I can't believe how fast my time out in the field flew by. The past few weeks I have had a blast in my first grade classroom while learning more than could be taught in the classroom.

I learned how to walk children in the hallway, to and from class. Being quite and walking in a straight line is harder than it appears, just saying! During bathroom breaks, monitor the boys bathroom because if you don't all the toilets will be flooded. Never say sit on your butt, first graders think butt is a bad word. If you wear your make up differently one day, almost ever student in the classroom will have some comment to share.

But on a serious note, I learned how to manage a classroom in more ways than one and this is something you can't learn in a college classroom. Directions need to be given with few steps with fewest words possible. For example, name, sentences, color. This is the easiest way for first graders to remember to first put their name on their paper, then write their sentences,  and finally color their project.

I was blessed with the opportunities that came my way this semester. I am continuing to grow as a person because of all my experiences and I can't wait to see who I have become and what I have learned by the time I graduate!!

post #3

There were few days that my cooperating teacher was gone for meetings. I learnt a lot of the sub teachers. In my field experience, there were three different sub-teacher taught the class. The first sub teacher used I spy.. as a transition or class management for lining up to the bathroom. She sub taught the class before so she still remember most of the students' name in our classroom. The other sub teacher taught me and Ivy that standing back and watch the students for 20 seconds after giving out directions. This is a good way to see how students work as individual learning.
There is one thing that I would like to use in my future classroom which is a poem for bathroom time.
Students will say the poem together before going to bathroom.
"ya soon raccoon, 
take care polar bear, 
out the door dinosaur,
toodle - oo kangaroo,
to your house little mouse"
Also, through this whole month, the students have been engaging and learning their skills of reading and math. There were lots of changes during the field experience and I still missing the students.
During Math lesson, I always sit by one of the boys who has been struggling in school. I still remember the first day that I started to teach him. He could not even write 1 to 20. Three weeks later, he wrote 1-30. A week after, he wrote 1-40 by himself without looking at the number chart. My CT even asked me if he did it by himself, and she was surprised. If you willing to do it, YOU CAN DO IT!

Post #4

 I can't believe field experience is over, and I am making my last post! This semester has been amazing and a very good learning experience for myself. I was able to give full lesson plans, help carve pumpkins, view classroom management techniques, see the use of technology in the classroom, and get to know my cooperating teacher and her style of teaching.

 The pictures to the left of the screen are from my second lesson plan in Mrs. Wilgers 3rd grade classroom. I did a lesson plan based on the book "Bad Case of Stripes". I had the students listen to me read the story, and then had them do a follow-up activity. The follow-up activity was to create a mini-poster with a picture of themselves covered in their favorite thing. I let the students choose between favorite sport, food, movie, etc. The students really enjoyed this activity and I was really proud when Mrs. Wilger suggested that they hang their posters on their lockers.










My favorite lesson plan that Mrs. Wilger conducted in the classroom was the pumpkin math lesson plan. She had each table of students measure, count the seeds, and count the ribs of their pumpkins. I thought this was a great way to incorporate math into a fun holiday activity.

One of my favorite classroom management techniques was the use of magnetic boys and girls bathroom passes. I really liked this idea because it was more sanitary than other bathroom passes. Mrs. Wilger had the student take the magnet off of the fire blanket area and place it on their desk when they were using the bathroom. I like this idea because then the students aren't spreading more germs by bringing the passes into the bathroom with them. Mrs. Wilger also had the students sign out in a booklet next to the door so she can see who is abusing their bathroom privledges.

Lastly, I owe my wonderful experience to my cooperating teacher. I had a wonderful CT because she let me jump right in and experience the responsibilities of a teacher. Mrs. Wilger has been teaching for over 10 years, so that really reflects on her teaching style. Mrs. Wilger appeared to have her classroom management under control and many unique activities for the classroom. I really like that even though she is a more experienced teacher, she still integrates technology into her classroom. Mrs. Wilger used the smart board on many occasions in math, and also allowed Kayla and I to use Pinterest and the internet for lesson plan ideas. Mrs. Wilger was very supportive of any ideas that I had for lesson plans and I am very grateful for this experience with her. I hope you all had an experience like mine!!! 

Anti-bullying Tshirts

Since I have noticed others posting all of their wonderful projects from their field experiences, I felt inclined to do so as well! During the first two weeks of my field experience we worked with the students on making these unique shirts! I already posted a blog about how this project had furthered my understanding of how lengthy class projects may be, but I failed to mention that this was an enjoyable experience! For both me and the students! It was also a good bonding time since I could work with them one on one.

