Reflection #27

My second to last week at SLE. This week was bitter sweet. I enjoy the time that I have with the students however each day I realize it is slowly coming to a close. As of now I just have to think of the times I have left with the students and enjoy it.

Credit to @Roselyn Vazquez

As I walk in on the first day the students all tell me that I only have SIX day left with them!! They are counting my days too! Ms. C told me that they counted yesterday and everyone was very upset that I would be leaving. Other then that little incident the morning went as normal. After the students put their backpacks away and get a chair they begin on the morning warm up. The warm ups are still engaging the students imagination. I have noticed that the students who struggled with this previously are now getting the hang of it and can use their imagination to come up with stories. The students have also really improved with adding details to their stories. They used to only write about 1-2 sentences and now they are writing 4 or more. Another thing they have improved greatly at is spelling. I am impressed at all the improvements that I see all around the classroom in each individual student. After morning warm up is done and checked they moved on to reading their chapter book, "The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary" The fable of the day was "Mercury and the Woodsman" the moral was "honesty is the best policy". After reading both the fable and a chapter from the book Ms. C transitioned to working on poems. She passed out their poem books and began telling the class what poem they would be working on. Diamante. Some kids knew what it was others didn't. She wrote down the rules and examples of a diamante poem. Next the students would try it on their own.

The next day was similar to the first. The only difference was that we worked on our poems first then we read about the fable. After the morning work was finished and checked Ms. C explained what we would be doing today. The class was still sitting on the carpet so that made it a little easier to talk to them and pas things out. Ms. C told the class that everyone would be getting ONE piece of paper. On that paper they would be writing their diamante poem that they wrote yesterday. After they copied it down 2 classmates had to check it for spelling, after 2 classmates checked it Ms. C or myself had to check it one more time for spelling. Once it was 100% perfect they could draw on it and color it how ever they wanted. The students had freedom to do what ever they wanted to do with this paper. Everyone was working so hard on their poems I was very proud! We worked on the poems for about an hour then we had to move on. Next the class read the fable and a chapter from the chapter book.

On the last day I was in the class the students were working on an essay. I had never seen them work on something like this before so this was new to me. The class had began this yesterday and continued it today. The essay was about why it is important to learn about culture. Ms. C choose three stories that they had read before, next they had to decide on a topic for each of the stories. For example. The story Jalapeno Bagels, the topic would be food. The had to pick a topic for all three stories. The great thing that I saw was that all the students made a graphic organizer. The had the three stories at the top, and underneath they had their topic, and four bullet points with evidence from the stories. The class worked on their essays for about an hour an a half. Ms. C called everyone to the carpet and called a few names for people to share their essays. Some people were just starting others were almost ready for a final copy. I was proud of all the work and effort they had put into their essays.

Reflection #26

On the first day I was in the classroom this week, was a great day. The students behavior on this day was amazing. As I entered the classroom I noticed the students good behavior. They were getting their chairs, putting backpacks away, and starting on their morning work. In the past few mornings Ms. C has had to remind students what to do in the morning. Or she has had to interfere with students arguments. On this day there was no feuding or disputes between students. The morning activity was for the students to write a paragraph explaining, if they were an animal what animal would they be and what would they do? On students came up with that they would be a 'Blue Fla-Jay' (A mix between a flamingo and a blue jay). Another student said she would be a Foxtapus (a fox and octopus). The things they come up with is so interesting and seeing students use their imagination and having fun in school really warms my heart. After they finished with morning work they worked on poems. Today's poem was a haiku. The class struggled with this kind of poem at first but after Ms. C explained it well and showed many exampled the class got it. They wrote their poems in the Poem Book. I was very impressed with how well they wrote their poems.

