As a teacher you learn a lot about your students such as how they learn, what their interests are, what their talents are, what their levels of reading/math/science etc. You also know when a student has put in their best efforts or when they can do better. Its the teachers job to know their potential and push past it. After school today I was grading projects for students based on a rubric. For me it was a bit more difficult because I haven't yet learned all the students potential yet. I have seen some of their work, but not enough to know when they are really trying their hardest and when they are just doing the basics. During this time I also thought a lot about equality, or really how we can't grade all students at an equal level. For example one student in the class normally has really sloppy hand writing and it's hard to read(Mostly because they zip through everything because it's often easy for them). I noticed this student was the only one to have two pages of writing and his picture had a lot of detail, but to a passer by it looked like scribbling in some parts. The scale was 1 - 3+. 3+ being that the student couldn't have done any better. For the content part of the work it was no doubt a 3+ because the student had all that was asked and then some. The hard part for me was to determine how to score the picture. I asked the CT and he told me a little more about the student and then we came to the conclusion it was at least a 3. Now remember I said to a passer-by it didn't look like a master piece and with out knowing the student I would have given it a 2. Now if another one of the students who I know is an out standing artist did this work I would have definitely gave it a 2. That doesn't really seem fair, or does it? I think that as teachers, who know their students well, we should grade work based on the student and his/her potential is. I think this allows for both challenge to the students because we know what they can do, but it doesn't make an assignment seem impossible for others who might not be so great at writing or art. It's the teachers job to scaffold students at just the right level. (I also really like rubrics for grading but that will be in different blog)
Technology can be a teachers best friend or it can be a great enemy. For spelling we are starting to use 'words their way' and my CT found an awesome website - spellingcity.com - for the students to use and practice their words. The site offers teachers the ability to add multiple lists for ability grouping. The students were going to use the laptops, log on, find spellingcity and start playing. That's how it was supposed to go. Well after we started up it seemed that we should have done some more pre-teaching first. I had at least 10 students ask where to find the site (we told them yesterday how to find it), some students were unsure of how to log on or what to do if it didn't work right away etc. Well 3 of the students were not able to log on to the computers at all and it took most of the time trying to figure out why (which we never did). A few of the computers were dead and we had to switch out batteries. And some of the computers wouldn't access the internet. All of this caused our 20 min time on the computer to last about double that and run into our reading time. Like I said before it can be your best friend, and it was for the students that it worked for it was. But it was our enemy because it wasted our time, and caused the rest of the schedule to be off especially since we already had a half day.
One thing that I really like for classroom management is that each student has a number. The number was assigned by using alphabetic order. The numbers are then used to keep order with materials. Their reading, social studies and math text books all have a number. This allows for the students to quickly grab their book when asked and begin working. The numbers are also used for homework. Next to their name they write their number. Then we are able to put the pages in order when they turn it in and can easily tell who has done it and who still needs to turn it in. I think that having order in a classroom is important for management as well as for the students. It helps teach them about how to be organized in order to better succeed later in life.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. Sydney J. Harris
I'll apologize now for the long post, but it was a awesome day for learning!
I taught my first lesson today over irregular plurals. I used the Promethean board, had a power point, and had a game to play! It seemed to really capture the students attention with all the action. I was also really nervous. It seems that since I had already taught for a few weeks before, this should be a peace of cake. There were a lot of factors that go into it; it was a new group with different abilities, it's a different environment and that brings on a different atmosphere, I now have to direct my instruction for 28 students instead of 19 (and my supervisor was there watching me). I think teaching is really taken for granted. When I was making my lesson plan at home my little cousin in fifth grade was watching me type it up. She was really inquisitive about what I was doing. I told her about how teachers have to plan out what they need to teach. They don't just walk into the room and start talking. She seemed to be impressed by this and then watched me for a bit longer. She asked why I was adding different things into the lesson. This is a perfect example of how much teachers do behind the scenes.
