Posts

Welcome to my Blog!

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Hello, and welcome to my blog!! My name is Hannah Roque, and I am from Middlebury, Vermont. I am a sophomore at Saint Mike's and I am double majoring in English and secondary education with a minor in chemistry (it's a mouthful I know)! My mom is currently a teacher, and in many ways it is because of her that I am studying to become one myself! I am hoping to become a middle school science teacher and spread my love of science to middle school students! When I was in middle school I was convinced that I was not a science person, and that I would never pursue a career in the sciences. Eight science courses and one (almost complete!) chemistry minor later, I have discovered my love for chemistry and I can honestly say I would not be here without the influence and passion from my high school and college science professors. It is because of them that I want to inspire the next generation of scientists! When I am not gushing about my love for science, I love to sing, dance, and ...

"Troublemakers" Blog Post

The novel Troublemakers , by Carla Shalaby challenges the ways in which educators look at the stereotypically troublesome students in the classroom. By following four different students throughout their academic and personal lives, Shalaby examines what exactly prompts students to be "troublemakers" in the classroom, and how we, as educators, can best help those students. In the lives of the students that are marked as "troublemakers," their family is often alienated from the school for many reasons. For example, Marcus' mother, who is the mother of the last student highlighted in the novel, intentionally distances herself and her family from the school. Unfortunately, schools often ostracize families because they have marked their students as troublemakers. Schools and teachers push families away, often times by creating events that are targeted toward more affluent families or forming negative relationships with parents. If teachers are unwelcoming to a fami...

STEAM-based Teaming in Middle Schools

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STEAM education is a movement that was launched into populated by the Rhode Island School of Design, that consists of Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math. STEAM education centers around creating a curriculum that integrates each field into a comprehensive and creative course for students; this type of program goes hand in hand with the teaming structure within middle schools. At the middle level, forming teams dedicated to educating their students based on a STEAM-centered curriculum would greatly benefit the learning of every student. At the middle level, students learn best in creative and engaging methods. By creating an integrative STEAM curriculum for middle grade teams, students will learn via alternative learning styles, and therefore the content will become more relatable and relevant to students. According to the University of Florida, students are four times more likely to be recognized for academic achievement, and students that take some form of a...

Back to Back Lessons

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Back to Back Lesson Plan Tuesday Exit Card Responses Mystery Assignment 1 Mystery Assignment 2 The photo below is from Thursday's class. This class focused primarily on work time for the students on their mystery assignment (explained below). This photo is from Tuesday's class. In this photo we are reviewing the agenda, as well as terms that are important to the lesson.    Above, I have linked my lesson plan for the back to back lessons, the student responses for the exit card and their mystery assignment (unfortunately one assignment wouldn't scan ), and photos from both Tuesday and Thursday's lessons. My unit is an introduction to research writing designed for an 8th grade English class. These specific lessons were focused around identifying a claim (thesis statement) and evidence in an article, as well as how to write a claim, back up the claim with evidence, and analyze the evidence in relationship to the claim. On Tuesday, we started out ...

Common Read Event

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I am thankful that I was able to watch the recording of the talk given by Alex Gino, the author of George . There are many facets of the talk that stuck out to me, but there are several things that Alex Gino highlighted that I will keep in mind going forward and work towards incorporating into my classroom.  First of all, Alex Gino said that it is important to create a space that is welcoming for trans students even before you know you have a trans student in your class. In some ways this piece of advice seems very obvious, but I had never thought about it before. I recognize that it is out of immense privilege that I can say that I’ve never thought about this. I think this is incredibly important because students need to have a space they feel supported and comfortable enough to come out to if/when the time arises. If a student feels like the environment will have to change solely because they are trans, the learning environment is not truly inclusive or acceptin...

Mini Pre-Reading Lesson Reflection

Lesson Plan Video   Lesson Plan This teaching lesson lines up with the mission statement pillar that states graduates should be “creative and integrative.” I believe that this assessment reflects this statement because I tried to make the content interesting and engaging for students, while also giving them a chance to learn the important materials.  I think my lesson plan followed a really good model by lecturing for 5 mins, giving a 5 minute activity, and then giving 5 minutes for an exit card. This structure really helped me to design my lesson with that shorter timeframe in mind, as well as be able to teach effectively. I definitely need to be more commanding in the room, as well as create more comprehensive lecture notes for my slideshow. In watching the video, I feel like my body language could be much improved to convey my status as an educator (I hesitate to say in power or in control of my classroom but I do need to exhibit some sort of authority)....