I had such a positive experience this year in both the field and in my TE classes (well, most of them... haha). Spending time in the field taught me so much. I got such great experience in working with first graders. My TE classes did such an awesome job at accompanying my field experiences.
My favorite thing about your class, Gina, was roundtable. I really enjoyed being able to tell my colleagues about my experiences in the field, and our discussions helped me get through a lot of situations that I was faced with in my first grade classroom. Our discussion, and your extra research on abuse benefited me so much! It really helped me to handle the situation I was faced with when one of my students was sexually abused. I was aware of the behaviors that this student might express, and was then able to watch out for them. This greatly helped me out with knowing how to treat the student, without being overly protective of her. Thank you all so much for your help in this!
Not only did I have a great time this year, but I also feel that I worked really hard in becoming prepared for my Internship. I am so excited for next year, and despite how I felt at the beginning of the year, I actually feel prepared! I am so thankful for my experiences this year, and I wish all of you luck in your Internship!
Friday, April 25, 2008
Monday, April 21, 2008
Such a Great Feeling!
Today in my placement, I had such an amazing thing happen to me! As soon as the first graders got in from recess, my CT explained to them that she was going to put in a movie about bullies. Last semester, Cassie and I each taught lessons on bullying to our students, so they already had some background information on the topic. We taught the students what a bully was, and also told them that the person who is being bullied is called a target. In my part of the lesson, I used roleplaying activities in which one student acted as the bully and the other the target. I had the students act out how they would handle the situation in a polite and non-harmful manner.
Right as my CT started the movie, one of our students that was sitting near me said, "Miss Booth, the person who is getting bullied is called a target!" I said, "That's great! Who did you learn that from?" The student smiled and said "From you and Miss Knape, remember?" He then went on to tell me how much fun he had acting out the scenarios in my lesson.
After this incident, I couldn't stop smiling! It was such an amazing thing to hear- that my student found my lesson meaningful and that he still remembered the information I presented. It was such a good feeling to have! I have wanted to be a teacher ever since I can remember, and today only strengthened that ambition. I cannot wait to have more of these types of experiences throughout the rest of my life!
Right as my CT started the movie, one of our students that was sitting near me said, "Miss Booth, the person who is getting bullied is called a target!" I said, "That's great! Who did you learn that from?" The student smiled and said "From you and Miss Knape, remember?" He then went on to tell me how much fun he had acting out the scenarios in my lesson.
After this incident, I couldn't stop smiling! It was such an amazing thing to hear- that my student found my lesson meaningful and that he still remembered the information I presented. It was such a good feeling to have! I have wanted to be a teacher ever since I can remember, and today only strengthened that ambition. I cannot wait to have more of these types of experiences throughout the rest of my life!
Sunday, April 13, 2008
Experience From The Field
Last week in my placement, I was able to sit down and talk with my CT for a bit about the Iowa test that my first graders were taking all week. I, personally, think the idea of first graders taking a week-long structured test is ridiculous, and my CT shared the same opinion. I observed the class on Friday, which was the last day of their testing and the students were very clearly drained and had shut down to any class work. My CT simply put in movies for the students to watch in the afternoon, rather than having them work.
I had the opportunity to look through the teacher's guide to the Iowa test. The thing that I was extremely surprised about is that the teacher can read the directions only once for the students. At such a young age, first graders need repetition. Reading the directions only once is in no way going to help the students to complete the test. My CT told me that this was the biggest aspect of the test that the students struggled with.
Finally, my CT told me about one of the students breaking down during the test. One of our students who is an absolute perfectionist started crying during a portion of the test because she didn't know what to do. She was so upset that she ended up going home early in the day and not completing that portion of the test. This is an awful experience for a child so young because from here on out, that student will more than likely have high anxiety about all the structured tests she will have to take in her future.
I am curious to see what you all think about structured tests like this for students so young.
I had the opportunity to look through the teacher's guide to the Iowa test. The thing that I was extremely surprised about is that the teacher can read the directions only once for the students. At such a young age, first graders need repetition. Reading the directions only once is in no way going to help the students to complete the test. My CT told me that this was the biggest aspect of the test that the students struggled with.
Finally, my CT told me about one of the students breaking down during the test. One of our students who is an absolute perfectionist started crying during a portion of the test because she didn't know what to do. She was so upset that she ended up going home early in the day and not completing that portion of the test. This is an awful experience for a child so young because from here on out, that student will more than likely have high anxiety about all the structured tests she will have to take in her future.
I am curious to see what you all think about structured tests like this for students so young.