During our team meeting we worked on figuring out how to score the report cards. It was really fascinating listening to the 3 teachers talk about each section and decided on a 1-2-3 proficiency. I guess I didn't realize how much collaboration was put into the report cards. It was helpful for me to ask questions to my CT afterwords to; Who makes up the report card, are they district/school wide, how do you inform the parents about how the report cards work. I had more questions about them, but because there are only short bouts of time between when the students are gone, I didn't get to ask them. It's interesting how many more categories are on the card compared to when I was in school. I remember having it just tell about the main subject, now it has subcategories for the subjects.
Both the CT and I learned a lesson after teaching math lesson about decimals. Since Cedar Rapids uses a spiral method for math they should have already touched on decimals in previous years and should have a bit of an understanding for them. Well, since it was assumed that they should have know this material less whole group was taught and more independent work was done. While I was going around I noticed that quite a few students where mixing up where to put some of the numbers after the decimal and how to incorporate the whole number. Lesson learned was to not assume they know something. It seems to be a double edge sword when teaching. You can't assume they don't know anything when most of them do understand the concept. This will completely bore them and you will lose their attention. But if you assume they know to much then you will also lose them because they don't have the necessary background information to understand. It seems that this happy medium is something you learn over time with experience, as with a lot of concepts for teaching.
After school an awesome thing happened... Students asked for homework even though they were told they had none! This shows me, as a teacher, that they really do want to learn and want to gain that confidences that comes with understanding a concept. About 12 of the students took the worksheet home. Even though they may not complete it (even though I believe that with this group most of them will!), it shows intuition for taking the sheet and thinking about doing it.
Today I sat with the students at lunch. I think this is an awesome opportunity because I get to hear what they are talking about and what interests them. I can also build a stronger relationship with them because I am using my own time and energy to actively find out about them. The relationship/trust component is so important when teaching. Unfortunately I wasn't able to begin at the beginning of the school year with the class so I have some making up to do. While looking around I saw a sign.... It read (school Mascot) kid's kafe. First off I thought that's cute. Then as I looked and thought about the sign more it kind of upset me. The "kafe" should be spelled 'cafe.' Think about how many times students look at that word and don't realize that is a misspelling. Then once they have a spelling test or have to write it they may have it spelled. Then as my CT and I were talking about it he pointed out another obvious flaw that I didn't catch right awat. The Kid's has 's which means one kid owns it. So it's the one kid's kafe, where it should be the kids' kafe meaning all the kids have ownership over it. It was probably just a mistake overlooked before hanging it, and of course we all make mistakes :)
I taught my first lesson today over irregular plurals. I used the Promethean board, had a power point, and had a game to play! It seemed to really capture the students attention with all the action. I was also really nervous. It seems that since I had already taught for a few weeks before, this should be a peace of cake. There were a lot of factors that go into it; it was a new group with different abilities, it's a different environment and that brings on a different atmosphere, I now have to direct my instruction for 28 students instead of 19 (and my supervisor was there watching me). I think teaching is really taken for granted. When I was making my lesson plan at home my little cousin in fifth grade was watching me type it up. She was really inquisitive about what I was doing. I told her about how teachers have to plan out what they need to teach. They don't just walk into the room and start talking. She seemed to be impressed by this and then watched me for a bit longer. She asked why I was adding different things into the lesson. This is a perfect example of how much teachers do behind the scenes.
During our team meeting we worked on figuring out how to score the report cards. It was really fascinating listening to the 3 teachers talk about each section and decided on a 1-2-3 proficiency. I guess I didn't realize how much collaboration was put into the report cards. It was helpful for me to ask questions to my CT afterwords to; Who makes up the report card, are they district/school wide, how do you inform the parents about how the report cards work. I had more questions about them, but because there are only short bouts of time between when the students are gone, I didn't get to ask them. It's interesting how many more categories are on the card compared to when I was in school. I remember having it just tell about the main subject, now it has subcategories for the subjects.
