Blog 8

What is the most important thing you learned during field work observation? Why?

The overall most important thing I learned during my field work experience is that I really do want to be a teacher. Education is my passion and I believe every child, no matter their circumstances, deserves a quality education. I am so excited that I will be able to provide that for many children during my time as a teacher. I loved working with the kids. I thought they were hilarious and insightful. I have always wanted to be a teacher and I was hoping that through this observational field work I would be able to be sure about my plans and goals that I have made. It was a lot of fun to be in the classroom and I know this is what I want to do with my career.
I also learned how important it is to foster an environment where every child feels safe, loved, and important. I watched the teacher shake hands with the students as they entered the classroom every morning. They had "Yesterday's, today's, and tomorrow's," where every student was given the opportunity to share something with the class that happened or that they are excited about. Each student knows that the teacher loves them and that she cares about not only their education, but them as a person as well. That is definitely something I want to implement in my own classroom someday. 

Blog 7

What are the school rules/classroom rules and how are they enforced?

In the classroom I am observing they have two main classroom rules that almost all of their rules fall under. They are “Always be kind,” and “I can do hard things.” They are expected to be respectful and kind to everyone, and to stay on task and always do their best. I actually think they are brilliant, because the two phrases stick with the students as lifelong motto's, not just elementary school rules.

To enforce these rules, the teacher has clip charts. They have 5 different colors. The all start the day on green. They can move up to blue, then to orange, or down to yellow, then to red. The colors coordinate with different rewards/punishments. At the end of the day the color they end on is recorded in their homework folder they take home every day for their parents to see. If they end on Orange they get a small treat, after three blue smiley faces they get a treat, and after every 5 green smiley faces they get a treat. If they get clipped down to yellow there is a phone call home, and if they go to red they go to the principal’s office. She very rarely clips children down to yellow or red. The way she runs this system seems to be very effective. The students are not clipped up every time so while it is positive reinforcement, the students are not conditioned to expect a reward. They learn to do good for the sake of doing good. 

Blog 6

What strategies does the teacher use to actively engage the students? How effective are these?

The teacher uses several different strategies to actively engage the students. When she asks a question she will often tell the students to think of the answer in their head, then they all shout the answer out loud together. If she hears multiple answers they talk about it as a class. She uses a lot of games to engage the students. It gets them moving and motivated. Sometimes they are with a partner, sometimes it is as a class. She also does a lot hands on activities or practical applications. For example, she has dart frogs in her classroom. When they learn about the life cycle, she brings some of their eggs to school and lets the first graders watch the eggs hatch and turn into tadpoles, and the tadpoles turn into frogs. 

These strategies tend to be very effective. The students are happy to be in school because they recognize that they are learning. They also have a lot of fun. They rush to the frog tank each morning, for example, to see the new changes in their baby frogs. They are moving and engaging with the other students around them. The teacher does an excellent job of shaking things up and keeping things interesting.  

Blog 5

What do you think is the most challenging role a teacher plays? Why?

I think one of the hardest roles teachers play is catering to every student's individual needs and circumstances. In any given classroom, there are so many different personalities, learning styles, speed of learning, level of comprehension, etc. A teacher, in one lesson, has to be able to connect to each student and teach to their level. That gets tricky when one child is struggling with the concepts of addition and the next is practically ready for multiplication. 

In the class I am currently observing, there is a student who is struggling with some letters in the alphabet and blending sounds to make words. There are other students in the class who are reading Junie B. Jones like it's a piece of cake. The teacher uses rotations called "Daily 5" where the student's rotate to different stations focusing on different aspects of reading, writing, and listening. She does mini lessons in between the rotations. I think the system is genius because the student's are split into groups with other students on the same level. She is able to provide exercises for the students appropriate for where they are without making anyone feel like they are behind or ahead. Everyone works where they are towards personal improvement. This, I am sure, takes a lot of thought and time to prepare. 

Blog 4

How does this teacher manage assessment?

