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This is a picture of my dream classroom. It is an ideal way to show a welcoming, inclusive, positive classroom. It is warm with warm lights and cute theme. It looks nice. It has many different seating options for students many different needs. Its supportive of team learning, but also independent learning. It has many different sections, and has a large collection of books. It shows welcoming posters that are supportive, and also shows students accomplishments on the wall. Overall, if I had vast amounts of money to spend on my classroom, this is what it would look like.

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I chose this image because I thought it was a cute representation of a diverse classroom. This is about how many of the classes I am in for clinicals look now. I think the image is cute. It's a group of students that look very focused along with their parents. This image directly relates to both our discussions of connecting parents to our lessons and diverse learners. Because I've already talked about diverse learners, I'm going to talk about parents. I am going to imagine that these women came in to talk to the students about their culture, religion, and history, and the teacher is sitting on the ground to show an example to everyone else. The teacher got on the students level to show they care and are able to get on their level, and the group of students look extremely engaged. I think it seems inclusive, especially in the fact that it shows adults from different backgrounds working together to teach a lesson because of a common purpose. Everyone is included.

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My reaction to this news story is not one of surprise. Having access to technology doesn't mean the student will automatically use that technology to their benefit. I am happy to see that the cheapest technology can be good, because I think then even more districts if not all districts will be one-to-one. In today's world, it is vital for all students to have access to technology because it is a technology driven work force now. If a school doesn't embrace that then there its just hindering the student in the future. On top of that, there are so many online and technologically driven resources for students to use that it could truly enhance their education IF they use it adequately and are properly taught how best to use it. This article is extremely for our class because it directly relates to our discussions about technology in the classroom. Although not all of the data in the article supports technology use in the classroom, it doesn't completely turn away from it.

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When talking about technology, it was important for us to use technology that helped us shape our communication, collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking. In our 21st century skills training, some of the best resources I learned about was Newsela, Voki, Kaizena, Voicethread, and Thinglink. All of those resources made learning more fun, engaging, and effective, which is the key for integrating technology in the classroom. It's honestly hard to write about technology beyond just listing the vast amounts of technology we used in this class. Something fun to add that I recently learned about was activelylearn.com. It's like Peardeck, only geared at more higher order thinking for older students. Peardeck has to be one of my favorite new forms of technology because it is engaging, useful, and fits with so many different IEP's. It works with students at all levels and helps them focus on the slideshow. It also is just vastly more interesting with the interactive features that I wish I had as a student.

My perception of the amount of resources changed a lot. I had no idea how many different ways technology could be integrated into the classroom. As I am in my clinicals, I still find myself shocked in awe at the creativity in the way technology is being integrated, but it only makes me more excited at the future of teaching and how much it could change in the near future.

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There are many aspects to a diverse learner. Some of those aspects include teaching with equity versus equality, and following a students identity as well as realizing our own identities. We talked about multicultural education, culturally responsive teaching, culturally relevant pedagogy, universal design, and differentiation. We also talked about the differences between IEP's, 504's, and gifted students. A big part of diverse learners is making sure that students can see themselves in the classroom. Something we talked about is having affinity groups. The teacher shouldn't marginilize their students in any way, and shouldn't always teach with equality, but rather equity. The main part to focus on when creating a multicultural education is having an understanding of the history, contributions, struggles, and perspectives of a diverse group of people. When talking about IEP's we focused on some of the pros and cons of ADHD and medication, as well as shaping learning styles to the student. When talking about differentiation, you have to differentiate by student readiness, students interests, and students learning preferences. One of my all time favorite projects that I learned about was a choice board called "You are Private Franklin Thompson" because it was extremely inclusive, history sensitive, interactive, and interesting. It provided choices that we are all connected and made the students feel like spies. It was a truly wonderful assignment that I cannot wait to use in my classroom. It's important to differentiate because students come from many different ability levels, cultural backgrounds, and they simply have different interests. Students don't come in one unique standard. They are all unique and special (cheesy, I know). We can differentiate out content, process, and product.

The biggest change in learning for me was in my view of diverse learners. I learned about most of this in Education 212, but never in this depth and never this blatantly. The biggest frustration in Ed. 212 was never saying what was truly correct. This class did the opposite of that. The best advice I learned was making sure to teach all of your students with equity, not equality. Not every student is the same, and so they shouldn't all be treated the same. They should all be treated fairly, but not the same. When we read about teaching diverse students, I was completely wrong in wanting to just treat every student as if they didn't have their own identity. I was almost a color-blind teacher, but I should never be a color-blind teacher. I should celebrate and integrate students of every background, and rather than turning away from a students identity, I should embrace it and integrate it into my classroom.

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When talking about planning, instruction, and assessment we broke the sections down into two components. Planning and instruction consisted of having a backward design for lessons,  using essential questions and academic language, filling out a lesson plan based on a standard, and creating a unit plan. Assessment consisted of using both formative and summative assignments, using both traditional and authentic summative options, applying and following rubrics, and having both formal and informal assignments on a daily basis.

The planning, instruction, and assessment process is not as different as I thought it would be. The lesson plans are a little more tedious than I thought they would be, but I find themselves enjoying them which is a good sign for a future teacher. The biggest change I had in learning was backward design. I don't know why I didn't think of that before, but it makes so much sense. The best way to plan is backwards, just as you would with a trip. You plan your destination first, and figure out how to get there second. With the backward design, you can make sure you have all the elements of a good unit plan, because you have to actively work through each piece and mentally check off each piece.

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When building a community, the teacher should establish norms, manage the classroom by building solid relationships with the students, create a class charter, have standard operating procedures, and create a warm and welcoming classroom environment. Choice theory can create a positive classroom environment, as well as creating a classroom that has warm light, seating geared towards teamwork, and positive, motivating signs. The classroom should create a welcoming, comfortable, and safe environment for the students. A wonderful way to build community is through getting to know you games like a selfie post, mixer, picCollage, or a questionnaire. I think its really important for students to take the time to get to know one another, and for the students to get to know the teacher, because it does create that environment that supports many positive interactions in the classroom. When using standard operating procedures, the teacher should establish schedules, norms, and routines that make it very clear how the classroom should run. We did this as a class through our syllabus which included: attendance, grading, tech use, bathroom and hall pass systems, policies, and the materials needed.

My perception of this concept has not changed, but it has been enhanced. I love the different ideas for creating a welcoming environment! I've learned that I can be a good emotional support for my students that makes them feel comfortable in my classroom to discuss anything in their lives. I like to be a positive person, so I love the idea of creating a positive environment for my students. When creating the syllabus, I actually felt like a teacher and could see myself in the classroom working with my students on creating classroom charters and following through on policies.