First Week in the field!

This past Tuesday was our first day out in the classrooms. I am in a second grade class with my old second grade teacher which is extremely fun. When I go to my class, they are working on math which is good because I love math! My teacher is a fun loving, caring, and involved teacher. She likes to get her students involved with the lessons, whether it is coming up to the board or writing the answer on their slate. Her classroom is decorated with student work everywhere, pictures of past classes, pictures of the students and their families, and what they are working on it class. Something that I really like about her class is their math routine when they get back from lunch. The students sit on the carpet and they add a straw for each day of school, they add today's date to the calendar and then do the days in school out of money. I really like this for two reasons. 1.) When I was in kindergarten and second grade we did this everyday so it brings back those memories. 2.) It involves life skills, like counting money, and math skills.
On my first day visiting I was just watching as they prepared for their math test by reviewing with their slates. If a student did not get the problem right she had them explain how they arrived at that answer and then had a classmate who got the answer right explain what their thought process was. I thought this was really cool because sometimes you learn better from your friends cause they may say it differently then the teacher.
On my second day visiting I actually got to interact with the students. They were doing a math lesson where they had to go find objects in the room and measure them in inches, feet, centimeters and millimeters. I was walking from group to group to make sure they were doing the right things. It was very easy for them to get the measurements mixed up because they were just learning them.
I never knew how hard it was to look professional until field experience because I thought I had professional looking clothes but only a few. It's always a hard decision on what to wear to field experience because as much as I would like to wear jeans every day, I can't.
I don't have any stories from the field yet but I am sure I will soon!

First Post back from Christmas Break!

Read-a-louds:
We have not had any read a louds since Christmas Break ended but we did have Young Adult Novel presentations. We were allowed to pick a book to read and share with the class, which we did in the form of a pop up PowerPoint. I chose the book What Happened to Goodbye by Sarah Dessen. I LOVED this book and strongly recommend any of her books. I also found some books that I wanted to read from this including the Jaycee Dugard book and Thirteen Reasons Why.

Learning Experiences:
In class we are learning about effective lessons in preparation of going out to classrooms soon! Mrs. Jackson did an activity where she should Maslows Hierarchy of Learning so we would be able to see the different levels of learning.  We also had a guest speaker come visit us who was a South Carolina teacher of the year. She taught us that you are more likely to remember something if you see it on a yellow background with red type. We also learned that if you put things in to circles you'll remember it more likely as well.

Current Event:

• http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2013/01/16/17gender.h32.html?tkn=QXUFJfZqaU%2BunJI6sKGDd8mx0mQEdpR95Mqe&cmp=ENL-EU-NEWS2
• I found this article to be very interesting because I have a male math teacher this year and I am doing much better than I was last year with a female. I wonder if it is due to the way the class room is different with a male teacher. With a male teacher it is a more relaxed environment rather than a  female math teacher it tends to be more strict. I would like to see the effect of the choice of career of those kids in the studies to see how it further effects the children.

Quote of the Week:
"Teacher who love to teach, teach children to love learning" -Unknown
I love this quote because it is so true! If your teacher does not want to teach something then you most likely won't learn it because of their lack of enthusiasm.

Observations:
While working on my vocabulary work this week I realized how Maslows levels of learning applied to myself. One day I did the synonyms and antonyms and by the next I forgot the meanings of the words but once I had to apply them for filling in the blanks and choosing the right word I began to remember the words.

Reflection:
As we begin preparing our lessons to teach the class I continue to get even more excited for field experience!!!

Catch Up Post

The last couple of weeks before school was let out for the holidays was very hectic. We were busy preparing for exams and having our special Teacher Cadet party. So here is an overview of those last few weeks before break.

Read-a-Louds:

• Icey read Big Bear Little  Bear written by David Bedford and Jane Chapman. Little Bear was wanting to grow up but he is not ready for it. This is similar to a hurried child because they are forced to grow up too early and not have a childhood. This book could be used for a journal entry where the students write about something they want to be when they grow up and something they miss from childhood.
• Jordan read Color Dance by Ann Jonas which was a good way to use as an introduction to a color mixing lesson in art. The primary colors join together to make secondary colors.
• Selina read an excerpt from the novel Safe Haven by Nicholas Sparks. The excerpt talked about abusive relationships, which is a barrier, and why it is so hard for women to leave. It was a good excerpt because many girls in our class may end up in one and this can give them the strength to leave.
• Melanie read Losing Romeo by A.J. Byrd, which addressed teen pregnancies, which is also a barrier. It was a good excerpt because Romeo was trying to make the decision whether to stay with her or leave. It was insightful to see what was going through his head, but we did not find out his decision! :(
• Elise got us in the festive mood with Merry Christmas Princess Dinosaur by Jill Kastner. Princess Dinosaur opened her presents too early and are now hiding from Santa so they won't get in trouble. This is a cute Christmas story that I had never heard before but it was very good.

