Summer Checklist

This blog post is a result from the blog assignment I received. In just a short few short months I will be moving into my dorm at Texas A&M in College Station. I move in August 24 and my first day of class is September 1.

To Do List:

• Send in TCC English transcript
• Send in final transcript
• Get meningitis shot
• June 3-4: New Student Conference
• Rent refrigerator and microwave
• May 21: Register for Fish Camp
• Buy sports pass (for athletic events all year long)
• School supplies (folders, binders, pens, pencils, etc.)
• Dorm supplies (sheets, pillows, curtains, food, 
• Bathroom supplies (shampoo, towels, toilet paper, cleaning supplies)

Thankfully, there are multiple links (Target's checklist) that have lists of things to bring to college.

The aspect I am looking most forward to after graduation is finally getting to experience the A&M traditions. I come from a high school that has rare pride in our school and everyone says negative things about it, so to be part of a school that is so proud to be an Aggie and wear a ring to show that, is what I have always wanted. The aspect I am not looking forward to is leaving my parents and the rest of my family and friends behind. I rely on my parents a lot, so this will be a big adjustment. 

Teacher of the Year: Jeff Charbonneau

2013 National Teacher of the Year, Jeff Charbonneau stated "there is no such think as a bad student,"and I could not agree more.
I personally connected with Carbonneau with his passion for yearbook, and desire to be heavily involved. At the Future Educators Association national conference, Charbonneau told us how he is involved a yearbook advisor, a class advisor, a drama advisor, and numerous other things.

Characteristics I believe that Charbonneau would present would be empathy and woo. He states that "When my students walk through the door, I seek the positive in them first." He always creates a positive learning atmosphere, and sees the importance in teaching the next generation.

A question I would ask Charbonneau if I had the opportunity would be how he is mentally, emotionally and physically involved in so many clubs/organizations? In my high school, I am editor-in-chief of the Haltom yearbook, treasurer of National Honor Society, and also a member of National Technical Honor Society, Texas Association of Future Educators, Future Educator Association, Haltom Herders, and Student Council. It can be very overwhelming at times when I have something to do in multiple clubs all on the same day. I appreciate people like Jeff Charbonneau who are giving the students a way to use/show their talents.


To put anything in six words is hard enough, but to give advice in six words to future teachers I would say "Never give up on your students." I know some days will be tortures and I might punch a hole through my chalk board like Dan Brown or assign more math problems to get my students to be quiet on Halloween like Roxanna Elden. I am also saying the same to my students to never give up on me as their teacher.

If I were to become 2030 Teacher of the Year and was asked "How do you help all students succeed in your classroom," I would respond by saying "by believing in them." All students need is for someone to be there and support them and assure them that they have unlimited potential.

Response to Book Study

I was recently asked to do a book study. The book is called 32 Third Graders and One Class Bunny. We are asked to read certain sections, and then comment a personal story that relates to the reading. Here is the link to this weeks, I hope you enjoy it!

My response was:
One day, everything was going along just as normal, until I turn my back for one second and I find a student throwing up all over his school box, chair, on the floor, and on the rug next to him! Mrs. Smith and I quickly scrambled for a trash can! I’m just glad it didn’t get on the students around him. The students acted as if it was a movie. They couldn’t stop staring at him and discussing to one another about when and where they had thrown up. It was quite a distraction and took a chunk of my time away from working with the students. I ran to the nurses, and then had to find a janitor to come clean and lysol everything down. I quickly tried to persuade the kids to not look at him and sit in their chairs quietly. They eventually did after he left to go home. Poor kid, I would be mortified if that happened to me.

My Plans for the New Year

As the New Year rang in, I was questioned in my blog assignment with what I will do with my fresh start for the spring semester. This is a really crucial time for me as it is my last semester in high school. I came up with three goals I plan to keep up with throughout the year.

• My first goal is to receive $5000 in scholarship money by filling out at least two scholarships out every week. I have filled out Texas A&M's scholarships, but will not receive a information about it until March. This is so important to me because my family is a single-family income, and I have three younger brothers who have to go to college after me. Every paycheck goes straight into my college funds, to help my parents pay for my college. 

• My second goal is to read one book a month. People who read more, know more. I hate reading and am the slowest reader you'll ever meet, but practice will only make me faster. It will especially help me when I go off to college and have to read 50 pages a night.

