Reflection #13

My week in Ms. C's class was shorter this week then in previous weeks. I normally go three days a week, however because of an early release day I wasn't able to go one day. The days that I was in the classroom were average. The class did everything as normal, there were no extra activities going on. In the morning when students are working on the 'word of the day' Ms. C calls for home work and also for 'soar cards'. Ms. C checks homework in a unique way. She has all the students names in a jar using popsicle sticks, she pulls out five names. If your name is pulled out then you have to come up and show her your home work. I you did your homework then you can move your clip up to 'outstanding', however if you didn't do your homework then you have to move your clip all the way down to 'parent contact'. I really like the way she checks homework. It is a fair technique and is encouraging the students to do their homework every night. Next is the 'soar cards' These are given to all students who's clip is above green or 'ready to learn' at the end of the day. A students clip moves up and down through out the day depending on their behavior. Depending on where your clip is that is how many soar cards you can receive. Blue or 'good choices' is one soar card. Pink or 'great job' is two soar cards. And lastly purple or 'outstanding' is three soar cards. 

One other thing Ms. C does with her students is a sort of scratch off ticket. She uses it as a reward. I'm not sure how they receive the ticket but on it are things like; 10 mins of computer time. homework pass, pick form the prize box etc. The students love it! Also its really easy to make, after the ticket itself is made you mix up silver paint and liquid soap and put it on the paper, after it dries its like a scratch off ticket.

I asked my teacher about a few students in the classroom. I saw that multiple teachers were coming in and taking students at different times during the day. Ms. C told me that R and C go to speech in for 30 mins twice a week. Also D and K have been listed as tier three and need help through out the day with their work. It was a surprise about a lot of this. The students who are going out for 'help' I would not have guessed would need it. In the classroom they seem normal and can function well. 

The students are becoming a lot more comfortable with me and with asking me for help. I like this, it makes me feel wanted and also I enjoy helping them. I am really looking forward to teaching a lesson and getting a real hands on feel for teaching!