- What surprised you this week?
- What routines have you noticed?
- What has the instructor done to set routines?
- What have you noticed about the classroom arrangement that is conducive to learning for children?
- What student characteristics have you noticed about individuals, groups, or the students as a whole?
- What are you going to do next week to get to know the students’ learning?
- Is there anything else you would like to journal about or questions you have?
Monday, October 3, 2011
Week One-Questions
Please answer at least 3 of the following questions:
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Hi, my name's Amanda and these are my reponses to the blog questions.
ReplyDelete• What 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! 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.
• 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.
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.
• 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.
Hi,
ReplyDeleteMy name is Lauren and I am in Ms. Decker's room from 10-11 every day of the week during literacy centers. Here are the answers to my questions.
What surprised you this week?
I was very surprised to see that the students were quite helpful with each other in figuring things out or helping each other solve problems. There was one student that was upset about missing her dog and another student approached me saying he was done with his work and offered to color a picture of her dog for her. Also the students do quite a good job of staying on task when they are in their different centers. I thought that the students might be a little rowdy because they are in small groups for their centers, but actually they do get a lot of work done and stay on task much more often than they are not. I also was surprised to see how much variety there was in the classroom of the different levels that students are at, after going around and observing the literacy centers.
What routines have you noticed?
I have noticed the center routine and that it is posted on the board in the classroom for the students to reference to if they are unsure of where to go next. I have noticed the "1-2-3 eyes on me" technique that is always used by Ms. Decker to get the students attention back on her. I also noticed that when the class lines up before just walking down the hall they sing the song to remind them of all of the rules for the hallway. The students also have the number guidelines for when they are walking through the hallways that inspire them to make the line the best they can, to earn stars.
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 the students to also encourage them to also open up with me and feel that they can come to me for questions or to share some of their work. I will also be eager to help the students out that do approach me, and help them to work through their different literacy activities that they are having some difficulties with. This would range anywhere from helping out with reading different words, sounding out different words to spell them, and also coming up with ideas for stories, encouraging brainstorming. I will ask more engaging questions and throughout this whole process will continue to get to know the students because this short time will definitely fly by.
Is there anything else you would like to journal about or questions you have?
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ReplyDelete@Amanda, I was so surprised by all of the same things! I was shocked to see how polite the students were. I also am pretty intimidated because I feel like there are times when I'm not sure what to do either. Ms. Decker really is very smooth and quick to come up with ideas or solutions!
ReplyDeleteIt is so cool to see how the students follow the routine and how much it helps them keep going and keep the class moving instead of always having to wait for the transitions, the students know when certain things are supposed to happen. The routines also help the students to prepare for whats coming and helps Ms. Decker with maintaining control in the classroom.
I also planned on the same thing for getting to know the students. I tried alot harder to get to know them and work more on a one-on-one level. I noticed that with those efforts they were a lot more warmed up to me also.