Today was the first day of my field experience, and I was so excited. I couldn't wait to meet the class and the teacher. When I got to the classroom, the students knew exactly who I was. They were very welcoming and smiled at me a lot. This made me feel happy to start this new experience. For the first twenty minutes, the students awkwardly stared at me. I felt uncomfortable and nervous, but I just politely smiled back at them. Unfortunately, my teacher wasn't in school that day. There was a substitute teacher who was rude to both me and the students. I went to shake her hand, but she told me to just do whatever I was suppose to do. After saying hello and introducing myself to the class, I just quietly sat in the back until it was time to go. I immediately wanted to learn all of there names. When looking around the room, I saw a several names on the board. I wrote down the twenty-four names and I couldn't wait to see which names go to which student. I learned that there were two girls named Victoria in my class. After looking around for awhile, I started to focus on what the students were learning. They read a story and answered questions with textual support. I was able to view how different groups worked together. They had these reading work books that reminded me of my elementary school experience. I remember having similar work books and activities to do. I felt really bad when one student's mouth started bleeding. She had about five bloody tissues on her desk. It turned out that her lips were chapped and cracked. The substitute teacher acted as if nothing was wrong, which made me mad. I wanted to help the student but I didn't know the direction to the nurse. Overall, I had a good time over in Fountain Woods. The students were well behaved and extremely happy to have me there. They are so cute, and I want to get to know them as soon as possible. I can't wait to go back on Thursday!
The second day of my field experience went a lot better. The students were extremely excited to see me. My teacher, Mrs. Calderone, was there today. After introducing myself to her, I thought that I would just observe from the back of the room. Instead, Mrs. Calderone had me check homework and put grades into her book. I was very happy to be doing something. This exercise helped me learn the names of her students. A few students didn't turn in their homework. I was surprised when some of them lied to her. Mrs. Calderone informed me that these students would not be allowed to go to recess the next day. I thought it was a fair punishment for them. I felt awkward when they had to move their clothespin to the dishonest section. There was one student who stared at me in the process which made me feel bad. After the homework dilemma, Mrs. Calderone started her lesson on independence. She used me as an example which made me feel important. She said that I was almost independent because I have my driving permit but I still need my parent in the car with me. During this example, she called me Miss Victoria which made me happy because I felt like a real teacher. I can't wait to go back and experience more!
The third day of my field experience was my favorite so far. I actually got the chance to work with the students. Since it was a Friday, I wore causal clothes to my field experience so I felt more comfortable. The students were working on a math project at the time. They were learning about arrays and multiplication. They had to cut and glue buildings onto their papers. My job was to hand out the proper number of little squares to the students to resemble windows. It surprised me when one girl told me that she needed eleven squares. I tried to help her understand that two numbers multiplied together would not equal eleven. She got all of her times tables wrong and it made me sad. Soon I realized that several of the students did their multiplication incorrectly. This made me think to back when I was younger. I memorized my times tables in second grade and was doing long division in third grade. I now see that the public school is far behind my old school. The public school doesn't really focus on memorization which I feel is important. I helped them learn the right answers in a fun way. I hope that they will remember what I tried to teach them. Another problem was putting the squares in arrays. Some students just glued the squares on wherever. I explained that arrays had to go up and down, but some students just didn't get the idea. I really liked this day because I was able to have one on one interactions with the students. I was able to learn more about each student and their personalities. Overall, it was a fun day with the students. I hope I can have more fun experiences with the students.
My field experience went by so quickly today. When I first got to the classroom, the students were reading in pairs. Mrs. Calderone had me sort through the students' homework from the night before. They had to disguise a turkey so that it wouldn't be eaten for Thanksgiving. Some kids did great while other kids' turkeys will be eaten for Thanksgiving. They was one student who made his turkey into the New Year's Eve Ball. It was my favorite and so detailed. Another girl made a mariachi turkey. I enjoyed seeing what each child had created. Mrs. Calderone and I pointed out their creativity. When I was hanging the turkeys up, I broke two clothes pins. I felt guilty and bad, but Mrs. Calderone told me that she broke them all the time. Later on, she checked the clock. It was 1:50! I was afraid that the other girls had left with out me. I was just having so much fun, that I forgot about the time. I made it back to school with the girls. I can't wait to go back!
