I am thankful for

 1. I enjoy seeing the kids walk through the door every morning, saying hello and seeing them smile.
2. I love teaching calendar time so I can experience teaching
3. I love walking around the classroom and helping the kids with their work, as they have many questions.
4. I love encouraging them when they're discouraged, as I feel i'm making a difference.
5. I love making crafts with them.

Tech in the classroom

Today after calendar time Ms.Price called 3 students to the teacher desk and let the other children watch "Between the Lion", which is really a great learning tool. I was curious as to what she was doing, but I was sitting with the kids so they wouldn't misbehave. After a while she called me over and told me they were taking an online test with iPads, something all the kids had to do so they would then be qualified to work on the app at home. The test wasn't even being graded. She had to go to the bathroom so I sat with them and made sure they stayed on task and answered the questions at a reasonable pace. One little boy got many of the questions right, but every time he finished one test there was another one. There was a total of five tests with 20 questions minimum. It was exhausting the kids. One little girl had no idea what the answers were, and to make it worse it wasn't multiple choice. She had to type in the numbers herself. The whole thing seemed ridiculous, as they were being tested over some things they hadn't even learned, AND IT WASN'T EVEN FOR A GRADE. The teacher was annoyed over how much time it was taking, as the 3 children called up had been there for almost 30 minutes. Only 3 children. I would have to say what i've observed of 5 and 6 year-olds using iPads, it's counterproductive, as they are still very little. Let's just say, today was a frustrating one.

Yesterday

Yesterday I finished making the wreaths with the kids and then circulated the classroom helping the kids with their work. Then I was enlisted to play a spelling game with 3 of the kids ( maybe 4 but I was confused and only did 3), and they loved it. They each got a board with four pictures with 3 letter words. They were words like "bat" "hit" "can", and so on. They then each had a little basket of words and a spinner. The spinner had 1-3 on it, and whatever number the kids landed on was how many letters they got to pick out of the basket. The first to spell out all the words was the winner, and the kids loved it. Other children were distracted from their work because they wanted to watch. Learning really can be fun! I can't remember what it's called but i'll be sure to find out.

Turkeys

Yesterday I visited a Montessori school and discovered it was not my taste at all. The children were receiving no instruction, simply doing their own thing. Sure, it was a peaceful and behaved environment, but I couldn't see any learning. They said the children learn independently, uninhibited by the fast-paced and demanding ways of traditional schools. It may be appreciated by many, but it's far from my taste. In fact, when talking with my elementary teacher about it she told me there was a montessori student in Kindergarten this year and he was unable to listen to the teacher and follow instructions. What else would you expect though of a child who's been able to do his own thing for his whole school career?
Moving on, today I had a blast at school. I made hand paint turkeys with the little kids. I painted their palms and thumbs brown, and then their other fingers individual colors. They LOVED it. We also made glue patterns on their leave collages and then poured glitter on the top. It took my whole time at the school to finish the turkeys, and I only got through 8 of the collages. The kids said the paint tickled and we all had a good laugh. When I become a teacher I will most definately be making the turkeys. 

Beans

Today I did calendar time and then proceeded to help students with worksheets and then work in small reading groups. I've found the best way for me to encourage them is by giving big high-fives. They find it funny when they smack my hand as hard as they can. Along with intelligence the kids are also full of sweetness. A little boy came up to me and told me I was pretty. It was such a nice thing to say, and it made me smile. I told him he was handsome. the teacher showed me a method of counting to a specific number using different combinations of numbers. Use beans that a green on one side and white on the other. If you're counting to 4 you can have 2 white and 2 green, or 3 white and 1 green, and so on. It's a cool way for the kids to learn different ways to count to 4. I learn something new every day.

Lovin' it

Today I did calendar time, and I feel I'm really getting the hang of it. I dance with the kids, review the date, show how many days they've been in Kindergarten, and count to 70. I then helped a girl share her favorite things in front of the class. I really like who I am in the class. That's what you want in a job, right? I then read with the group of kids average at reading, as they whisper-read, and I walked round and made sure they knew the words and were on task. When they were done I asked them questions about the book which they were really excited to answer. I also observed kids in the class with exceptional behavior, and reported them to the teacher. They were called up and given a slip to write their names on, which were then put in a bucket. Now the children had a chance of winning the drawl and visiting the treasure chest. I was really impressed with the system. The children are sweet, all having different personalities. I'm a sucker for the ones that want to hold my hand and give me a hug. They really know how to be adorable. In short, I love learning how to become a teacher. Every day this assures me my future profession is the right one for me.