Post #4

My last week during field experience was a little tough. It was hard to leave them because of how much fun I had. Something I thought was kind of cool was how we started in the classroom painting, and we ended in the classroom painting. On Wednesday, I had to pull kids from class to work on painting a snowmen. It was kind of funny how into the project they got. Some of them were really serious about it, because they wanted to make it really nice for their parents. Also During the last week, on Tuesday I got to work with small groups for math. They were working on division. After teaching them a strategy of how to do it, I had them try it. It was really cool seeing them do it correctly, and see the big smile on their face after they showed me the answer. There were a couple that had a hard time with it, so during snack break I sat with them and taught the two how to do it again. They pretty much got it right away the second time teaching them and were so pumped that they now know how to do it. On my last day it was definitely hard to t
leave, I will miss all of them. It was such a great experience.

Field Experience

I learned so much from my field experience. Some things I will take with me and use in my own classroom someday, while other things I probably will try to stay away from. My cooperating teacher was amazing with letting me see and try anything I wanted to. She was so different compared to the classroom I was placed in for my Ed 200 field experience, so I'm happy I got a chance to see another teacher's perspective. One thing I wish I could've done would have been to work with guided reading a little bit more. That's a very important part of the literacy block, and I wish I could've seen how she worked with some of the different groups. Overall I had a really good time and I learned so much!

Post 4

After reflecting on my field experience I am so thankful for the great experience I got. I learned so much and feel like I really became more confident teaching lessons and using classroom management skills. This experience really made me sure of my decision to become a teacher. I really miss seeing the kids already. It was really awkward not going there on thursday morning. The kids kept thinking we were coming back this coming week, so it was sad to leave. I received many hugs and the class even made me a book, which was really neat! Each student wrote a sentence or two about what they enjoyed during the time we were in the classroom. Some of the stuff they came up with was so funny, but also very meaningful. It's something I will definitely treasure forever.

Post #3

On my first week of school, Jeff and I got to make shirts with the kids in our class. They were anti-bullying shirts. This was one awesome experience. I was really cool to see how excited the kids were during the time when they were making them. It was also a really nice way for us to learn their names right away. I think after that first week I had all the kids names down.

Field Experience Post #4

This week my field experience came to an end.  I truly miss all of the students that were in my class.  Each of them holds a special place in my heart.  After having a few days to reflect on my field experience, I can honestly say that I could see myself as an elementary school teacher someday.  There were a few things about this job that I was not expecting, for example, the large amount of standardized tests, the sad home conditions of some of the children, and the many different learning levels that the students are at. However, that was all outweighed by how precious the students were.  I feel blessed that I had the opportunity to be a part of their lives.  I cannot wait to have more opportunities in the future to positively influence other students' lives as well.
In regards to the technology my cooperating teacher used, I feel that overall she could have found many more ways to integrate technology.  She hardly used her smartboard at all.  I never saw the students use computers while I was there, either.  However, I was impressed by how frequently she integrated songs and videos as well as effectively used the iPads.  One note I would like to add is that she often seemed to have technology glitches.  I am not sure if it was because of her computer or because of the schools' internet.  Regardless, I feel like I learned a lot from my cooperating teacher about how to use technology in a real life classroom situation.

Post #4

Hello everyone! Today is the last day of our field experiences! I hope that all of you had wonderful experiences! My views on kindergarten have completely changed. I never thought that I would ever want to teach a grade lower than 3rd grade. Once I was done with this experience, I decided that I absolutely want to teach kindergarten. I have fallen in love with this grade level and felt so comfortable being in this field. I got the chance to work with some amazing students and I am so grateful. On my last day I received letters from students saying they will miss me. I also had a student tell me that they love me. I am going to miss these children a lot because I was able to connect with each and every one of them. This experience was so rewarding and I will never forget the skills I learned from working with my CT. I learned so much about classroom management as well as how to keep the children active and engaged in their learning. I hope everyone had truly amazing experiences and I am looking forward to seeing you all back in class!

Post #3

Good afternoon everyone! I hope that your field experiences are still going well! This week I was able to focus on syllables again with individual students. Getting to work with these wonderful children has become so rewarding because I am definitely seeing the spark in their eyes when doing the flash card activity with them. Being able to see each student develop a smile across their face when they get a correct answer is the most amazing feeling. I feel that I am doing something absolutely wonderful and completely worth while. I hope that your field experiences are going well! I love getting to read about how all of your weeks are going! Looking forward to seeing how next week goes!

Post #2

Hey everyone! I hope your second week on the field was as memorable as mine was! I had the chance to do my very first read aloud which was about shapes. The book was called Shapes all Around and taught the students about all the different kinds of shapes that they may come across in their everyday lives. It was amazing getting the chance to do a read to the class because I have never had the opportunity to do one before in previous classrooms. The teacher had me text her later that day about three positives as well as two negatives about the read aloud. She believes that getting to grade myself will be more rewarding and I will benefit from it more later down the road. I had so much fun this week because I began working one-on-one with students in the classroom. My CT had me use flash cards with pictures on them and ask the children how many syllables are in each of the pictures. I had a lot of fun getting the chance to work one-on-one with students which also helped me learn names even quicker. I am having an absolute blast getting to work in this classroom and I hope that everyone is having an amazing field experience as well!

