Sam Francis's Page!

I am curious to know how teachers deal with internet safety in their classrooms. I know that when I was in middle school, during art class, we were able to play this game online called "InkLink," an interactive pictionary game that you would play with other people from around the world. There was no sort of safety involved though. I remember that we gave our real first names, and our general location (state) and age. During the game you were also able to send messages to other people in the game… Continue

Sorry I haven't written in awhile =/ But! In the time that I was gone I had the opportunity for two teaching experiences. I taught a Kindergarten Science Circus on magnetism and a 5th grade lesson on the layers of the earth. What a difference there is between the two grades! We opened the layers of the earth lesson with a BrainPop video. Those are so cute, except the students had already seen the video once and then I felt bad. I think it's really important that if you're incorporating technolog… Continue

Hello VSTE friends! I was wondering how any of you incorporate Excel spreadsheets into the classroom? I know that they would be helpful for math or possibly scientific research, but is the actual use of the program difficult for students? At what grade is this really appropriate to incorporate? I'm not very experienced with Excel .. I hardly ever use it for anything, so I'm not sure how I would teach it to children if I don't feel confident with it myself.

While my placement is in a Kindergarten classroom, I observe several different grade levels just to get a feel for how different elementary levels of instruction vary. One thing that I have noticed in my school is that the teachers are relatively lucky and have a lot of new technology at their fingertips (ie, smartboards, various projectors). It sometimes annoys me, however, to see the teachers not using it due to unfamiliarity with the technology, or to see them using it improperly. Too often t… Continue

As a practicum student, I only spend a limited amount of time in the classroom each week. For this reason, it is difficult for me to actually know what level each of my students are at. This is really important when trying to create a voice thread for your students to follow! When does an activity go from challenging to impossible, and how do you, as teachers, establish this? Is it trial and error?

My cooperating teacher told me that she enjoys pushing her students to their maximum ability, alw… Continue