Learning Experiences:
We started learning about hurried children and how it detracts from their childhood. We did a book in a day where we took too books about hurried children and each person got a chapter. Then we picked ten points that we felted were most important in the chapter. We went over the various chapters in the next class which gave us good information about hurried children. After finishing that we watched an episode of Supernanny where she dealt with a family of  five hurried children. The last day of class we had a party and exchanged gifts with our Secret Santa's, which was sooo much fun.

Current Event:

• http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/camapaign-k-12/2013/01/school_districts_continue_to_f.html
• I read about how the government budget for this year is going to affect public education. They are trying to postpone cuts until March to work out a better deal that won't affect education as much. If public education funding decreases then there may be a move towards private schools so their children can get a quality education. The cuts in funding can lead to loss of jobs and increased class sizes. Hopefully they will work something out that doesn't affect education as much.

Quote of the Week:

• There go the people.
  I must follow them for I am their leader.
  Alexandre Ledru-Rollin
• I choose this quote because it relates to education because teachers are leaders. Teachers are also learners as well as leaders because they learn from their students. A teacher must know how to teach but also learn from their students and follow their thought processes. If you know some one well enough then they will more easily relate to a teacher and take away more from class than before.
  

Observations:
I realized that many children are hurried through life and are over scheduled, which is not okay because children need to be children and not miniature adults. I also realized the joy on people's face when they receive gifts, and how it makes you feel to give. Also that all of us loved playing with our children's gift before we gave them away.

Reflection:
I am looking forward to going out in the field because we are getting closer to being able to go out in the classrooms.

Week 9 & 10

Read a Louds:

• This week Hannah M had her second read a loud, where she read a passage from No Limits by Michael Phelps. It was a passage about how people say the want to be the best but few truly try and succeed, I really liked the passage and would use it as motivation before a big soccer game or when we are setting goals for the season.
• Hannah S also had her second read a loud, she choose the book Just Listen by Sarah Dessen. I LOVE Sarah Dessen's books!! The part she choose to read was about when the main character's sister is dealing with body issues and who she is. This was a good choice to read to the class because we were learning about barriers and body issues are barriers so it tied in very nicely to class.
• Mary Beth read Come Fly with Me by Satomi Ichikawa. This was a book about the weather and airplanes, which would make it a good book to read before a math lesson where you compare the rates of two trains or work on word problems.

Learning Experiences:

• In class we finished up learning about Special Ed this week but before we did we had the chance to met with the adaptive P.E. teacher. She showed us video of the kids during P.E. and how she has changed various activities to allow them to do them. Then she took us to the Special Ed rooms to visit with the kids, which was really good! Hannah and I decided that we were going to start helping out with P.E. during our study halls. I really enjoy it! We also started working on our presentations of the barriers to the class. Jordan and I had teen pregnancy which was really interesting to look at all the statistics and how many young girls have babies each year. That is all I really got to do this week because I got sick and was out for three classes :(

Current Event:

• http://bangordailynews.com/2012/10/11/news/midcoast/school-district-sending-entire-staff-to-technology-conference/
• I really like what this school district is doing by sending their teachers to the conference. I think it is a good idea so that way the teachers can better engage their students. A lot of times I feel like we have the technology but we don't always know how much we could be utilizing it. I think our district does a pretty good job incorporating technology in the classrooms but not all districts are as fortunate.

Quote of the Week:

"Education is not the filling of a pail,but the lighting of a fire."
-Wiliam Butler Yeats

• I really like this quote because education isn't just about talking and hoping that your students grasp it, it is making sure the understand and have something to build upon. It is also about engaging your students and wanting them to be inspired and continue to learn.

Observations:

• While I was working with the kids who have special education I realized how some people just ignore them and treat them differently when all they want is is to be treated like everyone else. They really can do more than you think.

Reflection:

• I'm looking forward to helping out with P.E. now that I'm not sick anymore. It is hard to miss a lot of school especially in a class like teacher cadets because we do so much each class.

Week 7 & 8

Read a louds:

•  On the sixteenth day of class Mrs. Jackson read One by Kathryn Otashi. This was a simple book with simple concepts but it had a strong message about bullying, it only takes one person to stand up against a bully. This book used colors and numbers as characters, so it would be a good book to use in a math lesson for younger kids or maybe in an art lesson where you learn to make the different colors from the primary colors.
• On the seventeenth day of class Sarah read Your are Special by Max Lucado. This was a story about wooden people and if you did some thing well then you received a star and if you did some thing bad you would get dots. Well the main character had a lot of dots, when one day he meet a girl who did not have any thing on her. She took him to the wood carver who told the boy it didn't what the others labeled him, all that mattered was what the carver thought. This would be a good introduction to a lesson about self image and self worth.
• On the eighteenth day of class Margaret read The Very Little Boy by Phyllis Krasilovsky. This book was about how every one feels so small and powerless when they are younger but eventually they will become bigger and more powerful. You could use this in an activity about height and track the students height all year long. Also this could be used in a science lesson where you give students a seed and watch it grow into a plant.

