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.

Reflection #20

The first day I was at the elementary school was an average day with one acception. In the morning Ms. C was going to be on the morning news, so the class had to sit in another classroom until she returned. We went to Ms. W's classroom. I am glad that I was in the classroom to help Ms. W out. I could not imagine trying to handle two classes at one time. Ms. C's class was a little rambunctious. They were supposed to be sitting on the carpet reading a book silently, yet most of them were sitting there talking. Ms. W's class was well behaved. One thing that surprised me was that when the morning news came on the class didn't quiet down and Ms. W didn't ask them to quite down either.  I would have my class sit quietly and listen to the morning news, that is when all the important upcoming events are said, like McDonald's night, tee shirt day, jeans day etc. After the news was over Ms. C came back and things went as normal. The students from the other class came into our class and then we began centers. One students was putting in minimal effort on this day. O seemed like he wasn't even trying in ALL of the centers. O is an ELL student, however shouldn't excuse him from not even trying to his work. 

The nest day the things were the same as the day before. After the extra students left Ms. C's classroom and all of our students returned the students had earned a reward that they wanted to redeem. The reward was for spelling the word FAIRNESS. Each class is trying to spell this word. The was you can spell it is by earning 'soar card chips'. For every three chips your earn your get to add a letter. Everyone has the whole month to spell the word. Ms. C's class spelled it early so they got their reward early. The reward was an extra 20 minutes of recess. At 9:45 the class, Ms. C and I all headed to the play ground, ready to play and have fun! Then we saw the sign... "Play ground closed until 3/27". Apparently they school was painting the playground and it would be closed until said date. And the other playground had kindergartners playing on it so we didn't want to mess with them. The other choice we had was to have indoor recess. The students weren't too happy about that. I felt bad for the kids. They were so excited on their way out and then coming back  in they were gloomy and had long faces. I wasn't able to stay fro their indoor recess but I'm sure they enjoyed it, it was probably better then doing classwork!

The last day I was at the elementary school for the week was a very special day for me. I was able to teach a lesson to the students again! But first in the morning it was the same routine as the other days, the c;ass had to go to Ms. W's class in the morning and then when they returned we read a book. Ms. C also quizzed the students using brain teaser questions. When it was finally time for me to teach I was pretty nervous. I know that the kids aren't going to judge me, I guess its just my natural stage fright coming out. After I started my lesson the jitters went away. I was feeling confident in myself and happy with how it was going. I was also impressed by the student interaction during the lesson. Over all I am very happy with how my lesson went. I feel accomplished and and I am looking forward to being able to teach a lesson again. 

Reflection #19

This week during my experience at the elementary school started off pretty boring. The first day was student benchmark testing day for 3rd grade. The students had to take their 3rd quarter benchmark test for reading and writing. Last time they took the test the students did fairly poor on it. However the work that they do in the morning is specifically geared towards the benchmark test and FCAT. After the last test the students and teacher made a data chat chart. This chart showed their weaknesses and their strengths. Since Ms. C knew what the students needed to work on that is what she focused on. All the morning work was focused on the topic areas that required the most work. I really liked the idea of the data chat chart however I would not call them 'weaknesses' I would maybe call them 'focus points'. 

The second day was more eventful. The students were able to work in centers! The class started the day like most days, morning work, FASTT math, and then centers. The students from the other class are still coming into our classroom and our students are leaving our class and going to another class to practice for portfolio testing. 

I noticed that D wasn't in class for two days. I asked Ms. C were he was. She told me that her, D, all the administration and D's parents had a meeting together. After their meeting it was decided that D would be moved to an EBD classroom. Everyone in the meeting thought that it was for the best interest in D for him to be in that classroom. He will get more one on one attention and that is really what he needs. It was not fair for D to not be getting the attention he really needs. 

