Jacquelyn Lowes Portfolio

Cut and Paste Cont.

2009-03-15T19:42:00.000-07:00

The next week we finished up our research with the same activities so that everyone could go through all the children. Alot of kids that went to my group didn't get finished but I got to watch the ones that did, how they colored, if they took their time, how they cut, and how they went about making their objects. It was interesting watching what some would come up with. It made me realize the little things that can make kids stronger. The teacher said she does alot of cut and paste projects because it helps their hands skills that alot of them haven't developed yet, which was new to me. I enjoy every week going into that classroom coming out with new knowledge for my teachings. I really enjoy this first grade class, it seems to be the age I would like to teach.

Block Play and Scribblers

2009-03-04T16:21:00.000-08:00

Learning that block play with children is more educated than what everyone thinks was suprising. Knowing block play builds other skills for children and it's statistical that kids who play with blocks seemed to become more advanced in certain areas was amazing. Learning different building ways of stacking and making rows with blocks really made Wednesday want to come sooner. I wanted to see the kids play with blocks and see the creation they made and realize the developmental level they were at for thier age. I was working on another activity with cutting and pasting so they could be creative and cut and make anything they wanted on paper with the shapes. It was interesting to watch some of the kids build what they wanted with the blocks. I noticed one making a wall away from everyone, then some were working together to create something, others we building up to make a building. It was very interesting because every model was described in our teachings about block play. I'm excited to bring that information from the class and putting it into the research and finding out where some of those kids are developed.

Presenting Chapters

2009-03-04T16:06:00.000-08:00

I have always known that I am a shy person when it relates to oral presentations with an audience. I have never cared to get in front of a class I don't know and present, I always feel self conscious about myself and wonder what the audience is thinking about my presentation. I really feel like I have opened up more than what I had been, I have noticed me speaking out more in our conversations in class. In class we were to find the main points of a chapter and teach the class the chapter, I became so nervous. I wanted to find a creative way to teach but didn't know how so I just talked to the class and gave the main points of the chapter. It was the best presentation to start out with but I hope to make a better impression when I teach the class about Lawrence Kohlberg on Friday. I'm hoping to get the class interested and interact with my lesson. Hopefully I will become more open by the end of this class and talk freely with my education colleagues.

The Beginning of My Second Education Class

2009-03-04T15:46:00.000-08:00

This class didn't start out with a Cinderella activity but was still a good class to start out with. We discussed what we wanted to learn in this class, which ended up us still wanting to go with Bobby's schedule because she knows what we need to know better than we do. This is where we found that we would be doing some field work with first graders every week. I couldn't wait, I haven't had much experience with classrooms so I was ready to get my experience started. We had to wait until Monday to go see the kids but I told anyone I saw how I was excited to see and bond with the kids in our first grade class.
Come Monday the 5 that made up the classroom were ready to hop in the car and visit the kids. We sign in and walk the many hallways to the class that was awaiting the Berea College students. At first they thought we were high school students but then found out we were college students. We got to go to different centers with the kids and notice the different personalities of the kids, we found the girl that likes to talk, the boy that seems to never speak, and the bad boy who wants to do what he wants. It was amazing seeing how much more you realize after having a education class. You start to realize more details of the kids work and see the personalities. I was ready to get our activities together and learn more details of the childrens work. I was waiting for next Wednesday.

Goal 7 "Community of Inquiry"

2009-02-25T19:38:00.000-08:00

As people who are committed to thinking together with others in the search for truth, wisdom and beauty, teachers create learning communities grounded in inquiry where students come to understand the critical role of communication in inquiry and where they feel the confidence that grows with the development of their ability to participate in a community of inquiry.

Goal 6 "Incorporating Tools"

2009-02-25T19:36:00.000-08:00

As people who understand and appreciate the capacity of tools- informational, technological, physical and intellectual- to extend the reach and enhance the quality of work to be done, teachers incorporate appropriate tools into their own work-lives and integrate their use into the instructional environments they create with learners.

