I write this letter to you, from the comfort of my good, ole, college house bedroom. Oh the good days of balancing two jobs, full time student-teaching, and being a full time student! Hopefully by now you have some more time to relax?!
Anyway, by the time you read this, you will be Ms. Lyons, with your very own classroom! Right now, the stress of the last semester of senior year is building up and I have no idea where I am going to end up, how I are going to get there, what opportunities are going to present themselves to me, or anything in between. All I know right now, is that I want to be a teacher and that dream will become a reality after graduation in May. With the millions of uncertainties right now, it is stress relieving to know that there is a certainty that I will become a teacher, and that teacher is you! The woman who had dreamed of becoming a teacher from when she was a little girl. The woman who was told that “teachers don’t make enough so you should consider a different career path.” The woman who was passionate about shaping little hearts and minds. While you read this, just know your college self is proud of you for sticking through the challenges and for always remembering to “just keep swimming.”
Now, Ms. Lyons (you sound so official now!), while I don’t know a lot about the future, I do have some pieces of advice that you should keep in mind, when life becomes crazy in the classroom.
Continue to let creativity drive your instruction.
It is so easy to take the simple way out and come up with a one size fits all worksheet for your students to do. So. Easy. Do not fall down that rabbit hole. Sure, sometimes a worksheet is probably the best tactic to use for some lessons. Worksheets are not evil by any means; however, if the students can do a hands on project…let them! Let them explore different subjects through experiments, art, and creations. Allow the students to let their imaginations run wild! Students will be sure to remember “that fun project in Ms. Lyons’s class” far more than the 763rd worksheet of the year. If you are not enthusiastic about the lesson, the student’s won’t be either. Teach in ways that you are passionate about and be the teacher that students are ready and excited to learn from each day because learning is so fun in the classroom–like Ms. Frizzle!
2. Know when to take a break
You tend to be a very busy lady. While you enjoy taking on on lots of different tasks, know when to take a break! If you become burnt out quickly, because you neglect to take a break, this will translate into your teaching and your students will catch onto it. Go to bed early. Do a face mask. Watch some reality TV! If you do not take care of yourself, you will have an awfully hard time taking care of the little ones. You must tend to your needs and well being. I know life can be stressful but it is important that you know your limits and boundaries. Don’t be like Hamilton–know when to take a break.
3. Sometimes lessons will be amazing! Sometimes they won’t. That’s okay.
Sometimes lessons do not go the way you planned and you might feel a little bit like this:
While it is not fun in the moment, just remember no teacher is perfect. Everyone has off days, off lessons, and sometimes we put in a lot of work to something that might flop! With this, it is important to remember that it is not a reflection of you. You are a great teacher. You will continue to be a great teacher, after a lesson that maybe did not meet the mark! Guess what? It is in your mistakes and “mess-ups” that you are continuing to learn, grow, and become a better educator than you were before. Take these opportunities to refine your lessons and come up with something that works better next time! You preach to your students to “have a growth mind-set” and that “mistakes are okay!” Take your own advice. Mistakes happen. Teachers are not perfect. This is not a reflection of you.
4. Stay Positive
It is about as easy to adapt a negative attitude, as it is to create a one-size fits all worksheet, that we talked about earlier. Don’t do it. Come into the classroom every single day with a smile (and a coffee…this will help you smile more, too). Do not let yesterday’s day effect today. Students bounce back and come with a new perspective everyday. Be the reason that your students are excited to come into the class! Dance around with them. Sing with them. Laugh with them. It is easy to be filled with negativity as the school year progresses because you might be feeling burnt out. Do not let this effect your relationships with the students, your lessons, or your daily attitude. Continue to find a silver lining and remain positive, all year long! If you come in with a positive attitude, the day will go much smoother and you will be much happier. Be like this teacher!
At the end of the day, just remember, your younger college self is very proud of you for persevering and chasing your teaching dreams. You did it. You rocked it & I bet you are continuing to rock it. Stay creative, stay positive, and take breaks when you need to. Now, go boogie with your kiddos.
