Standards On Top of Standards

This week our concentration was strictly on standards. Why we have standards? Where we can access standards? How do I accurately read standards? How can I connect multiple standards? Well, to answer all of those questions we first have to know what standards we are talking about. There are several categories of standards for teachers. There are the North Carolina Standard Core of Study which is strictly related to content, but there are also Technology Standards that must be met within each lesson, and on top of that there are the North Carolina Teacher Candidate Standards for the educators. One might look at all of this and have a small panic attack like I first did, but with time it is all manageable.

Tuesday we worked in groups to research standards of our choosing from all four content areas and then integrate those into one sole activity or project. At first this task seemed impossible. I had no clue where to even start. But, after some guidance from Dr. Clark the first priority was a grade level. My group chose first grade. We then were encouraged to pick a science or social studies standard to then match up with a language arts and math. It all magically seemed to fall into place after that. I kept thinking to myself, "wow I might actually be able to do this one day!".

With that positive mindset into place, today was a seminar day. I really enjoyed just taking the time to talk with one another. We got to rack each other's brains on our thoughts towards standards, and just future teaching in general. Tips and tricks were mentioned like shower boards, and the controversy topic of Common Core was debated over. We reminisced on our golden days back when we were in school and how our teachers dealt with standards and if they implemented them. The basic theme was a reflection of the NCTCS 3) teachers know the content they teach. Without standards we would have no road map of when and what we are suppose to teach to our students. There is no way we can demonstrate NCTCS 1) teachers demonstrate leadership, if we have no path ahead of us. Bottom line standards were created to help teachers, not take away their creative means of teaching in their own way. Overall, I feel so encouraged and motivated to begin my teaching career with some fellow teachers by my side. Knowing that the road is not easy and that there will be constant change should never change the end goal of student success and learning, and hopefully being the new teacher role model.

(Second) FDOC

Today was my second first day of class and after being in Education 410 I already feel as though I have expanded my educational knowledge. Being back on Gardner-Webb's campus and being back in Craig Hall makes it feel as though we never really left. Today's objectives were getting to know each other and familiarizing ourselves with this new course. Integration and Assessment are terms that we will be throwing around this semester as we jump into lesson planning. Dictionary.com defines integration as, an act or instant of combining into an integral whole, and assessment as, the evaluation or estimation of the nature, quality, or ability of someone or something.

We were able to see some of these new vocabulary words put into action today. Dr. Clark sent us outside to break the ice with each other in a friendly game of baby blob tag. Afterwards, we then were brainstorming ways we could use this game in the classroom to help students with either numbers like addition or multiplication, or just physically fitness skills. These are all examples of how to integrate in our lessons. Cross-curriculum is another great way to keep students actively thinking. We talked about why assessment is needed as well. End of grade testing has been a big debate, but teachers have to find some way to assess and progress monitor their students.

All of these are topics we are going to be diving deep into this semester as we learn how to correctly assess students, and how to correctly write an integrated unit plan. The big pictures reveals that all of these are tools we can use in the classroom to make us the best teachers. These skills will also help us to be able to check off all the NCTCS standards that are required of us: to be a leader in the classroom, provide a safe environment for learning, know the content of what we are teaching, be the facilitator of learning, and be able to reflect of student's practice.

As I look back on what we have learned thus far it all makes sense and connects. The ultimate goal is to be an effective teacher who engages students to learn and be successful in the process. I feel like that is so present in the future classrooms too, especially with the expansion of technology. There are so many new skills and tools we can use to enhance education.