Parker University!

This week we are learning at Parker University!  I decorated the class to look like a football stadium.  Our focus was Historically Black Colleges and Universities.  So each desk had an HBCU Pennant.  We had guests come in and teach us about their college.  We used News ELA again to dig deeper into texts and passages related to college.  Our school theme is "Growing Durham's Future".  So we were also doing more career research based on what we want to be when we grow up.  This went hand in hand with informational writing unit.

I am a very proud graduate of The North Carolina Central University. I speak so highly of  NCCU that my Professors have grown to LOVE it . We went on a field trip to Hillside High School, and as we passed by the NCCU campus, my professors went CRAZY!  They had never seen NCCU before, so it was overwhelming and exciting for them.  From that moment, I knew I had to arrange a visit to the NCCU campus.   The week of “Parker University,” I surprised my Professors with a field trip to NCCU.  They wore NCCU shirts and became actual professors that morning; they taught a college class. We toured the entire campus, spent some time in the Office of E-learning, and concluded the visit with lunch in the cafeteria. This made a profound impact on the second graders, but it also reminded our university students of our responsibility as adults to engage young learners and encourage them to consider HBCUs.   I extended my campaign of teaching small children about HBCUs to educate everyone through media. I use Facebook, Instagram, and the live feed video option of Periscope and Facebook to teach a wide audience.  Each theme I implement is intended to be a “journey to destination theme.”  I chose them because the kids themselves are on a life journey and I feel it is my duty to equip them for their life journey in the very best way possible.

Parker's Island

This week the Professors and I took a journey to many different places.  I turned our classroom into a beach.  The first day, when the professors walked in, the floor was covered in ocean water and sad(blue and brown paper.  They were initially greeted by a bucket that said:  "Put your shoes in and enjoy learning on PARKER'S ISLAND".  So they all threw their socks and shoes in and found themselves a comfortable spot on the island.  Then they realized that on their desks, there were beach visors and leis!  So they draped the leis on themselves and then threw their visors on.  THEN they got back "in the ocean" and began their learning.  I designed the theme and decorated, THEN I added all the content.  News ELA was my very best friend throughout this week.  I would stretch the theme through centers, literacy, guided reading, math, and science.  It was incredibly fun.  By the end of the week, we had "visited" Jamaica, the Bahamas, and Hawaii!