This month has absolutely FLOWN by!!! I feel like we got back from Easter break just the other day but that was three whole weeks ago! The students have honestly been quite calm and eager to learn the past few weeks. I really think Spring break was exactly what they needed to help them push through the rest of the year! This past week was environment week, and PCPS had a school wide event planned for that Friday. The students knew it happens every year, and they could not wait! The students participate in an entire unit on the environment throughout the week and then on Friday tons of people come to the school to share in different ways. For example, this year, we had a lady bring two snakes from a wildlife shelter, a gardener there to talk about growing fruits and vegetables, a forester to talk about how we need trees in our world, a bee keeper to let the kids try real, fresh honey, and several others. The day was packed with real people who are advocating for our environment, and this made a lasting impact on our students for sure. The lesson I taught was about humans' impact on the environment and I did so through reading and studying the book "The Lorax." I was very impressed with my students because they were able to make the connection between the fictional characters and the "real-life" situation the book represented. I taught two lessons this on taking care of the environment, and I really had to sit down after the first lesson and reflect before I taught the second lesson. The lesson went well as a whole but I have two students who seemed to be "spaced out" for the majority of the lesson. I really had to reflect on my practice as all good teachers do, so that I could be more effective in the way that I chose to engage those two students in particular as we progressed to the next lesson. After watching my video, I found that when I made eye contact with them they seemed to be more engaged, and when i gave them the opportunity to answer or share with the class they were engaged. After my reflection, I decided to make it a point to keep eye contact and be sure to address these two students nearly every time they raised their hands. This was such a powerful reminder of how teachers really must reflect on their practice constantly. In my future classroom, I will be sure to reflect on my practice each day. I know it will be much different because I will not be videoed or graded on my practice necessarily, but I will be able to reflect on my practice by being an active observer of students' work and students' responses to my lessons and activities throughout the day. I have learned that reflection doesn't always have to be when you formally sit down; it is something that should be cycling through a teacher's mind almost constantly. I understand now that one day when I have a class of my own, in my mind everyday, I should never stop asking questions like "What can I do better?" "How can I make this lesson click better?" or "Is their a different way to teach this information that students would receive better?"My research this month consisted mostly of me searching for ways to help a new student we acquired this month. We spent the first two weeks just seeing how she responds to assignments and learning what she can do and how she learns. We have found that after these two weeks of assessing and observing, our new student still reads on an RB level, which is where kindergarteners usually being in the fall. This particular student has been to three schools this year and has taken time off in between moving schools. We have heard from her that she is experiencing some difficult things at home. The standard “create a respectful environment for a diverse population of learners” really took a new meaning in my mind this week. My CE and I are not only taking time to differentiate every activity we do with her, we are also establishing a place where she is safe and can learn how to be a successful branch of our classroom socially. I found a few helpful sites that really hit on many things my CE and I have been struggling to help this particular student with:
http://www.naspcenter.org/factsheets/socialskills_fs.html
https://www.ldatschool.ca/social-skills-training/
http://www.ldonline.org/article/21025/
Over the course of the past five weeks, we have gotten two new students who have come from other schools and one new student from the EC class who practices inclusion for two hours everyday. This really opened my eyes to just how flexible teachers must be! It is crucial that we go with the flow and really have an open mind about whatever may come our way! I now understand that in my future classroom, I must be welcome to all changes, because I never know what may get thrown my way!
Sunday, April 22, 2018
Sunday, March 25, 2018
307 & 435 Blog 3
The past month in my clinical placement really feels like a whirl wind! I have no idea where the time went! It has been so incredible to get to know my CE and other teachers in the school. My largest personal takeaway this month was that you have to leave some things at school or you will drive yourself absolutely insane. I have one student whose situation and at home and whose progress at school really worries my CE and I. However, I have learned that as long as the child has an advocate at home who is doing everything to help him or her, there is nothing more I can do except encourage her in the classroom when she is with me and pray for her when she is not. It will be so difficult to not take home the burdens of all my students when I have my own class one day. There is only so much I can do for students, though. If parents choose to never help with homework or sight words and choose to never read with students or leave them at home with big brother and sister all day, there is nothing I can do but try to fill in some of those gaps when the students are with me. Another strange thing that has happened over the past month is that the students who are constantly poking me or wandering around the room or shouting out during my lesson have become the students who are nearest to my heart now. These particular students have become some of the sweetest, most loving children. They may be a little lazy sometimes and try to talk or hug their way out of work, but there is something in their little hearts that needs nurturing and I can't help but love them!
I have really had the opportunity in the past month to show leadership among my students and also among other teachers in my grade-level. I believe I have gained two things that have allowed me to become confident in my demonstration of leadership. I have gained relationships with the other teachers in my grade-level. They were all very encouraging and helpful from the beginning but I was obviously not viewed as an equal. After many discussions with all the teachers, I know that I am not nearly as qualified as they are, but they have began to respecting me in a way that I feel like I have a valued opinion and useful knowledge. The past month has really proven to me that the students respect me and are thankful for my help in the classroom. It is much easier to lead when you have a relationship with those who you intend to follow. I have become comfortable asking students to do things and stating my opinion on students' work and giving help when needed. I now know my students and I know what they need and how they like to be approached. I suppose the most basic need for a leader to have is the ability build relationships. I believe that in order for a teacher to be competent in the professional teaching standard that states "teachers demonstrate leadership in the classroom" they must be able to build relationships with those they intend to lead.
This month we have planned an Easter Egg Hunt and spring activities day and I can not wait to see how my students respond to that... I am sure they will LOVE it! One of my favorite spring activities we did was an easter egg hunt involving math riddles. I would absolutely use this in my future classroom. The students were all sent out into the hall with me while my CE hid easter eggs all around the room. She counted them and told each student how many he or she could retrieve. Inside each of the Easter Eggs was a slip of paper that had an "I have..." and a "Who has..." that included math riddles. The student with "I have the first egg" would go first and the riddles continued throughout the classroom for almost 30 minutes! The students loved this game and it was a great way to incorporate something they were excited about. One of the best ways to grab students' attention when the holidays or a big break is near is to plan activities that they will be excited about. In order to facilitate learning for a group of students who is absolutely stoked about easter, it would only make sense to rework all your activities for the week so they are based upon something having to do with Easter! In my future classroom, I will be sure to use my creativity to guide my planning when it comes to the events that students are most excited about.