Basal Reading Programs
After learning a bit about Basal reading programs, my feelings about them are not all too positive. I believe that the intention of creating an organized program to help children with their reading is a good idea, but the limitations outweigh the positives in my opinion.
My biggest problem with the Basal reading programs is it does not allow for different-level readers in the classroom. It is extremely rare that all of your students will be on the same exact reading level as one another, which is what the Basal reading programs are designed for. I like the idea that is talked about in the Tompkins book about teachers trading with other grade-level teachers to accommodate their different-level readers, but this might not always be possible to do in the school. It is extremely important that teachers are able to accommodate their different-level learners, and the Basal reading programs do not allow this in all circumstances.
Other problems that I have with these scripted reading programs is the over-usage of worksheets and the fact that the students do not have a change to practice their reading orally. Too many worksheets seem to hinder the students' motivation and progress in the classroom. Worksheets may become boring for the students, which is what I see all the time in my field placement. Also, not being able to orally practice their reading will not help the students improve their skills whatsoever.
If I had to use one of these scripted reading programs in my own classroom, I would try my hardest to trade books with teachers of different grade levels to accommodate my students. If this was not possible, I would do all that I could to improve my students' reading skills while using the scripted program.
My biggest problem with the Basal reading programs is it does not allow for different-level readers in the classroom. It is extremely rare that all of your students will be on the same exact reading level as one another, which is what the Basal reading programs are designed for. I like the idea that is talked about in the Tompkins book about teachers trading with other grade-level teachers to accommodate their different-level readers, but this might not always be possible to do in the school. It is extremely important that teachers are able to accommodate their different-level learners, and the Basal reading programs do not allow this in all circumstances.
Other problems that I have with these scripted reading programs is the over-usage of worksheets and the fact that the students do not have a change to practice their reading orally. Too many worksheets seem to hinder the students' motivation and progress in the classroom. Worksheets may become boring for the students, which is what I see all the time in my field placement. Also, not being able to orally practice their reading will not help the students improve their skills whatsoever.
If I had to use one of these scripted reading programs in my own classroom, I would try my hardest to trade books with teachers of different grade levels to accommodate my students. If this was not possible, I would do all that I could to improve my students' reading skills while using the scripted program.
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
New Literacy/Technology Project
After the completion of my new literacy project, I definitely learned a lot! I absolutely love exploring new technologies, so this project was a lot of fun for me. The main idea that I got out of this project is how to connect an aspect of literacy (in my case, social literacy) with a new technology (blogging). So many aspects of material taught in a classroom can be expressed through the use of technology, and this project only strengthened this idea.
In exploring social literacy, I was able to see that students' knowledge and ideas can be shared effectively with one another through blogging. Blogging is such a great tool to utilize in the classroom because it gives your students the freedom to share their ideas. Not only do students express their ideas to the rest of their classmates, but the classmates can comment on the ideas, potentially creating a great conversation and a strong classroom environment. Blogging opens the doors for so many opportunities in the classroom because it offers numerous ways of utilizing the technological tool.
In considering the knowledge that I gained from completing this project, it can surely be put to good use in my future teaching. I definitely plan on utilizing several aspects of technology in my classroom, including blogging. This project showed me how easy it is to incorporate material being taught in the classroom with technology. Using technology whenever I can will definitely be more effective in teaching my future students!
In exploring social literacy, I was able to see that students' knowledge and ideas can be shared effectively with one another through blogging. Blogging is such a great tool to utilize in the classroom because it gives your students the freedom to share their ideas. Not only do students express their ideas to the rest of their classmates, but the classmates can comment on the ideas, potentially creating a great conversation and a strong classroom environment. Blogging opens the doors for so many opportunities in the classroom because it offers numerous ways of utilizing the technological tool.
In considering the knowledge that I gained from completing this project, it can surely be put to good use in my future teaching. I definitely plan on utilizing several aspects of technology in my classroom, including blogging. This project showed me how easy it is to incorporate material being taught in the classroom with technology. Using technology whenever I can will definitely be more effective in teaching my future students!
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
Teaching Vocabulary in the Classroom
This week in class, we talked about methods and challenges of teaching vocabulary. In thinking about utilizing vocabulary at the first grade level and looking at the methods used in my field placement, I have numerous frustrations.
I have really not noticed any time set aside for vocabulary instruction in my classroom. Vocabulary is sometimes integrated into other subjects, but is not done so very often. For example, during a math lesson just recently, the first graders learned about greater than and less than comparisons. Because of this particular lesson, the students now understand what greater than and less than mean.