Goal 5 "Planning and Assessing"

2009-02-25T19:34:00.000-08:00

As people who see the promise in every person and believe that individuals have the ability and duty to create a more just society, teachers attend to each and every student by planning, implementing, and assessing meaningful learning experiences and systematically engage in critical reflection and self correction.

Goal 4 "Learning Environments"

2009-02-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

As people who have experienced the power and beauty of creating their own knowledge and constructing their own understandings, and who are committed to enabling their students to share this experience, teachers create dynamic learning environments providing both direct and vicarious experiences oriented around student interest and characterized by active inquiry, libereal use of time, self-correction, and engagement with others.

Goal 3 "Knowledge and Interdependence"

2009-02-25T19:29:00.000-08:00

As people who appreciate the interconnectedness and interdependence of our world, teachers seek to add depth and breadth to their general knowledge as well as in-depth understandings of the content they teach. These teachers provide experiences that allow learners to recognize and value the interconnections that emerge as they explore their unfolding world.

Goal 2 "Diversity and Democracy"

2009-02-25T19:26:00.000-08:00

As people who value difference in human interactions, ideas and nature; who understand that identity is shaped by diversity, experiences, and environment; and who recognize that we must all work together to build a more just society, teachers create learning environments based on democratic principles which ensure that multiple perspectives are valued and considered, and which encourage students to speak from their own diverse experiences, to give value to those expressions, to explore their own diversity, and to bring those experiences to the broader community.

Goal 1

2009-02-25T19:21:00.000-08:00

As people who have found joy in life, learning, and teaching, and who trust in the power of human relationships to call forth inner strengths, teachers strive to relate to their students in ways that free both teacher and learner to engage in joyful, responsible and disciplined inquiry into the workings and possibilities of our world.

The Beginning of The Learning Center!

2008-12-09T16:50:00.000-08:00

This is an idea of how the beginning of my learning center started out. I had no idea what I wanted to implement in my learning center. I knew I wanted to relate it to math but didn't know what activities I wanted to have. This is the beginning of a helpful experience for my future teachings. The way I want to teach, learning centers will be created throughout classes because it pushes students to be more dependent of themselves and push them to teach and learn on their own, not having to have a teacher tell them everything to do. This is the teaching I want to push for my students because I have personal experience of having to have directions and being told what to do. Throughout this learning center it was all created by me. There were guidelines for the learning center but I created and came up with everything. This is where Berea is helping me to become more open with my surrounding and to realize I need to be more independent with myself then relying on others.

Pipe Cleaner Sketchbook!

2008-12-09T16:08:00.000-08:00

This was my third sketchbook that was open to choose what object you wanted to relate yourself to. I chose pipe cleaners because they are lenient with shape, color and form. I related pipe cleaners to my teachings how you have diversity with color and you cope with it, how they all are not the same but you find your way around each one. As a teacher I am colorful in spirit because I want to bring excitement to a classroom for the day ahead. I want kids to come back to school the next day without complaining. I want to make education understandable to help the students learn more in their early years. I want to be an innovative teacher pushing success from each and every student. This is some of my thoughts of my philosophy that I want to mold into my students.

Collage

2008-12-02T21:56:00.000-08:00

This was another activity that we related to our pumpkin patch adventure. We created a mural of different aspects of the trip. This shows the students artistic side with drawing a mural where anything can be drawn anywhere. I let the artist's go to work and I helped mostly with the coloring. This was an experience to reflect on what activities we had just done and it helped me as a student with remembering the activities because of this mural. As a teacher I want to find ways to mold information into the students brains where they can remember information more clearly. Reflecting about what we did helps the students to remember the facts about our trip. I know that all the activities we related to our pumpkin patch will never be forgotten with me. The activities that were created with this experience helped me to keep a memory and know better information about the subject. This is what I want to push in my classroom, where students do not choose whether they want to learn the information but that there are activities that just keep your mind working but also keeping a memory in your head to hopefully learn from the subject while doing the activity.

Love for Louisville!

