2.5.b Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning. This standard applies because you are using the digital tool to align with the content that you are trying to demonstrate to your students can be very helpful. And the ISTE Standard for students that best applies to this assignment would have to be 1.4b Students select and use digital tools to plan and manage a design process that considers design constraints and calculated risks. This one would best apply because the students will be in charge of designing their own poster and adding the information that they think is important. I would say that when students use this tool to help them make their interactive multimedia poster the skill that they are using is “Developing Creativity” because they get to use their own imagination and creativity to design their posters. One disadvantage that this assignment would have would to be that the students may not know how to add the different interactive items to their poster.
JOURNAL #7
The word cloud assignment would be a great activity to integrate into a language arts lesson because if you have the students read a passage right after you could have them get words from the passage so that they can make their own word cloud. One way that you could introduce this lesson to your students is to have them create a word cloud as a class that way the students are familiar with the website that they are going to be using and they can all participate as a class for that example. 1.6.c Students communicate complex ideas clearly and effectively by creating or using a variety of digital objects such as visualizations, models or simulations. I think that the word cloud assignment could relate to this assignment the most because the word cloud is considered a visualization for the students and it is a way for them to use all the new words or interesting words that they may have learned in the new passage or book that they were provided with. I think the ISTE teacher standard that would apply most to this activity would be 2.5.a use technology to create, adapt and personalize learning experiences that foster independent learning and accommodate learner differences and needs. Because after the teacher provides the students with a lesson and an example for them to go off the students will be expected to create their own word cloud. As far as a skill that would apply to this assignment best I believe Utilizing Connectivity would apply the most because it is having the students reflect on the passage so that they can incorporate the words into the word cloud. The disadvantages that I think the students would run into are that they may not be able to get all 25 words that they are required too or that they think are important enough.
JOURNAL #8
Using Story jumper to create my digital storybook was so much fun because of the fact that it was so simple to navigate. Not only that but I feel like if I assigned a 2nd grade class to complete this assignment they would be able to complete the task because of how easy it is to add the different details to their story. When you assign something to young children you want it to be something that the students are going to have fun with but you also want it to be something that pertains to the lesson that they are going to be learning. I think the ISTE standard that would apply to the Digital storybook assignment the most would have to be 2.5.b
Design authentic learning activities that align with content area standards and use digital tools and resources to maximize active, deep learning, because of the fact that this assignment is going to be aligning with a content area that the students will be learning. And the ISTE student standard that would most apply to this assignment would be 1.6.b Students create original works or responsibly repurpose or remix digital resources into new creations, because the student is responsible for creating their own story so that would be considered their new creation. I think the skill that the students would most acquire from completing this activity would be developing creativity. I think one of the disadvantages that this assignment might bring would be that the students might get distracted and steer off the path from completing their story book. And I think one advantage that this assignment has is that the students will have so much fun with the assignment that it won’t really feel like they are working on something that’s not interesting to them. When working with children especially young children you want to make sure that they are engaged in your lesson.
JOURNAL #10
I think one way to use the WebQuest assignment to engage your students would be to maybe make it interactive for them. When it comes to teaching young children it is important that you catch their attention. This can also help your students because in the case that they don’t understand a certain part of the assignment this will break it down for them and they can refer to this before they ask questions. A ISTE standard that I think would be met would be
2.1.a Set professional learning goals to explore and apply pedagogical approaches made possible by technology and reflect on their effectiveness. I think this would apply most to the WebQuest assignment because this assignment is putting together everything that is expected from the students from the directions of the assignment to the way that they will be evaluated. I think the skills that the students would develop if they had to create their own WebQuest would be that they would develop the ability to communicate clearly considering that the assignment will have to express what the expectation and guidelines should be. I think the advantages that this assignment would have would be that the students get to be creative and come up with their own webquest and include all the details that they feel are necessary for the assignment. It is important that students learn to explain in detail because it will help them with future assignments. I think one of the disadvantages that this assignment has is that it would be hard for a young child to come up with their own Webquest because it has a lot of elements that go into it.
FINAL THOUGHTS
Overall I do think that I really learned a lot from this class and I will be taking away knowledge that I didn't have before which is always a great thing for when I do eventually have my own classroom. the activities that we had to complete throughout the semester were a little bit tough for me at the beginning because of the fact that I had trouble posting them to my website since I wasn't really familiar on how to create my own website. the lesson that this taught me was that things and technology do change so much even in a matter of months something can be super different. So with that being said as a teacher it is important that you do stay updated with the newest technology considering that the children are always one step ahead when it comes to it. The websites that we used throughout the semester were very fun and they gave me so many ideas on what I could have the children do for their assignments. The Thematic Unit and WebQuest assignments really helped tie all of this together because it showed me that all the tolls and websites provided throughout the semester can be used for every subject if you apply them in a proper manner. I would have to say that this class is very beneficial and I will use all of these resources when I have my own classroom.
