Artifact Bags

I really enjoyed this activity. When our teacher was showing examples of artifact bags to the class it was fun/interesting revealing all the items inside. The artifacts inside were all about history,the past, and items from a long time ago. As we revealed the items out of the bag we had to try and connect it to why it was there in the first place. I liked how the lesson was about history and how the items were old and interesting to look at and study.
Then it was the classes turn to make our own artifact bag. While I was thinking about ideas for my artifact bag I wanted to pick a TV show that was old and what I thought a lot of people would know. I wanted a TV show that was a piece of history. I finally chose "I Love Lucy" from 1951. I used images off the computer with the actors on it, cameras they used or filmed with, and outfits they wore. The women wore house dresses because they were doing work around the house all day and the men wore business suits. I made the pictures look old by crumpling them up and making little rips into the paper to show old age. I had them made in black and white because back in that time period they didn't have colored pictures. I also made a power point to show my group. In the power point I had the actors names, the dates the show was aired, the old TV sets people watched from and cars that were used in that time. I also added who produced the show. In the last slide I had added the theme song that was from "I Love Lucy" I figured once people heard the song they would make the connection to the show and know what show I was talking about.
I thought this activity/lesson was both fun and interesting to learn about. This lesson would be great for elementary students. I think they would enjoy picking out a piece of history and researching a topic. Once they found a topic they would pick artifacts to put into a creative bag and present it to their class. I think the class would enjoy this activity/lesson because they would have to try and guess how the artifacts would relate  to their classmates topic. The students would get educated on different historian topics and learn new information that might have never crossed their minds.

Native Americans

This lesson was both fun and interesting. We had split the class up into groups and were all assigned different Native American tribes. It was fun to learn about the different tribes. What they wore, what they made, and how they lived and survived. Interesting facts that I learned was that mostly everything the tribes hunted they used the fur for clothes, blankets, their houses and instruments. The tribes would use the bones in the animals for instruments. They played these instruments around the fire at night while telling tales to their fellow friends and families. All the tribes would use the environment around them to survive and their entertainment. It was interesting to learn how all the tribes lived and survived. A major thing to survive was hunting animals in the wilderness for food, shelter, and warmth.
I enjoyed how we got into groups and picked our own tribes to research. Then we got into groups with everyone who had the same tribe and compared and informed other classmates on what information we found. When this process was over we had made power points and got back into our original groups and taught our classmates on tribes that we studied. This would be a fun and enjoyable lesson/assignment for elementary students to do. I think students would have a fun time researching different tribes and teaching their fellow classmates on the information they came up with. Everyone will be learning and educated on information that they've might not have know before.  

Multiple Choice

In class and throughout the week we studied different assessments. Selected response assessment are multiple choice, binary choice and matching. Advantages in a multiple choice is broad sampling of knowledge , scoring is easy and objective, practice on items for high - stake state accountability tests, and more reliable and have more diagnostic power.
Guidelines for designing Multiple choice item are to write clear described question or task. Put as much info in stem instead of in response, use complete stems and short answer. When writing multiple choice write plausible but wrong distracting answers. Identify common misunderstandings or errors by students.
What are multiple choice questions good for? What knowledge do you get from these types of questions?
They are good for assessing declarative (facts) and procedural (how to) knowledge.

Awards / Applauses

This lesson was about recognizing the students for their accomplishments. When we entered the classroom the students were excited that they had finished their movie and they got noticed by both the 2nd graders, teachers and parents for their achievements. Once the students got settled down we had an award ceremony. We acknowledged both the companies and individuals for their hard work and dedication. The students really enjoyed this process and were happy to get awards and trophies. I felt like they were making believe that they were real actors and actresses receiving these awards and trophies just like they were on TV or something. I think that this was one of the most important days for the students because they got recognized by the Mount Saint Mary College teachers and students and community for all of their hard work that they put into this project. All of the students really worked hard achieving this goal and would do the process again with even more motivation and ideas than before.