Post #1

                   Hello friends! This is the first week of our field experience! I was so excited to be able to start my field experience! When I found out that I was going to be working with kindergarteners, I was a little skeptical at first. However, my first week with these student's has been the most amazing week of working with students. I never thought I would get the chance to be able to work with such a young group of children. I am very excited to get the chance to work with this class and I hope that each of you has just as wonderful of an experience as I hope to have. So far the biggest struggle is getting to learn all of the students names. I have never heard the majority of these names before which definitely is making it a challenge to learn. I feel that by my second week I should be able to have all the names down! Good luck everyone! I hope you all have a wonderful experience.

Post #4

I'm saddened by the fact that field experience is over, Cassie was right; you really do get attached to those little munchkins.

My last week of Field Experience was full of experiences, I got to teach small groups about division, I was able to help students paint snowmen for a winter craft, and discovered my love for painting/holiday crafts. The last day, I was pleasantly surprised by many hugs, some students even got in a few extra hugs from me. I'll admit it, I am not a morning person, but my mornings feel empty now without morning meeting and those bright eyed, energetic kiddos.

Blog Four

Wednesday was the last day of this field experience. I must say in reflection that I am very pleased with how much I have grown from this experience. I feel that I have come a long ways in terms of my confidence, classroom management, and  general understanding of how an elementary school functions. 

Overall I feel much more prepared to teach in the future coming out of this experience. It doesn't seem as scary or overwhelming as it did at first, which I am very thankful for. A huge improvement for me has been how much better at quieting down a rowdy classroom I have become. All of the tasks a teacher must complete also seem more manageable to me now. I don't feel that I would be ready tomorrow to have a classroom of my own, but I am certainly getting there. And that is such a splendid feeling.

Post #4

We have finished our field experience this week.  Time goes fast during these five weeks. My partner and i have finished all our morning meetings and read aloud together. We come up with a lot of new ideas like making a contract for the class to improve class management. We are happy to see that our CT is satisfied with our work and our students are enjoying time with us. This is my first time to spend such long time in class with students and also this is an unforgettable moment to me in my whole life. I am not only learning professional education here but also build a wonderful relationship with these children and the cooperating teacher. We can truly hear them from heart and believe in each other.

I think I have met most of my goals that I set in the beginning of this field experience. Learning knowledge is not the only thing teacher and students need to do, we should also have more communication with our students. It’s a sad time to say goodbye to these students and the cooperating teacher. Hope I can use all I learnt here in my future education career.

Post #3

This is the last week of our field experience. Our cooperating teacher starts to use a new method to help developing classroom rules. She will put marshmallows into a paper cup when these children can fix their body, perform well in class and keep quiet in the hallway. Every student can get a cup of hot chocolate once the paper cup is full of marshmallows. So students can control their behavior for an attractive goal.

During the morning meeting, students share what they did on Thanksgiving Day by using their new star word “and”. Every time teacher needs to make more examples for students to understand how to use new star word in sentence. During this week's morning meeting, the class have a sharing about things we did in class that they want to thank for. It makes us laugh a lot when most of them want to say thanks for tying their shoes. 

I really enjoy the last time of my field experience. However, it makes me sad that we are going to leave them when we start to feel we are a part of them. 

Field Experience

One of the days during my field experience, I stayed for the entire school day. The morning part was run how it always is, with their literacy block being from 8:00-10:15. Then the class goes to specials for an hour. When they come back they usually have some sort of busy work to keep them occupied, because 20 minutes after returning from specials, they go to lunch. Lunch ended around noon.

After they get back from lunch, they have their math block. The way math is set up, is by Daily 3. They have a group lesson to start of the subject, but then they move into 3 rotations for the remainder of the hour and a half. My cooperating teacher had a small group every rotation where she worked on mini lessons with a few kids. The other kids were working on flash cards, math related apps on their iPads, or math worksheets. They are placed in a new section each round, it isn't their choice where they end up each round. I think having Daily 5 for reading and Daily 3 for math is a good idea, because it brings a lot of consistency to the classroom. The whole day is run under the same type of schedule, so the kids always know what to expect.

After math is over, they have recess. But recess happens to be the very last thing the kids do before going home for the day. I found that to be a little weird, because I'm so used to having recess around lunch time, but there was almost a 2 hour difference between lunch and recess. I think the kids might benefit from having an earlier recess, because it would give them a chance to run around and burn off some energy throughout the day, rather than doing it right before getting on the bus.