2008-12-02T21:50:00.000-08:00

This is a picture of the beginning of my mini Louisville fan pumpkin. This was one of the two pumpkins I chose at the pumpkin patch. This was a break given to us after hard work in the activity we did before. We were given a choice to paint or carve our pumpkins so I chose to show my Louisville spirit. This shows that to me as a teacher I want my students to have a break from all their studies if they work hard and deserve one. It helped me to relax before assessing the next activity and it actually helped me prepare more for the next activity. I will make sure that if my students are working hard they will be rewarded for their hard work. This taught me to not strain someone so much, that everyone needs a break every once in awhile.

The Fun of Buckeyes!!

2008-12-02T21:37:00.000-08:00

This is one of my most memorable activities within my EDS 150 class. Using the pumpkin patch we connected pumpkins with different groups cooking different types of food. All groups worked together and ended up with decent food. Our group made buckeyes, which is my sweet tooth. We all took a part in this activity, each one measuring the ingredients needed to make the sweet delicious candy. We all communicated to make sure we weren't over measuring and having all ingredients in the mixture. We ran short on time so the buckeyes were hard enough to cover in chocolate, but our group got messy for the students to try our delicious buckeyes. Though messy they were delicious. This is another activity that integrated with other subjects in education. We were to make to show what subjects this implemented and how. This is another example to me that show nature of learning because I am given ideas that I want in my future teachings. This was a fun experiment but afterwards it is brought together to understand the time taken to make food. Making buckeyes related to the nature of learning by implementing subjects within their teachings.

Always Related To Learning Experiences!!

2008-12-01T18:31:00.000-08:00

These captions are some activities that went on at the Baldwin Pumpkin Patch. We ran through a hay maze, the students saw a goat climb up wood, and though the chickens weren't out we imagined the chickens. I gave myself the task to relate these different situations into the context of the subjects that needed to be teached. Such as in the hay maze we used probability and I found other ways to use the hay maze educationally. I found a way to teach each subject by using these three different experiences. It gives you preparation before you have to start making the plans and activities to educate your students. This was an experience that helped me to understand my context better to improve my teaching abilities by finding more ways to help the students understand.

Adventures=Educational

2008-11-30T21:10:00.000-08:00

We related many of our activities to the field trip to the Baldwin Pumpkin Patch. We spent another week after the field trip having activities relating to different aspects of the trip. Our first activity was related to the trip to the creek, we were to imagine our ancestors finding walls built up around where our class was standing. We were to get into groups and discuss what could the walls of been built for, who made them and information about how we knew these facts. I enjoyed our groups decision, we decided to discuss the walls guarding a distillary. We believed it was a illegal room to produce alcohol. We found certain artifacts as a old distillary to recognize that it use to be one. We believed the ancestors of the Baldwin family were the creators of the distillary and gave a history to their family. It was a fun experience to recognize that as a teacher I can have a silly assignment and create it into critical thinking and learning of history. An adventure to a creek turned out to be a creative thinking experience for the students. We need to learn how to turn any situation into a learning situation.

I put this under the Nature of Learning because it has helped me to recognize how I create a better learning environment with my students. It helps to me create better ideas for my students.

Which One To Pick?

2008-11-05T19:55:00.000-08:00

This was the pumpkin picking phase, we rolled and threw the pumpkins just to find the perfect ones! I was the videotographer for most of the time, making footage of finding interesting things to do with rotten pumpkins. My perfect pumpkin seemed to be alot smaller than the other students picks. It was a fun time searching for the pumpkins, diversity came into play searching different sizes and colors of the pumpkins. My pumpkin had different distinct characteristics than the others. I learned that you will find diversity within your teachings as well as your surroundings. I learned to cope with diversity by allowing others to get better pumpkins and me finding a much smaller one that satisfied me. Students and also I will have to learn how to work with diverse situations and this was a very good example dealing with diversity.

Finding the way to Teach!

2008-11-05T19:12:00.000-08:00

In mid October our class went to a pumpkin patch. Our first objective once we got there was to run through the maze and see how many people could run through in one minute. Then the objective was 2 minutes. We got 12 people through the maze the first time and it was a good experiment that led to fun. Some wanted to stay and play in the maze, other classmates wanted to go search for their pumpkin.

