This Week in the Classroom

This week, the students in the classroom I am in have been performing research methods to find out more information on the country, Italy. They are doing this because the entire school building is having a sort of "Around the World" theme this Friday, where every classroom is a different country. Other students and even parents will be able to view each classroom. Every class gets the opportunity to research information on their assigned country and display it in whatever way they want. My classroom is going to have about three or four different stations. One station will represent the Carnevale, which is a big celebration in Italy. I helped some students make a banner for it. Three girls will dance and show the spirit of Italy underneath the banner. Another station, some boys have created their own home-made boat made of poster paper and it looks awesome. It's pretty big too! They are currently working on painting it. I am not sure what the boat is actually supposed to represent, though, since I was not there in the creation of it. I have also walked around and helped some students as they wrote down some facts on the country, such as jobs, when Italian people work and when they eat their meals. This information will be presented in a PowerPoint station that will be shown at another station. Though the whole "research" aspect of this Italy theme is not all just writing numerous amounts of information for every student, they are still learning how to obtain facts and apply them to what they are trying to show others. I can't wait to see how it all turns out on Friday!

Satisfaction

I was only able to get into the classroom once this week because my school had Monday-Wednesday off, although I was able to be there for 2 1/2 hours today.

The majority of the time I am in the classroom I feel as though they are not doing much literacy either (like marie03 mentioned). Today my cooperating teacher told me to help whichever push-in teacher needed my assistance. Because neither needed much help, one of them just had me sit down and help a group of students cut out pictures of money for the project that they're working on. She said, "Feel free to talk to them, about anything really, because these children need to be immersed in as much language as they can. Talk to them about anything, their life, anything." So I did. Because of their hispanic backgrounds and the culture they are immersed in they talk differently and are at times timid to speak in English in fear of saying the wrong thing. For example, a little girl said "color" but pronounced it as "codor" and I was able to bring it to her attention and she corrected herself. She would also ask me questions that in order to get the answer you must think logically and critically, and instead of telling her the answer I would assist her in finding the answer herself. I feel as though rich conversation like this is not available to these children at home and it is nice to be able to give them such opportunities.

I was also there for math time today. My job during math time is to walk around and help the students who need help with their addition problems. Today I realized how satisfying it is when I can help students figure the answer out on their own and see how happy their faces are to know that they were able to do it and that they made me and the teacher proud.

Although I am not directly focused on literacy and reading I still feel as though applying what I have learned throughout my college education is having a positive impact on the children I'm working with and will benefit the way I approach educational settings in the future.

-Ashley

Scholastic Reading Counts

I'm going to post again today, because I missed last week's, which I'm very sorry about! Also- I'm really excited about what I did in my placement today! In addition to being in charge of the oral clozes, my teacher has asked me in the past to keep track of the students' scholastic reading counts points. They get these by reading books in the classroom, at different levels, and then taking tests on them. Some of the students have 25 points, while others are up to 83. Today, my teacher asked me if I had any ideas that would encourage them to read more. I've noticed that many students in the class are very interested in music, especially Selena Gomez. So, I recommended having a music day and keeping track of their points on an ipod picture. She loved it and let me have complete creative control of the project. I found a picture online of an ipod and added lines to it increasing in amounts of 25 (0-200) to look like a thermometer. Then, I labeled them with their names and laminated them and colored in up to the line of their points number with an expo marker. At the end of the year, if every student has gotten at least 100 points, we will have a music day in the class and listen to Selena Gomez. Ms Kobel, my cooperating teacher, said that any student who completes 200 points will receive new headphones. I got to announce this to the class and they're so excited! I love being able to connect music to reading! I took a picture of the poster that I made and at the end of the semester I'll post another one to show their progress.

Literacy & Math Blended Activities

I haven't been to my placement this week thus far, considering the school district I am placed in had off Monday-Wednesday. So, I'll continue on a bit from last week and address my concerns. I know we're supposed to help address literacy needs and help students grow stronger in the literacy area, but the classroom I am in for my placement is strictly all math at the time I am there. The Reading and Writing block in my classroom is during the mornings, and since I arrive at 11:30, I miss it. As much as I love math, this is upsetting to me because I want to be able to tutor the students in literacy as well, but my cooperating teacher is strict about the math block. As I stated last week, the students rotate through centers and I run the math game center most of the time. Even though my cooperating teacher has certain games assigned for each day, I want to be able to create something of my own some days; not just a math game, but something fun where I can tie literacy in as well. The centers rotate about every 15 minutes and I have no idea what I could do in that amount of time. I feel like 15 minutes is not much time at all. If either of you have any ideas please let me know; it would be a great help! I'm hoping my cooperating teacher will let me do something along these lines!

