Christine Villarreal

CA

The Early Years: Classroom Memories

Mon, Feb 04, 2019 11:52 PM
The Early Years: Classroom Memories

This resource offers input about the benefits of providing students visual aids in the form of documentation panels. These documentation panels chronologically illustrate what students have been working on in their classroom. The panels serve as a scaffolding tool for students to utilize when discussing what they are learning with peers, their teacher or parents. For students in my kindergarten classroom, these documentation panels have to be filled with plenty of color and photos to help them recall. This visual aid allows students to describe their work which in turn helps the teacher assess students understanding. I had never heard of this tool before and I think it is an excellent strategy to utilize especially when working on a skill or standard that needs to be covered over a period of time. This allows students to easily recall by looking at a photograph or words that they are constantly exposed to through instruction. I would love to use this resource but worry about the amount of time it would take to create and implement in the classroom.

Let It Roll

Mon, Feb 04, 2019 11:22 PM
Let It Roll

This article serves as a guide to assist teachers with getting students to learn through play, “incidental learning,” while utilizing scientific inquiry. I have seen this type of learning occur in my transitional kindergarten classroom. As a newer teacher in this grade-level, I have struggled with shifting from incidental learning to “intentional learning” once students have had time to explore the objects. I appreciated that the authors discussed how to have this transition occur. By reflecting on my own practices, I am realizing that I am not allowing my students enough time to play with the concept before delving into the content. To introduce the academic content, the author’s stressed the importance of scaffolding the scientific language and inquiry process for children to comprehend. Although I am already doing that, I was worried that I was doing it incorrectly. It was refreshing to read about the importance of scaffolding in order to support my student’s intentional learning.

Science Conversations for Young Learners

Mon, Feb 04, 2019 9:02 PM
Science Conversations for Young Learners

This article is an excellent resource for teachers to understand how to cultivate a classroom culture where there are student-led science discussions in a kindergarten classroom. With this age group, students need explicit directions which need to be repeated multiple times. It was great to read detailed directions and rules for beginning a student-led discussion as well as photos that show concept maps which came about in student discourse. With clear rules and expectations, there is less room for chaos and non- judgmental disagreements in the classroom. Creating a visual for students to see helps visual learners to see what was being discussed and helps the teacher to use what was conversed as talking points when it is time to debrief about the topic. This was especially helpful because I often find myself listening to a student-led discussion and miss some information. Having something visual not only helps to students as a reference, but it will also help the teacher throughout a science unit.