Today I was looking forward to my field experience. I was super pumped and excited. However, when I got to Mrs. Calderone's classroom, it was a different story. Her students seemed tired and bored today. I usually see energy and excitement in their eyes, but not today. Mrs. Calderone had me grade papers. I had to grade their math homework. I used the easy grader tool to determine what grade they received. I felt bad because some students got 63's and other students got an even lower grade! I didn't want to give them these horrible grades, but it was what they earned. I remember when I was in 3rd grade. We had letter grades instead of number grades. I think it's harsh for a student to receive a 30 because they got 7 out of 10 questions wrong. I just felt so bad while grading. The time just seemed to fly by so fast. Before I knew it, it was time to go. I was sad that I didn't get any hands on experience with the students, but I know that some days are just slow. I hope I get to do something fun tomorrow!
When I arrived to Fountain Woods, I saw my class in the main hallway. Mrs. Calderone asked me if I would take a students back to the playground because if forgot his jacket. I was nervous because I had never been anywhere in the school except for the third grade hall. Thankfully, the student knew where he was going, and I just followed him. When we got back to the classroom, I learned that we had gotten a new student. I was so excited and couldn't wait to meet him or her. It turns out that he was from Nigeria. I was expecting him to be behind the other students. I thought that maybe he was an ELL student. I was completely wrong. He can read vocab words meant for sixth graders. I was astonished! He was so cute too. Again, I asked to grade papers. I was more math homework, and a lot of students didn't understand it. Their grades were low again, and only a few kids earned 100's. I was use to it by now. I have noticed that their weak spot is math. The kids that got above a 90 got a sticker on their paper. Only 5 students got stickers. This made me very sad. Their was one student that got every question wrong except for two. I didn't want to give her a grade. I felt so bad! I didn't even check the easy grader to see what she earned. I put her paper down and left because it was time to go back to the high school. That day was interesting, but I was excited to have a new student.
While going into my classroom today, I felt sad. I knew it was going to be the last time I saw my class for about two weeks. I don't want to wait that long! When I got into the classroom, Mrs. Calderone told me about the immigration game that the students would be playing. She informed me ahead on time that they would hate it. When she told me to grab pieces of paper and crayons, I was confused. What did this have to do with immigration? I put 12 pieces of paper and 12 crayons in two separate parts of the room. Then, Mrs. Calderone put tape on the floor and made a box. She told everyone to sit in the box. I was laughing because there was no way that the kids would have enough room. They were complaining and yelling at each other to more over. I felt important when Mrs. Calderone asked me to pick four pop sickle sticks from her jar. One of the four students was the new boy from Nigeria. These four students went to the back rug where I had placed the papers and crayons. They resembled the Founding Fathers of America. The other students were mad and wanted to leave their country. The game started when Mrs. Calderone gave the rules: no one can leave or share. She told them to divide the papers and crayons as evenly as possible so that everyone received the same amount. I was in charge of the Founding Fathers group. I was happy to see on boy take initiative. He used his math skills to determine that everyone would get three crayons and three pieces of paper. Over in Mrs. Calderone's group, the students were struggling. There wasn't enough to go around and they could rip the paper. This was frustrating for them to find out how well my group did. Next, the students had to draw fruit with two different crayons for each picture. My group did everything right. They each had three crayons and could draw the fruit with out sharing. The other group, however, was very annoyed. Some kids were stuck with a crayon and no paper. Other kids tried holding up their papers and claiming it to be their passports. I couldn't stop laughing. It is hilarious to watch third graders rage quit. Sadly, they had to stop the game. They would resume tomorrow, however, there would be a twist. Students can move countries and be kicked out of others. I was so upset that I couldn't go back tomorrow. I want to see how the game would end. This was the most fun that I've had in the field experience so far.
