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!
Tuesday, February 26, 2008
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.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
LI Day 2
Today was a little bit more of a normal school day, although Mrs.Hausmann still said it was more hectic. They usuall have "centers" but with finishing old projects and extra help in the classroom, we spent a lot of time reading and painting. The children walked in to the classroom and all said hello to me and it was nice to know that they remembered me. I think that the 1st graders have a better memory than the 8th graders! One of the girls names is Lauren. I told her my name is Lauren too, althouh they are supposed to call me Ms.Neal. But now the student Lauren and all the other kids in her row call me Lauren instead of Ms.Neal. I feel weird trying to correct them, but I want them to treat me like a teacher since that is what this immersion is for. I told them that it is confusing if they call both of us Lauren, so I should be called Ms.Neal. Also, some of the girls hang on me a lot, try to hold my hand or sit in my lap. I politely ask them to stand on their own, let go or sit flat on the floor. Again, I want to be treated like a real teacher so I try not to let them treat me like a babysitter.
A couple funny 1st grade moments:
We were deciding whether to have hot lunch or cold lunch. The "hot" lunch choice was sub sandwich. Hallie says, "Jack, what is a sub sandwich?" Jack says, "Sub sandwich? I don't know. Oh wait, sandwich? Thats peanut butter and jelly!"
During our morning meeting, the students were to say one thing that they were going to do over the weekend. Some of them had some pretty exciting plans. When it was Micah's turn, he said that tomorrow (Saturday) he was getting on a plane and going to Texas. Mrs.Hausmann said, "Oh really, what are you going to do there?" "Just walk around," Micah replied. At this point, I was trying not to laugh. Mrs.Hausmann asked Micah what would happen if she called his parents and asked about the trip. Michah quickly said, "Oh, I mean I'm going to my friend's house for dinner tomorrow."
A couple funny 1st grade moments:
We were deciding whether to have hot lunch or cold lunch. The "hot" lunch choice was sub sandwich. Hallie says, "Jack, what is a sub sandwich?" Jack says, "Sub sandwich? I don't know. Oh wait, sandwich? Thats peanut butter and jelly!"
During our morning meeting, the students were to say one thing that they were going to do over the weekend. Some of them had some pretty exciting plans. When it was Micah's turn, he said that tomorrow (Saturday) he was getting on a plane and going to Texas. Mrs.Hausmann said, "Oh really, what are you going to do there?" "Just walk around," Micah replied. At this point, I was trying not to laugh. Mrs.Hausmann asked Micah what would happen if she called his parents and asked about the trip. Michah quickly said, "Oh, I mean I'm going to my friend's house for dinner tomorrow."
UI Day 5
All right, I'm not sure what happened but my post from the last day at San Miguel didn't get posted after I wrote it. So I am going to try and write all the same things, it might be a little condensed.
I finished teaching my poetry lesson. This was the last day of the 3 day lesson. By the third day, I felt a lot more comfortable teaching in front of these students. They still were really supportive of me and excited that I was practicing my teaching on them. Today I introduced themed poems and gave them several examples of love poems (including one that I had written). I was really excited after the lesson was over because I think that I inspired them. Almost all of the students got started writing their own poems right when I was done talking. They all got a pretty good start on their poems. I got to read a few of them. One was about love for a grandfather, one was more of a joke but it was about love for Burger King. Either way, the students were writing poetry.
The rest of the day was pretty normal. I had more opportunities to work and help the students. I was working on math with a couple girls. Their math was so hard and I felt so stupid! I also felt very badly because I helped one girl with some problems. Then when Ms.Gergen corrected her math, the only two problems that the girl got wrong were the ones that I helped her with. I was sorry for her because that brought down her grade.
At the end of the day saying goodbye was not that hard. I said thank you and goodbye to the class and got some hugs from the girls. I talked to Ms.Gergen for a while before saying goodbye. She is trying to plan a trip for the 8th graders to come up to St.Bens and do a college visit. I hope I will get to see them all again.
