Lauren+Smith



Hi! My name is Lauren Smith and I am an early childhood education major at Clemson University. I am currently in a kindergarten classroom at Monaview Elementary in Greenville, South Carolina for my practicum experience. Outside of school I enjoy going to Clemson football games, playing various intramural sports, and eating as much 3 spoons frozen yogurt as possible. I want to teach either kindergarten or first grade after graduation. I can't wait to have my own classroom!


 * Lauren Smith's PLN **



**Chalk Talk**: This is a blog for early childhood teachers to reference when they are in need of center ideas or specific academic area activities. There are links to other great blogs made by teachers from pre-k to third grade and links to adorable songs. **The Inspired Apple**: This blog was created by a first grade teacher who calls herself Babbling Abby. She has other first grade teacher's blog listed on the home page and she posts her favorite lesson ideas, as well as, other teachers lesson ideas. My favorite lesson that I have come across on her blog is a descriptive writing lesson on pop rocks candy! **First Grade Parade:** Printable lessons and unit ideas are found on this blog. It was introduced to me by a first grade teacher at my practicum placement who collaborates with the site owner. They share ideas, most recently about a unit on apples where they made applesauce and went to an apple orchard, and find ideas that are relevant to the time of year or would be most helpful to teachers. Reviewing sites and blogs created by experienced teachers really opened my eyes to how close I am to becoming a professional in the field of education. PLN's are a valuable resource to educators because of the ease of collaboration and sharing between teachers all over the United States. I will definitely take advantage of all the ideas, lessons, and printable materials that I have been introduced to and use them during student teaching.

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 * Blabberize: **

media type="custom" key="10776506" This widget is a great tool to use in an ELA classroom because it satisfies many of the guiding principles and standards for english language arts in South Carolina. A description of the guiding principles that correlate with this widget are stated below:

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Guiding Principle 8: An effective English language arts curriculum utilizes all forms of media to prepare students to live in an information-rich society. =====

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Guiding Principle 9: An effective English language arts curriculum emphasizes informational text that is relevant to our increasingly complex and technological world. ===== This widget correlates with the standards for ELA too because listening to poetry and comprehending what it being said is part of the school curriculum. Finding aspects of poetry while listening and then having a follow-up activity where children have the words in front of them to read, provides opportunities to develop better comprehension and literary skills.