Both the CT and I learned a lesson after teaching math lesson about decimals. Since Cedar Rapids uses a spiral method for math they should have already touched on decimals in previous years and should have a bit of an understanding for them. Well, since it was assumed that they should have know this material less whole group was taught and more independent work was done. While I was going around I noticed that quite a few students where mixing up where to put some of the numbers after the decimal and how to incorporate the whole number. Lesson learned was to not assume they know something. It seems to be a double edge sword when teaching. You can't assume they don't know anything when most of them do understand the concept. This will completely bore them and you will lose their attention. But if you assume they know to much then you will also lose them because they don't have the necessary background information to understand. It seems that this happy medium is something you learn over time with experience, as with a lot of concepts for teaching.
After school an awesome thing happened... Students asked for homework even though they were told they had none! This shows me, as a teacher, that they really do want to learn and want to gain that confidences that comes with understanding a concept. About 12 of the students took the worksheet home. Even though they may not complete it (even though I believe that with this group most of them will!), it shows intuition for taking the sheet and thinking about doing it.
Today I sat with the students at lunch. I think this is an awesome opportunity because I get to hear what they are talking about and what interests them. I can also build a stronger relationship with them because I am using my own time and energy to actively find out about them. The relationship/trust component is so important when teaching. Unfortunately I wasn't able to begin at the beginning of the school year with the class so I have some making up to do. While looking around I saw a sign.... It read (school Mascot) kid's kafe. First off I thought that's cute. Then as I looked and thought about the sign more it kind of upset me. The "kafe" should be spelled 'cafe.' Think about how many times students look at that word and don't realize that is a misspelling. Then once they have a spelling test or have to write it they may have it spelled. Then as my CT and I were talking about it he pointed out another obvious flaw that I didn't catch right awat. The Kid's has 's which means one kid owns it. So it's the one kid's kafe, where it should be the kids' kafe meaning all the kids have ownership over it. It was probably just a mistake overlooked before hanging it, and of course we all make mistakes :)
Thursday, October 21, 2010
One of the coolest things happened today... ok well for a teacher it's really cool! My cooperating teacher has students read different chapter books for small group reading and for one of the groups we are reading "Witches" by Ralph Dahl. I'm also trying to catch up with the reading groups and join in on their discussions. I can tell they are really interested in readying and are excited when they get to talk in the group about the book (they also get upset if time runs out for their group as well). During some of our down time at the end of the day I was reading a little more in the book. One of the girls in the class came up to me and wanted to know where I was in the book and talk about it. I was a little bit further than her and she asked me "what happens to him!" Well I understood what she meant since I'm reading the book but I told her I wouldn't ruin the story for her by saying it. It was awesome to see how excited she was and really interested in what happens next in the story. I talked to my CT about this incident and he made the comment "I would like the see the baisls do that" implying they don't really create that excitement for reading. The books are great to help students LEARN how to read the words but they don't seem to help student gain the want or need for reading. When reading the short basil books they aren't left with that 'wow, I really want to go home and read more about this' feeling. It seems that we are short changing the students when it comes to reading. They have to read the boring short stories that are required and have hardly any time to just free read. No wonder students are not doing as well as they used to when we are taking to fun out of reading. One thing I like that my CT does is he makes time to read the students a few poems each day and gives them time to free read (Which really is time used to read their group time books and complete their book reports that are do at the end of each month). In order for students to become better readers then need to read!