The Final Action

This was the final day for Diamond Works to complete their movie. They jumped into their costumes, got their scripts and were ready to go. Again we had to remind our students that if they wanted to play around and get off topic then it was okay with us, it was their time and their movie and however it came out it came out. If they wanted to mess around with one another and joke and laugh and stay unfocused then their movie wasn't going to get completed the right way and they weren't going to have the best movie they could have. The students all agreed they were ready to get the final recording set and show everyone how hard they really worked on this project.
It did take a few tries,  but cleaning up the little things were important but understandable. If the students messed up they would quickly quiet down and simply start over again. They wanted to have a great movie just as much as we wanted them to. We were running out of time and we needed the students to be perfect. We remind them that this was our last try to clean up one or two little things and how it came out was what everyone else was going to see in the presentation.
The final recording was perfect! they got into all the right places, stood correctly, spoke loud and slow, and really knocked it out of the park. From when I said "action" to the time I said "cut" it was great. Once we finished Diamond Works saw how happy the Mount Saint Mary College students were and they began to get happy and excited as well because the expressions on our faces showed that it was done and they've finished what they've been working so hard on for weeks and it came out perfect.  

Almost Time For Action

In this lesson it was about getting our companies together and begin recording for our lesson. Diamond works was ahead of the game. Myself and other Mount Saint Mary College students had met with our company over our spring break to start recording and going over scripts. This lesson was just another day to get our students prepared and even more ready than they already were. They were confident in their acting and the way they presented themselves.
Throughout the lesson we wanted Diamond works to be perfect in the way they spoke, stood and acted throughout the whole movie. We were almost there but not yet just yet. We had to remind the students that they had to be adults about this situation and getting dressed up and acting out was a privileged opportunity to show others what they can accomplish. The students were very excited to start the process and excited to jump back into their costumes and begin working again. This process however did take time away from practicing our script but the students finally were ready and came to realize that they only had one more day with us to making it perfect. Diamond Works did a very good job presenting but as a company their were little things that we had to clean up to make the movie that much better. For example standing in the correct spots, talking louder and simply not wasting time in between making mistakes and quieting down again to start the movie over. Once we had these simple but important tasks down then we were ready to save our final recording and it wasn't going to happen that day. We had one more day for the students to be the best they could be and really show everyone what they had been working on for weeks. 

Using The Business Terms In A Different Way

This lesson was for the students to understand the terms that group 3 were using in their lesson. The companies showed good examples and knowledge of the terms. I think group three really did a good job explaining to the companies what each of the terms meant. For example during a hurricane people around the world were worried about having gas. Before the hurricane hit the gas stations were the most popular. This told the students that their was a small supply of gas and everyone was trying to get enough of this product because if they didn't have gas then their would be an effect of running into further problems down the road.
Later on in the lesson the students had assignments where they had to put all these terms into action. The students either had a story to write, a song, or just simply having pictures on a poster board to explain what each of these words really meant. This assignment was for better understanding of the terms and how to explain to the other students / companies their way of thinking.
Diamond works (our group) had to write a rap song using these terms. The students showed confidence and really showed how well they could work together as a company to complete this task. This was a fun lesson for the students because it was using the terms in a different way. They were thinking of rhymes and different connections for the terms to fit together.
Once the companies had finished with the assignment they had to present it to the rest of the class. I believe this was a fun and educational way of teaching this lesson because every company had a different view of describing the words to the other companies. The students are also mastering speaking in front of people and  staying calm throughout their presentations. Another thing that the students are completing, is staying organized and working together as a group. Listening to each others ideas and giving positive feedback to one another. The companies learned that working together as a company / group was the most important thing to overcome and continuing the task ahead of them.

