Week 3

Tuesday:

            Hooray for a three-day weekend! I am really starting to get a lot more comfortable at Howe. I’m building a better relationship with the teachers, and I feel like they are all starting to get used to having me around a little more. I would even go as far to say that they are too comfortable with me now. Today a few of the mothers were talking about motherhood stories. Although it wasn’t a deep conversation, I’m really happy that they don’t feel like they need to act differently around me. =)

            Today I also started guided reading with a group of four students. During the first day we do a “picture walk”, talk about the vocabulary that will be used in the book, and then we read the story together. This lesson went very smoothly and I’m excited to start working with them more!

This is what Guided Reading focuses on

            Andrea also had me start doing attendance, lunch count, grading morning work, and writing down the spelling for the week. Although these aren’t really teaching, she said it’s good to get to know the boring parts of teaching. There are a lot of little steps that you need to make sure you don’t skip throughout the day. It’s making me a lot more comfortable talking to them as a whole class, so I really like the small things she keeps adding in slowly.

Wednesday:

            Today was a pretty rough day, not really for me, but within the school. One of the first grade rooms flooded, and a second grade teacher had a death in the family. The first grade teacher has lost a lot of her own personal belongings. Today I definitely learned that the majority of posters and books in your classroom, the teacher has to supply. Unfortunately the school, as of now, will not be reimbursing her. I don’t know how I would have reacted in that situation; she handled herself very well.

            These past two weeks we have been focusing on adjectives. So today the students had a really fun activity that Andrea basically made up on the spot. She had five separate pieces of paper with different nouns written on them. Each table had to write adjectives to describe the noun (they all had different color markers). Every table had a chance to write on each piece of paper, and the table with the most adjectives won! It showed how well they understood what an adjective was, along with having them do a fun, competitive activity.

            We also made a water cycle bracelet today! Andrea uses so many techniques and materials to reach her students (6C). As you can see in the picture, there are different colored beads that represent a stage of the cycle. The green represents the collection of ground water, yellow represents the sun heating up the water, clear represents evaporation, white represents the clouds forming, and then the blue is the precipitation that falls when the clouds get too heavy. They all had to explain the water cycle, using the bracelet, to a friend! It was very effective and showed how much the students have learned.

I even got to make a bracelet =)

Thursday:

            Today I felt like I needed to go into school a little bit more focused than I have been. I’m not full-time teaching yet, so it’s really easy for me to become disengaged. So today I really wanted to make sure that I noticed something good from every student. I made sure to compliment each student at least one time throughout the day. Maybe if I do this enough, it will become a good habit to get into! I’ve been feeling like the mean teacher because I have been able to catch students doing things that they shouldn’t be since I’m standing on the side or in the back of the room; so I wanted to be more positive today!

Once again I did guided reading today, which I will continue doing every day until the semester is finished. However, today was a very rough day! I felt so confused and unprepared for the lesson I was teaching, even though I looked it over numerous times. The lesson completely flopped in my mind; which I know is going to happen. It was just a disappointing way to start the day, but it did get better!

            We continued with the theme of adjectives during writing. This time they each had to draw a picture of themselves, then write at least ten adjectives to describe themselves. The projects turned out really cute, and they all did a nice job listing adjectives. Although projects like this don’t seem like there is learning happening, they are definitely working on their writing and language skills; and how can it hurt if it makes your part of the hallway look cute! =)

            At the end of the day I actually got to witness a parent-teacher conference. The father was concerned about his daughters reading at home, he thought it was too slow and choppy. The interesting thing about this conference was that he only spoke Spanish, so Andrea didn’t know what he was saying the majority of the time; the translator definitely helped! It was interesting to see a conference like this, and it makes me feel like it really would be beneficial to start learning some Spanish at least three times a week. It would be nice for both the parent and myself if we had at least some small way to communicate. I’m very happy I was able to sit in on this meeting!

These are usually what the morning messages look like! 

Friday:

            Today I taught my very first whole-class lesson at Howe. Having it be my first lesson I was already nervous. Add to that being videotaped, AND having your college supervisor come in! I was so nervous before school, but surprisingly once I got to school I was completely calm. I didn’t feel nervous at all while I taught. However, the lesson did not go as smoothly as I would have liked!

            The lesson was on adding three double-digit numbers together. After I did the instructional aspect, I figured since it was Friday I could introduce Math Baseball! Basically each student would get a turn to “pitch” and “bat”, different cards had a different amount of bases you would run. The behavior during the game wasn’t terrible, but the students at the back of the line were completely disengaged! I did not consider this beforehand, which was a bummer; but oh well, you learn from mistakes!

