Arts of the World Center

In one of my classes we have to make and Arts of the World center. You just pick a culture and activity to go along with it that the other students in the class will make on the day you signed up for.

At first I didn't know what to do for this, so I made sure to sign up for a later day. I was thinking of dream catchers, but two girls have already done this before my turn. The teacher did say it was fine to do something that somebody else has done, but I thought of something else that I liked better.

I picked Japanese Fans!

The best thing about this is that I already have fans that I can share with the class. I bought pre-made fans that they can decorate and design on their own. I was going to have them just fold paper and glue two sticks on the end to make it more like a fan, but I tried it and it didn't work well. I had trouble finding fans that wouldn't cost too much, so I ended up buying some online. I'm not sure that they are going to be able to decorate them though. They are kind of cheap and will break easily. i'm going to take paper with me, so they can decorate on them too.

Here is the board I decorated:

Student Teaching: Day 6 (Semester 6)

I felt nervous throughout most of the day because I wasn't sure if I was going to have to do a Read Aloud or not. We ended up not having time to which was fine by me since I wasn't sure what exactly I would have to do anyways. My  cohort professor showed up during reading groups time and I was on the rug by myself working with the students reviewing their letters that they were going to mail.

We discussed that she needed to come in and observe me formally during a lesson. It's best if me and Anne do a lesson on the same day, so then she can see both of our lessons. I just got an email from her and in it she says what days she is going to be in the area and the one day she is not going to be there is the day I was planning a lesson for. I don't know why she can't come that day and that's a really bad day to not be down there because the week afterwards the students will be on spring break that Thursday and on that upcoming Monday a lesson is due. Everybody is going to be doing lessons next week and the following week, though she is only going to be visiting one of the days.

Back to how the day went at placement, Today the students don't have class because it's already the end of the third quarter. Me and Anne had to do a lot of grading before the school started, during the day, and some more at the end of the day. Anne would post the grades in the online grade book and I would put them into their cubbyholes. We missed planning time with the teachers because we were grading and putting them away. We took down work their Saint Patrick's Day art work that was hanging outside too and put in their cubbyholes.

Next week I get to do the morning routine with them. Right now I'm blanking on everything that that is done during it. The students will tell you what you have to do if you miss something and really they are doing most of the work for it, so I'm not too worried. Anne did the morning routine this time and that's how it went for her. Besides this is not for a grade, but just to practice more with working with students.

I didn't have Friday class today because my professor is buying a house and today was closing day I believe for it. I also don't have class on Monday, so that gives me a nice four day weekend. I need it to work on my literacy bag and do some finishing touches on my Arts of the World. I also need to type of my cognitive report and work on a group lesson plan too. All of these assignments are due this week.

Next Semester Schedule

We have already gotten our schedule for the fall semester. My cohort doesn't have the best schedule. Also there are some mistakes with the schedule and so there might be some changes.

Here is the picture is picture of all of the cohorts schedule. I'm in Cohort C.

I don't know if I have said this, but in my cohort we are mostly a commuter cohort, so on Tuesday that is going to be such a long day for us. I feel like I'm in a rock and a hard place and I can't decide if I should buy a car. The car I drive is not the best car for commuting everyday. Also it's not my car, but my parents car. I don't have to buy are car, though I kind of want to buy one now and pay it off before graduating. I just don't know because after this fall semester I'm not going to be driving to college much anymore since I will be full time student teaching.

Back From Break

Instead of freaking out that it's Monday and Spring Break is over, Just....... 

Yeah so what Spring Break is over and it's going to be my last one because next spring semester I have to student teach, though I hopefully have one when the kids are off for their Spring Break. Only 8 more weeks, including this week, until the semester is over. Ok. That still seems like a lot. It will go by quicker then it will feel though.

Class was fine today. We also got a day off next week for class which, is good because we have group presentations that we have to do and my group would have gone next week and now we don't have to. I'm having a little bit of a problem because I needed my feedback form today and so far I haven't gotten it. I also feel like it's all my fault too, even though I know it's really not. I think my professor would just say that anyways.

Here's what happened; when I did my lesson my mentor didn't really observe me, but I didn't think this would be a problem since she did the same thing with Anne's first lesson. I sent the feedback forms to my mentor Wednesday afternoon and I didn't get a response back from her until late last night. She said that since she did not see my lesson that I could tell her some positive and negatives and then she would email me back. I emailed her right back with my thoughts on the positive and negatives. I'm hoping that she will send me and email back soon with it because the feedback is due today.