This month, any time my CE needs things hung up in the hallway during her planning, I always volunteer to go out in the hallway and help. There are many other teachers who have planning during the same time who are also working on hanging things out in the halls or are wandering from the kitchen to the classroom or the copier to the classroom. I have had some of the most wonderful conversations while hanging up and taking down posters in the hallway. It has given me the opportunity to meet other teachers in the school who do not eat lunch or have grade-level meetings with my CE. One of my favorite things about teachers is that they always want to give you advice and help you in any way they can... they are teachers! Just in passing, I have gained so much wisdom about handling situations and different resources that are beneficial. I even had one teacher say "I just got some new white boards for the class and I have some that are about five or six years old if you would like them." Goodness, I was happy I decided to hang up posters that day!!!
I still believe that the times I learn the most is when I am in our grade level meetings. Collaboration is such a powerful thing! Sometimes teachers will be at the end of their rope with how to help students and another teacher will chime in and say "Well have you tried..." and there is another opportunity to help the student that the teacher has never thought of before! In my last post, I explained that we have divided all the first graders into groups based upon what they need help with most. They can be in as few or as many groups as needed, and the groups are pulled for help all day on Thursdays. I have really seen the progress in two of my students who struggle with comprehension but not fluency. There is something in their little minds that can read so so well but when they are asked to tell you anything about what they read, there is no connection to the words they just read and the meaning behind those words. This past month, I have really seen that the Thursday tutoring and me pulling them out during SSR has really given them what they needed to grasp the meaning behind the words they have been reading!
The two students I mentioned in the above paragraph who have been struggling with comprehension all year, are the two that I typically pull out to work with in math and in reading. The students can read and count and spout off answers to addition problems that they have memorized with their parents but there is no comprehension of number sentences or language sentences. I made it my goal to break down this barrier for the students. I have found a few articles online that gave me a lot of ideas of how to help these students and a few activities that are beneficial to the students. Here are some of those resources:
RESOURCE
The website above provides seven strategies that are beneficial to readers who struggle with reading comprehension. For the two students that I have been working with, the most effective one for us have been to ask questions while they are reading so that they continue to think about what they are reading. Another thing that I have found to be beneficial to students is to give them the story line worksheet that has boxes where they write down or draw what is happening in the story. I have found that for the two students I am working with, when they doodle a picture for about five seconds rather than writing words, they can tell me everything that happened in the story. Once I found how beneficial this was, I gave students two story line worksheets and allowed them to draw quick sketches in the first worksheet and then write what they drew in the first worksheet on the second. This was a beneficial learning experience because after the students gave me their worksheets and we talked about them, we had a discussion about how we should draw pictures in our brains while we are reading a story. We practiced this skill and it was honestly very difficult for the students but they were able to tell me a few things about what they read by using this process.
My experiences in the classroom this semester have been the most beneficial to my education than any other! Really diving into the classroom and being with the students is the best way to become comfortable in a classroom and confident in leadership skills.
I have really had the opportunity in the past month to show leadership among my students and also among other teachers in my grade-level. I believe I have gained two things that have allowed me to become confident in my demonstration of leadership. I have gained relationships with the other teachers in my grade-level. They were all very encouraging and helpful from the beginning but I was obviously not viewed as an equal. After many discussions with all the teachers, I know that I am not nearly as qualified as they are, but they have began to respecting me in a way that I feel like I have a valued opinion and useful knowledge. The past month has really proven to me that the students respect me and are thankful for my help in the classroom. It is much easier to lead when you have a relationship with those who you intend to follow. I have become comfortable asking students to do things and stating my opinion on students' work and giving help when needed. I now know my students and I know what they need and how they like to be approached. I suppose the most basic need for a leader to have is the ability build relationships. I believe that in order for a teacher to be competent in the professional teaching standard that states "teachers demonstrate leadership in the classroom" they must be able to build relationships with those they intend to lead.
This month we have planned an Easter Egg Hunt and spring activities day and I can not wait to see how my students respond to that... I am sure they will LOVE it! One of my favorite spring activities we did was an easter egg hunt involving math riddles. I would absolutely use this in my future classroom. The students were all sent out into the hall with me while my CE hid easter eggs all around the room. She counted them and told each student how many he or she could retrieve. Inside each of the Easter Eggs was a slip of paper that had an "I have..." and a "Who has..." that included math riddles. The student with "I have the first egg" would go first and the riddles continued throughout the classroom for almost 30 minutes! The students loved this game and it was a great way to incorporate something they were excited about. One of the best ways to grab students' attention when the holidays or a big break is near is to plan activities that they will be excited about. In order to facilitate learning for a group of students who is absolutely stoked about easter, it would only make sense to rework all your activities for the week so they are based upon something having to do with Easter! In my future classroom, I will be sure to use my creativity to guide my planning when it comes to the events that students are most excited about.
This month, any time my CE needs things hung up in the hallway during her planning, I always volunteer to go out in the hallway and help. There are many other teachers who have planning during the same time who are also working on hanging things out in the halls or are wandering from the kitchen to the classroom or the copier to the classroom. I have had some of the most wonderful conversations while hanging up and taking down posters in the hallway. It has given me the opportunity to meet other teachers in the school who do not eat lunch or have grade-level meetings with my CE. One of my favorite things about teachers is that they always want to give you advice and help you in any way they can... they are teachers! Just in passing, I have gained so much wisdom about handling situations and different resources that are beneficial. I even had one teacher say "I just got some new white boards for the class and I have some that are about five or six years old if you would like them." Goodness, I was happy I decided to hang up posters that day!!!
