Classroom Arrangement

Room Arrangement (Mrs. Gilbert's Class)




1. Use a room arrangement consistent with your instructional goals and activities.
Danita's classroom is set up this way I assume because there is no other way that all of these desks fit into her classroom. Unfortunately, her classroom is extremely small and she has to fit a lot of desks in there. Every desk is filled in every class.
2. Keep high traffic areas free of congestion.
All of the shelves, and laptop storage container are off to the sides of the classroom so students are not in the way of one another. The laptop storage container is right when you walk into the classroom. This is a good spot because students are often coming in to the class to get their charger or their computer while they are not even in Danita's class period at that time.
3. Be sure students are easily seen by the teacher.
Danita's desk is at the back of the class so she can always see what the students are doing on their laptops. Their laptops have to be facing her at all times, they can not turn them around. By putting her desk in the back of the classroom she is always able to see what they are doing.
4. Keep frequently used teaching materials and student supplies readily accessible.
Laptops, and books are all off to the side, not in the way of any of the students but always there for students to be able to retrieve.
5. Be certain students can easily see instructional presentations and displays.
The bulletin board, and projector are at the front of the classroom easily viewable for students to see.

Room Arrangement (My Classroom)



1. Use a room arrangement consistent with your instructional goals and activities.
A lot of the lesson plans are in groups, so I decided to keep the desks separated from one another, that way all desks are easily movable. Along with that, I added in student work tables that way they are not restricted to their desks.

2. Keep high traffic areas free of congestion.
I put the desks separated from eachother, but also away from the wall and storage unit for laptops because that seems to be what students would be having to get up to use the most.

3. Be sure students are easily seen by the teacher.
I kept my desk in the back of the class just like Danita's room because a lot of the projects I assigned are on their laptops and I want to make sure they are focusing on their projects and not something else.

4. Keep frequently used teaching materials and student supplies readily accessible.
The laptop storage container is right when you walk in to the classroom so students can get their laptops first thing when they walk in.

5. Be certain students can easily see instructional presentations and displays.
Students desks face the bulletin board, and projector, this is so we never have to move desks to view any presentations

Maine Memory Network

As a history concentration I love this website! Last year I came across it while researching what certain parts of Maine were like during the Great Depression and New Deal. I took a Great Depression and New Deal class, and this website was so helpful. I was able to find out what the major crops were in Franklin county, and all the specific details of the Great Depression in specific parts of Maine. It made my research paper a lot easier! I would definitely recommend this website to my students if they were assigned a research paper specifically on the history of Maine.

Copyright and Fair use

I decided to take the quiz first and then see the answers to test my knowledge on copyright and fair use. I assumed that I knew pretty well what was "ok" and what was not "ok." After taking the quiz I realized that I did not have as much knowledge as I thought. The quiz was compiled of statements that you answer true or false to. When you go to the answer sheet, it says whether or not the statement was true or false, and then explains why this was true or false. I got many questions incorrect, so this quiz was full of suprises for me!

1. The eighth statement stated: "A student film buff downloads a new release from a Taiwanese Web site to use for a humanities project. As long as the student gives credit to the sites from which he's downloaded material, this is covered under fair use." This suprised me because I assumed that it was ok to use this downloaded release as long as there was a citation showing that this video did not belong to this student.

2. The eleventh statement stated: "A teacher videotapes a rerun of Frontier House, the PBS reality show that profiles three modern families living as homesteaders from the 1880s did. In class, students edit themselves "into" the frontier and make fun of the spoiled family from California. This is fair use." I thought for sure that this was not legal because the students are changing the orignial videotapes into something that was insulting to the original video. Along with that they were using a majority of the videotapes with just their own alterations here and there.

3. The fourteenth statement stated: "On Back-to-School night, an elementary school offers child care for students' younger siblings. They put the kids in the library and show them Disney VHS tapes bought by the PTA. This is permissible." The only reason this really caught my eye was because it happens so often that I thought for sure it was ok, and it isn't! Which brings my attention to how people are not aware of what is legal and illegal when dealing with copyright and fair use.

