Today I began both classes by going over the students’ South Carolina Facts with them. Mr. Leininger emailed me the facts for the week and I will be going over the facts with the students from here on out. I did not remember some of the things that were listed, so Mr. Leininger coached me before class on what to focus and expand on. That really helped me to be able to explain the facts to the student and answer their questions about them instead of just read them to them. I feel like I did an awesome job and was proud of myself. After the students and I were finished with the facts, Mr. Leininger played the preamble song. The students are slowly learning and memorizing the preamble. They have to recite it from memory on Thursday and it will count as a test grade. After the students touched on the preamble, Mr. Leininger began the notes. The students focused on what problems South Caroling had after the Revolutionary War. The learned about the economic hardships South Carolina faced and the things they done to help improve the economy. Mr. Leininger blows my mind when he teaches. It amazes me at how someone can take boring information and make you feel like you are watching the Super Bowl. The students react to the information so well because of how he relays the information. I am in love with my placement because of that. I am learning so much from him. I cannot wait until I can teach the students and see if I can relate the information to them as easily and in an entertaining way like Mr. Leininger does.
During my placement, Mrs. Kahler informed me that she created a lesson that she thought would be perfect for me to teach on Thursday. It focuses around an info graphic that represents tuberculosis. She thought that this would be a great way to begin our study of Edgar Allen Poe. Although I am excited to begin working more closely with the class, I am super nervous about it! Mrs. Kahler has set the bar extremely high and I do not wait to let her or her students down. Hopefully, I can apply the teaching skills that I have learned for Mrs. Sutusky and Mrs. Kahler and make the lesson memorable for my students.
Today was the slowest day I have experienced yet. I did get asked to do a new activity when I get to my placement every morning. Ms. Pigg asked me to count the books the kids brought back from reading at home the night before. As I called their names, they would come get their bags and put new books in them. These kids are well behaved, in fact, most of them acted more mature than a typical high school student. Ms. Pigg’s second grade students never fail to impress me with something new each day. Then, the kids went over their morning work with Ms. Pigg that covered nouns, adjectives and numbers. I have started learning whose annoying, who is always behind, and who is always ahead. I really enjoy watching the kids learn and strive to be better. Their reading time really impresses me because they are brave enough to read in front of everyone and confident enough to show their favorite books. I was always shy in elementary school so it makes me happy to see confident students.
November 5, 2013 Today in my placement it was Health Day which meant instead of recreation time mainly the kids had to finish their units on acne and good and bad hygiene habits. My first class was the seventh graders like usual, they were the ones that finished their acne unit. They had to do a six question quiz and I helped collect the papers. Afterwards they were told to sit down against the wall and wait till everybody was done, then I gave out the basketballs. All the students did great on their quizzes I inferred from the detailed responses they gave back to Coach Frye and they checked their papers. When I came back for fourth block my first six grade class was finishing there good and bad habits that dealt with hygiene and fitness habits. After they were done they were also allowed to play basketball and I played with the usual crowd. Then they had to leave after they changed back out and I went to the door to meet and greet the next class. The next class which is probably my favorite had to do the same quiz and to help out Coach Greenway I stapled and sorted all the kid’s work. Like before they were allowed to play basketball and I played with these three kids, Taylor, Marquee, and Christian. Me and Taylor who is a girl almost beat Christian and Marquee. I’m really started to develop a bond with these kids and my teachers.
Today was an off day in my placement today. Mrs. McFarland was preparing things, in case she had to leave today. I tried to help as much as I could. During the morning news show I went through everybody’s math books and ripped out the worksheets, the class were going to work on today. After the morning news show I took the class to the bathroom. When we got back to the room I monitored the class while Mrs. McFarland gathered some work together. After that she read to the class and then I had to leave.
