Mrs. B’s Corner

Hello, parents! For many school is quickly approaching. For some, it’s started already. I’m contacting you today to offer my services. If you don’t already know, my name is Sharon Bowerman. I recently received my AA in Elementary Education from Yavapai College and am looking to help your child succeed.

I believe all children have the ability to succeed so I try tailor my approach to how each individual learns. (For more information on this, check out my blog posts on Multiple Intelligences and Learning Styles.) I also have a more in-depth Philosophy of Education you can read.

I have a wide range of skills but love reading, writing, and American Sign Language (ASL). A love of reading and writing may not seem remarkable in itself, but I’ve learned that if you don’t love these things, you can’t teach them. The simple fact that I do means that I can help students write good papers and help them understand what they’re reading and maybe even why. What I’m offering is language lessons, tutoring, and an on-call answer service all via the internet.

I learned Sign Language at a very young age watching my mom interpret church services. I’ve found that it’s a useful skill to have and am offering my expertise to the whole family. The more people who know a language, the easier it is to practice.

There are many options available when it comes to picking a tutor. I would be a good choice because I have a lot of patience and am willing to figure out how a child learns. By knowing that, I know the best way to help your child understand.

Sometimes setting aside blocks of time can be difficult and while you can look up anything, sometimes you need just a little more explanation. This is what I’m hoping to offer via my on-call answer service. This service is for those specific questions that you need help with right now.

I’ve chosen to tutor online because my family doesn’t have a home base. However, I’m determined to help those around me and with the internet I can help anybody. I use Apple products making FaceTime and iMessage easy, but I can help you set up a Google Hangout or just about any other service as well as answer whatever questions you had initially.

Struggling is hard, whether it’s you trying to remember Algebra (so you can help your kid) or your child trying to wrap her mind around Shakespeare. I’m here to make the struggle easier. So if you ever feel like you’ve gotten to that point, please contact me.

I believe that every child should have an opportunity to learn and to learn in a way that is effective for them. I believe education should be well rounded and see to all the needs of a child— physical, mental, emotional, academic, social, economical, and moral. There are a number of ways to meet these needs. Music and the arts is one way. Play is another. Experience and interaction is a great way to gain knowledge; while setting a good example is one of the best ways to teach good morals and proper social interactions. It’s never too early to teach about economy or about helping others. To support the emotional needs of children, I plan to consistently and constantly be available to them.

There are also a few specific things that I would like to teach. First is to be yourself. I’d like to have a poster of Shel Silverstein’s poem “Masks” to emphasize this. Second is fail early; fail often. This goal is two-fold. The first is to get the students to try, and the second is to make sure they know that mistakes are okay. Last is that movement is important. Exercise and knowing how to exercise is an important skill to lead a healthy lifestyle. Walks, stretches, foot tapping, etc. will be used and encouraged in my classroom.

Finally, there are a few specific things that I would like to do in my classroom. First is to make sure that my students’ basic needs are met so that they can focus on learning. I would also like to have procedures in place for any student with special needs. I want that student to know that they are allowed to do certain things to alleviate their anxiety, hyperactivity, or even sleepiness. Lastly and probably most importantly is something I read about on day one of Intro to Education. It was the story of a teacher who took a private poll of each student. She asked them to choose four students they would like to sit with next week and to nominate one student who has been an exceptional classroom citizen. She did this to look for patterns of behavior of seclusion or inclusion. Who was popular last week and isn’t this week? Who doesn’t get noticed at all? The story said, and I agree, that this particular teacher was saving lives.

In closing, I want to be the nicest, most helpful, hardest working person you’ve ever met because those are the values that I wish to instill in those around me whether those people are my family, my students, or my friends.

It looks like my website needs another redesign. I’ve been in a writing mood lately, and I already pay for this site so I’m hoping to post more often. The thing is, I’ll no longer be posting along a theme. I don’t have my crafting supplies so no more “Handmade by Shay,” and I’ve finished my Intro to Education class (which I made nearly a perfect score in) so no more assignments being graded on here. Basically, things are about to get personal.

