Dr. Diamond

WE MADE IT TO THE LAST DAY OF SOCIAL STUDIES METHODS! Today on the last day of our class we conducted a mock intervention simulation. I chose to be a part of one of the four administrators for the interview along with Amanda, Cierra, and Marie. I was required to create a fake profile about myself and the school I was in search of a teacher for. I introduced myself as Dr. Diamond. Dr. Diamond went to Stanford and obtained her bachelors in information technology. She then got pursued her education and got her Masters at Harvard, and then finally her ph.D at UCLA in Los Angelas. Dr. Diamond was looking to hire a teacher candidate as a 4th-grade social studies teacher who specializes in technology at Jewel Elementary School located in Cornwall, NY. I went into the mock interviews with a jar of questions. The jar of questions had different questions this way each candidate got a fair pick, and not one question was harder than the other. I asked questions specifically about technology. Technology is huge and extremely important for student learning. I wanted to see who would be the best candidate for my school, personally. Many of my classmates did well! They were actually nervous for us to interview them, which was funny because we are on the same level as them, but they saw us as higher. I really enjoyed this experience. In the end, we had to choose one candidate we would think is the perfect fit for our school! I chose Angie. Angie answered each question in depth, was confident, and had a positive personality. I think this was a great simulation to go through because it is truly like what the real world can be once we graduate and look for jobs. There will always be competition within you and someone else so you have to learn to market yourself to be the greatest. Show what you learned, show all the hard work you put into your learning, and show what makes you better than the next person. 




Today was also the last day of class. I am so proud of myself and where this course has taken me. This course really tested me and my want to be a teacher. It truly secured my want to be an educator. It showed me what the real life as a teacher will be like: staying up all night planning your lessons, trying to make them the best for the children. I am thankful for all the experiences provided by Dr. Smirnova, and am beyond proud of myself for completing the course! 

My Philosophy of Teaching!

Each teacher has their own educational philosophy. I am grateful for the education I have received from elementary school until present. Each teacher has impacted me in different ways, and some have influenced the way I see education. As a child, I always was amazed at my teachers. I always wondered how they knew EVERYTHING, and of course, if they lived at school. I always felt a sense of love when I was at school. I always had fun, and couldn't wait to go to school the next day to see my teachers! School is one huge learning experience. I believe all teachers need to have passion when it comes to their job. Teaching is a very passionate career. I will have a very important job, which is shaping the minds of young children, and inspire them to be the best person they can, through teaching. When I think about my educational philosophy, I automatically think of PASSION. My philosophy of education is passion driven. To be a teacher means to shape the minds of young individuals. Teaching is passion driven. I didn't wake up one morning and decide I wanted to a be a teacher. It didn't dawn on me until 11th grade in my US History class. I had such an amazing teacher, and he was so passionate about what he taught. It made learning so much fun! I know that teaching is such a demanding, tiring, and challenging field. But it is also inspiring, amazing, and rewarding. My main goal of teaching is to engage my students, have fun, and encourage them, this way they want to learn! 

I will find ways to accommodate each and every one of my students. I know every child learns differently, that is why I will differentiate my instruction this way I reach the needs of all my students. Some students may work better in groups, some students may work better independently, and some students may work better with my support. No matter what the student needs, I will be sure to provide them with instruction that is best for them. When it comes to teaching it is important that teachers share their knowledge with their students. Teachers have to be educated to the point that they have to share all their knowledge. This allows students to learn and is important because you are their basis for education which leads to their future. Teachers need to have compassion and be approachable. Along with having compassion and being approachable teachers need to be loving, caring, understanding, good communicator, and an even better listener. 

As a new teacher, I will be sure to incorporate everything I learned from this course. The 5 principles of Powerful Teaching which are, the role of inquiry, cooperative learning, educating young citizens, and problem-solving/ critical thinking skills. I think incorporating these 5 principles of Powerful Teaching will make me an amazing teacher. I will make my activities that are during class time engaging, interactive, and value-based along with collaborative. These activities will allow students to follow Bloom's Taxonomy and will allow students to think in a critical manner. When teaching Social studies I will incorporate technology, artifacts, WebQuests, treasure hunts, presentations that require problem-solving skills, and inquiry. Students will not learn if teachers just slam facts, dates, information, names, and graphic-organizers. Social Studies should be taught in an interactive, engaging, encouraging, loving environment. 

Cooperative Learning & Geography Come Together!

This past week we worked hard to complete a project about Native Americans, this project was called the NAT project. Dr. Smirnova split us into groups and each group got assigned a different tribe. JIGSAW came back into play! The different tribes were Dine', Mowhawk, Muscogee, Tlingit, and Lakota. The tribe I had to research along with my group was the Dine'. My group members were Alexis, Ganny, and Marie. The question we had to answer was: How did geography influence the Native American Tribes? Our task was to design a presentation that answered this question. The presentation had to include history, geography, culture, food, clothes, habitat, famous people, and generalizations of our tribe. We had to work Cooperatively and follow the rules of cooperative learning by following PIGS. PIGS stands for, Positive Interdependence, Individual Accountability, Group Processing, and Social Skills & Face to face interaction. Each part of PIGS was present while working with my group on this project. Positive interdependence was shown by taking a specific topic and working on it equally. Individual Accountability was present because we each chose a part of the Dine' tribe to research, and were accountable for completing our own work. Group Processing was present at the end of our presentation. After reading the 3 pluses and a wish from my classmates I was able to see what we could improve on. Most of my classmates wrote that they wished the presentation was shorter. I agree with them. I always try my best to add the most information this way I can teach an abundance of information. I believe my group did a wonderful job by making the presentation filled with pictures, and great information about the Dine' tribe. Lastly, Social Skills & Face To face interaction was present when working with my group. During class time we worked together and decided upon what we were going to be working on independently. During the class period, my group and I realized we were the only group talking to each other. We didn't know why no other group was talking considering this was a GROUP PROJECT. My group and I were connected after class as well by texting and facetiming about what we should include in the presentation. I believe working socially and having face to face interaction is key when working on a group project. 

While presenting our project we tried our best to engage the class. I included videos of tribal dances, the Dine' healing song, and we all did our best to make the slides VISUAL. To begin our presentation Alexis asked the class "How does geography influence the Native Americans?" and presented a word cloud to the class. We then proceeded by showing the class a word cloud and asked them if the recognized any words in the cloud. We asked the class to tell us the 5 themes of geography. The class responded and remembered the 5 themes. This was a great introduction to our presentation. We taught the class about the Dine' tribe. The Dine' tribe is also known as the Navajo's. The Dine' tribe is the second largest tribe in the nation and the largest tribe in the United States. The tribe extends from Utah, Arizona, and New Mexico. They believed in many gods such as the sun god, and Earth Mother. Earth mother was the most sacred God and was the most powerful. The worshiped the sun, wind, and watercourses, and did not like to talk about death. When Columbus came to the United States the Navajo's were forced to relocate. This movement was called the Long Walk of the Navajo from Arizona to New Mexico. They relied on their environment for shelter, food, clothing, and water. I taught the class about the Navajo culture. The Navajo's were very family geared. They speak a language called Athabaskan. They have many celebrations such as 8 months pregnant, baby's first laugh, coming to age, marriage, first footprint.  The grew their own crops which resulted in eating their own food. We ended our presentation with a post-assessment. We had the class participate in a KAHOOT to test their knowledge.

Overall, I think that this project was great! It was very helpful for teaching the 5 themes of geography and learning about different tribes. 

My Presentation

Muscogee 

Tlingit

Lakota