Ms. Allen's All-Star Academy: January 2012

Jan 27, 2012

Welcome to Ms. Allen’s All-Star Academy

Outside of the realm of our personal school, I feel as though it is important for my class to have an identity of its own. This class blog will allow students a sense of pride and cohesiveness among themselves as soon as they cross the threshold into the land of reciprocating academia.

I refer to my personal classroom and blog as an All-star Academy because it is an environment in which contributors (students, parents, teachers, and any other individual interested in academics) will be aided in molding themselves into outstanding performers and conversers in all aspects of education and life. The goal is to promote a healthy, nonjudgmental environment where contributors can ask the importance of as well as showcase their interpretation of the importance of certain subjects. This will also allow them the chance to assess whether or not they truly understand topics within education.

Oftentimes, students value the opinions that come from their peers and notable individuals more than that of their parents or teachers when it comes to why certain concepts are important to master. Therefore, this blog is not limited to the ideas of parents, students, and teachers. It is an open platform for any individual within our communities or realms of education to voice their opinion and reflect on the opinion of others and the answers to why certain concepts are important to understand. It is also an opportunity for contributors to share testimonials on how learning these things have helped the development of their character. Welcome to Ms. Allen's All-star Academy!

Related Link(s)
Moving a Community Forward
Home-School-Community Partnerships

Technology in the Classroom (Ms. Allen's Opinion)

In my opinion, supporting learning with technology is a skill that every educator should posses. I believe that the most important thing that a teacher should know about supporting learning with technology is that the technology should be used to support learning; they should be familiar with this because if technology is the sole factor in the student’s learning it is no longer functioning as a supporting agent but rather the only agent and therefore, there is no dyer need for an instructor. Yet, I believe that human interaction is important in acquiring knowledge because it gives the pupil an opportunity to assess how well they have acquired the knowledge and to showcase the acquired knowledge for feedback. I believe that teachers should know how to incorporate technology in their lessons consistently. If a teacher uses technology in their lesson infrequently, that defeats the purpose of integrating technology in the classroom as a whole.

I believe that technology should play a vital role in education because it is the wave of the future. If we want our students to be successful, we should equip them with the knowledge and skills that the mainstream of individuals will be required to possess in order to be successful. Also, since most students are familiar with, and entertained by, the technological advances of our society incorporating such advances in their education may keep them more engaged and eager to learn.

Related Link(s)
Integrating Technology in the Classroom
Effects of Technology on Classrooms and students
Technology Tips for Classroom Teachers

Related Video(s)

Jan 26, 2012

Collaborative Learning Project- Edible Animal Cell

Collaborative learning can be defined as a situation in which two or more people learn, or attempt to learn something together. One collaborative learning project that I could incorporate into my classroom would to allow the students to pick partners and to create an edible animal cell. This project would allow the students to collaborate on what type of cake or gelatin they would like to use as well as what different types of candy they would want to represent the different organelles of the cell. By spending time on this project, both students will be able to visually recall the placement and shape of the different organelles, while their creative and tasteful juices flow!

Related Link(s):
Animal Cell Functions and Pictures

Related Video(s):

Why Learn Math Vocabulary Words?

Some individuals may hold the opinion that since mathematics deals with numbers it is not of importance for students to learn mathematics vocabulary words. Younger children especially find difficulty behind the rationale of integrating vocabulary into mathematics. Technically, the term mathematics is defined as the study of measurement, properties, and relationships of quantities and sets, using numbers and symbols. While arithmetic is defined as a branch of mathematics dealing with the properties and manipulations of numbers. Arithmetic is what can be considered as “dealing with numbers”. Within these two varying definitions, there are mathematical terms that are difficult to define within themselves, causing for the entire definition of mathematics or arithmetic to seem arduous to understand. Yet, with the background knowledge of the other mathematical terms, (quantities, sets, etc.) the definition of mathematics and arithmetic are not as complex.

Also, mathematics could be seen and considered as a science as well as a language. Being “fluent” in the “language” will enhance the students overall understanding of concepts. With this found understanding, students are no longer just completing different computations to solve problems, put they understand why they are taking certain steps to complete the computations. Being affluent in mathematical terminology gives students a better chance of executing problems correctly. Because they understand what is being asked of them, they can then act accordingly in performing the necessary calculation. Being able to read and understand mathematical concepts also aids students in their ability to correctly understand mathematical content.

With the progression in the realm of mathematics it becomes more than just manipulating numbers, it turns into how to solve real life problems and how to think critically. Therefore, equally important to understanding mathematical terminology is understanding the context in which the terminology is being used. It does no good to recognize a definition, if you do not understand how to integrate that definition into a math problem.