September Assignments

2- Journals 1/2, All About Me Poster, Attendance Form

9- Course Schedule/Calendar, Chapter 3, Journal 3

15 - Reflection Chapters 1/2

16- Read Alouds (3), Journal 4

19- Introduction Surveys Report

22- Article 1, Reflection Chapters 3/8

23- Journal 5, Chapters 1/2, Lesson Plan

25- Post Field Trip Pictures 

26- Writing Sample

29 - Reflection Chapters 4/9

30- Chapters 4/5, Service Learning Pre-Report, Quiz 1

Explanation of Some Assignments:

• Chapters- We have to read chapters from a book and pick some reflections/activities from the back and discuss them more. 

• Reflection Chapters- Read chapters and write small synopsis from reading. 

• Course Schedule/Calendar- We had to create a calendar of all major assignments for my cohort professor and mentor. Also give our cohort professor a schedule of our classes. 

• Read Alouds- Read 3 books to students with small activity and then give oral report in class. 

• Introduction Surveys Report- This is one part of the Case Study Report. For this we had to give chosen child four surveys and then write a report about findings, what they mean, and give recommendations. 

• Article 1-Chose article to write analysis and reflection about it. 

• Field Trip Pictures- Have to go on a social studies field trip that students could go to and then post pictures to Blackboard. Written report is done later. 

• Writing Sample- Have Case Study student write something and then write an analysis about it. 

• Service Learning Pre-Report- Have to do a Service Learning Project at placement school and write about what we will be doing there. Don't have to have done it yet. 

Also I wanted to share this Ted Talks that my math professor showed us:

Beach Prop Box

This post is just going to be a bunch of pictures because I just don't have time to go over everything and this was suppose to go up awhile ago, but I had forgot to take the pictures. In my offense, I was doing a lot that night if you look back to the post called Busy Night.

I wish I worked and thought about this project more then leaving it to the last week. I'm now thinking of more cooler and hands on activities, but I didn't have enough time to make them since I'm took this my placement school the next day.

Anyways.....Here is my Beach Themed Prop Box.

Outside

Outside

Inside

 The Books:

 

Art:

Language Arts:

 

Math:

 

Science:

Social Studies:

Dramatic Play:

Service Learning Day

We have to do a service learning day and for my cohort we did it differently then the other cohorts. We had to work with our science professor and cohort professor for this day. We did this at one of the other schools on a Thursday day after my placement school already let out. We had to be there at 3 and our cohort professor provide us with pizza and water which was very nice of her.

Before this day we were split into three groups of five. The service learning night was about senses, so in the groups you had to pick one sense and create a center. We also had to create take home bags for the students with an activity inside about senses. Thinking about this now, I don't now how we will be graded because my cohort professor never saw the activity of the bags we made. By the way, this was for Spanish families and students, so the directions in the take home had to be in English and Spanish.

I wasn't very nervous for this night because everyone in my cohort was there. First the parents and students came in and my cohort professor talked to them and then we left to the classroom where we had setup out centers. There was a total of twelve kids, which was more then I thought was going to be there. One of the girls from the cohort read a book to them in Spanish. Then we split them into groups and they each went to a center. We also had them rotate through the centers, which was unknown to us, but worked out fine anyways.

Take Home Bag

It ended earlier then we thought, so we got to leave at 6 instead of 6:30. The kids were good and all spoke English, so there was no trouble understanding them. This day was a very long day since I had gotten up at 5:40 that morning.

Group Projects

I have never had a semester before where I had so many group projects. Luckily, we all have the same classes, so that makes it easier to meet up. Since we can meet before or after class to work.

The main problem is that there are some many different groups that you forgot who's in which group and some people are in two or more of your groups. Also for one of the projects, it's for two of my classes which also makes things confusing too some how.

I'm going to mark down all of my current group projects that I have going on and who's in the groups for which class.

ECED 343/341:
-Centers Presentation- Me, K.B., B.W., and A.S.

