First year teachers, Allyson Rutherford, Rebecca Nelson, Lorraine Lopez, Bethany Hendrickson, Kelly Carter, Lauren Medina, and Adriana Soto shared some of their tips and experiences with the Denton cadre. As first year teachers they shared their experiences about topics ranging from interviewing, parent communication, and classroom management. Interviewing was one of the topics that was very informative and enlightening. Tips such as researching the school you are interviewing for, creating a professional website, and being knowledgeable and outspoken about differentiation were found to be very useful. These 7 first year teachers also emphasized the importance of communicating the good behavior and accomplishments of students and not only contacting parents on negative occasions. Technology was also a topic discussed throughout the seminar. Technology seemed to be integrated throughout the teachers’ school day in many forms. Classroom management, reading, interviewing, and organization strategies could all be made more efficient and engaging with the use of technology. Some of the websites mentioned by the teachers included: noodle.com, youtube.com, brainpop.com, weebly.com, getkahoot.com, and raz-kids.com. Lastly the seven teachers were encouraging and stressed that although it’s not easy, it is worth it.
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Cathy Barthelemy is the director of professional development and community programs at the Fort Worth Museum of Science and History. She joined the Denton cadre on March 3, 2015 to provide a professional development seminar about student engagement and effective field trips. She modeled how to effectively engage students by sending a mystery item around the room and we, the Denton cadre, had to use our background knowledge to make a hypothesis of what the item was based on our observations. Needless to say, we were engaged in the activity! Mrs. Barthelemy had us defend our hypothesis and provide evidence. She eventually shared that the item was a bezoar. Don't know what a bezoar is? Neither did the Denton cadre students. She explained that bezoar's are a hard mass of hair and stone found in the stomachs of some animals.
Mrs. Bathelemy then emphasized the importance of having students ask questions and having the students research to find the answers. She suggests that teachers have a bulletin board or "parking lot" for questions. If a student asks a really good question, the teacher may have them write it on a post-it note and place it on the bulletin board. Then if another student finds the answer to the question, they can write the answer on the post it note and sign their name. Mrs. Bathelemy also spoke about the importance of allowing students to work as a group with hands-on materials then allowing the students to teach the rest of the class what they learned. Mrs. Bathelemy was extremely helpful in providing information to keep students engaged in the learning experience while also providing helpful tips and resources to make field trips effective and support student learning. The speaker was Ms. Kimberly Schenck
She has taught in dual language for 6 years, five years in the preschool and children’s ministry, started my teaching journey at Lee in the third grade. She teaches out of the box and loves to see children grow into their potential. The opportunity to acquire a second language is very powerful!
Process for Applying for a Grant
-Search- Google "grants for teachers", "grants for classrooms", etc. -Apply- When you do apply, pay special attention to the maximum number of words or characters for that specific grant. -Apply often- Try around at least once a month. -Apply smart- Don't apply for secondary level grants if you are teaching at an elementary level. - Choose grants that do focus on your students, but also how it could affect the classroom and community for many years to come. Donorschoose.org -Get a teaching job -Teachers decide what they need -Set up an account -Solicit support (facebook, etc.) -Friends, families, interested unknown people contribute -Do good things in your classroom *The things you are asking for need to be tangible because when the money has been raised, they will send you the resources directly. Mr. Gonzales who is the principal at Borman Elementary school took the time to speak with us about “IB” or International Baccalaureate schools. He began the seminar by introducing what it meant to be an International Baccalaureate school, which is a universal educational program for students to help in the globalizing world, while encouraging students to become internationally minded. These types of schools are not only within the younger grade levels. Regardless of their zoning students who have attended an International Baccalaureate school is able to choose if they would rather attend the school they are zoned in or continue their education in a “IB” school within the higher level grades. Prior to listening to Mr. Gonzales at the seminar we had slight knowledge about the extraneous process of becoming and maintaining the International Baccalaureate guidelines. Borman Elementary is currently still in the process of becoming this form of school. If the school continues at the same rate they should be certified at the