When I began this class I was asked to write a metaphor of what a teacher is to me. I chose a dog, yeah that does seem like a very far fetched idea when you say it but if you give it time to seek in, you really see that a teacher is just like a dog! I still feel this way about teaching and I support it even more!
I am not a night worker but I have become an ALL DAY worker this semester. And due to this drastic change in my sleeping habits my moods and desires have been shifted sadly for the worst. Usually I am awake and happy every morning but this semester I have had to drag myself out of the bed almost every morning. However when I stepped foot into our 1st grade classroom all the anxiety, irritation, and sleepiness left me. I realized that I am these students superhero. Every morning they cheered when we walked into the classroom. We were specially included in the morning meeting (saluting all the individuals of the classroom) so I could not help but smile when I heard twenty or so students chime "Good morning Ms. Lawrence!" I became that dog that I described at the beginning of the semester. I gave each student my brightest smile, hug, and "hidden" energy even when everything in my body said go to sleep. When the teacher and students irritated me, I did not even think to remember it while teaching but focused on making this lesson the BEST lesson that they ever had on economics and reach every student.
I pray that throughout my teaching career when I reflect I can say I am the best "dog"* in this school!
*(if you still don't understand my metaphor) By saying the best dog I mean that I am a great teacher because I don't remember wrong done to me by the students or adults associated with the classroom. Everyday begins and ends with a smile, always there for comfort and support.
Tuesday, May 8, 2007
Lesson 5
March 22,
With this lesson we bought our unit to a close. We decided on using constructed assessments because our clinical instructor directed us to this. Also in planning we decided we would have the children who had literacy and comprehension skills below the level of the rest of the class to be put into a small group with me leading it. My partner read aloud the questions so that everyone could understand what the question was asking while I repeated it more explicitly to my group. This turned out out to be a really great idea because a few of the students I felt comprehended not so well actually did a great job completing the test and understanding what was being asked. Also this grouping was successful because a student began to doodle and talk a few times so my redirection helped him be able to clearly show what he learned from the unit (he finished the test and did not just doodle). Despite the kinks felt in this unit, I can mark it a success and an experience that I learned a lot about teachers, co-workers, students, behavior management and planning!
With this lesson we bought our unit to a close. We decided on using constructed assessments because our clinical instructor directed us to this. Also in planning we decided we would have the children who had literacy and comprehension skills below the level of the rest of the class to be put into a small group with me leading it. My partner read aloud the questions so that everyone could understand what the question was asking while I repeated it more explicitly to my group. This turned out out to be a really great idea because a few of the students I felt comprehended not so well actually did a great job completing the test and understanding what was being asked. Also this grouping was successful because a student began to doodle and talk a few times so my redirection helped him be able to clearly show what he learned from the unit (he finished the test and did not just doodle). Despite the kinks felt in this unit, I can mark it a success and an experience that I learned a lot about teachers, co-workers, students, behavior management and planning!
Monday, May 7, 2007
Lesson 4
(This lesson was co-taught.) Goods and services were the title of this lesson. We did not know how much of challenge this lesson would be when we sat down to plan. The topics were harder, concepts were abstract due to our defining of goods and services. We made a mistake when we did not script this lesson. I believe if we had scripted this lesson we could have seen the flaws in our definitions for goods and services and could have found alternative forms of explanations. Also our "Popsicle" game went bad, the kids were extremely wild and we barely gain control.
If I could teach this lesson again I most definitely would have split it up into two lesson. The first lesson would be solely a vocabulary lesson where they had time to process these new definitions/labels. Then the second lesson we would have done the game with a few management rules installed before taking a seat.
If I could teach this lesson again I most definitely would have split it up into two lesson. The first lesson would be solely a vocabulary lesson where they had time to process these new definitions/labels. Then the second lesson we would have done the game with a few management rules installed before taking a seat.
Lesson 3
March 16,
(Christiana taught this lesson by herself.) For this lesson Christiana focused on the fundamentals of budgeting and saving. This is important to teach because students use these principles in their everyday life (ex: given a certain amount of money to spend when they are about to go buy candy) and will need to develop these skills in their adult life.