On the second day Ms. C was out. There was a substitute filling in for her on this day. The sub was Ms. E. Ms. E was really nice and worked well with the students but she was very slow. At times I wanted to take over! But I realized I just had to deal with it and let it be. In the morning things continued as somewhat normal. A few things were different of course, it took the class forever to settle down and get ready for class. There was also a lot of arguments among the students. After things settled down the students began their morning warm up. Ms. E was going to move on to the next activity (when normally they review the warm ups) so of course, everyone yelled out at once. She settled the class down and K told he they normally review the morning work, so she id and THEN moved on. The next activity was a reading packet. They did the first one together and the next one on their own. By that time it was almost time for FAIR testing. Ms. E explained to the class what they would be doing and where they would be going. Then the class went to the computer lab. FAIR test are always a big hassle for us, test don't log in, head phones don't work etc. Today it was the head phones issue. At least 4 students couldn't take their test because of headphone issues.

Credit to Amazon

The last day I was in the classroom was pretty average. Ms. C was back so that was nice. Like always the class began the same. Bathroom, drinks, pencils, filers, FASST Math, and morning warm up. Once everyone was finished with the morning warm up Ms. C called them all to the carpet, she reviewed themorning work and then sent the people who didnt finish FAIR testing to finsih it. The just worked on the computers in the classroom. As they worked on it the class read poems from 'A Light In The Attiic' Once all the students finished with the test Ms. C began on with poems. The poem for that day was a limerick. When Ms. C read the definition of a limerick the students looked at her as if she was crazy. It took them a couple minutes to understand it. The had to reread the definition and read MANY examples before they really understood. The students really love learning and writing poems. I think that is another great thing that helps with their imagination.

Reflection #25

Credit to OffBeatBride

The first day I was in SLE was normal. I was a very average morning. The students got in to the classroom and unpacked their backpacks. Then they went to their desk and got a chair.There was no morning work for the students to do so they just sat at their desk and waited for Ms. C to begin class. Ms. C called the students to the carpet. Ms. C has a 'cup' that she fills with different things (paper clips, beans etc) and each month the students try to guess the amount that is in the cup. If the guess the closest then they win a gift card. This month there were beans in the cup. With the class on the carpet she began counting the beans. There were over 400 beans!! Next we looked at the guesses that people had put in. The highest bid was  only 240.  After she finished with that she told the students what centers they would be doing and let them do get started with it.

 The second day was a little more interesting.The students came in the students came in the classroom like normal and put their backpacks away. They then saw if their was a morning warm up to do and began working on it. The warm ups this week weren't very hard they just required the students to think and use their imagination. The students had to write a short story/paragraph. The prompt on the first day was "If you were an alien, what would you look like and what would you do?" Some students did really well with this assignment, they have a great imagination and can write up an entire story off the top of their heads. K wrote almost an entire page and wanted to write more!! Other students had a really hard time with this activity. They just didn't know what to write without being told exactly what to do. I seems like kids are losing their imagination, they cant think for themselves. Students have a easier time with expository or persuasive papers then narrative. Kids should be able to come up with a story and they cant, I think that is sad and needs to change. Doing activities like this could help expand students imagination.

The third day was a pretty abnormal day. First they started with the morning warm up. It was another prompt. For this one they had to choose two animals create a conversation between the two animals. Again most students did really well with this. However some students really struggled with it. K tried for a bit, but he just would not even write anything down, maybe he didn't understand it or maybe he just could think of anything. I tried to help him but even after my help he still had nothing written down. After morning work and since it is a new month the students do their 'monthly cleaning' they take everything out of their desk and organize it. They also clean the tops of it with a disinfectant napkin. The class also gets new seats on the carpet and in the desk. The class had spelt out COURAGE from last month so they would get a reward this month. The reward they got was 'free time' for 30 mins. Ms. C gave the class popcorn, pencils and let them play games, arts and crafts or just relax. She played music and just let the kids play and relax. It was a nice time and very nice to see the students out of their 'work' environment. 