I'm glad I got to stay and experience a whole day in their classroom. I found some things I liked and some things I didn't like as much after seeing an entire day. I think Daily 3 in math would be something I would consider bringing into my own classroom someday. Although having recess at the very end of the day would be something I would try to avoid.

Last Week

I can't believe our field experience for Block 1 is over! These last five weeks went by very quickly and were filled with a variety of activities. My partner was sick the last three days of field experience, so it was unfortunate we were not able to end the journey together. Since she was not there, I led the Daily 5 small group rotation by myself. This week, my CT wanted me to work on similes with the students. She was going to teach a large group lesson as well. However, the day she was going to do that, there ended up not being time, so when it came time for them to take the test, the information had only been covered by my instruction. I looked at the test questions, and I saw that 8 of the 21 questions dealt with similes! That was quite a surprise. I was a little nervous and excited to see how they would do, because that would reflect my teaching. I looked through the test results once they were finished, and overall I was satisfied with the results. I wish I saw the test questions before I taught the lesson so I could have better prepared them for what they would see on the test, but I believe my activities definitely helped. One thing that did puzzle me about the test was that it did not ask any questions about common and proper nouns, which is another topic I taught for multiple days. I pointed this out to my CT, and she was also surprised to see that. This is the first year using this curriculum, so she is still getting used to it. She said that last year's curriculum covered it all, so I'm confused why this is not the case with the newer curriculum.

2nd post

Today, my cooperating teacher let me guided the morning meeting to the students. We practiced place value. Students were actually really good at placing the cubes in the chart. (below)

Afterward, my partner did the read aloud with the book – Find the right house for the rabbit. This week, we have been learning about buildings, and building materials such as cement, and concrete, etc. My partner asked different kinds of questions to make sure students understand the story. And My partner also did an activity with ordering the students with their first names. My partner is so creative. After that, students read the eBook – Three little dassies and compared with the three little pigs. Students were able to compare with the Venn diagram. Next, the special education teacher taught the new material – feature and texts. Sometime students might need some hints to answer the questions.

POST #3

Hello Everyone! Last week at field experience I spent a lot of time working on math with a variety of students. Mrs. Wilger continues to use the Smart Board every day to teach math lessons. We also continued to use Tumblebooks even though the internet is extremely slow at Kennedy Community School. I have also had the chance to teach two different lesson plans which have been a lot of fun. I did not use any technology in my lesson plans, but they could have been adapted to use with technology. Another thing I noticed is that Mrs. Wilger uses technology within her classroom management transitions. She uses her IPod to play music when it is time to clean up! I hope everyone has had a great experience and I cant wait to hear from everyone!

Post #4

This last week with the students was really fun, but very sad. I'm really sad that I won't be able to see the students every day anymore.  I learned so much over the last five weeks of what I should be focusing on and the importance of classroom management. This last week was really fun for the students because they were able to see a real live turkey in their classroom. I was really surprised by this but excited because this was the first time most of the students' had ever seen a real live turkey! We did a smart board activity before going to see the turkey and this activity was refreshing the students knowledge about turkeys. It also gave students ideas of what kind of questions to ask about the turkey.

I really enjoyed my time in the field with the Kindergartners and can't wait for my next field experience in block 2! I think a very important thing I learned from the classroom is that you need to teach students from the start "to let others learn." That was one of the things I noticed that my CT stressed daily. Students need to learn to respect others and make sure that they aren't taking learning away from another student by distracting them. This is a really important topic that needs to be taught in Kindergarten, so students understand what it means and how it affects students all through their years in school.

I had a great experience in the field and hope everyone else did as well!

Blog #4

This last week with my second graders was very fun but also very sad. I definitely wish I did not have to leave. I have learned so much from this class. The one thing I am going to for sure take away from this experience is the idea of bucket filling. My CT said her class had a lot of issues at the beginning of the school year with bullying and students being disrespectful. Every day for the first month of school she would read them a book called “How full if your bucket.” This talked about how every person carries around an invisible bucket with them and when people put them down, it is dipping their bucket, but when people are nice, it fills their bucket. There is a wall in the classroom that says “We are Bucket Fillers” and every student colored a bucket to hang up. Multiple times a week I would hear the students say something about bucket filling or bucket dipping. It really made the students form a classroom community. They respect each other and work together better than any of the other second grade classes. This is definitely a concept I want to bring into my own classroom.

                I also now realize how important it is to have solid classroom management and to not be afraid to lay down the rules when needed. The students in my class had so much respect for my CT. That was really nice to see. She could joke and have fun with the students but she also got strict when she had to and the students would listen right away when this happens. Overall, I could not have asked for a better placement this semester. I already miss my students and I cannot wait to go back and visit them someday. I hope everyone had a great last day! 

