My new journey outside Teaching

 I decided to leave teaching career . It was a hard decision for me. For so many years it was my identity. It what I desired  for so many years, that I’m not sure what or even who I am anymore. I dreamt for as long as I can remember had always wanted to be a teacher. I remember dressing up my dog Sara Gene and lining up my dolls and reading my book and transforming myself into a teacher at a young age. So when I desired as a young mother to become a teacher it felt as if it was a God send. I don’t know if I didn’t follow God’s path or it wasn’t God’s will but somewhere something went wrong. The  children I taught were extremely difficult or it was Covid-19 Pandamic. I got sick and the children were constantly hurting me, stepping on my feet, kicking me, spitting on me slapping me. Did I mention they were 3-4 years old. They were head Start kids. Government funded we had to go through hoops to get them help, so if they hurt other children, not to mention  adult it took so long to get them help or even out of the program. One time one child even slapped my glasses off my face and they broke. I recently got diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. My grandma had it. I have good days and bad days. The dads when the kids would stomp on my feet just killed me. 

New direction

https://youtu.be/LKKH3zgZ85A

Since my graduation I have been homeschooling one of my sons named her as "J".  I will be adding videos and pictures to show what he is learning.  In this link above I was teaching him about things that would sink or float.  I was allowing him to decide if the items he chose would sink or float.

J my new student

The Impact of Technology on Student Learning.

Research literature shows in past decades that technology enhances literacy development, impacts language acquisition, provides greater access to information, supports learning, motivates students, and enhances students self-esteem.  More research indicates that computer technology provides opportunities for students to build personal knowledge through rich experiences that only technology can provide.

One study, The Reporter Project, used multimedia technology was developed and tested in sixth-grade classroom for two years and showed that students made statistically significant improvement in recognition and use of elements such as main ideas, supporting details and cause and effect relationships.  Their writing was also more cohesive!

Technology can be used to enhance language acquisition skills in the following ways:

• Multimedia presentations ( video, images, sound, text) can create stronger memory.
• The internet provides learners with access to authentic material, like news, and literature.
• Digital reading materials can be hiperlinked  to the reader to more easily digest the information.
• Students can engage in authentic types of communication through email, and other digital means.  

Technology improved test scores

Technology has positive effects on mathematics achievement.  Boster's study of 2,500 sixth and eight grade in Los Angeles showed a statistically significantly increase in math achievement scores when they used digital video. 

Technology is a great student motivator

When students have the choice in their assignment, see the relevancy, or can self-assess with teacher feedback, student motivation increases.  

This is a good article that explains that the use of technology is a great student motivator.  Everyone uses technology and it is a great tool.  There is a so many benefits to student learning.    Technology can help the learning disabled to the ADHD student.  It will allow the students to focus on the task at hand.   Students with learning disabilities have found to do better with better skills when using technology.  Students with physical disabilities, can give access to adaptive software without the need to physical write.  This article is a helpful and very useful. 

This is the link to where I found my file:///C:/Users/Mandy/Downloads/Blog%20Article%20Five%20(1).pdf

17 Things to do While you Actively Monitor a Standaridized Test

There was an interesting article I read recently that caught my eye; since this week is the STAAR Testing in our local schools.  The first part is basically what the article is about then I will explain what I think.  I hope you will enjoy!

There is so much wrong with standardized testing: they destroy their creativity, it discourages their ability to critical think, and it is very expensive. The most one that distresses teachers the most ist that the ability to actively monitor the test. Actively monitoring is an tediousness task that is designed by the State to prevent students  (and teachers) from cheating on the standardized test.
Teachers may not :

• Grade papers
• Talk
• Write
• Draw
• Read
• Use technology of ANY kind
• Or do ANYTHING that could distract the students

In fact, the only things teachers can do in some cases, in full school days are:

• Walk around the room
• Watch the students take the test

Here are the 17 things to do while you actively monitor the standardized testing...after all you have nothing but time!

