I had heard about Jack Hartmann's videos as my peers wrote lessons. Since I have observed in Mrs. Shadden classroom, I have gotten to see how they connect to students for myself. Jack Hartmann engages all three of the visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles in his videos through relevant visuals, fun music, and intentional dance moves or hand motions. His videos are geared towards young elementary students, and cover a variety of content areas. He pairs a concept with a catchy tune that students remember. His videos serve as a fun method to introduce subjects or to review topics that have already been taught. His videos involve rhythmic music and hand motions as he invites students to sing along and dance with him. Kindergarteners love these videos. As a teacher, however, I will be sure to participate in singing and dancing along to the songs as well. If students see me participating, they will feel inspired to involve themselves in the song as well. Since the videos appeal to all three of the learning styles, I know that this resource is designed to meet the needs of a variety of learners.

Since students will already be familiar with the Graffiti Wall encouragement assignment, it only makes sense to continue this great engagement strategy for the purpose of learning. Graffiti Walls can be incorporated for any area of study, and ensure that every student participates in his or her own unique way. I would have one or two students take turns writing on the Graffiti Wall at a time. Of course, each student would use a different color to express his or her learning. If I had been teaching about different letter groups form words and sentences, I would have my students write an example of a word or a sentence on the Graffiti Wall. I might have them draw a picture of the word they write to make it fun for them. For number sense, I would have them write numbers that they know. They could also draw a picture of a number of items, and then write the corresponding number beside the picture. I would be sure to create a key after the Graffiti Wall is complete of the different colors the students used. This key would set for up for success as I assessed their work at a later time. Graffiti Walls make great classroom decorations because of their academic value and the way the strategy lets students take full ownership of their learning. Through Graffiti Walls, I will give my students a chance to feel secure and gain confidence as they display their learning in a place that their peers and I will see.

Gallery Walks give students a chance to learn from others and display their work, all while incorporating movement and full engagement from all students. If I teach kindergarten, I plan to use specific instructions and tell my students how to behave during the Gallery Walk. I would explain that a Gallery Walk is like a library, where we are quiet and use our walking, tiptoeing feet. I would turn on music and challenge my students to be quieter than the music. I will be sure to model for students the direction in which they are supposed to walk during the Gallery Walk, and might hang up arrows in the classroom to direct their steps. Gallery Walks provide a motivation for students who have a difficult time staying focused during independent work. Kindergarteners typically love showing their work off to their friends, so the Gallery Walk provides an incentive for students to stay on task so that they will have work to show all their friends. Through the Gallery Walk, I will be teaching my students how to be respectful towards their peers and their work. I am also building relationships through the opportunity for all students to show off their work to their peers and teacher at the same time.

A calming corner is a necessity for any classroom, especially with younger students. The calming corner in my classroom would include a comfy chair and different sensory items that they can feel and squeeze. However, I do not want my calming corner to become a distraction from the learning environment. So, I will put a timer in the corner and instruct my students to set the timer when they go into the corner. They can stay in the corner for as long as the timer runs. The corner will also include visuals of the emotions they might be feeling, such as anger or sadness. It will also include visuals of strategies they can use when they are feeling those negative emotions. During the early weeks of the year, I will explain to my students what these visuals mean and how they use the pictures to understand and improve their emotions. I want the calming corner to be a place where they feel safe, so that they will be able to regulate themselves. When a student's alarm system gets triggered, they need to regulate their minds and bodies before they can accomplish anything else. This calming corner will help them regulate so they can come back to a place of reasoning.

In my future classroom, I will have a schedule displayed that can easily be modified depending on the agenda for each day. During our morning meeting, I will go over the schedule with my students each day and discuss any changes or special events that will occur. I have learned from participating in Mrs. Shadden's classroom that a classroom schedule changes daily to fit in different areas of study, such as music, art, and physical education. I want my students to be aware of the schedule, so that they will be prepared for the flow of the day. When discussing repetitiveness, Ms. Bell talked about the importance of establishing a daily and weekly routine, as well as communicating that routine to students. Unplanned experiences can trigger the brain's alert system, or the amygdala. I want my students to be equipped for changes in the schedule, so that they will know that they are capable of handling those changes. I have seen for myself the need for students to know the agenda for the day. From the minute he walks into her classroom every morning, one of Mrs. Shadden's students asks her if she is going to be there the entire day. Students care about the day's agenda, so I will make sure I communicate it to them daily.

As a teacher, I want to keep communication open with my students' parents through the use of newsletters. The newsletter will include specific goals and content areas we plan to cover, as well as pictures of students' participation the previous months' activities. I will include a section title, "Ask your student about..." that would include a list of conversation starters for parents and students regarding the month's activities. My students and I will create the newsletter together. I will ask them what topics we should put in the newsletter. If I end up teaching older grades, I would have students take turns writing sections of the newsletter themselves. Through the newsletters, I want to show my students that I care about them and want to involve their parents or guardians in our classroom. I want them to take ownership of our classroom communication as well. If I highlight student participation in the newsletter, my students will be more motivated to get involved in the activities. Ms. Bell discussed the importance of keeping classrooms relational between teachers and students. If my students see that I care about the people that are most important to them, the quality of our relationships are bound to improve.

To reward students for meeting expectations and to promote classroom community, I plan to utilize a specific "team-based" reward system in my future classroom. Mrs. Shadden uses this simple strategy to motivate students and to teach them responsibility. She broke her class into three teams, naming each team after the students' favorite animals. The teams were organized according to the classroom's desk setup. When she saw a team meeting the expectations, she rewarded them with one point. When a team gets five points, they get a special reward that the team decides on beforehand. The rewards get students so excited. They could eat lunch with Mrs. Shadden, get a piece of gum, or take off their shoes in the classroom. Ms. Bell discussed the importance of rewards in the classroom as she stated, "We remember how we feel, not what we heard". Rewards can boost students' motivation and help them understand their responsibilities to meet the expectations of the classroom. Meeting these expectations not only impacts themselves and the teacher, but it also impacts the experience of their peers. This "team-based" reward system will encourage teamwork and give students an incentive to meet the expectations of the classroom.

As we have learned from multiple classes, studies show that children from low socially-economic income families recieve a considerate amount of less positive affirmations from children that come from middle class families. Consequently, poverty is also linked to traumatic events that children experience. I want my classroom to be a place where students will learn positive affirmations that will stick in their minds and guide their actions. The "Affirmation Station" mirror will be surrounded by words such as "kind", "loved", "responsible", "smart", and "truthful". During the first weeks of the school year, I will introduce this mirror to my students and explain what all the positive affirmations mean. If a student is feeling depressed or upset, I might ask them to go look in the mirror for a few minutes or two. Students will also have time to look in the mirror and consider those words in the mornings as they get ready for the day. I want this area to soothe my students and remind them of the strengths they possess. I hope this area will influence their own personal narratives and encourage them to have growth mindsets in life.

Question of the Day

1. "How To Maslow Before Bloom's, All Day Long" by Tom Berger
2. My TOPP teacher for the 4000s clinical, Mrs. Tonya Shadden
3. Our spider-web Discussion during EDU 453
4. Ms. Bell's section of EDU 453
5. Dr. Swofford's section of EDU 453
6. Mrs. Schissler's Early Childhood Leadership class
7. My TOPP teacher, Ms. Lea, from Cedar Ridge.