First Commercial In Action

In this lesson our groups got to act out and give a 30 second preview trailer to the rest of the companies. Going into the class you could just tell that the students were excited to get started and wanted to act out the parts. They were already talking about the parts they had and the costumes they were going to wear.
Some of the steps that we took to prepare for this lesson was getting the scrips together for the students to read, outfits for them to wear and practice acting out as a group together. The students loved the outfits that they had, for example the girls loved the high heels that the Mount students brought in for them. The Mount students were afraid that they were going to hurt  them selves because they were walking up and down the hallway making believe they were on the run way in a modeling shoot. All in all they handled it well and didn't make any mistakes.
Once it was Diamond Works time to go they set up in front of the classroom and began. All the other companies thought it was funny and they really seemed interested. This was a great lesson for the students to finally have some fun with the movie and they all enjoyed one another's trailer.
After all the companies had gone the companies had to get together as group and discuss how much they thought their movie was going to make in the end of the showing. The companies handled this very well and they were listening to each others ideas. That was probably one of the most difficult tasks for the students to get over last time together as a company but this time they mastered it. They knew they had to listen and give good positive feedback to each other ideas and thoughts.This process went smoothly and they came up with an amount they though was reasonable to reach. The girls at this point wanted to keep on the high heels and keep everything that the Mount students brought in for them.
The students really enjoyed this lesson and I believe they couldn't wait to get ready for the next time and go further into their movies.

Almost In The Movie Making Business

This lesson from the third group kind of played off the last lesson. Before the class started my classmates and I had met in the Hudson library to make a video on how to help the students work together. We made a scrip to follow and while one of us were recording the other three were playing the parts of the students. At first we were acting like the students. For example we were disagreeing with each other ideas and once we came together and listened to one another we were coming up with great ideas and really worked well with one another. I think the video was a great idea to make for the students because it showed them what they looked like as group and how disorganized it was. Then they saw how working together really did work and how well it progressed.
Once we were in the classroom group 3 showed the video to the students and the students were very interested and I believe eager to work together. The video was a great visual for the students and a fun activity for us to make for them at the same time.
Afterwards the students got right to work on how much they wanted to spend on their movie and finalized the characters, plot and setting. Looking at this lesson from an outside source it looked very organized and the students looked like they were having a good time with this activity. Seeing that the students were listening to each others ideas really hit me. They learned how they have to work together to get somewhere with this project.
The toughest part was for the students to get a solid story board together to present to the rest of the class. I believe they can accomplish this task and present a well organized trailer for the rest of the class to enjoy.

Coming Together

This lesson was about the companies starting to come together as a company and create ideas on characters, plots,settings,etc. The students began to review the important business terms and come together as a group to make final decisions. The one thing that the students had to overcome as a company was what/who's ideas they were going to use. At first this was a problem between the students. Their were students getting upset because their characters or ideas weren't being used in the movie. The next step was to set up a story board, have a set character list, and who had what jobs in the movie.
The students really got their minds to open up with business. They learned how to sell stocks and invest in money. The companies learned that they have to present themselves well to make decisions with other people to help them with future steps.
The students came together and figured out how to run a smooth company, they had work with each other ideas, and give positive feedback to the other peers in their company. They learned that they weren't getting anywhere with individual ideas and going against each other. Once they had this down the lesson went smoother and the company was connecting together.
Another thing that the students had to overcome was how much they wanted to spend on their movies. What money decisions they were going to make to start their movie. I thought this process went very well. I thought the students worked together well as a group and they were listening to each others ideas and what they had to say.
The lesson over all was good for the students to experience business terms, and business education. I believe that lesson was the bump that they had to get over to start a clean slate and begin working as a company and starting their movie.

