Moc Interview

Today in class we participated in a Moc interview. Myself and 3 other classmates had the pleasure of being principal or administrators at a school. The rest of the class were the teacher interviewees. My school is Dream Big Elementary School. 

Here is an example of my opening statement!

My name is Mrs. Julian. I am a principal at Dream Big Elementary School. At my school we believe in the phrase “develop together”. It is important to us that each student develops their unique potential to become responsible, educated citizens! I obtained my bachelor's degree from Mount Saint Mary College and continued my education at Fordham University and received my Masters degree. I have been working at this school for 10 years. I taught 3rd grade for 8 years and decided to apply for the principal position and here I am today! Since I have experience as a teacher at this school I would like to tell you how our school runs, we believe that students should be actively engaged during the entire school day. We all work together and we are looking for a teacher candidate who is willing to incorporate technology and creativity into their lessons. Before we get started, I would like to thank you all for your interest in our school. Best of luck to each of you!

Let’s begin.

Each interviewee was well prepared with their resume and philosophy of teaching. Everyone was dressed appropriately. Here are the questions that I asked,

5 Elements of teaching Social Studies/ Teaching SS with technology - Alisha

1. If you could be one color of the rainbow, which color would it be and why?
2. What technology would you use in your everyday lessons, especially when students are working in groups?
3. Out of the 5 elements of powerful teaching (Meaningful, Integrative, Value-Based, Challenging, Active) which 3 elements do you believe are most important to reach in a lesson?
4. Can you share an example of teaching a social studies lesson where you applied 5 elements of powerful SS teaching?

During the interview I noticed that not everyone was knowledgable on the 5 elements of powerful SS teaching. So answering question number 4 was a challenge.

I learned a lot from this moc interview process. A few things I learned on the administrators side was they way to use symbols for each interviewee's answers. They don't know what the symbols mean but this is how us administrators kept track of the interviewees who answered well. I also learned that this is a real process and not everyone gets hired. School districts and administrators are searching for the right candidate. It was tough to make a decision, but a total of 9 people were hired!!

I also learned some personal things that prepared me for the future. It is important to be well prepared, attentive to the questions that are being asked, and to include real life experiences in the answers. I also learned that it is effective to give examples of lessons that I have previously taught when answering some of the questions.

The Moc interview was a great experience and it gives us teacher candidates a little taste of what the real interview world is like because we have to start preparing for it now!

What's in the bag?

I really enjoyed creating an artifact bag! I learned that this is such a great and engaging way to introduce a lesson to a class. As a teacher candidate it is important to learn many different ways of teaching and how to make lessons engaging and meaningful to the students, and the artifact bag lesson is definitely one way!

Creating an artifact bag gives students the opportunity to explore what is in the bag, then they can research the "artifacts" in the bag and learn more about them and the meaning of them and why they are important to the lesson.

I created an artifact bag that related to our Unit Plan which is, "Forming a New Nation". Many important events were taught in this unit plan and I included some in my artifact bag. The artifacts that I chose were the Preamble of the Constitution, the 3/5 compromise, and the American flag.

Here is a picture of my artifacts.


I found a website that students could explore on and research more about these artifacts. Students can learn why these artifacts are important in history and in our lives today. They can learn what each artifact means and how it is significant to this lesson.

Click the link to view group 1's artifact bag presentation!

WASTED!!

On Tuesday 4/17/18 I attended a conference/professional development that informed me on food waste and how much of a problem it is in our country. Many people spoke at this event, people from DEC, and local community famers. Dr. Michael Olivette did a great job putting an image in my head on how much food waste fills the earth by saying if we took all the food waste and filled tractor trailer trucks and parked them side by side, they would circle the earth one in a half times. That is insane! 
All of these speakers stressed how they work towards stopping food waste by recycling, or making new foods. Foods that are unused can be brought to food pantries, can be composted, or made into different things for people to consume.  For example, unused lettuce and other veggies can be given to pigs because they will eat anything! Or, like the movie showed, the ends of the loaf of bread that people don't use can be made into beer! A drink that mostly everyone enjoys :) The movie that was shown was Wasted! The Story of Food Waste and if you click on the link you can watch it! This movie taught me the simple things we can do to prevent food waste. The food that we waste can be going into the mouths of truly hungry people in poorer countries, or into farm animals that also produce food for us. Supermarkets throw away a crazy amount of food that is not used, or the "sell by" date is up or the "use by" date is up. It is unreal, because that food can still be eaten or used for something else and not enough people are educated about this so they automatically throw away foods with "dates" on it that they bought from the store. Another way to stop food waste is through composting.  If you throw unused parts of fruits or vegetables into a compost bin, you are making extremely fertile soil that can be used for the garden! I would love to get a compost bin for my house! I also want to start recycling. These are some simple ways that I am going to start helping this huge issue in the world. 
Dr. Smirnova also spoke at this event! She spoke about the sensory garden that is being build at Bishop Dunn, right on campus! This is great because it is teaching young children the importance of gardening, growing food, and the benefits it has to life in general. 

