This is real life

Today was amazing on multiple accounts even though a couple of things could have been better… Let’s just run through the day, ready?

7:45(ish)- I get to campus and try to print out a paper but the printers in the nearby buildings are down! So me and a few other classmates run to find a printer we ended up finding one in the library and got everything printed out before rushing back to class.

8:03(ish)- We show up a little late to class and our teacher states that today is going to be a little different. Instead of a regular lecture there are going to be four short rotations and at each of those rotations we are going to get some new ideas for teaching!

            At the first rotation we were given materials to make ‘Palm Pockets’ and as we started to make them Ginger explained to us how we could use ‘Palm Pockets’ in our classroom. Just in case you want to know ‘Palm Pockets’ can be used for almost anything! Each child gets one and is able to put almost anything on it to show the teacher. I like the idea of using it for math students can put their answer, in numbers, onto their ‘palm pocket’ and show it to the teacher when he/she asks for the answer. This way every student is able to participate in the learning. The palm pockets can also be used for vocabulary or to test students on their knowledge of Adverbs vs. Verbs, etc. This was a cute cheap way to increase student participation in the classroom!

            At the second rotation we learned about the best way to use whiteboards in our classrooms. We also got a marker and put a pom-pom on the end to use as an eraser, such a cute idea for a future classroom. We talked about how to make sure that students got the most out of using the whiteboards, the importance of having a set time limit and setting rules like the ‘poison area’ (Where the marker goes when not in use). There were some really good ideas shared at this area that will be extremely useful soon!

            At the third rotation we were told to quickly grab 30 red, green, and yellow papers. As we counted them out we listened to learn how these could be helpful. The papers could be used for understanding. Each student gets a set of papers and are able to show how they feel about the new information when the teacher asks about it (Green: Good, Yellow: Getting there, Red: Lost). The students are asked to hold the paper next to the heart. That way the students don’t have to feel self-conscious about the speed of their learning. If you only use two colors the cards can also be used for yes or no questions or true or false. These cards are another great but easy idea to use in the classroom.

            At the last rotation we were told to grab two markers, 30 popsicle sticks, and a paper of our choice. Here we were making choice sticks for our future students. We glued the scrapbook paper to the outside of a soup can to create a can for our choice sticks. Then we colored both ends of each choice stick a different color. That way we can pick a student’s name out of the can and put the stick back into the can (with the other color showing). By putting the stick back into the can the students will pay more attention because they think they might be called on again! At the end of the class I had so many new ideas for my future classroom, it was an hour well spent!

A picture of my productive class period!

9:00- 335 Was amazing today! The presentations were good my favorite was the one on humor in teaching, and we got to tell jokes…

Q- What did the green grape say to the purple grape?

A- Breathe

Q- What has three E’s but only one letter?

A- Envelope

Q- What is smarter than a talking bird?

A- A spelling bee

11:00- I solved the mad gabs in the TEC lab and then headed to take my math test… I felt pretty good about that one ;)

Mad gabs to try on your very own ;)

Deled Elmer Made

Ask Rude Arrive Her

Cry Cub Hook

1:00- Literacy was a good point of the day because let’s face it Brother Wilcox is hilarious!

            Today we were talking about higher levels of comprehension and how you move from mastery (who, what, when, where) to understanding (how, why) to synthesis (what if?) to involvement (how does this relate to your life). After explaining this process to us Dr. Wilcox told us to pick a fairy tale and apply the process. Afterward he asked us to share with the class our answers the following is going to be anonymous:

-We chose beauty and the beast for mastery we asked who is the main character of the story? Understanding was why did Belle go to the beast’s house? Synthesis was what if Belle had gone back to the beast too late? Involvement was… well *** explained it so well

-I just said that I should tell the man I loved that I love him…

-Wilcox: Wow, I thought you were just going to say something about men being hairy and ugly, but follow advice like that and you will be engaged by the end of the semester! Her first child will be named after me, even if it is a girl… Bradette!

For the rest of class Wilcox kept referring back to Beauty and the beast ;)

Here are some other great quotes from today’s class:

-Brother Wilcox was talking about how he had his student’s sneak empty milk cartons out of the kitchen to raise interest in a story he was reading to them. The lunch lady found out and complained to the principal who told Brother Wilcox: “Brad, it’s probably not good to teach your kids to steal”

-‘You can’t tell me what we just read? We are going to read it again’ Oh that’s good, let’s do more of what’s NOT working!

- It’s En-Sign people! Not en-zine or en-sin… En-sign. I swear that’s what it is going to say on my Tombstone!

-What would rhyme with Cricket

-SWKT!

-She’s been at BYU too long… But wait we could do a BYU version. Milk and WILK, Trouble and HBLL. It could work

-Tell them to come to the power of teaching lecture tell them he’s really hairy and ugly but tell him you love him anyway (Last beauty and the beast jab as we left class).

**Moral of Today- I LOVE my classes! 

Oh and here is an amazing video that one of my friends shared a while back:

Sorry that this post was so long! Congratulations if you made it through...