On the third and final day that I was in the classroom I got to teach the students!! I had a lesson plan and activity for the students to do having to do with idioms. First thing in the morning the students did their normal morning routine. After they reviewed and came up with the right answer Ms. C gave me the reigns and let me take over in teaching the class. I began teaching by asking the students if they knew what idioms were. The class went completely quiet. At that point my nerves were taking over and I started to feel butterflies in my stomach. I decided to change my question and asked students if they have heard of some idioms before. I showed them the idiom activity card. Some students raised their hands and said they have heard that before. Next I started to ask students to tell me what they thought the idioms meant. Some of the things they thought were hilarious! Other times I was pleasantly surprised by which ones they did know! I wrote all the idioms that we talked about on the board and the meaning for them. When we had almost 20 idioms on the board I told the students what we would be doing next. DRAWING! The students love drawing! They enjoyed being able to have fun and draw. 

Credit to Iowa Digital Library 

After most students were done drawing Ms. C was going to read them all a book. P ask if I could read it so of course I did. It was kind of a tongue twister of a story but I manged to make it through. 

I feel a lot better about teaching my real lesson for the class. This practice lesson has made me a lot more comfortable with the classroom and how I would control it if it was my own. I hope that my next lesson goes as well as this one did! 

Reflection #18

What an interesting week I had! First of all the computers did not work almost all week, again. In the morning the students use the computers to work on FASTT math. The internet wasn't working so that   was a major problem. Later on in the day we needed the computers for centers. They use the computers for a reading activity where they learn new vocabulary. Not havi8n the computers working was the first of the problems. We also didn't have any books for their centers. The students need a non-fiction book for "3-2-1 non-fiction" This is an activity where students have to write down three interesting things they read, two new facts they learned and one question they still have about the subject. Another activity they need books for is making a comic strip. The students are to choose a fiction book and then pick out the six most important parts of the book. Then create a comic strip using the story line of the fiction book they read.

Credit to Wikipedia

So not having the computers and not having books was a problem but Ms. C was prepare. She moved right along with the morning and had the students come wit on the carpet and they read a story together. It was the next story that they would be reading in the class. It was called "Suki's Kimono" We still had the extra students in the classroom, they had already read this story. A few of the students from the other class did not behave very well during this day. They were very disruptive and Ms. C had to move one of the students and talk to another one multiple times. After we finished reading the story we had extra time before our students came back. Ms. C asked me if I would like to read to the class. Since it is Read Across America Week I decided to read a Dr. Seuss book. I read the book "I Saw It On Mulberry Street" As soon as Ms. C asked me to read the students were so excited. I was picking out a book and they were all smiling and moving around on the carpet. It makes me happy to see the students excited for me to teach. It calms my nerves a little more for when I actually get to teach my lesson.

The computers still were not working on the second day that I was in the classroom. All students had to work on the morning warm up since there was nothing else to do. After the class finished the warm up and went over what was the right answer the portfolio kid left and the other students came into the classroom. Next we went over test grades. Ms. C handed back test to each student and to the extra students she gave them the test of the students who were not in the classroom at the moment.

The last day the computers finally were working!! It was a joyous moment for Ms. C, the students and I. The students could finally work on FASTT math. Also the students got a new center, it was one that helps with vocabulary. The students had sets of cards and were to match the vocabulary work with the definition of the word. Ms. C also decided to use Zoo Books for the 3-2-1 non-fiction reading activity. With the computers working, the new centers and the Zoo Books we could now work in centers. The other centers that the students work on are acrostic poems and writing a paragraph using two words from the word wall.

On that day Ms. C and I talked about C and D. Both of these students have problems focusing in class. C however has been put on ADHD medicine. He has only been on it for about 2 weeks but it has made a tremendous difference in his behavior. He has gone from out of control bouncing off the walls and very disruptive, to a very calm and pleasant student to have in class. Also D has major behavior problems in class. He acts silly and very disruptive. His parents have not put him on any medication, D is autistic. Ms. C said that there is going to be an emergency meeting with D's parents to see if he can be put in an E
BD class.