If I turn in the feedback late, it shouldn't be too many points off right? Another problem is that this assignment is due online once I turn it in I can't add more stuff too it, so I haven't really turned anything for my lesson and that just makes me more worried.

Spring Break Over

The one thing that I don't like about having breaks is that they go by so fast. One day I planning out what I want to get done and the next day I have to go to school again. Though, I have to say that I was able to get a lot done, which I'm very happy about. 

I got everything done that is due this up coming week like the Lesson plan reflections, Blank Canvases, Articles Summary. I also completed parts of other projects like the Literacy Bag and Prop Box which aren't due until a little while, though I still need to do a few other little things for them. I finished my Arts of the World Poster and materials for it and that's not due until April 1. 

I didn't get to do everything that I wanted like wash the car and that was because it has been too cold out to wash it. Hopefully I can do a quick wash this weekend because the weather is to get warmer. Also the library was annoying and wasn't open some days so then I couldn't work to much on my Prop Box and Literacy Bag. The games need to relate to the books. 

Must To Do:

• Literacy Bag ideas and games(3)
• Prop Box ideas and games(5)
• Arts of the World Center
• Author Study
• Lesson plan reflections
• Blank Canvases
• Shared Reading Lesson Plan
• Articles Summary

Other To Do:

• Clean room
• Schedule lessons
• Write lessons
• Get organized
• Wash car
• Write part of Cognitive Report

There was also other things that I did that I forgot to put on my list like emailing my mentor the feedback forms, writing Journals 3/4/5, and writing reflective narratives for my lessons I taught. All of these items are important because they are due when I get back from break.

Spring Break Working

It's been really great having this week off, too bad I can't have work off also. It's still really nice not having to drive and save some money on gas. I glad to have this time to clear my head and get all of my ideas for all of the different projects straightened out. 

I feel so much better and calmer about everything that is due now, though I think I have been the least stressed out compared to the others in my cohort. I think there are going to be a few people who are going into their placement to teach all of their lessons. I think that is a tad crazy. We have plenty of time to complete everything. 

Just think, we will have so much more to do when we really become teachers. Besides I think all the work is manageable. Tons of other students have also done this before us. It's all about planning each assignment out head of time before they are due. Talking ahead of time to your mentor about lessons you want to teach and when you want to teach them.  

I wen to the library yesterday and it was closed because there was no heat in the building. That's a set back for working on my Literacy Bag and Prop Box because the games need to relate to the books. I feel like I haven't gotten much done, but have been working on a lot on everything. I know what I'm going to do for the Arts of the World Center I just need to type it all up, print it, and glue it to the board. 

Here is what I have done so far;

Must To Do:

• Literacy Bag ideas and games(3)(1)
• Prop Box ideas and games(5)
• Arts of the World Center
• Author Study
• Lesson plan reflections
• Blank Canvases
• Shared Reading Lesson Plan
• Articles Summary

Other To Do:

• Clean room
• Schedule lessons
• Write lessons
• Get organized
• Wash car
• Write part of Cognitive Report

Spring Break Plans

Spring Break is finally here. Honestly it doesn't feel like I have been in school that much, though I did have quite a few snow days here and there. My spring break might not feel to much like spring right now because it's snowing, though hopefully by the end of the week it will be nicer to sit outside and soak up some rays.

Oh, by the way, Happy St. Patrick's Day!

It might be called Spring Break, but I have a lot that I want to do and try to complete before school starts next week. I made two different lists that I want to work on. I also need to send my mentor the reflection forms to complete because those are also due.

The first list is stuff that I have to work and try and complete because they will be do soon. The other list is stuff that I would like to try and work on if I have time to after completing everything in the first list.

Must To Do:

• Literacy Bag ideas and games(3)
• Prop Box ideas and games(5)
• Arts of the World Center
• Author Study
• Lesson plan reflections
• Blank Canvases
• Shared Reading Lesson Plan
• Articles Summary

Other To Do:

• Clean room
• Schedule lessons
• Write lessons
• Get organized
• Wash car
• Write part of Cognitive Report

Student Teaching: Day 5 (Semester 6)

This is going to be a rushed post because it's getting late here and I still have things I need to do before class tomorrow morning. FYI I do write my blog posts the day before, so then they go up at the same time everyday that I post.

Student teaching today was good. I did my second lesson plan. I have stuff that I need to improve on. I got nervous because this time my mentor sat right at the table while I was doing my lesson, so I get more nervous. During the second reading group I forgot to do that actual activity with the students. I did my motivation, read the book, and jumped right into the worksheet. I don't know where my brain was. I didn't realize this until five minutes left in the lesson. 