Post #4

This week many of the students got the chance to work with their new math books. They seem to really enjoy working with these books. This week the teacher has also changed the structure of her literacy lesson. Instead of assigning the students what work they had to do per rotation, she had them choose what is they wanted to start with. She has also given the students the option to continue read to self if they were able to finish their word work. Most of the students enjoyed this, especially this one little boy who would constantly ask me to read to him. I also got to do my last read aloud this week. I was still a nervous but not because of the children, the adults in the classroom intimidate me and I hope to get over that.  Overall I got a good feedback from my Ct and the paraprofessional.

Today, of course, was our last day. It was bitter sweet. I am glad that the semester is almost over and that it means I am one step closer to graduation and getting a job I really want. However, I am going to truly miss these kids.  I got attached to several kids and its sad that I will most likely never see them. The CT threw a little goodbye party for my partner and I. The Ct also brought Root Beer Floats for everyone. She also gave my partner and I a book titled “ Giraffes Can’t Dance” and had all the students sign the inside page. We finished our goodbye party with a very extreme noodle dance!! Overall I enjoyed this field experience and I’m looking forward to next semester. J

Post 3

Something that really caught my eye during my field experience was how different the students were when there was a substitute teacher. I had the privilege of being there the first time the kindergardeners had a substitute and they really didn't know what to do. They were very disorganized the beginning of the day and very quite to the teacher and their peers. They came to either me or Kayla for questions and avoided the new teacher at all costs. The substitute in my opinion was very standoff-ish with the students and almost unapproachable which could have been a huge factor in the students behaviors. With all the technology they used the sub was quite lost for most of the morning which really threw the students for a loop. The students knew more about smart boards and computers then the teacher did which surprised me. I feel like if you are going to be employed as a substitute teacher for a district you should have to go though some formal training into how to use technology in the classroom. Since most of their curriculum is on a smart board the fact that she didn't know how to use it was a huge set back.  I found it quite stressful how much the students needed to stay on a schedule. Many students were upset and clearly stressed that the sub wasn't doing EXACTLY the same thing that their teacher did. I feel it would have been beneficial for the teacher to do things different sometimes just so the students can see that its okay to switch things up and not have such a set permanent schedule.

Blog 4

The past few days leading up to today has been sad because I wish the field experience was longer. I had a great learning experience in my kindergarten classroom. There were a few rough times where it was hard to manage a few of the students that have concentration issues. My CT was a great role model to observe her classroom management skills. I really will miss these students. I really enjoyed the opportunity of teaching literacy groups, and am thankful that block 1 and 2 have these field experiences that prepare us for student teaching. Although I had one setback when I got a speeding ticket on my way to the school.

I haven't had much experience with kindergarten age students, so this was a great experience to be able to observe and teach in my classroom. I really enjoyed doing the read a loads to the class. Today at the library I read 3 books for my students. At the end of the day when I was preparing to leave, I received many hugs. Just leaving the school for the last time I already miss them. Both my ED200 and this field experience have been absolutely great and I look forward to block 2 field experience and student teaching.

I hope everyone else has had a similar experience filled with valuable learning lessons and helpful observations and CT's to prepare you for student teaching. See you all on Friday!

Post 2

Something I found out during my field experience was how helpful having good classroom management can be.  There are so many things teachers do that are behind the scenes and not directly dealt with unless you know whats going on. My CO had so many little things that if she hadn't pointed them out we wouldn't have been aware of.  For example for struggling learners she would tell them the day before what kinds of questions she would ask them in front of the class, then when they were called on they were ready and knew exactly what to do.  The attention grabbers my teacher used were also very efficient and useful. She used things like "voice check" and the student would softly say "one two one two". The students quickly responded to all of her attention grabbers and seemed to have fun with them. When I asked how she came up with them she said most of them the students come up with, that way you know they like them and they feel as though they contributed.

Morning Meeting

The most fun for me was for sure the morning meetings. I found it was such a good way to start the class and do something everyone could be apart of. Their morning meetings consisted of: greetings,sharing, board work and a game. I thought it was interesting how my cooperating teaching used the smart board and technology to have the students sign in for morning meeting. She did attendance on the smart board and had students drag a hot or cold lunch icon to their name. This way she was able to do lunch count and attendance at the same time. The students were always excited to do anything on the smart board which I thought was awesome! Having something like that the students look forward to will help motivate them to be on their best behavior and work hard so they get chosen to use the touch screen.

