Reflection #10

This week in Ms. S's class it was a pretty normal week. In the mornings they get to class and unpack their bags. They get out homework from the night before and wait for someone to go around and check it. As they wait they read silently.If it is their day for FASTT math (a computer program that helps develop math skills) they will go on the computers and work on that. Other students go around and check to see if the other students have done their homework for the night. 

After homework is checked and the announcements are over they work on writing. This weeks assignment for writing was to write a story with 'problems' or challenges' in it. A problem for example would be that you are stuck on the top of a roller coaster and there is no way to get down. A challenge would be trying to create the fastest and most amazing roller coaster. 

Credit to cybraian77 on Flickr

The students had a tough time figuring out the difference between the two scenarios but with some practice they got the hang of it. Their next task was to create a story with their group that has a main problem or a main challenge and then three 'actions'. The actions would be how the problem or challenge could be solved. however the first two solutions to the problem or challenge in the story would not work and then the last solution would finally work. The students had full creativity with this activity and they let their imaginations run wild. It was very interesting to see what the students came up with. 

After writing the class moves into reading. The story for this week was about the myth of how the night came to be. The class read the story in one day and as a reward for that they didnt have to do the questions for that day. however the next day they did have to do the questions from the story.

The last day I was in the classroom the class was taking a test on the story they read a few days ago. Ms. S was not very happy with how they did on their test. After they finished their test we went to 'Junior Deputy'. This was a meeting with an officer about gun and school safety. 

As a whole I think that fourth grade is a nice grade but maybe not for me. In this grade many of the students do the work by themselves and need little help unless it is a new subject. I am really glad that I got the opportunity to work with students from different age groups. I think that it really helped me know what age group I really like and what grade level I would maybe like to work with in the future as a teacher. 

Reflection #9

I started a new class. The teachers name is Ms. S. She teaches 4th grade. The classroom is very welcoming and the students are very kind.This week the students were testing the whole time I was in there. I didn't get to interact with them at all or do anything with them. Ms. S let me grade spelling test and math test for the time that I was in there so that I had something to do. It was interesting grading papers for the classroom because some students did really well and others did very poor.

Picture by: Dave 7745 On Flickr 

At the beginning of the week I got to work with 9th grade students. We were using handheld GPS's to find 'clues' around campus. It was a lot of fun and way better then being in class. I enjoyed being outside and walking around. The students seemed to like the activity also.


In the elementary school we could do something similar to this but maybe not so high tech. They could do a scavenger hunt. I'm sure the students would enjoy that. Teachers would hide things around the school/ campus and the students had to use clues from their teachers to find the treasures. It is a neat idea if you ask me.