I’ll probably do an “update on us” blog post soon but my thoughts today are geared towards exercise. I just finished a 1 mile run/walk and gloriously cool shower. (We’re in humid South Texas.) I recently read an article written by an acquaintance of mine about Spotify playing songs based on your natural running cadence. I don’t already pay for that service and don’t really have the money to start so where does that leave me? I have a pretty extensive iTunes library thanks to Family Share, but I have no idea what the beats per minute are. Is there an app for that? I’m not sure although there is a column/detail specifically for bpm.

What I hope to find is an application that will comb through my iTunes and fill in that small space. After that, I don’t mind creating playlists manually, and thanks to smart playlists, I might not have to.

Today I got my first taste of actual teaching! I planned a lesson and taught it to a group of 26 fourth graders. Thanks so much to Mrs. Yeager for letting me teach her class! Overall, it went really well.

I grabbed their attention by just signing at the start. There was one little boy at the front who realized I said “hi” and said “hi” back to me. I started talking and asked (by show of hands) if they knew what I just did. A lot of them did, and the little girl I called on said, “sign language.” I then signed and spoke my little introduction, “Hi class, my name is Sharon. I’m here today to teach you the abcs.” I then asked if any of them knew the sign language alphabet already. Again, a number of hands went up. I had the alphabet up on this blog and had it pulled up on the classroom’s interactive TV. We went through the alphabet together twice with the first time being relatively detailed instructions. There was one little girl who asked about double letters (her name is Emma) and if there was a special way to sign those. I wish I had thought about this! It was such a great question that I wish I had looked over it on purpose (next time I will). There is a way to treat double letters in words.

After going through the second time together, the kids naturally started practicing on their own and in their groups of four. When I announced that this was, in fact, what we were doing next, there was a wonderful quiet that spread across the room. They really only needed a few minutes to practice, but I walked around correcting small mistakes.

Before their “assessment,” we came back together as a class and tried the whole introduction. We signed together “my name” and each signed our own names.

I found a “fingerseek” worksheet that I passed out next. The students worked on this while I went around to each student so he or she could practice. If they spelled their name correctly, I said their name correctly out loud. This was the assessment and might be a fun thing to do at the beginning of the year to learn my students’ names.

The only thing I would have done better was to track my time. I forgot to look at the clock when I began so I don’t really know how long we took.

There was a lot of preparation that went into teaching a chapter of my Intro to Education textbook, Those Who Can, Teach. We were assigned our group and the chapter to cover. My group consisted of great partners Ben Irving and Katey Williams. First, we started with our Lesson Plan.

Ben, Katey, and I presented on Chapter 8, “What Are the Ethical and Legal Issues Facing Teachers?”. We opened with an interactive story to get students thinking about the law and ethics. We also divided the chapter into parts and each presented a different part. Ben covered ethics and the teachers’ rights and responsibilities. Katey discussed religion in schools, and I talked about understanding your role as a teacher regarding students’ rights. We finished the lesson with a discussion of three different court cases.

Although nothing went as well as I had hoped, especially the opening story, there were some good parts. I think Katey did a great job on her section and didn’t get into super speedy speech mode, which she has a tendency to do. I also feel comfortable with my own points even though I know there was one I wanted to make but forgot. Even though we didn’t have the groups split up correctly, most of the discussion went well also. Something that isn’t necessarily evident in the presentation was the fact that my group worked well together. None of us were thrilled with the topic so we made jokes, had good discussions, and made it fun. Everyone was also reliable and flexible.

The only I would have changed was my location. I would have been on the Prescott campus. There were a couple of girls in the back that I wanted to reach out to but felt I couldn’t over iTV without completely calling them out.

Our group has constantly analyzed each previous presentation and have come up with things to do and not do. I feel like we were one of the better lessons even though Ben psyched himself out. He really did know his stuff. Due to that, though, I’d be very happy with 45 of 50 points.

This is my overview from Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire by Rafe Esquith.

TLHF: What I learned…

Chapter 1: Gimme Some Truth
– Remove Fear
– Build Trust
– Be a Role Model
– Punish Reasonably/Logically

Chapter 2: Searching for Level VI
– “We need to raise the bar for children precisely because so many kids are behaving so badly.”
– Make expectations clear, set the bar high, and strive for level 6.

