Philosophy
My philosophy for this year centers around responsibility. Students will be expected to be responsible for their own actions and choices. Behaviors and skills all center around a student's ability to take control of their actions.
Literacy, math, and reading among the other subjects will all build upon their previous knowledge learned in years past. I will focus on making connections to prior knowledge and real life in order to show students how what they learn is relative to life after school. Students will be in charge of making sure they have all assignments written down in their agendas and will be held accountable for having their work turned in on time. This is a big change from last year for many of the students and will take some time to get used to.
I will also hold myself accountable for my actions. I will be prepared and ready for class everyday. I will strive to be a model citizen for my students in the way I handle classroom situations.
Science and Social Studies in Early Childhood
Science and social studies are two subjects that schools have started to leave out of their curriculum in younger classes. The main focus of early childhood is literacy, rather than a study of science and social studies. many teachers have begun to incorporate science and social studies into literacy and reading classes in the form of non fiction writing. These subjects are important to young students. When introduced at an early age, the subject matter is simple and broad. This is an easy introductory to the subjects for students, many can be overwhelmed when they begin studying these subjects later on because of the amount of material that is presented all at once. I believe that as a future teacher, both of these subjects are vital to a "wholesome" education. It is similar to breakfast, it would be like taking the fruit out and just having cereal and oatmeal everyday. If there is truly not enough time in the day to teach these subjects independently, I would incorporate them into other areas. Non-fiction reading is an important literary genre to study, and these subjects lend themselves completely to that study.
Here is a link for early childhood science resources, it is an article from Young Children journal:
November 15, 2010
Math
Now that we have started multiplication I am asking for your support outside of the classroom to help in the memorization of math facts. Although we practice daily, this is not enough. Students need to also practice at home. Under the Parent Resources tab, I have put a link to Fact Dash. This is a site that gives children the option of 3 different sets of multiplication facts. You can set a timer as well, but to begin do not worry about time, I would rather students know and understand the facts without feeling stressed about time. Students also have flashcards to work with but these need to come to school everyday. I suggest purchasing or making your own set at home, they are also useful in the car. It is imperative that the students know there multiplication facts before we begin division, it will be much easy to understand.
