Happy Halloween

 

Exploring Teaching with their Compliment Chains on Halloween

Exploring Teaching celebrated Halloween in style today. Students brought in treats to snack on throughout the hour. We had hoho cakes, acorn donuts, cheesecake, cake balls, cupcakes, chips, Halloween mix and lots of soda.
    Part of our party involved passing back each student’s compliment chain to celebrate National Bullying Prevention Month. Every day in the month of October, each student in the class wrote a compliment to another student to create a chain of compliments for each individual. This activity helped our classroom climate become even more positive and allowed students to point out the good in others.

            While enjoying our treats we finished watching Adam and discussed strategies teachers can use to teach skills to students with disabilities. The movie had an unsatisfying ending for many students and we discussed how instead of portraying a happy ending, the movie reflected the reality of Adam’s life as an individual with Asperger’s who deals with everyday problems we all encounter.  

Emporia Guest Speaker and Second Guest

Today we were very fortunate to have Karen Bevis, the elementary education advisor from Emporia State come to our classroom. Karen Bevis oversees both the Johnson Country Community College and Kansas City Community College partnership program that allows students to receive a Bachelor’s Degree in Elementary Education from Emporia at these satellite locations.

            She was able to answer many questions and explain the program in greater detail. She provided each student with the 4 year course plan and an information brochure. Kaitlin Williams was lucky to receive a free Emporia State Education T-shirt.

She also passed along the following links:

 http://www.emporia.edu/teach/ncate/documents/SecondaryEdflierfolded.pdf

-          Secondary programs at ESU

http://www.jccc.edu/campus-visit/schedule-tour.html

-          the link for JCCC campus visits:

http://www.emporia.edu/elecse/undergrad/

-          Undergraduate Elementary Education Home Page

            Some exciting news is that Emporia will be hosting an Educator Open House on November 7^th from 4:00-5:30 pm. This is located at the Emporia State University- Kansas City location which is 8400 W. 110^th Street, Suite 150, Overland Park, KS 66210. Please feel free to email me at valveros@usd231.com with any questions.

We had a second guest in our classroom today, John Duncanson, our assistant principal joined us after the guest speaker for part of the movie Adam. He noted that society’s treatment and perceptions of individuals with disabilities has changed. He contributed to our lesson by asking some thought provoking questions:

            If we as teachers are charged with preparing students for the future and life, what skills are necessary to instill in students?

            Compare how the law perceives individuals with disabilities and how schools do. What is the difference? How does these differences impact students?

Diverse Learners

Today we began our 7^th unit, Diverse Learners in Exploring Teaching. Today’s focus was on understanding diverse learners and the laws and principals that impact education. We discussed fairness, equity and how to ensure high achievement for all students.

Student began looking at differentiation and the need for modifications/accommodations for students and illustrated in the comic below.

 

We began watching the movie Adam. This movie follows Adam, an individual with Asperger’s during his 29^th year. While watching this video, students' will be pondering the following questions

·         What accommodations has Adam made for his life?

·         What strategies has Adam learned to help him cope?

·         What are Adam’s strengths?

·         What are his weaknesses?

·         What do you think Adam’s teachers were like?

·         If Adam was in your classroom, what kinds of modifications/accommodations would you utilize?

Classroom Management

This week we are focusing on classroom management. Yesterday students began exploring how to organize a classrooms physical space to create a warm, well-run enviornment. Students created their “dream” classroom and gained practice making seating charts (see below).  

 

To further prepare students for their future classroom, students created a new Pin Board called “classroom ideas, my classrooms, or classroom design" (see below).  Pinterest is a great resource for students that allow them to see other teachers creative ideas they can adapt for themselves. It can also be accessed from anywhere and has unlimited storage capacity enabling students to access their ideas for years to come.

      Today we began discussing expectations for student behavior and how to establish behaviors in students to create an environment of respect. Students followed the guidelines outlined by Wong and Wong and were responsible for creating their very own set of classroom rules.

          

Student Web Page Design Two

One of our Monday Mini-Series projects involved student’s designing their very own course website for their future. Sarybna Anderson, Tyler Sonneveldt-Gragg, and Caitlin Reynolds have been working hard the last few weeks and have fully constructed and launched their website.

