Burns EDU 614

Assistive Technology Assistive technology is assistive, adaptive, and rehabilitative devices for people with disabilities.   I do not have any students with disabilities in my classroom, but I have previously worked in a classroom where many students were non-verbal and their speech therapist made communication books for those students to allow them to communicate. The speech therapist used Boardmaker to create the picture books and I have been exploring boardmaker to make a schedule board of classroom activities and also to assist the one English Language Learner I have in my classroom.   Boardmaker provides innovative software, symbols, pre-made curriculum, and assessment products to empower students to achieve in the classroom and at home.   These are some of the examples of the icons you will see on Boardmaker. The written word is paired with a visual representation of the word. Boardmaker can be used in so many ways in an early...

Classroom Management Classroom management paves the way for the teacher to engage students in learning.  Some of the words that come to mind when I think of classroom management are space, routine, attention, momentum, discipline, and time.  One area that is particularly difficult for young children to grasp is the concept of time. Even though verbal warnings are given before activities end and another one begins, young students just don’t have the capacity to understand how long a minute, five minutes, or an hour really are.   A visual timer is a great tool to introduce into an early childhood classroom.  A visual timer allows students to see the passing of time and allows them to begin to understand just how long five minutes or one hour really is.  Introducing a visual timer into  my classroom is something I have been thinking about for a while now, but as of yet I have not been given the funds to purchase one.  This is why...

Parent Communication/Assessment   ClassDojo “ClassDojo connects teachers with students and parents to build amazing classroom communities” (classdojo.com/#LearnMore).  My daughter’s teacher uses ClassDojo for the purposes of sharing pictures of mystery readers visiting the classroom, sharing science experiments that the children have taken part in, and also for sharing important notices and information with parents.  Our school principal will also post important news for parents as all the K-5 teachers utilize ClassDojo. Although my daughter’s teacher does not take advantage of all that the ClassDojo app has to offer, I like being able to get a small glimpse of what happens in Eloise’s classroom.  When I mention something that was posted on ClassDojo, it is a great way to start a conversation about her day. Otherwise when I ask about her what she did that day, the reply is often, “I don’t remember.” It is easy for parents to set up their acco...

THE STUDENT AS RESEARCHER The easiest way for preschool children to do research is through the use of non-fiction books and hands-on activities.  In our classroom we provide many non-fiction books to support the various themes that are introduced throughout the year.  We also engage in hands-on activities to promote learning. We use a K-W-L (what we know, what we wonder, and what we learned) chart.  This lesson was exploring and learning about apples and parts of apples using our five senses. NON-FICTION BOOKS ABOUT APPLES Children are given time to explore apples including the parts of an apple and use their five senses to describe the apple. Parts of an apple Describing apples using our 5 senses Our class book about apples Reflection: How can my students use technology to do research? o research

Student as Global Citizen The United World Schools Organization defines global citizens as students (and educators) who:  are aware of the wider world, have a sense of their role as a world citizen, respect and value diversity, want to tackle social justice, believe that all children and young people have a right to an education.  Preschool is the perfect time to introduce the concept of global citizen to young children if we want this world to be a better place. How can we begin to teach children about the world around them - not just their own c ommunity - but their ENTIRE WORLD? One way to begin to teach young students about the diversity of people and places in our world is through the Flat Stanley project.  You can find out more about the Flat Stanley project here - Flatstanleyproject.com To begin, the teacher will read the book Flat Stanley by Jeff Brown.   In this story, a bulletin board that hangs over Stanley’s bed falls on to...