I still believe that the times I learn the most is when I am in our grade level meetings. Collaboration is such a powerful thing! Sometimes teachers will be at the end of their rope with how to help students and another teacher will chime in and say "Well have you tried..." and there is another opportunity to help the student that the teacher has never thought of before! In my last post, I explained that we have divided all the first graders into groups based upon what they need help with most. They can be in as few or as many groups as needed, and the groups are pulled for help all day on Thursdays. I have really seen the progress in two of my students who struggle with comprehension but not fluency. There is something in their little minds that can read so so well but when they are asked to tell you anything about what they read, there is no connection to the words they just read and the meaning behind those words. This past month, I have really seen that the Thursday tutoring and me pulling them out during SSR has really given them what they needed to grasp the meaning behind the words they have been reading!
The two students I mentioned in the above paragraph who have been struggling with comprehension all year, are the two that I typically pull out to work with in math and in reading. The students can read and count and spout off answers to addition problems that they have memorized with their parents but there is no comprehension of number sentences or language sentences. I made it my goal to break down this barrier for the students. I have found a few articles online that gave me a lot of ideas of how to help these students and a few activities that are beneficial to the students. Here are some of those resources:
RESOURCE
The website above provides seven strategies that are beneficial to readers who struggle with reading comprehension. For the two students that I have been working with, the most effective one for us have been to ask questions while they are reading so that they continue to think about what they are reading. Another thing that I have found to be beneficial to students is to give them the story line worksheet that has boxes where they write down or draw what is happening in the story. I have found that for the two students I am working with, when they doodle a picture for about five seconds rather than writing words, they can tell me everything that happened in the story. Once I found how beneficial this was, I gave students two story line worksheets and allowed them to draw quick sketches in the first worksheet and then write what they drew in the first worksheet on the second. This was a beneficial learning experience because after the students gave me their worksheets and we talked about them, we had a discussion about how we should draw pictures in our brains while we are reading a story. We practiced this skill and it was honestly very difficult for the students but they were able to tell me a few things about what they read by using this process.
My experiences in the classroom this semester have been the most beneficial to my education than any other! Really diving into the classroom and being with the students is the best way to become comfortable in a classroom and confident in leadership skills.
Saturday, February 24, 2018
307 & 435 Blog 2
This month in my clinical placement, I learned more than I have probably ever learned throughout my college career. I am realizing now just how blessed we are to have the pre-student teaching semester out in the schools! My favorite part is the relationships I have already been able to create in my classroom and around my school. My school's community is absolutely incredible! I have never seen a group of office staff, janitorial staff, cafeteria staff, and teachers that work so closely with so much collaboration and encouragement. My classroom environment is also one that I have found to be quite unique. My students absolutely adore my CE and TA, and I believe they are beginning to feel the same way about me! My students are constantly presenting me with big smiles, warm hugs, and beautiful drawings. My favorite hug yet, was from one of my first graders. She hugged me and said "Miss Lowman I just love that you always smell like coffee and flowers." I guess that means I have already made an impression on her, even if just on her sense of smell!
This month, I have learned how to manage a classroom, how to win the respect of students, how to help students achieve confidence in their work, how to collaborate with other teachers in my school, how to analyze data from testing and provide support accordingly, and how to encourage so many different kinds of students. This month, I have been fortunate to spend three full days a week with my Clinical Placement and have spend a few Fridays at a middle school observing and even sometimes assisting in the EC inclusion classes there.
There have been several days this semester where my CE has had to abruptly leave the classroom. I have been able to take on literacy lessons, math groups, whole class "carpet time," and guided reading centers in her absence. I will say that the best way to learn is to be thrown in "head first," and that is exactly how it has felt! I have also found that when I am confident in my ability to manage a classroom, the students follow my lead and also have faith in me. The more timid I am and the more I depend on my CE, the less students will see me as a teacher and the less they will respect me. When my CE has had to abruptly leave to take care of things elsewhere, I have had to step into the role of "teacher" very quickly and very confidently. The professional teaching standard "Teachers lead in their classroom" has taken on a whole new meaning to me this month. There have been times when the whole class was looking to me to make decisions of where to "go next" with our day or our lesson. The TA has even looked at me before, when my CE was not in the room, and said "What is our next move?" It was strange to step into leadership over sixteen little bodies and one TA who is great at what she does and has been doing it for 17 years. I was nearly thrown into this role of leadership, but I am so glad that I was. The moments that pushed me out of my comfort zone made that role of leadership become my new comfort zone. I will say that in these situations, I can see how much students respect me as one of their educators. I had no problem at all with the welcoming me with literal open arms into their classroom. I had no problem making them smile, and I had no problem being their friend. The challenge came when I was asked to step into leadership over them and maintain a class environment that was respectful to everyone and conducive to learning. I now have found that when I am confident, set expectations for my students, and show them that there are clear repercussions and rewards for meeting or not meeting those expectations, the students have respect for me as a leader and as an educator. We are moving away from the "Miss Lowman is my friend" mentality to the "Miss Lowman is my teacher" mentality.
As far as encouraging students goes, I have found two students in my classroom who entirely lack confidence in their school work. I have been working with a small group of students that these two students are a part of. I pull them during math journal time(which follows morning work every day), and I guide them through the math journal then do some extra guided practice with them while my CE discusses the journal with the rest of the class. There are two students in this group, who I also pull out during guided reading groups, who completely lack confidence in their school work. I have found that one of them likes to "play dumb" because she is so scared to get the answer wrong. She would much rather say "I dunno" or "Mmmmm (then the shoulder shrug)" than take a shot at possibly getting the answer wrong. It took nearly all month of me encouraging her that it is okay to be wrong and that it is not the end of the world to get a wrong answer. I am not sure what caused this barrier in the students' mind. It could have been a teacher or parent in the past who has scolded the child, or perhaps she is just naturally timid. I believe I made a lasting impression on her last week when we were working on a number line with the terms "greater than" and "less than." We were in the work room across the hall that day, so I had a bit more freedom with the group. I asked her a question directly and she looked down and shrugged. I then said "____ do you think I am going to do this if you get the problem wrong?" Then I (very jokingly and with a grin on my face) stood up and shook the papers and my marker around in the air and said "Ahhhh my goooodness I can't believe you got the answer wrong.... how dare you?!?!" The whole group nearly fell out of their chairs laughing and one student said "Miss Lowman wouldn't ever do that!" From that point on, the students in that group were actually excited to come work with me, whereas they were reluctant the first few days. That particular timid student is still not quick to raise her hand in a whole class setting, but she is confident in her answers in our small group. It really took me being a little silly and being extremely encouraging to get that particular student and several other students to be confident and not be afraid of being wrong. This was an interesting way that I found I had to facilitate learning for that group of students and that one student in particular. I am thankful to have such diverse needs in my CE's classroom this semester, because it will really prepare me for whatever needs I have in my class this fall for student teaching.