Wednesday, October 20, 2010
"When I was young I thought that money was the most important thing in life; now that I am old I know that it is." - Oscar Wilde
It's really interesting how money plays a big factor in schools (well in most everything but that's another topic.) When I began telling people about where I was going to be placed they always commented on how different the experience will be. One school is the "low income" one is the 'rich school.' It seems that it's not something that is supposed to be really talked about though. I can't say these are the poor kids who might not do as well because there is a chain reaction linked to money. It's interesting how demographics play out to where you have the 'poor' and 'wealthy' parts of town. It's not hard to figure out what side you are on when you are taking your sunday drive. The kids on the 'good' side of town are presented with a better opportunity because of money. Parents are able to take trips to places further than Cedar Rapids, they are able to support hobbies and interests of the students, they are able to spend more time with their students, and are also able to help them more with school work all because of their financial situation. Today in my class I talked to a few girls who had some form of dance every night of the week, another student has to go to hockey practice (a very expensive sport to be in), on student was missing my first day because they had taken a family vacation the week before and she needed time to rest. Not once did I hear my students talk about these kinds of opportunities while at my first placement. The only after school program that the students went to if they were eligible was Tiger Club and that was a funded after school program for students who needed extra support. Money permits opportunity. The students who are able to go to dance or hockey already have an upper hand then those who aren't so lucky. They have been placed with a group that allows for a certain type of sophistication that money helps them belong to.
I attended parent conferences for my first placement. As the parents were coming in (if they could get out of work) I took not of their dress. Some had on clothes that looked like they just got out of a factory, others had on sweats, others seemed rushed and came in with 2 or three other children because they couldn't find or afford a babysitter, and a few had recognizable uniforms from fast food chains. My heart goes out to them because this was the social class I came from. I know what it feels like to be the child who didn't get to see my parents because work had to come first in order to provide food and pay the bills. It just seems unfair.
The school I'm at now has a lot of parent support and financial support as well. The building seems more modern and the library is outstanding compared to my first placement. You can tell this is the 'wealthier' school by the way the students are dressed and (it seems controversial) are better behaved. There are often volunteers in the rooms and around the building. The students seem to excel compared to the students at my first school and I believe it has a lot to do with money. I know this is a different blog than I normally write and mostly because I feel it's unfair that money is such a big factor. It's no one's fault, it's just not fair that money is a key player in our educational system. I think it's important as a teacher to not be naive and understand the difference and the culture of your school. I find that the culture, atmosphere and personality are important factors to recognize in a school. It shows that you are aware not every school is the same and what challenge you may face. Sorry if I've ruffled any feathers with this blog, its just something on my mind that I wanted to get out.
I attended parent conferences for my first placement. As the parents were coming in (if they could get out of work) I took not of their dress. Some had on clothes that looked like they just got out of a factory, others had on sweats, others seemed rushed and came in with 2 or three other children because they couldn't find or afford a babysitter, and a few had recognizable uniforms from fast food chains. My heart goes out to them because this was the social class I came from. I know what it feels like to be the child who didn't get to see my parents because work had to come first in order to provide food and pay the bills. It just seems unfair.
The school I'm at now has a lot of parent support and financial support as well. The building seems more modern and the library is outstanding compared to my first placement. You can tell this is the 'wealthier' school by the way the students are dressed and (it seems controversial) are better behaved. There are often volunteers in the rooms and around the building. The students seem to excel compared to the students at my first school and I believe it has a lot to do with money. I know this is a different blog than I normally write and mostly because I feel it's unfair that money is such a big factor. It's no one's fault, it's just not fair that money is a key player in our educational system. I think it's important as a teacher to not be naive and understand the difference and the culture of your school. I find that the culture, atmosphere and personality are important factors to recognize in a school. It shows that you are aware not every school is the same and what challenge you may face. Sorry if I've ruffled any feathers with this blog, its just something on my mind that I wanted to get out.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
"Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." -- Benjamin Franklin
Today was the second day in 4th grade. I have most of the students names down (all but about 3 girls I keep getting mixed up and 3 boys). For having 29 students and not to mention faculty to remember, I think I'm doing an ok job. One student asked me at the end of the day how long I'll be in the classroom and when I said 7 weeks his eyes lit up. This made me feel really awesome since I had only worked with him a little bit that day.