Today did not go too well. We started the class as usual with the Morning Meeting. However, when the students were back there, they were very rowdy. A lot of them would not follow directions and would not stop talking while Mrs. Catoe was talking. I helped as much as I could with disciplinary comments towards the students. It made Mrs. Catoe very frustrated when they would not listen to me either. She keeps clips with each student’s name on them at the front of the classroom. Based on behavior, Mrs. Catoe will move the clips up and down a poster. A lot of students were told to go move their own clips. Once we returned to our seats, a couple of girls could not stop arguing. They lost recess time and had to move their clips. On the bright side, Mrs. Catoe and I started to plan my lessons. I am so excited!
Today I got to help the kids with their work mainly. They were actually being really good today. Mrs. Mathis said that today was the best they have been in a while. I think that this class is a more challenged class. There is one student who I think really struggles with math. The simple math problems he struggles with. I asked him today what 2 times 9 is and it took him longer than usual to figure it out. I feel like when you are in 8th grade you should be able to do small multiplication. Seeing him struggle on this little problem really shows me the different levels of learning. It is difficult to deal with different levels of learning in one classroom, but Mrs. Mathis works really well on accommodating to them all. I am trying to do the same thing.
Today the students began be working on sentence structure for a warm up. The sentences they used for examples were the sentences from their scary stories that were either run on sentences or fragments. They had to place commas, semi-colons or conjunctions to make the sentence correct. They also had to high light the dependent and independent clause of sentences. I got to walk around and answer some questions the kids had. They reviewed them for most of the class. I also got to read a little more Skeleton Creek to them. I wasn’t quite as nervous about reading to them this time. They really love this book and they love getting to watch the videos that go along with it. They follow along so well and they never talk when I’m reading. It’s so awesome to see them get into the story and get excited about reading. I’m getting more and more involved in the class and I love it!
Today when I arrived I talked to Mrs. Joyner and a few others teachers in the hall. I really felt like a teacher when I did this and it was really neat. When the kids arrived I greeted them and helped them pick the lunch they wanted. After that I sorted books out for Mrs. Joyner and wrote the names of the books on a piece of paper. While I was doing that they did their morning work, so when I got finished I walked around to watch and help them. After that they had their morning meeting where they go over the date, month, numbers, weather, and more. The kids got really excited for this which was really nice to see. During this we talked about how to behave on Veterans Day and what Veterans Day was about. Of course, this led to a bunch of stories from the children. Some of the stories were relevant, but the ones whose stories weren’t relevant made it really funny. After a few minutes of that Mrs. Joyner had to stop story time because there were so many stories. After this I stapled some papers for Mrs. Joyner and then I helped a girl read some words she needed to work on. After that it was time for me to leave, but before I left a girl asked me how old I was again and I told her 17. Her response was “oh boy you’re old.” This made my morning! - Summer
Today when I got to class I greeted the students then waited for the SSR bell to ring. After reading for SSR, I took the attendance and waited for Mrs. Holley to instruct the class what to do. Today we were going to do agilities, which consist of using different equipment to perform different sorts of movements to help you become quick and coordinated. After going over vocabulary words again, students were told to dress out. When they returned they did a run/walk for five minutes before the main activity actually started. The agility drills consisted of four stations. For example, one station was box jumps, this is where five boxes are placed each one getting taller and taller, that the students would have to jump on top of. Also, their were other stations with jump ropes, and another with an agility ladder, where the students would perform a variety of different footwork drills. I found it quite entertaining to watch some of the students for the first time ever doing agility training like this. I reminds me of when I was in ninth grade doing these drills for the first time. Once they were finished, Mrs. Holley allowed them to play basketball or volleyball for the remaining twenty minutes of class.