I finished teaching my poetry lesson. This was the last day of the 3 day lesson. By the third day, I felt a lot more comfortable teaching in front of these students. They still were really supportive of me and excited that I was practicing my teaching on them. Today I introduced themed poems and gave them several examples of love poems (including one that I had written). I was really excited after the lesson was over because I think that I inspired them. Almost all of the students got started writing their own poems right when I was done talking. They all got a pretty good start on their poems. I got to read a few of them. One was about love for a grandfather, one was more of a joke but it was about love for Burger King. Either way, the students were writing poetry.
The rest of the day was pretty normal. I had more opportunities to work and help the students. I was working on math with a couple girls. Their math was so hard and I felt so stupid! I also felt very badly because I helped one girl with some problems. Then when Ms.Gergen corrected her math, the only two problems that the girl got wrong were the ones that I helped her with. I was sorry for her because that brought down her grade.
At the end of the day saying goodbye was not that hard. I said thank you and goodbye to the class and got some hugs from the girls. I talked to Ms.Gergen for a while before saying goodbye. She is trying to plan a trip for the 8th graders to come up to St.Bens and do a college visit. I hope I will get to see them all again.
LI Day 1
Almost immediately I felt at home in the 1st grade classroom at Kennedy Elementary School. Although I realized that I could teach 8th grade and that the students were really fun....I know now that I most definitely want to teach in an elementary classroom. I love the little kids and I love how Ms.Hausmann sings to them.
Having my first day at Kennedy on Valentine's Day was probably a special treat. The kids were all very excited for the holiday and it was cute to see their valentines bags lined up along the wall. The day was different because of the afternoon party, they condensed all the lessons into the morning. So we had heart math problems, heart art etc.
Ms.Hausmann asked me to help out as much as possible and just follow her lead. At first I didn't know exactly how to work with the 1st graders because I had been accustomed to teaching in the 8th grade. But I got a lot more comfortable after the first day.
Having my first day at Kennedy on Valentine's Day was probably a special treat. The kids were all very excited for the holiday and it was cute to see their valentines bags lined up along the wall. The day was different because of the afternoon party, they condensed all the lessons into the morning. So we had heart math problems, heart art etc.
Ms.Hausmann asked me to help out as much as possible and just follow her lead. At first I didn't know exactly how to work with the 1st graders because I had been accustomed to teaching in the 8th grade. But I got a lot more comfortable after the first day.
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
UI Day 4
I had just a normal day at school today. The kids really are used to me being there, but they do keep asking when I have to go back to my school. Hopefully they aren't sick of me being there. Ms.Gergen was gone for the afternoon so I got to help lead the afternoon schedule when the substitute teacher did not really know what was going on. I felt that when Ms.Gergen was gone that I took on a more disciplinarian role.
I worked on the second part of my poem lesson today. I was not as nervous for it today. I felt like I taught everything well and that they learned what they were supposed to, however, it was boring. The students are all very well behaved; so they listened to me and did what I told them to do. But it just didn't seem fun. I did not write the lesson plan, so it is not exactly my fault that the lesson was boring. But I wish that I would have been more comfortable teaching so that I could have said things to make it fun or changed the lesson to be more fun. I told them they could work with partners, but no one chose to do that.
I interviewed Ms.Gergen today on her teaching philosophy. Although she gave many different answers because she teaches with many different techniques, I found all of her answers to be very helpful. I especially liked learning about her disciplining techniques because this is one area that I have little experience with and feel that it is an area to be tip-toed around.
I will be sad to leave San Miguel tomorrow because of the respect I now have for Ms.Gergen, the relationships I have formed with the students and the wonderful experience I have had at the school.
I worked on the second part of my poem lesson today. I was not as nervous for it today. I felt like I taught everything well and that they learned what they were supposed to, however, it was boring. The students are all very well behaved; so they listened to me and did what I told them to do. But it just didn't seem fun. I did not write the lesson plan, so it is not exactly my fault that the lesson was boring. But I wish that I would have been more comfortable teaching so that I could have said things to make it fun or changed the lesson to be more fun. I told them they could work with partners, but no one chose to do that.