 1) Memorize all the students’ first, middle, and last names from your roster. 

2) Keep a small amount of Silly Putty in your hand and challenge yourself to make various shapes without looking.  

3) Think about how you would describe the color red (or any color) to a person who cannot see.

4) Think about your responses to these “Would You Rather” questions or create some of your own.

5) Pretend to be a car.

6) Pretend to be a spider making a web. 

7) Pretend to be a ninja.

8) Think about what you would want your last words to be.

9) Put ice cream in a nondescript cup or mug in the back corner of the room just before testing.

10) Find things in the room that rhyme or almost rhyme.

11) Print out a sheet of riddles in a small font and put it somewhere only you will be able to see it.

12) Listen to the soundtrack of a musical just before testing and enjoy every single song being in your head for the next 8 hours.

13) Send each child positive vibes one at a time.

14) Arrange to have a specific treat after each day of testing.

14) Arrange to have a specific treat after each day of testing.

16) Do something healthy.

17) Think about what you would get on a vanity license plate.

There are probably a lot more ideas that this article clearly did not mention. Some of these are truly silly but would make having to do this taunting job more bearable.  I would mention that with all of these you would have to be as quiet as possible.  So when you are pretending to be a ninja be a fiercely quiet one!  There is one in my opinion that was not mentioned and you might agree with me and that is okay, it is to pray each student. I will try to use these methods when I monitor the standardized testing.  I hope you will use some of these methods too!      


http://www.weareteachers.com/blogs/post/2015/01/29/17-more-things-you-can-do-while-actively-monitoring-a-standardized-test

10 Ways to use Technology to Build Vocabulary

An eVoc strategy is an electronic or technology-based strategy that teachers can use to develop students' vocabulary learning and interest in words. As literacy educators, we need to use the tools that 21st-century technologies are available to use.  Vocabulary is also an area where teachers are asking for guidance on instructional approaches, strategies, and material. The purpose of this article is to highlight 10 eVoc strategies that hold promise for improving vocabulary learning in intermediate grades and that employ digital tools and resources that readily available and feasible to implement in today's schools.
What does research tell us abut vocabulary learning?

• For English Learners (EL's), academic language may represent the task of learning a third language. The good news is that we can improve vocabulary to our students. 
•  Direct vocabulary instruction is essential, but research indicates that students with well-developed vocabulary learn many more words indirectly through reading than from instruction. 

Strategies for teaching and learning vocabulary

eVoc strategy 1: Learn from visual displays of word relationships within text.

• Wordle is a free Web application that allows you to create a word Cloud based on the frequency of words in a particular text.

eVoc strategy 2: Take a digital vocabulary field trip

• Teachers can create a digital version of a vocabulary field trip using a free ONLINE PROGRAM called TrackStar (trackstar.4teachers.org).

• eVoc strategy 3: Connect fun and learning with online vocabulary games

• We recommend two sites that offer a variety of activities to engage students in playing with words and word meanings:Vocabulary Games and Vocabulary. Games include crossword puzzles, picture-word matches, word scrambles, and 8 Letters in Search of a Word (a game that can draw you in unexpectedly as you race to create as many words as possible from eight letters within the time limit).

eVoc strategy 4: Have students use media to express vocabulary knowledge This strategy focuses on students' vocabulary representations in multiple modes-writing, audio, graphic, video, and animation.   Students create captions to illustrate their understanding of contribute.Multimedia glossary example of camouflage using a POWERPOINT TEMPLATE

eVoc strategy 5: Take advantage of online word reference tools that are also teaching tools

• Many online word reference tools are also excellent teaching resources. For example, theVisual Thesaurus website complements its fee-based content with free information such as the Behind the Dictionary and Teachers at Work columns and teacher-created themed word lists.