Today during Mrs. Mason’s class I helped the students read mostly. I would take a student to the back table where I would help them read their books. Once I finished helping everyone read their books we went to the computer lab to take their AR tests. When a student finished their test I would check what they made and write it down and initial it. Once all the students took their tests we went back to the classroom where Mrs. Mason then talked about the importance of Veterans Day such as what it means to be a veteran and why we should be supportive of them. She then let the kids know that they would be writing Veterans Day thank you letters soon. Mrs. Mason then asked the students what qualities a veteran possesses until I had to leave. - Christian
Today, everyone was pretty calm. I received some “heys” and even a hug from the girls. They did their calendar, but Mrs. Gandy stopped them before they could go to circle time. She told them they were going to the library. I was able to stay with the children and watch the librarian interact with the kids. First thing the kindergarteners did was sit down on the floor. When the librarian, whose name I neglected to learn, came over she read “Pete the Cat Loves His Whites Shoes.” The children sat and even helped read the book. It was so cute. After that she explained to them about Veterans Day. They surprised me at their knowledge. Dalton, a boy in my class, told them what Veterans Day is and I was delighted that he actually knew what it is. After they discussed Veterans Day, she sent them to seats to color an eagle and American flag. It was cool because we had just talked about socialization being taught in schools in Government. While they were coloring they got to check out a new book to take home to read. I got a chance to look around the library I used to go to myself so many years ago. I kind of walked around and tried to keep them on task and quiet. They did pretty well but two girls didn’t get “Ram Bucks”. I had to leave shortly after we returned back to the kindergarten classroom. I already love my little ones!
This Tuesday morning we began watching the morning news show. Shortly after this I went around to sign every ones agenda, which they copied down there homework on. Mrs. Smith then reviewed the homework. She didn’t take too much time reviewing, it was more of just giving the answers. At the end she worked out any questions the students had. I noticed today that even though students act as if they understand, the work they turn in shows otherwise. After reviewing Mrs. Smith began another lesson. She followed this by assigning homework, and giving the students time to work on their homework. However, the students don’t have a very broad attention span. They don’t utilize their time efficiently, even with good classroom management. However, as sixth graders I don’t expect them to. Overall I enjoyed the morning, at my placement. - Ben
Today I began both classes by going over the students’ South Carolina Facts with them. Mr. Leininger emailed me the facts for the week and I will be going over the facts with the students from here on out. I did not remember some of the things that were listed, so Mr. Leininger coached me before class on what to focus and expand on. That really helped me to be able to explain the facts to the student and answer their questions about them instead of just read them to them. I feel like I did an awesome job and was proud of myself. After the students and I were finished with the facts, Mr. Leininger played the preamble song. The students are slowly learning and memorizing the preamble. They have to recite it from memory on Thursday and it will count as a test grade. After the students touched on the preamble, Mr. Leininger began the notes. The students focused on what problems South Caroling had after the Revolutionary War. The learned about the economic hardships South Carolina faced and the things they done to help improve the economy. Mr. Leininger blows my mind when he teaches. It amazes me at how someone can take boring information and make you feel like you are watching the Super Bowl. The students react to the information so well because of how he relays the information. I am in love with my placement because of that. I am learning so much from him. I cannot wait until I can teach the students and see if I can relate the information to them as easily and in an entertaining way like Mr. Leininger does.
ReplyDeleteDuring my placement, Mrs. Kahler informed me that she created a lesson that she thought would be perfect for me to teach on Thursday. It focuses around an info graphic that represents tuberculosis. She thought that this would be a great way to begin our study of Edgar Allen Poe. Although I am excited to begin working more closely with the class, I am super nervous about it! Mrs. Kahler has set the bar extremely high and I do not wait to let her or her students down. Hopefully, I can apply the teaching skills that I have learned for Mrs. Sutusky and Mrs. Kahler and make the lesson memorable for my students.
ReplyDeleteToday was the slowest day I have experienced yet. I did get asked to do a new activity when I get to my placement every morning. Ms. Pigg asked me to count the books the kids brought back from reading at home the night before. As I called their names, they would come get their bags and put new books in them. These kids are well behaved, in fact, most of them acted more mature than a typical high school student. Ms. Pigg’s second grade students never fail to impress me with something new each day. Then, the kids went over their morning work with Ms. Pigg that covered nouns, adjectives and numbers. I have started learning whose annoying, who is always behind, and who is always ahead. I really enjoy watching the kids learn and strive to be better. Their reading time really impresses me because they are brave enough to read in front of everyone and confident enough to show their favorite books. I was always shy in elementary school so it makes me happy to see confident students.
