PBS Teachers!

PBS teachers is a great resource for all teachers to use. They have endless lesson plans, games, videos, and interactive activities for the arts, health and fitness, math, reading and language arts, science and technology, and social studies, in grades pre-K to 12. In addition, they have teacher discussions and professional development resources. This is a website that has resources for students, teachers, and parents, overall it is very informative, and a must have in your bookmarks.


The first thing that I noticed on this website was the fact that they have just about everything that I teach! They have a lot of ideas, all of which are hands on or interactive, not lectures or things boring for students or teacher. Not only do they have ideas, but they also include a lot of familiar characters that students know and relate to, making it more interesting to them. 


Another very useful resource that they offer is a discussion board for teachers. This is a place where teachers can go and ask other teachers for ideas, or help, or just about anything. The other good thing about this is that you can search previous questions that have been asked and see those responses as well. Teachers all need to work together to help educate the future, and this is a good way to help.


There are two things that I found on this website that I absolutely LOVE are an eat right contest, and a  road trip around the country with Wilson and Ditch. The eat right contest reinforces that students eat right, and the class gets money to enhance their class if they win. The road trip has two animals that lead students around the country to major cities, and tell them important facts and show clips of the most popular parts of the city. 


This is a website that I would recommend to any teachers of any experience, subject, or grade. Hope you enjoy it!

Pixton!

Hey class! Today we are going to be learning about both Kenya and Egypt. You will be paired up with another student, and you will both read the comic that I made about Kenya, and discuss it with each other. How is your life different from a child in Kenya's? How is your family different? What do you usually eat at the holidays?

Once you discuss whatever is on your mind, you and your partner will come to me, and I will give you a group number. You will see in the second comic that there are directions for you. You will use my comic as a model, and you and your partner will make one slide for an Egypt comic.

Once everyone finishes, we will put them all together, and you get to teach your classmates and me what you found.

Formative Assessment in the Second Grade Classroom!

Formative assessment and summative assessment to be used together in order for a successful year. Formative assessments can include conferences, journals, observations, and portfolios. Summative assessments include standardized tests, end of unit tests or projects, and course grades. In order to get to a point where the students are taking units tests, or doing projects, there must be formative assessments to get them to that point. 

This year, I am working in a second grade classroom for my internship, and second grade is a great place to be! Compared to older grades, students don't have as much pressure on the with standardized test scores, so as a teacher, there is more opportunities for formative assessment. 


Formative assessment is beneficial for many reasons, and it should be used in all classrooms.  Unlike summative assessment, formative assessment provides instant feedback whenever the teacher needs it. It allows the teacher to know where the students are within the Big Idea that they are teaching, so they can lead their students to success. 


In the second grade, there is not as much emphasis on summative assessments and standardized testing, so teachers really have a bigger opportunity to use more formative assessment. While there should be a good balance of both types, I believe that formative assessment should be used more in the classrooms. It shows students how they are progressing, and doesn't just give them a number to look at, it gives them more feedback to help them grow in the future. It is also easier to vary formative assessment to make it more personalized for an individual student.