Nothing Wrong With Fine Theune'ing Your Education

Last week our EDUC 504 class had the opportunity to talk with David Theune; who is an effective educator.  Although this part of our class was rough to "Theune" in because I had had a long day of student teaching, there was a major point that I did pay attention to; parent involvement.  Mr. Theune and I had engaged in a conversation at the end of his presentation about live streaming a classroom session for parents to be able to view on their laptops or desktops.  For Mr. Theune, bringing parents into the classroom has proven to be rewarding and helpful.  Linking my new obsession with Padlet, I'm seeing a technological world where I have an array of opportunities for parents to be able to be a part of the classroom.  We did read an article in EDUC 695 about Parental Involvement and how it increases student efficacy.  This opportunity for parents will not only help parents feel informed, but it also may bridge conversations for the home between parents and students.  In working in a high school setting, it might not be obvious that parent involvement may aid in student motivation.  I'm hoping in my future endeavors as a teacher that I learn to bridge the classroom with parents using technology.

Padlet 4 Lyfe

Mr.Tedaldi's Chemistry Laboratory

              This week Jeremy, Kelsey, Jessica and Katie showed us how to create and use a Padlet and I'm so glad they did!  I have never heard of Padlet, let alone used it before, and now I think I will use it as the framework for my curriculum.  This website is very easy to use and it's quick to upload pictures, files and videos.  A screenshot of the work in progress is seen above, and the link to my Padlet is below.  There were several templates to choose from, but I preferred the free-form.  All the boxes I created can be moved and placed anywhere.  I think what I might do is first use this a reference for students and parents so they have access to everything we do all the time.  I also posted the Michigan Curriculum Standards for Chemistry and the Next Generation Science Standards that are relevant for beginning teachers today.  For the future, I might make a Padlet for my coursework in the School of Education as a Secondary MAC, and post very useful materials for me, and my fellow educators, to use as a reference.  Thanks guys for showing us this awesome website!  You also did an amazing job at showing the class how to use it too!

Connecting Connections Across Disciplines... Across Disciplines

    I recently had the chance to read Jeremy, Dereks and Sams lesson on BYOD and relating it to real-life, like the court case Plessy v. Ferguson.  (https://docs.google.com/a/umich.edu/document/d/1u_FitXfV6USyQ8DbgK32BGAGEZfMhOpP3Zt3uxzXGgc/edit)

In reading their lesson, it had appeared to me that a tremendous amount of critical thought and connections had gone into this lesson plan, and I can see this lesson plan being effective.  Not only did their lesson plan provide material that would reach their students on BYOD, but it also connected to a recent class topic in EDUC 504.  I really enjoyed how in their lesson plan they related a current topic to a topic that was affluent in 1896.  This showed how history is important because events of the past effect and affect decisions and thinking in the future.  Furthermore, the use of primary sources is also effective, for the English portion, to provide credible sources of information and to expose students to the idea of primary sources.  Without knowing the work that went into this lesson plan, I would say a great deal of effort and strategy went into the planning and surpasses the critical thinking involved in the lesson plan my group composed.  This really has helped me think how I can hit on more standards and opened up a new pathway to teaching chemistry in future high school classrooms.