One thing about the room that I find interesting is the lack of a classroom disciplinary procedure. Many teachers use the 3 strikes or name on board procedures and some teachers use the color method (green, yellow, red) to indicate what kind of day it was. Our classroom doesn't really have anything like this. Most of the time if the class as a whole is doing something wrong they either talk about it or if it's something like lining up wrong they have a re-do. If individual students have an issue then the teacher normally confronts them and talks to them about it. Fortunately there doesn't seem to be to many problems. I like not having the warnings and having that kind of management but I feel that having to talk the students each time might also be time consuming. It will be interesting to watch and see how the class contiunes to do. The class seems to do a surprisingly great job and each class often has different needs.
I pointed out yesterday that when the teacher said 'sit audience style' a few students didn't do as he had asked and he just continued to teach. Some teachers are not picky about where students sit but the issue I saw with this was that if he had asked for something specific and he didn't hold them accountable this time would they feel they could get away with other things in the future? He agreed with what I said then today we practiced the two types of sitting...audience style, and circle style. The class had to do each right 3 times before continuing. This seemed to be a lot of work and the students eventually got it down. I think he should have set more expectations in the beginning i.e. "when you sit this way I should see..." but he did that more after they moved and then they re-adjusted themselves.
My c.t. has created his own way for teaching small reading groups. A large portion of the students are reading at a high lexile level and the books that are used in the reading series are to easy. He has created mini units from other popular chapter books and uses the same concepts that would be taught in the reading series. The first group I will take over we will be reading "Bridge to Tarabithia." I chose this book because it's one that I haven't read and I think sounds really interesting. Since I've been in the classroom I've also picked up reading more books for fun. It seems contagious with a group that really does enjoy reading for fun. (I just read "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" last night. My CT also does a bunch with Ralph Daul books, and you can tell his enthusiasm for the author has rubbed off on to the students. A lot of the students have one of his books on their desks or in their book holder (so they don't have to many books at once on their desk) and I saw a few students check books out by the author at library today that wasn't in the classroom. I think this really shows how much teachers persuade students.
One thing about the room that I find interesting is the lack of a classroom disciplinary procedure. Many teachers use the 3 strikes or name on board procedures and some teachers use the color method (green, yellow, red) to indicate what kind of day it was. Our classroom doesn't really have anything like this. Most of the time if the class as a whole is doing something wrong they either talk about it or if it's something like lining up wrong they have a re-do. If individual students have an issue then the teacher normally confronts them and talks to them about it. Fortunately there doesn't seem to be to many problems. I like not having the warnings and having that kind of management but I feel that having to talk the students each time might also be time consuming. It will be interesting to watch and see how the class contiunes to do. The class seems to do a surprisingly great job and each class often has different needs.
I pointed out yesterday that when the teacher said 'sit audience style' a few students didn't do as he had asked and he just continued to teach. Some teachers are not picky about where students sit but the issue I saw with this was that if he had asked for something specific and he didn't hold them accountable this time would they feel they could get away with other things in the future? He agreed with what I said then today we practiced the two types of sitting...audience style, and circle style. The class had to do each right 3 times before continuing. This seemed to be a lot of work and the students eventually got it down. I think he should have set more expectations in the beginning i.e. "when you sit this way I should see..." but he did that more after they moved and then they re-adjusted themselves.
My c.t. has created his own way for teaching small reading groups. A large portion of the students are reading at a high lexile level and the books that are used in the reading series are to easy. He has created mini units from other popular chapter books and uses the same concepts that would be taught in the reading series. The first group I will take over we will be reading "Bridge to Tarabithia." I chose this book because it's one that I haven't read and I think sounds really interesting. Since I've been in the classroom I've also picked up reading more books for fun. It seems contagious with a group that really does enjoy reading for fun. (I just read "The Fantastic Mr. Fox" last night. My CT also does a bunch with Ralph Daul books, and you can tell his enthusiasm for the author has rubbed off on to the students. A lot of the students have one of his books on their desks or in their book holder (so they don't have to many books at once on their desk) and I saw a few students check books out by the author at library today that wasn't in the classroom. I think this really shows how much teachers persuade students.
