- What kind of activities do students/class enjoy most?
- What are some things you are going to need to remember when you teach your first/second lesson?
- What have you learned so far from the experience?
- What can I do to make this a more enriching experience for you?
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Week 3- Journal Response
Please respond to at least 3 of the following questions. Then respond to two of your peers.
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What kind of activities do students/class enjoy most?
ReplyDeleteAlthough I'm only there mainly for the morning routine, I have noticed that the students really enjoy hands on learning. They are willing to get involved in just about any activity. They show great support for one another as well when participating. I recall one science lesson where the students were put into groups to complete an experiment. They all really loved getting to conduct the experiments themselves and came to great conclusions about balls and movement while doing so.
What are some things you are going to need to remember when you teach your first/second lesson?
One thing I really need to focus on for my lessons are time management. There is just so much to do and so little time. With this, I also need to use good classroom management skills to make sure the students stay on track throughout the lesson. If everyone is engaged and for the most part cooperating, I think the lessons should go pretty smoothly. Finger crossed!
What have you learned so far from the experience?
I'm learning all kinds of things throughout my level II experience. One thing that I've always known, but never really witnessed is how rewarding of a job teaching is. It is so cool to see how something you say or do can impact a student in a positive way. It makes all of the work worth it in the end. I'm also learning/picking up on all kinds of little management skills to get the students' attention and back on task. I have also learned quite a bit more Spanish over these past few weeks as well!
Week Three Questions
ReplyDelete• What have you learned so far from the experience?
I have learned that you really have to think on your toes and be expected to answer several questions; and ones that you may not always have the answer to. I also think working with this age group is very challenging because they don’t seem to respect my authority as much as I would like, and when I tell them something I have to repeat it multiple times. Whenever Ms. Decker says it they seem to respond right away, though. I also think I should utilize the “One two three, eyes on me” and “Voices off!” attention-getting strategies as well. I also learned it’s a wonderful thing to help students get past struggling with understanding a problem and to understand how to solve it. I love being able to help students really learn.
• What can I do to make this a more enriching experience for you?
I know that you’re always very busy and you have a million things to do Mrs. Decker (and I don’t know how you do it all!), but I definitely think I would have liked more one-on-one time with you. The math lesson/afternoon time was always so busy and filled with constant activity. I still don’t feel as comfortable as I think I should feel in the classroom. I wish I had been able to observe more routine. I thought it was good when I was able to come in for more than just my one hour slot every day at the same time. I liked being able to observe students in a different setting and see the different activities they do throughout the day. I love being able to see how you teach the math lessons and to get great teaching ideals from you. I hope I can become a teacher like that, being able to organize everything so well and making it creative and relevant to the learning material all at once. I am very thankful for everything I have learned thus far and hope to use it to make myself a better teacher.
What are some things you are going to need to remember when you teach your first/second lesson?
I know that I need to remember that there are higher-level students who require a challenge and students who may need extra help and support. Therefore, I should accommodate my lesson for both. I could use higher numbers for the higher-achieving students and perhaps lower number for those struggling with the math concepts I’m trying to teach. I also need to know exactly what I’m doing and understand the lesson myself. I want to make sure I’m using clear language that students can understand, and giving directions that are specific and easy to follow. I also want to keep in mind some of the management strategies Ms. Decker uses.
Maria,
ReplyDeleteI definitely agree with you about keeping track of time during the lesson. I haven't even considered that aspect as much but it's so easy to run out of time. I'm always there during the math lesson and sometimes there's just not enough time to accomplish everything. I have also found this experience to be rewarding. I love being able to help a student understand something and then see them do it on their own! It gives us both a sense of accomplishment. :)
Melanie's Post:
ReplyDeleteWEEK 3
I have noticed in my level two classroom that the children really enjoy activities that involve movement. I noticed that when they get to dance to the morning song that is in Spanish they are all smiling or laughing. I also noticed, that the students loved when they got to make movements to what they heard in a story the teacher read to them. They were very creative! I believe they enjoy centers. I think this because they never complain about them and seem to really like working with their peers during the centers. With this in mine I know for my first lesson I’m going to have to incorporate movement. I will also need to remember that I need to stimulate every student and engage every student. With this in thought I will need to make sure students who struggle get the help they need and students who excel are challenged. I know this because I have learned so far that all the children are different and all of them need differentiated instruction to benefit from the lessons. I have also learned some techniques to get the children to be in listening or quiet. One of these techniques is when the teacher says “1,2, 3 eyes on me” and the students say “1, 2, eyes on you” and all the students look at the teacher. I really like when the teacher says: “voice are…” and the student respond with “OFF” and everyone in the class goes quiet so the teacher can talk. These are great techniques to get the children’s’ attention.
Melanie's Responses:
ReplyDeleteWhat surprised you this week?
