Just Pin It

During my time in Professional writing and media I have most enjoyed Pinterest. Pinterest, an electrical pictorial blog is used daily by millions including myself. Prior to this class I had no intentions on creating a professional Pinterest, but after seeing how much easier it is to have a professional account that allows me to create different boards within education is great! I am definitely considering keeping both my professional and personal account. My favorite feature on Pinterest is pinning pins from other users; this allows me to keep a collection of items that I want to reference back to and use in the future. One thing I would love to see updated on the website is possibly having a board within a board. Having a board within a board would be a tremendous help, because I wouldn’t have to keep both accounts and it would cut down on any confusion. I Love the website so far and cannot wait to see the many updates they will have in the future.

http://www.pinterest.com/veroniquecooper/

Why teach?

Why teaching? This is a question I often ask myself. I am sure we all can agree that teachers enter into the field of education with the sole purpose of helping children.  Teaching for me is my outlet to the helping the world. Education is the foundations that set up all other professions. Teachers open up more than their doors each day; they open their hearts, mind and life so that all of their kiddos are loved and educated.  I believe that everyone can play a part in making the world a better place; for me early childhood teachers are the second most inflectional person a child remembers. I want to be that teacher that makes a difference in at least one child’s life not for my benefit, but for the world’s benefit. The children we teach today will be tomorrow’s leaders. What kind of leaders will you produce and what will be your legacy?

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teacher-appreciation-why-we-teach-margaret-regan

Professional Development

It is important for pre-service teachers to build a continuous support team while preparing to go into the classroom. I have been fortunate enough to know many educators, family, and friends who have been excellent mentors. While you can find personal and magnificent mentors that you know it is best to build new relationships from all around the world. There are numerous amounts of professional educational website that offers professional development for new and existing educators. Among these are: edutopia, educationworld, readwritethink and many more. These websites offer services for the pre-service teacher as well as the experienced. My experience with edutopia has been an excellent one; I have received great advice on how to obtain a mentor, how to handle first year teaching stress and much more. The website also offers educators to start their own blog which is great if you have any advice you would like to offer to others. I encourage all professionals to seek out further professional development to better themselves and their career.

 

http://www.educatorstechnology.com/2012/07/the-13-must-know-professional.html

 

http://www.edutopia.org/

Work hard. Be nice.

 

 

What does work hard and be nice mean? During my internship with KIPP Houston charter schools work hard and be nice is the foundation of everything they do. Knowledge Is Power Program (KIPP) is charter schools in underserved areas in Houston, Texas. The one thing to me that set KIPP apart from any other district were the amazing teacher they have. KIPP requires an insane amount of time and energy from their teachers from the” long 10 hour days” to the “leaving your cell phone on until 10pm” it was really a site to see on how they managed to get everything done. During my internship, I was blessed enough to be placed in a Kindergarten classroom with 24 of the tiniest brains placed on this God green earth. My “cardinals”, taught me the true meaning of selflessness, compassion and love. They opened up their hearts the minute I walked into that classroom. They forced me to be a better me, I learned that working hard can get you anywhere you want to go and being nice is how you get there. So, anytime I am faced with a difficult situation or questioning my purpose in the field of education, I think back to what my students told me “work hard and be nice”.

 

http://kipphouston.org/about

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/teaching-staying-positive-trying-time-heather-wolpert-gawron

Social media

 

 

 

In the year 2014 social media is more important than ever! Many educators would agree that social media can in fact be used for good. I believe that social media is a great tool that can help bridge the communication gap between parents and teachers of all ages.  At the beginning of each year every teacher should create a social media site such as, Facebook, twitter and a professional email address that they check every day and can be reached at during school hours. This is to ensure that all students are successful. Professional sites are now on the up rise; Edmodo is a safe and easy way for your class to connect and collaborate, share content, and access homework, grades and school notices. I would suggest this website for a more audience, because student can interact with one another, ask questions and even build profiles just like Facebook.  A more suitable website for younger children can be found here at grom social, this interactive website is catered for children 12 years and younger and does require a parent to help complete the registration process.

 

http://www.edutopia.org/blog/guidebook-social-media-in-classroom-vicki-davis

Random Acts of Kindness

 

 

The feeling of making someone's day is always a great feeling! This week during class (Curriculum and instruction) I have relearned what it means to be kind. I know the idea of having to relearn what it means to be kind sounds silly, but it is a lesson that many take for granted. While groups prepared their random acts of kindness plan I began to think; what can I do to change the culture of campus? A heart attack! No, not an actual heart attack, but an attack that leaves everyone feeling loved and cared for. Planning was lost in translation and the attack was magnificent! This Project lead me to thinking of how relevant are projects like this in the public school setting today. Bullying has become a vicious epidemic that is progressing. Random Acts of Kindness as such can change the culture of every school grade campus around. The idea of a RAK is to allow students to make cognitive decisions that will not only affect their day but someone else's. Requiring students to perform a RAK will boost their confidence, allowing all students to feel loved and cared for, and bridge the gap and reduce bullying.  It only takes one person to stand up and make a change will that person be you?

 

http://www.randomactsofkindness.org/kindness-research/2140-random-acts-of-kindness-teaching-kindness-in-schools

 

Lev Vygotsky

 

 

 

 

Vygotsky’s work represents a shift in constructivist thinking; he placed a heavy emphasis on the value of social collaborations, particularly with more expert partners. Vygotsky believed that the purpose of learning was to lead development. As Vygotsky noted, learning awakens a variety of internal developmental processes that are able to operate only when the child is interacting with people in his environment and in cooperation with this peers. When applied to classroom environments, this translates into teachers engaging the children in discussions and activities a step ahead of their current developmental level.

Example: For example, a child might be shown pennies to represent each sound in a word (e.g., three pennies for the three sounds in “man”). To master this word, the child might be asked to place a penny on the table to show each sound in a word, and finally the child might identify the sounds without the pennies. When the adult provides the child with pennies, the adult provides a scaffold to help the child move from assisted to unassisted success at the task. In a high school laboratory science class, a teacher might provide scaffolding by first giving students detailed guides to carrying out experiments, then giving them brief outlines that they might use to structure experiments, and finally asking them to set up experiments entirely on their own. 

 

http://www.simplypsychology.org/vygotsky.html