Parents

I think that a very important aspect of a successful classroom is keeping the parents of the students satisfied. Every parent wants to see that their daughter or son is constantly learning new things and that he or she is taking something away from class on a daily basis.

I think that a good way to keep the parents "in the loop" is to send home a weekly news letter. At the beginning of each week, the teacher can send each student home with a news letter summarizing what was learned during the previous week, and break down what will be learned e
ach day during the current week. They could list the in-class assignments, homework, and maybe some extra activities that the parents can work on with the students if the student is still struggling or wants a little bit of extra practice.

As a teacher, another way to keep the parents of your students satisfied is to provide them with your email. By doing this, the parents can contact the teacher whenever they need to with questions about the class, their child's grade(s), and any other questions or concerns that they may have. The teacher should always be available to not only the students, but also the parents of the students. If a parent wants to meet with a teacher after school, then the teacher should make herself available to meet with this parent and address the issue(s).

I remember when I was in elementary school, that we had open houses once each term. During the open house, my parents were able to come to my classroom and see what I had been working on throughout the term. After they viewed my portfolio and all of my work, they were able to have an individual meeting with my teacher discussing my progress and any concerns that either my teacher or my parents had for me. I think that this was helpful for my parents because by the time I got home from school everyday, the last thing that I wanted to talk about was what I did in school that day. At that point, I was ready to kick my shoes off and relax!

Classroom Management

Every teacher needs to be able to manage their classroom. Organization is an important component to this. Teachers should have an organized classroom, with an organized schedule. Students should be able to find a schedule somewhere in the classroom that lays out the day's activities. The teacher needs to be sure to make it clear to the students that she is the teacher. She is the one in charge of the class, not them. There should also be a place in the classroom where the class rules are posted, giving each student the opportunity to follow these rules. There should be consequences for breaking the rules and rewards for following them. Just because the rules are created for the students does not mean that the teacher should not have to follow them. If a teacher expects her students to treat each other with respect and to treat her with respect, then the students can expect to be treated with respect from the teacher.

They key to success in a classroom is proper management and organization. Students can help teachers with this by following whichever system(s) the teacher may have in place for the classroom. The teacher and her students should work together to create a positive working and learning environment for everyone. Everything in a classroom effects the next thing, so it is important that the teacher stays organized and on track with her own things, in addition to the progress of each student.

I remember when I was in high school, I took an advanced math class because I had always done very well in math. My teacher that year was a first time teacher in my town, but he had worked in a nearby town the year before. The reason he did not work in that other town anymore was because he got fired because he had no classroom management skills and did not teach his classes to the best of his ability. When he got to my school, the same thing happened. He would write something on the board, not explain it, and move on. He had no method for teaching or grading, he would not stay after with students, he did not go through the different methods in the book in order, and caused problems for many of the students. This was really frustrating to many students because it was extremely difficult to learn in his classroom and we basically had to teach everything to ourselves at home.

As a future teacher, I want to be able to have visuals all around my classroom for my students. I want to have a clean, organized classroom that creates a positive learning environment for each and every one of my students. I think that it would be a good idea to have a list of rules on the wall, and for each student to have some type of reward system for following the rules. I also think that it is important that I make myself available to my students and that I come to class prepared to answer questions that the students might have. Since everyone learns differently, I think that it is important to be able to assist each student in his or her own personal needs. There should be resources such as books and technology in the classroom for students to use, and the classroom should be inviting.

My Ed. Tech Experience (K-12)

As I advanced grade to grade in my town, I began seeing more and more technology in my schools. When I was in elementary school, we did not see much of technology in the classrooms. There was one or two computers per classroom, but usually we were not allowed to use them. When I was in elementary school, my town was building a new middle school, which was super exiting for everyone! In the new middle school, there was computer labs and a library full of computers. In the computer labs, courses were offered to teach students how to use the different Microsoft applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, etc. There was also a typing course which allowed students to type quickly and efficiently without looking at the keyboard. This was awesome for us because we did not see much technology in the schools before this and we knew that eventually technology would play a major role in the way we teach and learn. I was nervous and did not know what to expect going into high school - I knew that there would be a lot of work, but did not know how much there would truly be. I was prepared to do many assignments on and off of my computer from both the classroom and school and that is what we did. Every department at my school had a laptop cart and we got to use these whenever we needed to in our classrooms. Our classes also took trips to the library to use the computers that were there. There is a graphic design course and a computer literacy course offered at my high school to show students how much you can do with technology.

As I got older and moved through the school system, I noticed that teachers stopped using projectors with the clear plastic sheets that they wrote on, and began to use PowerPoint and Smart Boards. This was helpful because they were able to email us assignments and post them on their websites. Some teachers only used the Smart Board in their classrooms and when it was not working or the Internet was not working in the school, we just had to sit there because they had no back up plan. This seemed cool at the time because we were not doing any work but it set us behind which was really inconvenient.

When I was in high school, I interned in the Special Education classroom at my school and there was a boy in the class who was completely nonverbal. He had an app on his iPod touch that was made specially for him and he could click different buttons with pictures or type in words that would express how he was feeling. The iPod would literally talk out loud for him, and it made it so he could communicate with his peers, teachers, family, and friends.

As a future teacher, I definitely want to be able to use technology in my classroom. Technology is taking over and I think that it is very important to implement it. I want to make sure that I always have a back up plan for when it is not working, but I think that using technology would be most helpful for myself and for my students. Especially since I want to be a Special Education teacher, I think that technology will be very useful. There are so many apps out there and so many more being made specially for students with disabilities or who may simply need some extra help. I want students to be able to use their laptops, iPods, iPads, smart phones, etc. in my classroom, but do not want them to abuse the privilege. There are so many devices out there that can potentially enhance the classroom if used in the right ways.

What brings you to SNHU? Talk about your journey into EDU 235.

After working with children with special needs all throughout high school, I decided that being a special education teacher would be the thing for me! I interned in the Special Education classroom during my junior and senior years in high school, and I was the president of the Best Buddies Club at my school. I love working with both high and low functioning disabilities. I also love working with little kids and I was a preschool teacher at my local YMCA as a senior in high school. When deciding what school I wanted to go to, I had a few things to consider... I wanted to make sure that I would be close to home but not too close, I wanted the school to have both Special Education and Early Childhood Education, and I wanted a campus that was not too big. SNHU fit the criteria perfectly! I am only about 40 minutes from home, and I am a double major in Special Education and Early Childhood Education with a minor in Psychology. 

I was very nervous to see how the classes at SNHU would be and worried that I wouldn't like the Education courses. Thus far, I have been very happy with all of my Education, Special Education, and Child Development courses. I have many many classes to take, as you can imagine with a double major and a minor! I took all of my 100-level classes already and some of my 200-level classes and this class fit perfectly into my schedule for this semester. I look forward to learning how I can incorporate technology into my classroom someday. I feel as though having technology in a Special Education or Inclusive classroom would be a very helpful resource for both the students, and myself as the teacher.