One of my favorite things about the first grade at my clinical school is that they meet every Wednesday during planning for grade level collaboration. I have learned so many ways to delegate tasks and use coworkers' strengths. Another reason I believe my school's community is so strong is because they collaborate often and delegate tasks based on teachers' strengths. Every teacher has things they are good at. For example, we planned an olympics day rotation for last Friday. One station, we designed our own skates - they were to be pretty and functional (we gave the "artsy" and inventive teacher this station. Another station involved relays that mimic the olympic games - we gave the teacher who has the highest energy this station so she can motivate the students and make it fun. We also had a cookie creation station where students learned about what the olympic rings mean and decorated cookies accordingly - we gave this station to the teachers who enjoy baking. Our final station involved students creating their own athletic event - naturally, the most athletic and sports-loving teacher got this station. Every teacher has strengths and every teacher has areas where they are not the strongest. I believe that an important idea to grasp during collaboration is that not every teacher will thrive in every area, but every teacher does have something beneficial to bring to the table.
During a Wednesday grade level meeting this month, we discussed test scores from the MOY testing, we planned for groups to be pulled based upon the areas they performed the lowest in. I am not sure exactly how, but our grade level ended up with extra funding and we chose to hire a tutor to come once a week and pull students every day. We worked all through one Wednesday meeting deciding what the focuses of each group pulled needed to be. We decided that some students may need to be pulled more than once in a day in order to receive all the help they need. The only negative part of only getting a tutor once a week is that the students who need to be challenged more will not be pulled. There is not enough time to pull every student, and we decided to pull only the ones who need extra support.
The most beneficial learning experience I had this month as far as course work goes was the Leadership and Collaboration project. I also simply enjoyed it because I loved seeing the statistics of my county and my school. It really gave me an idea of what advantages I can see in the county and what disadvantages students may be facing. After discussing the information I gathered with the teachers of my grade level, I learned even more about the demographics of our school district. Quite a bit of the information I gathered, though it was only gathered about a year ago, was out of date. The information regarding students who are facing economic disadvantage shocked me. However, the other first grade teachers informed me that those percentages were actually low in comparison to this year's statistics.
This month, I have been researching ways to keep ADHD students on task and focused. I have one student in my classroom who is a challenge for my CE and I daily. She struggles with her ADHD in class and also has many behavior issues that cause disruptions during lessons and tasks. I have been researching methods of motivation to keep her focused and behaving well. One tactic that I have found to be beneficial to this student is to always have something for her to do. Most of my students are content to finish their work early and then grab a book and read silently. However this student does not respond well to that. She only is content when she constantly is told what to do. The only way I can keep her focused all the time and keep her on task is to always have something to do laying in front of her and to constantly give her reminders to focus and work. If she is given any free time or "self time" as we call it, she can not handle herself and finds a way to get herself into trouble. I have tried to use the sticker chart method with rewards at the end of the week, but she was not receptive of that kind of encouragement. We then discussed with her that since she has such a hard time focusing, if she could "clip up" to blue, she would receive a prize from the prize box. Most students receive a prize when they clip so far up that the teacher has to wear a clip, but we gave this particular student the opportunity to get a prize when she was on the clip below that. We encouraged her with this throughout the week and reminded her that she would be happy if she got to clip up all the way to blue! However, this intervention was also ineffective. Our goal now is to find something she is very passionate about and use that for encouragement somehow!
This month, I have learned how to manage a classroom, how to win the respect of students, how to help students achieve confidence in their work, how to collaborate with other teachers in my school, how to analyze data from testing and provide support accordingly, and how to encourage so many different kinds of students. This month, I have been fortunate to spend three full days a week with my Clinical Placement and have spend a few Fridays at a middle school observing and even sometimes assisting in the EC inclusion classes there.
There have been several days this semester where my CE has had to abruptly leave the classroom. I have been able to take on literacy lessons, math groups, whole class "carpet time," and guided reading centers in her absence. I will say that the best way to learn is to be thrown in "head first," and that is exactly how it has felt! I have also found that when I am confident in my ability to manage a classroom, the students follow my lead and also have faith in me. The more timid I am and the more I depend on my CE, the less students will see me as a teacher and the less they will respect me. When my CE has had to abruptly leave to take care of things elsewhere, I have had to step into the role of "teacher" very quickly and very confidently. The professional teaching standard "Teachers lead in their classroom" has taken on a whole new meaning to me this month. There have been times when the whole class was looking to me to make decisions of where to "go next" with our day or our lesson. The TA has even looked at me before, when my CE was not in the room, and said "What is our next move?" It was strange to step into leadership over sixteen little bodies and one TA who is great at what she does and has been doing it for 17 years. I was nearly thrown into this role of leadership, but I am so glad that I was. The moments that pushed me out of my comfort zone made that role of leadership become my new comfort zone. I will say that in these situations, I can see how much students respect me as one of their educators. I had no problem at all with the welcoming me with literal open arms into their classroom. I had no problem making them smile, and I had no problem being their friend. The challenge came when I was asked to step into leadership over them and maintain a class environment that was respectful to everyone and conducive to learning. I now have found that when I am confident, set expectations for my students, and show them that there are clear repercussions and rewards for meeting or not meeting those expectations, the students have respect for me as a leader and as an educator. We are moving away from the "Miss Lowman is my friend" mentality to the "Miss Lowman is my teacher" mentality.