end of next year. The entire process is extremely expensive and time consuming. With this in mind the school has to make sure that every teacher within the school is on board to make this transformation. To become an “IB” school it could take up to three years to be completely certified and cost each teacher 850 dollars to receive the necessary training. Unlike the traditional form of education the educators teach based upon themes or “IB” attitudes. Their lesson plans consist of planners that the teachers set time aside to plan together as a team. We found it extremely interesting that Mr. Gonzales stated that the only reason they have team leads is because they have to and he believes that everyone should work together in order to plan each lesson. Each planner is divided up into separate ideas or themes. These themes consist of “Who We Are”, “Where We Are in Place and Time”, “How We Express Ourselves”, “How the World Works”, “How We Organize Ourselves”, and “Sharing the Planet”. Each grade level is able to teach whatever planner they would like first in any given order. When the teachers are teaching the lessons to their students it is encouraged to have their classrooms student-centered. The “IB” program rather have students be able to show what they have learned through actions rather than retelling through a paper and pencil. One way they are able to achieve this expectation is through the incorporation of their own e-portfolio. Each student receives their own portfolio online that they are able to access at any time. With this they are able to see what they have created from kindergarten all the way until 12th grade. Mr. Gonzales was able to provide the entire Denton cadre with information that will be extremely useful in our future. We were able to learn about a different way of learning and teaching that many of us did not have any knowledge about. Even though this form of teaching is not solely limited throughout the United States. Countries throughout the world are practicing this form of learning and has proven to be beneficial to students in all academic learning styles. We could not thank the principal at Borman Elementary enough for discussing this form of information with the Denton Cadre. Before entering our RTI seminar we knew what we had learned in our college classes. After leaving we were shown information that a true expert shared with us. Ann Buinger had insight and made us think more about what RTI truly was and how it worked. We learned a lot of new things that fell into each Tier and I feel we can used them in our future classrooms.
One thing that stuck out in particular were the numerous tools available for helping students learn and relearn. Beyond this, the idea of continuing intervention with a student by communicating from grade level to grade level emphasized the importance of cooperation and collaboration among staff members. As the student moves along to the next grade level, he or she may still need certain accommodations or tools in order to continue progressing. If these needs aren't passed along, the process would have to start all over from the beginning, thus delaying the students opportunity to move closer to their academic goals. Lastly, perhaps the most important thing that was mentioned, concerning our individual responsibilities as teachers, is the need for documentation. In order to help give students what they need, there must be evidence of a need. Without any kind of documentation, it would not be just to give a student extra help because their is no reasoning behind it that can be shown. Matt Preston took the time to talk to the Denton Cadre interns about what to do and what not to do during the interviewing process. The seminar started by Mr. Preston discussing how to build a professional resume. We learned that it is important to get creative, while being professional, in order to set you apart. Mr. Preston presented us with two examples where teachers had used the internet to set up professional websites. The presentation then turned to the topic of doing your research on the school, district, and commonly used terms before going into your interview.
Mr. Preston also discussed the best practices during an interview which included being yourself, being prepared, and having a portfolio ready. Some other “during” tips presented were do not chew gum, have a couple questions ready to ask the interview committee, make eye contact, and to remember the names of the interview committee members. During this section Mr. Preston took the time to answer some questions from the interns. The last section of the presentation was spent on what to do after the interview. The first tip Mr. Preston told us was to write a thank you note right away to each of the committee members. He told us not to wait because you might forget the names of the committee members or even forget to write the thank you notes. One of the top tips given by Mr. Preston was to wait and be patient about hearing back about the position. He also told us to apply for multiple positions not just one. Mr. Preston also told us to always maintain professionalism before, after, and during the interview position. The most important advice given to the Denton Cadre Interns at this seminar is to NOT GIVE UP! |