Placement!

I'm in the same classroom that I was in last semester. It's two classes, actually. One is a 3rd grade ELA AIS class and the other is a 4th/5th grade ELA AIS. Because I've already worked with these students, I know what to expect from them and their personalities, which is awesome. I loved going back because they were all so excited to see me! For some reason I thought they would have forgotten me over the break, but they didn't. Hopefully I'm making an impact!

In the third grade classroom, the teacher does a whole group workshop with them. They start this by doing a "Step up to writing prompt" where they write a short 'essay' or a letter. Then, they have a work book activity to do. After this, they work on the computer for forty minutes. Basically, during this time, my cooperating teacher takes advantage of the fact that I'm there by having me make copies and laminate things for her. I actually kind of like this, because I get bored walking around watching the kids on the computer. I also have gotten a feel for what the faculty does during their free time because the copier and laminator are located in the teacher's lounge. It's cool to hear them talk to one another, and sometimes I'm even involved.

The 4th/5th grade is separated into centers. They start off in whole group, where the teacher does a "step up to writing" with them. Then, they are separated into small group, when they work usually in workbooks, computers, when they do Read 180 and System 44, and independent, when they do independent reading. The latter is the group that I usually work with. Last semester, I would have the students read out loud to me, but now that they know me, and the teacher trusts me, I get to work specifically with students. I do oral clozes with them every Tues/ Thurs. I made them each individual folders to keep track of their progress, and I'm actually hoping to use their success in portfolios of my pre-professional work!

Placement

I have been placed in a second grade classroom with a lot of ESL students. I think it would be safe to say that at least two-thirds of the classroom is made up of ESL students. In the classroom there is also a huge range of ability. For example, during math time the kids are working on simple subtraction. Some kids understand it, some don't. There are two girls, however, who are working on two and three digit multiplication problems. I would say that is a big gap. Also, during reading and writing time, some kids can form their own sentences while some students can't even pair up upper and lowercase letters.

When I arrive at the classroom on Tuesdays and Thursdays the children are grouped into three groups, slightly based on their level of knowledge. There is a reading group, and writing group, and one other group I haven't been able to sit in on yet. During the reading group I assist the push-in reading teacher with her students. My first day I helped to elicit answers from the children pertaining to the project they were working on. Once elicited, I would write the sentence on a white board and they would copy it into their journals. The second day I just helped any student who needed help writing a sentence on "the funniest part in the book" and another sentence on their favorite holiday. During these activities I don't use any specific strategies because I don't have time to plan before hand because I am never sure what they'll be doing. I do use what I have learned in my speech classes to elicit responses though.

My coordinating teacher said that Tuesdays I will be working individually with one child who "uses baby talk but is well aware of it." While Thursdays will probably be devoted to math time. The teacher said that I might work with the girls who are ahead of the class while she works with the struggling students.

Because of her tight schedule I am not finding any time to plan my own lesson or assess any students, but that could change with time. I am enjoying what she has me doing now though and just helping out with any student or sitting down with one and making sure they are on track, because as a speech pathologist I may be doing things of that sort if I happen to work in a school.

Overview of placement

I am in a first grade classroom, containing of mostly ESL students. In fact, one of the students speaks only Spanish; he just moved here less than a week ago from Mexico. At the time I come in for tutoring, it is math time in the classroom, in which the class participates in math centers that rotate every fifteen to twenty minutes. When I am there, I usually help out in two of the four centers, depending on where my cooperating teacher wants me to go. Sometimes, I run the math game center. In this center, there are simple games that can be done in either pairs or done alone. These games always include some form of counting. In one game, the students must add up number cards in a competition to see whose sum is greater. During another game, students must count either heads or tails when poured out on the ground from a cup. A third game includes having a select number of chips in a cup, taking some out, and finding how many are still in the cup without looking. In this center, I help the students find strategies and ways to add and subtract in a way that they could better understand. The other center I run is the iPad center. Here, I give students ideas and suggestions on what math learning games to play for the time block. I like this center the least because it does not involve much of my help; it only promises that the students won't get too out of hand with their behavior. As you can see, I do not do any type of reading activities because of the time I come in during the days.