As far as encouraging students goes, I have found two students in my classroom who entirely lack confidence in their school work. I have been working with a small group of students that these two students are a part of. I pull them during math journal time(which follows morning work every day), and I guide them through the math journal then do some extra guided practice with them while my CE discusses the journal with the rest of the class. There are two students in this group, who I also pull out during guided reading groups, who completely lack confidence in their school work. I have found that one of them likes to "play dumb" because she is so scared to get the answer wrong. She would much rather say "I dunno" or "Mmmmm (then the shoulder shrug)" than take a shot at possibly getting the answer wrong. It took nearly all month of me encouraging her that it is okay to be wrong and that it is not the end of the world to get a wrong answer. I am not sure what caused this barrier in the students' mind. It could have been a teacher or parent in the past who has scolded the child, or perhaps she is just naturally timid. I believe I made a lasting impression on her last week when we were working on a number line with the terms "greater than" and "less than." We were in the work room across the hall that day, so I had a bit more freedom with the group. I asked her a question directly and she looked down and shrugged. I then said "____ do you think I am going to do this if you get the problem wrong?" Then I (very jokingly and with a grin on my face) stood up and shook the papers and my marker around in the air and said "Ahhhh my goooodness I can't believe you got the answer wrong.... how dare you?!?!" The whole group nearly fell out of their chairs laughing and one student said "Miss Lowman wouldn't ever do that!" From that point on, the students in that group were actually excited to come work with me, whereas they were reluctant the first few days. That particular timid student is still not quick to raise her hand in a whole class setting, but she is confident in her answers in our small group. It really took me being a little silly and being extremely encouraging to get that particular student and several other students to be confident and not be afraid of being wrong. This was an interesting way that I found I had to facilitate learning for that group of students and that one student in particular. I am thankful to have such diverse needs in my CE's classroom this semester, because it will really prepare me for whatever needs I have in my class this fall for student teaching.
One of my favorite things about the first grade at my clinical school is that they meet every Wednesday during planning for grade level collaboration. I have learned so many ways to delegate tasks and use coworkers' strengths. Another reason I believe my school's community is so strong is because they collaborate often and delegate tasks based on teachers' strengths. Every teacher has things they are good at. For example, we planned an olympics day rotation for last Friday. One station, we designed our own skates - they were to be pretty and functional (we gave the "artsy" and inventive teacher this station. Another station involved relays that mimic the olympic games - we gave the teacher who has the highest energy this station so she can motivate the students and make it fun. We also had a cookie creation station where students learned about what the olympic rings mean and decorated cookies accordingly - we gave this station to the teachers who enjoy baking. Our final station involved students creating their own athletic event - naturally, the most athletic and sports-loving teacher got this station. Every teacher has strengths and every teacher has areas where they are not the strongest. I believe that an important idea to grasp during collaboration is that not every teacher will thrive in every area, but every teacher does have something beneficial to bring to the table.
During a Wednesday grade level meeting this month, we discussed test scores from the MOY testing, we planned for groups to be pulled based upon the areas they performed the lowest in. I am not sure exactly how, but our grade level ended up with extra funding and we chose to hire a tutor to come once a week and pull students every day. We worked all through one Wednesday meeting deciding what the focuses of each group pulled needed to be. We decided that some students may need to be pulled more than once in a day in order to receive all the help they need. The only negative part of only getting a tutor once a week is that the students who need to be challenged more will not be pulled. There is not enough time to pull every student, and we decided to pull only the ones who need extra support.
The most beneficial learning experience I had this month as far as course work goes was the Leadership and Collaboration project. I also simply enjoyed it because I loved seeing the statistics of my county and my school. It really gave me an idea of what advantages I can see in the county and what disadvantages students may be facing. After discussing the information I gathered with the teachers of my grade level, I learned even more about the demographics of our school district. Quite a bit of the information I gathered, though it was only gathered about a year ago, was out of date. The information regarding students who are facing economic disadvantage shocked me. However, the other first grade teachers informed me that those percentages were actually low in comparison to this year's statistics.
This month, I have been researching ways to keep ADHD students on task and focused. I have one student in my classroom who is a challenge for my CE and I daily. She struggles with her ADHD in class and also has many behavior issues that cause disruptions during lessons and tasks. I have been researching methods of motivation to keep her focused and behaving well. One tactic that I have found to be beneficial to this student is to always have something for her to do. Most of my students are content to finish their work early and then grab a book and read silently. However this student does not respond well to that. She only is content when she constantly is told what to do. The only way I can keep her focused all the time and keep her on task is to always have something to do laying in front of her and to constantly give her reminders to focus and work. If she is given any free time or "self time" as we call it, she can not handle herself and finds a way to get herself into trouble. I have tried to use the sticker chart method with rewards at the end of the week, but she was not receptive of that kind of encouragement. We then discussed with her that since she has such a hard time focusing, if she could "clip up" to blue, she would receive a prize from the prize box. Most students receive a prize when they clip so far up that the teacher has to wear a clip, but we gave this particular student the opportunity to get a prize when she was on the clip below that. We encouraged her with this throughout the week and reminded her that she would be happy if she got to clip up all the way to blue! However, this intervention was also ineffective. Our goal now is to find something she is very passionate about and use that for encouragement somehow!
Thursday, February 1, 2018
307 & 435 - Blog 1
This month, I have had the opportunity to be in my clinical placement for two weeks. I am SO excited and thankful to say that I absolutely LOVE my clinical placement! I know that I have so very much to learn from my clinical educator(CE). She has been extremely welcoming, and after just two weeks in her class, I feel like I have already learned so much! The thing that I have learned most through being in her classroom thus far is how she manages things. One learning experience we have already completed in EDUC 435 this semester about classroom management really pushed me to get to know the management practices in my CE's classroom. I have learned various tactics to managing a classroom. Another awesome part about being an extra hand in the first grade, is that I am occasionally asked to help other teachers. This has given me the opportunity to see other classrooms and learn how those teachers manage their students. I have gained so much knowledge about classroom and school management just from being in the schools the past two weeks!