One method that my CT uses for teaching vocabulary is the utilization of worksheets. I would have to say that as far as I can tell, the worksheets are not proving to be effective whatsoever. The use of worksheets to teach vocabulary is not improving the students' skills in reading or writing from what I can tell. The use of only worksheets to teach such a valuable aspect of language arts frustrates me because I feel that students are not getting as much out of the lessons as they could be.
On a brighter note, I have noticed a method that my CT uses that I believe has proven to be rather effective. Every day after the students return from lunch/recess, my CT reads a book to the class. During this time, my CT will read through the book and when she comes to a word that the students might not know, she will take a bit of time to talk about the word and how it relates to the story. This method really helps the students to understand these new words, and they seem to enjoy when my CT introduces new words to them.
I wish that I could see a bit more creativity when it comes to vocabulary instruction in my CT's classroom. I definitely believe that vocabulary should be set aside and taught on its own once in a while. I also believe that vocabulary can be effectively integrated into other subjects as well. With a combination of these two methods and an emphasis on creativity to form lesson plans, I feel that vocabulary could be effectively taught in a classroom. Worksheets are not always the answer!
I have really not noticed any time set aside for vocabulary instruction in my classroom. Vocabulary is sometimes integrated into other subjects, but is not done so very often. For example, during a math lesson just recently, the first graders learned about greater than and less than comparisons. Because of this particular lesson, the students now understand what greater than and less than mean.
One method that my CT uses for teaching vocabulary is the utilization of worksheets. I would have to say that as far as I can tell, the worksheets are not proving to be effective whatsoever. The use of worksheets to teach vocabulary is not improving the students' skills in reading or writing from what I can tell. The use of only worksheets to teach such a valuable aspect of language arts frustrates me because I feel that students are not getting as much out of the lessons as they could be.
On a brighter note, I have noticed a method that my CT uses that I believe has proven to be rather effective. Every day after the students return from lunch/recess, my CT reads a book to the class. During this time, my CT will read through the book and when she comes to a word that the students might not know, she will take a bit of time to talk about the word and how it relates to the story. This method really helps the students to understand these new words, and they seem to enjoy when my CT introduces new words to them.
I wish that I could see a bit more creativity when it comes to vocabulary instruction in my CT's classroom. I definitely believe that vocabulary should be set aside and taught on its own once in a while. I also believe that vocabulary can be effectively integrated into other subjects as well. With a combination of these two methods and an emphasis on creativity to form lesson plans, I feel that vocabulary could be effectively taught in a classroom. Worksheets are not always the answer!
Friday, March 14, 2008
Writing in the Classroom
This week in class, we discussed the writing processes and methods used in the classroom. In my placement, a first grade classroom, writing is incorporated several times throughout the day.
One method my CT utilizes at least once a day is journaling. The students love to write in their journals because they have no limits on what they can write about. One thing that I have noticed from reading through a couple students' journals that can become problematic is the repetition of journal entries. For example, one of my first graders writes about how she loves dogs but hates cats at least once a week. In this case, the same journal entry is being used over and over again, so new words are not being utilized very often.
Another method my CT uses is presenting the students with a writing prompt. This method usually works well because the students are guided in what they are expected to write. However, this process can become problematic at times as well. Some of the students in the class will answer the question that the prompt poses, but do not like to elaborate further on the idea. At times, asking the students to write more than one sentence is like pulling teeth!
The students seem to like writing in their journals more than answering to prompts. However, neither of the methods seem to be very effective in my classroom. I feel that the students feel very self-conscious about their writing because they are not as a whole, an advanced group of students. Almost the entire first grade class struggles in writing, and because of that, they do not seem to enjoy the process.
This class needs motivation to want to write, but it is difficult to find effective ways to do so. I can only imagine my CT's frustration!
One method my CT utilizes at least once a day is journaling. The students love to write in their journals because they have no limits on what they can write about. One thing that I have noticed from reading through a couple students' journals that can become problematic is the repetition of journal entries. For example, one of my first graders writes about how she loves dogs but hates cats at least once a week. In this case, the same journal entry is being used over and over again, so new words are not being utilized very often.
Another method my CT uses is presenting the students with a writing prompt. This method usually works well because the students are guided in what they are expected to write. However, this process can become problematic at times as well. Some of the students in the class will answer the question that the prompt poses, but do not like to elaborate further on the idea. At times, asking the students to write more than one sentence is like pulling teeth!
The students seem to like writing in their journals more than answering to prompts. However, neither of the methods seem to be very effective in my classroom. I feel that the students feel very self-conscious about their writing because they are not as a whole, an advanced group of students. Almost the entire first grade class struggles in writing, and because of that, they do not seem to enjoy the process.
This class needs motivation to want to write, but it is difficult to find effective ways to do so. I can only imagine my CT's frustration!
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