Monday, October 18, 2010
Success isn't a result of spontaneous combustion. You must set yourself on fire. ~Arnold H. Glasow
I saw this quote today and loved it! I think it can be applied in a lot of areas. I see it as I know I'm not just going to be the most wonderful teacher the first day I step in front of the class, but I need to work hard at it and learn all that I can in order to 'set myself on fire' or reach my goal.
Today was my first official day in 4th grade. I'm so glad I went it over my break because I was over that first day jitters and I was able to take everything in with out the nerves. I also didn't have to focus as much on how to get around what's the classroom atmosphere, whats the c.t. like and all that other first day stuff. I was also able to jump right into the daily routine.
My day started out with an IEP meeting which I felt was really beneficial. The meeting consisted of the parents, the principal, the teacher and the specialists. I was able to hear what was on the students IEP and that will help me because I will be able to help him with is needs better in the classroom. It was also good to hear the parents input and hear what help they wanted their child to have. Parents often know their child's needs best since they spend the most time with them.
My CT is very enthusiastic about teaching and really wants to make sure every student 'gets it.' He also helps drive them to want to learn for the sake of learning and not for the tests or the grade. I think this is awesome! His enthusiasm is very contagious and I think it really rubs off on the students as well from what I can tell. The class has 29 students which also means 29 different personalities, likes interest, abilities and needs. One of the biggest challenges for me is being able to help every student and to scaffold them. One of the hardest things I found from my 3rd graders was making sure that each student was getting what he/she needed who was in the middle. The students that needed a lot of guidance was always asking for help and I tried to find extension activities for my higher ability levels but I feel that those in the middle where often left out. Part of this was because they were the students not always asking for help and they were always working. (I had to make sure I had enough work for my higher ability students otherwise they would be sitting their bored).
Today I was asked to help a few students with 2 math problems. (They were trying to solve for X in 4th grade!) This was a challenge because I didn't know the students yet and what they knew. I also didn't know what 'works' for them and how they learn. I think it's very important to know the students in order to teacher them in a specialized way and to relate instruction to their needs. I found it also difficult because of the position I was sitting in. I was at a 1/2 circle table with the instructor on the inside myself and the students on the outside. I was working with 3 students and the room was a little loud because the other students were working in partners on the worksheet and on games if they were done. I could tell the student to my right had a difficult time hearing me and seemed really distracted by the group that was working on the other side of the table. Later I learned the student prefers to have a quiet room to work in. The student on my right seemed to really want my individual attention and then there was a student a little ways away from us because of the shape of the table. He was also hard to instruct because of the distance. My other challenge was to teach them something I wasn't for sure what they knew and what strategies they had been taught so I had to wing it using the manipulatives. I tired asking the students what they thought they should do for the problem since we just had a short whole group discussion and they weren't for sure. This was a learning moment for me that I had to use my flexibility. I think if I was presented with this challenge again I would have the group move into the hallway or a more quiet area of the room and use the teachers manuel to look over quickly. I want to look over the book and see where the students are coming from for the next lesson so I am better prepared as well and see what they've done in the past so that I can apply the stratagies they know.
Today was my first official day in 4th grade. I'm so glad I went it over my break because I was over that first day jitters and I was able to take everything in with out the nerves. I also didn't have to focus as much on how to get around what's the classroom atmosphere, whats the c.t. like and all that other first day stuff. I was also able to jump right into the daily routine.
My day started out with an IEP meeting which I felt was really beneficial. The meeting consisted of the parents, the principal, the teacher and the specialists. I was able to hear what was on the students IEP and that will help me because I will be able to help him with is needs better in the classroom. It was also good to hear the parents input and hear what help they wanted their child to have. Parents often know their child's needs best since they spend the most time with them.