A lot to say

I must confess I have been lax in recording my teaching experiences, but that is because until up to this point, my days were spent making countless copies, assisting other teachers, and merely observing the children. Now, thanks to the understanding of my wonderful teacher, I have become very involved. Every morning I teach calendar time. Then I proceed to teach reading groups and work privately with the struggling students. They are all so wonderful. I worked so hard today I was surprised to feel somewhat exhausted from the tedious act of teaching. I feel becoming tired is an important part of knowing you're working hard. Behavior issues are now more under control and the children are becoming more independent. Kindergarten really does shape young ones.

Achievements

• I make copies.
• I prepare assignments for the children.
• I help other teachers with papers and errands.
• I taught a lesson on categories using Barbies for the stuffed animals for the boys. They loved it.
• I help students individually with their assignments. 
• I work with reading groups.
• I help teach them good handwriting. 
• I tie MANY shoes.
• I talk with my teacher about different classroom scenarios, and she provides great advice.
• I become friends with the TAs.
• I am told by a child he wished i was his mother.
• I practice authority and the listen. Most of the time...
• I'll think of more things later.

Helping children writing the letter M

Today I spent my time working with small groups, helping children trace and write the letter M. It is important that they write the letter the correct way, so making sure they are following the system is a tedious task. For capital M is supposed to be drawn from the head line to the footling. They then pick up their pencils and draw up, down, up down. They seem to be relatively okay with this. A select few want to draw the first stroke from the foot line to the the head line. They have a great deal of trouble with the lowercase m, as they are told to draw down, up, up hump, up hump. All of them want to start at the foot line. The solution is saying the foot line is stinky, and never start at the stinky feet. This is helpful, but it still fails to stick with some of the children. It was hard to give them all the attention they needed, and sass from a naughty student did no help matters. I now know what to expect though and will be more prepared when I work with a letter again wednesday.

Two Week Summation

 I have waited to record my weeks so i can compile the best points and observations I have made. My days are pretty schedule oriented so I usually know what to expect. There is always a new learning experience that shows up though. The most notable thing that occurred was the guilt I felt when getting a little girl in trouble. They were in their centers and instead of participating she had flipped her paper over and was drawing a "my little pony". I told her she needed to stop and do her work, but she ignored me. I told her several more times, but she refused and started to tear up. I honestly had no idea what to do, so i resorted to the only thing I could think of. I told on her. 
I felt like and adult tattle tail. When i told the teacher, she called her up and had a talk with her. After she had finished, the girl was crying and continued to do so until the end of centers. I confessed to the teacher my angst, and she was very compassionate. She said I had done the right thing. Centers were not play time but learning time, and she was glad I had seen she was not doing her work. She told me sometimes you feel like the bad guy, but you're really the hero. Because you know what;s best for them. That really made an impression on me. I was however sad that the girl would be mad at me. Surprisingly, she wasn't though. She had completely forgotten I had anything to do with her discipline, and began to ask for help at table time. And she was very sweet.
The kids are the reason I love helping out in the morning. There are a select few that love me, constantly demanding hugs and trying to get my attention. I must say, it feels wonderful. And then there are the kids that like me, but are shy and feel no need to express affection. But when I talk to them, I can tell it makes them feel happy. And then there are the kids that could take or leave me, which is nice because I feel more like a teacher with them than the other kids. I love teaching them all, but I feel like this is a good balance.
A naughty little boy who's always getting in trouble and is somewhat of a know-it-all came up to me one day and asked why I am never mad. I was amused and told him I did get mad sometimes. He wondered off and I was left thinking that i wasn't mad because I really couldn't get mad. I had no authority to get them in trouble, so showing anger would be unproductive. Once I am a teacher I will have to "get mad" which i'm sure won't be fun. So for now, i kind of appreciate not having to "get mad".
Last week I experienced the most toughing thing I think i've ever felt. It was teacher appreciation week, which I wasn't aware of at the time, and Ms.Price had been receiving thank you cards with little gifts. One of the really sweet boys in the class came up to me holding a card. It said Ms.Ross on it, which isn't my name, so I asked who I was supposed to give it to. He said it was for me, so I opened it up and it was a thank you note with a gift card to Starbucks inside! I was so surprised and touched. He had written he had fun with him and was grateful I was there to help him learn. I couldn't stop smiling after that, and I felt I was on the path to becoming a teacher more than I ever have before. It's an amazing feeling.
For the first time, Ms.Price allowed me to work with a group of students, helping them learn what she calls "popcorn words". These are the words that pop up the most. Examples are "the" "am" "my" "can" and so on. She gave me the students that needed extra help. I held up a word and they would read it and write it out on a notecard. We went over the words several times, but a a few of them continued to have no idea how to read them. They couldn't even remember what the word was if I went right back to it. Most of them made some progress though, so we played the popcorn game. There is a popcorn box that has popsicle stick in it with words written on them. A student picks A stick and if they can read it they get to keep it. If they can't they have to put it back. There is a stick that says "boom!" on it, and if they draw that they lose all their sticks. The kid with the most sticks wins. They LOVE the game. It's so simple, yet very creative. I think they get a lot from it.
These things were the most notable events from the usual norm. My week mostly consisted of helping make crafts, walking around helping kids with assignments, and helping other teachers with minute tasks. I am going to teach a lesson soon though which should be interesting. I'm pretty pumped. The gist of this blog, teaching is pretty sweet. I look forward to another week of joy.