I was surprised initially by how well the students listened and how intelligent they were. I was also surprised that I got to help out with the lunch serving! I love the idea of children helping with lunch servings. It helps incorporate a family environment and responsibility among the children! It was nice to be able to see the children in a completely social environment like that and how they interact. Something else that surprised me was how smoothly Ms. Decker handles issues that come up in the classroom. She is very good at thinking fast on her feet and if a student has a question I can’t answer and they ask her, she comes up with a solution on the spot. I find this intimidating because I definitely need to be a quicker thinker and learn how to phrase my sentences and words towards my students so they can understand me easily. Ms. Decker deals greatly with situations. She knows when to let the children figure situations out or when she can intervene with help. She never is demeaning to the children or scolds them from unwanted or unrelated thoughts but redirects them! This is awesome and I hope I am able to pick up this teaching style!
• What routines have you noticed?
I have noticed that Ms. Decker claps to get their attention, or uses the “One two three, eyes on me” attention-getter, which seems pretty effective most of the time. The students then repeat, “One, two, eyes on you”. At the end of lunch, students know when Ms. Decker indicates she is ready to return to the classroom, students line up, quietly, all facing front. This happens every time I am there, and students are always eager to make the line the best they can to make Ms. Decker happy. When presented like a challenge to see if they can get the best, quietest line possible, students seem to respond better than just commanding them to line up. I also really like Ms. Decker’s attention strategies. I like the one where she says “voice are…” and the students respond with “OFF”. It provides her with instant quietness!
The students know exactly what they are to do, and right after they get back from lunch they go sit down on the carpet because it’s math time. I am sure they all follow a daily routine and all the students know exactly what they are supposed to be doing at what time of day. These are just a few of the routines that I’ve become aware of so far. Daily routines are very important in young children’s’ lives. A classroom with routines is usually a classroom has fewer disruptions by the students.
• What are you going to do next week to get to know the students’ learning?
I will try to talk more one-on-one with them while they figure out math problems or work on whatever they have been given. I’ll try to get more involved and really see how students are thinking and the reasons behind their methods, and how they are understanding what they learn. I want to get a chance to get to know them better, and become more familiar with their personalities and habits and what their learning style is. I’ve already noticed the students who are a little more advanced and the ones who are more visual learners (need to look at the board or see a picture to get the most out of the lesson). I think it takes a lot more time to really get to know your students, though. I am looking forward to the chance to see how second graders think and the proper way to guide instruction to meet their learning needs.
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ReplyDeleteAmanda:
ReplyDeleteI agree that with two grades, we really need to focus on differentiating for the different levels of students. Also, I too need to work on management skills in the classroom. It is so easy for them to get off task and that can make the lesson move so much slower than intended.
What kind of activities do students/class enjoy most? The students are definitely very interested in being able to create their own stories. They also seem to be interested in drawing different things. It seems that the students are very enthusiastic when it comes to working together, whether it be group work, partner work, or working alone but able to ask questions. I think it is awesome to see how the students are so good at working together and helping each other without having one person doing all of the work and others not doing any.
ReplyDeleteWhat have you learned so far from the experience?
I have learned many things from this experience. I have learned some awesome management techniques, 1-2-3 eyes on me, the line up song at the door, all of the different ways that Ms. Decker has song to help with directions, or saying thank you, or checking to see if the students are on task. Using the songs or different repetative things in the classroom really helps with the management because students hear them, and know what their response should be. I also have seen many awesome ways for differentiation in the classroom. With this being my first classroom that has more than one grade level as well as the different level of abilities within that, I was very interested to see how it would work so smoothly.
What can I do to make this a more enriching experience for you?
I think that the only way to make this more enriching for me, would be to have gotten really involved right off the bat. I was a little nervous at first and with this being such a quick session of time, I should have utilized all of the time to be very engaged with the students instead of strictly observing, not being cautious of getting involved the first week would have allowed more time to get involed with the students from the get go and enrich my experience.
@Mariah - I totally agree that the students love to be hands on! I'm their during literacy time and even then they love doing interactive things and working together. They are so supportive to eachother its awesome!
ReplyDelete@Melanie - I totally agree with the techniques that Ms. Decker uses for getting the students attention and also notifying them that their voices should be off. I think those are all tools that we all will be able to utilize in our classrooms some day, even if they are tweaked in different ways to make them more appropriate for our classrooms, they are awesome refrences to start from!
Melanie:
ReplyDeleteI agree! I really admire and am kind of in awe of how well Ms. Decker handles the situations that come up with students. There are so many in such a short amount of time, and a lot of them I don't know how to solve or how to deal with it. I hope I can be as quick on my feet as her when I become a full-fledged teacher. I also agree with what you said about movement during learning. I think this really gets them involved and then they are less likely to be bored and zone out. It's best when they are wholly involved in the learning process!