How I Will Use Blogger in Future Career...

I will definitely be able to use Blogger in my future career field. Other teachers you are working with or even a boss might really like an idea you come up with and might want to reuse your idea. Using Google Reader you can easily give your coworkers or boss a way to use the project in their own class. Creating a blog can also help a future boss see how creative you are or see example lessons you came up with. This can help your future employer to see if the school you applied to seems like it would be a good fit. Also, you can learn so much from other blogs you encounter on Blogger. There are so many teaching ideas out there and Blogger provides an easy way to look up useful information for teaching. Also, many schools are now requiring teachers to have their own blogs, so parents can easily follow what projects and lessons they are teaching their kids.

How to use Google Reader in Future Career...

I will use Google Reader in many instances in my future teaching career. Google Reader provides a great way to look up ideas for the classroom and ways to teach certain lessons. It is always great to learn from other teacher's ideas and Google Reader provides an easy way to do so. Say if I need to teach a lesson about the U.S. Constitution and am unsure what route to take in teaching it, I can simply search for the topic on Google Reader and most likely will find a good idea. It is also a very easy way to find articles relevant to the topics you are researching. Therefore, I can use Google Reader for future classes I take at SLU. I have many EDU requirements still to come and am sure it would be beneficial to gain insight or see more ideas to complete example lesson plans or projects. I have already had many presentations and example lesson plans I have already had to create at SLU and sometimes do get stumped on how to create one. Using Google Reader can help inspire me to write better and improve my lesson plans, as well.

How does the content from the RSS disconnect with what you know about your field already?

The RSS subscriptions disconnected with what I already know in some ways, too. One thing I do need to be aware of with teaching is meeting certain state requirements. If I get too distracted with creating visuals and art projects and don't give enough time to requirements needed to be taught to my students, that could create some trouble. Also, some of the projects were at a higher level, like middle school or high school which is not appropriate to teach in a K-5th grade setting. It is important that you keep in mind the grade level you are teaching. Some of the projects were also too complicated to teach to a large group of students. Say if you are the art specialist for the school, you will need the projects to be able to be made by a large group of students at one time. If you are the only one teaching it and helping the students with the craft, then you need to make sure the majority of the project they can do by imitating what you draw on the board or from your example.

How Does the RSS Connect?

The content from the RSS connects with my field of elementary education, immensely. Many of the projects I looked up on my subscriptions can easily be created in the elementary setting. The projects were easy, yet challenging enough for a student grades kindergarten to fifth grade. I believe my future students would really get into the projects and learn a lot from them. Also, the projects I researched could also be used for other lesson ideas other than the ones the blog talked about. For instance, the election bubble diagram can be applied to any other lesson trying to compare and contrast two subjects. Maybe the students would need to compare a cocoon with a butterfly and could easily paste a picture of the two ideas and create the bubble diagram off of that. Also, it is important to get the students involved and looking forward to going to school, so creating more fun ways to learn can make school more enjoyable.

New Information...

I found a lot of new information in the subscriptions I looked at. This new information consists of specific art projects I would have never thought of using and how to incorporate world-wide topics in the classroom. For instance, one article I read was about creating a bubble-diagram visual for the presidential election. The project included putting specific and factual information about both the candidates and I found this a great way to incorporate such a worldly (and more adult topic) into a children's viewpoint. I also found the Indian rug project very inspiring. I liked how the blogger connected what her students were learning in class to the art project they were creating. Like I said in an earlier post, I am usually more likely to remember art projects I made and what the art project was based off (like what lesson it helped reinforce) then remembering key facts I read in the book. Reading the subscriptions also helped me realize how creative an approach you can go with teaching. There are a ton of ideas out there for teaching that people should be willing to share with you.