            What I learned from this mistake will honestly be very helpful. When playing games, it is important to find a way to keep the students in the back of the line engaged. One solution could’ve been having the students stand in a semicircle so they could all see the board. Another solution I REALLY wish I would have considered beforehand is to have them practice their addition facts with flashcards. Andrea has the lowest group for math, and they still struggle with 4+4, 3+3, etc. Giving them addition flashcards would have kept them engaged in something meaningful, even though it wouldn’t have been the game.

            Andrea and Kathryn were very helpful and encouraging at the end. Kathryn assured me that she has watched student teachers that have done much worse than that, and she said I did a great job with it being my first lesson. I was very relieved with this, and very happy when this day was over; I felt like I learned a lot. =)

Schmidt - Chapter 4
Quite honestly, this chapter had a lot of valid points and good things to offer that I don't even know where to start! Rafe Esquith seems like an absolutely amazing teacher! He inspired his students every single day, and I love that he took time to see what they had to offer rather than always thinking his words were more important.
I like the part about being culture blind or confused, and how they are both completely wrong. Saying that you see everyone the same takes away the beauty of everyone being so different! And I can definitely understand why people become confused. Different cultures have different ways of communicating and learning; and I know there is a very small chance I will ever know how everyone in the world learns and communicates. However, I think it is important to take more time out of my day to think about why a student may be ahead of behind. Perhaps a lot of it does have to do with the culture that they come from.
Allowing culture to enter the classroom is the only way you can really make a student feel comfortable and at home in my mind. I need to search myself more to see what I need to work on so that I can improve on being more culturally competent. On a side note though, sometimes I do feel a little uncomfortable and almost attacked for being the majority while reading these books. Sometimes I feel stereotyped as ignorant simply because I don't completely understand other cultures. I don't feel that is necessarily the case with this book, and I do know I have a lot to learn when it comes to getting to know other cultures. 

Week 2

Monday:

One thing I really noticed that I like about Andrea’s classroom is how she uses a clip chart to progress their attitudes and actions throughout the day. If they are doing something good then they get to move their clip up, if they are misbehaving then they need to move it down. It seems to be very effective in the classroom, and it’s very easy to keep track of where each student is!

Today I felt completely out of touch with the students and Mrs. Gass to be honest. I didn’t realize it until I got home for the night and started thinking about my day. Throughout the entire day I’m sure I looked disinterested and bored with the class. I don’t mean that her class is boring, that’s the last impression I would want to leave! I love Mrs. Gass’s class! However, I felt like I really needed to make an adjustment to what was happening so I began reading a new book I found in the library, “The Leader in Me” by Stephen Covey.

Very often when I am not feeling motivated and excited for school, I try to find a book to encourage me. As I read through the pages, I was so excited! Although the book doesn’t explicitly say this, I realized I need to be excited about the new day each morning and perhaps it will rub off on the students. I need to go in each and every day as excited as I was on the first day. I will definitely be going in tomorrow with a new energy than I did today! =)

Tuesday:

            This was a much better day than yesterday! For now I have only started doing the morning routine. It was only my second day and I have already changed the way I approached it. Since I am still learning the routine myself, I asked for a volunteer of one of the students to help assist me. He did an excellent job, and knew the “teacher part” very well! I’m starting to remember the routine a little better each day.

            I really appreciate having such a great cooperating teacher! Today she made copies of her lesson plan book so that I can simply practice writing down the plans as we collaborate with the other second grade teachers. Although it was small, I feel like it is still an important step.

            Every day I have noticed the same little girl crying at her desk, usually after lunch. Each time that I ask why she is crying, it’s either to want to go home or because she doesn’t feel well. I’ve asked my teacher about it, and it seems that she gets in strange moods where she doesn’t want to participate in class and goes into her own world. I’m not quite sure how to handle this student. It’s a very odd situation, and I feel like she does it just for attention. If I ignore it I feel terrible, but if I bring attention to it I fear that it will only encourage her to do it each and every day. Perhaps I should stop worrying so much and wait for her to snap out of it on her own.

Wednesday:

            I feel like I’m slowly starting to get more comfortable with this school. This placement is a little bit more of a challenge for me than my last few ones had been. In my past placements, I have been able to come in and find my place right away; it has always been a very easy settlement for me. People were always more than welcoming, and the students were very easy to connect with. This placement has taken more time than I am used to, but I’m happy for it. The other faculty members are all so nice, but it’s almost more difficult coming into a school where they are already so close! It’s difficult to see where I fit and feel comfortable. It’s still a great environment; this semester is just so different than the others.

