We went to an elections thing and listened to the older students give their speeches. Went back to the classroom and the students voted. Then we got right onto the bus and headed to the farm. I had six students in my group. They were all pretty good about remembering to stay with me. There were so many other schools their and it got confusing on what we were suppose to do and go where. But overall i had a really great time and so did the kids. When we first arrived a man talked to us about bees and stuff. Then we got to feed the goats. Look at the cows and pigs. Next we went on a hay ride. I was worried that it was going to tip over when we were in the water, but thankfully we did not. Next we got to pick corn from the corn filed and then go through a very small corn maze. It really wasn't a maze, so the students could not get lost. As we were walking to the pumpkin patch it began to drizzle. After that it was time for lunch and we ate outside with it drizzling a little bit. Then it really began to rain, so we got all of the students cleaned up and onto the bus. We got back to the school early because of the rain, so the students got to go to specials and then the day was over. My mentor and I did not stay long after the students left because she had things to do.
I cannot believe that November is already here. Soon the semester will be over before I know it and i will have to take the Praxis 2.
November is the month of not having classes. Well.. at least for some of our classes.
On this upcoming Monday we do not have class.
No Monday class on the 24 either.
This Friday I also do not have class.
I did not have my afternoon class yesterday.
I don't have any Tuesday morning classes this whole month!
Most of these days we are given off to attend parent conferences, work on reports, work on portfolio, and to work on our teach week plans and management plan. So, I may have a lot of days off, but I will also be very busy. I have quite a few major assignments that are do this month. All around the same time too. I will post about the November assignments on the 5th.
Tomorrow I am going on a field trip. Which will be an all day event.
I did a small lesson Smart Board Lesson on Seasons that the students really enjoyed. It was a really interactive lesson that kept the students engaged and I will leave a link to the lesson here if you want to download it yourself. It did not do every slide with them. I did the second day of the small group at the reading table with the low group. It went well. A few of the students just can't seem to listen very well. Besides that the lesson went well. Lastly, I did a small lesson with the students for math about true and false. Then students completed a worksheet about true and false. It walked around checking work. After school, my mentor and I discussed what I would do next week. I can't do anything Wednesday because we are going on a field trip all day. I am going to do a read a loud on Thursday and do two lessons that involve the students listening.
The other intern did the morning stuff with the students. I walked around the classroom to help students as needed.
I did a small phoneme blending and deletion with them after the morning message. I messed up with one of the words, but got through it.
Then my mentor read story with them and then explained their seat work during the rotation.
I worked with the low reading group at the reading table. It went pretty well. I did not go over on time and the students listened for the most part.
I then taught the same group and one other group a new game for the center during the other reading rotations.
Next was a science lesson the other intern was in charge of. Again walked around and assisted the students as needed.
Sent them of to lunch and afterwards they came back for indoor recess.
After recess the guidance consular came and did a 40 min lesson with them.
Then the other intern was in charge of the short math lesson with them.
I took them to music and when they returned, they finished the math worksheet and packed up to leave.
After service learning my mentor was still there waiting for a parent to come for a conference and I stayed to see that. Which went quicker then I was expecting. I also watched my mentor discuss with another staff member about her lesson for her observation on Friday.
Lastly, the other intern said that one of the students kept asking her when I was going to be back. That melted my heart when she said that. It always makes me so happy when the students are so happy when they come into the classroom and see me.
Another rainy day. Of course on our last day. We had a short smart board lesson for sorting healthy treats that related to Halloween. We did some freeze dancing in between the lesson to get the students active. We had the principal in during this time for a little bit. Which was fun.
We then were able to take the students outside on the blacktop and did freeze tag. Then we brought them back in towards the end and had the students share what they learned during this time. We then gave them a certificate. I think the students were expecting something bigger because one of the other interns said we had a treat for them.
Google Documents can be such a time saver. Instead of always having to meet up for groups assignments, create a Google Doc. They are documents that can be shared with everyone in the group and that anyone can edit them at anytime without having to email the document back and forth between the group. Again I wish I knew about this during freshman year.
Multiple people can type into the document at the same time.
The Document saves automatically while typing.
Can make the document private for only groups members to see and edit.
Other group members don't have to have Google Drive.
Here are directions to have to make a document that everyone can edit and how to share it with people:
1. First, go to Google. If you are not logged in then, do so now. Then in the upper right hand corner click on the apps icon.
