Florida Professional Development: Nature, Nature, Nature!
Let’s get green!
Education is all about engagement and I have been lucky enough to attend three professional developments that are all about engagement through the environment. Thanks to many different organizations in Florida these events I have attended have opened my eyes to cross-curricular teaching. These events were focused on awareness and advocacy and provided me with various resources applicable when it comes to teaching any content area.
At Busch Gardens I attended Educators After Dark, which involved a behind the scenes tour of the facility, interaction with animals and activities, and free lesson plans! One activity that is great is creating enrichment for the gorillas at the park. Alongside this, we participated in activities with other animals such as elephants, a boa constrictor, a screech owl, and an echidna. This also gives teachers an opportunity to see how teaching takes place in different areas outside of the classroom.
Project Wild and Aquatic are just two of the workshops offered through the Florida Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. They can come to your school and also host them at the Florida Aquarium in downtown Tampa. I attended the event at the aquarium and had an amazing experience. I received two large activity books and various other resources. These books provided curriculum for every content area that aligns to the Florida State Standards. I was able to collaborate with other educators and take part in several activities. I really enjoyed that this in particular really brought into attention the state and localized learning and made it so that learning is always active and reached out to kinesthetic learners.
This is where Nestle’s Zephyrhills bottled water is sourced from! Not only can you take students to the springs for field trips you can also have them come to you. Check out Water Ventures
Tampa Bay Area Writer’s Project
Keynote speaker Jerry Spinelli spoke about failure. Every writer and every individual will encounter failure. It is how we cope with failure and use it to grow and push forward that matters. But often when we first come across failure, we do not always know what to do and where to go. He told us about how he spent three years on his first manuscript and was denied, denied, denied. After each denial, he mentioned he would pause and ask “What do I do next?” The answer was, send it to another publisher…again, again, AGAIN. But he went on and said, “I’ve submitted it to every publisher and they still said no, what do I do?” The answer: write another one.
Meeting him and hearing his words of wisdom about life and writing was amazing. It was also a spectacular event because for the first time ever the workshop was opened to students of all grade levels for a youth conference on writing. Students from writing clubs and classes ranging from elementary to high school attended the event meeting several authors alongside Spinelli. Here is a photo of my signed edition of Loser by Jerry Spinelli.
Alongside this, there were several sessions for professional development and each session had multiple presentations offered regarding writing and education. I attended one about incorporating acting and script writing, another about metaphorical expressions and chat stations, and another on technology and writing. Each giving me a valuable resource to use with students for example when it comes to metaphorical expressions, we were introduced to writing prompts as well as this interesting video regarding metaphors: Metaphors
I recommend this event to everyone! There is so much to learn and experience and at the end of the day you walk away with a certificate and so much that can change how you teach writing!
For those in the area here is a link to register for next fall’s workshop: Teacher Registration feel free to also bring your students!
Assistive Technology Module
Hello, I recently completed this module regarding assistive technology for students with disabilities. I recommend fellow educators to complete it to familiarize themselves with assistive technology.
Worth the watch! This is the link to the F.A.T. City Workshop.
F. A. T. stands for frustration, anxiety, and tension. Children experience these feelings in school when they are not given an education that is representative of their individual needs. These feelings/reactions only take seconds to emerge when a child with learning disabilities is expected to overcome their disability on their own.
The video through various activities helped bridge the gap of understanding that exists of learning disabilities.
Some points I took note of regarding what teachers should do and not do include:
- They should not use sarcasm with students, it creates a victim. It is enjoyable for everyone else except the person receiving it. It also is something that everyone may “throw away” within five minutes, but something the individual target will hold on to.
- They should not accept the answer “I don’t know” from students because it causes them to stop thinking of a response..
- They should think about pacing. While some students are processing an answer, students who are learning disabled are still processing the question. Instruction cannot be too fast. Utilize wait time.
- Understand distractibility versus attention span which in the video is explained through the statement, “The child with no attention span pays attention to nothing. The child who is distractible pays attention to everything.” The student is equally interested in many things.
- Teachers must implement direct instruction and not expect students to teach themselves.
- Stop saying they cannot help a child because it is unfair to others that they are receiving services pertaining to their learning disability.
There was so much of what not to do, and within each activity, the speaker placed everyone in the position of a student with a learning disability and showed them just how negative the effects of doing the wrong thing had on the student. I liked that he focused on what not to do because I recognized some of the things I have seen teachers do and now make the connection of why not to repeat these mistakes myself. I believe the most important thing to take away as a teacher from what not to do is that I must change my mindset and work to change the mindset of all individuals in education. The speaker stressed two aspects I believe relate the most to mindset, these are: the difference between adult concepts and the concepts of children and the importance of fairness. All of which were learned through action. It is vital to open your mind to other perspectives. To continually take a step into my students’ shoes and reflect on what to do to ensure their success involves facing their reality when it comes to learning, which I was able to do by observing the activities completed in the video such as drawing with a mirror, creating a story without the letter n, and many more. It may be hard to step outside of my own mindset but for students, all teachers must be willing to do what is right, no matter what the challenge. Alongside this, it is important to make things fair. Equity versus equality, this was mentioned in the video by the speaker about a teacher refusing to provide a copy of notes to a student who had a learning disability because it would be unfair to other students.
Some changes that could be made with curriculum, as well as strategies for teaching and classroom management, would be:
- Pacing and utilizing wait time
- Preparing a student with learning disabilities the content prior to teaching
- Providing feedback and using informal assessment strategies
- Providing them with opportunities to express themselves and discuss their needs and progress
- Making the classroom atmosphere more inviting and calm
- Create a relationship with the student to help with anxiety as well as look for cues from body language
These would all be beneficial.
No teacher wants to fail a student and deny them a meaningful education, but due to mindset it happens. I feel this video is something that needs to be shared with every individual involved in education because there is no way to better instill empathy and a sense of advocacy.
“It’s easy to miss something you’re not looking for…”
Educational Youtube Channels
It is always great to have resources and have the ability to recommend places where students can look for exciting learning opportunities! Here is a list of 60 Youtube Channels worth subscribing to!
One not on the list that I love is StoryCorps, here is the description of the video I have chosen to share: “On January 28, 1986, NASA Challenger mission STS-51-L ended in tragedy when the shuttle exploded 73 seconds after takeoff. On board was physicist Ronald E. McNair, who was the second African American to enter space. But first, he was a kid with big dreams in Lake City, South Carolina.”
Grammar Memes
Both memes put a fun twist on grammar reminders. The first is in reference to proofreading and reviewing work and the second is in reference to the debated Oxford comma which I personally believe is necessary. I chose these two concepts because students need to find grammar as less intimidating and that memes are an everyday enjoyment for many adolescents. I would go beyond this in the classroom and allow students to create their own appropriate English and grammar themed memes. The first meme with the dog is in reference to proofreading work. I want to always remind my students to revise their work. The second meme is of Kermit the frog and his inner self. I used it to show that students should use the Oxford comma regardless.
Viewing the Total Solar Eclipse?
TOTAL SOLAR ECLIPSE LIVE
What an opportunity this is for any science teacher! Here is a link (above) to a webpage that connects to several sites which will be live streaming the eclipse. It is a great way to start off an exciting school year. Also through watching a live stream you will not have to worry about solar eclipse glasses for students or weather interference. Lookout for the amazing event on August 21!
Genre Comparison
Interesting video comparison of the classic Mary Poppins, great to use as a hook when teaching about genre.
Video 1:
Video 2:
Kaleidoscope 