Activities to teach Geography!

 Hello everyone! Today I learned a bunch of different activities I can use when I become a teacher! Keep on reading, and you can learn some activities you can use in your classroom when teaching Geography! 

                                                                   Adopt a webcam!

                                                               

The first activity that stood out to me and that I really liked was, idea 53. Idea 53 talks about the activity Adopt a webcam. With Adopt a webcam, you can visit a certain location as often as you would like to and it allows the students to become education on seasons. I think that this activity is a great way to teach geography because it allows the students to see that over time, seasons will change and that places will look different when it is a certain season! It will also show the students that places all the around the world can look differently during a certain season. For example, it can be winter near us and it can be cold and snowing, but such as California probably won't be experiencing the same things as we are. If I were a student, I would love this activity because I personally love when the seasons change. 

                                                                        Darts!

                                                                

The second activity that stood out to me was darts. I really liked the idea of incorporating this activity into the classroom because I think that it would be fun for the students, considering that it is a game. When creating this activity, you can create questions based on a given topic to quiz your students. I feel like this activity will be effective when teaching geography because it is fun and the kids will definitely want to participate😀

                                                             A shower curtain
                                                                     

The last activity that I liked was the shower curtain! As you can see in the picture above, you and your students can create a map on a shower curtain! I really like this idea because this activity allows students to be creative and artistic! I think that they will really like this activity because because they can use markers and art supplies to be creative! This activity will also give students a little bit of break from sitting at their desks and doing independent work. 

If you would like to learn about more fun activities to teach geography, click the link below! 

Fun activities to teach geography!

                                                           

Learning to Teach History🌎

 

After looking at these paintings, I am left confused and unsure of what is happening and the information behind them. I don't know what artist created them or the history of them. On the third picture, I can infer that they are having Thanksgiving dinner due to the fact that the old lady who could maybe be a grandma, is serving a Turkey. In the first picture, I feel as if the man that is standing is up, is standing up for what he believes in and maybe the people around him don't agree with him. I think that the others don't agree with him because they are all sitting down and just staring at him in a not so nice way, as if they were shocked or stunned in what he is standing for. In the second picture, I believe that the painting has something to do with religion because the first thing that my eyes were drawn to was the woman who seems to be praying. In the picture to the right I don't really know the meaning behind it or if they is any, but it seems as if the child's parents were putting him or her to bed.  

Teaching Directly!

Good afternoon! Today on eclass, I watched a YouTube video of Direct Instruction at BDMS! Please keep reading to find out what I observed!😃

Today I watched Lauren, Barbara and Samantha teach their Direct lesson to the BDMS students! The lesson started off by an Anticipatory Set. There were pictures up on the board and one of the teachers ask what they think the pictures were of and what they have in common. The students did a great job answering that the pictures contained the red coats! One of the students did not really know what the pictures were of, but he made an educated guess. I really liked how they started off by asking them questions that required them to use their prior knowledge, which allowed them to determine what the children do know and what they don't know. After asking the questions, the teachers then stated what they are going to be teaching which was the American Revolution. I was really amazed on how much they knew prior to learning the lesson. I think that the teachers did a great job at being confident while teaching because that is very important. When the teachers would be speaking and a word came up that was very important, they would define the vocab word, which I thought was great and it allowed the students to better understand what they were saying and learning. Their slides were not too wordy which I thought was good and if there was a picture on the board, they would explain what the picture was of and what it meant. I was a little bit confused if the woman in the purple shirt was the actual teacher of the classroom or not. I felt that the woman in the purple shirt took over way too much and she did not give the other teachers to teach a good amount. The teachers were very educated on the topic that they were teaching and if a student had a question, they were able to answer it in detail! Overall, I thought that they did a great job teaching! 

Videos on cooperative Learning 🧩

 

                                                                             Video #1 

Red Hat: Fire and warmth. When thinking about red hat, we should think about emotions, hunches, intuition, gut and feelings 

Yellow Hat: Optimism, logical and positive thinking. 

Black Hat: Stern judge, critic, analyst, logical and negative. 