• My third goal is to limit myself to one sweet a day, drink more water, and get a gym membership and work out at least twice a week. I just want to get into a healthy life styles, especially as I go off to college and do not want the freshman 15!

What Class Should All School's Teach but Don't?

After viewing the slide show of the different classes that should be taught but aren't. I came to the conclusion that Personal Finance should be taught in school. I feel this way because we are going out into the world with no knowledge to

• manage money
• manage payments
• mortgage rates
• insurance 
• ways to save and invest money

We leave high school to grow up and go to college, and do not know how to manage our money. Unlike calculus, that some people may or may not use in their future, finance is something that we will all have to deal with the rest of our lives. The most valuable lessons should be taught.

In high school, I wish I could have taken Human Growth and Development at my school, BCTAL. It would have been very valuable to my job because I work with 5 years old and below. This class would teach me about the lifespan of humans, specifically physical, cognitive, emotional and social development. I also think that knowing the development of children would be helpful when I have my own children and students. 

An Adventure for Kindergarteners at the Perot

On December 4th my Education and Training class took a trip to the Perot Museum of Nature and Science in Dallas. From this field trip I had to create a lesson that would pertain to my kindergarten class. I created a lesson about relating states of matter to weather, and which weather is for what season. I also included other assignments that could go along with this lesson.

This link below is a link to the lesson I created on Prezi.
http://prezi.com/wse2ivtov6cs/?utm_campaign=share&utm_medium=copy

Reframe This Situation

I chose scenario 1 from my blog assignment. This scenario asks how I would change the situation if I missed the bus because I went out to lunch. My boyfriend took me to my field site, and when the class was over I went back to their main campus on the school bus. I asked my classmates not to tell my teacher since no harm was done.

I would reframe the situation by contacting my teacher and telling her that I missed the bus. By doing this I am informing her and not putting my classmates in an uncomfortable situation by keeping my secret. My teacher would tell me how to resolve the problem when I notified her.

I have personally been put in this situation with a fellow classmate. I notified my teacher because I will not allow someone to throw away the gracious opportunity we have to be at a field site. Our teacher is relying on us to be there, so it is never acceptable for little things like missing the bus to not be there.

This video is about how to reframe difficult situations. 

How My Digital Footprint Will Affect My Future

Abba's Story, which was introduced to me in my blog assignment was brought to our attention because as teachers we have to take into consideration we are having administration, principals other teachers, and parents evaluate us. Not only by our skills of educating students but also by what is on our social media.

Abba brought up many points, but he said "I feel like there's nothing there that brings me down" because he has always been very cautious of what he post. If someone did see it, they would like him more because they would see all the dedication he puts in with his family and the things he is involved in.

I believe what is on your social media, truly describes who you are. Yes, we all might slip up sometimes and do the wrong thing, but it is those who do not care that post about anything constantly that will be affected negatively in the end. If you are involved in an organization at school you are more aware of what you post, but those who are not involved are more likely to post inappropriate things that will eventually affect them. You should only post things that you know will not jeopardize anything for you.

Every time you press publish or post on social media, it is out there forever. There is no taking it back. Many times people post things without even thinking about the consequences that may follow. When actually you should be questioning yourself, will this affect me getting into a college? Would I post this if I knew my parents would be viewing it? People should present themselves as if they had someone evaluating them at all moments. People make an opinion in three seconds about how they feel about you, so do not let them read something that ruins all chances for you.

This website includes multiple reasons why social media can be harmful to you. If you are doubting that it will come back to haunt you.

Your digital footprint truly determines your future.

Welcome To My Blog

Hello, this is Abigail Sena again. I am back in Education and Training to begin my second year as an Intern. Last years experiences in my kindergarten class was remarkable, and I can not wait to be in a classroom again working with students and watching them understand everything I teach them.

Reflection: If I Could Do It All Over Again

As I walked into the classroom I was so nervous. I did not know how the students would react to having another teacher in the classroom or if I would impress Mrs. Smith. I had numerous worries weighing upon me.

After being in the classroom nearly an entire school year the teaching profession grew on me more than I could have imaged.

Having the opportunity to work in a classroom and provide guidance for the students and watch them grow throughout the year was unforgettable. The children were so welcoming and would always come to me for help. Hearing them greet me with "Ms. Sena" and never being able to leave without a hug from everything was very
special. It made me feel very essential to their learning habits.

