week13 November 25 (Post 1)

Today was the day we completed our embedded experience at Elk Point Jefferson Middle School. Wow let me just say I would love to do this again it has been awesome bonding with my fellow classmates, getting a feel of being in the school, and learn about middle school Science curriculum. When we got there we received the name tags, and ate lunch (very nice to share for free), and received a briefing of the project, expectations, and overview of the process. The teachers then assigned us to a specific group to judge. Me and my partner asked the specific questions such as why did you choose this project. what did you learn, and did you enjoy doing the project? These basic questions really helped us to see the learning and thought that went into the projects. Then we graded them accordingly it was difficult judge between the close projects for instance a robotics one was outstanding yet, so was the ear corn rot projects. We had to choose the best within that grade level, and we did not get a chance to see all the projects so, I felt in a way I was not being very fair to the students. There were some really high level and complex projects and we outstanding. You can tell the teachers really care about the end product, the teacher have provided great guidance! Thanks for allowing us to do this embedded experience it was a ton of fun!!

Week 12 November 20th (Post 2)

This was a work day for us as we talked about the embedded experience, and arrangements for transportation. I took the online quiz and reading guide for seamless assessment this week it was a huge assignment I had to read alot and write for hours, but the assignment was not that complicated because the reading was a easy and quick. I thought the assignment was not that bad because the information I was reading was interesting and applicable to the classroom situation for instance in chapter 1 the book talked about the 5 E model which I thought was very detailed and useful to a teacher, I enjoyed learning about the steps to apply to the classroom.

Week 12 November 18 (Post 1)

This week we have been working on our lesson plans as groups. We got into our groups of three and four and picked our grade and did some cooperative learning with other groups as we picked to do 6th grade so we worked with 7th grade and 5th grade to pick a topic that fits with appropriately with the other grades. This was a little challenging at times because we would pick a topic that we like then consulted with 6th grade and they would agree that the topics fit together also then, the 5th grade would make it hard for us as they already picked a topic an we had to reconsider or fix ours slightly to fit theirs. It has been a learning experience for me yet, it has helped us get a great start on the project. Dr. E Thanks for clarifying upon the assignment now I understand what to do exactly with this last assignment.

Week 11 November 13 (Post 2)

This Thursday was a work catch up day on our lesson plans, but it was helpful in gaining clarity and understanding upon some of the questions we had on the lesson plan. Me and my partner were able to look up some of the national and state standards for our lesson and we were both surprised to see that the Second grade was directly learning about the topic we had chosen for our lesson in their Life Science Standards for that grade level. This was a great way to learn and incorporate how students learn and have it reinforced by the state and national standards. Amazing how we could just pick a topic and have both a book and the standards follow directly to a tee the same idea that we were planning for we are excited to show the class our ideas and read our favorite book. Kelli

week 11 November 11th (Post 2)

Tuesday this was our day off of school from this class, but there was an online assignment that I would love to discuss from on educational point of view. As I completed the five E model of Constructivism, Engage, Explore, Examine, Elaborate, and Evaluate I was able to see just how indepth each lesson can be and that even if you are not able to obtain and reach eah of these goals all in one lesson its imporatnt to know that they are all equally important in subject matter They are most benficial when incorparated into the lesson for an extended comprehension of subject matter. I never thought of using such a model when teaching science or any other content area nor did I see the benefits of how it will ensure you are meeting all the needs of the students through the model in a indepth and broad manner. Kelli

Week 10 November 6th (post 2)

Thursday we were given the opportunity to get some of the house keeping done and organize what is due in class and the dates they are due this was most helpful to my datebook. Second activity we were given some materials in a lab to place a potato in a glass beaker of NaCl some of high concentrate some of low concentrate and some with medium concentrate. Dr. E gave us the opportunity to create our own lab and our own assessment through predictions and construction of the lab. We decided to place a Teaspoon in beaker with low concentrate, a Table spoon in the beaker of medium concentrate, and Two Tablespoons in the beaker with high concentrate. We had to reconsider the options once we found that too much salt would mess up the demonstration, so we reconsider the denominations and changed them all by cutting them in 1/2. After constructing our hypothesis we discovered that the beakers with high amounts of salt made the potato float and others just made the potato sink. This was a great idea because it allows us to create our own lab as will be doing once in the real world of teaching. This lab has provided me with the confidence to excel as a decision maker in the classroom, and given me the ability to see that you can think for yourself without always seeking ideas on the Internet. Great learning experience for me! Kelli

Week 10 November 4th (Post 1)

Today was very productive I thought it was interesting and I was glad our class was able to get to do the rocketship lanching lab. I at first I was thinking we already got to see the experiement we probably dont need to see it again, but I am glad we were able to see it again outside because it went higher and the reaction was far more reactant. I was able to see the chemicals as they started to fizz and I was able to see how powerful the force was behind the cork as they let it launch. I also like the notes you presented upon assessment, you made some great points about how to see that learning is occuring. I thought you made a great point when you said not all children are test takers therefore it is unfair to grade strictly upon this as your only evaluation of learning. Some children will be lost you will not be able to measusure the learning by only using paper based testing. We have many options as teachers to see that learning is occuring and the best way to measure learning is through multiple methods of assessment Good change in pace today Dr. E! Kelli

Week 9 October 30th (Post 2)

This week we completed our midterm projects and finished up our loose ends of the presentations. I personally really enjoyed doing these projects and have learned alot from the hands on experiences. It seems weird that you can learn from some of these simple elementry concepts but some of the groups have laid out the powerpoint presentations to focus upon the subject and develop a diverse sense of understanding through different manipulatives. For instance the one of the groups that went incorparated Halloween as the fun aspect of the lesson; they showed how light can be source for energy. This was neat to see it be taught this way because it showed me a prime example of how to incorparate this lesson into the classroom as well as taught me something new about light. It was neat to see the Safety element of it too great way to get kids excited about a special event cooming up and still keep teaching them. P.s. Thank you for the Halloween light stick Dr. E that was a nice touch to my newfews holiday he was so excited ! Kelli