Reflection #24

This week at SLE the students had their last day of FCAT. They returned to school that Monday and started FCAT Math, then on Tuesday (the day I am there) They did FCAT Math again. this was their last day of FCAT for the year. After the usual warm up activity that was what the rest of the class time consisted of. The next day things were back to normal. The students came in and their desk were back in groups! It was a sign that FCAT was over. There was a look of relief on the students faces, some even though there was another day of FCAT. After the students had settled down and but their backpacks away and got chairs for their desk they had a seat and waited for Ms. C to tell them what to do. There was no warm up activity for them so they had nothing to do but sit at their desk, this caused some problems. The students started to walk around, talk and become disruptive. I think Ms. C should have had something for them to do, even if it was just for them to read or to draw, anything to keep them busy and out of trouble. 

A few minutes had past and Ms. C called all the students to the carpet. She decided the kids needed a 'Brain Break' all the teachers have started using a program (gonoodle.com) for their brain breaks. a brain break is when the students are working really hard and you think they deserve a reward and want to do something fun in the classroom, or if the class is really rambunctious and you think they need to get some extra energy out. Ms. C used the brain break because the class was very wild and out of hand and had a lot of energy to get rid of. The activities they have on gonoodle are exercise type activities. After they finished with the brain break the students seem much more ready to learn and less antsy while sitting on the carpet. Next the class read the "Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School" 

https://www.gonoodle.com/

The next day things were the same as before but with more well behaved students. Morning activity went as normal and then they read the book. I normally leave in the middle of their readings. In each chapter there is a fable or a moral that goes with the chapter. The book is really good and the students enjoy it a lot, it has a very good meaning and I think that even the students understand it too. 

Reflection #23

Credit to Nathan Grosshandler 

This week at the elementary school things were a bit different. This week was FCAT week. The first day I was in the class the students started their day like normal. With a morning warm up and some worked on the computers. After that was done Ms. C went over the FCAT PowerPoint again. This PowerPoint has information about what to do and what not to do during the test. For example the students could not ask questions or look at another students test booklet during the test. The PowerPoint also reminded students how to properly fill in their bubbles on the answer sheet. The students had the hardest time with the grids. A lot of students took a long time understanding how to properly fill in the grid. After they finished with the PowerPoint Ms. C handed back test. The test were similar to practice FCAT test. She told the students that this was the last time they would be doing this this year, everyone was ecstatic to hear that. The class went over the test together like they always did. They continued to review the test until I left for the day.

The next day I could not make it to SLE. I missed my students first day of FCAT but thats okay Im sure they all did great with or without me there.

The last day of the week that I was at SLE was another FCAT day. The last day for reading FCAT. We did not start testing until about 30 mins after class started. So the morning routine went on as usual until time for testing. Then about half the class left! Only 8 or 9 students were left in the classroom. The other students were sent to other classes and with other teachers. After testing began I just read a book and sat quietly at a desk until it was my time to.leave. The students behaved very well during the FCAT and I am proud of them for that. I hope they continue with good behavior for he rest of the test.

Reflection #22

Credit to Wikipedia

The first day that I was in the classroom everything was running smoothly. The students were well behaved, the computers were working etc. The whole time I was in the classroom the class acted this way. After the morning work the students and teacher went on to centers. Ms. C decided to make a change to centers and have the students do two science centers now and one more later on during science. She said they never really had enough time to complete all the centers so it was better to do it that way. The centers they did that day were, star constellation (making star constellation out of marshmallows) Sun (Read the book about the sun and answer questions) DE (Discovery education, watch videos) and Scavenger Hunt (find the answer to a question). The next day they would complete their last center. After the two centers were over everybody cleaned up their area and had a seat on the carpet. Ms. C was about to introduce a new story to them. "The Fabled Fourth Graders of Aesop Elementary School" That was the name of the book they would be reading. and for every chapter they read there was a 'moral' or a lesson to be learned. Each lesson went along with an Aesop Fable. When Ms. C began the first chapter she read it and then read the Fable. So the students could understand the story and the lesson more. I suggested to her that maybe she should read the fable first and have the students predict what will happen in the story based on the fable. In the next chapter she did this and the predictions the students came up with were priceless. 