ReplyDeleteNovember 5, 2013
ReplyDeleteToday in my placement it was Health Day which meant instead of recreation time mainly the kids had to finish their units on acne and good and bad hygiene habits. My first class was the seventh graders like usual, they were the ones that finished their acne unit. They had to do a six question quiz and I helped collect the papers. Afterwards they were told to sit down against the wall and wait till everybody was done, then I gave out the basketballs. All the students did great on their quizzes I inferred from the detailed responses they gave back to Coach Frye and they checked their papers.
When I came back for fourth block my first six grade class was finishing there good and bad habits that dealt with hygiene and fitness habits. After they were done they were also allowed to play basketball and I played with the usual crowd. Then they had to leave after they changed back out and I went to the door to meet and greet the next class. The next class which is probably my favorite had to do the same quiz and to help out Coach Greenway I stapled and sorted all the kid’s work. Like before they were allowed to play basketball and I played with these three kids, Taylor, Marquee, and Christian. Me and Taylor who is a girl almost beat Christian and Marquee. I’m really started to develop a bond with these kids and my teachers.
Today was an off day in my placement today. Mrs. McFarland was preparing things, in case she had to leave today. I tried to help as much as I could. During the morning news show I went through everybody’s math books and ripped out the worksheets, the class were going to work on today. After the morning news show I took the class to the bathroom. When we got back to the room I monitored the class while Mrs. McFarland gathered some work together. After that she read to the class and then I had to leave.
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteToday did not go too well. We started the class as usual with the Morning Meeting. However, when the students were back there, they were very rowdy. A lot of them would not follow directions and would not stop talking while Mrs. Catoe was talking. I helped as much as I could with disciplinary comments towards the students. It made Mrs. Catoe very frustrated when they would not listen to me either. She keeps clips with each student’s name on them at the front of the classroom. Based on behavior, Mrs. Catoe will move the clips up and down a poster. A lot of students were told to go move their own clips. Once we returned to our seats, a couple of girls could not stop arguing. They lost recess time and had to move their clips. On the bright side, Mrs. Catoe and I started to plan my lessons. I am so excited!
ReplyDeleteToday I got to help the kids with their work mainly. They were actually being really good today. Mrs. Mathis said that today was the best they have been in a while. I think that this class is a more challenged class. There is one student who I think really struggles with math. The simple math problems he struggles with. I asked him today what 2 times 9 is and it took him longer than usual to figure it out. I feel like when you are in 8th grade you should be able to do small multiplication. Seeing him struggle on this little problem really shows me the different levels of learning. It is difficult to deal with different levels of learning in one classroom, but Mrs. Mathis works really well on accommodating to them all. I am trying to do the same thing.
ReplyDeleteToday the students began be working on sentence structure for a warm up. The sentences they used for examples were the sentences from their scary stories that were either run on sentences or fragments. They had to place commas, semi-colons or conjunctions to make the sentence correct. They also had to high light the dependent and independent clause of sentences. I got to walk around and answer some questions the kids had. They reviewed them for most of the class. I also got to read a little more Skeleton Creek to them. I wasn’t quite as nervous about reading to them this time. They really love this book and they love getting to watch the videos that go along with it. They follow along so well and they never talk when I’m reading. It’s so awesome to see them get into the story and get excited about reading. I’m getting more and more involved in the class and I love it!