Below are some pictures from the event! 

P. I. G. S. Jigsaw Reflection

Positive Interdependence
Individual Accountability 
Group Processing
Social Skills
Face-to-face Interaction

CL really focuses on teaching students social skills, rather than just grouping them together to work on an assignment. It is important to inform students what they will be doing during the CL lesson. The teacher needs to explain what each students "job" is during the lesson and how they will be doing peer evaluations and self reflections. It is important to teach the students why all of these elements are important to learn and use during the CL lesson. During fieldwork we experienced that some of the students in each group didn't take their job serious. For example if a student was the "scribe" for the group, they just wrote whatever they thought was the answer. They didn't listen to their group members answers and collaborate and write down the agreed answers. After this activity I learned that the teacher should really only group the students into groups of 4 and they should implement what each students job is in their group and how important the jobs are before they are grouped and ready to work. CL is a fun lesson to prepare for and the students enjoy cooperating in it. They learn how to self reflect on how they think they did as a team member which falls under the "Individual Accountability", and they have a chance to do peer evaluations on how well their peers presented their work to the class which falls under the "Group Processing" element.  All elements of CL are important for students to learn before they actually participate in a CL lesson because then they can work their best and students are going to be participating in group work throughout their lives so it is good to teach them and engage them in it as much as possible.

Fieldwork Reflection

I wouldn't have chosen better colleagues to work with. I am so proud of my group and how well we taught 5th grade Social Studies!!!!

I learned a lot about team work and the importance of planning a lesson. First, everyone has to be able to meet at the same time so we can all put our ideas together and each be working on some part of the lesson. I also leaned how important it is for everyone to know their role on the day of teaching and know the content that they are teaching. We assigned and reviewed what slides each of us in the group would be teaching, and what each teacher candidate would be doing during our lesson in front of the class. For example, one of us is in charge of giving the students a flag for following directions. One of us was in charge of handing out the worksheets that we provided for the students and walk around during the lesson to make sure the students are filling in the note sheet and following along. This makes the lesson go more smoothly so we are not talking over each other and tripping over each other while teaching! I also learned how important it is to take everyone in your groups ideas into consideration. We all had great ideas, but had to narrow them down into one lesson plan. I learned how important it is to be aware of the time you have to teach, time management is so important because you want to give the students enough time to finish the activities and assignments. You want to have enough time to teach everything, but you don't want to spend to much time on one topic and end up running out of time to teach. So, I learned to keep the questions students had that were not about the lesson for the end of class.  We received such positive feedback on the observation reflections from our colleagues.  The only suggestions were to slow down on teaching the content during direct instruction, which is hard to do because we only have a certain amount of time to teach and have the students finish the activities.
The students in the 5th grade class taught me that you can never be over prepared for the questions that they are going to ask, or the way the class will behave. They were an awesome group of students and I cannot wait to have my own classroom someday!!! :)

Great job, Group 4! Celebration Of Learning

Group 4 did a good job with time management and had so many creative activities! Instead of having a numbered note sheet for the students to follow along on they created a flip book! Each flip had the title of the slide on it so the students could follow along. I loved this idea! They also created a traffic light as a check for understanding. The students all had a red, green and yellow card and if they had a question or was confused about something they would hold up their cards. This was a very creative way to check for the students understanding throughout the lesson! The group had a very engaging guided practice vocabulary game for the students to play, but unfortunately the students didn't behave properly during the game. They had the class split into 2 groups. Each group had a paper with definitions on it. The terms were on the whiteboard. Students had to swat the word that matched the definition but the students were not using the fly swatters properly. I think in order for this game to go smoothly, only the students they were swatting their term on the smart board should have been the only students standing.
During their inquiry lesson, I like how they introduced the problem as “In need of historians” as a way to get the students involved in the research. The students had to do a biography research on a WebQuest using iPads again.

Group 1 - researched Stephen Austin

Group 2 - researched James Marshall

Group 3 - researched Sam Houston

Group 4 - researched James Polk

Each group had 20 minutes to research their historical figure. I loved the biography research page they provided for the students. The layout was more engaging than a worksheet with questions to answer. Then the students had to share one major accomplishment of their historical figure to the class.

For their cooperative lesson each group was responsible for a main event learned in the 1800’s. They had to 20 minutes to work on

-Organizing a timeline with the provided sheet.

-Organizing and label pictures.

-Create a slogan

Each group worked so well together and then they presented their timeline!