I was extremely excited to see my students after that long week of testing. Mrs. Calderone told me that we would do a craft with her class. She wanted me to get some hands on experience with the kids. When I walked into the classroom I was ready to go! I soon learned that the craft was to make a snowman out of Popsicle sticks. One boy in my class told me that he already made this craft last year. His annoyance made me laugh. Mrs. Calderone asked me to hand out the individual craft bags to the students. Everything was fine until one child didn't have a set of eyes, and then another child was missing the mouth. I was nervous and confused at the same time. I felt bad that they were missing pieces of their craft. Mrs. Calderone told me to just open another bag to get the extras. I listened and paid attention to how the teacher was firm and direct with her instructions. I want to use that same tone of voice when I am speaking to the class. The students seemed to follow the directions without difficulty. Some students went ahead and finished making their crafts before the rest of the class. I could relate these impatient students. At the end of the craft, almost every desk and child were covered in glue. They seemed to be clean freaks and trying to clean their hands in the middle of the craft. If your hands are just going to get more glue on them then why clean them in during the craft? It just didn't make sense to me. Once the students finished their snowman, I had to write the year on a star with a sharpie. The star would go on the snowman's hat. Some of the glue got onto the sharpie but it was okay. After that I had to write their names on the back of their snowman. This gave me the ultimate test to see if I knew their names. I passed! Everything went as planned and it was a good day over at Fountain Woods.
Since I had so much fun on Wednesday, I didn't know what to expect today. When I walked into the classroom, I discovered that the students were learning to multiply by tens. I got excited because I love math and helping others to understand it. Mrs. Calderone pulled me aside to inform me on the students that might need extra help with today's lesson. I know that teachers aren't suppose to have favorites, but I do. My favorite student, Victoria L., asked for my help multiple times. She didn't quite understand the basis behind the ten times tables. I noticed how she would count by fives on her fingers but she didn't know how many times she was doing it. I decided to take her hand and show her that her whole hand resembles five. I did it again to show her that two of her hands equaled ten. We did the problems together and with my help she got them all right. I realized after helping a few more students that the school curriculum has changed. The students are taught to solve each equation by using what looks like a factor tree method. I was taught to memorize my times tables as a child. It takes my students forever to finish one problem. I noticed that the public schools are also a year behind the Catholic school systems. I was learning division, fractions, and decimals while they have learned up to the eight times table. It is interesting to see the school curriculum for different schools. I felt good knowing that I could help a student to understand the lesson more clearly. I took what I observed from the student and tried to teach her in a way that was easy for her to understand. Overall, I had a good day in classroom C127.
Today was boring compared to my other experiences in the classroom. The students were taking a Language Arts test so it was very quiet. I thought that I was going to grade homework, but I was wrong. Mrs. Calderone had me create multiplication games on construction paper. She had printed out several questions and wanted me to glue eight of them onto a piece of construction paper. It started out okay, but it wasn't really fun. I wish I had graded homework instead. I like doing that because I learn what kinds of students the kids are. Their handwriting is cute and I like putting stickers on their work when they receive a 100%. I also like working in Mrs. Calderone's grade book because it makes me feel like a real teacher. Instead I was gluing questions to a game called Scoop. The glue ended up getting stuck on my hands, resulting in my hands turning black. Since it's almost break I thought we would be doing crafts. I really hope I get some hands on experience with the students tomorrow.
Today was so much fun! I had a blast with my kids. It was the last full day of school before break. Today was a craft day! The students were given the option of making a reindeer or a family of snowmen with their hands. Mrs. Calderone put a giant jug of brown and white paint on the back desk. She asked if I could put the paint on two different plates. At first I was afraid of spilling it because the jugs were so big. After getting everything we needed for this craft, Mrs. Calderone asked the students which hand painting they wanted to make. I was in charge of the reindeer paintings. The first student I got was a boy named Richmond. He squirmed when I first painted his hand with brown paint. I gently placed his hand down on the paper and held it there until it was time. Then I rotated the paper and did the same thing. Once he lifted his hand, he could go to the bathroom and wash off. Several of these students had tiny hands that were so cute. I liked hearing the ones that screamed at the cold paint. I actually was able to talk to the students and learn more about their personalities. By the end of the craft I was covered in brown paint. The students offered to show me the bathroom so that I could wash my hands with them. Mrs. Calderone kindly showed me the teacher's restroom so that I could wash the paint off. When I got back to the classroom it was time for me to go. Mrs. Calderone and the class got me a Christmas gift. I was so happy and thankful. Today was so much fun and I didn't want to leave.