I interviewed Ms.Gergen today on her teaching philosophy. Although she gave many different answers because she teaches with many different techniques, I found all of her answers to be very helpful. I especially liked learning about her disciplining techniques because this is one area that I have little experience with and feel that it is an area to be tip-toed around.
I will be sad to leave San Miguel tomorrow because of the respect I now have for Ms.Gergen, the relationships I have formed with the students and the wonderful experience I have had at the school.
Monday, February 11, 2008
UI Day 3
Today was a great day, it felt like I really belonged at San Miguel. I got to walk in just like I worked there. That is how welcoming the people at San Miguel are.
I taught my first lesson today! It was a lesson that Ms.Gergen prepared on poems, with the theme of love. I got to look over it during the weekend and change things to be more like me. I am going to be teaching this lesson over three days. Today I started the lesson by having them brainstorm different signs of love and people who are loved. They worked in pairs on a taxonomy sheet. They had paper labeled ABCDE...XYZ vertically down the paper. The students came up with as many ideas for the letters as they could. When all the ideas were exhausted, we read "A Love Poem for My People" in Spanish and English. We talked about the meaning of the poem and then different images that were presented in the poem. This gave the students more ideas about things that could be on their lists. They added more to their lists and we ended today's portion of the lesson.
It went pretty well. The students knew that it was my first time teaching and they were all very excited. They told me not to be nervous because it was "just" them. Ms.Gergen was in the classroom watching me. A few times I got stuck on my words or did not know what to say. I looked and waited for Ms.Gergen to step in, but after a while passing by and her staying silent, I would finally find something to say. It was a great first experience and I am excited to work on my teaching skills more tomorrow.
I taught my first lesson today! It was a lesson that Ms.Gergen prepared on poems, with the theme of love. I got to look over it during the weekend and change things to be more like me. I am going to be teaching this lesson over three days. Today I started the lesson by having them brainstorm different signs of love and people who are loved. They worked in pairs on a taxonomy sheet. They had paper labeled ABCDE...XYZ vertically down the paper. The students came up with as many ideas for the letters as they could. When all the ideas were exhausted, we read "A Love Poem for My People" in Spanish and English. We talked about the meaning of the poem and then different images that were presented in the poem. This gave the students more ideas about things that could be on their lists. They added more to their lists and we ended today's portion of the lesson.
It went pretty well. The students knew that it was my first time teaching and they were all very excited. They told me not to be nervous because it was "just" them. Ms.Gergen was in the classroom watching me. A few times I got stuck on my words or did not know what to say. I looked and waited for Ms.Gergen to step in, but after a while passing by and her staying silent, I would finally find something to say. It was a great first experience and I am excited to work on my teaching skills more tomorrow.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
UI Day 2
I really enjoyed my second day at San Miguel. I walked in feeling like I belonged there. I wasn't nervous and felt welcomed by everyone. I really enjoy the small school setting. There are only four classes of students and each class is under 20 students. It is great to see how everyone knows each other so well and gets along. Ms.Gergen actually helped found this school so I have found out a lot of information. One cool thing is that although it is a private school, none of the students pay tuition. They only have to pay a book fee and for their uniforms. It is a great opportunity for them to get such a good education even though their parents have such a low income.
All of the students in my classroom speak Spanish at home but one (she is Native American). They speak Spanish constantly. They are only supposed to speak it at lunch but Ms.Gergen does not mind. I think it actually helps because sometimes one student does not understand the directions and another will explain it in Spanish. They are very good at translating. They all speak English very well but need a lot of work in writing and grammar.
Today I worked with students on posessive nouns again, we edited poems, studied the U.S-Mexican war (which I knew nothing about, but they knew EVERYTHING about). It was this war that took away half of Mexico's land, giving us the west part of our country. I worked on some math problems with students who were on three different levels.
