Week 3 & 4

Read-alouds

• On the sixth day of  class Selina read Kitten's First Full Moon by Kevin Henkes. The story was about Kitten thinking that the moon was a bowl of milk, which she was trying to get. This was a very cute story with really good black, white and gray illustrations. You could use this in an art class when you are studying color schemes. This could also be used as an introduction to an activity about giving directions, just like the ones that described Kitten's actions.
• On the seventh day of class Taylor read I Knew You Could by Craig Dorfman. This was a story about a train traveling through several different obstacles along his way. One of them was learning to accept his abilities as a train. You could use this in a journal activity where the class responds to a time they were scared or unsure and how they over came it.
• On the eighth day of class Amanda read Mr. Tall and Mr. Small by Barbara Brenner. In the first part of the story Mr. Tall and Mr. Small were bragging about their abilities to the other, but when a forest fire came they had to rely on the other to get out safely. Through out the story there were a lot of comparisons between tall and small so this could be used in a lesson about opposites or comparing and contrasting.
• On the ninth day of class Kyle read Big Black Bear by Wong Herbert Hee. This is was really good read-aloud because Kyle was really well practiced and had different voices for each character. The Big Black Bear in the story did want he wanted to without considering others feelings. This book could be used in a lesson to help teach manners to the students.
• On the tenth day of class Hannah  read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn. This story was about a raccoon afraid to go to school because he would miss his mother while he was there. His mother kissed his hand and said when you miss me just look at your kissing hand and my love will be with you. This would be a really good book to give as a gift to someone when you leave for college because it is a way to tell someone that you love them and will miss them when your gone. This would be a good introduction to a lesson about overcoming your fears or about nocturnal animals.

Learning Experiences

• These two past weeks in class we have been learning about self-esteem and self-worth. In class we did skit about self-esteem, which was a fun way to let our creative side out. My group did a skit to the book I'm Gonna Like Me by Jamie Lee Curtis. We decided to pick different characters from the book that some what resembled ourselves. It was fun to act out and to watch the other groups work on theirs.

Current Event

• http://www.edweek.org/tm/articles/2012/09/11/fp_mixon_football.html?tkn=LOCFwUVMFoRbEED5q%2BdzPYb0%2BO91UiWAJFvm&cmp=clp-sb-teacher
• This article talks about how teachers can help tailor their lessons to help their students, just like football coaches do. Teachers should plan their lesson to have some built in feedback to gage the success of the lesson. They should also be able to increase the activity level to challenge them or to slow it down so more people can grasp the concept. I wish some of my teachers did this because some times you take too long with one thing or you go way too fast for the students to understand. I think school can always be related to sports to help your students understand.

Quote of the Week

• "Tell me and I'll forget. Show me, and I may not remember. Involve me, and I'll understand."
-Native American Saying
• I think this quote needs to be shared with teachers everywhere because just telling a student something doesn't mean they grasped the concept. Same with showing them, I personally learn better when I am engaged and involved in a lesson than when I am just sitting in a desk and listening.

Observations

• In these past two weeks I noticed that a girl was dressing differently than others at school. And then the next couple days I continued to notice her more and more. She wasn't afraid to be her self and wasn't going to change to fit in. This made me smile because she was going to stay true to her self -concept, which we talked about in class.

Reflections

• I just love Teacher Cadet class because it is so engaging and fun. I really like doing the in class skits alot and I loved having Fabulous Food Friday. Also the pot notes are as great as everyone said they were. I'm really looking forward to our field trip this coming Friday.