Develop strategic digital readers with "on-demand" vocabulary help
eVoc strategy 6: Support reading and word learning with just-in-time vocabulary reference support
eVoc strategy 7: Use language translators to provide just-in-time help for ELLs

•  You can paste text into the translator field, select the input and output languages, and view the translation (seeBabelfish, Google translator, and Bing Translator). You may also DOWNLOAD a toolbar extension that translates any webpage automatically. 

Expand wide reading and incidental word learning with digital text
eVoc strategy 8: Increase reading volume by reading digital text

• Class libraries, read-alouds, book clubs, and independent reading time during the school day can increase the amount and variety of student reading.

• Time for Kids

• Weekly Reader

• National Geographic Kids

• National Geographic Kids' blogs

• Science News for Kids

eVoc strategy 9: Increase reading volume by listening to digital text with a text-to-speech tool and audio books

• A common concern among EDUCATORS is the readability of websites and Internet content.

eVoc strategy 10: Combine vocabulary learning and social service

•  This final eVoc strategy is a free online vocabulary game, Free Rice that has attracted millions of users, young and old. We believe it offers an opportunity to promote students' engagement with words while contributing to the social good.

This is a link to the article I got all this information from : http://www.readingrockets.org/article/10-ways-use-technology-build-vocabulary

This section highlights two online tools that provide just-in-time support while reading. Students can develop their strategic learning repertoire as they customize their own collection of supports.

• Rather than using print dictionaries or asking the teacher, students can learn to use online dictionaries and thesauri. When they have access to WORD HELP on demand, at the point of need, both monolingual (Reinking & Rickman, 1990) and bilingual (Yoshii, 2006) students tend to use them more often than print references and improve their understanding. Many of these Internet-based tools are free (they vary in difficulty, so try out different applications to determine the best fit for your students).
• Two popular free online dictionaries/thesauri are Reference.com and Merriam-Webster. Tools expressly designed for students include Word Central from Merriam-Webster , Back in School from Dictionary.com, and Yahoo Kids! American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language.

Reading widely and deeply is important for vocabulary development and reading comprehension. These two strategies help increase students' volume of reading and, indirectly, their incidental word learning (Cunningham & Stanovich, 2001; Nagy & Herman, 1985).

This article is filled with a ton of fun filled actives.  There is a ton of links and I will be using this in my classroom.  I have used some of the strategies myself in my college years and found that they had value to using them. Wordle.net was a fun way to use vocabulary words or even sight words. At the beginning of the year it would be a great way for the students to get to know their classmates.  They could go on a hunt for familiar traits and when they put them in a wordle.net it forms this beautiful piece of vocabulary.  

I have used National Geographic kids in the labs at my times at Arlington Baptist College.  It was a great too the students loved it. 

The digital vocabulary field trip sounds like it would be exciting. There is a ton of information on this website that can lend itself to great teaching. You just have to use it!

Using a virtual field trip

All school districts are able to go on field trips.  They can become costly for parents and the school districts.  They can become time consuming for the classroom teachers as well.  Then there is the added stress of the parents coming along for extra chaperons. What if there were an option we could go to an African Safari in Kindergarten when we are learning about animal habits or to compare the cold climate of Alaskan polar bears?  Well that would be possible with the helpful aid of a virtual field trip.

This is all possible with the help of books and the internet. This could be made possible as a individualized activity or a group activity. The possibilities are endless. The article gave about 13 different places that you could travel to in one second! You could literally take a trip to the White House or go along with the Space Shuttle. This website gave a printable to help while your students were using the field trip activities. The printable included were from rating their experiences to adding their travels to a world map.  Then the students could do a writing activity about what they experienced.  This is a fun and exciting way to learn.

I would definitely be using this website and this idea in my classroom.  I did this idea while I was in college and LOVED it!  I can see how it could benefit every style of learning. No student likes to read out of a book and take a test over what they have learned.  Providing learning in an engaging and a cooperative style you are allowing so much more learning and I do believe that they will remember what they did and saw for a lifetime.  Leaning can be fun!

This is the link to the website http://teach123-school.blogspot.com/2012/10/virtual-field-trips.html