Week 9 Blog (Fieldwork Experience + Current Events)

My Week 9 Blog 

(October 20-October 24)

MONDAY (October 20th)

• On Monday, a group of my peers taught their cooperative learning lesson to the 2nd grade students at Bishop Dunn Memorial School. In my opinion, they did a wonderful job with addressing each of the 5 PIGS Elements. 

• The students' social skills were developed through positive interdependence, group processing, and face-to-face interaction. The teachers' assignment of different roles (i.e., manager, writer, reader, illustrator, and reporter) supported the element of individual accountability. However, I think the teachers could have expanded upon the cooperative learning element known as individual accountability. I would have asked my students to stay focused throughout the lesson to give their best efforts towards the group project (i.e. the poster on income, goods, and/or services). Young students need to be continuously monitored and given positive encouragement, especially during group projects. They also need structure, guidance, and repeated instruction.

This group work poster identifies the 6 critical elements of any successful cooperative learning lesson. The key vocabulary words in each element (G.R.O.U.P.S.) are underlined. 

This video above describes the "Jigsaw Project" in great detail. In my opinion, this is the most effective teaching and learning strategy related to the subject of cooperative learning. I think that students learn best when they branch out into separate groups with assigned topics. They also learn about teaching by presenting their findings to their base, or original, groups. 

WEDNESDAY (October 22nd)

• This week, Group 2 presented their direct instruction lesson to the 2nd grade students at Bishop Dunn Memorial School. I now have an even greater understanding of direct instruction and can easily identify the 5 key elements: introduction, development, guided practice, closure, and independent practice. I noticed that my peers provided assistance to the students during the independent practice. However, the independent practice is supposed to be just that…independent. Teachers must allow the students to complete an assignment on their own in order to assess their true understanding of the subject matter. 

I think that this labeled picture graphic is the epitome of any direct instruction lesson plan.

FRIDAY (October 24th)

• On Friday, 2 of my classmates presented their current events presentation. They utilized many different news outlets (i.e., Newsela) and a tool called ThingLink. I think that this tool, along with other tools like Kahoot, would be great to incorporate into any Social Studies lesson. I especially like the ThingLink tool because it allows you to attach links, comments, and other images to objects.

This is a short video tutorial on how to use the ThingLink tool in teaching and learning. I found this video to be extremely helpful.

This is a video on how to utilize the Kahoot tool in the classroom. I love Kahoot! :D I will definitely incorporate this enjoyable activity in my classroom with my future elementary school students. This tool motivates students to enjoy learning. This tool also sharpens the students' concentration, comprehension, and critical thinking skills.

As you can surely tell, I love wordles! :) I think that this is the perfect wordle, which describes the importance of using technology with students in the classroom.