Green Hat: Vegetation and rich growth. We should think of creative, possibilities and ideas. 

White Hat: White paper, facts, neutral, objective and information. 

Blue Hat: Sky and overview. Associated with agenda, process, organizer and decision.

Click me for Video #1!!

                                                                           Video #2

This video talked about thinking hats. In the center of their circle their were stuffed animals that were all wearing different color hats. The teacher stated to the class that she was going to read a story that they should use their thinking puppies. She went over what the thinking puppies were called and she went over all of them. One of them is the boss which wears the blue hat. After going over all of the different puppies, they put the puppies into a basket and the teacher asked why they all go together and it is because they all work together! In the front of the classroom, they had hats displayed on the wall which represented their think caps. One of the students explained the meanings of each of the thinkings cap and it shows that the students within the classroom have a great understanding of the meanings of the thinking caps.  

Click me for video #2!!

                                                                        Video #3 

The topic of this video was Kagan strategies. Kagan strategies are ways that students work together in a cooperative way. The students work together in groups and each child is assigned a job that requires responsibility when completing a task or an assignment. the teacher uses rally coach and it is when they work with the person next to them on one paper and the paper is kept in the middle of both of them. During rally coach, one of the students is doing the work while the other student is coaching them and checking their work. They continue this processing while going rotating back and forth. The teacher also uses stand up, hand up and pair up in her classroom. This strategy allows her students to stand up and move around and it is perfect for the students who cannot sit still! They complete the given activity and then they stand up and they high five another student and they complete repeating the process. Teachers can benefit from using the Kagan strategies because you know that every student within your classroom is doing their work. The students know that they have to complete their work because they are all responsible for their own work, resulting in them staying on track. A timer can be effective because it will make the students work efficiently. The Kagan strategies can be beneficial for students because they are getting their work done. It does not allow the students to fall off task due to the fact that there is a timer being used. It also gives the children the opportunity to work with their classmates!   

Click me for video #3!!

                                                                            Video # 4

Video # 3 discussed Think-Pair-Share. The video started off by the teaching reading to the classroom. She asked them to think about what people opinions of slavery might have been and then they were instructed to turn and talk to their partner. The teacher told the students that it was time to share what their partner had just said. I thought that this video was great because it educated me on Think- Pair- Share. When I become a teacher, I will most definitely use this strategy because it will give my students the opportunity to work with other students and they can get other insights from others which might be different than theirs. 

Click me for video #4!! 

                                                                                Video #5

This video discussed numbered heads together. the teacher stated that they were going to figure out really important details that someone that didn't know about Rosina that they might not know about her from a reading that they did.  The strategy required them to put their heads together. They were instructed to work with the people at their table and they were all given numbers. The teacher then set a timer for 5 minutes and when the timer went off, she called out a number and that student then stated the answer that their group agreed on. I think that this strategy is important because it allows the students to put their knowledge together and determine what was most important.   

Click here for video #5! 

                                                                           Video #6   

Video # 6 talked about stand up, hand up, pair up. Amanda Hicks, a 6th grade math teacher was trained in Kagan cooperative learning and she believes that it is effective. It has resulted in her students to work together and it has made them more engaged. The students raise their hands into the air while standing up and they had to pair together with everyone in the class. Each student was in charge of their own problem and then the other students would have to do their problem. Amanda loved this strategy because it allowed her to determine who was struggling and she would then help them. 

Click here for video #6!!

                                                                        Video #7 

The last video discussed Inside-Outside circle! The first step was, the students pair up into partners and the class forms into circles with partner A on the inside and partner B on the outside, facing one another. An amount of time is given and within that time, a question is given and partner A states his/her answer to partner B. After that, Partner B shares his/her answer with partner A. The third step is, the outside circle moves clockwise to the next partner A. Step 4 is, the students then rotate again to the next partner and both steps 2 and 3 are repeated. 

Click here for video #7!!

                                                    See you next time !!! 😀

                                                                    

                 

M3 Cooperative learning articles!

                                                   Cooperative Learning! 

                                                            Hello everyone! Let's talk about cooperative learning. 

