Word Problems

This week Mrs. Lemons taught her students word problems. Now I can not stand word problems! I never understood them in school. I feel like a lot of students just think too much into them. Mrs. Lemons feels the same exact way about them also! She usually does not spend a lot of time with her students on word problems because she doesn't enjoy teaching them. But to make them more fun, she created a word problem packet. She is selling this packet on the website  teacherspayteachers.com. So what Mrs. Lemons does with her word problem packet is that she prints them out for her students and then they pick which one they would like to solve, cut it out, and glue it into their notebook. Mrs. Lemons also prints out worksheets with clue words on them to help her students understand what "key" words they should be looking for in word problems to tell the difference between an addition problem and a subtraction problem. For example, on the addition worksheet she has the words...together, in all, total, increase, altogether, both, sum, plus, combine, add, and join. On the subtraction worksheet she has the words...fewer than, less than, left, remain, minus, take away, how many more, how much more, difference, and decrease. She also has worksheets with reminders on them for her students. For example a worksheet explaining to them to read carefully and what the question is asking them. Also, a reminder to show all work in their notebooks, using either pictures or numbers.
An example of a word problem Mrs. Lemons made up was, "Jackie has twice as many crayons as Henry. Henry has 7 crayons in his box. How many crayons does Jackie have?" So first the student cut out the word problem and glued it into their notebook. Next the student highlighted the words twice, 7 crayons, and how many crayons since that is what the word problem is asking. After the student figured out the word problem was addition, they wrote underneath the word problem in their notebook Henry's name and Jackie's name. Next to Henry's name they drew 7 vertical lines. Then next to Jackie's name the student added 7 more lines than next to Henry's name. So altogether Henry should have 14 vertical lines. Next, the student added 7+7 to receive an answer of Jackie having 14 crayons.
Mrs. Lemons explained how doing this helped her students understand the material better and also kept her motivated to teach word problems. By doing what she did it keeps the lesson interesting and also the students get to draw while they are also doing work. The feedback on Mrs. Lemons blog under this activity from other teachers was all positive and everyone really seemed to enjoy teaching word problems to their students this way.        

Classroom Decorating

I explored Mrs. Lemons blog a lot this past week. She has a tab that says my classroom. It gave me some great ideas for when I become a teacher and when it's time to decorate my classroom. Her walls are very colorful and all the wall surfaces are covered, which is great! Classrooms that are plain and boring, the students aren't going to want to come to your class. The first thing that popped out at me that Mrs. Lemons did was she had the English alphabet on the top of her wall above her bulletin boards. She had the students create pictures/word to go with each letter, which made for a great activity. She also provided links to cutouts she used and where she got the fabric from, to decorate her classroom with, which I found very helpful for teachers. She keeps her classroom very organized and labels everything which is important in being a teacher. Another interesting idea I got from her was how she uses table caddies. Her students share everything in their classroom. So in the middle of the tables she has caddies that have crayons, glue, scissors, and pencils, instead of putting everything in the students desk. I really enjoyed seeing the pictures she posted of what her classroom looks like because it gave me visual images in my head on how to decorate my classroom when it's time. Next I'm going to explore some of her lessons she teaches to her students.

Step Into Second Grade Blog

As a future second grade elementary school teacher, I've been looking for a blog to follow. While searching, I came across the perfect blog! It's called Step Into Second Grade with Mrs. Lemons! As soon as I found this blog I immediately fell in love. The blog itself is very colorful and updated every single day! Mrs. Lemons draws you in with her personality and her extreme love for her job. Amy Lemons has been teaching second grade for four years know, but overall has been teaching for eight years in total. Amy also has a personal blog on her website under the About Me tab that you can also follow, which I found interesting. I'm excited to start reading about her lesson plans and activities she does with her students. She is a very creative teacher and I hope to learn from her so that when it comes time for myself to teach, I will give my students the absolute best learning experience they deserve. Below you will see the link for Mrs. Lemons Blog.

http://stepintosecondgrade.blogspot.com/

Horizon Report

The Horizon Report was interesting to talk about in class. It brought to my attention on how much technology is being used in today's classrooms. I had no idea about the "bring your own device to school." I remember when I was in school, we were lucky enough if we even received computer time in the computer lab. Teacher's used the blackboard and over-head projectors to teach us, versus now teachers are using smart-boards and also using flipped classrooms. I like the idea of "bring your own device." Each new generation is getting more technologically enhanced, so our schools need to change also. Before reading the Horizon Report, I had no idea what cloud commuting was. Until this past year, my classes really started using cloud commuting. I was lost at first, but after using it more, I learned to really enjoy it. It's a lot easier for teachers as well as students. Teachers are now putting homework assignments, quizzes, discussions, and even their lectures online now for their students to look at. Everything is just right in front of you!
One more topic of discussion I really found interesting in the Horizon Report was games and gamification. Teachers are promoting letting their students play games to go along with their lesson. It is said that gaming is supposed to improve hand-eye coordination, short term memory, attention span, and problem solving and critical thinking skills. Some teachers use the game Minecraft to teach their students math. This would be a good game for teaching geometry with. Overall, reading the Horizon Report definitely brought some attention to my eyes. I'm looking forward to becoming a teacher and being able to use these in my classroom. As I said earlier, technology is changing every day, so it is our job to change with it and promote it to our students.  

 

Welcome!

Hi my name is Alexandra (Alex) Bailey. I transferred from Burlington County College. I've been at Stockton College for a year now. I am considered a junior here credit wise. My major is Liberal Studies with a concentration in Elementary Education. I would like to teach second or third graders. I would also like to get specialized to teach middle school Language Arts. After I receive my teaching certificate, I would also like to get specialized for Special Education. I am a current member of Delta Delta Delta where I also hold a position for my chapter as Panhellenic Officer. I look forward to taking this class and freshening up on my technology skills.