Feburary 24, 2011

While at the middle school yesterday I was more involved in the class. It was a lot of fun. Towards the end of class the teacher seperated the kids into three goups. One of those groups I got to lead. I worked through the worksheet with them and helped them to understand what they were doing. This helped me to interact with them individually. I enjoyed listening to them speak their opinions on the subject they were learning.

Feburary 10, 2011

1. Yesterday I went back to the middle school to help in the history class. While I was there I was able to witness an observation. One of the principals came to observe the teacher while she taught. This made one of the teachers very nervous and flustered. But I thought she did a good job. Another thing I noticed was a procedure that the head teacher uses to silence the class. When the students were talking to much and she wanted their attention, she would raise her hand and say, "When the hand goes up, the mouth stays shut." This was very affective as it made all the students be quiet and pay attention.

2. The new tardy policy that was put in place on Wednesday has its drawbacks, such as students missing their classes. However, with this policy only being in place for a three days it is already showing its effectiveness. Students are arriving promptly to class for fear of going to ISS. Also, with the addition of an ISS to the students record they would not be able to exempt finals this semester. This provides great motivation for students to not be tardy. Although I do think it would be to the administrations advantage to allow for viable excuses from students who are not usually tardy as there are some situations that are unavoidable and it is a huge inconvenience to miss class especially when they are AP classes.

Feburary 3, 2011

I was not able to go to my class last Thursday, but I do remember some of the procedures the teacher has in place. When the students first enter the room they are supposed to get there homework out. After the teacher collects all the homework the students write in their planner if there is a test and the teacher goes around and circles it and adds her initials. This means the students must get their parents initials to show that the parents are aware that their child has a test coming up. Then the teacher has the class as normal discussing whatever topic they are on. Also sometimes at the end of the class she will give each student a question and they must turn in this slip with the correct answer be fore they can leave class. This helps to make sure the student is paying attention to the lecture and learning the needed material. The way she allows them to get a book is she has a different continent name for each table and when she calls that name, that table may go grab a book from the shelf. I'm sure there are many more procedures but that is all I remember. Another procedure she might have is how they may go to the bathroom.

January 27, 2011

Yesterday was my second time at the middle school helping with the history class. This time I got to stay the whole time so I was able to see the whole first period and part of third. They have odd and even days, alternating each day so one week I see first and third the next I see second and fourth. It is interesting to see the different classes and how with different students in each class it creates a unique environment. Also there was a sub for the co teacher in the class so I got a different perspective on how a teachers teach. I'm starting to see how each child learns in their own way and the teacher must conform to help each student. I also noticed that it helps to bring in other sources, for example the teacher had them read an article from a certain educational magazine. She read out loud stopping periodically to include the students in discussions. I am definitely starting to see the classroom from a teachers perspective.

January 20, 2011

Part 1
The other day in class Mr Fernandez came and talked to us about safety procedures in schools. He told about how every single student has to be accounted for. We got a real live experience with this yesterday. During a senior assembly the fire alarm went off. The whole senior class plus some were all in the auditorium. This caused it to be difficult for everyone to get out of the auditorium in a speedy manner. When we all did get out of the auditorium there was no way to organize us to make sure no one was missing. Students were just hanging around talking with friends waiting until we could go back inside. I have know idea how the teachers and faculty accounted for all of us.

Part 2
The speaker during the assembly was Tony, one of the guys the movie Freedom Writers was based on. He was in that class and had his own hard story. He told us about everything he went through and all the stereotyping that took place. However, he overcame his difficulties and now speaks to others encouraging them to push past stereotypes and everyone telling them they can't. Stereotyping is something everyone does. It is almost like an automatic thought for people and most don't realize they do it. In high school there are many of stereotypes, for example: dumb jocks or uncool smart kids. Overall stereotypes are not good. People must learn that stereotypes do not define them. They can be whoever they want all they have to do is work at it.

January 13, 2011

Thursday was our first day to go back to our classes. I was moved to middle school to help in a history class. However, I was unable to go to that class yesterday because the teacher was not there and had a substitute. So instead I went with the majority of the class to the elemenatry school and made sure everyone knew where to go. I ended up hanging out in the library reading. While I was in there I saw a few classes come in to check out new books. It was cool to see there excitment in finding books to read. There was also a class who came in the library to type up a report of some kind on Mac books. This integration of technology into classwork gives students a great experience. While I enjoyed reading in the library, I am extremely excited to begin with the middle school history class!

Christmas Lesson Plan

Yesterday at the elementary school was the best experience ever. I enjoyed teaching them a lesson so much, it was amazing. When I got there the teacher let me get started right away. The kids were already sitting on the carpet so I joined them and read to them, Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. They sat very attentively during the whole story and seemed to like the book. When I finished the story one of the little boys mentioned how it ended, "Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!" which was the same way the other book they had read in class ended. The teacher and I told them that most Christmas stories end that way. After that I explain what I wanted them to do next, write their own story about a reindeer. I gave them an example of a story I wrote then sent them to their desks to get started. I walked around during this time helping the kids decide what they wanted their stories to be about. I loved seeing their creative side and the things they came up with. One little boy had a bad reindeer who wasn't allowed to pull Santa's sleigh. Another boy who is a little slower than the others was having a hard time getting started, so I sat down with him and worked with him through his whole story. It was awesome seeing what these kids could come up with. After they finished their stories I got them started on the craft. I showed them my example and told them how they have to trace around their foot and both hands to make the face and antlers. I went around helping them trace. They were all so excited about the craft and thought it looked so cool. Even the teacher was really excited about it and said she was going to clear a space outside the room to hang the reindeer and their stories. There was a problem when it came to gluing the mouth down. The pipe cleaner didn't seem to want to stay. The teacher said she would go back through after all the glue had dried to fix the mouths. But besides that it went really well and I had a blast. The kids seemed to legitimately love the craft and that was exciting for me. I had so much fun with this and would love to do it again!