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.