SPRING INTO EDUCATION!!

The education department will be hosting a SPRING INTO EDUCATION event on March 19th from 11:30-1:30 in LSF 144. This fun event will have food and drinks provided. Staff and faculty will also be there to answer any questions you may have and to socialize!! I will have a sign up sheet in class this coming Monday. The food and drink will be provided carry in style and we are asking BLOCK 5 to bring drinks such as 2 liter bottles of pop, water, tea, ice, or anything else that would fit this category. Don't let me down BLOCK 5, I made sure we didn't have desserts or anything crazy like that!!!

If you have any questions, ask me!! I am also working on getting the flyer posted to blog for future reference.

KDP Event

Make The Economy Work For YOU!
Who: This meeting is open to all interested education students.
What: Co-President of Kappa Delta Pi, Elizabeth Falbo, will be giving a presentation on how to effectively use a Mini Economy in the classroom. Snacks will also be provided.
Where: Tech Room 134
When: Thursday, February 26th 5:00pm – 6:30 pm
If you can, please RSVP to farrisd@pnc.edu. If you do not, still feel free to come. Snacks may be limited however.

Sorry about the bad link, here's the real one: http://www.5minutesformom.com/4596/your-baby-can-read/

Extra! Extra! Read All About YOU...

Check out this link for a press release sent to local media explaining the NEA Grant: http://www.pnc.edu/cd/news/KDPgrant09.html
The word is out!

Your Baby Can Read

I just stumbled across this webpage today,via a video from a friend's page. Although there is definitely a product being advertised, I was blown away by what seems to be the ability of these children to recognize whole words...It reaffirmed my convinction that children--indeed human beings in general--have an amazing amount of potential in regard to learning and thinking.
The idea is that you can basically "teach your baby to read" and successfully introduce them to text far earlier than commonly thought possible. I read a criticism of the idea on another site, claiming that this method was simply memorization and that the children "weren't really reading." (the author seemed to be a fairly zealous proponent of the phonics-based approached to teaching.) I have to disagree. It seems to me that the best readers do see things as wholes and then proceed to break words and text down into parts. In fact, studies have shown that children much prefer to tackle something as a whole (think of child sitting at a typewriter....she doesn't want to learn each letter at first--she wants to type!) versus being spoon-fed each little detail until the original idea is forgotten in a sea of rules and regulations. We need the blue print before the boards. This is not to say that phonetics is unimportant. Just that perhaps it is out of its place in regard to teaching reading
To me, is essential to learning is getting an intuitive feel for what's going on. Think of it--when you try something new, let's say doing a complicated dive into a pool, isn't it nice to be alone, relaxed, and uninhibited at first? You can mess it up as badly as you'd like and it's okay. You know what the end result should be, so you begin seeing what does not match and correct from there. I'd say it's the same with language. Babies are constantly experimenting with sounds and words...how far would they get if we first attempted to "teach" them phonics without letting them explore the very feel of the thing itself? Let me know what you guys think.

Anyway, enough rambling, here is the link:http://www.blogger.com/i.g?inviteID=9046653743779013593&blogID=7941430063473835931

Also, a great deal of the thinking above is inspired and stolen from Mr. John Holt. He's written several great books. I have read How Children Learn and How Children Fail.

Group Names

Please respond to how your groups came up with their names.  I am finding your names very interesting and am curious about how you came to consensus on your group names.

What if.....

you are the teacher and at the beginning of the year, you had a really great idea for an activity for your students: it was meaningful, it integrated the content that you wanted to present and you felt so proud of your idea, you LOVED this activity, it was brilliant!......But then, it came to give the assignment and it just didn't fit anymore. You reflect on the students and their needs, you think about your conceptual framework and you consider all of the experiences the students have had so far and you decide that this great activity just wasn't meant to be. How do you feel about that? What do you do -- do you plunge forward and give the assignment anyway? OR Do you put it aside?
Well, this is exactly what has happened to us: We developed this really great idea for an experience (the "What If Strategies") and now we realize that it just doesn't fit. We have chosen to set it aside for now and for tomorrow, you simply need to show up at 12:30 p.m. How do you feel about that? How would you feel if you were the teacher?

Learning Clubs Have Been Established

For the remainder of the semester we have established Learning Clubs based on the information you supplied us with of peers you would like to work with.