How I Decided What Types of Feeds

I decided on the feeds I chose, since I really wanted to incorporate an art aspect to my future lessons. Personally, I remember most of my art projects I did in my elementary school, opposed to every test I took in my early years of school. I think giving visuals helps aid a students learning ability and gives them an easier way to remember material. I think it is great to provide a more artistic approach to teaching a lesson, rather then making the students listen to an hour long lecture about a lesson. When searching for RSS feeds, I wanted to make sure I was searching for elementary art project, so I gaged the right audience I would use the ideas for. For instance, a middle school art project will be much more advanced and detailed then a preschool or elementary project. I also chose the specific articles within the subscriptions I did, since they all were ones I thought students would find fun and memorable to participate in. As well, the articles I chose were common topics, every school teaches at sometime or another in an elementary school setting.

Some good teaching ideas...

Hello! I am Megan Belsha. I am a sophomore at Saint Louis University and am studying to be an elementary teacher, with a psychology minor. One RSS feed I found inspiring was called "Teach It With Class". One article in this feed was called "Election Lesson Plans and Ideas" and provided resourceful information about tips with teaching your students about the election and using a visual representation to make sure they fully understand key concepts. One idea was to create a "Double Bubble map to show what [the students] learned.  To create the Double Bubble map [they] used pictures and titles from Gladys Hooray for Election Day Unit" (teachitwithclass.blogspot.com). In this visual, they would put a picture of both the Democratic and Republican candidates and would create a bubble diagram around the pictures with key facts on both sides. Another article, called "Monsters Galore" had good tips for incorporating a monster theme to teach a first grade class how to use capital letters in sentences. The students would have to draw a monster and color it and then right 3-4 sentences describing their monster, keeping in mind when to add periods, commas, and specifically when to capitalize a letter (http://teachitwithclass.blogspot.com/2012/10/monster-galore-part-2.html).

The next feed I will talk about was called "The Elementary Art Room!". One article was called "Dhurrie Rugs/ Magic Carpets" and was a craft project to use for a third grade country project. The third grade class had been learning about India and were able to create these colorful rugs from what they learned about typical textiles and clothing types of India. The teacher brought in a variety of Dhurrie rugs for the students to use as examples. Then, the students created their own rugs, using colorful construction paper and yarn. They would cut strips of paper and put designs on their rugs, and then would tie the yarn on each edge of the rug, creating a rug's tassels (http://elementaryartroom.blogspot.com/2012/04/dhurrie-rugsmagic-carpets.html). Another article was called "Chameleon's Colors". In this article, a class of kindergarten students created colorful chameleon's after reading Chameleon's Colors by Chisato Tashiro. Students first used water colors to create a rainbow physique on their chameleon's and black marker for any additional characteristics. Then, the next day the students used "cut paper to make colorful flowers and leaves in the background" (http://elementaryartroom.blogspot.com/2012/04/chameleons-colors.html).

The last feed I will discuss was called "Kids and Glitter". One article that caught my attention was called "Storms". This could be used in a unit talking about weather and changes in weather. In this project, students first use lavender construction paper and then add a city scape or landscape using a black crayon (http://www.lbrummer68739.net/storms). The students then use a white crayon to draw details in the sky like lightening or gloomy clouds. If the student wishes to add some  sparkle, they can also add some glitter on the lightening to create its bright effect it maintains in the sky during a storm. The next article was called "Headbands". In this project, the students were to create turkey headbands in the spirit of Thanksgiving. The students first color a coloring page of a turkey and then cut it out (http://www.lbrummer68739.net/headband). Then, they cut and glue two strips of orange, crinkled paper to the sides of the headband to create the turkey's legs. Once this project is completed you can take a picture of your class of turkeys.

APA citations:

GlitterQueen. (2012, November 06). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.lbrummer68739.net/headband/


GlitterQueen. (2012, May 19). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://www.lbrummer68739.net/storms

Randi. (2012, October 30). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://teachitwithclass.blogspot.com/2012/10/election-lesson-plans-ideas.html

Randi. (2012, October 23). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://teachitwithclass.blogspot.com/2012/10/monster-galore-part-2.html

Swartz, M. (2012, April 02). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://elementaryartroom.blogspot.com/2012/04/chameleons-colors.html

Swartz, M. (2012, April 05). [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://elementaryartroom.blogspot.com/2012/04/dhurrie-rugsmagic-carpets.html