Things About Me

My name is Courtney and I am a student at South Alabama. I am studying to be an Elementary teacher. I have always beeen good with children and would like to inspire children to learn as much as they can. Children are the future and I want to help prepare our next generation of teachers, doctors, and lawyers. This blog is about some of the things that I have learned and think about teaching. Hopefully this blog will be informative to you.

Parental Involvement

Parental involvement is important for students to succeed. Parents need to be encouraged to volunteer and help at school. This is not always possible since now it takes both parents working to earn a living. Parents are needed on field trips and for class parties. This helps with the strain teachers have with trying to plan and control students. It is also good to send parents a note home to update parents about up coming events at school and about their childs grades and behavior. A phone call at the beginning of the year is a great way to let parents know you want them to be envolved. Letting parents know you care enough to call and say something nice about their child can make a difference on wheather or not they volunteer. Not all parents can make it to open house or to a parent teacher conference and a note to the house or phone call may be the only way to interact with them.

Time Management

Time management is an important part of teaching. There are many things to do and so little time to do them in. This is what makes time management so important. Now teachers have so many things to teach and to help students prepare for SATs and other tests that it is almost impossible to do without proper planning and time management. Students do not all learn at the same rate so lesson plans have to be modified. Students will also get into discussions about a topic and most teachers will encourge this learning process and again get off track. So many things can happen that if not carefull will put the class behind. Lesson plans and making use of down time is the key to time management. Making use of down time is just what it says... if the students are done with the lessons for that day continue with tomorrows in order to stay on track incase something comes up. Of course a fun friday is always good to have to keep the students from being over whelmed.

Motivation

Children need motivation to succeed. If children are not motivated then they do not try as hard and do not make as good of grades as children who are motivated. As teachers we are one on the greatest motivaters in our students life except for their families. Some students may not get motivation from home and it is up to the teacher to make learning fun and keep them motivated so they will want to try hard to make good grades. If children are motivated and like learning then they will be more likely to stay in school and possibly go to college. Children who are not motivated might become a highschool drop out. A simple "good job" or a smile can be enough to make child want to do better. Homework passes and bonus points work well too.

Testing and Grades

Testing and grades are a very important part of teaching. CRTs, SATs, and other tests are in every school to make sure students are where they should be according to the ALEX standards. The only bad thing is that a test can not possibley show what a student actually knows. Children can have test anxiety and not perform as a well as they could. Schools put so much pressure on students to perform well on these tests that some children may no do as good as they woulday normally if they felt comfortable. Tests can be good to make sure that the teacher and students are on the same level as the other students in the same grade. Without the standards teachers would be able to teach what they wanted and students may or may not benefit from this. So tests can be good and bad but either way they are not going to change. Tests are needed. There are other ways to test without students knowing they are being tested. A simple question and answer durring class can make sure the students are paying attention and on track with the other students. This also helps children with test anxiety do well. When students are more relaxed then they will make better grades.

Burp Back Education

Burp back education is bad. With burp back education students memorize and then forget what they learned for a test. Engaging students into activities that will help them learn and use the information not just for the test but for life is better. If students just memorize the information for a test and then they forget about it afterwards is not helping them learn because when the students see the questions later in the semester more than likely unless they studied it again they will not remember. Crunching before a test is what most students do and that is why most students do not remember the material once the test is over.
Educational games are useful. These games get students interested in the material they are learning. Some of these games get students out of their desks. If students take a break and play a game this will take away some of the tension of sitting in a desk all day learning for about 6 hours. Students will be less likely to act out if given a chase to get rid of some of their energy by playing an educational game instead of disrupting the classroom. Educational games are games that help teach students the curriculum in a fun way. Educational games can be used for spelling, counting, vocabulary words, and other things that might be hard to understand.
An example is The Fly Swatter Game. It is a game used to help students learn vocabulary words by getting them out of their seats. The classroom is split into two groups. Vocabulary words are written on the board and the teacher calls out the definition. One student from is team is at the front of the classroom with a fly swatter. The students run to the board and try to get the correct word before the other student does. The team with the most points at the end of the game wins.