Class Activities (5/12)

Our last day of class! How exciting as we are all one step closer to achieving our dreams. Today in class we had four thematic unit presentations. The four unit topics were self advocacy, (2) presentations on death/grieving, and another presentation on friendships. Everyone did a nice job with their presentations and shared resources with the entire class that will be valuable for the future.

I LOVED the CPR activity that Jasmine and Kayla did today. It was called the snow ball activity. Each student wrote three things about themselves on a piece of paper. Once each student had completed this task, they then crumpled up their piece of paper and threw it to the middle of the room. Each student grabbed a random piece of paper and had to guess whose paper they had by reading the three clues. This was a great way to get to know other students in the classroom.

Lastly, we filled out a pie chart about the different teen development presentations that were conducted in class. This information will be used on the final for the class when we have to connect methods to what we know about teen development.

Class Activities (5/5)

Today Zach was in charge of the CPR and Energizer activities. I took note of his energizer activity as everyone in the class throughly enjoyed the activity. The activity consisted of finding a partner. One partner took the outside of the circle and the other partner took a spot in the inside of the circle. Music was played and the two circles starting walking in opposite directions. When the music stopped and Zach called out two body parts (ex. foot, toe) you had to rush to find your partner and touch together a foot and a toe from both partners. The last group to complete the task was eliminated. This created positive competition and high energy in the classroom! Nice job Zach.

Also today we started the thematic unit presentations. Three groups presented their thematic unit today. The three group themes were identity, overcoming adversity, and self-acceptance. Each group highlighted their introduction activity as well as their group book and individual books. Groups also presented on their various lessons that they had planned out for their thematic unit.


We are coming to the end of the semester! Exciting I know! The remaining of the semester consists of presentations from different groups! I am excited to see what everyone presents and having resources for the rest of my life!

Aaron Rodgers Vignette

This is a book that I have read over three times throughout my early development as a reader. It has not only had an extensive impact on my development as a reader, it has also provided an avenue into one of my personal biggest interests still today. The book is all about the upbringing and professional career of the great Aaron Rodgers. I am a guy that loves analyzing statistics, so as you can imagine as a young reader I took a great interest in knowing bizarre statistics such as how many touchdowns Rodgers threw his senior season of high school football. This book provided such bizarre statistics that I was able to bask in and this intrigued me and held my interest. Aaron Rodgers is still one of my biggest role models and it is a life long dream to get the chance to meet him someday. The resiliency he has showed throughout his career, his willingness to learn and develop his craft, and his stubbornness to conform are attributes that make him the powerful persona that he is today.

            I remember the day that I received this book as a birthday gift from my mother at the age of 12. That same day, my parents could not pry me away from reading the book. I do not think they cared that I had become consumed by the book as they were just happy that I was reading, something that I was not usually as thrilled to do. This book will always be a book that I think of when I reflect on my development as a young reader. Yes, it was not the most intellectually stimulating, but what it did possess was something that not all young readers may be attracted to or care about but we so important to me! It provided a figure for me to look up to and sparked my interest in sports as a young adult, something that continued to be a big part of my life as a grew up.

Class Activities (4/21)

Today we had time to gather with our thematic unit group and organize and discuss the different jobs that we have to do in order to get our thematic unit done on time. Speak is the group book that we are working on and The Hunger Games is the individual book that I have chosen to do. Self-Advocacy is the theme of our thematic unit.

The presentation group talked about female bullying. It is a different form of bullying then male bullying. We made super cool posters to conclude the lesson about different aspects of the lesson that we found impactful! A great strategy that I want to use in my future classroom.

The Hate List, Falling Into Place, and the second Hate List group all gave their Wiki presentations today. Both of these books are tied into bullying in their unique way. The Hate List is about a school shooting that takes place in connection with a list that is formed by a girl about the people she does not like in the school. Though she does not pull the trigger, she feels guilt for creating this list as the people on the list are the ones who are targeted. This book is about how being bullied can result in being a bully yourself. Falling Into Place is about a girl that is popular and seems perfectly fine on the outside, but internally is really struggling. This book is about the effect that internalization can have on a person, and the main character commits suicide because of this struggle she is going through.

4/14 Class Activities

The class started off with Jessi and Taylor's CPR activity with the skittles. Their were different colored skittles and depending on the color of skittle you chose, decided the question you would have to answer. Some of the questions that were proposed included: Something about yesterday, Something you watch/listen to, something you learned last week, something you are afraid of, and lastly something that you do for fun. I thought this was a great way to start the class and learn a little more about each other.

Today was the Emotional Development Presentation. The information presented is good to hear for any age kid. Topics that they covered were different coping strategies when tough situations arise, how the brain functions in high stress situations, and different techniques as teachers to handle situations in which emotions are riding high.

Today was the first day of Wiki presentations. The first group was the Wish You Were Dead group. Wish You Were Dead is a book about cyberbullying, popularity, and the struggle to fit in. I really liked the Globster file that Kevin created about the setting of the book. The second group to present was my group. We presented on 13 Reasons Why. A book about bullying and more specifically about the snow-ball effect and the bystander effect and how as peers when we notice when something is not right, to step in and just have a conversation with that person!

Class Activities (4/7)

The cognitive development group presented today. One of the activities that I liked was their activity on thinking about who you are and how you have changed. They proposed the question of what superhero/or superpower that we think we have transformed ourselves into in our college years. I think this is a intriguing question especially for the younger middle school group who will easily be able to pick out a superhero that represents their life or their capabilities. They also did a doodle activity to conclude the lesson to wrap up the main concepts of the lesson. By drawing a picture, students have a better chance of retaining the information because they then have attached meaning to the lesson.

We concluded our literature circle today. 13 Reasons Why is a fantastic book and I highly recommend all to read it. We had some great discussion to wrap up the book. Great job literature circle groups!

We continued to work on our Wikki pages today. I can not wait to see what everybody has came up with to represent their particular books. We are using the Wikki pages as an alternative to a book report. A Wikki allows students to use technology and use more creativity when presenting the main concepts and plot of the book.

Bible Vignette