Today was very boring in Mrs. Calderone's class today. The kids were taking a test so I couldn't have any hands on experience with the students. However, after the test, Mrs. Calderone pulled Ryan aside. She introduced me to the reading benchmark. This is a type of testing that happens three times a year. The January testing is the second testing of the year. It was interesting to hear Ryan read out loud because his accent is so cute. I hope that I am able to do more reading benchmarks with the kids soon.
My wish came true today. I wanted to have more experience with the reading benchmark, and that's exactly what I got. Today, Mrs. Calderone started with Levi. He has been stuck on level N for a while and Mrs. Calderone was trying to get him to level O. Level O is where the average 3rd grade student should be. He read a story called, Vanessa's Butterfly. He had to read the story out loud and answer the questions. I was so happy when he completed the benchmark and moved on to the next level. I'm excited to do more benchmarks with the children.
Today was another boring day. The children were taking another test which was taking them forever to finish. I was able to speak with Mrs. Calderone about the benchmarks some more. She informed me that the next student on the list gets very upset when she can not remember the story. It was going fine with the student until it was time to answer the questions. She couldn't remember which made me feel bad for her. Mrs. Calderone ended up giving her another story to read that was on the same reading level. She did much better with the new story, but still was not able to move on. I felt so bad for her, but I know that she'll get it next time.
Today, Mrs. Calderone and I discussed my lesson for my formal observation. I was going to teach the lesson the next day, but she wanted to give me some pointers ahead of time. We went over my lesson plan and she made she that I was comfortable with teaching the material. I couldn't wait to teach my lesson on prefixes the next day.
Today was my formal observation! I was so excited and nervous at the same time. I was surprised with how well the students understood what I twas teaching them. They didn't have any questions and got most of the answers right. During the assessment, they had so much fun screaming out the answers to the bird game on the computer. This formal observation has given me the opportunity to see what it was like to be an actually teacher. I can't wait to do this in the future.
I was so happy today I when I found out that I was grading papers. I really enjoy doing this for some reason. Mrs. Calderone felt bad that she was giving me this work. She even told me that it was my choice to do it or not. I find so much joy in putting stickers on the students papers. I got a lot of her grading done and she was so thankful.
Today was another benchmark day. At this point, I was a little tired of benchmarks. There are certain students that are so cute so that makes the benchmark interesting. However, there are other students that I don't really remember. Today I got to benchmark Johnna who wasn't able to move forward and Jacob, who advanced to the next level. Tomorrow is my last day and I'm not ready to say goodbye.
Today was my last day for teaching and I was so upset. I didn't want to say goodbye to the class that I've come to love. I've enjoyed every second with my class. I gave them their presents and they were so happy. I gave the students little packages of pretzels. They were so happy that they started dancing in their seats. I gave Mrs. Calderone a candle with my educational quote on the lid. She really appreciated me being her teacher cadet. They even gave me presents! I was so sad to leave. I'm really going to miss my class.
November 14, 2017
ReplyDeleteToday was the first day of my field experience, and I was so excited. I couldn't wait to meet the class and the teacher. When I got to the classroom, the students knew exactly who I was. They were very welcoming and smiled at me a lot. This made me feel happy to start this new experience. For the first twenty minutes, the students awkwardly stared at me. I felt uncomfortable and nervous, but I just politely smiled back at them. Unfortunately, my teacher wasn't in school that day. There was a substitute teacher who was rude to both me and the students. I went to shake her hand, but she told me to just do whatever I was suppose to do. After saying hello and introducing myself to the class, I just quietly sat in the back until it was time to go. I immediately wanted to learn all of there names. When looking around the room, I saw a several names on the board. I wrote down the twenty-four names and I couldn't wait to see which names go to which student. I learned that there were two girls named Victoria in my class. After looking around for awhile, I started to focus on what the students were learning. They read a story and answered questions with textual support. I was able to view how different groups worked together. They had these reading work books that reminded me of my elementary school experience. I remember having similar work books and activities to do. I felt really bad when one student's mouth started bleeding. She had about five bloody tissues on her desk. It turned out that her lips were chapped and cracked. The substitute teacher acted as if nothing was wrong, which made me mad. I wanted to help the student but I didn't know the direction to the nurse. Overall, I had a good time over in Fountain Woods. The students were well behaved and extremely happy to have me there. They are so cute, and I want to get to know them as soon as possible. I can't wait to go back on Thursday!