Chapter 3: Reading For Life
– “Young people who read for pleasure are able to make connections with the world around them and eventually grow to understand themselves on levels they never thought possible.”
– If you don’t love reading and cannot share that love, joy, and enthusiasm with your kids, they won’t love reading.
– Rafe has great ideas for subjects and starting points, but it’s up to you and your favorite books to make your love of reading infectious.

Chapter 4: Writing
– Rafe has a lot of different projects to help kids with their writing. The thing I like best about this is his “do it again” policy. Practice makes perfect, and that’s basically all he requires (the practice, not the perfect).

Chapter 5: Add it Up
– Buzz. This is a great math game that can be played any time any place.
– What I like best about this chapter is one way he describes the transition between lessons. In my observations, so much time is wasted in transitioning either from one subject to another or between sections of a lesson. Even when kids are pulling out a piece of paper, the noise level can become enormous. I want to find the smooth transitions.

Chapter 6: We Won’t Get Fooled Again
– How to Study: create the conditions of the test
– Consequences: failing a test simply means that you didn’t understand the skill and it needs to be taught again and/or practiced more
– Test-taking Skills: questions are created to trick you. Teach students how to find not only the correct answer but also why the wrong answers are there.

Chapter 7: What a Wonderful World
– Roam around the World: use the internet to visit different places across the globe.
– Table Points: it’s a great game that can be used across many different subjects. The kids discuss and answer in groups. There may be competition to get to 20 points first, but there are no losers.
– Supplement History. There are many sources out there to bring history to life and make it more poignant and interesting.

Chapter 8: Rocket Man
– The thing I like most about this chapter on science is that Rafe says, “Failure is good!” It’s something I agree with completely.
– “Please touch” is also a good idea when it comes to teaching (and learning) science.

Chapter 9: Art Lover
– Five Can’t Miss Art Projects: are all great ideas to teach cooperation, team-building, responsibility, and many other skills that students’ need in all aspects of life.
– Participation in fine arts increases the student’s ability to learn, manage time, and work together.
– “Students involved in arts education are learning about things far beyond the art they study.”

Chapter 10: Put Me In, Coach
– “The playground, when used properly, can be just as effective as the classroom.”
– Just like inside the classroom, Rafe has specific goals when it comes to physical education. The biggest is that it continues his classroom culture of kindness.

Chapter 11: Taxman
– This entire chapter is about Rafe’s classroom economy. This economy controls everything within the classroom: cleanliness, discipline, seating, book & movie library, and much more.
– This system teaches lifelong skills: organization, thrift, saving, delayed gratification, budgeting, and taking care of things (because they bought it).

Chapter 12: Think for Yourself
– Children don’t seem to learn how to solve problems. Rafe tries to fix this by giving his students the problem-solving “bible.”
– Step I. Understand the Problem
(Put your pencil down)
Collect Relevant Data

Step II. Choose an Appropriate Strategy
Act It Out
Choose an Operation
Draw a Picture
Guess and Check
Look for a Pattern
Make a Chart or Table
Make an Organized List
Use Logical Reasoning
Work Backwards

Step III. Solve the Problem
(Pick your pencil up)

Step IV. Analyze
Does My Answer Make Sense?

– “The process of discovering the correct answer is more important than the answer itself.”

Chapter 13: Celluloid Heroes
– This chapter describes Rafe’s film club and films that he watches with his class.
– “The film club helped develop an attitude that is attractive in anyone: a curiosity to know more and an appetite for something new.”

Chapter 14: Goin’ Mobile
– Everyone likes field trips and Rafe goes above and beyond. He also has clear goals for each of his trips just like in his classroom and on the playground.
– His goals are for students to “pursue knowledge with a passion and depth of understanding that separates them from mediocre students” and “to prepare them for the college environment.”

Chapter 15: It’s Only Rock’n’Roll (but I Like It)
– This is another example in how Rafe goes above and beyond the call of duty. He gives each student a chance to sing, play guitar, drums, and other instruments. He’s recognized the importance of music and incorporates it into his teaching.
– “I want the kids to be lifelong musicians, not trained seals performing for some school function.”

Chapter 16: Will Power
– Will Shakespeare that is. Every year, Rafe runs an after school program that puts on a play by William Shakespeare.
– He has great ideas on how to do this, but I think the most important thing is that it’s volunteer only. You can’t force kids to participate and trying to guarantees failure.

