Chapters 1-4

Chapter One

1a. On page 10 of this reading assignment, Tomlinson states that“teachers who are willing to establish ties with students discover new depths of truth each day...” What does this mean to you?

Establishing ties with students to actually get to know them will allow you to learn something new about them each day. This helps students relate to you so when they need you, they will come talk to you.

1b. On page 10 of this reading assignment, Tomlinson says, “… we teach responsively when we understand the need to teach the human beings before us as well as to teach the content with which we are charged. … [It] is important to begin with the conviction that we are no longer teaching if what we teach is more important than who we teach or how we teach.”What does this mean to you?

If we just teach to teach, then there isn't any point to teach. The reason I want to teach is to make a difference in students' lives. If I begin to focus on what I am teaching and the tests the students need to take, then I lose the reason I wanted to teach in the first place. Who we teach and how we teach them should be priority over what we are teaching them.

Chapter Two

2a. What does the following phrase mean, and what you think about it?“…emotions trump learning.”

The way I think about this quote is that first everyone needs to get their emotions in check. They need to understand them or else they can't learn. If a student is scared of your classroom because they have never been to school, then you need to first make them feel welcome, then teach them the "content."

2c. On page 22, Tomlinson says, “Teaching asks us to do the impossible. It asks us to establish ties with each child – not to establish ties with all the children as though they were one student. They are not.” How does this resonate with you? Explain.

I completely agree with this statement. It is so easy to view an entire classroom as one student, but it is difficult to individualize the classroom to each student. Every students acts, learns, listens, and feels differently and understanding this will help me individualize my classroom.

Chapter Three

3e. On page 32 Tomlinson sates that in the eyes of a persistent teacher,“when a student fails, the teacher fails.” Respond to this. What do you believe about this?

A persistent teacher, just like the example of the 70 year lady in the book, is someone that doesn't stop trying to find the right fit for their students. If the student fails, it's because the teacher gave up and failed. I think this is genius. Even though this will be very hard, a teacher is there to help the student master the skills they set out to learn. The teachers job is to find the right fit of instruction for the students so they can master the skills.

Chapter Four

Discuss in one short paragraph one strategy or classroom routine that appeals to you from chapter 4.

The strategy that appealed to me is the "using visual cues" strategy." In this strategy it is important to help students remember where to put their work and how their work is recorded. Along with this, it is helpful to have the schedule posted so the students know where we are through out the day. Having students work hanging up will help remind the students what they are learning. I really like how we can use a bell to remind the students that they need to lower their voices.

Reading Response

"The more fully she understands who she teaches, the more aware she is that she must adapt what she teachers to serve individual learners." -Carol Tomlinson pg. 5

This statement was really powerful for me. It had nothing to do with the curriculum that needed to be taught or the tests at the end of the year. It is strictly about the students and how teachers need to know their students before they know how to teach them. This is so important because ever student comes in having different prior knowledge, and they all learn differently.

Get To Know Me

1. What is your favorite book for kids… something you would like to use in your future classroom? Why do you like it?

I love the book "Clementine." The main reason that I like it is because Clementine reminds me so much of myself. Another reason is because so many students can relate to her. She's funny, and you learn that clear instructions and explanations are very important.

2. Name your three favorite T.V. shows, even if you don’t have time to watch them! What can you (or what are you willing to) tell me about your T.V. viewing habits? I’ll tell you mine if you’ll tell me yours!

My three favorite shows (right now at least) are "The Mentalist," "NCIS, and "Castle." I watch TV when I have time too. I use to watch it whenever I was home, but then we cancelled our cable. Now we live off of Hulu. Which to my surprise is a lot more convenient.

3. Do you collect anything? Tell about your collections:

I don't collect anything.

4. Do you keep any kind of a journal (or blog?) besides this one? Tell me about it, and what you like to write about:

I had a journal that I kept. I wrote in it for almost 4 months everyday, but then one day I just stopped. I wrote about what I was doing that day. The 4 months that I have is when I dated my husband. It's really fun to go back and read what I had written.

5. If you had to be the sponsor of an after-school group, select your 1st, 2nd & 3rd choices:__ contemporary moral issues __peer relationships__national security __world peace__career opportunities & choices __art or music appreciation__gender issues __ethnicity issues__death & dying __sports__book club __writers group__ecology __tutoring

Sports, Tutoring then Peer relationships.