ECED 461:
-Shadows Puppets- Me, A.S., C.R., and A.D.

ECED 417:
-Differentiated Lesson Plan- Me, A.S., and A.D.

SCIE 371/ ECED 343/341:
-Service Learning- Me, D.W., K.B., B.W., and K.H.

I got pretty lucky with the partners in my groups, in which they all do part of their work for the assignments that they need to do. I believe after the end of next week that the group projects should be over.

I was talking to someone in my cohort the other day and she said that all the assignments next semester are with groups. AH! I so very hope that is not true.

Literacy Bag

Front 

For this project I picked one student in the classroom that is going to receive this bag. The student will take the bag home for one week and read the books and complete the games in the bag with their family. The bag needs to be themed based and the file folder games need to relate to the books.

I'm giving this to my student this upcoming Thursday and he will get to keep it over his Spring Break. I'm asking for it back on Monday, April 22 to make sure that I get it back in time because that following Tuesday it's due.

Back     

Materials Needed:

• Bag that is decorated with the theme
• 3 or more Books that are fiction and non-fiction
• 3 or more Literacy File Folder games
• Additional list of 3 more books
• Additional list of 2 more activities
• Organized literacy bag with directions
• Family Evaluation Form
• Introduction Letter
• Checklist of Materials

Activity 1: Real Words vs. Nonsense Words

I created this activity and I'm pretty proud of how it turned out. I'm glad I used shark teeth to place the words on to make it look more nicer. and shark related.

Activity 2: Label the Shark

This took some time trying to find a good shark labeling image to use that wasn't already labeled or too many parts to label. I just had them label the parts that went along with Book 2.

Activity 3: A-B-C Shark Order

I got the different sharks from Three Dinosaurs. It's free to download. I just made a cover for the folder and the answer key.

Activity 4: Story Sequencing
I added this activity last second because I felt that my other ones weren't really literacy activities. This goes along with book 4. 

Book 1: Shocking Sharks by Charlotte Guillain

This book is great for beginner readers. It uses large font with only a few sentences on each page. 

Book 2: Surprising Sharks by Nicola Davies

I liked this one because it showed different types of sharks and the different parts of the shark which I needed for activity 2.

Book 3: I'm a Shark by Bob Shea

Book 4: The Three Little Fish and the Big Bad Shark by Ken Geist

Side Notes:
This project has been more time consuming and difficult then I thought it would be. I wish I had worked on it more during Spring Break. The big problem for me was trying to find appropriate/good books. I don't have time to just sit at a library and looks at books, besides it way to many to go through, so I would put books on hold to pick up. I didn't want to purchase books unless I looked at them first and I can't do that with ordering them online.

I also had to laminate the file folder games and decorate the bag. I wanted to make sure everything looked nice and neat. One thing I would have changed was not to use the Velcro because it made the pieces bigger and it made it difficult to put everything into the bag.

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:

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

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.

Laminator Plunge

I known that there is some tools that I want to buy when I graduate, which will be in about a year. Like a new laptop, a labler, a laminator, and possibly other items like a camera.

I might have gone out and bought a laminator already last weekend. Is it too early? I need to laminate items in my prop box and literacy bag. I figure that in my last semester when I will be full time student teaching it will get used a lot.

I did some searching on teacher blogs about what brand I should buy. I was leaning towards Paper Monster which wasn't bad for a price, but I wanted to buy one from the store, so if I have a problem then I could return it.

I ended up buying the Scotch TL902 at Walmart for only $20. Beware, on the website its priced at $37, so if you are going to purchase it then go to the store.

I wanted to match sure that the pouches for it weren't going to be too pricey. I found the Scotch brand 8.5" x 11" at Sam's Club for $20 for 200 pouches. That is a great price. On the Walmart website they are selling them for the same size at $14 for only 100 pouches. Way better deal at Sam's.

I have yet to laminate anything. I'm cheap and don't want to waste any of the pouches, though I'm very happy and excited that I took the plunge by buying this already.