To promote the success of the lesson's objectives, Christiana used technology (smart board and interactive website). They had a chance to hear a story about appropriate budgeting and practicing budgeting using tickets. I really liked this idea because the knowledge of money varied greatly among the students but for the vast majority of the students had strong addition/subtraction skills.
I really liked the idea of a constructed response assessment at the end of this lesson because the other two lessons had opened ended response/performance assessment. You could get a more precise representation of the individual development of the class.
(Christiana taught this lesson by herself.) For this lesson Christiana focused on the fundamentals of budgeting and saving. This is important to teach because students use these principles in their everyday life (ex: given a certain amount of money to spend when they are about to go buy candy) and will need to develop these skills in their adult life.
To promote the success of the lesson's objectives, Christiana used technology (smart board and interactive website). They had a chance to hear a story about appropriate budgeting and practicing budgeting using tickets. I really liked this idea because the knowledge of money varied greatly among the students but for the vast majority of the students had strong addition/subtraction skills.
I really liked the idea of a constructed response assessment at the end of this lesson because the other two lessons had opened ended response/performance assessment. You could get a more precise representation of the individual development of the class.
Lesson 2
March 15,
(I taught this lesson by myself.) Today's lesson focus was on the evaluation of wants and needs. I know that this lesson is a very important lesson not only for their academic development but great in their personal life. Therefore, I chose to have a theme of "packing for a trip" because each student has had the experience of preparing for a trip whether it be to their aunt's house or a summer in Jamaica.
Using a real life "packing" worked out to be very beneficial for the students. Everyone was engaged and excited while I discussed what was in my bag. After I had them answer if I did a good job and their answers allowed me to make a clear assessments of where each student was at the beginning and by the end of lesson in regards to their knowledge of wants and needs. Their performance on "packing" for their table's specific destination was very interesting. I could really see how the students processed what a want/need is in regards to their given destination. Like one student put suntain lotion as a want while another put it as a need for their trip to the beach. Reason behind the difference was for their complexion, so I saw that both students understood what a want/need were to them. Overall I felt this lesson to be a successful and be very enjoyable!
(I taught this lesson by myself.) Today's lesson focus was on the evaluation of wants and needs. I know that this lesson is a very important lesson not only for their academic development but great in their personal life. Therefore, I chose to have a theme of "packing for a trip" because each student has had the experience of preparing for a trip whether it be to their aunt's house or a summer in Jamaica.
Using a real life "packing" worked out to be very beneficial for the students. Everyone was engaged and excited while I discussed what was in my bag. After I had them answer if I did a good job and their answers allowed me to make a clear assessments of where each student was at the beginning and by the end of lesson in regards to their knowledge of wants and needs. Their performance on "packing" for their table's specific destination was very interesting. I could really see how the students processed what a want/need is in regards to their given destination. Like one student put suntain lotion as a want while another put it as a need for their trip to the beach. Reason behind the difference was for their complexion, so I saw that both students understood what a want/need were to them. Overall I felt this lesson to be a successful and be very enjoyable!
Lesson 1
March 13,
Our unit was on Economics for first graders. This first lesson was focused on chores and responsibility. The content area of this lesson was chosen to be first because it introduces our students to the main idea of our unit, responsibility.
We really were interested cross curricular connections so we decided to use the book "Alexander, Who Used To Be Rich Last Sunday". This book demonstrates a young boy who recklessly spends his money and the few attempts he makes to earn it back. I really liked this book because it was on the level of the students (small amount of money for allowance, items bought, punishments, "jobs",etc.) and it had a lot of humorous language. Our students responded very well throughout the lesson (lots of questions, comments, and work completed). The co-teaching went very well this lesson, our transitions (read aloud, questions, evaluation-chore example) were smooth and every student was involved/received attention throughout the lesson.
Our unit was on Economics for first graders. This first lesson was focused on chores and responsibility. The content area of this lesson was chosen to be first because it introduces our students to the main idea of our unit, responsibility.