It was not that big of a deal. My mentor said that she didn't even notice. She gave me a few suggestions. I didn't know that there was a evaluation form that she needs to fill out, I knew she had to give feedback, but didn't know my professor posted this until later today. 

On Monday when I did my first lesson, it was more relaxed and she didn't directly watch it. I just pulled a few kids from their center and did my lesson on the side with them. Also the kid that the lesson was really suppose to help wasn't there, so everybody else knew what to do since it was so easy.

                       

Anyways, Spring Break is here or almost. I still have class Friday morning and I have to work. My boss couldn't talk to me Thursday night about what is going to happen with my hours. I asked her if she at least got to talk to the owners. She said yes and it doesn't seem promising for me with what else she said. Work is annoying. 

Lesson Plan: 2 (Semester 6)

Here is a lesson plan that I have wrote up for one of my classes. In this class I have to write three lesson plans and implement two of the lesson plans. I decided to teach this one and just to get it out of the way while I don't have too much on my plate. Ha! I always have at least three items on my pla

Note: I got part of my idea for this lesson from Wild About Firsties with the "Dust Bunnies" jar.

Phonological Awareness Lesson: Rhyming

Objectives:

1. Students will be able to learn rhyming words by sorting the words into the jars.
2. Students will be able to learn rhyming words by coloring the matching rhyme words and creating their own. 

Common Core Standard:

• CCSS.Content.ELA.RF.K.2a Recognize and produce rhyming words. 

Materials:

• Pom Poms
• Jars
• Pencils
• Crayons
• Rhyming Dust Bunnies by Jan Thomas
• What Rhymes with Bug? Worksheets
• Hat
• Stuffed cat

Introduction:

• I will ask the children "what does rhyming mean?" Then I will show them a hat(stuffed cat inside) and say that there is something inside the hat. "Do you know what could be in the hat?" Then I will pull out the cat and say "There was a cat inside my hat! What do you think about that? Do hat and cat rhyme?" They should say yes.

Procedures:

• I will tell that I have a new exciting book about rhyming that I want to read to them. I will tell them to listen for rhymes in the story. After reading the story I will pick a few friends to tell me the rhymes they heard in the story. 
• After that I will tell them about a problem with the dust bunnies(make something up) and now I need help sorting them into the correct jars that they belong in. I will have each child with one dust bunny.
• I will call the children up by calling the "Cat Jar" rhymes and the children with the words that rhyme with cat will place it into the jar. I will do the same for the other two jars.
• We will then go over the words in the jar as a class and make sure that they are in the correct jar.

Assessment:

• The students will complete 'What Rhymes with Bug' worksheets at their desk.

Note: I typed this a little while ago before I got feedback from my mentor about the lesson plan, so in the pictures it's a little different then the original plan. I'm going to be doing this lesson to two small groups and the one group is not on grade level, so I made their dust bunny words with pictures and the other group without. I also have a different assessment for them, but I didn't post that on here. 

Lesson Plan: 1 (Semester 6)

For one of my classes I need to teach a small group of students with slower development or special needs a lesson. I asked my mentor earlier this week what she would like me to teach them because I want it to be beneficial to the students. She told math would be good and then when I went on Wednesday she said something about number recognition. I thought I would do that since they are doing addition and are about to do subtraction. If the students don't know their numbers then they are going to have a hard time doing math problems.

This lesson my kind of last minute because I was going to teach it sometime during my spring break, which is next week, so I had to think of an idea quickly and get the materials ready in less then a week.

Math: Number Recognition

Objectives:

1. Students will recognize numbers 1-10 by adding spots to ladybugs and writing that number.
2. Students will recognize numbers by coloring the pictures based on the numbers.

Common Core Standard:

CCSS.Math.Content.K.CC.A.3 Write numbers from 0 to 20. Represent a number of objects with a written numeral 0-20 (with 0 representing a count of no objects).

Materials:

• Crayons or Markers
• Pencils
• Big Ladybugs
• Ladybug Spots (size of water bottle cap)
• Ladybug Worksheets
• Glue stick
• Slimy Snail/Dazzling Dragonfly Worksheet

Introduction:

• The teacher will tell the students that she caught some ladybugs outside the other day. The teacher will take out one of the ladybugs and ask the students "What is this on the ladybug" while pointing to the number on the ladybug. 
• The students should say it's a number or they will say what the number is.

Procedures:

• Next the teacher will ask the students if they notice anything missing from the ladybugs. They should say their spots. 
• The teacher will pull out one of the ladybugs and pick a student to add the spots to the lady bug. 
• The students will have the worksheet in front of them and the students will write which ladybug it is in the box and then add the spots on the ladybug.