4. The fifteenth statement stated: "A teacher makes a compilation of movie clips from various VHS tapes to use in his classroom as lesson starters. This is covered under fair use." I considered this legal because the teacher was using vhs tapes that were his, if they were clips from online I could see how that would be illegal, but until the answer gave an explanation why this was not allowed, I did not understand.

5. The sixteenth statement stated: "At a local electronics show, a teacher buys a machine that defeats the copy protection on DVDs, CD-ROMs, and just about everything else. She lets her students use it so they can incorporate clips from rented DVDs into their film genre projects. This is fair use." This just sounded silly to me because I did not even know that this machine existed, but that is pretty interesting and useful!

6. The seventeenth statement stated: "A number of students take digital pictures of local streets and businesses for their Web projects. These are permissible to post online." I did not think it was ok because of the businesses, but otherwise I can see why this is all legal.

How to help someone use a computer

"How to help someone use a computer" is a very resourceful article that gives useful advice on how educators can help their students with their computers and/or laptops. One piece of advice stuck out to me more than others because I was able to relate to how this student may feel if this was to happen. It states "they might be afraid that you're going to blame them for the problem. When we first started using laptops in the classroom in seventh grade, if I asked this certain teacher a question because I was stuck, they would come over to my computer and say something along the lines of "well you should not have clicked that and you shoudld do it this way." When a teacher said something similar to this, it made me feel like I could not do anything myself, and that there was only one right way to go about performing the task on the laptop. I will definitely keep in mind that I should not blame them right out of the for a technical difficulty on their laptop. Another thing that I am going to "have to tell myself" is "your primary goal is not to solve their problem. HYour primary goal is to help them become one notch more capable of solving their problems on their own. So it's okay if they take notes." I have a habit of going to help someone and then just fixing it for them myself because I know exactly how to do it. For example, if my fourteen year old sister is at home on her laptop and needs help with a powerpoint presentation, she will ask me how to do something, and I will just quickly do it for her, assuming she caught everything that I just did. I need to remember to walk the student through exactly how to go about fixing the issue that they have. One important rule that really caught my attention was "tell them to really read the messages, such as errors, that the computer generates." I have a bad habit of seeing something pop up and either pressing ok, cancel or the x button. I need to emphasize how important it is to read the messages so you know exactly what you are saying ok, cancel or x button to, otherwise you could unintentionally temporarily mess up your laptop!

This article will be very useful when going about working on our group projects revolving around technology in the classroom. The article gives many useful facts that we can incorporate in our presentation by giving specific examples of different facts and advice that the article offered.

Chapter 10: Going Beyond the Classroom

"Making connections with the world outside school addresses all these issues, and at the same time it usually helps students appreciate and value school more than they did before."(175) When you are able to connect what you are teaching in the classroom to activities that students participate in outside of school, they are going to be more interested in what you are talking about. For example, being able to relate what you are teaching to a sporting event, or even being able to talk about current events in relation to your class is going to keep them interested in what you are talking about. If you are talking about things that are currently on their minds, or things that they cannot relate to, you are not going to be able to keep their full attention. In agreement with Cushman's statement, if you put the time and effort into relating your material to the world outside of school, students are going to take school more seriously and actually enjoy school for other reasons than seeing their friends everyday, and playing on the sports teams.

Chapter 9: When Things Go Wrong

In Chapter 9 Cushman makes a good point referring to new teachers by saying "In their first year or two especially, teachers struggle to find the right balance between maintaining their authority and letting students know they care about them." (167). I found in my first week of practicum in the middle school that I did not say much to the students. I talked to them, and was nice, but I did not want to be overly nice and friendly because I wanted them to take me seriously. I was always available to them, and made sure they knew that if they needed help that I was there to answer any questions they had, but I was not asking them about things outside of what went on in school. By the third week, I was having more casual conversations with the students, asking them about their weekend, etc. I think that as long as you gradually show that you are interested in their lives then that's good, but if you initially just like act like you are their friend, they are not going to want to come to your class to learn they are going to come to your class to want to talk to you about what they did last weekend, and not take your class or learning seriously.