            Today we had another incident with the student who has cried almost every day. Andrea thought of a great idea, even though she thought it was cheesy. She would have the student write down what she was upset about, then crumple the paper and throw it away; as if she was letting the entire situation go. To both of our surprise, it actually worked! She was completely back to normal after that. I still think she just wanted/needed some kind of attention, and once she was able to get it she had no problem paying attention and participating in class.

            One of the strategies Andrea uses in her classroom is called Daily Five. I absolutely love this! It gives her a chance to work with small groups based on their reading levels. While she is working with a small group up front, the other students are either reading to themselves, practicing spelling words, reading with a partner, or practicing their writing. It really is a great system and it seems like all of the students enjoy it as well!

Thursday:

            I feel like I’m slowly starting to come out of my shell. It’s just a very strange situation, being a teacher but still being a student. I’m trying to see where my boundaries are as to what I feel comfortable doing so far. Today we had an incident where I asked a student to move during Daily Five; there were three students on a bench that can only fit two. She complained that she was there first, and then another student volunteered to move. I didn’t think much of it, but Andrea had the student move her clip down for not following directions. I suppose I need to start thinking of myself more as an authoritative figure than just someone observing in the classroom. My difficulty is actually thinking of myself as a teacher now; it’s a big switch!

            Today the class continued to learn about the water cycle. One thing I have noticed is that whenever Andrea is teaching, there is always something for her students to be doing. For this particular lesson, she has been having the students fill out a pamphlet that has each step of the cycle. I feel like giving them something to follow along with makes fewer distractions during the actual lessons. She really understands how to keep their attention and make sure they continue learning, rather than being distracted by something else (p 1.6).

            The girl that usually cries every day didn’t cry at all today! Maybe that one idea of Andrea’s really did work. It was a big relief when we got back from music to see that she was not crying. Now I really believe that the main objective in crying was to simply get attention. I’m glad we at least had one good day with her. =)

Friday:

            This day just seemed like an absolute blur. I never realized how much teachers really have to fit in each and every day. We had an assembly, testing, a special visitor, and she wanted to do this Martin Luther King Jr. project. It was unreal, I felt completely rushed throughout the day even though I wasn’t the one teaching! At the end of it, I felt more exhausted than every other day I have been at school.

            The assembly wasn’t that interesting, but the special visitor was really fun to listen to. Apparently they have a deal with the people who study the history of Waukegan. A man named Ty comes in to talk about Waukegan’s history, and other aspects of history, with the class. The students really enjoyed him! It was the most silent I heard them all week. He talked about the Underground Railroad and how people would help each other by having specific symbols on the blanket. One symbol would tell you your safe; another would say that slave hunters are nearby. It was even interesting for me! I think the idea of a special visitor is a really good idea, especially when it is so educational! The students really enjoyed getting to hear from someone new, and it was fun for me because I got to learn a little bit.

            I absolutely loved the project that Andrea did with MLK day! First she read them a story about MLK. Even the story was interesting, none of the kids could imagine why they wouldn’t be able to go to school together or use the same water fountain. A lot of them seemed like they never heard anything like that! After the book, they each had to write down what their dream was for the world. Then they colored a person who would represent them. It was fun to watch what everyone wrote down as his or her dream. A few of the students said something about having recess all day at school, and others took it more seriously and dreamt of world peace or something along those lines. I think this project turned out great! And it looks very nice in the hallway. =)

Classroom Confidential – Chapter 2

            I have never really heard of eptness before reading this chapter. From my understanding of it, it seems like eptness is the ability of the teacher to let go of having complete control and give some responsibility to the students. It is the teacher’s job to create an environment like this in the classroom. Students should feel useful and important, as if their contributions to the class really matter. One of my favorite points about eptness was that it was made for teachers who have “a low threshold for boredom. An ept class multiplies the possibilities for expanding the curriculum and investigating new ideas” (28). I get bored very easily, so an idea for my future classroom will definitely be to include some of these ideas! I really liked the classroom resume as well. =)

            I really liked the behavior of approximations, and I can even start using that in my student teaching placement! Even I still get annoyed when I hear the one teacher who is always pointing out the one student who is doing something wrong, rather than the other 19 who are doing exactly what you have expected out of them. Throughout these 15 remaining weeks, I will try my best to point out the student who is doing what was asked of them. Even if they’re not, and they just blurt out some random statement; I should try to encourage it, if it’s tied to school, rather than be upset at them for speaking out of turn.