We really were interested cross curricular connections so we decided to use the book "Alexander, Who Used To Be Rich Last Sunday". This book demonstrates a young boy who recklessly spends his money and the few attempts he makes to earn it back. I really liked this book because it was on the level of the students (small amount of money for allowance, items bought, punishments, "jobs",etc.) and it had a lot of humorous language. Our students responded very well throughout the lesson (lots of questions, comments, and work completed). The co-teaching went very well this lesson, our transitions (read aloud, questions, evaluation-chore example) were smooth and every student was involved/received attention throughout the lesson.
Thursday, April 12, 2007
Observation Three
February 27,
This observation I did a lot of watching to gain a explicit knowledge of class' learning abilities and personalities. I noticed that every time "R" looks at the board or someone else she is squinting, therefore for our lessons I need to make sure everything is large and bring any examples to each table. "M", "C',"N", and "E" are very bright and speedy with their answers to the sentence creations (for the words of the week). These students did not need any refocusing and when called on gave excellent sentences fast. However "Ch" and "T" were completely off task throughout the majority of the whole group lesson. I observed that "R" does not like to speak at all because when I went to look at her paper she had correct sentences written but when called on she didn't say anything. These learning behaviors will be taken into account when creating lessons. I worked mostly at one table when they were finishing up their stories. I learned a lot about "Te" and "A". "Te" has great ideas and is very bright, however she just needs someone to spark her knowledge for her (like a question, re-explaining, etc.) While "A" needs a lot of one on one time to understand topics and procedures. Because when left to do procedures by herself she is very lost. "M"however is very advanced she asked me how to spell pediatrician and only left out the "a"!
This observation I did a lot of watching to gain a explicit knowledge of class' learning abilities and personalities. I noticed that every time "R" looks at the board or someone else she is squinting, therefore for our lessons I need to make sure everything is large and bring any examples to each table. "M", "C',"N", and "E" are very bright and speedy with their answers to the sentence creations (for the words of the week). These students did not need any refocusing and when called on gave excellent sentences fast. However "Ch" and "T" were completely off task throughout the majority of the whole group lesson. I observed that "R" does not like to speak at all because when I went to look at her paper she had correct sentences written but when called on she didn't say anything. These learning behaviors will be taken into account when creating lessons. I worked mostly at one table when they were finishing up their stories. I learned a lot about "Te" and "A". "Te" has great ideas and is very bright, however she just needs someone to spark her knowledge for her (like a question, re-explaining, etc.) While "A" needs a lot of one on one time to understand topics and procedures. Because when left to do procedures by herself she is very lost. "M"however is very advanced she asked me how to spell pediatrician and only left out the "a"!
Observation Two
February 23,
During this observation I spent little time with the students and did more watching. The class worked as a whole class on the smart board then worked individually on worksheets. I noticed that our teacher had to constantly correct this little boy name "T" ( I changed up the name). At first I thought he was being bad then I started paying attention to what he was doing and she actually was being quite mean to him. When they were told to go sit on the carpet it was him and two other little girls being really wild. Our teacher only yelled at him, although he was laughing because one of the girls had put her legs on him. But on a good note the class is extremely enthused with usage of the smart board.
During this observation I spent little time with the students and did more watching. The class worked as a whole class on the smart board then worked individually on worksheets. I noticed that our teacher had to constantly correct this little boy name "T" ( I changed up the name). At first I thought he was being bad then I started paying attention to what he was doing and she actually was being quite mean to him. When they were told to go sit on the carpet it was him and two other little girls being really wild. Our teacher only yelled at him, although he was laughing because one of the girls had put her legs on him. But on a good note the class is extremely enthused with usage of the smart board.
Observation One
The following blogs will not have different dates from today's because I wrote my observations a LONG time ago but now I'm "blogging" them!
