Class Meeting Dates

Just to make sure we're all on the same page, I'm giving you an update of when and how we'll be meeting for the next month. As we've discussed in class, the purpose of field experience is to give you a placement to teach your classes for your methods courses. Brenda, Theresa, Lezlie and Leah are working with you on planning and you are reporting to them on how your lesson planning and delivery is going.

My job is to track your hours, give you guidance as needed, and to get feedback from your classroom teachers.

That's why we do not need to meet face to face as a group each week. We do it at the beginning to get you started but then taper off to meeting individually instead, as needed.

Since all of you are teaching different lessons on different subjects at different times, and some of you aren't teaching lessons at all (EDU 298), it works better if we meet individually if and when you need to visit.

So, that being said, there are four Fridays this month and this two of them are holidays (Veteran's Day and Thanksgiving).

• November 4 - I will be communicating with you through email the week ending Nov. 4, confirming hours and discussing the dispositions assessment your teacher is completing for you. We will not meet as a group. I will email every one of you with an update sometime during this week.

• November 11 - Veteran's Day Holiday - No School

• November 18 - Each one of you will be required to schedule a time during the week to meet with me individually.

• November 25 - Thanksgiving Day Holiday - No School

We have 5 weeks left for this semester so finish strong. Have a great week!

Fall 2016: Field Experience Update

Every one of you has made contact with the teacher/mentor, scheduled your time for weekly field placements, and has handed in an overview of the unit and lesson planning requirements you have to complete this semester in all of your methods courses.

The following items are a summary of what we discussed in class yesterday, Friday, Sept. 30:

• Kilreen and Jen - You will start doing your weekly reflections this next week. I will send you a separate email about the specific requirements.
• Margaret, Angela, Marlene, Monique & Dakota - You will not be required to submit a weekly reflection yet because you have not started teaching lessons. I'm going to visit with your methods teachers (Leah, Lezlie, Brenda, Theresa and Sheridan) on Wednesday. If they require you to journal, I won't require the emails, only the reflection piece of your lesson plan. The only reason we emailed reflections last semester is because some of you were not in methods courses. You are all in methods this semester. 
• A reminder again to schedule your Praxis tests. So far Dakota and Marlene have theirs scheduled. As discussed, and posted on the CEDAR blog, you must TAKE these tests before applying for spring semester and you must PASS these tests before applying for student teaching in February, 2017. Except for Kilreen and Jen, the rest of you will be student teaching fall 2017 if you stay on plan.
• Remember we are not meeting next Friday, Oct. 7 at 10 am. We discussed in class on Friday that we didn't have a need to meet as a group, however, you are always able to meet with me individually during the week. 
• If you were not in class this past Friday, you are required to create a list of the planning requirements for each one of your classes. Identify the total number of units and lessons you are required to write for each one of your classes and put them all together on one document (list or table). This is a good way for you to look at the "big picture" planning for the semester so you don't gt overwhelmed. Leah wants copies of this assignment from each one of you so I will share them with her. 

Project Based Learning

As previously mentioned, we're going to spend the second half of the semester discussing instructional planning strategies. The one I want to focus on is project based learning (PBL).

If you’re new to PBL, you might be asking some questions… What is this PBL thing I’ve been hearing about? How do I plan and manage a good project? We're going to begin by watching a few video clips that explain what it is and give specific examples of projects for the elementary classroom.

PBL for Beginners

Great Resource

“WoLakota” implies balance and coming together. The WoLakota project supports students in high-need schools, pairing trained mentor-teachers with new teachers and providing Courage to Teach circles to tend to the ʻheartsʼ of each. Mentors support the embedding of the Oceti Sakowin Essential Understandings (OSEU) into practice, complementing the Common Core. The OSEU address the achievement gap of American Indian students by embracing their identity, and promote cultural understanding among non-native students and teachers. Lakota Elder Dottie LeBeau states, “When we approach teaching with one worldview…we create systems of failure in our schools.” WoLakota closes the circle into a system of understanding and success.

http://www.wolakotaproject.org/

 

Taskstream Portfolios and Other....

We will be logging into our portfolios in class on Friday so be prepared!

Is anyone interested in a field trip to the ND First Nations Day event at the Heritage Center next Friday? The Heritage Center itself is pretty impressive. We'll talk about this in class.

Welcome to Fall 2015!

This blog is intended to keep you updated about things happening in your field placements, as well as for the time we meet each week (the seminar). Be sure to check sign in to follow this blog and keep in touch!

Let's Talk About Professional Behavior in Field Placements

Our first topic in our Professional Behavior series will be about ethics. In class today, we are going to review the North Dakota Educator's Code of Ethics.