You Mean I Gotta Do My Work? or Teaching 5 year olds to be self-directed

Teaching kindergarten is a daily challenge in so many ways. Not only do you have to teach the children how to share, take turns, ease separation anxiety for the child who has never been away from home, you also are introducing technology and other tools of learning. Teaching units are a fun and interactive way to engage students. They are easily modified for students who have special needs or are English Language Learners.

Relief is on the way...I hope

After stubbornly hanging on to the hope that the Imuran would begin working better again, I told my GI doc that I would let her change to whatever she thought best because clearly the Imuran is no longer controlling the intestinal inflammation. Less than 2 weeks later, I had been prescribed Remicade and it was approved. I qualified for the RemiStart program and the infusion center will work with me on payments. I have the first infusion on Tuesday. I did have a reaction to the last Remicade infusion several years ago so pray everything goes okay. I know it works fast on my joints. I hope it works just as quickly on the crohn's. It's been so long since I felt well, I don't really remember when.

Student centered assessment

In my classroom, student-centered assessment happens on 2 levels. The first is informally finding out what the student learned, what he thinks he learned and what he still isn't sure about. This is accomplished through whole class or small group discussions. Once our class discussion is finished, students are sent back to their seats to either complete a writing/drawing graphic organizer or to make an entry in their writing journals. By having something in writing, I am able to check individual progress of each student, including ones who may not have chosen to participate in the class discussion.

Reflect on my Learning

How can I use the internet to support my teaching and student' learning?

How can I ensure responsible and appropriate use of the internet?

Since I teach 5 year olds, I would have a list of appropriate websites created for them to just click on a link to take them directly there. It will require constant monitoring to make sure they don't accidentally stray from the site where they should be.

I use the internet in my classroom to supplement the curriculum by finding resources online such as virtual field trips and images to support our current topic of discussion.

Thing 5: Setting up the RSS feed

I was more than surprised last night to discover that I have had a reader set up for sometime and didn't know it. I have noticed words at the top of my gmail page that say web, mail, reader, etc. I never had clicked on any of them to see what they were. After I logged into the google reader set up, it went right to a page that had the same words at the top. I clicked on the word mail and it took me to my gmail account. The reader is also showing up at the bottom of my dashboard so it should be easy to use. It was late when I was discovering I had the reader set up and I realized that this is something my dad would enjoy knowing. He has a ton of bookmarks he goes to daily. If they have RSS links, I will show him the reader on his gmail account and show him how to add them. I know I am going to have fun finding sources to feed my reader and can't wait to start.

Thing 4: Blogs

Blogging is different from reading a book because it feels a bit like reading someone's diary and commenting on what you read. It's not something I've done and I admit that I am out of my comfort zone. It is, however, still reading and it does give you a chance to interact with the author and other readers and you can't do that with a book.

I am fascinated by the fact that kindergarteners can blog. I know that it was just a struggle to have my babies last year to even try to put their thoughts on paper. I am wondering if having them contribute to a classroom blog would make the writing process easier for them. It will be something I explore this coming school year. We want kids to interact and learn from one another and blogging is an excellent way for this to happen.

A couple of the blogs I read were about Daisy Duck and one by a teacher entitled I Don't Give Homework. The Duck blog contained entries both by adults and students. I love that the pictures the children drew in computer lab were included. I am beginning the think about how I can incorporate something similar into my classroom this fall and need to find out if there is a blogging site I can use without it being constantly blocked and needing to be overridden.

The I Don't Give Homework blog is enjoyable reading for me because I agree completely with it. I also hate giving homework and finally stopped halfway through the last school year because the kids who actually had parents sit down and help them with it were the ones who didn't need it. The ones who needed the extra practice were the same kids whose parents won't pick up a book and read with them. As a parent, I wish my son would have teachers who felt the same way. We have very little time during the hours between school and bedtime to interact with one another and much of that is spent with him doing homework. He hates it and we fight constantly over it.

Things 2 and 3 : How it fits with real life

I have crohn's disease and the arthritis that accompanies IBD. So many of the habits listed in 7 1/2 Habits of Lifelong Learners apply to what I have learned as I have gotten to know and understand my diseases.

1. Begin with the end in mind. The goal in IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) is to find a treatment that works and puts you into remission.

2. Accept responsibility for your own learning. I cannot make an educated decision about treatment if I have not done some research on it. I have to look at the side effects and weigh it against the benefits. Through learning about the drugs that are available for IBD, I read and researched one drug that I will never take no matter how bad the crohn's gets. The risks are far greater than any benefit in my opinion. The 2 medications I am now taking suppress my immune system which leaves me open to infections BUT they have put me into remission! The risks are definitely worth it.

3.View problems as challenges and 4. Have confidence in yourself as a competent effective learner. I think I have always viewed problems as challenges to either overcome or adapt to. With IBD you learn to adjust your diet and avoid things that you know cause pain and increased symptoms. I spent last summer and most of this past year figuring out how and what to eat. I know that coffee, oranges, peppers, and sausage are absolutely off limits for me.

5. Create your own learning toolbox. My toolbox consists of the women on the 2 messsage boards of which I created, my doctor, my computer and the internet and books.

6. Use technology to your advantage. I am good at hunting things down online and am one of the "go to" people on my end of the building when someone can't get their computer to work right. I do not know much about other kinds of technology out there, such as blogs and wikis and that is why I signed up for this class. :=)

7. Teach/mentor others. I had the opportunity to mentor a former student this past year. She struggles academically and research has proven that mentoring a struggling student can help them believe they can succeed and they often do. She was so excited the day she brought her TAKS scores to show me that she had passed all 3 of her tests. I am proud of her.

7 1/2. Play. Take time to do something for yourself every day. It keeps you from burning out.