Introducing: The Girl of 510

My Photo
Megan
I just finished my first year as an elementary education major! Join me on the quest for my diploma, as well as my many other adventures including cross-country trips, cat training, World of Warcraft, bike riding, babysitting, and more.

Here's some random stuff about me:

I love sewing, writing, cellos, Harry Potter, and mimolette cheese. I think the plural of 'fox' should be 'foxen'. I own more Beanie Babies than anything else. I have a supersize calculator. I have memorized several Disney songs in French and sing them regularly. I harbor an ambition to one day hug a penguin. And a beluga whale.
View my complete profile

Check out my video.

Wednesday, December 2, 2009

In my teaching ESOL class, we are doing group presentations about foreign countries so that we will be able to understand our future ESOL students better. My group's country is South Korea.

The way the presentations are set up, small groups of our classmates travel around to each group member's center. The presenter at each center ends up giving the same lesson 5 times. I can't stand doing that, so I made this video that I can play for them instead. :-)


Montessori

Thursday, November 5, 2009




Recently the pastor at my church invited me to come see the Montessori school that is run within the building. He knows I am an education major and thought the experience would interest me. I had heard of Montessori schools before but knew little about them. Plus, I was skeptical of a system that I assumed had religious leanings. But surprisingly, at the moment he invited me and I accepted (intending maybe, one day in the future, to go – if I had the time), the head of the school showed up and my moment to investigate had arrived. Thus began my tour.


First the woman, Dora, took me to the toddler room. Odd things filled it – shallow dishes of dry lentils, miniature mops, brooms, and dustpans, a child-sized old fashioned sink with a removable basin, and various other items you wouldn’t expect to see in a classroom, especially one designed for two year olds.


Then we went onto the lower elementary classroom. I had never heard of such a thing. There were only two elementary classes – lower and upper. The children worked together in three year age groups. In the lower elementary classroom, there were some typical items – a bookshelf, small tables and chairs, pictures (all famous and classical though), and a plant or two. Then there were stacks of pink blocks, rows of red and blue wooden rods, more bean dishes, tiny pitchers for pouring water back and forth, and boxes and boxes of game pieces for various subject activities. In the upper classroom was more of the same, only at an advanced level. My mind was being blown. Dora narrated the trip with anecdotes praising the children’s focus, their work ethic, and their joy in learning. She told me that they all pursued projects of their choosing with minimal guidance and that there were few discipline problems even though they could converse freely with their classmates. I started wondering how it all worked, and I still don’t fully understand the method.


Next she took me outside. There I discovered that the children tend to rabbits, chickens, and a pet parakeet. They do community service projects, such as painting chairs for the church’s silent auction (although the school is definitely not run by the church – they teach the children the Big Bang theory), and they learn to grow plants, among other things. The children are also allowed to climb trees in the woods nearby, and they have an old fashioned wooden play set – not one of these new “safe” plastic ones.


Through further study, and by asking Dora many questions, I found out that the Montessori method’s success lies in several factors. One is minimal lecture time. An observer will rarely find a teacher speaking endlessly to the whole class, or even to one student. Students receive lessons about how to properly use the materials, and then they guide their own work and a pace they can handle. The teacher is more of a guide who is there when the child seeks him or her out. Another reason it’s successful (and that the teachers are able to produce such impressive and well behaved students) is that starting from a young age (preferably around 18 months), children are given repetitive tasks that challenge them at a level they can handle. This develops the child’s focus as well as skills (fine and gross motor, critical thinking, etc.) and work ethic. The children learn to enjoy performing tasks and will seek out new and more challenging ones on their own.


My favorite thing about Montessori is that it nurtures the development of the whole child. This system doesn’t just produce students who can read, write, and do math. These kids learn social skills, how to interact peacefully with his or her peers, how to serve the community, how to take care of him or herself and be independent, how to care for animals…I could go on and on.


I was surprised and disappointed to discover that my textbook does not mention Montessori at all, not even in the section about learner-centered instruction. It continues to baffle me that a system that has time and time again proved its efficacy is overlooked by so many. It scares me that most of those people seem to be in the teaching profession.

I bought a bike rack for my car

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

After many weeks of trying to fit my unwilling bike (and just barely succeeding) into the back of my car, I finally bought a bike rack, which I am happy about.

I haven't driven all the way to school yet - about 45 miles - but I foresee much easier trips. They'll be easier still once I get the spring-loaded pole to make my bike frame "standard" so that it fits more easily onto the bike rack.

Right now it fits awkwardly, like this:



It's still workable though. I just need to practice hooking the rack up to my hatch and fastening the bike in.

It'll be nice to get back the use of my backseats. I'd kept them folded down in a 60-40 split so that the bike would have enough room. I was so happy at all the extra space that I vacuumed and washed my car yesterday to make Eliza (my car) look spiffed up and new.

Now taking those long bike rides around campus will be so much easier. I usually avoid doing "extra-curricular" bike riding, since it's so annoying to take the bike in and out of my backseat. I can finally explore the pretty neighborhoods around my school! I have wanted to for the longest time, and tomorrow I plan to during the break between my afternoon and night classes.

Another good thing about having the bike rack is that hopefully it will provide an incentive for car to stay the hell away from my back bumper. I am so sick of other drivers tailgating me when I typically go at least five miles over the speed limit. Surely these people cannot have to be somewhere THAT badly. I get to annoy enough of them in return though, by tapping my breaks and slowing down about 20 mph if that doesn't change their attitude.

Ah, traffic.... :-)

Once I really pissed off this one woman. She came up behind me in the fast lane on the highway going about 90 mph (speed limit's 65) and I was hovering around 72-ish. She makes no effort to slow down until she realizes that I am not going to suddenly jet off in a burst of speed. She's right up behind me and starts waving her arm frantically in the "GET THE FUCK OUT OF THE WAY" motion, even though there are two other perfectly traversible lanes. So I looked at her in my rearview mirror, put on a lovely smirk, and shook my head "no." Still, she kept on waving her arm, progressively harder and harder, as if the ferocity of her motions would change my mind. She got a little too close to my car for my liking after that, and I slowed down about 15 mph. This REALLY pissed her off and finally she swerved angrily around my car, gave me a dirty look as she passed me, and she raced up the highway to piss off different drivers. I did not stop laughing for a good five minutes. I love how some people think they own the road.

Amusing anecdotes aside, I really have to finish an essay for my afternoon class tomorrow, as well as my Friday work.

I will leave you with another picture of my bike rack for your enjoyment: