Math & Science Bulletin Boards

I was very fortunate that this semester I was able to actively participate, bringing in many of my own ideas into the curriculum.  My cooperative teacher liked my ideas so much that many of the things I brought in are now posted on the walls, such as place value hints for decimals and large numbers (on chart paper), and two bulletin boards.

One bulletin board was for math (and incorporated social studies) with the presidential election (and our class prediction was right!).  We learned about the electoral college, watched a BrainPop video, and learned how to convert fractions to percentages.  On the bulletin we included our essential questions, a map of the United States according to what was predicted would happen in the election, and we payed special attention to ’swing’ states.  Students created a class book in which their written responses were documented and displayed on our board.

The other bulletin board was for science.  The students were ecstatic about this lesson because they got to make ice cream!  We talked about why we use salt when it snows outside and brought that connection to why we would use salt to make ice cream.  When salt comes into contact with ice, the freezing point of the ice is lowered.  By lowering the temperature at which ice is frozen, we are able to create an environment in which the milk mixture can freeze into ice cream.  The class was split into 9 groups of 3.  Some groups were successful in making ice cream, one group looked like it was straight out of a freezer, and others had smushy ice cream, and a few had milkshakes.  We then discussed why some groups ice cream turned out better and came up with ideas such as: the groups that were successful had more ice, shook their ZipLoc bags faster and non-stop.  This lesson turned out great, got everyone involved, and allowed students to be actively involved and excited to see what the outcome would be.

Electoral College

Math and Social Studies Interdisciplinary lesson on Electoral Votes

Student Sample in Class Book

Converting fractions to percentages

Science Lesson: Physical vs. Chemical changes

Finished product: ice cream!

Teaching Assistant for college-level course

For this upcoming winter session, between the fall and spring semester, I was just offered a job/internship as a teacher’s assistant.  This is for a college level course — teaching college level students mathematics who have difficulty in this subject area, who plan on becoming elementary school teachers.  I think this is really exciting and hope that I can partake on this “job,” just as long as it does not interfere with student teaching.

Kappa Delta Pi, Theta Beta Chapter

I was just accepted into the Theta Beta Chapter of Kappa Delta Pi, a merit-based educational honor society.  I was so happy when I received my letter this morning saying I, along with four others, have been inducted into this honor society.  By being a part of this organization a lot of leadership opportunities will be presented as well as many opportunities to get involved in community service events — which was my number one reason for joining.

I am very happy that I get to participate in the following activities this month:

• collecting and donating cans of food for a local soup kitchen for Thanksgiving
• participating in Hempstead Boys and Girls Club (and donating children’s books)

Through this organization, even before I was accepted, I participated in “The Walk Now For Autism.”  By participating in these community service endeavors I feel so accomplished and am left wanting to help more.  I look forward to these events in the upcoming weeks and future ones as well.

Vote November 4th!

This Tuesday is Election Day!  Go out and VOTE!

…and the Results are in!  Watch President-Elect Barack Obama’s Victory Speech Here.

This past week

This semester I have been very fortunate to have a lot of teaching experience in the classroom.  I’ve been able to share with students my experience during the last presidential debate (which was held at the university I attend), create a math bulletin board inside the classroom incorporating the electoral vote state representation allowing students to predict what candidate has the best chance of winning (using fractions and percentages).  This activity was so exciting for the students and they were all so eager to know who I plan to vote for in the upcoming election.  My social studies professor from last semester had told me that it was okay for students to know who you plan to vote for, as long as they had reviewed each candidate and made a decision for themselves.  Well, all the students at MLK want Senator Barack Obama to become the next President of the United States, and many look up to him as a role model.  Although I am an Obama supporter, I feel that even if I told them I was a McCain supporter, there beliefs are set in stone, so I did in fact tell them who I am supporting.  Also, while presenting this lesson, I used a BrainPOP video which I found both informative and attention-catching: http://www.brainpop.com/socialstudies/usgovernmentandlaw/presidentialelection/ (although you have to be a member to use BrainPOP this is one of their free videos).

This semester I have been attending a lot of Career Center workshops in preparation for landing a job in September.  The most recent one that I attended was “Creating a Portfolio.”  So many people have been uneasy when it comes to this category of a job interview because some school districts do not want to be bothered with one because they simply do not have the time to look through it.  Others are all about the portfolio and want to visually see proof of the things you talk about on the interview.  However, not knowing what you will encounter makes this process tricky, especially since you are expected to put a lot of time and effort into not only a tangible portfolio, but an electronic one as well, you want everyone to see it.

Last Tuesday, I attended a science materials exhibit at The Carltun in Eisenhower Park, SCIMEX 2008.  It was  held by the Long Island Science Education Leadership Association, Inc. and it was very interesting to see the different sorts of textbooks that are out there for classrooms.  There was a lot of state preparation books and a good amount of literature in the science content.  I was able to pick up a science workbook “Measuring Up” for Grade 5, and a math workbook for grade 5.  The thing I did not like about these workbooks was that it did not have any hands-on experiences or suggestions for such.  It was simply reading and answering questions.  However, I do like that it simplified a whole textbook and put in the necessary information for the New York State testing so students can focus in on what is necessary, and then learn through real-life contexts.  The material that I liked the most was a free sampler incorporating literature and science.

I wish that these kinds of events were more well-known to the public.  If teachers knew they could attend these events and possibly receive some free materials, I think just about every teacher would attend.  I do however wish that the vendors were a little more friendly to those who visited their stations — many were uneasy about giving away their materials.