Family Life

After talking with my cooperating teacher for a few weeks, I have found out that students in my class have a wide range of home lives.  Some have parents that are very involved and really care about their child's education.  Likewise, I feel that there are some parents that do not put a whole lot of effort in their child.  

Ms. Lozier has gotten several new students this year, a few even within the time that I have been in her class.  She has the student's parent fill out a sheet, telling a little bit about their child.  In one male student's case what their parent wrote really explains a lot.  One thing in particular that stuck out to me was that the parent asked that their child not be kept inside during recess, even for behavior reasons because they want the child to be able to go outside with the rest of the class.  Ms. Lozier had told us that this student probably had some social disabilities and what the parent wrote made me realize where he gets it from.

I strongly feel that if parents are involved in their child's education, the child is much more likely to be successful.  They need to have equal support both at home and at school.  

Field Experience 3/11

This week instead of being in my usual third grade class, I was in a kindergarten class.  It was such a huge difference.  When I first walked in the students were working on their morning work which consisted of writing a sentence with the word "truck" in it and then drawing a picture.  After this, the class gathered on the rug to do the calendar among other things.  Every Wednesday they get a new word for the week.  This week the word was help and the teacher went over the word and then used it in several sentences to show the students how it was used.  

After the class got through the calendar and their morning routine, they all went to the cafeteria to practice songs the the PTA meeting that was coming up.  This lasted for about 15 minutes.  Once they got back into the class, they finished their morning routine and then went to art.  

In art class the teacher read them a story.  There was one male student that was a special needs student.  He was being very disruptive and loud.  His aid could not seem to be able to calm him down so the art teacher handed him some play dough and he began to play with that.  After the story was finished, the students got to practice making pots out of play dough for the rest of the class.

Once back in the class, they broke off into centers.  A few students got to pick which center they wanted to go to first.  Most went to the dramatic play center and played with kitchen items.  Other centers included a math and science items, painting, and a special science center that was done with the teacher.  The class was just about to change centers when it was time to leave.  

It was very different being in a kindergarten class for the day.  The students are vastly different compared to third grade.  However, it was nice to experience a new environment and do something different for a week. 

Journal 5.4

This class would feel different for each student:

For George, it is probably an exciting experience.  He clearly has some skill level with the alphabet because he is able to associate the "mmm" sound with the letter M.  It is also helpful that David responds positively with encouraging phrases and gives each student the chance to answer.  Children are more apt to participate when they feel encouraged.

On the other hand, Melaney is probably not as excited to be in the classroom.  Unlike George and Elyssa, she does not have a foundation with sound and letter associations.  She does not understand what the other children are saying and what it means.  It is probably hard for her to see the other children actively engaging and seeming to know the answer and she does not.  This scene goes on for 12 minutes, which can seem like an eternity to a first grader.

Journal 10.2

Observation Week 1

I was placed in a third grade class at Springfield Elementary. When I first walked in the classroom, the teacher was a little stressed. She said that it had been a hectic morning and she was running late.  We took a seat in the back of the room and the teacher proceeded to take the lunch order and collect things that needed to be turned in.  

The class was currently reading the Swamp Fox about Francis Marion and they had a homework sheet that was due today.  The teacher went around and checked to make sure that everyone had done it and then they went over every question as a class.  The class was overall very well behaved and whenever the teacher asked any question a vast majority of the student's hands shot into the air.  They all seemed very eager to learn and participate.  

After going over the Swamp Fox the teacher put up two sentences that very ingrammatically correct and had the students call out answers for what need to be corrected.  After this was complete it was time for the class to go to library.  We had some time to talk with the teacher and it turns out that she graduated from the College of Charleston a few years ago so she knows what we are going through.  She gave us so many helpful ideas about what to do for our Language Arts lesson and was very willing to make us copies or get us books we needed.  I think that I am really going to enjoy working in her class this semester.