February 9-13, 2009 (Mackenzie)

Monday, February 9
Today, Mrs. Turner explained different levels of learning, otherwise known as Bloom's Taxonomy. We read a story called The Dot and then made a quiz based on the different levels in Bloom's Taxonomy. We learned how to apply those levels in our future classrooms and challenge our students with higher levels of thinking. After the quiz, we started "High-tech Teaching" and learned about technology in the classroom. We browsed different educational websites that would be helpful when making lesson plans and providing different, creative ways of teaching.

Tuesday, February 10
Today was all about lesson plans. Mrs. Turner explained how we should begin, and gave us helpful tips for creating our lessons. The rest of the class was used for working on our lesson plans.

Wednesday, February 11
Today was a workday for lesson plans.

Thursday, February 12
Today we wrote our letters to our pen pals at Mauldin Elementary School and prepared for our visit on Friday. The rest of the class was used for working on lesson plans.

Friday, February 13
We went to Mauldin Elementary to visit our pen pals before Valentine's Day. We helped them with an activity, making "Valentine people," and we exchanged cards. We gave them a letter and a small bag of candy and they gave us little cards with their pictures that they decorated.

"The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows."
-Sydney Harris

I chose this quote because I believe that teaching is not just about giving information to students and expecting them to learn it. It is about giving students opportunities and letting them be creative and expressing themselves.