Part 1: Select a TEKS and Corresponding Activity

The TEKS for this activity: 

(9)  Organisms and environments. The student knows and understands that living organisms within an ecosystem interact with one another and with their environment. The student is expected to:

(A)  investigate that most producers need sunlight, water, and carbon dioxide to make their own food, while consumers are dependent on other organisms for food; and

(B)  describe the flow of energy through food webs, beginning with the Sun, and predict how changes in the ecosystem affect the food web such as a fire in a forest.

The URL for this activity :

http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/explorer/ecosystems/be_an_explorer/map/form_wildcats.htm

In this activity the students can learn how to build a food web. They will understand which animals are predators and which are prey. Once they develop that skill they will build their own food web which will help determine if they understand the concept. 

     Once everyone has had a chance to build their own  food web, I would get the classroom together and discuss why everyone did what they did. And as a class we would create the correct food web that will show which animal eats what.

In Reference: Mrs. Kallas's Blog

In My Opinion - The Best Virtual Field Trip

 Arctic Adventure!

If I had to pick a virtual field trip I would choose the "Arctic Adventure." I like the format of the website and the way that it is. It has blown up pictures of different things going on and a little paw print at the bottom right corner so you can click on and it will tell you all about the picture.
      I believe this virtual field trip would suit 4th graders that are in science class. You could learn all about the climate and type of weather that goes on in the Arctic, and how the animals have to adapt to that certain life style. You could give the students an assignment to read up on the virtual field trip and at the end the students have to write on what the animals and humans had to do to adapt to their surroundings.

  In Reference: The Best Virtual Field Trips

How Do We Keep Our Students Safe and Secure in School?

I send my condolences to all the victims in the Sandy Hook tragedy. 

Stronger Gun Reform?

After everything that happened with Sandy Hook a bunch of civilians believe that a stronger gun reform should be taken in place. In my personal opinion I believe no matter what we do will not prevent people from doing crazy stupid stuff like that. I can go either or yes we can get a stronger gun reform. Will it matter? Probably not. It will make people feel a little safer psychologically but it won't really matter in my opinion. 

          

Guns at School?!

 I absolutely believe teachers should not be able to have guns at school. There are so many ways it can go wrong if a teacher has a gun in their classroom. Depending on where they put it a student can easily access it and accidentally shoot themselves. A teacher can also accidentally shoot a student. I believe teachers should have a mandatory defense training class if they were to get attacked. 

Another Option?

I believe there really isn't a super effective way to keep our children safe. I believe that a buzzer should be place at the front of the school. Before anyone can enter the school they need to buzz in in order to enter the building and they can be viewed on the monitor to see whether or not they are safe. 

In reference: Sandy Hook mom speaks out

Teacher Toolbox Featuring Glogster

http://bmendoza901.edu.glogster.com/fractions

Defending Your Decision to Teach

Becoming a teacher has it's pros and cons. 

• Mainly pros but a couple of cons. 

Money

Most people say "Why would you want to become a teacher? They hardly make any money!" This may be true but in my case I'd like to think I have the rest of my life to gain a lot of money. It's not about the money to me, it's about the students. Being able to teach them something that they never knew how to do in the first place, that's pretty incredible. Being able to change their lives every step of the way, you just can't put a price on that. 

Doing Something That You Love!

Becoming a teacher you are able to teach a subject that you might have a passion for. Take me for example I absolutely love math. I have always been a fan of math since I was in the 2nd grade! I could teach high school or middle school classes everyday about a subject I have a passion for. Being able to teach a student about a subject that I love and seeing them understand it, that to me just reassures me that this is the profession I love to be in. Little moments like those are worthwhile and won't make you think twice about the question "Why would you want to be a teacher?"

Summer Vacation!

Teachers might not get paid what they should get but they also have a whole three months of vacation plus a spring, Christmas, and Thanksgiving break. People who make 100 figures work all year round with little days off. If you ask me I think that's a pretty sweet deal.

Am I a Procrastinator?

Out of all the years that I have lived, I have established that I am in fact a procrastinator.
In my high school years almost every time that I get an assignment I have put it aside and waited till the last minute to start working on it. 

In my AP English class we are constantly reading books such as The Scarlett Letter, The Great Gatsby, Death of a Salesman, Othello, and Heart of Darkness. In my opinion these books are extremely boring and there is no way I would ever read them on my own. Normally we would have a reading schedule that you should follow, but me being a procrastinator obviously put it off and was struggling to read 10 chapters in one night. These books are very detailed, complex, and hard to understand in just one night. I found myself doing poorly on quizzes due to this problem! I just found reading boring.


In the webpage Overcoming Procrastination I have found a strategy to help me stop putting things off. In the fourth bullet it states "Discipline yourself to use time wisely: Set priorities". With that being said I have gotten a gift from my mentor over Christmas that is a "To Do List Whiteboard" so I have been constantly updating it from things that should be done immediately to things that can wait till I'm done with my first priorities. This "To Do List" has helped me out a bunch, I have been doing things more efficiently and I don't forget about other homework since it's right there in front of my face. Lately there has been no more piles of homework waiting for me!

                            In Reference of: Overcoming Procrastination

   

My Favorite Internet Teaching Resource(s)

My favorite teaching resource is PBS Kids. 

PBS Kids is a real good source to go to if you're looking for activities for your classroom, media for the subject you are teaching, and lesson plans for the future. The thing that separates PBS Kids from all the other teaching resources is their search bar! In the search bar you can choose what grade you want, the subject AND the media type.


In my own personal experience I recall using PBS Kids to help me find ideas to come up with a lesson plan and have a "cute" little activity on the side. Currently I am an intern at Grace E. Hardeman and I help out with a 4th grade class. When I arrive the students are learning math and my objective was to find a way to help teach 3 digit long division. I went to PBS Kids and followed these simple steps.

1. Go to the website - www.pbs.org/teachers
2. Select your kids grade level
3. Select your current subject
4. Choose the media type you'd like
5. Browse all the different ideas and select one or more that you would like!

PBS Kids is simply as pie! They make life easy for you, all you have to do is get crackin'!