The next day the same things happened as the day before, the students started their day with a morning warm  up. Next they went to science centers. They only had to do one center today. After that center they read one chapter in the book. 

The last day of the week that I was in the classroom was an abnormal day. All the teachers were in a teacher meeting so the students had to wait in the hallway for their teacher to take the to the class. I walk into the hallway.. I wanted to say good morning to my class but I got shushed immediately as I walked in. The teacher that supervises the hallway in the morning is not very nice and never lets the students talk very much anyway, but to have all the students sit in complete silence I thought that was a little extreme. When the teacher finally came Ms. C asked me if they were behaving well in the hallway. They were but I wanted to know why, so I asked. Apparently R and D were bullying another boy from another class. 

This whole day was filled with drama about who said what and when. The students were not very well behaved today, Especially K, the new students, she was asked to mover her clip down 2 or 3 times just in the time that I was there. I hope that that isn't a sign of how she will act for the rest of the year. 

Reflection #21

I walk in Ms. C's classroom on the first day this week and I can almost see the frustration on her face. She tells me good morning and smiles just like every day. I start my day there like normal just by greeting everyone and walking around the class seeing what everyone is doing. I notice that nobody seems to be doing anything. Ms. C comes up to me and tells me her computer is broken, again. Ms. C's computer has been broken multiple times just in the past month. It is very frustrating for her as a teacher. All of her lessons are on computer so when it doesn't work it make sit hard to work through out the day. Ms. C and I figured out that she could take a picture of the centers from her phone and then show it on the document camera. We did this and it worked just as good. The students went about with centers and continued their day like normal. The centers they did were the same like they were used to but because it was the first day back after Spring Break. One center was sort of hard for the students. They normally do an acrostic poem using words from the story they read but since they hadn't read the story yet they were a bit confused about the words, their meaning and what to write the poem about.  All the other centers were things they had done before and the students were used to it.

After the students had finished with their centers there was some extra time. Ms. C told the class that they could play around the world. I didn't know what this game was but I was ready to learn! All the students stood up. Ms. C got out the multiplication flash cards. she went row by row and quizzed each students on their multiplication. Each student got one question, if you got it wrong you stay standing, if you get it wrong or don't answer in time then you have to sit down. All the students did very well. P did especially well. P is the ELL student that we have in our class. She plays with the multiplication flash cards a lot and always has her homework done so I believe that is why she did so well.

Credit to Jason Major @Flickr

The second day that I was in the classroom and also the second day that the students were back in school went a lot better. The computer was working again and the students were very well behaved. Ms. C told her class that since they didn't finish their science lesson yesterday they would be doing that first thing today. The lesson was about the sun. The class read a book about the sun together and then they had to find one interesting fact about the sun. Next they would write it on a sticky note to show Ms. C and make sure everything was correct (the fact, spelling, capitalization etc.) After they got it checked they could write it on a yellow strip of paper. After they wrote on the paper they could outline the words with markers or crayons. The strips of paper would be going on a bulletin board. The bulletin board said "Betcha didn't know these facts about the sun!" and it also had a "sun" made out of construction paper"

The third day was a surprising day for Ms. C and I. First of all her computer was broken again. It had just been "fixed" the day before, they gave her a new hard drive and said that everything was good. But apparently not. It is very frustrating not being able to have a working, reliable computer. The students were about to start work on their cenetrs when the next surprise arrived. A new student!! Ms. C opened the door and K was standing at the door with her sister and her dad. She walked in the class introduced herself and sat down. She joined one of the groups for centers and did most of them with them. The rest of the class continued cenetrs like normal. I am interedted to see how K adjust to school here. She also says that she took the PSSA (FCAT but for Pennsylvania), if she passed that I wonder if she will also have to take the FCAT.