Week 9 CES

This week I got to observe several kindergarten, first, and second grade classrooms.  I saw a variety of behavior management strategies that I would like to try in my classroom.  During a first-grade reading group, I saw a teacher that used coins for good behavior.  I thought that the coins were a great idea because they are visual.  If  a student is off-task on misbehaving, the teacher takes one of the student's coins away and puts it back into her container.  The students trade in their coins for Gotchas.  They have to earn twenty coins to earn a Gotcha.  I also liked how some teachers placed numbers on their floor for the students to line up.  They called a few number at a time to reduce pushing and arguing to get in line.  Every student had an assigned spot.  I also got to see classrooms with special needs while I was observing.  A couple of classrooms had children with IEPs.  I saw that some of the students with IEPs had to be pulled out for testing.  Many of the students had to have the test read to them for their IEP.  Some students had aides that had to stay with throughout the day.  I saw how challenging teaching can be when there are many different needs in the classroom.

Week 8 CES

This week we learned about the long o sound spelled with -oa and -ow.  I was impressed with my students spelling test grades.  A majority of the class got all of the words correct on their pre-test.  During reading slideshow, the students had to listen to me say the sounds in the words and tell me if I needed to use the letters -oa or -ow.  I think that this activity helped the students because they had to practice listening to the sounds in the words.  A couple of weeks go, I taught them that -ay belongs at the end of a word when the long a sound is the last sound they hear.  I noticed that the students could tell me the rule but could not apply it on their tests.  I used this observation as evident that my change in spelling instruction made a difference.  I also thought of a new way to teach the students how to figure out what is ten less and ten more of a number.  I told them that I was going to pick a number, but I was also going to hide the number chart where they could not cheat.  It caught their attention when I told them that they were not going to be able to look at the chart.  First, I ask the students how many tens and ones a number consisted of.  Then, I explained ten more as having one more ten in the ten's place.  I also explain ten less as one less ten in the ten's place.  We checked all of our answers  on the number chart.  The math test results showed me that they had a better understanding of ten more and ten less without looking at a number chart.

Week 7 CES

This week was my first week of full-time teaching, and I feel like it was a very successful week for me.  I am constantly learning better ways to teach subject matter.  While talking to another teacher, I learned that it is a good idea to give students a few minutes of exploration time when using manipulatives in a lesson.  During this time, they are able to do whatever they like with the manipulatives before the teacher starts the lesson.  Exploration time helps teachers with behavior management if he or she states her expectations after the time is up.  Also, I have learned how important it is to constantly walk around while the students are doing a task. The students are more likely to stay engaged if they know their teacher will walk by and make sure they are doing what they are suppose to be doing.  After praising students for doing well, I have found calling out names and stating my expected behavior very helpful.

Week 6 CES

This week I have been preparing for my full-time teaching.  I think that having more time by myself in the classroom has helped me make spur of the moment decisions on how to do things.  I have learned that things can come up and might alter the lesson I have planned.  Also, I have thought of better ways to do activities that I did not think about while I was planning.  These decisions have shown me the importance of being flexible in the classroom.  On a couple of days, I felt like schedule changes threw me for a loop.  Now, I feel like I am getting better with going with the flow and making last minute decisions if needed.  I have also noticed the importance of reflection.  I think I need to sit down after each day and write the things that worked and did not work from my lessons.  I want to think about how I could do activities differently where I will be better prepared the next time.  This week I noticed that the dry erase markers worked better than the base ten blocks for the place value mats.  When we used blocks, I had at least one person start building with them each day.  I did not have any problems with the markers.  They all liked writing the numbers in the boxes to solve.

