My last day was really great. A little bit sad, but mostly just fun. We did the normal morning routine. I worked with the girl on sight words again and finished evaluating her on those. I heard some of the other kids talking about her, saying "She can't even spell 'and'" It is sad that they notice that she is behind them. I wish that I could've explained to them why she is behind, but no one knows yet.
We did a fun art project on dental health. They have been learning about dental health and this was the final review project. They made these giant toothbrushes with a chart to remind them to brush their teeth every morning and night. I was amazed that they weren't able to remember Mrs. Hausmann's directions for very long. She told them all in a big group on the floor and then when they went back to their desks to start the project, many of them did not remember what to do! The ones that did start on their work, messed up their toothbrushes somehow. Mrs. Hausmann reminded me that you never could count on 1st graders to pay attention or remember directions. She explained it to them again and I was ciruculating to help kids along. A lot of them got a little more creative and put toothpaste on their brushes.
The final thing I did was read a story to the class. I brought one in about crocodiles because that has been one of the themes for the week. They all really enjoyed the story and were sad that it was the last story I would read to them. Afterward, Mrs. Hausmann gave me a new children's book and said that it could be the start of my collection. It was very nice of her and many of the kids said they had the book at home too. I got many, many hugs from the 1st graders and almost all of them told me "Happy Easter!"
I loved my placement with Mrs. Hausmann at Kennedy and the 1st grade class. I learned a lot from the changes in the 8th grade to the 1st grade. I think that I do enjoy the younger grades better, but any kind of teaching will be wonderful!
Monday, March 3, 2008
LI Day 8
Today I worked in depth with a student in the 1st grade class that is below a kindergarten level. Mrs. Hausmann told me she has been undergoing evaluations, but they aren't sure if she has a learning disability yet. When I evaluate her on sight words, she seems to know that she is being evaluated. I will have her read a word (the, go, in, a), then build it with letter blocks and then spell it out on her handwriting paper. Many of the words she does not know and she cannot sound it out because she forgets what sounds the letters make. But she sees the form that I am filling out as we go and she asks if she can make the checkmarks. She knows which ones she gets a checkmark for and which ones she gets nothing. It is very interesting to work with her on this work. I feel badly for her since she is so far behind everyone else.
We have been doing a song each morning with an accompanying dance. This is because it is Fitness Fever in February and they play the songs over the loud speakers. The kids are so cute when they're doing these funny dances, I try to dance along but I don't know most of the songs that they did.
I don't know how it would've worked but I wish that I would have been able to teach a lesson during this immersion or do something in front of the whole class (besides reading). Mrs. Hausmann said that the time went by so fast and she didn't get to do everything with me that she wishes. I think she means that she wishes that I could've done more with the class. But I still feel that I made a personal connection with every student and had many new experiences.
We have been doing a song each morning with an accompanying dance. This is because it is Fitness Fever in February and they play the songs over the loud speakers. The kids are so cute when they're doing these funny dances, I try to dance along but I don't know most of the songs that they did.
I don't know how it would've worked but I wish that I would have been able to teach a lesson during this immersion or do something in front of the whole class (besides reading). Mrs. Hausmann said that the time went by so fast and she didn't get to do everything with me that she wishes. I think she means that she wishes that I could've done more with the class. But I still feel that I made a personal connection with every student and had many new experiences.
LI Day 7
Today we went on a field trip to the St. John's Arboretum. This was an adventure! We did the morning routine and I worked with a couple of students before we started putting on all sorts of layers to go outside. All of the first grade classrooms were going, but once we got there we split into groups by teacher. It was fun to squish on to the bus, three to a seat, with all the 1st graders. Four parents came as volunteers, a school volunteer, Mrs. Hausmann and myself. When we got there we did a short group introduction and then split off with a guide from the Arboretum. It was the cutest thing to see these little kids try and trek through the snow. There was a small path, but it had been recently covered with snow. With the deep snow, sticks, logs and branches, the 1st graders definitely had a hard time walking. First we went exploring and all the kids went crazy trying to find animal tracks and homes. But then when it was time to regroup, the kids had to climb a very large hill to get back to the rest of the group. They were falling down and tired, so I started to grab them by the arms and pull a few up at a time. It was really funny because they just really could not climb this hill. Then we broke out into groups and used books to identify different animal tracks and droppings. The kids liked doing this. I was looking with a group of 5 boys and I had a difficult time keeping them together and focused. They found so many things to look at that once we found one thing, they didn't even pay attention to it, they just went on looking. We had to climb the hill once more and I carried a few kids up again. The worst was when they would lose their boots or mittens. This happened a lot and usually to the same child more than once. We'd have to get all the snow off of them and from the inside of the boot/mitten then squeeze it back on them.
Overall the field trip was really fun and it was interesting to see the students in a different environment.