Learning Experiences:

•  In class we had a disability day which was very enlightening. I used to think that people with physical handicaps could just use the elevator instead of stairs, but its harder than that. When I was in the wheel chair trying to roll up the ramp I broke a sweat. When we had to put the goggles on to see what it was like to have a vision impairment I felt so alone and scared because I couldn't see anything, like I had to put the book up to my face to read the title. We also had to do a maze in the mirror without looking at the maze, which made you feel like some one who has a dyslexia. This was very frustrating because you had to learn how to move your hand in the opposite direction than what you saw. It was also frustrating when you had to pick a letter out of a bag while you were blind folded. It was so frustrating because a lot of the letters look similar so it was hard to distinguish between the two. We also spent several days talking about autism and how we do not know what exactly causes it. I think it is so awesome that kids with autism are being able to show how they feel finally with the help of technology, especially with ipads.

Current Event:

• http://www.forbes.com/sites/michaelvenables/2012/10/09/engineers-study-lego-bricks/
• I find the article to be very true and I don't see why other teachers have not thought of it! Lego's are a great way to get kids involved and keep their attention. This is also a good way to have students test their theories on how they would build some thing for example in an engineering or science class.

Quote of the Week:

• "The beautiful thing about learning is that no one can take it away from you."
  B.B. King
• This quote is so simple but so perfect and true about education. Once you learn something, no one can ever take it back. It also relates to the fact that knowledge is power so when you learn some thing you have power over the others.

Observations:

• Now that I am more knowledgeable about those with special needs I am noticing than more and more people may have a special need and they have just hidden it. It is great to see that people can over come their disability and live a normal and happy life.

Reflection:

• Learning about special needs has made me realize how hard it is on the parents of kids with special needs. Also when we learned about all the paperwork that teachers have to do to make an IEP for their students, especially when my mom is one of them.

Week 5 & 6

Read-alouds

• On the eleventh day of class Lexie read Who said Moo? by Harriet Ziefert and Simms Taback. It was a really cute story that would be perfect for preschool kids who are learning about animals and the sounds they make. The lines in the book were very simple so it would be a good book to help some one learn how to read.
• On the twelfth day of class I had my read about! I read Cosmo's Moon by Devin Scillian, which was one of my favorite books when I was little. I really liked it because the author signed it and I loved the pictures. Cosmo's Moon was a story about a boy who had a moon following him, which affected certain things in the story. Since the book talks about the effects the moon has on things, I would use it as an introduction into an astronomy lesson.
• On the thirteenth day of class Hannah S. read Muddy Paws by Mira Butterfield. It was a story about a boy who just got a puppy and was trying to name it. He kept asking others what he should name him and then he decided to name him after one of his own traits. It would be a good book when you are talking about who you are as a person with a class. You could have them write a journal entry about why they think they have the name they have. I loved this book because it had such a cute puppy in it!!
• On the fourteenth day of class Sandy read The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. I remember hearing this book alot in school when I was younger. The story is very simple but it would be a good book to use in a science lesson about butterflies. After reading this story to a class you could have some caterpillars and watch them change into butterflies. I remember when we watched them change in to butterflies when I was in second grade. I also really liked how the pages weren't full pages, it made the book so much more interactive.
• On the fifteenth day of class Ellory read A Little Something Different by Cathy Scott. First of all, it was really cool that her mom wrote the book! The book talked about two characters, one who was normal and the other who was really small. It talked about how they could use their differences to accomplish something. I really liked the book because it talked about their abilities and not their disabilities with their sizes. This would be a good story to show how when you work together you can accomplish something that you may not have been able to working alone. It would be good for a math lesson as well, you could give the class a work sheet to show which one is smaller and bigger.

Learning Experiences

• In class we learned about different learning styles and multiple intelligences, which we did an activity to learn what style of learning we had. It was interesting to see how other people in the class learned. We also developed lessons to teach to the class that incorporated multiple intelligences. I created a lesson where I read a book while showing the pictures on the smart board. Then Amanda placed different types of Jolly Ranchers around the class room and had the class identify with what flavor they felt most like. It showed me that a lot of planning goes in to making a lesson to teach.

Current Event

• http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/09/26/05personalize_ep.h32.html
• I found this article to be very interesting, but also very true. I know it helps when your teachers get to know you as more than just a kid in a seat. When my pre-cal teacher uses examples that dealt with soccer I remembered them more because I made a connection with them. I think that personalizing education is very beneficial to those who struggle especially in math because that can be very challenging for some.

Quote of the Week

• "Be the first one to the window" -Carol Jackson
• I really liked this quote because when Mrs. Jackson said it in person you could tell she truly believed that. Also I liked it because teachers who incorporate whats going on around them always make learning easier and more fun.

Observations

• After talking about the different learning styles and how people learned, I realized that I like it  when I have shorter notes and bullets. I do not like when I take notes in rows. I also realized that most people learned better when they can move around and group up with people who are similar to them, when I taught my lesson in class in realized that the class responded better when there was movement involved and of course, food!

Reflection

• Fabulous Food Friday is always soo good! I also really like reading the about The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night, it's really cool to see things how some one with autism does and how they write.

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.