I really admire how Ms.Gergen manages the classroom. There are hardly any problems at all. All of the students behave and when one gets out of line, Ms. Gergen handles it so well. She did tell me that she is very lucky because this is probably the best-behaved class she has ever had. I know that I do like working in middle school now because of the way that Ms.Gergen and her students get along. One of the major benefits about working with middle schoolers is that you can almost treat them like adults. We are able to joke around and talk seriously with them and them with us. I am definitely ready to go back and spend more time with this class.
All of the students in my classroom speak Spanish at home but one (she is Native American). They speak Spanish constantly. They are only supposed to speak it at lunch but Ms.Gergen does not mind. I think it actually helps because sometimes one student does not understand the directions and another will explain it in Spanish. They are very good at translating. They all speak English very well but need a lot of work in writing and grammar.
Today I worked with students on posessive nouns again, we edited poems, studied the U.S-Mexican war (which I knew nothing about, but they knew EVERYTHING about). It was this war that took away half of Mexico's land, giving us the west part of our country. I worked on some math problems with students who were on three different levels.
I really admire how Ms.Gergen manages the classroom. There are hardly any problems at all. All of the students behave and when one gets out of line, Ms. Gergen handles it so well. She did tell me that she is very lucky because this is probably the best-behaved class she has ever had. I know that I do like working in middle school now because of the way that Ms.Gergen and her students get along. One of the major benefits about working with middle schoolers is that you can almost treat them like adults. We are able to joke around and talk seriously with them and them with us. I am definitely ready to go back and spend more time with this class.
UI Day 1
My first day at San Miguel Middle School was wonderful! When Lacey and I got there, the front door to the building was locked. We figured out from a Spanish/English sign with pictures that we were supposed to press the intercom button and talk to the secretary. What we didn't know is that the security camera is hooked up to a tv screen in the office that a lot of people see. So I'm sure we looked like idiots trying to figure this one out. But we got in and followed some students upstairs and checked in at the office.
We met with Sister Mary, who as Jake said, is very nice. But she is so formal and gives me a weird vibe. I guess she just is not like a St.Ben's sister. She gave us some information about the school. Like for example, in their mission statement, they say that they will have an extended school day. This extended day goes from (7:45 free breakfast) 8:20 to 4:50. They have this because many of the students are immigrants and are already grades behind their ages, so they spend more time learning. Another part of the mission statement is that they will have good manners. This was shown by having almost all of the students in the school (49) come up and shake my hand saying "Hi, my name is Maria. Welcome to San Miguel". One student from each grade eats lunch once a week with the Principal, President and a person who has donated; this teaches them how to eat formally.
I was basically just thrown right in to the classroom, with barely an introduction to the teacher, I was sent to work with a student on poems. The teacher is great though. Ms.Gergen is very nice, helpful and a great example for me. I like her teaching style and how she is so close to the students.
I got to teach half of the class about posessive nouns (apostrophe s). I also helped many students on editing their poems. I went to music class and saw a teacher in desperate need of a lesson on classroom management.
When working with the eighth graders on their justice poems, I learned a lot about what they and their families go throught. Many of the poems talked about hard workers, like how their parents are never home because they have to work all the time. They talked about how everyone should be able to get a job, even if they don't have the right papers or an education. They talked about how racism affected them.
I learned a great many things in this first day and actually appreciated the extended day. It allowed for more experiences in different subjects, with different teachers and working with students.
We met with Sister Mary, who as Jake said, is very nice. But she is so formal and gives me a weird vibe. I guess she just is not like a St.Ben's sister. She gave us some information about the school. Like for example, in their mission statement, they say that they will have an extended school day. This extended day goes from (7:45 free breakfast) 8:20 to 4:50. They have this because many of the students are immigrants and are already grades behind their ages, so they spend more time learning. Another part of the mission statement is that they will have good manners. This was shown by having almost all of the students in the school (49) come up and shake my hand saying "Hi, my name is Maria. Welcome to San Miguel". One student from each grade eats lunch once a week with the Principal, President and a person who has donated; this teaches them how to eat formally.