My CT is very enthusiastic about teaching and really wants to make sure every student 'gets it.' He also helps drive them to want to learn for the sake of learning and not for the tests or the grade. I think this is awesome! His enthusiasm is very contagious and I think it really rubs off on the students as well from what I can tell. The class has 29 students which also means 29 different personalities, likes interest, abilities and needs. One of the biggest challenges for me is being able to help every student and to scaffold them. One of the hardest things I found from my 3rd graders was making sure that each student was getting what he/she needed who was in the middle. The students that needed a lot of guidance was always asking for help and I tried to find extension activities for my higher ability levels but I feel that those in the middle where often left out. Part of this was because they were the students not always asking for help and they were always working. (I had to make sure I had enough work for my higher ability students otherwise they would be sitting their bored).
Today I was asked to help a few students with 2 math problems. (They were trying to solve for X in 4th grade!) This was a challenge because I didn't know the students yet and what they knew. I also didn't know what 'works' for them and how they learn. I think it's very important to know the students in order to teacher them in a specialized way and to relate instruction to their needs. I found it also difficult because of the position I was sitting in. I was at a 1/2 circle table with the instructor on the inside myself and the students on the outside. I was working with 3 students and the room was a little loud because the other students were working in partners on the worksheet and on games if they were done. I could tell the student to my right had a difficult time hearing me and seemed really distracted by the group that was working on the other side of the table. Later I learned the student prefers to have a quiet room to work in. The student on my right seemed to really want my individual attention and then there was a student a little ways away from us because of the shape of the table. He was also hard to instruct because of the distance. My other challenge was to teach them something I wasn't for sure what they knew and what strategies they had been taught so I had to wing it using the manipulatives. I tired asking the students what they thought they should do for the problem since we just had a short whole group discussion and they weren't for sure. This was a learning moment for me that I had to use my flexibility. I think if I was presented with this challenge again I would have the group move into the hallway or a more quiet area of the room and use the teachers manuel to look over quickly. I want to look over the book and see where the students are coming from for the next lesson so I am better prepared as well and see what they've done in the past so that I can apply the stratagies they know.
Wednesday, October 13, 2010
It is possible to interpret without observing, but not to observe without interpreting.
This was my observing week. It was nice to not have lesson plans but I still had my work cut out for me! I saw a guidance lesson over smoking, a 4/5th combination reading class, I watched a few of my students in lessons in the level one room, I observed in the severe and profound room, and I spent a morning with the pre-school students. It was a lot to take in for a short time.
I learned something from each place. It was interesting watching the guidance councilor teach about smoking to the fifth graders because he was very blunt about the subject and so was the text. It basically laid out the fact that smoking kills people and tells about how. He also tells them about the different chemicals that are used in cigarettes. I remember learning about them but it was more telling us just that they were ‘bad for you’ and a few of the side effects. After the teacher told about cigarettes they read about an uncle that died from lung cancer. It seems that they are trying to scare the kids more than anything. I guess if it works then why not? If my generation was taught this way there would also be less smokers. And maybe this is why there are less and less smokers every year.
It was really fun watching the pre-schoolers as well. A lot of people think it’s just babysitting, but its way more than that. They started out by reading a book about scarecrows. The teacher is trying to get the students used to sitting in one place, looking forwards and listening. It seems that even at 3 years old we are trying to mold our students for the typical school setting. Then she had a few riddles the students were supposed to figure out. They seemed to really enjoy this! Then as a way to help them learn their names each has it written on a plate and they are supposed to pick theirs up and hand it to the teacher before going off for breakfast. Some of them have become really clever because they’ve learned the process of elimination. If they wait for the other students to pick theirs then they have fewer names to choose from. Then at breakfast they are trying to teach the students about family style meals and how to pour their own glass of milk. It was really interesting watching and listening to the students conversations.