Assessment:

• Students will complete the Slimy Snail/Dazzling Dragonfly worksheet at their desk and turn it when finished.

PS: I created the Big Ladybugs and the Ladybug worksheet so feel free to click on the pictures or in the materials list to download if you want to use them.

Student Teaching: Day 4 (Semester 6)

I can't believe I have only been there four times. I feel like I have been there more then that. The staff at that building is so nice. I have had so many people greet me in hallways and say if I need anything to ask them for help. It's been great. I hope I work at a school with teachers like that. The principal bought Dunkin' Doughnuts for the teachers, which was really nice of him.

The field trip that we went on wasn't what I was expecting, but it was still great and the most important thing is that the children had a great time. Though it went past their lunch time, so the children were hungry and they were complaining about it. I had a few ask me towards the end if it was time to go home yet.

The children got to do different activities that were related to what astronauts do and the activities were all age appropriate. The bus ride there and back was so bumpy. We left for the field trip at 8:20 and got back around 11:50. We had lunch until about 12:20 then they wrote in their journals and me and Anne had to go around and write down in their journals what they had wrote. After that they had a science test. Then it was 1:10 and they did math counting for the rest of the day.

Anne did a small lesson today and it seemed to go fine. I was grading a test they just did and my Mentor was doing stuff with the other students on the rug while Anne taught the lesson at the reading groups table. The mentor teacher wasn't standing behind her or constantly watching what she was doing. If she does the same thing for me then I feel that I will do fine and won't get as nervous.

I don't have class on Monday, so I'm going to go in to do my observation and interview with one of the specialist teachers. I'm also going to teach a small lesson plan too. I'm explain more about that on lesson on Monday and then on Wednesday I will tell how the lesson went.

Embarrassed, Field Trip, and Spring Break

Before I start talking about the field trip I want to talk about something that is bothering me. I emailed my mentor my lesson plan that I'm doing on the 17 yesterday. I got an email back from her this morning.

•  I made a mistake about saying there are no English Language Learners when there are two. In all fairness you would never know that they are. 
• I also made a small typo. I was suppose to write hat and I wrote cat. 
• Then she said I needed to add pictures to the rhyming words and that I don't need all those rhyming words either. 

I don't know why, but I have had a weird feeling ever since I have read it. There was nothing bad and it's not a big deal the little mistakes that I made. I think I just feel embarrassed. I'm not used to criticism or critique is a better word and I just feel odd, so I'm worried about going in today.

I forgot to mention that I'm going in twice this week. I really don't have to go in today since I have already completed everything for the literacy and language part for the screening project. 

Tomorrow we are going to the Science Center with the students. I'm super excited to go. I love the science center and haven't been there since I was a kid. I remember having a blast when I had gone, so I know the kids are going to love it too. I don't know exactly what the students are going to do when they are there. If they have special activities that they have planned while there.

On another note, spring break is going to be here in 12 more days. I'm so ready for a break from school, though the problem is having to work during that time. I'm also maybe going to go in to my school one day to teach a quick lesson maybe? I asked my mentor about a day and she didn't answer the question, so I'm not totally sure.

Update: I just got back from school and everything was fine. I'm teaching two reading groups and one is on grade level and the other is not. She said the lower group would have trouble with out pictures. So everything has worked out fine. I feel good.

Reading with Singing

Who can find the road? 

There is not too much snow out right now, but it is still snowing and I believe it's not going to stop until the afternoon or possibly later. 

Another snow day and I don't have to go to work either. I'm glad that I don't have class today because this gives me time to send my mentor my lesson plan for March 13 and ask her about another lesson plan that I want to do on the 17. Her school is also closed, so hopefully she will get back to me today and I will work on that lesson too.

This project took such a long time to complete and I wanted to make sure that I took my time when drawing the pictures, so needless to say this almost took me all day to complete. I'm not even hundred percent that I'm even that happy with it, though I did get to use my laminator. That was exciting and scary because I didn't want to ruin the pictures I spent some much time. I'm happy with my purchase.

Anyways for one of my class we had to create a book using the lyrics from a song. The song didn't have to be a children's song. I picked the Nina's Song by the Imagination Movers from on the Disney Channel. At my daycare center, one of the teachers had their CD and I found the songs on their to be very catching and got the children to move around.

The thing that bothers me is that you can't really turn the pages now that they are laminated. Overall, I'm pleased with it and I'm glad that it's finished. Hopefully I get a good grade. When the professor talked about it last class, she made it seem like it's not that big of a deal.

Here are a few pictures. Sorry they are not the best because I was trying to hold it open while taking a picture.