3 + 1
Amanda
Brynn
Becky
Sam

Wise Y's
Ashley B.
Tracy
Christy
Kim

MAC Daddies
Ashley W.
Meg
Christa

The Integrated Hammel Charlies
Graham
Julie
Charlotte
Melanie

Mr. Anderson's Angels
Karianne
Maria
Kelley
Ryan

GREAT TEACHING OPPORTUNITY!!!

Junior Achievement in Michigan City is looking for volunteers to teach their program at Knapp and Pine schools. They will work around your schedule. It entails a 1/2 hour visit each week into a classroom for 6 weeks. You teach the lesson they provide but are free to embelish it if you choose to. They also provide all of the materials.

If you are interested, please contact: Katie EatonArea Coordinator, Junior Achievement serving Michigan CityPhone: 219-210-3672Fax: 219-874-7876katie.eaton@ja.org

Or you can talk to me for more information about the program.

1st Grade Tutoring Position

Looking for an education student who would be willing to be a tutor a first grader in Language Arts and Math! Please contact Carrie Walter at:
cwalter@union.k12.in.us or 759-2544 ext. 4128!!

Revised Read Aloud Schedule

I have revised the read aloud schedule and now have Knapp and Springfield school schedules. If your name does not appear on the list please contact djpratt@pnc.edu or meisenhauer@pnc.edu to alert us to the problem.

If you are student who has a 2:30 p.m. class and needs to adjust the schedule contact the school and make necessary arrangements with the school's literacy coach.

Support Your Early Childhood Peers

Stop by the PLAYCE (Purdue Learning About Young Children in Education, Early Childhood Club) Bake Sale outside LSF 144 on Wednesday, February 11 between 11:30 and 1:30! Show your support and purchase some yummy treats!

Preparing for the Read Aloud

Check out the Read Aloud Checklist on the blog under Course Tools. These are the pieces you will be responsible for turning in. On Monday you will be given a 2hr. work time to prepare your lessons. It would be helpful if you already knew what books you will be using for the Read Alouds. If not you can use your time to be resourceful and find books at a local library, Barnes and Noble, The Bookstore in Michigan City, etc.

We have recieved word from Peggy Thomas that she would like us to provide a book for the school library instead of for each classroom teacher. She thinks it would be better to supply a book to the school that can be used by all children as opposed to classrooms that have PNC Read Alouds. On Monday we will talk about what a good choice would be for the school libraries. All schools will be given a copy of the same book.

Due to that change you will be able to select any book on the topic of Abraham Lincoln to use for your read aloud. Make sure you select a book that would be developmentally approporiate for the grade(s) you are assigned. The readings for this week; Chapter's 4 &5 from the Tribes book will help you in determining the appropriateness of a book.

Read Aloud Schedules

The read aloud schedules for February 23, 2009 have been confirmed and are posted on the blog. Under course tools select Read Aloud Schedules to find out what your assignments are for the day. On the day of the Read Aloud please plan on arriving 10-15 minutes early, dress professionally, and use your best interpersonal skills. In the event of an emergency please contact your assigned school ASAP and inform them of your situation. Also contact Dr. Eisenhauer and/or myself to inform us of your situation. In the event of bad weather check the website for your school to see if there is a school delay or closing.

Read Aloud Book Titles

After learning that PNC had been awarded the NEA grant on Monday (hooray!), it was decided that the same book would be read to all primary read-alouds and another to all intermediate read-alouds. You were each charged with searching for an appropriate choice so that you could make your selection from a variety. Any titles yet? If we have titles, then we can work on obtaining multiple copies.

Event Type: Children's ProgramDate: 2/7/2009Start Time: 2:00 PM End Time: 3:00 PM
Description:
Join Abraham and Mary Todd Lincoln at the Hebron Public Library to learn about his childhood and early years and to celebrate his 200th birthday with the couple. Program is free to the public and is geared towards elementary and middle school children but all ages are welcome. For more information contact the library at 996-3684.Library: Hebron Public Library Location: Meeting Room

Thought this might be of interest!

Volunteer Opportunity

Handley School in LaPorte has an after school program for kindergarten through 5th grade students. The program is offered Monday - Friday from 3:15 - 6:00 p.m. They are looking for volunteers who can help with homework, provide remediation, enrichment, snack, recreation, and special programming. Flexible schedule. If interested contact Tara Wiltfong, twiltfon@pnc.edu or 785-5305 for more details.