Thing Four: Your Thoughts Matter

Everyone likes to be heard and know that they have a voice. It’s like what Doug Johnson, creator of The Blue Skunk Blog, says: “ Writers like knowing that they have been read”. This I think is especially true in the blogging community. Here we are able to post about our life and hobbies and allow others to take a glimpse into that particular part of our life. Then the magic begins! People actually start to express an interest in the same things as you and together we are able to begin a relationship amongst one another in this community. As a teacher-in-training I spend a lot of time browsing the web looking for ideas to bring into my future classroom. One thing I am typically bad about is never responding to what I think of others advice or ideas. After reading The Coolcat Teacher Blog, I realized just how important this step is. By commenting I am able to let this person know we think and feel the same way. And who knows, maybe my comment will even spark another interest of theirs. By commenting we are able to start a discussion where multiple parties are then able to grow and feel free to express themselves. This type of connection is what I feel blogging is all about. 


I commented on the following Blogs:
A Summer Full of Technology  here Olivia has some cute images she made using the an image generator. 


Educational Summer tells about how creating a self contract can help motivate students to reach their goals in schools. 


John Collins Teaching Blog  discusses the importance of having a backup plan in case technology fails you unexpectedly. 


Irwin Reclaiming the Classroom  talks about how it's important that students learn to take responsibility for their own learning. 


Guentert's Way to History has some great ideas on how to use Spell with Flickr in the classroom.


Pearls, Handcuffs, and Happy Hour has some delish dinner ideas as well as an some awesome DIY project ideas!

Sailing Through 1st Grade has a synonym lesson you'll go wild for!

Thing Three: How to Beg, Borrow, and Steal

As a teacher-in-training I am taught that it is important to work together with other teachers to borrow and share ideas. I can’t think of to many better ways to do that then by blogging here lately. Blogging is such an amazing tool that allows you to connect with teachers from all over and take a step inside their classrooms. Through the use of a blog you can look up classroom decorating ideas, party ideas, lesson ideas, discipline ideas, incentives, classroom management plans, organization tips, and so so so much more! On many of the teaching blogs I viewed I even noticed where they post a link to their own teachers pay teachers store so that other teachers can purchase their materials they have made for teaching. Talk about a smart way to earn a bonus! Some of my favorite teacher blogs here lately are The First Grade Parade (Her lesson ideas are so creative; any student is sure to love them!), and First Grade Factory (Her back to school ideas are genius and her organization skills are mind blowing!) It’s absolutely mind blowing how much you can use a teaching blog for and best of all you can even use it as a tool to help keep parents informed.

When I am a teacher I would like to create a blog dedicated to reflecting on what has worked for me as a teacher. I want to list what lessons I’ve enjoyed teaching and explain how other teachers can use them as well. I also want to post pictures and tips for classroom organization and management. I think by sharing these ideas it will make me more enthusiastic about teaching, and allow me to strive to constantly seek improvements in myself and my teaching style.

Thing Two: What Are The Wright Things

So what are The Wright Things? The Wright Things is a blog created for an education class. I chose to name my blog The Wright Things because my last name (go figure) is Wright. The “things” are the meat of this class assignment. I will be researching and blogging about 23 resources that can be found online that may be useful to me later as a teacher.

Creating the blog was not that difficult only because I had to create one for a previous education class. For this blog; however, I knew I wanted to take the time to learn how to do some new things. For starters, I looked up blog templates to make it cute. The only trouble I had with this was creating the banner. To do this I had to save the image I wanted to my desktop and open it in paint to add the name of my blog. I found my blog template and banner on the cutest blog on the block. I love it and think it fits my style well. Speaking of style, like the avatar? This was also something I had to create for thing two.  I thought that this was a fun little exercise that shows a nifty little view of me! Creating the avatar was not difficult and did not take long to do. I don’t see where it will used in the classroom or as an educator, but if you have free time it’s something neat to do.

Thing One: What It Takes To Be A Lifelong Learner

The seven and a half habits of lifelong learning:

1.     Begin with end in mind

2.     Accept responsibility for your own learning

3.     View problems as challenges

4.     Have confidence in yourself as a competent effective learner

5.     Create your own learning toolbox

6.     Use technology to your advantage

7.     Teach/mentor others

       7 ½. Play

As a teacher-in-training I expect my future students to learn and grow from year to year. They are to build on past experiences and learn how to problem solve. As they get older they will be expected to be independent learners capable of forming their own thoughts and ideas. To see that these skills are obtained, my future students will need to be capable of becoming lifelong learners. But what does it take to be a lifelong learner?  I never thought about what components went into being a lifelong learner myself until reading the tutorial,  called Seven and 1/2 Habits of Highly Successful Lifelong Learner.

Anytime I start a project I always think about what I want the big picture to be. This was; however, something that took me years to finally coach myself into doing. During high school, when assigned a book report or project, I would typically start off by procrastinating, picking a catchy opening or subject, and then by the middle of my work ( and a few days before being due) I would realize I didn’t have a clue as to what I was working towards. This is why I feel habit one should be stressed to teachers as well as students.  Learning to begin with the end in mind allowed me to learn how to set and achieve any goal that I set in life.

Habit two I feel is very important when working with elementary students. It is important at that age to lay down a solid foundation, and that should start with them knowing that they are responsible for their own work.

Habit three is a difficult one for anyone to keep in mind sometimes-especially me! When faced with a problem I typically seek out retail therapy. But as I get closer to my dream of being a teacher I am learning how to problem solve and research teaching methods needed to solve the problem at hand. So while this is probably the hardest habit for me to follow it is one that is being improved on.

Habit four, unlike habit three, is probably my easiest habit to follow. Being an educator has been my dream since first grade and I am confident that I can do this!

Habit five and six are something that I am constantly trying to build on. I love looking up websites, blogs, and pinterest ideas about teaching.

Habit seven is probably the funniest and most used of all the habits. As a teacher-in-training I constantly try to be a rule model to those around me. I also enjoy helping others and making any moment a teachable one.

Habit seven and a half I believe is the most important. I don’t ever want to get so caught up in the learning process that I forget to make learning, life, and school fun. I want to always take the time to be silly and entertain my students while still being able to teach them the important things in life.