Field Experience Post #3

In the past few weeks, I have really grown to love going to my field experience and I will dearly miss the students in my class when it is over.  Doing my read alouds and morning meeting assignments has been truly enjoyable.  My last morning meeting was today and my last read aloud will be tomorrow. Since I didn't previously mention it, the books I read were The Berenstain Bears and the Trouble With Chores and The Right House for Rabbit.  Beforehand, my CT gave me topics for the books so that they would fit in with their literacy curriculum.  The majority of the time I am in the classroom is devoted to literacy.  My cooperating teacher often reads the students books but it is worth mentioning that she integrates technology into this in several ways.  Sometimes the books she reads are online, sometimes she has a recording off of the computer read to the students, and generally she uses the dot cam so that everyone can see the pictures.  Another thing in regards to technology, my CT has added a few new educational videos to her curriculum, one is very catchy and about digraphs.  It is called "The Digraph Song" and here is the link to it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFQ2g_AZW4c . I hope everyone has an awesome and memorable last few days at their field experience!

Post #3

Last week was a short 3 day week before Thanksgiving. I was able to read three Thanksgiving books to my students. One was "My Thanksgiving," which I read during reading workshops. This book talked about who celebrated the first Thanksgiving and how we are thankful. I talked with students about somethings that they could do to help people who maybe don't have food on Thanksgiving and we talked about the food drive and examples of food items they could bring in. The book "The Night Before Thanksgiving" I read during morning meeting. In my message I asked students some preparations they do to get ready and help out for Thanksgiving. The third book I read last week was "Thanksgiving at the Tappleton's" which was about a family preparing for Thanksgiving, but it didn't quite go as smoothly as they planned. This was really fun because I took half the class to the library;  we read the book and then made up a skit. Kari had the other half and did the same. Then the students did their skit in front of the other group. Students had a lot of fun with this and it was really cool to see their expressions when they really got into it. I can't wait until friday to hear about everyones experiences!

I don't know about all of you, but this past week I have became best friends with Oak Hill Elementary's copy machine! With all the projects I have made with our first grade class copying their templates, copying the scope and sequence of the text book, and running off copies of newsletters for parents to take home, I have finally mastered the contraption. I will be running off copies for my last activity this week and then I will have to say goodbye to my new friend. Have a fabulous and exciting last week with your classes everyone!

Kari Meyer

Blog #3

Last week was very short but it was very exciting. In the spirit of Thanksgiving I read my students a book called, “One is a Feast for a Mouse.” The book is about a mouse trying to balance plates of food on top of a pea while running away from a cat and it was so fun to watch the student’s reactions during it. They gasped and said they were nervous because they didn't think the mouse would get way. I love getting that kind of feedback when I am reading to them. The students also colored turkeys and wrote what they were thankful on the feathers. A few of the students came up and showed my partner and me that they have written our names on the feathers. This melted my heart and was truly a light bulb moment for me as a teacher. It showed me how much we actually matter to the students even though we have only been visiting them a short time. I know for certain I am in the right career field!

            I also wanted to mention a little about Class DoJo as well since this is a technology course. For those of you who don’t know what Class DoJo is it is a point system where students create their own avatars and then each day they can gain or lose points according to how they act in class. The student’s parents can also log on and see how many points their students have each day. This system seems to work very good in the second grade classroom I am in. When someone is misbehaving my CT takes away a DoJo point and it usually gets the students attention that they should switch how they are acting. At the end of each day my CT also awards those students who have 5 DoJo points or more by giving them a piece of candy or put in a drawing for a new pencil. After seeing how well this system works in a real classroom, I am for sure going to bring this to my own classroom. I hope everyone enjoys their last week in their classrooms! I know it is going to be fun but also very sad to leave all these wonderful kids! Good luck!

Post #4

This is the last week of field experience and I am really sad to leave these third graders. I have learned so much from them and will miss them so much! The past weeks have been wonderful! Last week we got to watch the second graders practice their christmas concert and it was great, all the students seemed to enjoy watching them! I thought it was nice that we got to watch it with them. There are so many great things to look forward to as a teacher, and I have learned so much from my cooperating teacher. She has many great classroom management ideas and she is very organized. It is nice to see such an organized classroom to get a feel for what I want mine to look like in the future. One thing that she does is each student has their own book box that they keep a pencil, notebook, and a couple books in and after an assignment, instead of disrupting the class and being loud, they just grab their book box and start reading, such a great idea! Even for tests, some students finish right away while others need more time so it makes sense to have them do something quiet while the other students finish.
Another thing she has is a clean up song when snack time is over. This song is different all of the time, but the students know when that song plays, they have until the song is over to clean up their area and sit down at their desk. I was amazed at how this classroom management worked, they listen really well! There are a couple times when you have to remind them to clean up but overall these third graders are really respectful and listen to the teacher really well.
I am going to miss everyone but I am excited for more field experiences in the future, I just can't wait to become an acutal teacher! Every day I go to the classroom I know this is meant for me.

Post #4

During, last week I was able to take part in another small guided reading. The book I covered with my small group was about colonial schoolteachers. While I covered the book, I created a t-chart on the Smartboard for the students to help me fill in. The t-chart was used to sort between then and now or past and present. The students did a pretty good job of following along when we read together. However, I did have a couple students I had to redirect to focus. Once we finished the book and the t-chart, the entire class met on the rug to share what they had learned. Each guided reading group had a different book that was about the colonial period.