ReplyDeleteToday when I arrived I talked to Mrs. Joyner and a few others teachers in the hall. I really felt like a teacher when I did this and it was really neat. When the kids arrived I greeted them and helped them pick the lunch they wanted. After that I sorted books out for Mrs. Joyner and wrote the names of the books on a piece of paper. While I was doing that they did their morning work, so when I got finished I walked around to watch and help them. After that they had their morning meeting where they go over the date, month, numbers, weather, and more. The kids got really excited for this which was really nice to see. During this we talked about how to behave on Veterans Day and what Veterans Day was about. Of course, this led to a bunch of stories from the children. Some of the stories were relevant, but the ones whose stories weren’t relevant made it really funny. After a few minutes of that Mrs. Joyner had to stop story time because there were so many stories. After this I stapled some papers for Mrs. Joyner and then I helped a girl read some words she needed to work on. After that it was time for me to leave, but before I left a girl asked me how old I was again and I told her 17. Her response was “oh boy you’re old.” This made my morning! - Summer
ReplyDeleteToday when I got to class I greeted the students then waited for the SSR bell to ring. After reading for SSR, I took the attendance and waited for Mrs. Holley to instruct the class what to do. Today we were going to do agilities, which consist of using different equipment to perform different sorts of movements to help you become quick and coordinated. After going over vocabulary words again, students were told to dress out. When they returned they did a run/walk for five minutes before the main activity actually started. The agility drills consisted of four stations. For example, one station was box jumps, this is where five boxes are placed each one getting taller and taller, that the students would have to jump on top of. Also, their were other stations with jump ropes, and another with an agility ladder, where the students would perform a variety of different footwork drills. I found it quite entertaining to watch some of the students for the first time ever doing agility training like this. I reminds me of when I was in ninth grade doing these drills for the first time. Once they were finished, Mrs. Holley allowed them to play basketball or volleyball for the remaining twenty minutes of class.
ReplyDeleteToday during Mrs. Mason’s class I helped the students read mostly. I would take a student to the back table where I would help them read their books. Once I finished helping everyone read their books we went to the computer lab to take their AR tests. When a student finished their test I would check what they made and write it down and initial it. Once all the students took their tests we went back to the classroom where Mrs. Mason then talked about the importance of Veterans Day such as what it means to be a veteran and why we should be supportive of them. She then let the kids know that they would be writing Veterans Day thank you letters soon. Mrs. Mason then asked the students what qualities a veteran possesses until I had to leave. - Christian
ReplyDeleteToday, everyone was pretty calm. I received some “heys” and even a hug from the girls. They did their calendar, but Mrs. Gandy stopped them before they could go to circle time. She told them they were going to the library. I was able to stay with the children and watch the librarian interact with the kids. First thing the kindergarteners did was sit down on the floor. When the librarian, whose name I neglected to learn, came over she read “Pete the Cat Loves His Whites Shoes.” The children sat and even helped read the book. It was so cute. After that she explained to them about Veterans Day. They surprised me at their knowledge. Dalton, a boy in my class, told them what Veterans Day is and I was delighted that he actually knew what it is. After they discussed Veterans Day, she sent them to seats to color an eagle and American flag. It was cool because we had just talked about socialization being taught in schools in Government. While they were coloring they got to check out a new book to take home to read. I got a chance to look around the library I used to go to myself so many years ago. I kind of walked around and tried to keep them on task and quiet. They did pretty well but two girls didn’t get “Ram Bucks”. I had to leave shortly after we returned back to the kindergarten classroom. I already love my little ones!
ReplyDeleteThis Tuesday morning we began watching the morning news show. Shortly after this I went around to sign every ones agenda, which they copied down there homework on. Mrs. Smith then reviewed the homework. She didn’t take too much time reviewing, it was more of just giving the answers. At the end she worked out any questions the students had. I noticed today that even though students act as if they understand, the work they turn in shows otherwise. After reviewing Mrs. Smith began another lesson. She followed this by assigning homework, and giving the students time to work on their homework. However, the students don’t have a very broad attention span. They don’t utilize their time efficiently, even with good classroom management. However, as sixth graders I don’t expect them to. Overall I enjoyed the morning, at my placement. - Ben
ReplyDelete