Chapter 8: Teaching Students Who Are Still Learning English

Fortunatley I have had a lot of experience working with students whose second or even third language is English. I was a volunteer my senior year in an intermediate ESL classroom. I was able to learn a lot about how to treat these types of students, and how to work with them. In Chapter 8 on page 154, Cushman says "Don't be afraid to let us use our own lnaguage as we figure things out." One thing I noticed in particular that the teacher did let these ESL students do was speak in their own languages with each other. Just because these students are learning how to speak English, does not mean that they should not be allowed to speak their native language. My Spanish teacher does not expect me to speak Spanish when I am being social with my friends, or when I am thinking to myself outloud, and that is how it should be. If I heard students in class speaking there native language I think it would catch me off guard at first, but I would want these students to be in their comfort level to learn, and if they are not allowed to speak the language that they know best, they are not going to be successful.

Chapter 7: Teaching Difficult Academic Material

In Chapter 7 Cushman brings up how students work in groups. I have always found myself to struggle in group work because there is never a way to evenly split all of the work. There is always someone that is doing more work than others, and even if you are not that person, it is still frustrating that you can not do anything more. "Monitor and assess groups as they work together." I think this is extremely important for teachers to do because otherwise one student will take control, and other group members may be doing tasks that they know they will not be successful in, and then essentially bring the group down. I think it is important for teachers to check in with each group to see who is doing what, and to constantly stress that everyone gets an even amount of work, and that not one person should be stressing over how much they have to do in a group project. The point of the group project is to not have to work individually, and use others thoughts and ideas, and I think its crucial for the teacher to make sure this is actually happening.

Chapter 6: Motivation and Boredom

"Student interest increases when teachers find ways to bring the material alive." This is so true. I have had teachers make our class read a chapter and then do numerous worksheets on the chapter that we just read, and I found that incredibly boring. I also found that I do not retain information when I am just reading a chapter and answering questions on what I just read, it just did not seem important enough, and did not make a big enough impact on me for me to remember it. Although, the information that I do remember from high school, middle school and college so far, have been from projects that are hands-on, or not reading from the book. Like for example, instead of doing a worksheet, make a movie on your laptop about what you just read. Most students will remember the video that they recorded for that chapter, and remember the information that they presented in it. Along with that if the students have to watch others videos, it will be entertaining for them. They will be learning and not even realize it!

Chapter 5: Teaching to the individual, Working with the Group

In Chapter 5, Andres made a statement that I am sure a lot of students could relate to. "If you push too hard, the students will sometimes feel threatened and just shut down. Or if you manage to push the student without upsetting him, and then he doesn't do it to your satisfation, he might feel unworthy." (87) I have noticed that in some of my classes in the past, college and high school, teachers will be lecturing and then ask the students to discuss what he/she just explained to all of us. If you do not speak up or talk, in some cases, teachers will specifically choose that person that has yet to say anything. In my case, if I am not talking it is usually because I did not understand what the teacher was talking about and I am trying to listen to others talk about it so maybe I can understand easier. The experiences that I have had that relate to Andres' statement is when a teacher calls on you and asks you a question, you do not know the answer, and then the teacher, usually unintentionally, embarrasses you as the student by making you feel as if you do not understand what they are talking about because you do not know the answer by saying something like "someone needs to pay attention."

Chapter 4: Creating a Culture of Success

I really liked when Cushman made the point of stating that "But if a teacher keeps believing in their value and their ability, kids are willing to try and try again."
(63) I completely agree with the statement that she is making here. If a student does not think that their teacher belives that they can succeed academically, the student will not be able to convince themselves that they can succeed. The guidance from their teacher, and the confidence that the teacher gives their students allows each student to have condidence in themselves to succeed. If there is a student that is struggling, and the teacher is not telling them what they need to do to go about improving this area, the student is going to feel lost. Along with that, if a student asks the teacher for guidance, and the teacher is not willing, the student will most likely give up.

Chapter 3: Classroom Behavior

In the third chapter, Veronica made a good point by saying "If a teacher shows that they're scared of the students, the students are going to try to take control."(36) In high school or middle school when our class had a substitute teacher, as soon as all of the students noticed that the teacher was not there to discipline the students, they did not care whether or not their work was finished by the end of the class or not. If you want control from the classroom you need to have it from the start. Like for example if you are a substitute, you should tell them exactly what they are supposed to do, and the consequences if they decide not to finish their work. Which is what was told further in this chapter, "Let students know your plan for the class."(38) Most students like walking in and being told what is going to happen during that class. I found that in the classroom that I observed in the middle school this was very successful. The science teacher I observed started every class with a daily agenda, explaining when and what they were doing.

