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.

Reflection #8

This was my last week in Ms. B's classroom. In the classroom the teacher has a reward system similar to other teachers. She has a behavior chart and each child has a clip on the side of it. If they are doing well then the teacher asks them to move their clip up. The clips stay in place till the next day and then a students hands out 'soar cards' to the students who earned them. The soar cards go in a bucket and then go to the office to be picked for "Soar Card Winner".

For related Arts on the first day I went to technology. The class was learning how to type using home row. This was the class's first lesson on typing using home row so I was glad I got to watch that and experience it. First the teacher showed the students a  video/ power point about typing and what home row was. She had that students practice placing their hands on home row before getting started. Next she showed them some games they could play to begin to learn to type. The games were very helpful and the students picked up on it very easily. 

When we got back to class the students sat down in their seats and waited for instructions. After every one got back to class one student passed out clocks to everyone. The students were going to be learning how to tell time. The students had learned to tell time before but only to the hour, now they would be learning how to tell time by 5's. For example 3:05. 3:10, 3:15 etc. 

The next day I went to art. In art the students were finishing up their playgrounds. Students were adding shapes, water, grass, people, dogs, cats any thing and everything, they really wen t all out. This project seemed really fun for the students. At the end of the lass the students go to take their playgrounds home. 

For my last day in the classroom I went to Art. The class I went with was a little behind, they were just starting to make their people for their play grounds. Some students weer still building the basics of their playgrounds. A couple students didn't write their names on their playgrounds and we couldn't find them so they had to start over completely. By the end most students were almost done with their playgrounds.

In the classroom on my last day there was a substitute teacher. So when we got back it was a little crazy, luckily however the teacher left instructions for the substitute. They began centers when we returned and I helped a few students out with math problems such as " There are 34 ears at a table, how many people are at the table?" I had about 5 minutes till I had to leave and the students "surprised" me cards and telling me thank you. The students lined up on the carpet and told me thank you. They each made a card for me thanking me and saying they would miss me. They were very sweet.

I am grateful for my experience in this grade level. I learned a lot about how children this age act and also how they interact with each other.

Reflection #7

In Ms.B's classroom this week everything was seemingly normal. In the beginning of class the students walk in with the teacher and then they unpack their backpacks. They get their home work out of their bags and turn it in. next they should switch out their books. In the classroom they are trying to so a 100 book challenge. So every day students read a new book and try to complete the challenge. After they get a book they are supposed to sit at their desk and read quietly until the morning announcements come on. After the morning announcements they go to related arts.

Wikipedia Commons

I decided to try something new this week and go to a related arts that I had never been to, Technology. Technology was interesting but also very fun. I could tell the children liked it a lot and were very into it. The teacher was also very nice. In technology the students came in and knew exactly what to do. They went to their computers and got started on a game. This was kind of like a warm up to let the kids get all their gitters out of them. They played games for about 15 minutes. Next they went and sat on the carpet at the front of the classroom. This is something they don't do that often. They normally stay at their seats and the teacher uses a software that lets her operate their computers from her own computer. While they were on the carpet the teacher explained what they would be doing that day, typing games!!

The students went to their computers and began playing the games. They were only allowed to play certain games. I had to help out a few students because they were on the wrong game or they had put the difficulty to high and was not doing well on the game.

As soon as the entire class got back from related arts they started math. They went right into centers. They were the same centers as last week except that instead of students working at their desk they were working at the big desk in the back with Ms. B. I decided to sit and work with a group of students on a game. I saw there was only five students and they had to be in pairs so I partnered with the one student left out.  The game was you had 18 chips and I had to take as many away as I wanted (you would be turned away) and then you had to figure out how many chips I took away. We played the game together for the entire time(15 minutes)

The next day I went to Art for related arts. The class that I was with was really behind and I had to help them make geometric forms out of paper. The shapes were; a cube, cone, pyramid, and cylinder. When they all finished with making the shapes they wrote their names on them and turned them in. By the time they finished there was maybe 5-10 mins left so the students got to go to centers. Center include; computers, free drawing, tracing and playing with clay.