February 22,
Today was a very interesting visit. I saw how math can be incorporated into a history lesson and how to teach a sensitive era, Civil Rights, to very young children effectively. I really liked how she taught "carrying" and "subtraction" through addition knowledge. The teacher asked how old would a person be if they were born in 1732 today? Our teacher began with a simple problem 2 +__ = 10. Then she stepped it up, writing 32 +___ = 40 asking what number added to 32 will give you 40 and told them put big number in their head and count on until they get to 40 (33,34,35,etc.) She continued this process of step by step using simple math and addition facts to get 275 years old. Also I really liked how the classroom supported this problem, she asked the students to look around the class to find out who was born in 1732. She constructed a time line to support the segments of the Civil Rights video, each clip had a few sentences summarizes information learned and a space on top for the students to illustrate their knowledge. She informed me that she placed an already made example in front of the class and explained the video clip/words on their story segment to support students whose literary skills were low and others who were lost with the content.. This exercise was a great way to reinforce the information they had learned previously about key American leaders. However I did not understand why she was so hard on certain students for their coloring. She would scold kids if they colored a person's face purple or drew stick figures. I felt bad because I probably would've gotten in a lot of trouble if I were in her class for the fact that I could not draw well.
February 22,
Today was a very interesting visit. I saw how math can be incorporated into a history lesson and how to teach a sensitive era, Civil Rights, to very young children effectively. I really liked how she taught "carrying" and "subtraction" through addition knowledge. The teacher asked how old would a person be if they were born in 1732 today? Our teacher began with a simple problem 2 +__ = 10. Then she stepped it up, writing 32 +___ = 40 asking what number added to 32 will give you 40 and told them put big number in their head and count on until they get to 40 (33,34,35,etc.) She continued this process of step by step using simple math and addition facts to get 275 years old. Also I really liked how the classroom supported this problem, she asked the students to look around the class to find out who was born in 1732. She constructed a time line to support the segments of the Civil Rights video, each clip had a few sentences summarizes information learned and a space on top for the students to illustrate their knowledge. She informed me that she placed an already made example in front of the class and explained the video clip/words on their story segment to support students whose literary skills were low and others who were lost with the content.. This exercise was a great way to reinforce the information they had learned previously about key American leaders. However I did not understand why she was so hard on certain students for their coloring. She would scold kids if they colored a person's face purple or drew stick figures. I felt bad because I probably would've gotten in a lot of trouble if I were in her class for the fact that I could not draw well.
Tuesday, January 30, 2007
My personal Teaching metaphor
Teacher=Dog???I would like to use a dog as a metaphor of my views of a teacher. This might at first seem odd to most but please read on and you will see exactly where I am coming from. If you have a dog take time no more that 10 minutes for a week and observe their behaviors (it may take less time) and you will see the most compassionate actions ever. Dogs for the most part stay tied up, in a cage, in a bathroom, indoors, or in a garage 70% of the day, but everytime they see their owners they are completely joyous to spend time with them even if it is a simple "Hey lil' doggie". They do not remember the kick they recieved just because their owner split her stockings on the steps or the time their owner forgot to give them fresh water for three whole days. Instead after such mistreatment they run up to their owner licking their legs, with their tails wagging verociously and ready to love their owner up! Another factor about a dog is they are blind to differences among human population; they choose to love and protect their owners regardless of the pigments, reading disablities, and what they do on Sunday mornings.
A phenominal teacher in my mind possess these same characteristics of a dog. They do not keep a record of wrongs because all humans have bad days and I believe young children have a lot of those days. On Monday Sean might scream and kick ripping his paper because he wasnt allowed to play at recess, a great teacher will still greet him bright and early Tuesday morning with a smile and a hug letting him know that she is excited to see him that morning. Teachers put in very hard work but are extremely disrespected in society. Pay cuts (lack of raises), stupid testing, low resources, crazy parents, collegues infected with apathy and so much more reasonably put a damper on the attitude of a teacher. However just like a dog a wonderful teacher will find the strength,love,endurance and compassion to enter each classroom (each day!) with excitement because she/he is about to bless their students with knowledge. For they find joy in the simple things (dogs love rolling in grass, lol) for instance: a kid who previously was rude says thank you to a fellow class mate. Lastly a powerful teacher does not withhold love and support due to differences among the class population but attends to each child's special needs while equally spreading compassion among the class population.
I feel like I might have wrote too much so Im stopping!Thanks for reading!
[After writing this I saw I didnt write about the room for error but I do understand that everyday even the greatest teachers do not have the hearts and actions of a dog]
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