Cooperative learning is a very unique method of teaching. Cooperative learning involves a different goal, task and it encourages learning by reward structures. In cooperative learning, students work in small groups and they work together as a unit to complete the work that is given. Although the students work in a group, they are recognized for their individual work.  Models of cooperative learning are directed to instructional goals. Within cooperative, there are six stages. The six stages are; present goals and establish set, present information, organize students into learning teams, assist teamwork and study, test on materials and provide recognition. Within the groups, there are roles and everyone is responsible for their own work and learning.  Research has shown that cooperative learning can be effective and it can result in higher test grades. In the article it said, " In Slavin, 1991 's review of 67 studies, 61% of the cooperative-learning classes achieved significantly higher test scores than the traditional classes."  

             Some examples of Cooperative Learning Techniques!  

• Big project: Students will work in groups in order to complete their assignment in a good length of time. 
• Jigsaw: Every student in the group is assigned a role on a particular part of the assignment to learn about the material and complete the work. The students then return back to their prior group to present their new expertise with others to complete their project. 
• Peer review: The students will learn on how to give effective and constructive feedback to other students. 

What is cooperative learning? Cooperative Learning. (2020, June 17). Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/cooperative/whatis.html#elements 

Why use cooperative learning? Cooperative Learning. (2018, May 7). Retrieved April 20, 2022, from https://serc.carleton.edu/introgeo/cooperative/whyuse.html 

Seven Keys to Effective Feedback😄

                                                  Effective Feedback

Feedback can be beneficial within a classroom because it will result in a better performance and it can enhance a students achievement. Feedback is when there are comments made after something is completed which can include; advice, praise and evaluation. Feedback is when you are told how you are doing in order to be successful. In order for effective feedback, that student has to have a goal and they must try and reach that goal. The information within the feedback has to relate to the goal. I learned that information is only feedback you are trying to cause something and if you tell them that they are right, on the same track or if they need to make changes. In school, one problem is that, students can often be unsure about the goal and criteria. I can give effective feedback by stating what I want the outcome of the assignment to be or possibly how you want them to react. For example you can tell the student that "The point of this writing task is for you to make readers laugh". Useful feedback does not only consist of a clear goal, it can also consist of tangible results that are involved with the goal. For example. We learn from tangible feedback because that is how we learn to drive, walk, eat or go to the bathroom. I learned that when the information is either tangible or transparent, we do not often learn from it. We don't learn from it because we are sometimes unaware of it and we do not bother to find it. Effective feedback also gives us actionable information. An example of actionable feedback is can be, "good work!". Actionable feedback must also be acknowledged and interpreted by the student. User-friendly stated that when giving feedback, it is important that the feedback is appropriate and understandable to the child in which you are giving it to. The feedback has to be specific because if it is not clear, the feedback will not be useful to the student if they are overwhelmed and don't understand what you are trying to say.  When being a teacher, you have to give feedback in a timely manner. It is important that we give feedback as soon as possible because the students will still have the knowledge on the topic and they will be attentive in what they learned. 

                                    

 

World Geography Treasure Hunt

 Hi my friends! Today we are going to be discussing the World Geography Treasure Hunt assignment! 

Overall, I really enjoyed this assignment because it allowed me to explore all around the work and it educated me on stuff that I did not know prior to completing this assignment. This assignment consisted of resources such as websites that were to be used to answer the given questions. While answering the questions, my eyes were really opened because it made me realize that I was not really educated on the country's throughout the world. For example, I did not know that Vatican city was the smallest city because I didn't even know that it was a thing and that it was a country! This assignment really allowed me to become more educated on the world because it taught me the sizes of countries, about languages and about religions. My favorite part was when it asked about yourself for example; where your clothes are from and what is your favorite food? I honestly never thought about the origin of the things I liked because in my head, I only realized that I liked it and I did not think about where it came from. I found it really cool how my favorite food which is avocado toast, comes from Australia! 

I think that other students will like this assignment because it will really open their eyes about the world and what it is made up of. This assignment was very well formatted and easy to complete!