First Webquest

                                                    I've made my first teacher blog!

My Adventures This Week

This week I partook in a great deal of activities. I worked on cutting out and gluing pictures of the children onto numerous objects, such as little stars to go above the children's artwork and poster boards with things about them. I've come to find I really enjoy the small crafting involved in the Kindergarten environment. 

I was able to run the classroom one morning because Ms.Price was called into the office and did not return. An adult was sent to the classroom but I was instructed to teach. I tried my best to go through the morning routine, but something about being put on the spot made me a little clumsy. Most of the stuff she uses in the morning was on the computer, and i was only able to find some of it. The kids were yelling what I needed to do, and I wasn't really sure how to handle it. The adult told them to be quiet which was very helpful. I believe i gave an adequate performance though. We danced to some songs, did the morning calendar, counted to twenty, sang the alphabet, and worked with money. When we finished the teacher still wasn't back yet so i read them a story and had sharing time. After that, she still wasn't back yet so i sent them to centers, circling the room helping them. When it was time for me to leave I felt pretty good. 

When I came in the next day, she didn't mention it at all, which I thought was weird. I think she was dealing with an angry parent or something. The rest of the week was uneventful. I continued to craft and interact with the kids. She said she'll let me teach a lesson soon, so I'll be prepared this time and hopefully master the lesson.

check out these websites

http://www.hoagiesgifted.org/reading_levels.htm (Links to an external site.)

https://readability-score.com/

Summation of the week

The classroom has fallen into a comfortable pattern, enabling the students to feel safe and excited for the day. This group of children are for the most part calm and respectful, doing their work willingly. They have been receiving many compliments. This is a system of reward in Ms.Price's class. When they earn the allotted amount of compliments, they get a gum ball party. I wasn't present for their first party, but I heard a lot about it from the excited kids.

This week was an exciting chapter in the story of my intern experience. The children participated in the first fire drill of the year. When the alarm first went off, the students were concerned, as many didn't know what was going on. While the fire drill was not communicated to the teachers in advance, Ms. Price promptly herded them together and out the door. I followed the end of the line to make sure everyone stayed together. When they arrived in the class's designated spot, Ms.Price told them to be very quite. She then explained it was just a practice fire drill, and nothing was really wrong. But it was important to act as if there was a fire so in the event of a real emergency they would know what to do. The kids behaved very maturely and when everything was over, they earned a compliment.

When we were back in the classroom, Ms.Price sat them down and explained everything about a fire drill and why it was important. They talked of what to do if you were in the bathroom when it went off and other possible scenarios. The students had a lot of questions. I left the room when there were still numerous hands in the air.

The next day was picture day. The kids were all dressed up and ready to be photographed. When they were told it was time to go to gym for the pictures, we had to line them up from tallest to shortest. The students found this a fun and enlightening experience. Once all their pictures were taken, they earned another compliment. They are a good group.

On uneventful days, i have observed the same pattern of activities, only really able to be hands on when they are in their centers. I make sure they are on task and sometimes even play with them. In the plato center, the girls found it very amusing to make little animals from cookie cutters and then squish them, continually amused as a pretended to mourn them. I thoroughly enjoy interacting with them.