When we came back from the related arts the class began working on math. The class is working on even and odd numbers. Ms.B asked the class questions about even and odd and even gave real life examples. She asked the class If there were 11 students in a classroom and the teacher told them all to find a partner would each person have a partner? She had the class figure that out and then she demonstrated it with 11 actual students.

The last day of the week that I was there I went to Art again. I was with a different class this day so we were working on something different then what we were working on the day before. This day the students were working on  finishing up their playgrounds. (The shapes they made the day before are for the playground) This class was almost done with their playgrounds. The teacher however wanted more. She wanted the students to put people in the playgrounds. She also wanted them to have a sign (enter/exit or hours of operation). I really liked this project for the children, it gave them creative freedom. although they all started out with the same basic shapes no ones playground/ skate park/ water park looked the same.

In the classroom this day we did something that I had never done before. I knew the class had done it before but I hadn't. We did an experiment called "How Many Pockets?" Each person had to count their pockets and got a snap-cube for each of the pockets that they had. After all the pockets were counted, everybody had to find a partner that together would add up to 10. for example I had 2 pockets and Ms. B had 8 pockets so we partnered up and made 10. Almost everyone had a partner except two people. In total the amount of pockets we had were 98. Previously when they did this there was only 58 and 69. We assumed that we had more pockets this time because of our jackets. (It was very chilly that day almost everyone had a jacket).

Multicultural Children's Books

Multicultural books are necessary to have in a classroom. They are needed so that children know that there are other types of children in the world and that being different doesn't make the person bad or weird. Multicultural books helps children understand that we are all the same despite what we look like.

I choose an assortment of different types of multicultural books; Latino, Asian, African American, and also Native American. It is good to expose children to many different types of ethnicity , especially if they are growing up in a community where it is mainly just one ethnic group. Children may not always get to see all the different types of ethnicity so books are a good way to expose them to many different kinds.

Multicultural Childrens Book

Shelfari: Book reviews on your book blog

Reflection #6

I couldn't be in Ms. B's classroom on the first day this week. They went on a field trip and I couldn't go with them so I went into a fist grade classroom. The first grade classroom was so much different then the 2nd grade classroom I am normally in. The teacher is different, the curriculum is different, and especially the students are different.

This was my second week in Ms. B's classroom. It was a pretty ordinary week. The children start every day the same, they get into class, turn in their homework, change their books and unpack their backpacks. After they are done with that they sit and read at their desk. The morning news comes on and they watch that till it ends. After it ends they line up for Related Arts. On the second day this week I went with the children to art. In art they were painting clay frogs. The teacher handed each student their frog and the table captain got paint, paint brushes and water for the table. The students began painting their frogs as soon as they got them.

After the students were done the frogs had to be wrapped so they could be safely taken home. I helped wrap the frogs. The class was well behaved and lined up for wrapping if there was more then one or two people there. As the students and I were leaving the teacher thanked me and was really appreciative of the help I gave her today.

The next day the same routine happened. I went to art again too. The same project was going on but with a different class. I helped out in the same way but was a little more efficient since I didn't need much instruction today. This group of kids was less well behaved then the children yesterday. This class was very rowdy and couldn't seem to settle down. After they finished painting their frogs they didn't line up at the back table they just bunched around and it was very chaotic. When it was time for the kids to line up it took them a very long time to clean up and get in line. In the process of doing this 5+ kids dropped their frog multiple times.

Image from Flickr: Jimmie

When the children got back from R.A, they normally do math on the carpet, but today they got white boards and markers out and stayed at their desks. The teacher asked them where they were on a scale of 0-4 on how well they can solve addition and subtraction problems with out knowing the original value. For example If I have 8 pencils and you have 4 more then me how many do you have? Most students were about a 1 or 2 on the scale. After they worked out a problem together on the white boards they split up into centers. One center was a math game, another is working at their desk on notebook pages, another was working on handout pages. This was my first time seeing the children work in math centers and I am glad I got to see it.


I hope I get to see more of the centers in the coming weeks. I also want to have more responsibility in the classroom like grading papers or tests.