6. Have you ever taken art lessons or attended art classes outside of school? Tell about your artistic talent and/or interests:

In Middle School my minor was Art. I wasn't very good. The only thing I can really draw now is an eye. Not two eyes, just one. haha. I loved the idea of being an artist, but I never put in the work that I needed to be as talented as my brother or sister. I love looking at art though. It's so beautiful.

7. Have you ever taken music lessons or belonged to musical groups outside of school? Tell about your musical talent and/or interests:

I have played the piano, violin and clarinet. My Mom taught me how to play the piano until I was 12. I played the violin in 4th grade for about 2 months. And I played the Clarinet in 5th and 6th grade. I had the same problem with music as I did with art. I just wanted to be good, but I didn't put the work into it that I needed.

8. Have you ever taken dance lessons or belonged to dance groups? Tell about your dance talent and/or interests:

I have never taken dance lessons, but I can do the Harlem Shake.

9. Have you ever taken drama classes or performed in a theater production? Tell about your theater talents and/or interests:

I went to an Art's Middle School so I was in the play "Annie," and "Oliver." I was one of the back up singers so I didn't act too much.

10. What have I not asked you, that you would like me to know about you?

My passion is sports. That is the one thing that I have been able to stick with and practice my whole life.

Visual Arts

I really enjoy learning about visual arts because two of my siblings are artists. I love looking at art and trying to figure out what the artist is trying to convey. (I am not very good at it, but it is always fun to guess.) Up at BYU-Idaho I took an Arts Methods class where we had to do an assignment for each principle and element and I believe I learned what they were a lot better actually by doing all of them.

I really enjoyed the day that we all brought on childrens artists and did an activity with those artists according to how they actually illustrated. I learned a lot about them by trying to draw or make a picture in the same way that they did.

Field Experience

I enjoyed every single day of my field experience. The first week was a lot of fun because Melanie and I got to know our class. We were able to help our students with math, writing, reading, and even social studies.
Our first full week is when we began teaching. Our cooperating teacher set aside the entire time of social studies for us to teach our unit. If we ever didn't finish a lesson, she would let us just finish it the next day. She was a lot of fun to work with. We taught the students about the Revolutionary War. It took us a little bit to find a way to integrate the arts but we came up with a brilliant plan. For one of our assessments we wanted them to perform skits. Before we had them act out the skits, we talked to them about voice elements. During their skits they had to use at least one voice element (which made the skits so funny.) One boy in our class was a British soldier and he did the entire skit with a British accent. Just by integrating that piece of theater, they were able to remember three of the reasons why the Revolutionary War began.
Our second full week is when we integrated our second arts. We decided to integrate visual arts. We taught them about shape. I don't think they realized that there are two different categories of shape. They really enjoyed the lesson. We integrated it with teaching about the Continental Congress. Their assessment was to create a picture of Carpenters Hall, where the Continental Congress met. In the picture they could only use scissors, construction paper, and glue. They had to use at least one geometric shape and at least one free-form shape. Then they had to write a paragraph about Carpenters Hall. They really enjoyed making the pictures.
Overall field was a lot of fun. As much as we thought that integrating arts would be hard, it was fun to fit it in.

Music

I love the idea of using music in the classroom. In our classroom management class we learn a new song every week. I love learning the fun new songs because there are endless possibilities of how to use them. The way I would use them is for transitioning. It is hard to get everyone on the same page and by using a song, at the end of a song, you ensure that everyone is right with you.

Dance

Think about the reading and the activities we did in class, as well as your own experience with dance in elementary school. Think about how this approach to childrens' creative dance might be different than studio dance (jazz, ballet, hip hop, etc.) or social dance - why do you think children's dance specialists might focus more on childrens' creative dance for education? How do you think you might use dance in your own teaching?

When I was in Elementary School I can't recall any dancing. I remember learning about different cultures of music, and we would dance to the music, but it was never any more than that. Creative dance is different than studio dance because it isn't very disciplined. There isn't a right or a wrong to creative dance. There isn't technique, it is just what the child feels they need to express.

A dance specialist would focus on creative dance because if a child isn't comfortable with dance, they won't want to jump into technique. They would be a lot more comfortable with just moving with the music, or just goofing around with their friends. Integrating dance isn't about teaching technique's or even teaching dance. It is about enhancing the student's learning experience through dance.

I really don't know how I will integrate dance in my classroom because I have never been an actual dancer. But one thing I loved growing up was going to dances. So I might integrate dance by using it as a "break" tool. If the kids are working really hard than we can have a "dance party" break. I might also include dance by having them make dances for projects. I think it will be easier to integrate dance in younger grades rather than older grades.