I have started working on a poster for the classroom, and i find it's harder than it looks. I clearly need to improve my crating skills.

Here are some pictures I have taken of the classroom.

This is located in the writing center, where kids come to make a booklet, assigned to pick several words form the poster to copy into their notebooks.

The calendar they use for "Calendar Time" at the beginning of the day.

Colorful cats with the color names of them so students can connect the words with the colors. it's cute and educational.

I Am

Today in class the students went to new centers, transitioning into more academic activities. They had word bingo and placing letters in their names in spaces. After centers, students sat on the carpet and traced the letters "I" and "am", feeling the form of the letters on their hands. This is an interesting technique I took note of. i was sent to make copies of worksheets and deliver documents to the office. It was a day of positive interaction.

Technology in the Classroom

Classroom Computers

At this Elementary school, technology has remained at its basic form. Old computers are used in the classrooms. The smart boards however, are relatively new and a few iPads are being used in older children's classrooms. I helped some students use a computer for the very fist time the other day, so it is clear there is not a great need for the newest of the new technology in kindergarten classes.

Schedule for the day

Every classroom has a schedule followed every day so students and teachers feel ready and comfortable.

Ms.Price's schedule

7:45 to 8:20    Announcements

8:20 to 9:20     Reading Groups

                        9:20 to 10:25   Text based reading compression

10:25 to 10:35  Wash for lunch

10:35 to 11:05    lunch

11:10 to 11:30   Recess

11:40 to 12:10   Math

12:15 to1:00     Encore

1:00 to 1:20   finish math

1:20 to 1:30   snack

1:30 to 1:45   science/social studies

1:45 to 2:25   SOAR

2:25 to 2:35   daily review

2:35   Dismissal

Behavior Plans

Behavior plan
To the left is a picture of Ms.Holden's behavior plan.

A huge part of teaching is coming up with an effective behavior plan. Without a good system, student can become out of hand. To the left is an explanation of Ms.Holden's frog behavior plan, something she claims is an excellent system.

Behavior board

Ms. Price's Behavior Board

Every teacher has a different idea of what a plan should look like, mostly for the reason of wanting to have an individual flair. Instead of Fogs, Ms.Price uses bees. I have no copy of the plan so i will just have to explain.

Each child has a bee. The goal is to keep them in the "ready to learn" space. If the child's bee does not move he/she will get a sticker on his/her treasure chest sheet. After ten stickers a treasure chest toy will be awarded. If a student breaks a rule, the following consequences will occur.

1st time: misses five minutes of playtime to the "think about it space".

2nd: ten minutes. and a note will be sent home.

There is no discipline per plan sent to the principle, only the behavior sheets mentioned above are sent to parents.

Classroom Setup

Ms.Price's classroom setup

Ms.Holden's classroom setup 

Classroom appearance plays a major part in the learning of students. Organization of items in the room is crucial for a comfortable and easy learning environment. Ms. Price has selected a layout in which a carpet sits in the middle of the room and the teacher's chair facing the carpet. Students are assigned to a number so they have a routine and she is able to watch them while teaching. The smart board  is in front of the students, and there are bright, pleasing colors in the room.


Ms. Holden's classroom is almost identical, save for a different chair and a carpet with shapes instead of numbers. The similarities of the classroom's proves the teachers find is to be an effective design.

Reading and Observations

 Yesterday, I had the privilege of being able to read one of my favorite books, "The Magic Locket" to Ms.Price's class. The message of the story is that you can succeed if you believe in yourself. The students were engaged in the story. Ms.Price explained to me the importance of asking questions throughout the story to develop their thinking skills. I learned something as well as the students.

Today I observed when people are talking, Ms. Price counts down from five. She then explains if they listen, most of her questions will be answered. When taking lunch count, students are asked to raise their hands if they are buying lunch. The count is then taken to the cafeteria to see how much food will be made. The two helpers of the week bring the folder to the cafeteria. They also take a folder with transportation to the office. I also read "Chrysanthemum" today while Ms.Price was working, and i was able to help her out. I felt like a part of the classroom then. 

First day

8-29-14

Today i experienced the joy of providing education while mingling it with fun in a kindergarten class. Going over the calendar and reciting the alphabet were quickly followed with a story promoting good behavior. The children then were assigned to different centers, like listening to a book on tape or solving puzzles. As they are new to school, the transition must be gradual, and the teacher in question handles this task well.