Epilogue
– Your lasting positive influence on people is the best pay a teacher can get and the biggest reason to never give up.

There are many different things to consider when addressing an educational philosophy. Ideas also come from many different sources. This is me trying to pull those sources together and come up with what I want my classroom and teaching style to look like.

According to the self-inventory I took, my ideas lean toward Progressivism with other ideas belonging more to the Romanticism category. The results are broken down into metaphysics, epistemology, axiology, and logic. Metaphysics: what is reality? Romanticism states that reality is stable and derived through self-development away from society. I agree with most of this, but I think a person develops because of society. No man is an island. Reality is based on circumstance—action and reaction— but is ultimately decided by that person. Epistemology: what is knowledge? Knowledge is gained through sensory experiences, interaction with one’s environment, individual experience, and shared experiences. Children discover things on their own easily, but if that experience is shared with another child who thinks about it in a different way, then that discovery has taken on more meaning. Axiology: what are values? I definitely agree with the progressive ideology: “Determined by each individual in interaction with his or her culture, based on the shared values of the community culture.” Children will learn and accept the values and ethics that they are taught and, more importantly, shown. I strive to be a good example at all times. I want to be the nicest, most helpful, hardest working person you’ve ever met. Logic: how do you think? This is mostly referring to inductive or deductive reasoning. I think that both methods should be taught and understood. What can we induce from this experience? And, what can we deduce from these givens?

I have a list of things to do as a teacher. It’s a very short list for now, but it’s where I plan on keeping the best ideas that I want to incorporate into my classroom. I believe that every child should have an opportunity to learn. Even more than that, they should have the opportunity to learn in a way that’s most effective for them. Therefore, I plan on having an early lesson presented in each of the different intelligences (interpersonal, intrapersonal, kinesthetic, musical, logical, verbal, naturalist, visual). The goal is to find which style works best for which student.

As an educator, it’s important to teach children not only “academic” subjects but moral, social, and economic subjects as well. I have a blog post on how to teach the six levels of moral development that I plan to use early in the school year. Social interactions will be achieved through group projects most likely starting off in the arts (music, theater, or fine art). Lastly, I plan on having a classroom economy. This will teach children a lot of responsibility not only in how to handle money but also in how to handle jobs. This instills accountability as well— not to me but to each other.

There are a few more things I want to specifically teach children. One: be yourself. I’d like to have a poster of Shel Silverstein’s poem “Masks” in my classroom to emphasize this. Two: fail early; fail often. This is something I’ve learned from the world of entrepreneurs. The goal is two-fold. The first is to get the students to try, and the second is to make sure they know that mistakes are okay. Three: movement is important. Exercise and knowing how to exercise is an important skill to lead a healthy lifestyle. Walks, stretches, foot tapping, etc. will be used and encouraged in my classroom. Four: I’m available any time. I plan on using social media to make myself available to students, parents, or other teachers any time of the day or night.

Finally, there are a couple more things I want to do in my classroom. One is to have a snack drawer. This will be filled with good snacks that a student has access to anytime. I would also like to have procedures in place for any student with special needs that may end up in my mainstreamed classroom (or in my special education classroom if that’s where I end up). These will be based on the student’s needs and availability to accommodate those needs. Lastly and probably most importantly is something I read about day one of Intro to Education. It was the story of a teacher who took a private poll of each student. She asked them to choose four students they would like to sit with next week and to nominate one student who has been an exceptional classroom citizen. She did this to look for patterns of behavior of seclusion or inclusion. Who was popular last week and isn’t this week? Who doesn’t get noticed at all? The story said, and I agree, that this particular teacher was saving lives. If I can prevent a Columbine or Virginia Tech, I want to.

When it comes to where to teach, there are so many other things to consider: uniforms, autonomy, discipline, classroom setup, required materials, standardized testing, and so much more. I think I’ve hit the highlights of what’s important to me, but I plan on thinking about these things and adding them to my list.

1. Describe the classroom (grade level, subject, room arrangement, etc.). Are the items on the walls/bulletin boards helpful? Is the room arranged appropriately? Is this a good learning environment? Why or why not?