This week, I look forward to the last three days I have with the students. I am excited to give the students their owl bookmarks Kyle and I are making! I also look forward to reading the students one of my favorite books The Day the Crayons Quit by Drew Daywalt. The book is about a box of crayon who write letters to their owner about how they are over worked or under worked. I would suggest reading it if you haven't. I'm sure you'd get a kick out of it like me.

Post #3

During this short week before Thanksgiving, I found how schedules can get so switched around to make room for themed activities to go along with upcoming holidays. With Thanksgiving coming up, my cooperating teacher planned a group mural activity to be done during the normal language arts time. The task was to create a mural that shows what they are thankful for that is in their class. Most students did a really great job with this, and it was fun seeing what they appreciate about their classroom. One boy drew what looked to be some random drawings, and I asked him what they were. He didn't really answer so I asked him where they came from. He said they were in his notebook. He took that assignment to an extreme and picked out such small details that it made me laugh. Unfortunately there was a significant behavior issue that interrupted the project, so it will be interesting to see how my CT responds to this time delay this coming week.

In another one of my classes, the professor asked us to observe what teachers do on days before breaks. One of the most common activities to do is to watch a movie. This is what my CT did, and it seemed to work well. I was nervous at first that the students would be chatty, but they settled down once it got going and enjoyed it. Since it discussed the historic origin to the Thanksgiving holiday, it was a way to tie in some social studies content, which is something that tends to not receive enough attention.

Blog

Hi everyone. Happy Thanksgiving and have a nice weekend. We already have our field experience for a month and that is really unique experience to myself. We get familiar with our cooperating teacher and lovely children. As time goes on, i can feel we are a part of the classroom. Seeing these children's smiling faces every morning is one of my daily enjoyable things. When Daniel and i had our first morning meeting, these children looked really nervous. However, now we can always sit down and listen to each other. Our cooperating teacher is a perfect role to me and she teaches me how the profession looks like. We almost finish our morning meetings and read aloud, and participate in every class and small group activities. Hope we can do well until finishing this field experience.

Post #3

This week has been a lot of fun and crazy with all the energy the students have had in the classroom! On Monday I noticed how important it is for Kindergartners to have some playtime in the classroom. The students took longer than usual with their word work and writing, so they weren’t able to have their little bit of playtime. It was very evident that the students NEED that time during the day to let loose, otherwise the students attention span, listening skills, and their attitudes get affected greatly.  It’s hard for students that young to come into the classroom and be expected to sit and learn all day without a break. 

I’ve noticed that each week/day is very repetitive with what the students do on the smart board. It’s very understandable since each day the students work on different skills with a few words or letters then the next day it’s the same skill but with different works or letters. The students seem to really enjoy each of the learning games on the smart board. Some students raise their hand even if they don’t know the answer because they just want to use the smart board.  

Post number 2

Hello everyone! I hope you are all enjoying your Thanksgiving break. I cant believe we are approaching our last week of field experience. I have truly been having an amazing experience and have been learning a ton. One major thing that I have noticed within Kennedy Elementary is that their internet is super slow. When I say slow, I mean it takes 5-10 minutes for a single page to load. This is causing many students to fall behind as they wait for their pages to load. It is very important to include things such as tumble books where the students have a book read to them online, but it is not possible because of the delay. Mrs. Wilger continues to use the smart board and I have seen more students interact with it as my time here continues. I have been able to do a few lessons and a few read alouds and also work very closely with small reading groups.

Post 2

         This last week, during the three day week, I found it to be pretty cool. On Wednesday, I got to take part in a feast with the kids. Since they could not use the word Thanksgiving, They decided to use a different name for the feast it was called a Friend-Ship feast which I found to be really awesome. The kids were all really excited and into the feast. Before we did the actual feast, we had to prepare it. So the kids separated into different groups to get the there part of the feast done. One group worked on the fruit salad, another worked on the cranberry jam, another group buttered cinnamon bread. One group set the table, and my group made the lemonade for the feast.  It was really fun time and really cool to see.

        On Tuesday, Jeff and I did a co-read aloud for the kids. I really found that to be pretty fun. We read the book Duck, Rabbit. The children were really into the book. They were laughing with the voices that we used during the book, and we even had to read to them the story again for a writing project they had to do after we read them the story.

Numero #3

Since my last post, many interesting things have happened. One day, due to the teacher having to attend a meeting, we had a substitute teacher. As soon as I entered the room I was able to tell that the children were going to be wild. It appeared that the presence of a substitute teacher caused the children to well, forget every rule. All the children were noisy, not cooperating and etc. However, my partner and I got to help the substitute teacher throughout the morning. I had the chance to teach the children a lesson. It wasn’t as nerve wrecking as I initially thought it was going to be. I was actually quite comfortable. One tip that the substitute teacher gave me was, “ Don’t let them see your fear”.