November 16, 2017
ReplyDeleteThe second day of my field experience went a lot better. The students were extremely excited to see me. My teacher, Mrs. Calderone, was there today. After introducing myself to her, I thought that I would just observe from the back of the room. Instead, Mrs. Calderone had me check homework and put grades into her book. I was very happy to be doing something. This exercise helped me learn the names of her students. A few students didn't turn in their homework. I was surprised when some of them lied to her. Mrs. Calderone informed me that these students would not be allowed to go to recess the next day. I thought it was a fair punishment for them. I felt awkward when they had to move their clothespin to the dishonest section. There was one student who stared at me in the process which made me feel bad. After the homework dilemma, Mrs. Calderone started her lesson on independence. She used me as an example which made me feel important. She said that I was almost independent because I have my driving permit but I still need my parent in the car with me. During this example, she called me Miss Victoria which made me happy because I felt like a real teacher. I can't wait to go back and experience more!
Excellent reflection!
DeleteNovember 17, 2017
ReplyDeleteThe third day of my field experience was my favorite so far. I actually got the chance to work with the students. Since it was a Friday, I wore causal clothes to my field experience so I felt more comfortable. The students were working on a math project at the time. They were learning about arrays and multiplication. They had to cut and glue buildings onto their papers. My job was to hand out the proper number of little squares to the students to resemble windows. It surprised me when one girl told me that she needed eleven squares. I tried to help her understand that two numbers multiplied together would not equal eleven. She got all of her times tables wrong and it made me sad. Soon I realized that several of the students did their multiplication incorrectly. This made me think to back when I was younger. I memorized my times tables in second grade and was doing long division in third grade. I now see that the public school is far behind my old school. The public school doesn't really focus on memorization which I feel is important. I helped them learn the right answers in a fun way. I hope that they will remember what I tried to teach them. Another problem was putting the squares in arrays. Some students just glued the squares on wherever. I explained that arrays had to go up and down, but some students just didn't get the idea. I really liked this day because I was able to have one on one interactions with the students. I was able to learn more about each student and their personalities. Overall, it was a fun day with the students. I hope I can have more fun experiences with the students.
November 21, 2017
ReplyDeleteMy field experience went by so quickly today. When I first got to the classroom, the students were reading in pairs. Mrs. Calderone had me sort through the students' homework from the night before. They had to disguise a turkey so that it wouldn't be eaten for Thanksgiving. Some kids did great while other kids' turkeys will be eaten for Thanksgiving. They was one student who made his turkey into the New Year's Eve Ball. It was my favorite and so detailed. Another girl made a mariachi turkey. I enjoyed seeing what each child had created. Mrs. Calderone and I pointed out their creativity. When I was hanging the turkeys up, I broke two clothes pins. I felt guilty and bad, but Mrs. Calderone told me that she broke them all the time. Later on, she checked the clock. It was 1:50! I was afraid that the other girls had left with out me. I was just having so much fun, that I forgot about the time. I made it back to school with the girls. I can't wait to go back!
November 28, 2017
ReplyDeleteToday I was looking forward to my field experience. I was super pumped and excited. However, when I got to Mrs. Calderone's classroom, it was a different story. Her students seemed tired and bored today. I usually see energy and excitement in their eyes, but not today. Mrs. Calderone had me grade papers. I had to grade their math homework. I used the easy grader tool to determine what grade they received. I felt bad because some students got 63's and other students got an even lower grade! I didn't want to give them these horrible grades, but it was what they earned. I remember when I was in 3rd grade. We had letter grades instead of number grades. I think it's harsh for a student to receive a 30 because they got 7 out of 10 questions wrong. I just felt so bad while grading. The time just seemed to fly by so fast. Before I knew it, it was time to go. I was sad that I didn't get any hands on experience with the students, but I know that some days are just slow. I hope I get to do something fun tomorrow!