Overall the field trip was really fun and it was interesting to see the students in a different environment.
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
LI Day 6
jkljkl dfd fdfd I had my first teaching struggle today. I was taking pairs of students out into the hallway to play a memory game (aka concentration) using snowflakes that had words and their contractions written on them. For example, one snowflake would say "could not" and the student would have to find the snowflake that said "couldn't". The first two groups that I played with did fairly well. After a little review, they remembered the lesson and knew what pairs to look for. They became competitive and wanted to get the right answers so that they could win the game. When I worked with the last pair of students, one of the girls really struggled. I explained the game in the same way I had before and we started to play. I don't think that she understood the concept of the game, much less what contractions are. She would draw from the same spot everytime and couldn't find the matches. The other girl was getting matches left and right, in fact, she got every match in the game. The girl who struggled got none! I struggled because I did not really know how to explain contractions. This was the first time that I really was at a loss of words. I simply could not teach her what I needed too. I know that I have not taken any pedagogy classes, but I had hoped that simple things like this would come easier to me. The girl really was at a loss because I could not teach her. She was frustrated because she was not getting any pairs and she was confused because she didn't know what was a pair and what wasn't. After the other girl won the game, I sent her back to the classroom. I decided to put out half of the cards and play the game again with the girl who struggled. This seemed to help because she actually got pairs and was reading and matching the words. I still feel bad about not being able to teach her though. The rest of the day that girl followed me around and always came to me with questions. She also came and asked me when we would get to play the snowflake game again.
The rest of the day was great. I realized how much power the kids have from an experience I had today. I did not get much sleep last night and I had my first big test in psychology today. So when I woke up, I knew it was going to be a bad day. I was exhausted from no sleep and wondering when I was going to find time to do all the studying I needed to. I was worried about going to Kennedy with this bad mood and I hoped that I would have enough energy to work with the 1st graders. I just didn't want Mrs.Hausmann to be mad at me! But the school day went by so fast and so well! It wasn't until I was signing myself out in the office and I looked at the time, that I remembered that I was having a bad day and that I had a test to study for. The 1st graders just brightened my whole day and after the morning with them, I had energy to study, to do well on my test and to be in a good mood!
The rest of the day was great. I realized how much power the kids have from an experience I had today. I did not get much sleep last night and I had my first big test in psychology today. So when I woke up, I knew it was going to be a bad day. I was exhausted from no sleep and wondering when I was going to find time to do all the studying I needed to. I was worried about going to Kennedy with this bad mood and I hoped that I would have enough energy to work with the 1st graders. I just didn't want Mrs.Hausmann to be mad at me! But the school day went by so fast and so well! It wasn't until I was signing myself out in the office and I looked at the time, that I remembered that I was having a bad day and that I had a test to study for. The 1st graders just brightened my whole day and after the morning with them, I had energy to study, to do well on my test and to be in a good mood!
Monday, February 25, 2008
LI Day 5
It is nice to know that the 1st graders or "friends" (as Mrs.Hausmann calls them) recognize me as part of the classroom. They were all asking where I was on Thursday and Friday of last week. They also all had a hard time comprehending that I did not have school and that my parents do not live here.
One of my favorite parts of the 1st grade classroom is the singing. The kids love to sing and Mrs.Hausmann can turn almost anything into a song or a rhyme that all the kids say together. The morning routine is very fun and I would like to do many of the same things in my own classroom. Everyday, they sing a song to spell February. Then they mark on the calendar the date, write the date and decide if it is an even or odd day. Then they sing a song for the days of the week. They put up on the board what day it was yesterday, what day it is today and what day it is tomorrow. They are counting with straws how many days of school they've had. They count with money how many days of school they've had. They use a dollar bill and pennies, then quarters, dimes and nickels. Then they check the weather and mark that on a grid. One student chooses ten words from the Word Wall that all the students have to read aloud. Finally, they say "good morning" to three different people with high fives.
Today I worked with the advanced reading group in the library and we read an Amelia Bedelia book. I also lead one of the groups in centers and we worked on addition. I am still amazed at how all of the students can be at such different levels. This was difficult to deal with in this group because the smarter students would blurt out the answers before the slower students came up with an answer. I was constantly reminding them to think inside their own heads. I think that they have a natural instinct to help each other. But of course, telling them the answers is only hurting them in this case.
One of my favorite parts of the 1st grade classroom is the singing. The kids love to sing and Mrs.Hausmann can turn almost anything into a song or a rhyme that all the kids say together. The morning routine is very fun and I would like to do many of the same things in my own classroom. Everyday, they sing a song to spell February. Then they mark on the calendar the date, write the date and decide if it is an even or odd day. Then they sing a song for the days of the week. They put up on the board what day it was yesterday, what day it is today and what day it is tomorrow. They are counting with straws how many days of school they've had. They count with money how many days of school they've had. They use a dollar bill and pennies, then quarters, dimes and nickels. Then they check the weather and mark that on a grid. One student chooses ten words from the Word Wall that all the students have to read aloud. Finally, they say "good morning" to three different people with high fives.
