EDU 222

I had a lot of fun talking to people about their portfolios, and the experiences they had while they were in the field. This table belonged to Christina Hall, an elementary education major with a concentration in social studies, who taught 3rd and 4th graders at Mt View in Thorndike. It was incredible to listen to how social studies was being made interactive in the classroom. I loved hearing about her "Native Americans Contribution to Agriculture in Maine," lesson plan, as well as her class trip and lesson revolving around the Common Grounds Fair! It was so inspiring to hear about how she supported her students in various ways, and it was wonderful talking with her about her experience! I also thoroughly enjoyed talking with Amy Washburn, a non-traditional student in elementary education who has an incredible background in programs like the foreign exchange student program, as well as the Fresh Air program. It was incredible to see how much she cares for students a

Thank you to Brooke-Lynn for making this word map with me about how to achieve a positive and worthwhile school community!

Embedded Formative Assessment by Dylan William has a number of great resources and ideas for any teachers- from new to veteran- that can easily come into play in their classroom. William is focused on how to improve the classroom for our students, and how to make teachers more effective through different forms of formative assessment. Chapter 1 discusses the importance of academic achievement, and some of the factors that come into play for student achievement. Many schools are underfunded, which can lead to a lack of resources for students. However, one of the most important resources that every school has is teachers. William proposes that firing or re-locating ineffective teachers is not the solution: rather, we should be assisting our current teachers and teaching them on how to be better educators. His major solution? Embedded formative assessment! To follow this, Chapter 2 discusses the definition of embedded formative assessment, and why it is so beneficial to our students a

Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History What is 'Gilder Lehrman'?  Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History is a nonprofit organization which focuses on history education for grades K-12, as well as some services for the public. They have over 70,000 documents to use, as well as a variety of lesson plans. What Is It Good For?  Gilder Lehrman has a search engine for lesson plans, videos, and essays, primarily.  You have to choose either a time period, content type, topic, or keyword. There is also a search engine for just sources.  What Would A Typical Class Using 'Gilder Lehrman' Look Like?  Any sources you use from the collection provide the following information: summary of the item, people associated with the item, historical era, keywords and subjects, and the "sub era"— or, the more specific time period. Here is an example. Each lesson (hyperlinked is an example lesson) begins with a couple of essential questions— to

DocsTeach and Archives.gov What are 'DocsTeach' and 'The National Archive'?  DocsTeach is a website which puts its focus on primary documents. It categorizes them so they can easily be found with keywords, and they are ever expanding. There are currently more than 10,000 documents on their website. The website also offers some lesson plans revolving around specific documents. Archives.gov comes hand in hand with DocsTeach, as they are connected. The National Archives has a section for educator resources, where you will find a number of different helpful resources. Among these are National History Day resources, working with primary sources worksheets, and opportunities for visiting students in the classroom. What Is It Good For?  DocsTeach is best for its primary documents , and the lesson guides that come with them. On their lesson plans, they even have a classification system that includes the lesson's placement on Bloom's Taxonomy, what hi

EDUTopia What is EDUTopia? EDUTopia is a resource for teachers for the betterment of their students, to encourage active learning. EDUTopia highlights activities, approaches, and practices that work effectively. EDUTopia currently is putting an emphasis on fact based research, assessing quality effectively, as well as effective and creative use of acquired information. They provide a number of articles as well as videos for teachers. What Is It Good For?  EDUTopia is a great resource when looking for answers to questions you have as a new or even experienced teacher. There are separate categories including: New teacher, Social and emotional learning, Brain based learning, Integrated studies, Project based learning, Technology integration, Comprehensive assessment, and Teacher development. How Can I/Would I Like To Use It? Here are a few of the articles I found most helpful: How Restorative Justice Helps Students Learn  - A strategy for discipline that focuses