This maze showed that you can explain and teach math or probability through a small physical activity by getting the kids moving. I enjoyed the maze run and teaching the different ways to learn.

Chivington Kills Again!

2008-11-05T19:03:00.000-08:00

Our homework assignment for the class was to research about one of the Indian Wars. I chose Sand Creek Massacre and so did two other classmates. We were grouped together the next class period and was given the activity to build a sculpture describing the Sand Creek Massacre. Using the materials we had we were all confused and trying to think of a good idea for a statue. After about 20 minutes passes my classmate noticed a rug on the floor that could represent an indian. She then found a indian baby doll. We then all three chose to make a live human sculpture demonstrating what went on in the massacre. My classmate chose to be the baby indian asleep in her bed and I was John Chivington killer of all Indians. We couldn't find many materials so they dressed me up in blue cloth and had a name tag around my neck to make sure everyone knew. Our statue consisted of me over the sleeping baby Indian about to kill the baby with my gun (which seemed more like a bazooka) we improvised and it turned out well. I enjoyed doing this type of activity because it helps me remember what happened in the Sand Creek Massacre as it might of been different if I would have just read about it. As a teacher I want to give activities to my students to give them examples and exercises to help them remember the subjects. This gave me more of an imagination to use in my teachings helping me learn in the process.

The Green Glue

2008-10-29T18:34:00.000-07:00

There was a learning center set up to mix glue and starch together. We had to do a worksheet of what we thought the outcome would be and I thought it would turn into a hard substance. I put the amount of both substances together and started mixing, after awhile the substance was still runny. I kept using my own ideas by adding alittle starch then adding alittle glue. It took watching what my other classmates were doing to take my substance out of the bowl and mixing it together with my hands. After twenty minutes or so of mixing the glue and starch with my hands it began to starch turning into a slick substance. Others may know it as silly putty, the more you played with it the more it came together. It was a fun and learning experience for the class. Some students put food coloring in their substance and too much food coloring made their silly putty turn runny and they had to start their experiment over. I luckily did not put that much green in mine and was able to come out with the results on my first try.

I believe my classmates and myself helped me succeed in my experiment, helping me to realize the odd things that you can experiment with your students and still come out with the students learning and becoming more creative

Balls and Ramps!!

2008-10-29T18:13:00.000-07:00

This activity was rather difficult to get just right. We had to design our own ramp using the materials we had to create certain length for the ball to roll down the ramp. We had a choice of balls on what to pick that would reach our distance. We had to make a ramp to roll the ball down and reach 6 feet. We chose a ping pong ball and created a ramp that leaned against the wall and we reached around 6 feet but could never get it to stop right on 6 feet. We had complications on getting the ball down the tube and up the ramp because sometimes it would not come out wanting to roll up the ramp. When it came to the showing to the class we had to try it three times just to get it to actually work.

This is an activity where you learn by experience. We were given minor instructions and came up with our own ideas to create what we needed to reach the certain length. Everyone used their own creations to come up with their own designs of ramps.

The Key To Success

2008-10-29T17:29:00.000-07:00

This was the second sketchbook activity that was assigned. The whole class had the object of a key to compare to our teaching methods and how we related to a key. I enjoyed and seemed more at ease with the key than i did with noodles. I related my key to unlocking into new journeys of Berea's philosophy and the hole that connects to a ring relating this to connecting with my students. I believe these sketchbooks help you think more about what you want out of your teachings. It makes me think more about what I want to specifically succeed in my teachings.

Reflection of the key sketchbook makes me progress in my teaching career helping me to understand what I want as a teacher.

COOTIES!!!!