This was also our last day of fieldwork! This was a great experience learning to teach Social Studies to a wonderful 5th grade class! Every one of my colleagues did a wonderful job equally teaching, working together, and using their teacher voices. 

A Growing Nation

Group 2 did an awesome time working together, and having great time management! I loved their response system, when they teacher said “holy moly" by students responded with "guacamole”. Each group member did an awesome job making sure the students were done filling in their note sheet before moving on. The group chose to do BINGO with the students as their guided practice during their direct instruction lesson. I thought this was a great way to engage the students in a review of the content and vocabulary terms that were just taught, and the students loved it. I also loved their idea of the independent practice. They had the students complete a fill in the blank and matching worksheet. Usually the students have to write a letter, so this was different way to assess the students.

During their inquiry lesson the students worked so well on their WebQuest. The students were divided into five groups and each group had to fill in their history hunt sheet on the assigned historian. (eg. Sojourner Truth, Andrew Jackson, Elizabeth K. Stanton). Then the students had to present their findings, they always do such a great job presenting their findings to the class!

During cooperative learning the students were split into groups and given a specific job. They had to work together to complete a poster on assigned group that they learned about. The students were very engaged and knowledgeable during their presentation and I loved the raps that they came up with! To end the lesson the students wrote an article to "News of the world"

Great job group 3!

The Young United States

Group 2 did a great job being creative with their lesson plans and activities. During each lesson everyone in the group did a great job using their teacher voices, speaking loud and clear. For their direct instruction lesson they all knew the content that they were teaching, this is very important because when you know the content you are teaching you are more confident teaching! They did a great job in their direct instruction lesson choosing a vocabulary game as a guided practice activity!
Vocabulary game- term or definition was placed on the back of the students chairs before the lesson began.

• Everyone with a definition goes to one side of room
• Everyone with the name/term goes on the other side of the room
• Find partner without speaking

I like how once the students found their match they had to get up and read the term and definition, and the rest of the class had to give a thumbs up if they think the term and definition matched or thumbs down if they disagreed. This was a great, engaging way to review the terms taught during the lesson.

During the inquiry lesson, I liked the layout of the lesson and how the students had the opportunity to spend 8 minutes at each station. The students were provided a discovery book with steps to their “expedition”. At each station the students used the iPads to scan the QR code to get them to the website that they should be working with. They were to write their hypothesis before moving onto the next group.

I really enjoyed how each group had to create a campaign poster representing their assigned president candidate for cooperative learning lesson. They students did a great job creating their poster!

Good job group 2!!

Our Nation in Words

For our last day of teaching, we taught using cooperative learning. The lesson was SUCH A SUCCESS! We divided the class into 4 groups. Groups 1 and 3 were to write a poem about the constitutional convention. Groups 3 and 4 were to create a bill of rights that all schools should follow. We provided each group with a project folder. Inside that folder was: 

1. The project you will be making.
2. Your individual jobs.
3. The checklist (rubric) for your project.
4. Loose leaf paper to draft ideas.
5. Peer Assessment sheets.

I went over what it means to work as a team with the class and together we chorally read an acrostic poem about "teams"

Then we gave the class 15 minutes to finish their projects. Once the 15 minutes was up each group presented. The 4 groups did an amazing job collaborating and creating their poems and bill of rights!

  
 


Then the students had to reflect, it was basically our wrap up of our three days of teaching. They had an independent practice to complete that stated
"You’re getting interviewed for a history magazine! Answer these questions using as much information as possible from the lessons we’ve taught you!

• Why was the Bill of Rights important?
• Describe the Compromises and why they were important.

List the three branches of government and explain why checks and balances are important"

Almost all of the responses were impressive! This was by far an incredible class to teach. The students were well behaved, engaged throughout every lesson, cooperated and collaborated amazingly together and I am very happy and thankful to have experienced teaching Social Studies to them!

I am also and very thankful for my group members. Everyone did a great job working together, meeting up to plan, came up with great lesson ideas, provided materials for the lessons, and really took interest in making sure we were all prepared and confident before teaching!!

Quest of the Consitution

Today my group and I taught the 5th grade social studies class using an inquiry approach. We started off with a Kahoot! game to review/ see what the students learned/remembered from our last lesson. The students love Kahoot! It is a very competitive game but it is a great way to keep the students engaged and to see what they know. Surprisingly out of 8 questions the whole class only got 2 wrong!

Then we moved onto the students' web quest task. The students' task is to complete a WebQuest on the Constitution, after completing it they are to write an article for the school newspaper to people who do not know what the Constitution is. Click on WebQuest to view the site!
We provided a WebQuest Research worksheet with questions that they are to answering using the resources/article on the resource tab.



Once they finished their WebQuest worksheet they started their news article. I was very impressed with the students' articles! One student from each group shared their article with the class. They were actually really excited to read out loud!