I have been completing some outside research to assist me with my PDP for SSED 307. I have one student in my classroom who struggles with ADHD and is currently unmedicated. She has really made keeping the classroom environment focused quite a challenge lately. I have spoken with my CE about constructing a behavior plan to motivate her to be more focused and aware of what is happening in the classroom. So far, my research has consisted of speaking with two elementary teachers from two counties near my house. I have gotten information about how these teachers have dealt with students who have ADD or ADHD in their classrooms. I plan to continue finding web sources with more information, but these teachers who have actually dealt with the students were a wealth of knowledge!
In my clinical placement, I have found that my CE is an amazing facilitator of learning. She is very good at paying attention to each of the students' needs at any moment of the day. I have been fortunate to see my CE facilitating a learning environment that is productive for all students. There are times when it is challenging for her because each student is so different and some students struggle with various needs. I have seen various ways to reach students who are struggling readers or have an attention deficits. There are small classroom management tactics that my CE uses that keep all students involved and working hard. One tactic is that she walks around the room during work and assists students as needed, whether that is through helping them focus or helping them with math or reading. My CE is an active participant in her students' learning and I believe that is one of the best ways to facilitate learning.
In my future classroom, I plan to use many of the tactics I have learned thus far in my clinical experiences. My favorite things I have learned have to do with classroom management and facilitating learning. I believe these are two "superpowers" my CE has mastered. My two favorite classroom management tactics that I have observed thus far are:
1. The clipping System: students are able to "clip up" or "clip down" throughout the day. My favorite part about this system is that students can have an awful morning and still work their way back up to the "green zone" by the end of the day. Each night, parents must sign planners and students are to write what zone they are in in the planners. This motivates many students because this method of tracking behavior is a steady line of communication with parents.
I have been completing some outside research to assist me with my PDP for SSED 307. I have one student in my classroom who struggles with ADHD and is currently unmedicated. She has really made keeping the classroom environment focused quite a challenge lately. I have spoken with my CE about constructing a behavior plan to motivate her to be more focused and aware of what is happening in the classroom. So far, my research has consisted of speaking with two elementary teachers from two counties near my house. I have gotten information about how these teachers have dealt with students who have ADD or ADHD in their classrooms. I plan to continue finding web sources with more information, but these teachers who have actually dealt with the students were a wealth of knowledge!
In my clinical placement, I have found that my CE is an amazing facilitator of learning. She is very good at paying attention to each of the students' needs at any moment of the day. I have been fortunate to see my CE facilitating a learning environment that is productive for all students. There are times when it is challenging for her because each student is so different and some students struggle with various needs. I have seen various ways to reach students who are struggling readers or have an attention deficits. There are small classroom management tactics that my CE uses that keep all students involved and working hard. One tactic is that she walks around the room during work and assists students as needed, whether that is through helping them focus or helping them with math or reading. My CE is an active participant in her students' learning and I believe that is one of the best ways to facilitate learning.
In my future classroom, I plan to use many of the tactics I have learned thus far in my clinical experiences. My favorite things I have learned have to do with classroom management and facilitating learning. I believe these are two "superpowers" my CE has mastered. My two favorite classroom management tactics that I have observed thus far are:
1. The clipping System: students are able to "clip up" or "clip down" throughout the day. My favorite part about this system is that students can have an awful morning and still work their way back up to the "green zone" by the end of the day. Each night, parents must sign planners and students are to write what zone they are in in the planners. This motivates many students because this method of tracking behavior is a steady line of communication with parents.
2. The bookshelves: All the students' text books and supplies are kept on the shelves that are located near their groups (students' desks are divided into groups of four). These bookshelves give students a place to keep all their text books, journals, and other supplies. This is a wonderful classroom management tool because it keeps students' desks so much more organized. They also do not have the option to have out books and journals that they should not. The books that are kept on the shelves are also in wonderful shape because they have never been beat about inside a desk. Students are aware of the procedures that must take place in order for them to get their supplies between transitions.
In my future classroom, I would absolutely implement some systems either similar to or just like these!
Thursday, October 19, 2017
SCED Week 9
This week, we began a hands on activity for our Water Cycle project, and that definitely is what I am most proud of and also most excited about! I believe my group has really found a way to show students the variety of "life cycles" each water droplet can take as it makes its way through the water cycle! While this is the part of my week that I am most proud of, it was also the largest struggle, because there was only one standard we could find that actually described the water cycle. The other standards in other grade levels could have been "made" to fit into the water cycle but they didn't really fit what we were going for. For this reason, we had to do a good bit of remaking our learning experience so it would fit a fifth grader rather than a first grader.
In this upcoming week, I would LOVE to really get a handle on my unit and decide exactly what direction my thoughts are going for that. Once I can somewhat get my thoughts all out on paper, I would like to meet with Dr. Parker to see if all my thoughts are cohesive and working together in a way that would form a good unit.
This week, for our water cycle project I helped our group by being the "recorder" and kind of organizing all of our thoughts on paper. I have recently found that organizing thoughts, making charts, making general plans, and making sense of ideas is one of my strong suites, so I hope that I was able to help my water cycle project team in that this week!
In looking for ideas for our water cycle project this week, I actually found a website with several awesome ideas of how to show examples of the water cycle to our students. For example, the link: http://www.designeroptics.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=KSAngelisa_0S14_00_5115&gdffi=84d82f60f8c144ebb1fb886cd109bdaf&gdfms=FF922E6E98FA405EB76DAECD5AC970B8&gclid=Cj0KEQiA9ZXBBRC29cPdu7yuvrQBEiQAhyQZ9Ni0HDLkM6iQmaewXUydN1LKKWNXNw1qSPk8Lc4UanIaAhCA8P8HAQ has an awesome way to create your own "cloud" and show students that the water droplets actually do rise to form a "cloud," and then the cloud eventually rains back down to the "body of water." This website contains tons of examples of how to show students the water cycle really does happen!
Something I found very interesting in the science world, is the fact that scientists may have come up with a way to use terahertz rather than x-rays for nearly the same purpose. The wonderful thing about this discovery is that the terahertz are able to pass through objects much like x-rays without leaving harmful effects there for years to come. This could be a future alternative to the well know x-ray machine! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170928142103.htm
The tweet above shows the effect of how we teach our students on their ability to get jobs. This article revealed to us that an early emphasis on STEM gets students into the right mode of thinking. This kick starts their learning for life and can have a direct impact on the jobs they are able to get in the future!