2. Next, Click on the Drive App to open it.
3. Afterwards, your Drive will open and on the far left corner click on 'Create'.
4. Scroll down and click on 'Document' to open a new document.
5. Then you need to title the Document by clicking on 'Untitled Document' and typing in the name.
6. Next to share the document for other to edit click 'File' then 'Share'.
7. Then change who has access by clicking 'Change' and choosing 'Anyone with the link'.
8. Next go down to who has 'Access' and change from 'Can view' to 'Can edit'.
9. After doing those two steps, it should look like the above and you need to save it.
After that you send the group members the link and they can begin editing the document.
Did the morning routine, morning work, calendar, and morning message with students.
Then it was spelling test time. I gave the list one students their spelling test while my mentor gave list two students their words on the carpet.
My cohort professor came in during this time, but did not stay because I was giving the spelling test. She never came back to visit.
Today the other intern taught a lesson of reading a book to the students and then the students created scarecrows during their seatwork time.
I watched reading groups again.
Then did the normal lunch routine.
Had recess duty.
When we were walking back inside a student in out class screamed and his finger was red. Sent him to the nurse and I think it was a big that I found on the ground after word. that students went home early. My mentor went to give him his things and she said his finger was all swollen.
Then had math time for only a half an hour which the other intern also taught. I packed the students Friday folders during that time.
Students went to specials for an hour.
They came back and finished their math worksheet.
They then packed up and left.
I placed the scarecrows up on the wall outside.
My mentor and I discussed teaching the lower reading group during reading rotations for on both days. I also will do something small with phonemes after the morning message on both days too.
Meet the new intern. She will only be there for two weeks, so after next week she will be gone.
Worker with my case study student and it was a struggle. We wanted to add a picture to what he wrote about, but kept messing up. I told him that we could work on it latter, but he wanted to do it then. Finally, I convinced him that we could work on it during lunch.
Came back into the classroom and did the calendar routine and morning message.
I watched my mentor with the reading groups.
Then I taught Social Studies which went ok. There was a misunderstanding about what their poster was to be about, but my mentor fixed it. Kind of.
Then it was time for lunch and recess. I stayed in the cafeteria and allowed the student to finish his work.
While they were at recess my mentor discussed with my and the other intern about doing a reading group next week, so I will work with the lower reading group on both days next week.
When they came back from recess the students got to finish their poster. When this was starting the sub walked in and my mentor forgot that she had an esol meeting and my mentor just told the sub that I was in charge. I just talked to the students about their poster and writing labels on it.
After that we did math when my mentor came back. It began raining at this time. We had the students line up for music which is outside in the portal. I was at the end of the line and while I was walking the tech teacher told me not to let the kids walk out and she went to tell my mentor. My mentor went to get the students who made it outside to come back in. I stayed with the students who did not go. Then as they brought it the students I got them in line.
We went back to the classroom and the music teacher never showed up, so we just finished with math.
Before I knew it, it was time to pack up.
Then I went and changed for Service Learning.
It rained and we were going to have the students play in the alcove, but they were stepping up the book fair there. We all just stayed in the classroom and did a smart board lesson with them.
Time went by so much faster during that lesson then it felt like. The lesson took up most of the time and we had a worksheet for the students to do also.
At the end we ate snack and they lined up and that was it.
We did have one late student and we had trouble getting a hold of the parents. Our PDS coordinator helped out and was finally able to get a hold of the grandfather and another teacher said that she would stay with him and let us leave. It was very nice of her and it was about 4:20 when we left.
Weaving interviews of policy experts and startling facts with the lives and careers of four teachers, American Teacher tells the collective story by and about those closest to the issues in our educational system—the 3.2 million teachers who spend every day in classrooms across the country. Through an interactive and evolving website and a feature-length documentary that brings together educational experts, student interviews, and a year of documenting the day-to-day lives and sacrifices of public school teachers, THE TEACHER SALARY PROJECT will bring an awareness to the real and imminent crisis in our educational system—how little we value our strongest, most committed, and most effective teachers, and the ripple effect this has on how our children learn and their potential for future success. In keeping with the storytelling styles of both Dave Eggers (writer) and Vanessa Roth (director), American Teacher is a character-driven film that explores this urgent issue through humor, irony, and the energy of the teachers who fill the screen. Since 2008, our team has closely followed the stories of four teachers living and working in disparate urban and rural areas across the country. The film's narrative balances the personal stories of each character with a mixture of interviews and animated facts and statistics by Stefan Nadelman, each highlighting the big sacrifices made by our nation’s teachers, and how these demanding costs force many of our greatest teachers out of the profession. The film is narrated by Matt Damon, who is passionate about education, and includes an original musical score by Thao Nguyen. Cited From: http://www.theteachersalaryproject.org/about-the-film.php You can watch the film for free on Hulu.