Take 2

Group 2 was very confident going into the lesson. They had a very well organized presentation and a great power point to go along with it. The group had previewed vocabulary such as stock, incorporate, and deposit. The teachers tested the students by having the students write down the definitions to business words and if the company groups had the right definition then they would earn a biz-buck  This made it fun and educational for the students.
Good ways that the teachers kept the students on track were keeping them quiet throughout the lesson, making sure that they were paying attention to each others ideas. The teachers kept the students organized by giving them two cards. One red and one green and the students had to raise one or the other to tell the teachers if they were understanding the question or to agree or disagree with the answers given. this kept the students and the teachers on the same page.
Another way that the teachers stayed organized was that they kept track of the students profits and expenses. It's important for the teachers and the students to know how much they have together as a company.
Making the lessons fun are an important tool for the students throughout the lesson. The teachers in group two had put a game on the smart board where the students go tot pop balloons with a rubber ball to retrieve the right answer. This made all the students want to interact and join in the lesson. The children were always ready for the next question and wanting to get the right answer to go up to the smart board to throw the ball and also receive one biz-buck for their company  If the students were quiet and respected their classmates and other companies then they would receive an extra biz-buck for their company.
I thought this was a great lesson for the students to start to begin their movies.

Let Learning To Teach Adventure Begin

I wasn't planning on being in this first video but I made a decision to be on the Mens Lacrosse throughout my college career so I had to make a choice. There were going to be some classes I would have to miss because of away games at different schools so  both Dr. Smirnova and myself didn't want me to miss any fieldwork while I was teaching my lessons to the 4th grade class, so she had placed me in group one so I wouldn't have to miss out on teaching my students. At first I wasn't happy with the move but I learned to deal with it and connect with my group. It turned out that it was a great decision that we both made because my group turned out to be an awesome one! and we worked together and got it done. I thought we had an important role to go first because we were launching the biz-movie project and we got the students minds rolling and starting to think of ideas that they wanted to use for their movies and companies. 

Characters, Plots, Setting

While the second group was presenting the students were starting to dive deeper into their movies. The students and their companies were exploring through the technology of the ipad and the different technology to create their movies. Discovering what kinds of plots, settings, and characters they wanted in their movie. Throughout their lesson the students had to discuss what they wanted in their movies. Throughout this process the companies had both agreements and disagreements. An example of this was when the students had disagreements on characters that they wanted in their movie. Their were students who got upset and didn't want any part of their company and the choices that they were making because they weren't getting their ideas through the group and they weren't getting what they wanted. The students felt like they weren't getting their way.  
After calming the group down and talking to them they realized that they had to work together on the decisions. It's one of, if not the most important things to do in group work. Talking and making decisions and having everyone agree is the hardest. The project is starting to really get going with the companies picking out their characters, where they want their story to take place, and what type of movie they want it to become. The students are really seeing how they have to work together to get to the next step in their companies.  

Starting To Click

The third lesson was interesting for both the teachers and for the students. The students got to experience how to invest in stock. Their job for the day was to as a group fill out their company name, logo, and slogan. Once they had this completed the Executive Producer and the Vice President of Finances had to go up to the State of Government (Mrs. B) with one BizBuck and they had to get an approval for their company. The students were tested on why they were talking and getting an approval from the State of Government. This process helped the students learn the process for exchanging money and getting approval. 
Once the students came back to their seats they then had to present their work to the rest of the class / companies. This lesson was a lot about communication and staying together as a company. There was both agreements and disagreements towards each others ideas on where they wanted to go with their movies. 
The lesson helped the students stay together as a group and come up with ideas on their own. The most challenging part was agreeing and staying on one idea. One student always wanted what they wanted or the group would split the decisions. The students did work well with their company name, design of the logo, and slogans. 
This lesson helped the students prepare for the future on making and creating new ideas for their movies. 

Beginning To Get The Minds Rolling

The second day in the field was even better than the first. Our group was more confident and ready to begin teaching the class of 4th graders. We had started reviewing the vocabulary from the first day to make sure that the students remembered the words that we went over from the previous lesson, for example words like profit, expenses, and revenue. It was important that the students remembered these terms because they needed them to make their movies later in the future. 
Once we went over the words as a group we then split the class up into four groups and had them research and answer questions on specific movie companies and movie questions that we had researched as teachers. We explained to the students that research was a major part of business. Each of the students had specific roles that we assigned them, for example a writer, time keeper, a person to keep the group on track and focused , a person to give good positive feedback, a speaker and a manager who collected the information folder from the teacher. This was important to give the students because they each had their own responsibilities to the assignment and stayed focused on what their job was to do. Once the students did their research and answered the questions correctly the speaker came up to the front of the class and read aloud the answers they came up with. 
I believed this lesson that we did with the students really helped them with both researching and speaking in front of their classmates. It got the students thinking on movie companies and specific movie information theat they might have never known before.  
As for the group of teachers for the second day I think we did very well once again being the first group to go and had both a  more confident feeling walking into the classroom.