I brought closure to this year by running the classroom. It was the only day out of all of the days I was there that Mrs. Smith was absent. The children came to me for everything, and I had to help the sub numerous times to show her how our classroom ran. It was everything I had learned was put into place that last day.

The last day I was in the classroom, Mrs. Smith came in from her meeting for a while and they all gave me a card they had wrote and colored by themselves. soon following was a group hug were I was brought to tears. Mrs. Smith also wrote me a card begging me to come back next year and saying I was the best intern she had ever had. This truly was very inspirational of all my hard work. I was very honored. I became so attached, so to tell them I would not be coming back was very emotional. I will always look back at my cards and class photo.

Classroom Management

If I would become a new Education and Training teacher I would change some of the rules, specifically, transportation guidelines for field site travel.

Students driving to other campuses or to go off school for lunch has always been a debate. If the school board gives students the opportunity to drive to the school, why not anywhere else? I understand it gives them more opportunities to disregard the rules, but it is also giving them how to respond to this freedom and better prepare themselves for college.

Being in the morning classes, some students in my group do not have a first period and are rarely not late to the bus. In their case, I believe that it is ridiculous to live right next to their field site, but still have to drive to their high school and then ride the bus back to their field site. This effects me because it makes me continuously late to my classroom there and back. The most important thing to me is spending the most time with my students, and the bus travel and waiting time is limiting that.

My rule would be to change to change the restriction of the interns driving their cars. Personally for me, this gives me about ten extra minutes. Those ten minutes can be a student understanding something for the first time. Time is very valuable in a classroom. This would also limit the number of buses we would need to reserve and pay for.

The restrictions would be put in place if the students are taken advantage of this freedom by being late and going to get donuts. Their punishment would be provoking their freedom to drive and make them ride the bus.

Select a TEKS and Corresponding Activity

I choose a TEKS for Kindergarten from visiting the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for your class on the Texas Education Agency website (http://www.tea.state.tx.us). I choose:

(K.9) Geometry and spatial reasoning. The student recognizes attributes of two- and three-dimensional geometric figures. The student is expected to: 

(B) recognize shapes in real-life three-dimensional geometric figures or models of three- dimensional geometric figures; and


 

Math Geometry app on iTunes for Ipad is great because it tests the students on numerous geometry subjects, but in this case specifically 3D Shapes and their properties. This can show the teacher what they need to review over again or it can be counted as an actual test. The features allow you to choose how many questions and different types of questions.

In My Opinion- The Best Virtual Field Trip

As the end of the year comes along, many dates change because of testing. If our class field trip was taken away from us, I selected a virtual field trip from an eSchools News article. I chose to do a White House virtual tour.





My class has virtually toured other president's homes, such as George Washington's Mount Vernon house in Virginia. I also choose this because it is in the kindergarten TEKS to learn about the historical symbols, such as monuments and historical figures. The week before spring break they were learning about this subject, and during spring break I was fortunately was able to go to Washington, D.C. and bring back pictures, postcards, and numerous other objects over the subject to reveal to my students. They loved everything I brought back, and it got to see each room of The White House on a card, so this will only help them imagine it better.

The features I like the tour because it shows numerous rooms on each of the 6 areas of The White House. Each room has a description and a picture or a video of a specific event that happened in that room. 

The students will learn:

• About the current and past Presidents
• The history behind each room
• The significance of each room 
• Holiday traditions

How Do We Keep Our Students Safe and Secure During school?

After watching this weeks president's weekly address with, for the first time a civilian, Francine Wheeler, mother of six-year-old Ben Wheeler who was tragically killed in the Sandy Hook shooting. She was encouraging the people to push for stronger gun control.

You make watch the video at: Sandy Hook Victim’s Mother Calls for Commonsense Gun Responsibility Reforms

As I support the Second Amendment, the right to bear arms, I am completely against the idea of putting guns in the hands of teachers. This puts immense responsibility and a potential liability on the teachers. Even though, with the numerous school shootings this has become a close debate. This would be putting the everyone in more danger.



Gun reforms necessarily will not help the situation. These people who are planning on attacking already have guns supplied, and if they don't they will always find a way around it to get what they need. The only way to prevent the outbreaks of shooting is to provide high security. Most of the people doing this are just driving by (Columbine High School Massacre in 1999), rarely do these people ever go into the school unless it is a student doing it (Virginia Tech Massacre in 2007).

