The Gorilla Who Wore a Colorful Hat

 The colors of the gorillas hat represents the diversity of students I believe I will have in my classroom. Not one student is the same, and each will have different learning needs I will need to be aware of through observing my classroom and getting to know each student. I know my classroom will have students of different sizes and colors. My students will have different behaviors and personalities that I will have to accommodate for in my classroom through the learning environment, bulletin boards, and lesson planning. I want my lessons to reach every need of the students in my classroom that prepares them for the next grade and their future. Most of all I want each student in my classroom to feel cared for and secure, and to know I am there to help them reach their highest potential.  

Tree of Assessments......

The tree created from a student assessments describes how life is full of challenges. Life is about growth and through education we gain wisdom. Trees represent life and provide oxygen to give us life just like teachers impact our lives to to change us into people of great influence. Different challenges help us grow individually and with God change us into people He desires us to become. 

Dr. Rife's Devotion.........

God put you in a place He wants you to be. If you are made for that place you will like it, if not then you must master it. We need to be willing of where and what God wants us to do. Don't have our minds set on what I want to do and that's all I'm going to do. We need to ask ourselves are we willing to do what God wants us to do and are we in a place to do that. Only God knows where He wants us to go and there will be people that will impact our lives along the way. God wants us to be those kind of people; He wants us to make a difference in someone's life. During my journey of God's plans, I know He made me to impact others and influence other's lives, especially children. It is my will to be the best influencing teacher I can be, and I desire to impact lives along the way of God's path.

I Am But a Pencil in the Hand of God.........

I am the image of God's plan and salvation. My life is led by God's hand. Without Him I can do nothing for myself. I believe in Him and trust in Him because my life is in His hands. God knows the plans He has ahead of me and through prayer and obedience I will follow the plan that He writes for me everyday. God uses me to teach others about Him and His salvation. I am God's teacher to the world. 

Read, Write, and Talk!!!

In the video, the teacher demonstrated how reading is a social act. She gave the students informational texts and let them discuss the the cover out loud. The students turned to each other to make inferences in pairs about the cover of the text. The students used clipboards to have a flat surface for writing and a place for their papers. The teacher placed the text on the overhead for discussion. She wanted to make her thinking process of the information visible for the students. She discussed and explained with the students about what she noticed from the information. The information was circled, underlined, and summarized for all the students to see together. The students were placed in groups for further discussion of the text. She gave them three different text. This way all the students were able to learn about each topic from the whole group discussions. The students made written responses in their groups, as well as a whole group. The teacher sat with each group to utilize higher level thinking by asking questions. She participated in their discussions and listened very closely to what the student's responses. Toward the end, she asked the group as a whole, "How can this text help you?", "What did you get out of this information?", and "What did you notice the most?". The students did an independent practice at the end. They read a text and turned to talk to someone next to them about what they read. The group came together in a circle and discussed what they read out loud. This reading lesson promoted active learning, which is what reading needs to be about. It has to relate to the students interests and something the want to learn more about. It provided a fun learning opportunity for the students and helped engage them in the reading. I really enjoyed how the teacher incorporated fun, informational texts into a reading lesson.       

Phonics and Spelling!

When teaching phonics and spelling with younger children it is good to use simple language, like "the first letter" or "the first sound". The teacher in the video today used words the students already new and helped them come up with new words using the same letters. She helped the students with five words new words. She then showed the students how to set up their own paper like her chart, and asked them to come up with five words too. The students worked in pairs and used the same magnets the teacher used on their chart. The students were able to see and also work with their hands to create new words. The teacher read a book, "Jolly Olly" to extend the lesson about creating new words with the same letters. The teacher picked a great book for the lesson and the students seemed really interested in the story. The story had bright pictures with large print.  

Cultural Diversity in the Classroom

I can implement cultural diversity by using ideas/materials that relate to the different cultures in my classroom. I can do projects about different countries and symbols that represent that country. Make sure each student feels significant in the classroom everyday. I can do this by displaying students (bulletin board). Also point out students by encouraging them or giving a compliment. "You are such a delight" or "I really like your shoes". I like Mark Worley" quote, "There are no insignificant people in the Kingdom of God". Teachers should teach by this quote each day in their classroom. Teachers need to allow each student to have a voice and know he/she has a voice in the classroom. Just like the Yorbua tribe, who were very intelligent human beings were forced into slavery under different assumptions. Nobody knew they were that intelligent because others did not understand the culture. Teachers should make an effort to understand individual students everyday and make observations of what they notice. By doing this teachers will be able to communicate and teach every child in the classroom because the teacher knows the students' culture.