Samantha Cotton

Hi friends! This week in class we started prepping for our design process unit plan. The prompt that was assigned asked us to start thinking about different ideas and activities we have for our topic and what the students will be constructing. An idea that I had in mind is having my students create a website about their favorite type of weather. They may also keep a spreadsheet of what the weather is like each day to use as data in their website! This example came to mind, because a few semesters ago I observed a Pre-K inclusion class and their morning routine was to predict the weather for the day. I believe it is important that students are learning not only what the meat of the lesson is, but the outer rings that follow the lesson, so they are able to build from prior knowledge. I will explain to my students the importance of the outer rings, which are experiencing the new, applying creativity, conceptualizing by name, and analyzing functionally. The students can experience the new ...

  Hi friends! I hope everyone is enjoying the start of Spring Break. I found the two videos that we were assigned to watch this week very interesting. In the Sawhney (2021) video, the idea of Janet was discussed. Prior to watching the two videos, I have never heard of Janet. After watching the video, Janet reminded me so much of Alexa, except they have many differences. According to the video, Janet is more interesting and intelligent than Alexa because she is made specifically for students and contains an educational database from all curriculums. She also has a personal assist feature, which can be programmed to suit any individual learning needs. I love the idea of Janet and if I had a Janet, I would use her for daily motivational pick me up quotes. What would you use Janet for?  As discussed in the video by Dweck (2014), educators must help students develop and improve a growth mindset. According to the video, research shows that when we praise kids for the process they en...

  Hi friends! This week in class we talked about coding and Project Based Learning (PBL). I have never used coding until I got to college, and I find that it will be very useful as part of elementary learning in my future classroom! I enjoyed reading the article this week about PBL and eLearning. As future educators, especially with the new developments of technology, I think "integrating interactive scenarios and simulations that require a broad range of skills" is applicable to PBL that involves students use of technology. This allows the students to experience a problem or situation and figure out a possible solution. This will help them further develop a range of skills, so that they can apply those skills to their own personal or professional lives. This tip will bind in significantly with a chosen math or science standard for the design process until plan, creating space for the students to use their imagination, show creativity, and their ideas/skills.