Type I and Type II Technology

Type I use of technology is when a teacher uses a computer to make it easy to teach. The teacher is in charge of what is happening on the students computer. Type II use of technology is when teachers use the computer to find new approaches to teaching. The student is the one who is in control of what they are doing on their computer, often having to figure things out on their own, using different kinds of thinking skills.

Type 1 Examples:
1. When a teacher tells you what to type what he/she is saying during class.
2. When a teacher uses their own computer to make presentations to the class on what they are learing, offering visuals for the students.
3. When a teacher walks the students through researching a topic, telling them how to find information, and where to go.


Type 2 Examples:
1. When a teacher assigns a project, and a student decides to present their project in a slide show.
2.In seventh grade, every student in my grade used their laptop to make an imovie about themselves instead of having to write an autobiography.
3.In Dr. Theresa's class, Lilly and I made a comic strip showing what we learned about classroom management.

My MEL Experience

• Student/teacher relationships: My junior and senior year high school history teacher is someone who was very successful in keeping me interested in his class because of the relationship that he built with me. He had a great sense of humor, and was able to use it when appropriate during lecture.
• Helping students succeed: My junior year high school theology teacher is someone who showed no interest in whether or not the students in her classroom succeeded or not. For example, when having difficulty with material, she was extremely unapproachable, and not willing to further explain the material outside of the classroom.
• Hands-on: Although I have never been very interested in science, my sixth grade science teacher made our class extremely interesting. We did a trimester long project on Maine, focusing on aquatic creatures. He ended up asking the school for a grant, and he was able to put a touch tank in his classroom full of lobster, and we each raised our own lobster.
• Interest: In the two history classes that I have taken here at UMF with the same teacher, he starts every class by asking the students if they have any questions. This is how the class discussion gets started, and for the remainder of the class, it is driven by the questions that we have to ask.
• Connections: My sophomore math teacher was always very frustrating to me. I have never been strong in math class, and I was curious as to when I was going to be using certain material in the real world. So I asked this teacher, and she was never able to give me any examples of when I would use different kinds of math, and it was very frustrating and gave me no motivation to want to learn her material.

Chapter 2: Respect, Liking, Trust, and Fairness

One thing that definitely caught my attention while reading the second chapter was when Alexis states "Yeah, I should have respected you, but you're thirty or forty years old, an adult--you should rise above it, not continue animosity. No teacher should be rolling their eyes at me," (page 18). This was in response to a few questions asked by Cushman, one including, "What builds trust between teachers and students, and what breaks it down?" (page 18).

Alexis's response jumped out at me because I completely agree with her, and can relate to what she is saying. From my own experiences, I feel as if sometimes teachers can get frustrated with students, and they can have a hard time not showing it on their face, or just not showing it in general. I know that this will be something that I have to watch myself do, because when I get frustrated or impatient I have a hard time hiding it on my face. To agree with Alexis even more, it is extremely uncomfortable for a student to have a teacher make a gesture such as rolling their eyes at that student.

Chapter 1: Knowing Students Well

Something that jumped out at me while reading the first chapter of Fires in the Bathroom was when Kathleen Cushman said "And though students understand the importance of communicating with parents, they definitely do not want teachers visiting their homes," (page 7). The students that responded and agreed with this explained how they want to be treated like adults, and it would be uncomfortable for them to have their teachers come into their homes.

This advice was extremely shocking to me because of the experiences that classmates of mine in the past have dealt with that are similar to this. A highschool teacher of mine asked a classmate of mine if it would be alright to go to their house to have a parent teacher conference at their house because the mother refused to come to school or bring their child in to school for the conference and the student was completely fine with it. I agree with the book for the most part, but under certain circumstances I do believe that it varies among students. Although, after reading this advice, I will definitely take in to consideration that some students will be completely against this.

Learning Style Inventory Results

Learning Style Survey and results from learning-styles-online.com

This graph is extremely accurate in relation to how I learn. I really enjoy interacting with people and talking. I really don't enjoy math or thinking logically so that is why the graph is focused away from the logical area.