The 4/5th grade class was kind of uneventful. I watched the reading lesson then they broke off into small reading groups. I was surprised that they were working on some really difficult stuff like possessive plural nouns and idioms. I don’t remember learning about some of this stuff till later. I can tell it’s also really challenging for some of the students as well. One girl I sat by wasn’t able to read words very well because she had a hard time breaking the sounds apart, how is she expected to read the sentence then to identify the idiom? It was also interesting to watch this class because the teacher was a male. I find it fun to see how students react to the different teachers. I think it’s also important to understand so that you know what to expect going into the classroom as either a male or female. In some ways I’m jealous of the guys because it seems that they can often use their masculinity to get more attention,.
Unfortunately there was a sub in the sever and profound room and she didn’t have any notes, but it was still interesting to watch the associates. I sat in the back and acted as if I was just the fly on the wall. It was awesome how they worked with the kids and was able to help them. They were watching a television show, Dora, and then they talked about how each student liked certain shows and which shows some of the students hated. I only spent a short time in the room because I was originally going to watch a whole group lesson but since the teacher wasn’t their they were just having them watch some shows. I think this is a room I would love to go back and see more of. As a teacher I also want to learn about the equipment that the room uses. It seems that since I’m not taking any special education classes I really don’t have any exposure to that stuff.
Well tomorrow is another field trip and we’ve been harder on the students today and talked a lot about how they are supposed to behave. I hope this goes a lot better than our last time!
I learned something from each place. It was interesting watching the guidance councilor teach about smoking to the fifth graders because he was very blunt about the subject and so was the text. It basically laid out the fact that smoking kills people and tells about how. He also tells them about the different chemicals that are used in cigarettes. I remember learning about them but it was more telling us just that they were ‘bad for you’ and a few of the side effects. After the teacher told about cigarettes they read about an uncle that died from lung cancer. It seems that they are trying to scare the kids more than anything. I guess if it works then why not? If my generation was taught this way there would also be less smokers. And maybe this is why there are less and less smokers every year.
It was really fun watching the pre-schoolers as well. A lot of people think it’s just babysitting, but its way more than that. They started out by reading a book about scarecrows. The teacher is trying to get the students used to sitting in one place, looking forwards and listening. It seems that even at 3 years old we are trying to mold our students for the typical school setting. Then she had a few riddles the students were supposed to figure out. They seemed to really enjoy this! Then as a way to help them learn their names each has it written on a plate and they are supposed to pick theirs up and hand it to the teacher before going off for breakfast. Some of them have become really clever because they’ve learned the process of elimination. If they wait for the other students to pick theirs then they have fewer names to choose from. Then at breakfast they are trying to teach the students about family style meals and how to pour their own glass of milk. It was really interesting watching and listening to the students conversations.
The 4/5th grade class was kind of uneventful. I watched the reading lesson then they broke off into small reading groups. I was surprised that they were working on some really difficult stuff like possessive plural nouns and idioms. I don’t remember learning about some of this stuff till later. I can tell it’s also really challenging for some of the students as well. One girl I sat by wasn’t able to read words very well because she had a hard time breaking the sounds apart, how is she expected to read the sentence then to identify the idiom? It was also interesting to watch this class because the teacher was a male. I find it fun to see how students react to the different teachers. I think it’s also important to understand so that you know what to expect going into the classroom as either a male or female. In some ways I’m jealous of the guys because it seems that they can often use their masculinity to get more attention,.
Unfortunately there was a sub in the sever and profound room and she didn’t have any notes, but it was still interesting to watch the associates. I sat in the back and acted as if I was just the fly on the wall. It was awesome how they worked with the kids and was able to help them. They were watching a television show, Dora, and then they talked about how each student liked certain shows and which shows some of the students hated. I only spent a short time in the room because I was originally going to watch a whole group lesson but since the teacher wasn’t their they were just having them watch some shows. I think this is a room I would love to go back and see more of. As a teacher I also want to learn about the equipment that the room uses. It seems that since I’m not taking any special education classes I really don’t have any exposure to that stuff.
Well tomorrow is another field trip and we’ve been harder on the students today and talked a lot about how they are supposed to behave. I hope this goes a lot better than our last time!
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