Remember. Life as a student is not AT ALL the same as that of the teacher.
No more procrastination, no more spacing out. You will need to be alert and ready at all times when teaching your class. Whether it is for possible questions on different and unique lessons or because one of your own students is spacing out themselves.
Be on the lookout for students watching YouTube videos of sneezing pandas:
But most importantly remember to be kind, considerate, understanding, inclusive, and accepting of all those who enter your space. These students might feel vulnerable coming into a new environment. Georgina, you want your students to enjoy your class while also finding value in the time they spend with each other and yourself. You are there to help them develop as humans and to grow understandings of topics they had never learned or thought of before. Your job is to help grow a foundation for these children to adapt and overcome hardships and the unknown.
Accept them and treat them with kindness. They are only children. You need to understand that they will make mistakes and teach your students why their choices are not always correct. Take into account their upbringing, their values, their beliefs. We do not all come from a single story, so why treat it as if we do?
Live up to those same values when speaking to your equals. Inclusivity is important, especially with the level of teamwork that takes place between teachers. Remember, you will be a part of a team, a cohort, with fellow teachers of the same grade. Remain respectful and appreciate the level of conversation that takes place with one another.
Advocate for yourself and for your students. The lessons I have taken away during my time at the University of Portland and all of its Education courses are to adopt a culturally responsive style of teaching, accommodate for all, make the classroom accessible to each and every student. The combination of these three ideas can spark a safer and far more productive classroom.
To end on a corny note: “We’re All In This Together”.
Hi, 5th graders! 🙂 Today we will be learning about figurative language by exploring the Google Sites below! We’ll learn how it’s defined, why it’s used, and look at seven different types of figurative language – similes, metaphors, oxymorons, hyperboles, onomatopoeias, alliteration, and personification!
Please feel free to work by yourself, with a partner or partners, and remember to ask the teacher for help if you need it!
Remember to go in order (so start at Figurative Language, then go all the way down to the Final Check-In page) and complete the Exit Ticket at the end!
Author: Brienne Tajima
Target Student Group: Intended for 5th grade ELA but could be adjusted for any grade level introducing or reviewing figurative language.
Context: These lessons could be used as an introduction for a larger unit on figurative language. It will take students through what figurative language is, as well as seven different types of figurative language – similes, metaphors, oxymorons, hyperboles, onomatopoeias, alliteration, and personification.
Goals: Learners should be able to define figurative language, explain its importance in writing and reading, and also be able to list and explain the six different types of figurative language that are covered. Additional goals include gradually incorporating some of them into their writing and recognizing it in the things they read.
It is no mystery that the theme of this year has been: flexibility. This year I was forced to learn how to not only teach online, but teach a language online asynchronously. I have gained confidence in not only delivering instruction but using digital tools to enhance learning for my students during this challenging time.
These are a few activities I designed that could be implemented in comprehensive distance learning, hybrid learning, and yes, even a completely asynchronous environment.
In my 7th grade Introduction to Spanish class this year, I did an activity called “Persona especial” or “special person” which is a unit centered on talking about ourselves and others. This activity gives students essential first and third person verb forms and allows myself to get to know my students and their lives a little bit better.
“Persona especial” consists of 10 different questions that students learn how to answer about themselves and another special person. Using Book Creator, I had the idea of creating a classroom community book that allows students to answer those 10 questions and compile them into a class book for us to learn more about each other. Students have creative freedom with the pages and answer the prompt in Spanish with a sentence and an image that we can all flip through an enjoy.
In this example, I filled out the pages with an example for myself and a template design for students to fill out as well using the prompts of: “I am…” “Do you have a pet? and “What do you like to do?” which are 3 out of the 10 questions we learn. Then, we can compile the pages together and students can share their pages with the class!