I also decided to stay a full school day last week Thursday. I got to attend the once a week art class that the children have. It was really interesting the way another children handles these kids. She seemed a bit harsh but I understand why she was as strict as she was that day. The children got to create clay bowls, and well, 1^st graders with clay can get really messy if you don’t get control of them. I also thought it was interesting how all three first grade classrooms mix students around and place them according to their math level for a math lesson.

As sad as I am for only having 3 days left with these little kids, I am also really excited to not have to wake up at 6 am.  I have learned a lot from this experience as well as gain more confidence as seeing myself as an educator. I look forward to hearing about everyone’s experience in class J

Blog Three

Hello everyone! 

Last week a lot of my time was spent working with a group on their research project! I only have the high English L.A. group for this project. This project has been really beneficial because I was able to let them choose their project, and have them read on their own with purpose. It's thrilling to see the beginning of "read to learn," and the "learn to read" starting to phase out for these students. 

This week we had Thanksgiving! The students only had school Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, but those days were very full of Turkeys! For readings we had the Turkey set by Steve Metzger. This set includes three books about three Turkeys and their hilarious adventures! I would highly recommend this set. On Wednesday my class also had turkey trivia, and a "Friendship Feast." For the Friendship Feast we made placemats on Monday (using perimeter), and then made food as a class on Wednesday and ate as a class! My cooperating teacher also had the class make a toast and say that on this Friendship Feast they are all thankful for their new friends this year. It was a very touching experience and I truly believe that it helped bring the class together. By making this celebration a "Friendship Feast" and a class tradition, my cooperating teacher also eliminated many issues involving students celebrating different holidays. I was very impressed by this take on Thanksgiving and hope I am able to implement it in the future with my classes! 

Post 4 - Kyle Vanoverbeke

This week, we had a whole-school assembly. During the assembly, individual students were rewarded for showing exemplary behavior throughout the month. There is huge benefit in recognizing individual students for doing well, as it helps empower them to be good role-models long after the recognition-giving is over. When I become a teacher, I want to make sure that I give my students the encouragement they need to succeed as individuals.

In our classroom, we also led small reading groups today. While we were reading, we had our students gather information about differences between American life back in colonial times and American life in current times. The student groups each gathered information from a different book, and then we all came together and shared what we learned. This provided a good opportunity for social learning.While we were coming together for the jigsaw, one of the kids in the class had a mild anxiety attack, so I worked with him individually in the back of the room.

One more week of field experience to go!

Post #3

Field experience is still going absolutely great and I am really sad that it is coming to an end soon! I can't believe there are only four days left! I couldn't be more happier with the class I am with. Yesterday was fun because we got to go watch the second graders practice their Christmas concert and it was so fun, all of the students really enjoyed watching them perform! It was nice that I got to sit in on that!
The students do a lot with Tumblebooks, which are online books and the students bring their headphones to the computer lab and they can listen to it and then take an AR test. I remember taking AR tests when I was in elementary school, I am surprised they still do it and haven't switched to something else! There are many stories on Tumblebooks, I really like the website, it just is no fun when the computers are slow and some students get done long before others have even started. It can get frustrating, but everyone has a chance to read it and take the AR test.
I really like that my cooperating teacher allows me to go in small groups and do mini lessons all of the time, I enjoy this because I love working in small groups, the students that are in my group are always so excited, I think they like to get out of the classroom once in awhile. I get asked all of the time by many students if they can be in my group or if I am reading them a story today. I love that they are so excited to have me in their classroom! I am really happy with everything my cooperating teacher has allowed me to do and all the things she has let me try. I have learned so much and can't wait to put my field experience binder together!

11/25/14

In class today the teacher used the smart board for a new type of activity.  It was used with the entire class participating and working at the same time.  It was alphabet bingo.  The class had used the same activity yesterday but to learn math.  It seemed to be very popular, the game pronounced the sounds of the letters and students used the smart pen to select eh correct letter.  If the students were correct a small monster appeared in the space where the letter used to be, if they were incorrect a buzzer sounded.  Once five correct letters had been selected, in a row, and a bingo was formed, the game celebrated with music and the monsters danced.  The game then provided feedback on how many correct the class got and what their percentage of correct answers was.  The students seemed to really enjoy it and all of the little animations.  While the game was designed as an individual activity it worked great as a class activity.  The only limitation seemed to be others shouting out answers when it wasn’t their turn.  This hurts the chance for students to learn but this would just take patrolling of students talking.  It also moved on automatically so this made it hard to hear the sound at some points but there is a repeat button that restates the sound when pressed.