Week 5 CES

This week I saw how my students' behavior can change when their schedule is altered.  They have to take benchmark tests, so their whole morning routine was messed up.  The students kept asking many questions because they did not know when they could take AR test or other things they do through the day. Behavior management was even more a challenge for me this week because the students act like they forgot their expectations when started back on our normal routine Thursday. I many more interruptions than I do on normal weeks.  Monday, I plan on going back and making sure that I stay firm where we can go through our daily routines smoothly.  Mrs. Britt had a great suggestion for reading groups. I will walk around to see if any students have questions when my reading groups are changing. This will limit distractions, and I will not be bombarded with questions at the end of my last group.

During math, I need to remember to add my conclusion of the lesson. Also, I think I need to move more quickly through the sideshow where the students can have more time for independent practice. I want to spend a majority of my time on introducing the new material and allowing time for practice.  I want to start using a timer for activities.

Week 4 CES

This week, we learned about contractions.  I really did not know how to explain them to the students when I was studying over the material.  I liked the explanation that Mrs. Britt gave me for contractions.  I used it when I taught the lessons.  She explained that contractions are words that collide together like a car wreck.  Sometimes cars lose parts in a wrecks.  Words can lose letters when they collide together.  I also explained that an apostrophe replaces the letters are missing.  I liked this explanation because it was something that they could relate to.  Last week, I noticed that the students were trying to get ahead of me when we were counting in math slideshow.  I liked how Mrs. Britt stopped the pointer to see if everyone was paying attention.  The students started paying more attention to where my pointer was when I taught on Tuesday.  Next week, I am going to talk to the whole group about how they sit during math slideshow.  After lunch, they are trying to spread out too far, and they are not paying attention as well.  Over the weekend and next week, I need to focus on finding double-digit subtraction games.  Also I need to finish my lesson for the unit. By the second week of my unit, I want to start looking for games for the next weeks material.  I  want to help plan more where I will not feel like I am not doing enough.

Week 3 CES

January 22, 2013
Today was the first day that the students read their short stories to me.  These stories had words in them that were easy for the students to decode.  I was comfortable leading this group because I took methods of literacy  last semester.  As the different groups came back to the table, I noticed that I have to be more repetitive with some groups.  I noticed that I had to be more detailed with groups than others also.  I had to adjust my instruction to how the group learned best.  During one group, I had to give a signal for them to start reading together.  Today was also my first day to take over social science.  I thought that the discussion I had with the class went well.  The students understood what I was trying to ask and were engaged in the discussion.  They loved the book and the activity too.    Finally, I was not clear on what I should do for my sections B and C when I came to school today.  I liked how Mrs. Britt sat down and helped me plan for my unit.  It helped me figure out what goals and information I should include in my unit.

January 23, 2013
The students read their story that they are going to be tested on Friday.  We went over their words to read several times in small groups because it is a short week.  I wanted to give them extra practice because we normally have one more day to practice them.  I was pushed for time today because it took me longer to teach my slideshows.  I think it took me longer because I had to repeat directions many times today.  I felt like I struggled with behavior management.  The class was very talkative, and I had to make several students move their behavior clip.  If they come in the same way tomorrow, I think it might help to talk to the group as a whole about their behavior and my expectations.  I ran out of time and did not have time to do my social science activity.  I think I need to work on managing my time a little better where I can get to everything.

January 24, 2013
Today, I experienced working around several events.  We had a visitor that came to read with the students.  I carried out my regular routine but also called students out to read.  The visitor came at the beginning of our reading slideshow, so I called out my highest level reading group first to go out of the room.  I called on them first because they would have an easier time catching up if I introduced new material.  I allowed the other students to go while I was leading small group reading instruction.  The students were working on workbook pages during this time, so they did not miss much.  I also had to deal with a behavior problem during planning time. During my planning, I saw how the administrators deal with misbehavior.  I thought it was helpful to know what the next step was after my students get sent out of the classroom.  I know who to go to and what to expect now.  I only had a problem with a couple of students today.  We also had a Gotcha party today.  I made sure that I started teaching math as soon as possible because we had to pack up and eat snack early.  I thought that today was a great day to see how teachers have to be flexible.  All of my questions were answered throughout the day.