Worked with my case study student again in the morning.
The students had an assembly in the morning. It was really entertaining and engaging for the students.
We came back to the classroom afterwards and I did my lesson. I ran out of time and only got to two of the reading groups, though I got to see the other group after recess.
Students went to lunch and recess.
I finished the last reading group and then students did math for a little before leaving to specials for an hour.
My mentor and I discussed me teaching social studies next Wednesday.
Students came back from specials and packed up and left.
Sorry. I cannot remember much from what I did on this day. Must have not been that eventful.
Did not do morning message since we had to do the OLSAT.
Students took the OLSAT and they kept dropping their pencils.
I took them outside for a little bit afterwards.
My mentor changed her plans to discuss erosion because of what happened to the soil outside on the playground.
Students talked about weathering and erosion then watched video before it was time for lunch.
I ate my lunch and then went and got stuff for my mentor and made a ton of copies of stuff.
It took so long making copies that I missed the kids coming back into the classroom. I got to take my case study student and work more and we got a lot done. It went much better working with him since I told him about the tattoos that I got him.
We came back into the classroom and the students were working on math and they did that until it was time for Music.
Some students got in trouble in music and it was funny because my mentor was just saying how she doesn't like the get the students from music because the teacher always complains. I had said he never says anything to me and this time he did.
They came back and finish the math worksheet then it was time to pack and I left shortly after the first bell to change into my active clothes for Service Learning the Health and Fitness Club.
The same kid who went to daycare last week, didn't show up again, but apparently while we were outside his Mom brought him up and stayed until it was time to go. We decided to play kickball and divided the kids up into four teams.
My team lost because most of the kids did not know how to play and the one kid on my team who was athletic, tried to do everything. I felt bad, but he was good sport when we lost. The kids had fun and it was great. We told them there were only two more days left before it was over and they got sad.
I have really enjoyed doing this service learning and makes me think about starting a health and fitness club during my second or third year teaching. I am going to be sad when it ends too.
Decided to write the blog differently because I just didn't feel like changing them. I usually write down a outline of everything that I did which is what is above, so when I go back I remember what I did that day. I just do not feel like writing out everything, which means I might be doing more of my blog posts this way.
Lastly, I wanted to share this video my math professor shared with us in class. It is so funny.
If you haven't heard about Google Drive then I suggest you listen to what I have to say about it and how this might save your grades.
List of what you can create in Drive:
Document
Presentation
Spreadsheet
Drawing
Form
Google Drive is a program where you can download the software for it onto your laptop/computer. This allows you to be able to reach all your files from anywhere from any computer/laptop. Instead of saving that document you need to work on a flash drive or emailing it to yourself, you don't have to do that anymore. What I really enjoy about it is say that you forgot to save an important presentation that you have to do in class today to your email or on a flash drive. You don't have to worry because you can go through your gmail account and go into Google drive to get it. Or maybe you forgot to print out a research paper, just go to the library and print it out from your drive. I always worry that I'm going to forgot to email myself something, but now I don't have to worry. I wish I had known about Google Drive when I first started college, so then I could have save myself a lot of stress and worry.
You can either create a document in drive or you can write a document in Word and then save it in the drive.
There are somethings you need to know when using Google Drive:
You can't just access your files under 'My Documents' because then it won't save what you worked on with Google Drive.
You only download Google Drive to your personal computer. You don't have to download it again to another computer like at school.
You access the Drive from other computers by logging into your Gmail account.
Old Word documents can be placed into the Drive.
You can make folders in the Drive to stay organized.
Documents automatically saves as you type.
If you have any questions, just leave a comment below.