            To model being a learner is very easy for both Andrea and myself. I have already made mistakes writing words on the board. When they point out the fact that I have made a mistake, I tell them that I’m allowed to make mistakes too. I really enjoy learning, and I have voiced that to them many times. One aspect of this that I need to do more of is be comfortable being looked at as a learner as well as a teacher. It’s okay for me to not know something and be excited when we learn something new! I wish I would have done that on Friday with the Underground Railroad information, but I’ll remember next time!

            Challenging old habits would be my final and favorite habit to use! As I said earlier, I get bored very quickly. I try and think of new ways to do simple tasks, but it always takes a long time so I end up giving up. Something as simple as changing the way we treat our students when they’re in the hallways could go a long way. Or how we treat them when they are about to go home, or if their excited about something. The students have to be silent for the majority of the day, why is that? I understand if you are teaching a concept they need to be able to hear; however, teachers all talk to each other all day and get new ideas for lessons. Obviously this is one of those situations I go back and forth on, but it would be interesting to see a classroom that was allowed to casually and quietly talk in the hallways, or while doing homework. 

Week 1

An Exciting Start

I am in an amazing second grade classroom at Howe Elementary in Beach Park, IL. This week has been filled with a great range of emotion. Every morning started out with nerves, every school day consisted of excitement, and every night was filled with exhaustion. I really can’t believe I’m in my last semester of college. Just this week has been so different than everything that I am used to.

Throughout the week Mrs. Gass, my cooperating teacher, the staff, and the students have made me feel very welcome. My class consists of about 20 students, one of which I have yet to meet. There is one student from Puerto Rico who is just now learning how to speak English. Mrs. Gass was explaining to me the different strategies she uses and how the student will go out of the classroom with an ELL teacher throughout the day(K3.5.). Since we had our student teaching seminar on Monday, I wasn’t able to start until Tuesday.

Tuesday: After my first day visiting, I noticed that they have a lot of sayings and chants that I will need to become familiar with. It seems that they are all very effective. Their entire morning routine has been practiced and rehearsed since the beginning of the year. I really like how Mrs. Gass covers so many different things in such a short amount of time.

Today one of the students had an incident where she was refusing to do any work. She was sitting at her table crying, and we found out it was because she didn’t have any markers while all of the other students were underlining with markers. Another student at her table gave her a marker; it was a simple solution to the problem. Based on what I saw today and what Mrs. Gass told me, she will become emotional randomly throughout the day. I don’t know that I would have handled the situation any different, because it was so easily fixed; but I will try to make myself aware of what she is doing throughout my semester.

Wednesday I was able to attend a staff meeting. I learned that this school has not had a lockdown drill for quite some time. During the meeting, they discussed the Sandy Hook situation and all of them seemed to be very concerned about the safety of their students. It was interesting to attend this meeting, but at the same time a relief. I was happy to see how informal the setting was and how comfortable everyone was with each other.

Thursday and Friday were very similar to each other. Nothing too exciting happened, but throughout the week I became much more familiar with the atmosphere of this school. So far I absolutely love it! It seems that the teachers are more than just colleagues; they are a great support for one another and are friends even outside of school. We have a very small lunchroom with circular tables fit for about four. Instead of separating and sitting at two tables, all six of us squeeze into one.

So far, I really feel that this school will be a great fit for me! Mrs. Gass is very willing to help me grow and is very willing to give me the freedom to change a few things. The students do not completely understand that I will be here for a long time, which keeps making me smile. Almost every day they ask if I’m coming back tomorrow, then when I say yes they get very excited and tell each other that “Miss Geer is coming back tomorrow”; hopefully it’ll get through next week. =) Although, I can’t say I dislike hearing them cheer every time they realize I’ll be back the next school day.

Classroom Confidential

I’m actually quite surprised with how much I really like this book. In this first chapter, Schmidt addresses different ways to create excited and involved learners. One of her methods of getting students more interested is to include all of the multiple intelligences in the classroom. I hope that I will be able to take this advice and, as a teacher, not penalize students when they solve something differently or learn in different ways. I hope to encourage my students to see their strengths and weaknesses, and keep building on what they already know, but to try their best to grow in areas where they can see they need improvement. Schmidt talks about a teacher named Lisa, and how she “creates a culture in which every student feels a vested interest in the well-being of their classmates, and knows how to help” (page, 13). I hope I will be able to create a classroom with this type of environment.

I really liked how Schmidt pointed out that hands-on activities that are simply that would do no good. “Full brain learning” can only happen when students are fully engaged in what they are participating in. For example, if you have students doing mindless tasks just to get them out of their seats, then that is a waste of time. They need to have a problem to solve, or a different way of becoming engaged in what is in front of them. She talks about how including numerous intelligences in hands-on activities will create a worth-while activity.