Jessi+Farrington



My name is Jessi Farrington and I am from Rock Hill, SC. Currently, I am studying Early Childhood Education at Clemson University. I hope to teach 2nd or 3rd grade next year in an elementary school in South Carolina. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was six years old, and I remember vividly playing school almost every day when I was younger. I am excited to finally have the opportunity to make a difference in children's lives. I have one sister who is four years older than me. She graduated from Gardner-Webb University with a degree in accounting. She now works in Charlotte, NC and lives with her husband in Rock Hill who is a police officer. During my free time I enjoy spending time with friends, going to the lake, playing volleyball, and watching movies.

=Jessi Farrington's PLN=



**Ed Week Teacher**: The page is found on twitter, and serves as a great resource of information relating to K-12 teachers in general. I like this twitter page because it includes links to pictures and stories that can relate to any teacher. This gives a more well-rounded sense of teaching in general, and it provides an easy opportunity to find ideas and stories that may not be presented to teachers every day. This way, teachers are not just surrounded with information about what grades they are certified to teach, but yet can make deeper connections with broad ideas in which they adapt them to their classrooms.

**Inspired Apple**: This website is actually a blog from a 1st grade teacher named Abby. She shares her creative ideas which span from lesson plans, to bulletin board designs and other creative projects, and links to worksheets that can be used for homework or classwork. Even though I do not plan on teaching 1st grade, this blog is very inspiring and gives great ideas that could be adapted to 2nd or 3rd grade. Also, I think having a site of resources for 1st grade will be useful just in case a 1st grade position becomes available.

**Totally 3rd Grade Blog**: This blog is directed towards lesson plans in every subject (math, science, and social studies) for teaching 3rd grade. Songs, worksheets, flash cards, and readings are linked under each subject. Also, the subjects are narrowed down into specified topics that match the standards of 3rd grade. This way, teachers can access activities under different topics as well. A tab titled "Teacher's Blog" is available, in which teachers can sign in and blog about other websites or ideas they have found that is useful. 3rd grade is somewhat more difficult to find fun activities for, but this blog is a great collection of ideas that are useful.

After creating my PLN, I have realized how useful it is to have websites you find interesting all in one place. It is so much easier to access these sites from here then to bookmark every single one in my browser. Creating PLN's can also be useful for sorting sites necessary for research or for a project. The format of a PLN is a great way to stay organized, and will be very helpful now as well as in the future.

=Blabberize = Poem from Mrs. Hughes' kindergarten class Image from http://www.pamsclipart.com/clipart_images/a_happy_looking_jack_o_lantern_for_halloween_0515-1008-1901-3203.html

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This activity correlates very easily to ELA standards and guiding principles very easily. In relevance to standards, this activity specifically correlates to 2nd grade ELA standards 2-1, 2-2, 2-4, and 2-6. Standard 2-1 states that students should understand and use literary texts. The standard is met through this activity when children read poems from books, which make up one major type of literary text. Developing written communications is what is stated under Standard 2-3, and this standard is met during this activity because students are creating their poems or written work. Standard 2-5, which says students should produce written communications in a variety of forms, is also met because students are writing to entertain others including classmates and the teacher. Finally, students are applying the skills of oral communication in addition to researching their picture on the Internet with the help of a teacher, which meets Standard 2-6. In relation to guiding principles, this activity meets principles 1, 3, 5, 8, and 9. Guiding principal 1 addresses joyful learning, and this activity is very fun and engaging for students. Principle 3 states that reading, writing, communication, and research are interdependent. This activity intertwines reading, communication, and research by students reading the poems aloud and researching their picture on the Internet. Principle 5 focuses on oral language, and students have the opportunity to expand their oral language skills by recording their voices in a microphone while reading the poem. Guiding principle 8 addresses the use of other types of media. Recording students reading their poems is not very common in classrooms, so students can use this ability to grow in literacy learning and development by having the chance to hear themselves. Finally, principle 9 is met because students are incorporating reading and oral language skills with new technology that is becoming more predominant in society today. Overall, this activity is a great way to engage students in a fun manner that allows them to explore and demonstrate their learning in ways that meet ELA standards as well as guiding principles.