Today I worked with the advanced reading group in the library and we read an Amelia Bedelia book. I also lead one of the groups in centers and we worked on addition. I am still amazed at how all of the students can be at such different levels. This was difficult to deal with in this group because the smarter students would blurt out the answers before the slower students came up with an answer. I was constantly reminding them to think inside their own heads. I think that they have a natural instinct to help each other. But of course, telling them the answers is only hurting them in this case.
LI Day 4
I really enjoy being able to work with students on different ends of the spectrum. Sometimes, I take children who are way below the class average out to the hallway and work with them. And sometimes, I take the children who are way above the class average out to the hallway and work with them. Today I was with the advanced students. I was working with three students and we were reading an advanced story. We all took turns reading aloud and I would ask questions and promt them to discuss along the way. At the end there was a worksheet that dealt with feelings (holistic learning?!) that they worked on individually. One thing I noticed about these three advanced student is that they knew they were advanced. Since they were advanced, they thought that they could fool around a little bit. I often had to correct their behavior and tell them to listen or pay attention or follow along. They spent a lot of time just talking to each other instead of listening to me as the other students did.
Mrs.Hausmann discussed with me the difficulty with having so many students at different levels. She said she could count on one hand the number of students who are at the average 1st grade level. I am taking notes in my mind of the different ways she teaches all the students. She uses the "centers" to work with each level of students individually, letting the others lead their own learning for part of the day. She also has many, many volunteers in the classroom who are taking students out into the hallway to work on specific skills with them. I do not think that she would be as successful if she didn't have the volunteers helping her all of the time. I am worried that the school I end up teaching at won't have a volunteer group, high school or college coming in to help in my classroom.
Mrs.Hausmann discussed with me the difficulty with having so many students at different levels. She said she could count on one hand the number of students who are at the average 1st grade level. I am taking notes in my mind of the different ways she teaches all the students. She uses the "centers" to work with each level of students individually, letting the others lead their own learning for part of the day. She also has many, many volunteers in the classroom who are taking students out into the hallway to work on specific skills with them. I do not think that she would be as successful if she didn't have the volunteers helping her all of the time. I am worried that the school I end up teaching at won't have a volunteer group, high school or college coming in to help in my classroom.
LI Day 3
I like being able to walk into the classroom and say hello to the students by name. Many of them will come up to me to say good morning, they are very well mannered. They are getting used to having me there in the mornings. I come in and usually do a few organizational things for Mrs.Hausmann. Alphabetizing worksheets or fileing work while the 1st graders work on a morning assignment.
The big thing for today was that I did a read aloud for the class. Mrs.Hausmann had asked me to try and find a book that had elephants or mice in it and had examples of the long a sound. I got Ella (the elephant) Takes the Cake from the library. We forgot to do the read aloud during reading time, but right before I left I got to read to the kids. It went very well, I did it how Mike Borka taught us too and Mrs.Hausmann seemed pleased.
I am not sure if that is as much as I'll get to teach in this classroom or not. I think it would be hard for me to teach a lesson for the 1st grade classroom because everything is so situational, yet it is the same everyday. Many of the lessons have to do with singing songs that they all already know. And Mrs.Hausmann doesn't exactly teach lessons the way that I would be able to, because they are 1st graders. The main lesson part of the day is called "centers." The students are all put into groups. One group works with Mrs.Hausmann and three groups work on projects of their own. I got to lead a group on finding words with the long a sound. This was cool because I got to work with students who are all on different levels of their learning. I got a mini experience in teaching diverse learners.
The big thing for today was that I did a read aloud for the class. Mrs.Hausmann had asked me to try and find a book that had elephants or mice in it and had examples of the long a sound. I got Ella (the elephant) Takes the Cake from the library. We forgot to do the read aloud during reading time, but right before I left I got to read to the kids. It went very well, I did it how Mike Borka taught us too and Mrs.Hausmann seemed pleased.
I am not sure if that is as much as I'll get to teach in this classroom or not. I think it would be hard for me to teach a lesson for the 1st grade classroom because everything is so situational, yet it is the same everyday. Many of the lessons have to do with singing songs that they all already know. And Mrs.Hausmann doesn't exactly teach lessons the way that I would be able to, because they are 1st graders. The main lesson part of the day is called "centers." The students are all put into groups. One group works with Mrs.Hausmann and three groups work on projects of their own. I got to lead a group on finding words with the long a sound. This was cool because I got to work with students who are all on different levels of their learning. I got a mini experience in teaching diverse learners.
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