EDUC 435 // Bog 2

October 9, 2018

     I can't believe we are half way done with this semester! It is absolutely flying by and we are so close to student teaching.

References to Learning Experiences:
     This month, I completed my Leadership and Collaboration project, and unpacked the NCTCS for our class. You can view my website later on in this blog! I also taught my learning segment for tasks 1-3, and it went well. I just finished my task 2 commentary for peer review with Bailey, and I am now in the process of peer reviewing her task 2. Next, I will be completing my task 3 commentary for peer review. I am so thankful for the opportunity to do a run-through edTPA before doing the real one next semester.
     We are now getting ready for our Hands on Halloween event! I'm so excited, because I really enjoyed being a part of this event last year.

References to Outside Learning and Research:
     This month for my outside research, I read on Edutopia on how to help students build social and emotional skills. This article was written by Randy Taran, and it talks about how educators can teach (and learn themselves) happiness skills! Here's a visual that he includes in his article:

     He explains that we think "If I can just have/do this, I will be happy." Then, we get it, we are immediately happy, and then our happiness fades. Then we want something else that we think will make us happy, only for the cycle to start all over again. Teaching is a profession in which many people get burned out. What better skill and professional development is there than to learn about this "Never Ending Cycle of Desire," recognize how this happens, and find true, lasting joy? Wouldn't it also be really valuable for us to teach our kids the skills of true happiness, too? For example, instead of always wanting it to be Friday, we can teach them that we can be happy on other days of the week too, because we have so much to be happy about.
     Some of the skills that Taran discusses that we can do to help our kids be happier is relaxation and movement. Research shows that these two things are good for the brain and help everyone to be happier. I know that we didn't talk about this in class this month, but when we write our commentaries, we have to write about how we created a positive learning environment for our students. This is because it is important, y'all!

APA citation:
Taran, R. (2012, September 5). Activities to Build Social and Emotional Skills in Elementary Students. Retrieved October 9, 2018, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/sel-for-elementary-school-randy-taran

Learning Experiences related to the NCTCS:
     The Leadership and Collaboration project that we completed this month is really eligned to NCTCS 1, "Teachers demonstrate leadership." This is aligned to this standard because we took the time to gather all the data we could find, analyze it, organize it into charts and graphs, and much more. We familiarized ourselves with our placement schools as much as possible so that we are ready for student teaching. This is us being teacher leaders!
     Unpacking the NCTCS is also related to NCTCS 1 for the same reason, but it is also related to NCTCS 5, "Teachers reflect on their practice." When we make our websites and we connect our standards to our future classrooms, we are reflecting on how we can actually apply these standards and be proficient in them.

✭Here is my NCTCS Examining website I made this month!  https://meganmcdaniel098.wixsite.com/nctcs2c2d

Connections to My Future Classroom:
     I will help my students to be happier by having them do GoNoodles to get moving. I'll have them take brain breaks when I see that they need one, as well. I am a person that needs relaxation and exercise to help keep my stress levels from becoming too much, so I can definitely see how this would help my students. I will continue to familiarize myself with the NCTCS as well, because I want to be the best teacher I can be, and these standards will help me to do that.