Room Arrangement Assignment 2

This room arrangement allows students to easily see the teacher. Instructional materials can be kept nearby on the teacher's desk, and student supplies can be kept on the shelves. High traffic areas are kept clear. The teacher can easily see the students from all parts of the room, and materials are readily accessible. Students can easily see instructional presentations and displays.

Room Arrangement Assignment 1

• The room arrangement is consistent with the teacher's instructional goals and activities. Students can easily see the front of the room and materials are easily accessible for the teacher.
• The door is the only high traffic area and it is free of congestion.
  
• The teacher can easily see all students.
• Frequently used supplies can be readily accessible with some planning from the teacher.
  
• Students can easily see instructional presentations and displays.

Chapter 10: Advice for Teachers from High School Students

The best part of this chapter was where the authors said teachers should do plenty of activities that are not usually thought of as typical activities for whatever subject they are teaching.

Unusual activities always make the subject more interesting. Even if it is something as simple as having class outside, breaking away from the normal routine wakes students up and makes them pay more attention. Even something goofy can be powerful. When I was in tenth grade, my Geography teacher had a few of us get up in front of the class and do a "wind dance" to show how the winds move in different parts of the world. It was silly, but I will never forget the lesson.

Chapter 9: Advice for Teachers from High School Students

The part of this chapter that jumps out is the very last section, where Veronica talks about the Math teacher she had who was in a wheelchair. The class took advantage of him for a long time, but he eventually won them over. Because he never gave up on him, the came to like and respect him.

This section strikes me because it shows how a teacher can gain the respect of his students even when it appears that all hope is lost. The teacher in this passage was open about his disability, and he never gave up on his students. He never decided they would never behave, he just kept trying. This hits home for me because of my visual impairment. There is a lot I can learn from the way this teacher handled his class. He was honest about what happened to him. He welcomed questions, made his students realize he was human. He also made the work fun and interesting for them. He wasn't the type of teacher to just stand there and lecture, he actually got his students involved.

Chapter 8: Advice for Teachers from High School Students

The part of this chapter that stood out the most was where the students were telling their teachers not to judge them based on how well they speak English, but to judge them based on what they know.

It is so easy to think a person who does not speak English well is uneducated or stupid, even if that person is just beginning to learn English. Remembering that students whose first language is not English know a lot in other areas is so important. The worst thing teachers can do for those students is make them feel like they do not belong or that their opinion does not matter.

Chapter 7: Advice for Teachers from High School Students

The part of this chapter that jumps out is where the students say to avoid using the textbooks, or to relate the information to something in the real world.

Although textbooks contain more information in one place than any other source, they are excrusiatingly boring, even in college. The exact same information can be presented in articles, videos, or novels and be so much more interesting. Students will learn so much more if the information is presented in an engaging way.

Chapter 6: Advice for Teachers from High School Students

The part of this chapter that stands out the most is where Vance says that finishing school is like a rite of passage into adulthood (103).

The interesting part of this statement is that getting through school is a sign of maturity. Finishing school is a sign that the student is an adult, and what teen doesn't want to be considered an adult? This passage shows that kids have all different reasons for wanting to get through school, and they are not always the typical reasons.

Chapter 5: Advice for Teachers from High School Students

The most significant part of this chapter is where the students talk about how teachers react to their questions. Many of them mention that teachers often bursh their questions and comments aside as if they are an inconvience rather than a valuable part of the class.

The sad part about this is how the students don't feel they can contribute anything wothwhile. Questions are always worth answering, even if time is limited. Answering their questions will make students feel like an important part of the class.

Chapter 4: Advice for Teachers from High School Students

One thing that was repeated over and over in this chapter was how big of an impact the opinion of a teacher can have on how well a student will or will not do in school. In every section, it seemed, someone mentioned how important it is for teachers to believe in their students.

What caught my attention here is how many students recognize when a teacher believes in them, and how big of an impact that makes on their motivation to do well. I always knew it was important for teachers to encourage students, to make them feel like they could do well, but I had no idea that it was so important. Based on what the authors said in this chapter, a teacher's attitude toward students can be the difference between exceling and failing.

Chapter 3: Advice for Teachers from High School Students

What caught my attention in this chapter was the part where a student said that teachers should just be themselves. The student talked about one particular teacher who always smiled, even when taking out the trash. This student was under the impression that the teacher was not being real.

The reason this stands out to me is that I am a person who smiles all the time for no apparent reason. I'm not trying to perform for anyone; I'm just a naturally happy person and I show it. The words of this student caught my attenion because I never want my students to think that I'm trying to make them like me by smiling all the time. This thought never occurred to me until I read this chapter.

Web 2.0 Educator

I chose to read blogs by Berci Mesko, from Hungary. He won the award for Best Individual Blog. In one blog, he talks about how teachers in the U.S. are using new technology to help students with conditions such as ADD. They can have the students measure the amount of time they are paying attention to the teacher versus the amount of time they are distracted by cars, trucks, people, and other things going on in the world around them. This technology can help teachers understand how best to help students with ADD.

Most of Berci Mesko's blogs focus on new medical discoveries that teachers and students can use in class. He posts links to allow people to find out more about the medical discoveries he posts in his blog so that people can see that the information is accurate. This is a great resource, especially for science teachers.