HANDS-ON ACTIVITY ARTIFACT
WEBQUEST
SOCIAL STUDIES
Introduction:
For this assignment the students will be expected to complete research on World War I and they will be creating a time line of their own on the events that occurred throughout World War I.
Task:
1) Students will research 10 events that occurred during World War I.
2) After doing their research the students will create a timeline using Tiki Toki.
Process:
1) Students will be taken to the computer lab.
2) Students will immediately begin their research on the 10 events required.
3)Students will use Tiki Toki to create a timeline on their own.
4)Each event will include the date and a brief overview of what occurred during that specific event.
5) Once completed the students will email their timeline to their teacher.
Evaluation:
Students will be graded on the following:
1) Completion
2) Accuracy
3) Creativity
Conclusion:
Although the students will be submitting this assignment to their teacher they will still be required to compare and contrast their timelines that they created with their classmates the purpose of this being that they will see which events they had in common.
Teachers Page:
This activity will be great for all students in your classroom because it will encourage them the to not only create but it will also have the students completing their own research.
TEKS: 7.7E
Analyze the political, economic, and social impact of World War I, the Great Depression, World War II, and significant issues in the latter half of the 20th and early 21st centuries such as political and economic controversies, immigration, and migration on the history of Texas.
LANGUAGE ARTS
Introduction: In this exercise the children will be learning what it is to make an inference, how to read a newspaper and they will also be constructing a digital storybook of their own all based on what they have learned about World War I.
Task:
1) The students will be given many different newspaper clippings and they will pick their favorite events that occurred throughout World War I.
2) The students will create their own storybook.
3) Once storybooks have been made they will be shared with their partners and each partner will have to infer what they think is going to happen.
Process:
1) Newspaper clippings will be passed out. (20 clippings per pair)
2)The students will begin by building their knowledge of World War I.
3)Once knowledge has been gained students will log onto StoryJumper.
4) They will use this interactive website to help them create their own storybook.
5) This digital storybook will include information that they found while reading the newspaper clippings.
6) the storybook will be 10 pages long not including the front and back.
7) Once their book has been completed the students will exchange books with their partner and their partner will have to infer what they think the book will be about based on the illustrations they have provided in their storybook.
Conclusion:
In conclusion this activity will be able to engage the students so that they are able to both complete their digital storybook but also understand what and how it is to make inferences.
Evaluation:
1) The ability to infer what will happen.
2) Creativity
3) Completion
Teachers Page:
This activity is going to be a good take away for the students because not only are they going to have fun using StoryJumper but they are also going to be taught how to infer and really get confident with learning how to make inferences.
TEKS: 7.7.A
The student is expected to
infer multiple themes within and across texts using text evidence;
FINE ARTS
Introduction:
For this assignment the students will be creating a Multimedia poster which in turn they will be using as a prop for a scene from WWI that they will be required to act out.
Task:
1) The students will have to visit various website to get information on World War I.
2) They will take the gained information and apply it to the Multimedia poster that they will be required to make.
3) The multimedia poster will be used as a prop in the scene from World War I that the students will be required to reenact.
Process:
1) The students will be taken to the computer lab.
2) When they arrive to the computer lab they will be instructed to research information to include in their poster.
3) They will be then be given a lesson on how to use Canva to create their multimedia poster.
4)Their poster will have to contain information pertaining to the scene that they were assigned.
5) The students will then go back to the classroom and get into groups .
6) Once each group is assigned their scene they will begin to practice it.
7) Each group will be given one day to prepare their scene in accordance with their poster.
8) On the second day they students will begin performing their scenes for the class.
Conclusion:
The knowledge that the students will gain from completing this assignment is they will learn how to perform scenes and they will also learn how to create a multimedia poster for not only this assignment but for the future.
Evaluation:
1) Presentation
2) Completion
3) How well the worked in groups.
Teachers page:
The students will enjoy this activity a lot because not only do they get to use a new website but they also get to work in groups to create their scene and I feel like working in groups is good for the students because they get to collaborate with their classmates.
TEKS:
7.2.B
The student is expected to: define characters by what they do, what they say, and what others say about them;
"There are no facts, only interpretations"