In this upcoming week, I would LOVE to really get a handle on my unit and decide exactly what direction my thoughts are going for that. Once I can somewhat get my thoughts all out on paper, I would like to meet with Dr. Parker to see if all my thoughts are cohesive and working together in a way that would form a good unit.
This week, for our water cycle project I helped our group by being the "recorder" and kind of organizing all of our thoughts on paper. I have recently found that organizing thoughts, making charts, making general plans, and making sense of ideas is one of my strong suites, so I hope that I was able to help my water cycle project team in that this week!
In looking for ideas for our water cycle project this week, I actually found a website with several awesome ideas of how to show examples of the water cycle to our students. For example, the link: http://www.designeroptics.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=KSAngelisa_0S14_00_5115&gdffi=84d82f60f8c144ebb1fb886cd109bdaf&gdfms=FF922E6E98FA405EB76DAECD5AC970B8&gclid=Cj0KEQiA9ZXBBRC29cPdu7yuvrQBEiQAhyQZ9Ni0HDLkM6iQmaewXUydN1LKKWNXNw1qSPk8Lc4UanIaAhCA8P8HAQ has an awesome way to create your own "cloud" and show students that the water droplets actually do rise to form a "cloud," and then the cloud eventually rains back down to the "body of water." This website contains tons of examples of how to show students the water cycle really does happen!
Something I found very interesting in the science world, is the fact that scientists may have come up with a way to use terahertz rather than x-rays for nearly the same purpose. The wonderful thing about this discovery is that the terahertz are able to pass through objects much like x-rays without leaving harmful effects there for years to come. This could be a future alternative to the well know x-ray machine! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170928142103.htm
This tweet really stuck out to me this week because it shows how we are really suppose to get our kinds thinking. Rather than seeing science as a sequential pattern that goes in the same order every single time, science is always happening, always changing, and sometimes never repeats the same pattern. This example is of the transfer of energy but another example that is relevant to our current study is the water cycle. Each droplet has its own journey that has no definite sequence to follow.
This tweet stuck out to me because it it something that I have never even heard of before. I have heard of formative assessment but never with the culture aspect involved. After reading about it, I learned that the key points of it are first to learn how to promote equity and social justice as the focal point of NGSS implementation work by focusing on learning and teaching as an inherently cultural process. Then, we must develop a shared understanding of how cultural formative assessment can reveal the interests, experiences, and identities of students.
Thursday, September 28, 2017
SCED Week Six
This week, we began a hands on activity for our Water Cycle project, and that definitely is what I am most proud of and also most excited about! I believe my group has really found a way to show students the variety of "life cycles" each water droplet can take as it makes its way through the water cycle! While this is the part of my week that I am most proud of, it was also the largest struggle, because there was only one standard we could find that actually described the water cycle. The other standards in other grade levels could have been "made" to fit into the water cycle but they didn't really fit what we were going for. For this reason, we had to do a good bit of remaking our learning experience so it would fit a fifth grader rather than a first grader.
In this upcoming week, I would LOVE to really get a handle on my unit and decide exactly what direction my thoughts are going for that. Once I can somewhat get my thoughts all out on paper, I would like to meet with Dr. Parker to see if all my thoughts are cohesive and working together in a way that would form a good unit.
This week, for our water cycle project I helped our group by being the "recorder" and kind of organizing all of our thoughts on paper. I have recently found that organizing thoughts, making charts, making general plans, and making sense of ideas is one of my strong suites, so I hope that I was able to help my water cycle project team in that this week!
In looking for ideas for our water cycle project this week, I actually found a website with several awesome ideas of how to show examples of the water cycle to our students. For example, the link: http://www.designeroptics.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=KSAngelisa_0S14_00_5115&gdffi=84d82f60f8c144ebb1fb886cd109bdaf&gdfms=FF922E6E98FA405EB76DAECD5AC970B8&gclid=Cj0KEQiA9ZXBBRC29cPdu7yuvrQBEiQAhyQZ9Ni0HDLkM6iQmaewXUydN1LKKWNXNw1qSPk8Lc4UanIaAhCA8P8HAQ has an awesome way to create your own "cloud" and show students that the water droplets actually do rise to form a "cloud," and then the cloud eventually rains back down to the "body of water." This website contains tons of examples of how to show students the water cycle really does happen!
Something I found very interesting in the science world, is the fact that scientists may have come up with a way to use terahertz rather than x-rays for nearly the same purpose. The wonderful thing about this discovery is that the terahertz are able to pass through objects much like x-rays without leaving harmful effects there for years to come. This could be a future alternative to the well know x-ray machine! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170928142103.htm
The tweet above shows the effect of how we teach our students on their ability to get jobs. This article revealed to us that an early emphasis on STEM gets students into the right mode of thinking. This kick starts their learning for life and can have a direct impact on the jobs they are able to get in the future!
In this upcoming week, I would LOVE to really get a handle on my unit and decide exactly what direction my thoughts are going for that. Once I can somewhat get my thoughts all out on paper, I would like to meet with Dr. Parker to see if all my thoughts are cohesive and working together in a way that would form a good unit.
This week, for our water cycle project I helped our group by being the "recorder" and kind of organizing all of our thoughts on paper. I have recently found that organizing thoughts, making charts, making general plans, and making sense of ideas is one of my strong suites, so I hope that I was able to help my water cycle project team in that this week!
In looking for ideas for our water cycle project this week, I actually found a website with several awesome ideas of how to show examples of the water cycle to our students. For example, the link: http://www.designeroptics.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=KSAngelisa_0S14_00_5115&gdffi=84d82f60f8c144ebb1fb886cd109bdaf&gdfms=FF922E6E98FA405EB76DAECD5AC970B8&gclid=Cj0KEQiA9ZXBBRC29cPdu7yuvrQBEiQAhyQZ9Ni0HDLkM6iQmaewXUydN1LKKWNXNw1qSPk8Lc4UanIaAhCA8P8HAQ has an awesome way to create your own "cloud" and show students that the water droplets actually do rise to form a "cloud," and then the cloud eventually rains back down to the "body of water." This website contains tons of examples of how to show students the water cycle really does happen!