Creating your own country

 Hi! Today we are going to be talking about the Creating Your Own project! I would like to start off by saying how much I enjoyed this project! I thought that it was really fun because it allowed you to create your own country and personalize it however you'd like to. This project really allows the children to use their imagination and their skills while creating their own country. One of the things that stood out to me was how the Teacher's notes was really well written and it perfectly explained how to do the project. The project had a clear list of the required elements that were needed on the country map which will allow the students to know exactly what needs to be on their map. I also really liked how there was a scenario in the very beginning of the assignment. I thought that the scenario was really cool because it really got me engaged and interested in the assignment. The scenario was, " You have been shipwrecked on a desert island. You and the other members of your ship will have to begin from scratch and develop your own country." I got really excited because I love to use my imagination and I bet that other students do too! Next, there was a template for a flag which allows the students to get an idea of what the flag has to look like. Above the flag, there are directions on what has to be done after designing your own flag, which was to cut it out and glue it on the front of your folder. Then there was a rubric which will allow the students to have an idea of what exactly has to be done in order to successfully complete this project. The last slide of this project hads examples of other students examples which shows students how the project should be done. Overall, I really enjoyed looking over this project and I believe that students will be engaged and enjoy it because of how fun it is and because it allows them to use their imagination.  

 

Chapter 4!

 Hi! Today I read chapter 4 of the textbook. Come along with me on my journey of reading chapter 4 and let's talk about what I learned! 

 Outcome

While reading chapter 4, I learned what the term outcome means. The outcome is the knowledge, skills and concepts that the students retain and show and it usually happens at the end of a grade for example; the end of second grade and usually when transitioning to a higher level school such as from middle school to high school. 

Objective 

The word objective is a statement that teachers make relating to the expected result for the student during an activity. 

An example of a learning outcome for students in fourth grade could be: Students will identify explorers who came to Florida and the motivations for their expeditions. - Florida Social Studies Standards SS.4.A.3.1

The learning objective is what the students are expected to accomplish when completing an instructional activity. It is important to have a learning objective when teaching your students because it makes you think what you want your students to get out of the instructional activity. 

Behavioral Objectives

What students will do and complete when instruction happens. The main focus is what students will have to complete and how students learning will be assessed. Measurable behavior is the behavior or performance that is seen during the objective. 

Example:  Students will compare the goals and outcomes of the expeditions of Ponce de Leon, Juan Garrido, Esteban Dorantes, and Tristan deLuna. 

Domains! 

Today I learned that objectives can appear in 4 different domains! They are known as, cognitive, affective, psychomotor and interpersonal.  

Down below is a description of all of the domains!  

Cognitive Domain	Affective Domain
Does the student understand the ideas and concepts that are being taught? Can the student apply what he or she has learned appropriately to other situations? Can the student compare what they have learned with other subjects and ideas? Can the student create a new product or adapt an existing product based on his or her learning? Can the student determine the worth of what they have learned and support their judgment?	Has the student had opportunities to learn the ideas and concepts in ways that are meaningful to the learner? Has the student had opportunities to express his or her feelings about what is being learned? Is the learning useful for the student?
Psychomotor Domain	Interpersonal Domain
Can the student perform the fine and gross motor movements necessary to apply the learning? Does the student have the perceptual skills needed to apply the learning?	Has the student had opportunities to interact positively and productively with others while learning the ideas and concepts? Has the student had opportunities to utilize appropriate social and communication skills while learning? Have the student had opportunities to hear what others think about what we are learning and to tell other students what he or she thinks?

Performance Objectives:                                          Today I learned what performance objectives are and what they are used for. Performance objectives are used to determine the knowledge, skills and abilities of a students. Performance objectives include test items which that are made from learning objectives.

Example: The student will use information from their research to complete a graphic organizer and a map comparing the expeditions of Ponce de Leon, Juan Garrido, Esteban Dorantes, and Tristan deLuna. 

ABCD MODEL

A useful way to create an objective is the ABCD model. In section 3 of the textbook, an example of the ABCD model was given. 

Example: 

Condition – Given graphic organizer and a map
Audience – the student
Behavior – will use information from their research
Degree – is not stated but is assumed to be with 100% accuracy.