I enjoyed the concept of this lesson plan, but as always when creating a lesson plan that strictly uses technology there is always going to be a technical difficulty. And, of course, there was but we all stayed very calm and worked through it. We went around to each group, triple checking with each student to make sure everyone was getting logged into "Google Classroom" and were accessing the WebQuest website. 

By the end of the lesson, hearing the articles that the students shared made me proud to see how much these 5th graders were learning from what my group and I are teaching!

Forming A New Nation

Day 1 of teaching: I have never felt more confident after finishing that lesson then ever before!

Today my group and I taught about the birth of our nation. Our PowerPoint presentation was so well put together, we provided the students with a note sheet to follow along and fill in the blanks. We went over classroom rules that we expected the class to follow, and played a student vs. teacher game to keep them engaged throughout the lesson. This came is played like this: if the students are following along, listening to directions and classroom rules then they receive a point, if they are not listening and being disruptive the teachers will get a point. Whoever has more points will receive the prize! The students behaved so well and received 7 points for the day! I was very impressed.

Throughout our lesson we included review slides with 2 questions on what is being taught. The students knew all the answers which tells me 2 things:
1. Our lesson was well put together and we knew the content we were teaching
2. Our note sheet worked to keep students involved during the lesson

At the end of our lesson, the students had to write on a sticky note one of the following
-one thing they learned
-one thing they still have questions about
-one thing they did not understand still
I was very happy to see that every student wrote something that they learned, (like what a preamble is, and the three branches of government) and only the few students who were at band practice during the lesson had questions on what was taught.

All in all I was very happy with my first day of teaching 5th Grade Social Studies!!

Hopping Through History!

Today we met our 5th grade students!! My group and I prepared a "Getting to know you activity" for them. We played a board game with them. The rules to this board game were, if they landed on a pink square they answered questions about themselves, if they landed on a blue triangle it was a 7 second challenge, if they landed on an orange circle it was social studies questions about the topic we are teaching them, and if they landed on a question mark they asked us a question.

The class was split up into 4 groups. So we were able to plat the game with each group. The students seemed to enjoy the game. I enjoy this first day of fieldwork because it gives us an opportunity to meet the students and learn about them like what type of learners they are, their interests, etc..
Because of this day we were able to see who can work together in groups and who we did not want working together during our days of teaching. This made grouping them easier for us!

I am excited to teach this class, all the students seemed eager to learn and very smart!

Digital Me Reflection

I learned a few new digital tools during the "Digital Me" project. They were: Tiki Toki and Goanimate. I enjoy this project because I get to hear all the suggestions on how these tools can be used in the classroom, which is very helpful.

After presenting my "Digital Me" project I leaned how important it is to make eye contact and make sure to speak loud and clear while presenting. I also learned that it is important to be knowledgeable in the topic you are presenting and the digital tool that you are using. This helps you be more positive and shine while you are in front of the class.

The feedback from my colleagues is always helpful because they respond with 3 positives and a wish. The wish is something that they suggest you do better for the next time. A few colleagues suggested I speak louder, which is very helpful to know because once fieldwork starts I am going to be in front of a whole 5th grade class so I need to make sure that I project my voice loud enough so the students in the back of the class can hear me.

Getting to know me through Kahoot!

For my "Digital Me" project I used Kahoot. My quiz included 8 questions about me. Kahoot is a game-based website. It is an awesome way to make a quiz using technology fun! You have the option to make as many questions as you want to the quiz to have, and you get to choose how long the class has to answer these questions. Kahoot also gives you the option to add photos to your questions.

Once you have the quiz made. Everyone that is taking the quiz can use their iphone, tables, computer and they go to www.kahoot.it. This brings them to the step to put the game pin in so they can have access to the quiz.

Once everyone is on the quiz they take it. Kahoot generates the student who gets the answer right for every question and projects the student that is in the lead!

Kahoot can be used in the classroom as a way to either pre-assess students on a topic or as a way to review a topic and the students have fun doing it!

Buckle Up! It's time to teach Social Studies

It's time to teach Social Studies!!! I am very excited to learn how to become an effective social studies teacher. History is my major and I can think back to 3 great Social Studies teachers during my school years. 

On our first day back, Dr. Smirnova started the class with a very engaging activity in which we chose  a Social Studies teacher that we had during our school years and we were able to talk about what we remembered about this teacher and why we chose them as the teacher that we think of when we think of teaching Social Studies. 

I believe that while teaching Social Studies the teacher has to be very knowledgable and engaging because it's all about the history of the world, and it's important to keep students interested and engaged during this subject. 

I can't wait to find out what topic of Social Studies we will be teaching during fieldwork, and I am excited to learn new ways to teach during this course!