Worked with case study student this morning. He didn't seem that excited to work with me. I did not share with students what to do for morning work, pledge or take attendance since I was busy with student. went over morning work, calendar, morning message Taught students about more reading center games quickly. Went to SIT meeting about two students just before lunch. When we came back the students were lining up for lunch. I took them to lunch and sat them down. The 1st grade teacher had planning. Again it felt awkward and after my mentor said it was a waste of time. We ate our lunch quickly because we then had to go outside for recess duty. We did get to talk about next week and a fluency lesson that I need to teach. I will be doing it in small groups which will be new for me. Recess duty was fine. We brought the students back inside and let them cool down for a few seconds. I then did the math block with them which was short since it was only for 30 minutes. I went over the math subtraction worksheet with the students. It went very well and most of the students were able to do it on their own towards the end. Some of the students had to stay while my mentor took them to specials because they didn't finish the bottom worksheet. I worked with the few students left to help them figure it out. They were able to do it and when I began to walk them their my mentor was walking back. While students were at two of their specials, my mentor and I
Worked with case study student during morning, so I didn't greet the students or tell them what the morning work was. Though I did go over the morning work answers. I began the calendar routine and did the morning message which took so time because students would come up and wouldn't know what to fix. So had them stop, put their hands down, and really think about what was wrong with the daily message and know before I call on them what they are going to fix. I can not remember what I did during reading block on this day, though I am sure I did something. Then students went to lunch and I got them seated without any problems. I went and got them after recess. When the students were away I was busy trying to figure out stuff for service learning. We had problems of not communicating with each other. When I came in that morning, I found out that our PDS coordinator that was going to stay with us after school was not there. So I was running around trying to find the other girls to ask if they wanted my mentor to stay for a little while. She could not stay the whole time and we said yes. After all that, I got the students back from recess and I began the math lesson with them. I didn't realize it at the time, but how I set up the subtraction problem for the students was confusing. My mentor helped me fix it during the lesson and everything else was fine. Students understood what to do better. I took students to music, which I need to work on with them a little more because they talk just a bit too much for me in the hallway. When the students came back I explained the math homework and they packed up. I left a few minutes early to change into more comfortable clothes for service learning.
I was very nervous going into this because of the issues we were having throughout the day. Oh I for got to mention that one of the girls lost the paper that had the plans we were going to do each week with the students. So I am not sure what we are doing next week. Hopefully we will discuss before next Service Learning day. When I walked into the classroom we were all meeting in there were already some kids there. We took attendance and all but one kid was not there and then one kid was there who was not suppose to be. We called the day care of the on child who was suppose to be here and he was there and then we called the parents to let them know. We decided to let the student who was not suppose to be there to stay, but we needed to talk to whoever was picking her up since it was never marked on her paper. We tried calling the parents, but she was not understanding what was being said. We explained to students what we will be doing each week and that we expect them to still behave like they are in school. That if they can not listen then they will not get to play the game. We then explain the game to them that we will be playing outside; chain tag. Though towards the end students will have to try and name the students who are on the chain, until all the students are unchained. All the students seemed to really enjoy themselves. They all played the game and everything went fine. We played the game for about 35 minutes and then we let them play on the playground for about 20 minutes before taking them back inside. They ate their snack and while they were eating we passed out the MyPlate worksheet that we let them take home to share with their family. We discussed different foods for each part of the plate. Then we had them get their stuff to line up. We had the before and after kids leave first and then we walked down rest of the kids to their families. It turned out the student who was not suppose to be there was being picked up by this other kids mom. The mom said that she was going to be picking her up each week and the little girl said she was to go home with her. We only had one kid get picked up late and he had his own cell phone to call his mom who said she was on her way. Mom apologized about being late. Overall everything went well and I had fun and the kids enjoyed themselves.
Another service learning project that we have to do. Although this one is better because we get to decide what we want to do. My cohort professor is not involved or any of my other professors. Me and the other girls at my placement school are all doing something together. About three weeks ago we meet with out PDS Coordinator to discuss what we can do and we decide on doing a health and fitness club during October after school on Wednesdays, but only for 2nd and 3rd graders. So none of my students can do it since I am in 1st grade. It will be on every Wednesday in October except for the last one from 2:15 - 3:45. The students will come and for the first hour we will be doing something physically, hopefully outside if not raining, and then we will come in. They students will eat their healthy snack and have a mini health lesson. We sent out the permission slips on the 18th to the students and that following week we received 40 or so slips back asking to join. We were only on planning to have 24 students, but changed it to 30. I was nervous that we were not going to have that many and I am glad that I was wrong. I do not know all of the details about everything we are going to because last week when I tried to talk to them they just didn't care. I am slightly annoyed with them since it feels like they are just trying to take the easy way out of the things. I want this is truly be fun for the kids and when their parents pick them up and ask how it went, they a excited to tell them everything fun they did. At this time it doesn't seem to be that way. We shall see how everything goes. Today was the first day and I will explain on the student teaching post for Friday how it went.