Today I learned that Bloom's Taxonomy is an example of a Cognitive Domain! 

What I really found interesting was that Bloom's Taxonomy is organized in more than 1 way. It is organized into three levels of cognitions. The three levels are: lower, middle, and higher. 

Lower Level Cognitive Objectives	Examples
knowledge (recall) comprehension (understanding)	The students will match the names of explorers with the places they explored. In their own words, the students will give the reasons why Spanish explorers came to America.

Middle Level Cognitive Objectives	Examples
application analysis	Students will give examples of places they have explored. Students will compare Spanish explorers and conquistadors.      Given characteristics of explorers, students will classify the explorer as English, French, or Spanish.

Higher Level Cognitive Objectives	Examples
synthesis   evaluation	Students will create a Glog about an explorer.   Students will write a persuasive essay justifying whether European exploration of the Americas was positive or negative and give reasons to support their position.

The Affective Domain 

What I learned during section 5 was that a teacher, you need to take into consideration how your students are feeling and acting while they are learning. Within the the Affective Domain, objectives require the attention of the students and also participation.  

Levels of Affective Objectives	Examples
receiving   responding   valuing	Students will actively listen to a NASA presentation on reasons for exploring space. Students will tell whether they think tax dollars should be spent on space exploration or on relieving hunger. Students will choose to find out more about earth and space explorers by visiting web sites such as NASA, National Geographic Kids, and Space Kids.

  The Psychomotor Domain

What I found interesting was that Psychomotor objectives are related to movement or skills. Within these objectives are physical education, arts, vocational technical training, special education, physical skills or motor skill activity. Psychomotor objectives are important for young children. 

Here are the Psychomotor objectives: 

Psychomotor Objectives	Examples
basic movements perceptual abilities physical abilities skilled movements non-discursive communication	Students will walk quietly in a line to the lunchroom. Students will hear a musical note and point to that note on a musical scale. Students will run around the gym two times in one minute. Students will be able to throw a baseball using the correct technique. Students will portray a body stance and facial expression that indicates sadness.

Interpersonal Objectives: 

While reading section 7, I learned that students should have many opportunities to work with their classmates and they should all contribute to a groups work and success. The main goal of Interpersonal objectives is that students should practice social skills and communication skills. Interpersonal skills are most effective when students observe the skills. They need to practice their skills and receive input on their skills from their peers and teacher. 

Examples of Social Skills	Examples of Communication Skills
Being kind Being respectful Saying please and thank you Staying on task Encouraging others Disagreeing constructively Making eye contact with others Making sure everyone is included Keeping hands and feet controlled	Actively listening to others Using appropriate voice levels Positive nonverbal behaviors Asking questions Clarifying instructions Repeating ideas of others Brainstorming ideas Giving reasons for ideas and feelings Identifying areas of agreement

  

Interpersonal Objectives	Examples
social skills communication skills   conflict management	Students will contribute ideas to help the group complete its task.  Students will use six inch voices when communicating with other members of their group. Students will role play effective and ineffective ways of disagreeing with other group members.

 

                                          Section 8 

Task analysis can help figure out how effective the learning experience is for students. Task analysis can be useful when creating a workable sequence of learning objectives when creating a unit plan because it allows the teacher to gain an idea about the knowledge of his or her students which can help them figure out where to go from there in order for the students to work productively on the objectives. Within task analysis, the teacher will identify the new learning which needs to happen in order for the students to achieve the instructional objective. The teacher sequences the new learning in order for the students to master it. 

                                                                            Section 9

Section 9 of chapter 4 talked about The Anticipatory set. The anticipatory set is the beginning of the instructional process and it really centers on what the students are going to learn about. An Anticipatory set can be on safety, behavior, review practice and even a "hook" to begin the lesson with! I think that this can be beneficial because it will result in a higher engagement of the students and it will make them more interested. 

 

                                             Section 10

I can modify my teachings to my diverse students by incorporating tired assignments. Tiered assignments involve assignments based on what my students are read for based on their knowledge and skills. Tiered assignments also allow students to gain background knowledge on what they are not familiar with.