This year I have taught Introduction to Spanish and Spanish 1 completely asynchronously. It is no mystery that teaching 7th and 8th graders a new language in itself is a challenge. Throwing the asynchronous element in there made it feel almost impossible. When I first entered my placement, my CT nor I, knew the best plan of action. How were we going to create instruction that was engaging, meaningful, and (especially) differentiated for students that we were going to have little to no contact with. That is where our saving grace came in: EdPuzzle.com.
Through EdPuzzle I was able to provide instruction in both classes in a way that was engaging and allowed me to do formative assessment that I otherwise wouldn’t be able to do so easily. It kept track of the students who were completing the comprehension questions and I eventually learned to enjoy being in front of the camera.
This specific lesson is focused on reading and reading comprehension in Spanish. I really wanted Spanish 1 students to read a short novel in Spanish and work on this skill before entering Spanish 2 in high school which would be more focused on producing language. EdPuzzle was the best option to provide instruction for this novel and through months of trial and error I am confident I found the best method of instruction for my students.
For each chapter of the book I created two different EdPuzzle videos- an independent reading, where students read and answered the comprehension questions themselves, and a supported option, where there was more explicit focus on things like grammar and more scaffolding to support the students who may need extra help with their literacy skills including “circling” which is a comprehensible input methodology. This allowed me to create videos that were more specific to my students needs while still being completely asynchronous.
Each week students selected the video that best fit their needs and completed the same comprehension questions about their novel “Brandon Brown quiere un perro”. The success rate with this method was higher than I had seen all year due to the different supports I was able to provide. Was it more work? Oh, yeah. Was it worth it for my students and their language acquisition? 100%.
It has been a long semester full of learning, lesson plans, and growth. The following lesson plans are ones created with new technology tools in mind! You could find lessons for a variety of subjects showcasing different tools you may use!
This was my very first lesson plan made on EdTech! It features special imaging that allows you to slide over and compare two images and collage of other imaging. It features a great writing warm up to get students hands moving and brains working. It also features a discussion prompt as students share what they notice and wonder.
This lesson features a Google Jamboard for students to use as they compare and contrast two different Cinderella stories. This lesson is great for students’ to practice their analyzation of text.
This lesson plan uses Book Creator to help build classroom community! This SEL lesson brings social emotional learning and writing together as students create pages to celebrate their own and their classmate’s good qualities!
This was my most recent lesson plan built in this class. It features a Google Site that allows students to explore and quiz themselves on common polygons!
These different posts allow you too see my growth throughout the course as I become more familiar with the WordPress platform and a variety of lesssons to use with a third-grade class! If you’d like a look at more or similar lessons check out some of my other posts such as…
Today, you will complete the lesson, What is a Polygon?
This lesson is made by me, Marissa Yliniemi.
This lesson is made for 3rd grade students.
This site marks the beginning of our geometry unit.
This goal for this lesson is to introduce key vocabulary that we will use throughout our unit. This site accomplishes that as it introduces the shapes in a friendly, fun way!
A tool that can be very under utilized in creating community in the classroom, is technology. This year, in Covid times, teachers had to rely on tech to not only add to creating their classroom community, but rely on it to create their whole community. This semester I worked on making posts that can be outreach to student interests (Cooking recipes and reading through overdrive), as well as creating a space for them to get to know me (10 Things to do Before I Die), and a space for me to get to know them (Getting to know you). I also focused a lot of energy on creating a class website that could be used by students and parents to stay up to date on various things. Below are my posts that worked to build a community in the classroom, enjoy!
This semester has seen growth in a variety of areas, one of those being my skill with various technological tools and gadgets I may need in the future. Below we will celebrate some particular posts from the last bit that I feel represent and solidify my progress in this course, as well as discuss technological skill that I feel wasn’t contained in any particular exercise.
Posts:
This post was modeled off of a lesson that I had Geometry Students try before they had been introduced to the technical definitions of congruence and similarity. I enjoyed the learning and creativity it gave students the chance to access as the they get to navigate themselves through this lesson.