Movie Beginning To Launch

The first day in the field was a little overwhelming being the first group to present to the class of 4th graders, but it was a great first experience.
In the beginning of this project it was a  challenging task to be the first group to go first. We used google docs, met with Dr. Smirnova, and tried to stay as organized as we could. I believe that we did a great job in both communicating with each other in the group and with Dr. Smirnova and Mrs.B in the 4th grade classroom. 
Here is our first direct instruction lesson that we created on google docs and published it to our 4th grade class. We called it Movie Making Business.
I believe we taught the students great vocabulary and new ideas about business. Day one got the students minds thinking and wondering about new ideas that they've might have never thought before. 
We taught the students vocabulary such as expenses, profit and revenue. We of course had to give examples for each, but once the students got to thinking they caught right on to what was being taught to them and they soon became very interested and began to start thinking of ideas on their own. Once the students had the vocabulary remembered it was the end of the class and we left them to thinking to what the next step they might take into making their own business.  
I thought our group did very well for the first group to go and it was a good feeling to get the project going first. I believe the first group who went had the most important job because we were going to be the ones getting the students minds thinking first and built on their education behind the word "business". 
Our group had a great power point to show the students and showed them many different examples of the vocabulary. Their were times that I wished we could take back and do over again, for example some of the language we used like the word "guys" referring to the students or walking around the classroom or even eye contact and projecting our voices better, but I do believe that we did a great job as a group going first and staying calm while teaching. It was a great first experience. 

Taking An Adventurous Semester

The first couple of weeks in this class was both interesting and fun.
Name tags was one thing that we did in the first day of class, Dr. Smirnova put us in groups to discuss our experiences with social studies. We also met in the Hudson library to go over technology that we would be using in the classroom. This was all new information to me. I've never seen or even tried this technology out before in my life but it was very interesting to get to try and explore new things. 
In the second class Dr. Smirnova shared video with us, it was called the vision of students today. 

Its amazing how students are different. 
We made creative T- Shirts and described a little about who we are as a person and the activities we like to do in our free time. We've been learning a lot about technology and completing different activities through the internet. A major role that we encountered was fieldwork. We have to teach the students lessons about business and what they have to learn to run a good business. Teaching these students is an important role throughout this course. As a class we will be teaching and showing the students different technology and instructions in making their own businesses. The first couple of weeks have been a little stressful but I know it will be worth it and get me prepared for future teaching. 

We learned as a class what it takes to make a good lesson plan and how to teach our students. We learned some new vocabulary to help us. Development was the first. To break it down more the words that followed were demonstration and modeling. Demonstration is showing the students something and modeling is showing and having them think about the activity being taught. You always want to ask the students questions. Get them engaged and prepared for what they're going to be learning. We always want to keep the students on track throughout the lesson. Other vocabulary that we learned was independent practice which was for the students to work alone and have them prove themselves on their mastery on the lesson. Your first goal is the content. Second goal is the thinking and reasoning. Social interaction plays a big role through the lesson. You want the students to have good social skills between both the teacher and their peers. 
Closure in the lesson wraps everything up and it's important to know how well the lesson helped the students worked both as a group with students by sharing ideas and coming together. We also want to watch and see how the student worked independently and prove to the teacher that they understood the lesson and mastered it. 
Throughout these short couple of weeks we've learned a lot in this course already and I'm excited to see what were going to overcome together as a class and how well we'll  be prepared and ready for the future.