February 20,2009

Hi all,

Thanks for your participation today. The discussion was good and your insights valuable. Deciding what to put in your personal middle childhood education philosophy is not an easy thing. There are so many aspects that are important. Having to narrow it down to 3-5 aspects to develop is not simple.

Also, your philosophy should be no more than 2 pages and better if it's less. Principals are busy people and they won't spend a long time reading anything.

If you are an upperclassman and you have already created a teaching philosophy, you do not need to reinvent the wheel. What you do need to do is modify it so it deals with middle childhood education and not just education in general as your previous philosophies probably did.

You should be thinking about what you want to include but don't start writing it yet. At least wait until you view and analyze the videos in our March 6 class.

I know we often don't have time to complete discussion in class. That's why I've offered this blogging opportunity, and I hope you'll take advantage of the opportunity to dialogue.

See you next week.
Diann

February 13, 2009 9:30

Hey,

I really appreciate how well you handled the activity today, and your participation was excellent. Here are my responses to the couple issues that were raised.

1) I don't have every person in the group write something on the poster because then you wouldn't have to discuss it and determine the best points.

2) You're right. It is hard to participate if you don't do the assignment. Hence - you should do the assignments. They are not worthless.

3) Your group projects are on the calendar you were given. You present on the dates your scheduled. Your groups should be meeting and you should be planning for the teaching and researching for your papers.

Happy Valentine's Day!
Diann

February 13, 2009 10:30AM

Hey -

Great discussion today. Thanks for sharing. I think we covered all the questions in class except for this one.

"Catch 22" has a couple origins one being a book. You should definitely google it and read about. It's interesting.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Diann

February 6, 2009 9:30

Hey -

You all did a great job on presenting the information on the culture of a middle school. I hope the activity was valuable for you, and you have a better handle on the middle childhood education culture.

Enjoy your field placement and take time to share your experiences with us here on the blog.

Have a great weekend.

Diann

February 6 10:30

Hey all,

Glad you enjoyed your gallery walk! I think it's a fun and engaging activity and you can use it with your middle kids in any content area, just like you can use last week's group teaching activity with them.

My responses:

1) I DID give you a full 2 minutes!! :)

2) Are you going to add twenty work days to your job for no pay? I don't think anyone is going to stand for that.

3) Finding out prior knowledge other than pre-tests or KWL's..... good question. I used to have my kids write me a social studies autobiography at the beginning of the year. I also had them write me a letter telling me what they knew and what they wanted to learn along with any other info they wanted me to know. Ask them. Once or twice I had them go through the textbooks at the beginning of the year and tell write down which chapters they thought they really need to work on and which they felt like they already knew. You could play a game with the knowledge you're wondering about and see how they do.

If any of you had teachers who got this info in a different way.... please share with the rest of us.

4) My favorite way of teaching is whatever works for the group of kids I'm teaching at the time. I love projects because the outcomes are always a surprise and often fantastic! I also love to just discuss when people will actually participate.

Have a wonderful week!! I know your field experience will go well, and I can hardly wait to hear about it!!

Blessings,
Diann

February 2, 2009, Monday Seminar 2 -

Hi all,

Thanks for attending, staying awake, and participating this morning!!  Just a couple things to address:

1. If you are getting a ride from someone else, and they have to be at their placement a different time, you will have to adjust accordingly.....go earlier, stay later, talk to your coop and make adjustments.

2. Portfolios are not something you really need to know about until you take your MCE computer class and then get into methods.  That's where those are thoroughly introduced.  I mention them here because we do have junior and senior students in this class who will be working on portfolios next term.

3.  Yes, all you find yourself doing at your placement is copying papers, and you are not working with students, that's a reason to change placements.  However, I request that you speak with your coop first to see if they would be willing to allow you to be more involved in the class before we move you.

I'm wondering how you feel about starting your placement.  Are you looking forward to it?  Does it make you nervous?  Are you excited?

Have a great week.  See you Friday!

Diann