Legislator Proposes Having Teachers Carry Guns also happened in 2006. It was obviously discussed and unapproved or else teacher would be concealing their guns. It overall is not safe. Let professionally, trained people secure the school and leave educating the students to the teachers.

Teacher Toolbox Featuring Glogster

I created a glog on Glogster  that is about Social Studies; specifically coins, presidents, and patriotism. It includes pictures, videos, and examples of patriotism. It also includes a activity of money bingo, and a online game, Learning Coins.

Defending My Decision to Teach

People might say becoming a teacher is insane, though I tend to disagree. Although sometimes it can be difficult and frustrating, I don't know a person who has more life or meaning to their job. I've had a passion since kindergarten to be a teacher. Thankfully I have been receiving opportunity to fulfill my passion by being an intern in a kindergarten class. It has been a true blessing, and has only accelerated my dream for becoming a teacher. I would have to thank Mrs. Kallas and Mrs. Smith for that.

•  I want to become a teacher to make a difference in my student's life. Life isn't the easiest, and to build a relationship with my students and relate to them will build a connection. In the movie Freedom Writers, the children did not respect the teacher until she related and dedicated herself to learning the student's life style.

• I want to become a teacher to watch my student's succeed. To watch them grow educationally from knowing very little to have the brain of Einstein. Watching students throughout the year will create me to be more inspired. Testing my students each six weeks and seeing them know more and more lets me see that I really am making an educational impact on them.

• I want to be a teacher because I want to affect student's future. To have them come back to me with stories of achievement expressing that I helped them get to where they are today. I go back to my favorite teachers that I created a relationship with and express to them my success and see how proud of me they are. It a different feeling coming from a parent compared to a teacher.

If you are questioning whether or not to become a teacher like I had to answer when received my blog assignment, maybe these resources will help you come to a conclusive decision.                                            

•  Top Reasons To Become A Teacher
•  10 Reasons To Become A Teacher
•  50 Reasons To Love Your Job

Am I a procrastinator?

With the New Year just behind the corner, most people created resolutions to make them better at a particular thing. Was one of them to stop being a procrastinator?

The reason I procrastinate is poor time management. Procrastination means not managing time wisely. You may be uncertain of your priorities, goals and objectives. You may also be overwhelmed with the task. As a result, you keep putting off your academic assignments for a later date, or spending a great deal of time with your friends and social activities (Facebook), or worrying about your upcoming examination, class project and papers rather than completing them. I believe this is also the reason 90% of people procrastinate.

For improving my seldom procrastination, I would study in small blocks instead of long time periods. For example, you will accomplish more if you study/work in 60 minute blocks and take frequent 10 minute breaks in between, than if you study/work for 2-3 hours straight, with no breaks. Reward yourself after you complete a task.

Other useful links to help answer your questions about procrastination: 

• Overcoming Procrastination 
• Psych Basics- Procrastination
• Later by James Surowiecko
• Procrastinator Pictures

  
  

  
  

My Favorite Internet Teaching Resource(s)

As I begin to plan lessons for my kindergarten class, I began to use this website to find creative lessons for numerous subjects.

• The websites include a variety of many technology devices, but more foldable and reading assignments.
• This website is so outstanding because there is so many lessons and ideas.
• I selected this because these blogs only apply to my subject level.
• There are free lessons, resources, and crafts available for free.
• Certain blogs provide other helpful blogs that include management, strategies, and tips for teaching.
• It is suited for younger education, Pre-K, Kindergarden, and 1st Grade.

Virtual Field Trip

My Virtual Feild Trip I created for my kindergarten students is to go to the zoo to provide a hands on experience about learning the behaviors of the animals for Science. I provided materials essential to meeting the requirements to go on a field trip.

Field Trips are Fun and Educational

Do you ever feel like students actually learn from going on a field trip? There are actually many numerous field trips that students can learn from and not just have fun. It is difficult for students to retain information in a sitting down environment everyday for many hours. Field trips allow students to have a:

• Hands on experience instead of a classroom lesson 
• Students have a deeper understanding of the lesson 
• No matter the student's learning style, they are all engaged

In my opinion, a field trip is only educational if the students and teachers make it. Teachers need to make an assignment/activity for the students to do before, while, or after the field trip. It needs to be relevant, and the students need to gain something from it.