I was basically just thrown right in to the classroom, with barely an introduction to the teacher, I was sent to work with a student on poems. The teacher is great though. Ms.Gergen is very nice, helpful and a great example for me. I like her teaching style and how she is so close to the students.
I got to teach half of the class about posessive nouns (apostrophe s). I also helped many students on editing their poems. I went to music class and saw a teacher in desperate need of a lesson on classroom management.
When working with the eighth graders on their justice poems, I learned a lot about what they and their families go throught. Many of the poems talked about hard workers, like how their parents are never home because they have to work all the time. They talked about how everyone should be able to get a job, even if they don't have the right papers or an education. They talked about how racism affected them.
I learned a great many things in this first day and actually appreciated the extended day. It allowed for more experiences in different subjects, with different teachers and working with students.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
Day 8
MY EDUCATION 212 TOP TEN
10. Linguistic diversity discussion
9. School House Rock video
8. Informal v. formal English (favorite song)
7. Hidden curriculum
6. Cultural map
5. Discussion on mainstreaming v. putting immigrants in separate classrooms
4. Somalia vacation
3. Learning to say "Good Morning" in ______
2. Getting to know you activity (two lines)
1. THE URBAN IMMERSION
This list was compiled by Jake and I. It really is in the appropriate order.
Today was good because we got a chance to recap on the things we've learned and also discuss what is happening next. Once we started making our top ten list, we realized that we really did a lot of stuff in such a short amount of time. We talked about many key issues dealing with immigration, immigrants in our schools, how to help English Language Learners and what our own back ground is. All of this will be very helpful when we go to the Cities.
10. Linguistic diversity discussion
9. School House Rock video
8. Informal v. formal English (favorite song)
7. Hidden curriculum
6. Cultural map
5. Discussion on mainstreaming v. putting immigrants in separate classrooms
4. Somalia vacation
3. Learning to say "Good Morning" in ______
2. Getting to know you activity (two lines)
1. THE URBAN IMMERSION
This list was compiled by Jake and I. It really is in the appropriate order.
Today was good because we got a chance to recap on the things we've learned and also discuss what is happening next. Once we started making our top ten list, we realized that we really did a lot of stuff in such a short amount of time. We talked about many key issues dealing with immigration, immigrants in our schools, how to help English Language Learners and what our own back ground is. All of this will be very helpful when we go to the Cities.
Saturday, February 2, 2008
Day 6
We found out our placements today! I was starting to have some anxiety about not knowing where I was going or how I would get there, but I of course feel much better about all that now! I will be going to San Miguel Middle School and working in an 8th grade classroom. I get to stay at home and no one is staying with us. Lacey is going to pick me up on her way to school because we have the same placement. The good thing is that it is on the way for her, but we will still have to leave very early in the morning.
San Miguel is different than the middle school that I went to in almost every possible way. San Miguel is tiny, Wayzata was massive. San Miguel is almost completely Hispanic, Wayzata was almost 100% caucasion. San Miguel is private, Wayzata was public. San Miguel is in the city, Wayzata was in the suberbs. All of this will only add to the richness of my experience. Another good thing about my placement is that it is in an 8th grade Language Arts class. I have never worked in a middle school before so this will be very beneficial in deciding what grade I would like to teach. Also, since I will be licensed to teach an 8th grade Language Arts class, I think I should have the experience doing so! This is all so perfect!
San Miguel is different than the middle school that I went to in almost every possible way. San Miguel is tiny, Wayzata was massive. San Miguel is almost completely Hispanic, Wayzata was almost 100% caucasion. San Miguel is private, Wayzata was public. San Miguel is in the city, Wayzata was in the suberbs. All of this will only add to the richness of my experience. Another good thing about my placement is that it is in an 8th grade Language Arts class. I have never worked in a middle school before so this will be very beneficial in deciding what grade I would like to teach. Also, since I will be licensed to teach an 8th grade Language Arts class, I think I should have the experience doing so! This is all so perfect!
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