As a student, teachers always told me assessments were there to find out what we really know. Some teachers even explained that they used the results from our assessments to decide if they had taught the information thoroughly enough and if they need to revisit any topics. Even though I knew all of that, I often felt like assessments were a means to a grade. In Mrs. Shumway's class, assessments are given, however, even though spelling and math tests are scored, the students do not even consider grades for most assessments given in her class. They are motivated to do their best because they want to learn and prove they have learned. She handles them very well. 

Assessment takes many different forms in her class. They take spelling or math tests that are labeled tests and the students understand that. She also gives assessments that are not so easily detectable. During lessons she will verbally quiz the class or play large or small group games to make sure the students understand what they should. She also gives individual, one-on-one tests on a regular basis, often with the help of parent volunteers. For example, last week the students were expected by that time in the year to have mastered a certain group of sight words. I called each student back individually and they read me a list of the sight words. I marked on a separate sheet of paper the ones they got right, the ones they missed, and  the ones they got right but didn't know by sight. She uses these assessments to find out what her students really know and decide how to better help them understand. Assessments in her class take on more forms than just a written test, which is something I would like to implement in my classroom.  

Blog 3

What results of laws like IDEA do you see in the school?

            IDEA stands for Individuals with Disabilities Education Act. Under this law, all students have the right to an education in the least restricting environment possible. This means that students with disabilities, including learning disabilities, can be in a normal classroom. They will have an IEP, which stands for an Individual Education Plan. These plans are reviewed by teachers and parents to make sure that what is happening in the classroom is meeting the child’s individual needs and that they are getting the most appropriate education possible.

            Before I observe in Mrs. Shumway’s classroom each week, I spend time volunteering in the library. I have the chance to see and interact with many different classes during this time as I give mini lessons and help students find appropriate books. It has been very interesting, especially in the upper grade levels, to observe and help students with disabilities in the library. Students who I think might potentially have learning disabilities are on much lower reading levels, but are still able to learn alongside peers their own age and have the important social interactions while still learning at their own pace. 

Blog 2

Tell about an opportunity you had to work with a small group.

            The second half of my time each week in Mrs. Shumway’s room is during “Daily 5.” This is when they have small group time to rotate through stations focusing on reading and writing. I read with one of the groups in guided reading. It was really interesting for me to be able to observe some of their differences in learning styles. Some of the students were auditory learners and enjoyed hearing the book read out loud. Another student was a kinesthetic learner. He had physical actions he did while mentally completing different reading strategies. Other visual learners talked a lot about the pictures and how that helped them understand the book.

            As I read with this group, I was really grateful for the public education system we have set up today.  Before public education, only wealthy boys were able to go to school. I looked at the group and saw bright little girls and sharp young boys who would not have been able to go to school back then due to wealth or gender. Public education allows all children, no matter their circumstance, the opportunity to have a quality education. 

Blog Entry 1

How does the knowledge of the way people learn related to the experience of being a teacher?

                Everyone student learns a different way. It is the teacher’s job to teach all students, no matter their learning style, the material. Therefore, it is important for teachers to understand and apply the different ways students learn as to be a more effective teacher.

                In Mrs. Shumway’s first grade class on Thursday the students were learning simple addition up to 10. It was amazing to me how many different learning styles were incorporated into this single lesson. The students were each given a work mat split into three sections. They were labeled part, part, and whole. They were then given 10 counters. They were told to take the first number in the problem and put the coordinating amount of counters in the first “part” section. They were told to do the same with the second, then to slide both parts into the “whole” section and count them to get the final answer. Students could solve the problems in a different way if they desired, but this method worked for most of them. This was great for kinesthetic learners since it was so hands on. Before the students were set loose to try it on their own, for visual learners, the same process was followed but was completed on a mimeo on the board by the teacher. Auditory learners were also catered to as the process was talked about by the teacher. The class also had a discussion as to how to find the “whole.” They came to the conclusion that you put the parts together.

                It was really interesting to watch the light bulb turn on in the student’s brains as the same concept was explained or shown in a different ways. The students each learned in their own way, and different ways of presenting the same material made sense in different ways to each student. It is so important for teachers to understand differing learning styles so they will be able to teach to each student’s individual needs.