SC Model of Teaching

The model that sounds so interesting to me in the Montessori model.  I enjoyed learning about it and hearing about how it works. 

I found it very interesting that this method is primarily focused around letting the child dictate how they will spend a majority of their time at school.  All necessary materials are readily accessible to students which I think helps students become more independent learners and take responsibility for their own learning at an early age, which I think is an important skill to develop.

This method is also somewhat easier on the teachers because most of the materials are self correcting, so the student does not necessarily need the teacher when they have a problem.  Each environment is carefully prepared and thought out so that the activity is thought provoking and engaging for the students. Students also start out with important life lessons such as how to button a jacket or zipping a zipper.  It is surprising how many children do not know how to do these simple tasks.

The only downside that I have found with the Montessori method is that a majority of time is spent doing individual activities rather than small group work.  I feel that especially for young children small group work is very important.  Other than that I thought the Montessori method of education was very interesting and I would love to be able to learn more about it.

Field Experience 4/22

Sadly, this was my last week in my field class.  Over this semester, I have really enjoyed being in this class and going each week.  I have also come to really appreciate third grade.  I think that this is such a fun and exciting age to teach.  My cooperating teacher was absolutely amazing.  She always went above and beyond, making sure that Miriam and I were prepared and was so helpful when it came to planning lessons.  It was also very evident that she truly loved her job and as a result had such a positive relationship with her students.  

We had decided the previous week that Miriam and I wanted to do something for both Ms. Lozier and the students.  We decided on cupcakes for the students and a gift card for Ms. Lozier.  When we got there on Wednesday, we played Bingo with the students and just had fun with them on our last day.  Throughout the time we were there, students were constantly coming up and thanking us for being in their class and giving us huge hugs.  After their special area, we passed out the cupcakes and gave our gift to Ms. Lozier.  Little did we know, they also had something for us.  Two students presented us with a gift bag.  In this gift bag was a Springfield Elementary T-shirt that each student had signed the back of and some wrote a short note.  They also had each written us a letter.  They almost brought tears to my eyes.  Each letter was so sweet and they all thanked us again for "taking time off to come and teach them each week." I felt so appreciated and welcomed.  I will keep all of those notes forever, along with the T-shirt.  This day also reaffirmed my decision to be a teacher, specifically third grade.

I feel so blessed to have such an amazing field experience this semester.  I learned so much, specifically beyond the "teacher" part.  It made me excited to have my own classroom full of students one day.

Field Experience 3/25

This week was the week that I taught my math lesson.  I was not nervous at all for the first two lessons but I was for this one .  I think it was because I have never seen a math lesson taught in this class before.  It is always taught in the afternoon and I just was not sure what the students were expecting in a math lesson.  I was also teaching about telling time which I feel is a hard concept to understand in itself.  The teacher also asked me to emphasize the concept of quarter hours as well because the students were having some trouble with it.  Not too mention it was just one of those mornings for me in which I was just not all together.  

The lesson did not go as I had thought it would in my head.   It didn't necessarily go badly, just differently than I had planned.  The students were again very engaged and very enthusiastic the whole time which helped me a lot.  Even though this lesson did not exceed my expectations like the other two, I still enjoyed doing it and learned a lot from it.

Field Experience 3/18

This was the week that I taught Miriam and I taught our Social Studies lesson.  We had everything planned and ready to go when we got into our classroom that morning.  Then we were thrown for a loop so to speak.  Our cooperating teacher asked us to incorporate a worksheet and a graphic organizer into our lesson.  We had never seen either of the two before were now being asked to teach them both.  So we talked it over and decided that Miriam would teach them both because they went along with her part of the lesson better than mine.  We were teaching all of the symbols for South Carolina such as the state tree, bird, animal etc.  I had the students turn to that specific page in their Social Studies and went over each symbol and the significance of it with the class.  Miriam then taught the two extra worksheets and went over the symbols again with the class.  After that we played Symbol Pictionary in which I drew a picture of the symbol on the board and the students had to guess what symbol I was drawing.  

Overall the lesson went really well.  I think this was the first time that I have ever had to be that flexible when it comes to teaching.  But I thought Miriam and I both adjusted fairly well and did not let it affect anything.  The students were also very engaged throughout the entire lesson which is always helpful.

Experience writing the Long Range Plan

When I first heard that we had to write a Long Range Plan I was very confused.  I just was not sure what to expect in the beginning.  I talked to my cooperating teacher about it and tried to find out exactly what it was and what I needed to do.  Once I started writing the first two sections it became much easier.  I thought it was helpful that list the demographic information about the students and to be aware of who is in your classroom.  

However, I found it rather difficult to actually plan the lessons.  I have found it hard this semester to plan fictitious lessons.  In the past it has been easier to plan lessons with actual students in mind.  It was only difficult for the first two lessons and then it got easier after I decided what I wanted to do.  

Overall, this project will prove to be very helpful in the future.  After talking with my cooperating teacher I have realized that these will be part of teaching career.  

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.