Check out their awesome website below: http://xsxmxa.wix.com/exploringteaching

Student Bulletin Designs Project Three

Happy Mini Series Monday!
       Today we wrapped up our third Monday Miniseries projects. Students have really gotten into the fall mood and have created some fun door decorations for my classroom. Check out our three newest door decorations below.



The Greatest Oaks designed by Erikson Byrd and Catie Hansen.




Our Pumpkin Patch by Cassie Lee, Madison Miller and Jordan Krenger.

Be Friendly Like Casper by Shelby Fairchild, Stegani Maness and Erika Jaremko.

Parent Teacher Conferences: Choosing the Right Teaching College

In Kansas, there are 25 colleges/universities that have approved teacher preparation programs. This means by earning a degree from one of these universities, your teaching license from the state of Kansas will be approved (pending other requirements).

Colleges with Approved programs include:

·         ACCT   http://www.acck.edu

·         Baker University http://www.bakeru.edu

·         Benedictine College  http://www.benedictine.edu/

·         Bethany College http://www.bethanylb.edu

·         Bethel College http://www.bethelks.edu

·         Central Christian College     www.centralchristian.edu

·         Donnelly College www.donnelly.edu

·         Emporia State University http://www.emporia.edu

·         Fort Hays State University http://www.fhsu.edu

·         Friends University http://www.friends.edu

·         Haskell Indian Nations University http://www.haskell.edu

·         Kansas State University http://www.educ.ksu.edu

·         Kansas Wesleyan University http://www.kwu.edu

·         McPherson College http://www.mcpherson.edu/

·         MidAmerica Nazarene University http://www.mnu.edu

·         Newman University http://www.newmanu.edu

·         Ottawa University http://www.ottawa.edu

·         Pittsburg State University http://www.pittstate.edu

·         Southwestern College http://www.sckans.edu

·         Sterling College http://www.sterling.edu

·         Tabor College http//www.tabor.edu

·         University of Kansas http://www.soe.ku.edu

·         University of Saint Mary http://www.stmary.edu/

·         Washburn University http://www.washburn.edu/

·         Wichita State University http://www.wichita.edu

 Each program is approved based on the ages/grades/content of certifications and can be found at http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=303

Make sure your college is approved in the area you are interested in before you get a degree from there!! Or you may have to take extra hours and schooling to become a teacher. If you are interested in teaching in another state check out the links from the KSDE website for each state: http://www.ksde.org/Default.aspx?tabid=303

Parent Teacher Conferences: College Decisions

Choosing which college to attend can be a major decision. Below are some useful websites that let you compare colleges nationwide. These search engines all have different benefits and can give you a good overview of your college options.

• http://www.collegeboard.org/
• My personal favorite College search engine!!
• This website allows you to filter colleges by: types of school, location, campus and housing, majors and learning environment, sports and activities, applying, academic credit, tuition and cost, support services, and diversity.
• After you have completed your search, you can complete side by side comparisons of colleges to help find the right one for you.
• This website also has the latest info on college costs, scholarships, financial aid applications, education loans and college financing.
• http://www.campusexplorer.com/
• This comprehensive website allows you to create a profile and plan for college. It features a college search that allows you to search by major, degrees and location.
• This website also features a comprehensive tool for looking up scholarships and plans to pay for college.
• http://www.uscollegesearch.org/
• This website allows you to search for schools by state and programs including online colleges. This database includes 132 Kansas colleges, universities, technical and vocational schools.
• You can sign up and request information from colleges to learn more through this website.
• www.campustours.com
• Great websites for comparing colleges visual appeal by taking you on virtual campus tours.

Make sure to check in with the GEHS counseling department for more information and a comprehensive list of college websites and search engines.

Remember, the JCCC-Emporia Partnership Representative will be visiting our class on Wednesday, October 30^th

Parent Teacher Conferences: Teacher Training Pathway

Parent Teacher conferences are in full swing at GEHS. It has been very enjoyable and I wanted to share some information many parents have asked.

            Exploring Teaching is part of the Teacher Training pathway at Gardner Edgerton High School.

This Plan of Study outlines suggested classes and year to take each class in order for students to successfully complete the Teacher/Training Pathway.

A pathway is a sequence of courses that provide students with knowledge needed to prepare for further education and careers in current or emerging professions. Pathways prepare students for careers!