In Mrs. Read’s 4th grade classroom, the desks are set up in multiple small islands of 4 students. The subject being taught from 1:15 – 2:15 is Math. Specifically today, was adding and subtracting problems with decimals. Since there was work in pairs, it was a good desk arrangement. There were enough gaps between all the islands that the teacher was able to walk around and between to help and observe. The bulletin boards around the room were full of useful information (depending on the lesson), and there was one relevant to today’s work. For collaborative work, I think this was a good learning environment although the kids were quite prone to talking sometimes instead of working.

2. Describe the teacher (teaching style, method of classroom management, teaching philosophy)
What kinds of routines does the teacher use? What teaching strategies does the teacher use? (thought provoking questions, visual displays, demonstrations, use of student names, cooperative learning, learning styles…..)

Mrs. Read used four different ways to call the class to order, get their attention, or stop talking. There was a clapping rhythm, a call and response, a countdown, and an if/then statement. For sample problems and directions, she had what I can only call a Smart TV. It was hooked up to a computer, but she could interact with it like a tablet. She also made use of the chalk board to work through the sample problems as a class. She did one, let the kids do the other three, then solved them together. After introducing and demonstrating the work, she handed out a worksheet for the kids to work on in pairs. While the students were working, she (and I) walked around the room to check that directions were being followed and answer questions.

3. How do students differ from one another? Include gender, ability, motivation, physical attributes, etc. What are some of the ways that these differences may impact teaching and learning processes in the classroom?

Sitting in the corner, I was able to watch two boy-girl pairs work on their problems. Even though they were supposed to be looking over each other’s shoulders, they didn’t really want to get close. They were each very critical of the other as well. Even though he was wrong, the boy told the girl that she was wrong and did the problem incorrectly. The idea of pairing is a good one but the effectiveness was lost on these kids. This particular pair did not work well together so it made the process very slow and aggravating for both. There was too much of a subtle power struggle and not enough collaboration or guidance. This particular activity also has the tendency to slow down the kids who could have worked through it quickly and correctly.

4. Would you consider teaching this subject or at this school? Why or why not?

I will definitely teach math. It’s one of my better subjects. I would probably also be willing to teach at this particular school. The principal and staff are friendly and there seems to be a certain amount of autonomy in the lessons and in the ways things are taught.

5. How are the students/teacher in this class different from your schooling experience at the same age? How are they the same? What experiences have you had in your past that might help you relate to today’s students?

It’s a little bit tough for me to remember details from 4th grade, but I definitely think that the way students behave is very much the same. They can be cruel and critical. They take every opportunity to talk but are perfectly capable of keeping quiet (which they did when they were allowed to start on their homework). They may be more easily distracted now a days but not necessarily. When it comes to teaching style, I think the biggest difference is classroom setup. We always sat in rows that faced the front of the room. Working in small groups didn’t happen in anything but reading. There’s more of an emphasis on collaboration and working together even if the method doesn’t work that well. Mrs. Read’s teaching style of demonstration and emphasis followed by the students working is something very familiar and effective.

6. Often times, the only experience a teacher-in-training has before student teaching (in the last semester of college) is that of a student. Now that the roles have changed and you are considering teaching as a profession, what have you learned about being the teacher from this observation? Has it made you think twice about entering the profession, or helped solidify your decision?

In this instance and most other times, my observations have solidified my desire to teach. What I observed in Mrs. Read’s math class today is something I’m very familiar with. To my husband, it’s called pair programming. The idea is that by having someone watch you work, they can catch mistakes when you make them instead of having the wrong answer and trying to figure out where you went wrong. These kids didn’t understand that benefit. She did explain it to them, but I would have asked probing questions so they could figure out why they work that way and how it helps. (It seems they had used this technique before). As I said earlier, some students didn’t want to get close enough to see the other person’s work. It looked like a lot of students didn’t care. There was one pair of girls who each did the problem and each made different mistakes. If partner B had been watching partner A work like she was supposed to, she might have caught the mistake when it happened. Again, I heard the teacher explain this, but I’m not sure the girls understood. There was also a lot of lower level thinking. When the students were set 2 problems to solve on their own, a lot of them wanted to know if they got it right. Even though they were told to check their work and how to check their work, they just wanted the right answer and asked instead of doing more work. Observing things like this makes me want to do things better and thanks to this class, I believe I know how. All I need is the practice.