This is another post I feel particularly represents my unique ability to blend technological skill and mathematical ability. Students were asked to “tour” downtown Portland and the surrounding suburbs while also calculating various mathematical facts to enhance their journey. This ranged from bills and tips from eating lunch, to how much gas money each student would owe depending on the milage they got.
This semester has been outside of the norm for several reasons. For one school was yet again full price, and yet nothing happened physically? Still trying to work out the math on that one and I have a feeling I may be stumped on that for a long time. I also made the decision to move back home and let me tell you; doing College from your childhood bedroom does have its advantages. That would be not having to pay rent. And thats about it I think. However it took place, I am very proud to say that I have almost finished up 4 years of an experience like nothing else. If I could do it again admittedly I probably would have done something with less of a ~hey go make the biggest financial decision (or mistake) of your life at the age of 18 because all of the adults around you think its a good idea~ type aura too it, but nevertheless we are here with skills that I would not have been able to get anywhere else.
Mathematically speaking I truly did not think I would be here. Math has always been on the back of my mind as something that I had enjoyed in the past but had never been seen as a tangible career choice until I took it to College and decided to run with it. Math in College taught me valuable lessons both in doing math and how it should be taught. To be frank I learned more about educating and empowering through math from the Mathematics department than I did from the School of Education. As someone who was drawn to the University of Portland because of its Education program, I was pleasantly surprised with the role models both in mathematical thinking and life choices I found within the Math department, and gravitated towards it.
Now while all of this was happening, I was also evaluating my career choice as an educator. I knew I wanted to educate in the mold of the many high school teachers and college professors that I had been influenced with, however I found I got my best experience through the School of Education through my field experience in the classroom. Once there I was able to hone my skills as someone who’s main goal was to foster inquisitive and curious learners with a drive to succeed. During my time in schools around the Portland area was when I felt the most effective in learning and growing as an Instructor.
Teaching over the years has become increasingly digital. Students are almost always expected to have some sort of device or internet access at school and at home. As teachers, it is important that we grow with technology and understand the different ways we can use technology while also still including students in their own education.
Over the time of this course, I have tried to create lessons or activities that allow students to participate in their learning at their own pace or ability. It is important that students are a part of their own learning because it allows the teacher and students to work together in a warm environment wherein students are actually excited to learn and do different learning activities.
Over the time of this course, I have tried to create lessons or activities that allow students to participate in their learning at their own pace or ability. It is important that students are a part of their own learning because it allows the teacher and students to work together in a warm environment wherein students are actually excited to learn and do different learning activities.
This course has also showed me the value of adaptability of different lessons. Teaching is never static; there is constant reworking of lessons or information. My lessons and activities posts include different ways that the lesson/activity can be adapted by teachers to fit whatever situation they may want to use the lesson/activity for. It is important for teachers to go with the flow and adapt their lessons to fit the students they are teaching, especially in an increasingly digital world where students have varying degrees of knowledge of technology use.
Below, I’ve included some lessons and activities that I feel show this type of work I have done with technology:
The activity for this lesson allows students the opportunity to choose if they would like to be tested on Sparta or Athens. Differentiated learning is important to me because students should be allowed to share what they have learn in a way that does not reflect on what they may have missed on during lessons. The quiz allows students to have agency over what they want to show me what they can do which helps to create an environment where students are actually a part of their own learning. This lesson, of course, can be adapted differently and the quiz can be changed to fit whatever may be necessary for a teacher in the moment. The test sections themselves can be divided and one can be made into extra credit for students that really want to show the teacher what they have learned.
This lesson provides students space to explore land acquisition in the United States in the nineteenth century. Students can use a google map activity, designed my myself, to see how the United States changed over the course of 50 years. Like with my other posts, the lesson can be adapted differently to include project elements wherein students add information to the map based off their research.
This lesson allows students to explore the topic at their own pace. Students learn differently from one another and it is important that students be allowed to learn at their own reasonable pace. The website I created for this activity allows for students to go through different components of the lesson at their own pace and it includes different review sections for students before a small quiz that students take to show their comprehension.
