Classroom Management and Using Technology

I really enjoyed tonight's focus on classroom management and using technology in the classroom. I have used discovery streaming before and want to start implementing it daily in my classroom! Instead of just showing the film, I plan to give students a purposeful question that will promote higher level thinking as they watch the video and discuss when I pause it. I believe this will increase classroom engagement and help with classroom management as well.

To improve my classroom management, I plan to greet every student at the door tomorrow and report back how it went. I try to stand in the halls but sometimes get distracted talking to one student too long. I will try to greet EVERY student before they enter. Another simple change I will try to implement is providing at least two choices to my students who are a bit more challenging. If I provide them with two choices I am ok with, then either outcome will be positive. I hope this all works and am willing to try it! Wish me luck!

First Day of School!

Hello everyone!

So my first day is over. Whew i made it. I really had no time to think today. It went really fast and I just focused on memorizing names because I am terrible with names. I would always call my little brother's friends the wrong names when they would come over to play with him. At the time it was funny, but now I need to get serious about it. That can really break a kid when you call them the wrong name. I think I am doing ok. We will see tomorrow once I see them if I remember their name. I just really am going to focus on building a connection with each student because they don't really care how much you know until they know how much you care. That's it.

I attached a picture of my classroom! I bought a couch for the reading corner. The kids were stoked! My amazing para helped me pick out curtains at Walmart. It snowed 3 times today! The kids went crazy. I cannot wait to go back tomorrow and continue building on what I already know about my students and figure out ways to help them advocate for themselves in their classes. My job is to make sure my students meet their goals set on their Individual Education Plans (IEP's) since I work with Special Education. I want to help prepare my students for work/college by teaching them now how to advocate for their disability and their needs in the classroom. My goal is to get them to understand how they learn best and then be able to explain that to teachers/professors.


Much love,

Megs

Preparing for the classroom

Professional development has been quite helpful and I will take many things back to my classroom as I prepare for that first day with my students. Here are the top three:

1. We discussed what a good place to learn should look like. I will provide my classroom with structure and organization, safety and clear expectations and procedures.

2. I will set up ways to make the environment fun and engaging for my students as soon as they enter. Respecting will be built through activities I develop for that first day and throughout the year.

3. I will look for positive interactions and reward those interactions thoroughly. This will hopefully keep students working to achieve positive results, pride in their work and also within themselves.

My first blogging experience...

Hello all,

My name is Megan and I will be working with the Special Education team. I have an older brother with Down Syndrome, which had an impact on why I have chosen this field. I am very passionate about individuals with special needs. I look forward to getting started in my first year. I have received a license in Special Education K-12 (Generalist) and an Elementary Education license. I played college soccer at the center midfield position for 3 years. Denver has been my place of residence for the past five years, but I appreciate the close community of a smaller town since I grew up in Kansas. I am part of a large family with 5 siblings of which we are all extremely close. Skiing, soccer, tennis, and snowboarding have been my recreational enjoyments since age four. I have been a snowboard instructor at Winter Park and Breckenridge Ski Resorts. I am excited to live in this area and explore all that Eagle County has to offer.