Lesson 8

Now that you have created your own blog and used it through the previous eight lessons, describe in detail how you will use your blogging skills in your classroom.

Blogging is journaling.  Journaling is important for both teacher and student.  There are several ways to incorporate my blogging skills in my classroom.  First, at the end of the day, I can journal about the lessons taught, successes, challenges, tips, etc.  I can do this to help me for future lessons.  Second, allowing the students to journal can provide a creative writing outlet for them.  By providing different subjects for the students to write about, journaling can help get the writing brain flowing.

Lesson 7

After reading and pondering the debate about teens lacking adult reasoning capacity, yet being held to adult consequences, what do you think this means for you as a teacher?

Because teens use different parts of their brains than adults, shouldn't we educate them differently? These last few months I've realized that learning as an adult is completely different than when I was younger.  It's harder.  As teachers, we need to take advantage of this and teach to meet their needs and different brain functions.  It also means, sad to say, that we will have some students who we can't help or save because of their choices they've made.  

Lesson 6

After watching the videos on Math and Music, how does this information impact you as a teacher?

I believe it important for students to understand that Math and Music are both important and used in every day life.  The information I viewed in this lesson confirmed that belief.  Music can help students recall information quickly.  Math can be fun and it's important for students to feel confident in it.

Lesson 5

After watching the videos on Language and Reading, how does this information impact you as a teacher?

There are so many ways that this information impacts me as a teacher.  Most importantly, it is important to look for signs in language and reading development that may lead to delays in my students.  If there are delays, I will need to do my best to help my students in learning and reading to be the most successful they can be.

Lesson 4

What does it mean to be relational as a teacher? How will you interact with your students to accomplish this?

To be relational as a teacher means to connect with your students and form a bond with them.  In order for students to want to (or try to) learn, they need to connect with their teacher and form a positive relationship.  This can be done by genuinely caring about your students.  It can be the small things like remembering their name, favorite color, or a conversation you had with them.  It is noticing how they behave positively in class and rewarding them.  I can interact with my students in a positive and encouraging manner in order to accomplish this.

Lesson 3

After watching the videos on Attention, Emotions and Learning, describe how this information impacts you as a teacher.

I loved this lesson!  Knowing how different experiences in the environment, classroom and home affect a child emotionally can help me meet the needs of my students better.  If I can notice symptoms of attention problems, I can make changes to help the student learn better.  

I firmly believe that exercise is so helpful in education.  On days I substitute that are full of testing, I make sure we stop, stretch, jump up and down a few times, take a drink of water and then get back to work.  Those two minutes are miracle workers and help the kiddos to refocus.

After watching the videos on Vision and Hearing, describe how this information impacts you as a teacher.

It's funny that I'm writing about this today.  Funny because it's such a coincidence.  As I was substitute teaching 6th grade this week, I noticed two students in particular.  Both students were squinting to see the board.  They both were constantly blinking in order to clear their vision, sometimes blinking one eye then the other.  At lunch, one of the regular teachers had brought it up so see if we had noticed it as well.  

Watching the video on vision confirmed my suspicions about these two kiddos.  If a student cannot see well or hear well, their brain won't process specific information correctly.  The information can get distorted and the student can lose that information.  It is so important for everyone, not just students, to be able to see and hear clearly in order to have a healthier functioning brain.  This impacts me as a teacher because if a student is struggling with these obstacles, it makes it harder for them to learn and causes barriers to my teaching.