2008-10-23T08:08:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6ylxWcwkUM

This video was presented in class last Thursday and was very comical. The kids were acting like they had an actual disease which is why the video became comical. They all acted serious and acted older than their actual age. I believe they may have been making fun of the actual commercials that gave information about AIDs or STDs and how common it is. It is funny seeing the ways kids will act with the help of older adults guiding them.
I enjoyed having this video as an example in our class, it showed that you can make anything out of nothing by using different approaches. I have never seen a video such as this that was more comical than serious about the subject. It made me want to express my learnings in different ways and maybe have videos or something to the sort to explain a situation to bring more debate in the classroom. Because in this case if someone in the class has our knows of someone with AIDs may have a problem with a video being comical about certain diseases. This would bring up debate and deeper thought into the subject that is being taught.
Technology was used with this experience because the video came from youtube which is on the internet. Technology is something i want to implement in my teachings to keep the students up to date on the new technology.

TACO BAR

2008-10-19T18:24:00.000-07:00

As a class we chose a Sunday for most of the class to meet at our teacher's house for her to cook for us. She chose a taco bar and the food was scrumptous. I personally enjoyed the ice cream and brownies for dessert. It was a enjoyable gathering for us to get to know our classmates at a different level. We were able to converse about things other than class and it was an opportunity to help us learn information for our mid-term exam. This helped me become more comfortable with speaking with other classmates within the classroom. I think this was a smart choice for the teacher to make us feel comfortable around each other, I would like more teachers to be involved such as this.

The Noodle Works the Brain

2008-10-13T21:39:00.000-07:00

This was an activity that was given to us for homework using an object to relate it to ourselves and our teachings. My object was hard colorful noodles, some were broken and different shapes. It actually became alot easier after the practice exercise we did in class. We did the same activity with a different object in class and my object was stick notes. I related my noodles to my teachings as my family being broken but we still have a stronger bond than most families that are still together. I relate this to my teachings because it makes me want to become close with my students as well to make sure they learn all there is to know (or at least as much as I can teach them.) I also relate the noodles to being round which reminds me of sports which is a hereditary aspect in my family. I think being active may help the kids because it keeps them focused and moving and thinking, instead of reading and trying to remember material. Though I still have much more creativeness to open up to I feel this activity was a very good starter. It helps you to think what can really be made out of the simpliest object and the reasoning behind each.
I believe these activities will help me become more prepared with a wider education of what Berea's philosophy is about. Helping me to become more creative, which helps the students become more interested in the subjects that are being taught. I enjoy being taught how to teach in a different learning environment than what I was brought up in.

Presenting The Name Card

2008-10-08T21:58:00.000-07:00

This was a fun experience because it gave me the chance to have a good conversation with my family about my culture in my family. I knew so specific things within my culture but also found some interesting ones as well. It gave me the task to describe my family and help everyone in my classroom know me better as a person. I enjoyed being able to color and make things the way I want them. It helped me overall with opening up about myself sharing things about my family to others. It is a good ice breaker for students that are coming into a new classroom! This activity would help the students feel more comfortable with each other being able to find things in common with each other and finding things they like about others.

Just The Right Height

2008-10-08T21:48:00.000-07:00

This activity demonstrated alot of trial-and-error, the specificity of the activity was minimal therefore many mistakes and failed trials occurred. Our task was to somehow connect a styrofoam bowl to a balloon and have them both float off of the floor equaling the same height as the balloon that was the demonstration. It was fustrating trying to find just enough weight to give gravity the strength to pull it down but light enough to let it come off the floor. Over all trial-and-error helped my partner and I come up with a close calculation of it being in between both requirements. This helped me with realizing children will make mistakes but by trying again it will help you to learn from the experience by failing and trying to succeed with a different approach.

Colorbook of Cinderella

2008-10-08T20:33:00.000-07:00

This was the first day of class and our first activity was seperated into groups of 3 retelling the story of Cinderella. I was confused with our group having the simple task of coloring a short version of the Cinderella story while being quiet and cutting the pieces out and stapling them together. The class came together and presented their tasks. Our group had the less communication and thought put into our activity. As for the other groups that had to draw the story, write and draw the story, or make up a puppet show about Cinderella. I understood what the tactics were after the activities were described and the teacher explained the reasoning for the activity. I feel this will help me in the future with my teachings because it will help me choose what type of learning I want for my students. I would rather them learn by broadening their thinking and giving them more of a creative edge to show how and what they have learned.