American Foundation 12/08

We had a guest speaker who was really happy and peppy. She talked to us about teaching morals in school. What we should do, could do and what we shouldn't do. Although we have discussed it a few times it's letting me know that there is no way around it somehow and sometimes we will discuss moral issues. We as a teacher can try to avoid it but it will always come back to us. She also talked about teachers roles in 4 categories. The one I found to be interesting is having a role in political issues. We can teach our students about politics by holding democratic processes in our classrooms and by making them apart of the process.

American Foundation 12/1/08

We discussed in class the pros and cons of having a smaller class. Although I have really no impact on whether the school has smaller classrooms or not I can see the benefit of them and see why they could be stressful to obtain. I want my students to be well rounded and not burnt out from not having any specialty classes. Schools sometimes have to cut back on such classes as music and PE to pay for the extra teachers, classrooms and supplies. I think it would be stressful for me as a teacher to have high strong students. However classroom management is harder when there are more students. My school did early birds and later gators where they have 8 students come earlier then the rest. They get a lot more one and one time with the students during this hour. Then at the end of the day they go home an hour earlier then the rest and then they get one on one time. I feel like this is the best way to meet in the middle for schools, teachers and students for all to benefit the most out of it.

American Education 11/24

Today we talked in class about teaching students about characters and values, and if we teach students about them. I feel like in my class I will talk about things like good citizens. I feel like talking about something along the line of moral issues is overstepping our ground as teachers. It could upset the parents and their beliefs. However by putting up rules and discussing how to be a good citizen we can hope they will become a good citizen. I can't push my beliefs and morals onto my children I can just set classroom rules.

Field week 3

Well it was our wrap up week in the classroom. Geneva was an excellently ran elementary school where our teacher was well prepared. I enjoyed being out with the children and being able to teach the students about nutrition. We were wrapping up our personal readers with the children and our running record. I got lucky when doing my running record my student was able to do both of them in the realm of instructional. My partner had to do about 12 she was either perfect on them or completely bombed them. I really enjoyed my field work and it was hard to leave my students and go back to my classes.

Field Week 2

On Monday we taught our first lesson on nutrition. It was about the food pyramid what is in it and how much of each category is suppose to be eaten. At first the students struggled with understanding what we meant by the foods. They told me that eggs where a vegetable. I explained what puts each food into each category. What was the key part of each category. Tuesday we went over poem for the children and then recapped what we taught on Monday. We then did an assessment by having them put pictures of food in each category. If they put it into the wrong category we broke down why they thought that and then why it went in the other category. On Wednesday we went over what makes up the parts of nutrition. Everyday since Tuesday we have gone over the poem with the students to make sure they understood it. So far our lessons have went over well. Starting Monday we are doing our abc book and finishing up our case study.

First week of field

The first week of field was good because it helped me understand the 1st grade a little better. I'm in a classroom of about 19 children. They have a system where 9 students come in at 8 called the early birds. We focus in on them with writing stories, reading and reading groups. Then at 9:10 the rest of the students show up. They are known as the later gators and they will stay an hour after the early birds leave. Our group is with 3 students only they are ones who are struggling with reading more. Fluency doesn't come easy for them and they will sound out words and then guess a completely different word. For example one of the students was sounding out the word ran and he would say r-an, r-an, run. This has been hard for me cause we are teaching in an area that is a little more poor. I've watched children come to school without jackets on when it's snowing, or look like they haven't bathed much. They have to do charity drives for jackets and shoes for the students. We are now getting prepared for next week because we are teaching our science lesson on nutrition and starting our personal readers. I hope this week goes well.

American Foundation 10/27

Today we talked about school shootings and the fear they put into students, teachers and communities. This really hits home because every time a new fear is installed in me about the affect I could have on a student. Also when I was a student in middle school after Columbine I was scared to go to school. I feel like as a teacher I need to help children feel safe in my classroom by going over plans for students safety. Practicing what to do in case of an emergency so children do not get scared if it really did occur. Also by being a good teacher to all my students and not ignoring any of them especially if they are showing that they are outcast from the other students. We talked about introducing new groups and programs at the schools for the students. I would like try to help introduce some ideas to the principal and the society.