Focus the Nation

To learn more about Global Warming, I went to see An Inconvenient Truth. I learned that:

• Carbon dioxide amoutns increase in the winter when the trees have dropped their leaves, and increasing in the spring when the trees grow new leaves that breathe in the carbon dioxide.
• The temperature of the earth appears to be proportional to the amount of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere.
• Apparently, Global Warming is definitely being caused by humas. This is not a theory, it is fact. No one in the scientific community disagrees with this. At least, that's what we're going to tell people so that they will agree with us.

Contrary to Al Gore's statement, there are scientists who disagree with the theory that humans are causeing Global Warming. Some sources that present the other side to the Global Warming dispute are:

• http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/162241/17_200_Scientists_Dispute_Global_Warming
• http://www.cei.org/gencon/003,02502.cfm
• http://www.ncpa.org/hotlines/global/pd112700c.html

As a teacher, I do not want to tell my students what they should believe, but rather, I want to teach them how to look at many different sources, many different opinions, and to decide what they believe for themselves. If I were to address Global Warming in my class, I would have each student do his own research and come to his own conclusion. Then, each student could write a letter to the editor of a local or national newspaper, or to write a letter to the State Representative or Congressman explaining his opinion, and some solutions if he believes they are necessary. This way, my students coulud make their own decisions instead of merely parroting opinions they hear from teachers, parents, and the media.

Type I and Type II Technology

Type I Technology is where teachers use the computer as a reward for doing good work, or as a way to do the same things they have been doing with worksheets, except in a more high-tech way. Type I Technology really does not use the technology as effectively as it could be used. Type II Technolgy is where the teacher uses the technology in new and interesting ways to help students learn. The computer is being used in creative, yet practical ways to increase the students' interest, motivation, and learning.

Some examples of Type I Technology are having students answer multiple choice questions on the computer, having students read a story and answer follow-up questions on the computer, or havign students do math problems on the computer.

Some examples of Type II Technology are having students use the computer to create a PowerPoint presentation that will be presented to the class, having students create different types of graphs reflecting statistics about a country or region they are studying, or having students use the Internet to do research for a project.

http://www.haworthpress.com/web/CITS

My MEL Experiences

• Student/teacher relationships My Geography teacher was one of the best examples of Student/teacher relationships. She was extremely energetic, and she would walk around while the calss was working and talk to everyone, not just about schoolwork, but about things that were bothering us, friends, extra-curricular activities, music, and anything else that came up in conversation. She is the type of teacher students enjoy having in class, and staying after school for.
• Autonomy At the end of my freshman year of high school, my teacher had us do a project about what we thought love is. The project came after the class read Romeo and Juliet, and we could do anything we wanted as long as it was about what we thought about love. I made a picture book with pictures I had taken of my Barbie dolls modeling the different characteristics of love. This is still my favorite project, and it is the one I had the most fun doing.
• Context In my AP Human Geography class we studied cities at the end of the year. To make it more interesting we had to draw maps of how we thought the city we lived in looked, and we looked at the city the school was in using GIS maps. It made learning about how cities are designed more relevant to us.
• Hands-On In my Geometry class we had to make a 3-D model of a cube with a triangle on top to show that we understood angles and different planes. It was kind of frustrating because I do not work well with most art related projects, but it got the point across.
• Interest During my sophomore year, our teacher was pregnant. She went on maternity leave while we were doing our unit on genetics. While she was gone, the teachers formed this elaborate project wehre they pretended that she had been kidnapped. We got together in groups and pretended we were teams of FBI agents investigating her disapperance. We got our own badges, and we did tests on hair samples, blood, ink, and we interviewd other teachers, and even the principal to find out who had kidnapped our teacher. It was one of the most complex projects I have ever done, but it was also the most fun.

Learning Style Inventory Results

I think the results for verbal were accurate; I definitely work well with anything that is verbal. What surprised me, though, was that my visual score was so low. I like to see things done before I do them, so I thought my visual score would have been much higher. I was also surprised to see my social score be so much higher than my solitary score. Although I love being with people, when I am tired or stressed I prefer to be alone. The results that I definitely think are accurate are my logic, aural, and physical scores.

The Web site this information came from is http://www.learning-styles-online.com/inventory

Chapter 2: Advice for Teachers from High School Students

There are a few parts of this chapter that jumped out at me, but the one that jumped out the most is the part where the author talks about what students want to know on the first day of class. Students want to know what the homework load will be like. They want to know what material will be covered, and if the class will be fun or interesting.

What really surprised me about this section is that students are saying this is something they want teachers to do. This makes me think that teachers don’t do this already. It seems strange to me that a teacher would not tell students what the class will be like on the first day. Maybe I have been in college for too long to remember not having this done, but it just seems logical to do this.

Chapter 1: Advice for Teachers from High School Students

I found it interesting that students want their teachers to know them well, but not so well that they feel like friends. Students want their teachers to know what they are thinking by what their facial expressions are saying, and to acknowledge those thoughts. Even though students want their teachers to know them well, they still want that line that lets them know that the teacher is not their friend to exist.
What drew me to this passage was the fact that students do not want their teachers to be their friend. I have heard people in other education classes asking about the line between being the teacher and being a friend. Then answer I have always heard is that a teacher should never be friends with his or her students. I agree, but there was always part of me that wondered if the students wanted a teacher who was more like a friend. Now I know for sure that they do not. I suppose kids feel similarly about their teachers and their parents. The do not want their parents to be their friends; they want them to be parents. Apparently, it is the same with teachers.