The Teacher Training Pathway has 5 courses:

• Introductory Level Courses:
• Career and Life Planning
• Technical Level Courses:
• Family Studies
• Human Growth & Development
• Exploring Teaching
• Application Level Courses:
• Teaching Internship

When a student completes the teacher training pathway, they become eligible for articulation agreements. These are agreements with colleges that allow students to receive Advanced Standing credit through these courses.

We currently have two articulation agreements:

• Pittsburg State University
• FCS 100 Career Management in Family & Consumer Sciences (1)
• Washburn University
• ED Course (3) (awarded based on student experience)

Halloween/Fall Door Decorating Contest

Happy Friday!!

On this shortened day Exploring Teaching students gained practice decorating doors by incorporating the teachers’ own subject into the theme Fall/Halloween.

Students met with their assigned teacher earlier this week to present their plans and had only 40 minutes to create their door decoration.

This imposed time limit required students to be extra creative when implementing their door decoration. Students needed to take their teachers ideas into account, as well as their subject matter and received extra credit for incorporating an anti-bullying message as well.

GEHS Staff will be voting on their favorite door this week. The winning teacher and group will be made a dessert of their choice.

If you would like to cast your vote, email valveros@usd231.com with your favorite teachers name.

Enjoy fall break! 

Klote- Newspaper/Yearbook Teacher

Zegers- Forensics Teacher









Arends- Math Teacher



Gorney- Spanish Teacher

Anderson- FCS Teacher

 




Plankenhorn- Psychology Teacher

Ramsay- Sepcial Education Teacher

McGee- English Teacher

Goodbye Ashley

Our class is sad to say Goodbye to Ashley Collins, she will be moving at the end of the quarter to New Orleans with her family.

We will miss Ashley wish her success in her new school and pursuit of being a teacher.

Educational Theories Research Paper

Today student's applied Bloom's Taxonomy levels of analysis and evaluation to write a research paper on the Theories of Education. Students compared the relative strengths and weaknesses of theories to analyze their effectiveness. Students then evaluated the importance and application of theories in their future classrooms and made recommendations on which theory teachers should utilize most often.

GEHS Spirit Week

This week GEHS is celebrating spirit week and our Exploring Teaching class has been participating each day by dressing up.

PJ Day

Cow(girl) Day

Orange for National Bullying Prevention Month

Abnormal Formal

"You're the Teacher" Highlights Day 3

Our focus this week has been on Educational Theories.

     Sierra, Erika and Sabryna taught a great lesson over Benjamin Bloom and his Taxonomy. Students completed a Taxonomy graphic organizer to better understand the different domains and possible student products to implement in their classroom.

            Stefani, Sam and Caitlyn covered B.F. Skinner and Operant Conditioning. They utilized a youtube clip showing his experiment and how it can be applied to dogs and humans. They had students draw a reinforcement and punishment they may use in their classroom one day.

            Tristan, Shelby and Tyler created a lesson over Lev Vygtosky and his Zone of Proximal Development. They created a crossword puzzle using an online crossword puzzle maker to help students learn vocabulary and concepts from this theory.

            Cassie, Casey and Jordan presented a lesson over Erik Erikson. They utilized a graphic organizer chart that students were required to fill out while presenting their lecture. This group also had student’s complete a journal reflection over their own development and passed out a quiz for students to take.

            Sadie, Ashley and Catie worked together on Arnold Gesell’s Theory. They created a powerpoint with fill in the blanks over the major components of his theory.  Students were asked to draw their own dream world or something they fear to relate to his Gradients of Growth.

            This has been a wonderful experience for students they were required to complete a lesson plan, develop objectives, teach a lesson and reflect on how their lesson went.

“A Box of Crayons”: Bully Prevention

Sabryna Anderson constructed our anti-bullying door decoration today. 301’s new door decoration reminds everyone to be respectful, kind and accepting of differences during anti-bullying prevention month. Sabryna had assistance from Tyler Sonneveldt-Gragg who wrote the poem and created the boy on the crayon box and Jordan Krenger who assisted in hanging the bulletin board for everyone in the school to see.

The poem on the crayons is listed below.

Wouldn’t it be terrible? Wouldn’t it be sad? If just one single color was the color that we had? If everything was purple? Or red? Or Blue? Or green? If yellow, pink or orange was all that could be seen? Can you imagine how dull the world would be if just one single color was all that we could see?