Blog Post 1

About me

My name is Shelby Day and I am an elementary major. I am born and raised in Mobile, Alabama. I love to travel and do so often. I was a cheerleader for 8 years and danced for 13 years. I love children and how active they are with everything they do. I also love the University of Alabama. I love the football, the atmosphere, the campus and everything in between. I am attending USA because it is close to home but still serves as a well rounded university. In my immediate family, it is Christian (brother), mom, and dad. I have family all over. My closest family to me would be my aunt's family in Birmingham or my grandparents who live on an island in Florida. I am very grateful for my grandparents because they have taught me so much, from helping others to educational values.

I want to enter the education field because of my passion to teach. Since I was younger I have always wanted to teach. I taught dance and cheer as junior assistants and moved my way up. I have always had a heart for children. They are so active and full of energy and so lively. They always keep things upbeat. I enjoy many things from watching movies, ice cream, travelling, and going to cheer competitions with work. I have two jobs and am a very active person! We only live once so we have to make the most of it!


My Teaching and My Classroom

When I begin teaching, hopefully I will be teaching younger grades. I would love something like kindergarten up to third grade classroom. If this is true I would be emphasizing on the basics and learning and adjusting to a classroom and structure. I will have a structured and organized classroom and as the students and I begin to get more comfortable around each other I would learn their personalities. By doing this I could learn who likes what resources/ tools. Based on that I could try my best to accommodate for my students. I hope to have things very well organized so that students do not have to ask me where things go or where an item could be found. My basic classroom tools would be a smart board if possible but if not a dry erase board would do. These would be my main teaching tools to present material to the students.

Students are our greatest resource therefore, one idea would be to ask the students what they would like to see in the classroom. They may ask for more books or something a teacher would have never thought of. Considering I would be teaching younger students, I think it would be beneficial to have an abundance of crafts and learning tools in the classroom. Crafts could be as simple as making a hand turkey for thanksgiving for children enjoy those sorts of activities. At this age, the students would be taught all by the same teacher. Considering this, I would think of some way to transition the students from subject to subject.

Basic tools that we would use everyday would be workbooks that joined with the curriculum, pencils, pens, paper, and learning tools. Learning tools would be something like a laminated paper clock and a different student each day could write the time and how it is draw on the clock. The same thing could also be done with a temperature gauge. Leave the thermometer outside for a few minutes and then bring it in and a student could write temperature.

The learning process would really depend on the grade and the students. Every student is different and after evaluating my students for the first few days I would most likely have a better idea of their learning styles and how they learn best. Going into the academic year I could have a "game plan" that went along with the curriculum to help me stay on track. To avoid any problems throughout the year I could have a modification for the students that learn faster or slower than the average students. Another resource that would be helpful is after school tutoring. No mater the age, some student need a little extra attention and help. For these students I have certain days that I stay after to assist them with the material that they are having trouble with.


Randy Pausch on Time Management

I have personally never heard of Dr. Pausch but after watching his video on time management I realize I should. It is no surprise that he begins with mentioning stress and  procrastination. He said if you can rid procrastination you are in good shape, which I agree with. If we as a society could eliminate procrastination we would be better of and have a better boundary and respect for people. How to set goals and how to avoid wasting time are two main points I got out of this four minute video. It may only be four minutes but it is packed full of information. He also points out in the beginning that we are a society that is built on money. We do not worry about time anymore, only money and time associated with money. "Do the right things right" is also good advise that you could every give students while using it yourself. I relate to his planning speech in the way that I plan everything. I have planned my life out to a T but I have recently realized that you cannot always go with the plan. The plan will change and you will have to adjust to it. Overall Dr. Pausch is a great speaker and very informational.


Penn State University's Time Management Exercises

The benefits of a planner would definitely be the most useful tip from this page. If you had no time management skills and started with a planner, your life would become more organized and simple from only that one change. Keeping to the schedule is key.