Something I found very interesting in the science world, is the fact that scientists may have come up with a way to use terahertz rather than x-rays for nearly the same purpose. The wonderful thing about this discovery is that the terahertz are able to pass through objects much like x-rays without leaving harmful effects there for years to come. This could be a future alternative to the well know x-ray machine! https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/09/170928142103.htm
This tweet really stuck out to me this week because it shows how we are really suppose to get our kinds thinking. Rather than seeing science as a sequential pattern that goes in the same order every single time, science is always happening, always changing, and sometimes never repeats the same pattern. This example is of the transfer of energy but another example that is relevant to our current study is the water cycle. Each droplet has its own journey that has no definite sequence to follow.
Gabrielle's tweet gives a little insight on what we were doing in class today! We were given the materials to make a basic parachute and then alter the parachute to see if it would fall to the ground at a different rate. Our group had some great ideas of how to create the different styles of parachutes and they all had varying fall times. This is absolutely an experience that would show students a perfect example of air resistance.
Thursday, September 21, 2017
SCED Week Five
This week, I would have to say that I am most proud of how smoothly our attempt at the Science Fair project went. Though we did have to change a few things around, the actual process of melting the objects was rather simple. The main thing that we learned through this process was that often times the process of an experiment has to be retried and altered before it can give us the best results.
This week I encountered the most struggle with my unit plan. It seemed like I would get a few words out but not like them and have to start all over. The part that I was really having the most trouble with was the EU's. However, today in class Dr. Parker compared them to generalizations and explained that they are basically the same thing. This also helped me with the EQ's, of course, because they are tied so closely to the EU's. I think that now that I have at least somewhat of a grasp on these and the Conceptual Lens, I should be able to get a move on my unit!
The aspect of my thinking that I am most satisfied this week is that I was actually enjoying exploring teacher pages on twitter and finding the articles related to education more interesting and more fun to read than any of the other things on twitter. I have found myself clicking on articles just cause and really enjoying this form of "research." It's almost like I actually am beginning to think like a teacher!
Over the next week, I hope to get the direction of my Unit exactly pinned down. It is really time to move past the backspace and rewrite stage and move into the building off what I already have stage.
This week I tried to be a little more on top of tweeting things that I found to be beneficial to my classmates and wrote rather specifically above each retweet how that would be helpful. I believe that using networking and social media is so important for me and my colleagues and I would love to see us improve in that area!
This week for my outside research, I found PDFs that contain examples of essential questions, and they are really helping me get my thoughts in order in regards to my unit plan. They are http://pcs4thgrade.pbworks.com/f/EssentialQuestions.pdf and http://sbo.nn.k12.va.us/science/enduring_understanding.pdf
One of the most influential tweets I found this week was this one:
because it really shows the difference in how we used to ask our students to think and science class and how we like for them to think now! This link takes us to an article that gives an in depth view of how we are able to take students' minds and shape them into thinking critically and scientifically.
Another great tweet I saw was:
This tweet was brought along because apparently it was talk like a pirate day! However, what the people did in this tweet was rather remarkable and quite creative. They made some wonderful analogies to how our classroom should be run much like a pirate ship.
The final most influential tweet was:
On my last note, I would just like to mention how shocked I am that so many students have no idea what science even is!!! I am just now having my eyes open to how very evident it is that science is a part of everything and everyone!
This week I encountered the most struggle with my unit plan. It seemed like I would get a few words out but not like them and have to start all over. The part that I was really having the most trouble with was the EU's. However, today in class Dr. Parker compared them to generalizations and explained that they are basically the same thing. This also helped me with the EQ's, of course, because they are tied so closely to the EU's. I think that now that I have at least somewhat of a grasp on these and the Conceptual Lens, I should be able to get a move on my unit!
The aspect of my thinking that I am most satisfied this week is that I was actually enjoying exploring teacher pages on twitter and finding the articles related to education more interesting and more fun to read than any of the other things on twitter. I have found myself clicking on articles just cause and really enjoying this form of "research." It's almost like I actually am beginning to think like a teacher!
Over the next week, I hope to get the direction of my Unit exactly pinned down. It is really time to move past the backspace and rewrite stage and move into the building off what I already have stage.
This week I tried to be a little more on top of tweeting things that I found to be beneficial to my classmates and wrote rather specifically above each retweet how that would be helpful. I believe that using networking and social media is so important for me and my colleagues and I would love to see us improve in that area!
This week for my outside research, I found PDFs that contain examples of essential questions, and they are really helping me get my thoughts in order in regards to my unit plan. They are http://pcs4thgrade.pbworks.com/f/EssentialQuestions.pdf and http://sbo.nn.k12.va.us/science/enduring_understanding.pdf
One of the most influential tweets I found this week was this one:
Another great tweet I saw was:
The final most influential tweet was:
As I said on twitter, we were literately just discussing the topic of this tweet earlier this morning. We were discussing how we may find wonderful materials that give us the best ideas for learning experiences or just for different ways to teach, but unless we can align them very well with the standards for the grades we are teaching, they are essentially useless.
This week, I have personally really felt like we have been drilling on the fact that "Teachers know the content they teach" because I have learned a lot this week about the water cycle and even last week about hurricanes that I would have never known before. This standard also goes on to say that teachers make learning relevant to their students. How can we make learning relevant? We make it apply to them as individuals in their lives. We have discussed this over and over again in class this week. We must make the students want to care about learning something by making it relevant to them!
One very interesting and health related aspect of science that I found myself looking into this week was how important it is for us to get exercise. An article claiming that 1 in 12 lives could be saved with just a little physical activity. The article can be found at
https://www.livescience.com/60490-physical-activity-prevent-deaths.htmlOn my last note, I would just like to mention how shocked I am that so many students have no idea what science even is!!! I am just now having my eyes open to how very evident it is that science is a part of everything and everyone!
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