Blog #8

1. I really liked Kim Malo's blog post:

"When life works as it should, we dream dreams, make plans, aspire to be more tomorrow than we were yesterday. We are invigorated by challenge, strengthened by working toward it, and ennobled by attaining it."
I really like this because I believe it is true. When life is going well be have hopes, dreams, and plans. We are Strengthened by trying to meet those plans, and meeting them. Everyone needs to have challenges in life and feel what it is like to work towards them and accomplish thinks they thought were not possible. What a great chance as a teacher I have to challenge students and teach them how to dream and work towards dreams. I hope that I can show them I have dreams, and I challenge myself and work hard at those dreams accomplish able or not. I believe that people are happier when they have dreams and are trying to be better tomorrow than they were yesterday!

I completely agree. I love optimistic quotes like this. I actually just started a whole new blog called " Gallery of Goodness" it's where people can post their inspirational stories, thoughts and quotes to uplift others! I'm a "glass is half full" kind of person and I believe staying optimistic will help you be a better teacher and give your students a better learning experience.

2. I liked what Katie Jones had to say:

The five specific ways in which a teacher can respond to students' need for affirmation, contribution, power, purpose and challenge are: Invitation, Opportunity, Investment, Persistence and Reflection. I really like the idea of persistence and that there is no finish line in learning. We need to teach and show are students that we (including the teacher) are "all on a journey" and "none of us is ever through striving."

I loved that she said we ALL are on a journey and none of us is ever through striving. No matter how old you are, doesn't mean you're finished learning. If the teacher allows herself to teach AND LEARN with the students, she will be that more of a influential teacher!

Blog #7

1. I could picture myself using the "RAFT" strategy.

2. I really enjoyed the idea of this! I think students would love this and it would add an extra spin on things. It will help them get their creative juices going and they will feel extra smart, funny, and special. An example of using RAFT would be:

If you're teaching a lesson on plants, the students could write a letter using RAFT:

ROLE: Soil

AUDIENCE: Plants

FORMAT: Romantic letter

TOPIC: I need you so I don't erode.

This helps them be creative and have fun while learning and writing down facts and what they've learned so far about soil needing plants.

You could do this with ANY subject! It's fun!

Blog #6

I really liked that film we watched about that teacher who differentiated his classroom and put them into different groups. I think it's important to differentiate for readiness and interest all the time. No matter the topic being taught, it's important as a teacher to be aware of each student and their needs in your classroom. The students in the video seemed very content in the groups they were in. Well, I shouldn't say content, but they were happy. They were also pushed to a more challenging level that worked for them! Not everyone is the same. I definitely think our lessons as teachers should be interesting to the students. We can find out their interests by getting to know them, asking them questions, paying attention in morning meetings, paying attention to their assignments and how they're preforming. I think no matter what level a student is on, teachers can differentiate for readiness and interest.