Today we did our first Ed Camp! Although it was short, I thought it was a constructive method for starting a deep thinking discussion. I stopped at two groups which considered mental health in education and classroom management. The mental health group discussed a lot about different apps and resources that could be implemented into a class as a way for teachers to keep well informed about what their students are feeling inside even if they are not showing it. Even guided mediation apps like Headspace were talked about for helping calm students down when they come to school or after recess.
For the classroom management portion we talked about different methods we have noticed our Wednesday visit teachers have used. I found this valuable for my free inquiry project as it relates to my topic. we talked a lot about giving younger kids visual ques to know when their behavior is not acceptable or getting out of hand. I connected this to my free inquiry because most new teachers will not have all the art and posters in their classrooms like teachers who have taught for a long time have collected over the years. new teachers will have far less teaching manipulative in comparison.