November 29, 2017
ReplyDeleteWhen I arrived to Fountain Woods, I saw my class in the main hallway. Mrs. Calderone asked me if I would take a students back to the playground because if forgot his jacket. I was nervous because I had never been anywhere in the school except for the third grade hall. Thankfully, the student knew where he was going, and I just followed him. When we got back to the classroom, I learned that we had gotten a new student. I was so excited and couldn't wait to meet him or her. It turns out that he was from Nigeria. I was expecting him to be behind the other students. I thought that maybe he was an ELL student. I was completely wrong. He can read vocab words meant for sixth graders. I was astonished! He was so cute too. Again, I asked to grade papers. I was more math homework, and a lot of students didn't understand it. Their grades were low again, and only a few kids earned 100's. I was use to it by now. I have noticed that their weak spot is math. The kids that got above a 90 got a sticker on their paper. Only 5 students got stickers. This made me very sad. Their was one student that got every question wrong except for two. I didn't want to give her a grade. I felt so bad! I didn't even check the easy grader to see what she earned. I put her paper down and left because it was time to go back to the high school. That day was interesting, but I was excited to have a new student.
November 30, 2017
ReplyDeleteWhile going into my classroom today, I felt sad. I knew it was going to be the last time I saw my class for about two weeks. I don't want to wait that long! When I got into the classroom, Mrs. Calderone told me about the immigration game that the students would be playing. She informed me ahead on time that they would hate it. When she told me to grab pieces of paper and crayons, I was confused. What did this have to do with immigration? I put 12 pieces of paper and 12 crayons in two separate parts of the room. Then, Mrs. Calderone put tape on the floor and made a box. She told everyone to sit in the box. I was laughing because there was no way that the kids would have enough room. They were complaining and yelling at each other to more over. I felt important when Mrs. Calderone asked me to pick four pop sickle sticks from her jar. One of the four students was the new boy from Nigeria. These four students went to the back rug where I had placed the papers and crayons. They resembled the Founding Fathers of America. The other students were mad and wanted to leave their country. The game started when Mrs. Calderone gave the rules: no one can leave or share. She told them to divide the papers and crayons as evenly as possible so that everyone received the same amount. I was in charge of the Founding Fathers group. I was happy to see on boy take initiative. He used his math skills to determine that everyone would get three crayons and three pieces of paper. Over in Mrs. Calderone's group, the students were struggling. There wasn't enough to go around and they could rip the paper. This was frustrating for them to find out how well my group did. Next, the students had to draw fruit with two different crayons for each picture. My group did everything right. They each had three crayons and could draw the fruit with out sharing. The other group, however, was very annoyed. Some kids were stuck with a crayon and no paper. Other kids tried holding up their papers and claiming it to be their passports. I couldn't stop laughing. It is hilarious to watch third graders rage quit. Sadly, they had to stop the game. They would resume tomorrow, however, there would be a twist. Students can move countries and be kicked out of others. I was so upset that I couldn't go back tomorrow. I want to see how the game would end. This was the most fun that I've had in the field experience so far.
December 13, 2017
ReplyDeleteI was extremely excited to see my students after that long week of testing. Mrs. Calderone told me that we would do a craft with her class. She wanted me to get some hands on experience with the kids. When I walked into the classroom I was ready to go! I soon learned that the craft was to make a snowman out of Popsicle sticks. One boy in my class told me that he already made this craft last year. His annoyance made me laugh. Mrs. Calderone asked me to hand out the individual craft bags to the students. Everything was fine until one child didn't have a set of eyes, and then another child was missing the mouth. I was nervous and confused at the same time. I felt bad that they were missing pieces of their craft. Mrs. Calderone told me to just open another bag to get the extras. I listened and paid attention to how the teacher was firm and direct with her instructions. I want to use that same tone of voice when I am speaking to the class. The students seemed to follow the directions without difficulty. Some students went ahead and finished making their crafts before the rest of the class. I could relate these impatient students. At the end of the craft, almost every desk and child were covered in glue. They seemed to be clean freaks and trying to clean their hands in the middle of the craft. If your hands are just going to get more glue on them then why clean them in during the craft? It just didn't make sense to me. Once the students finished their snowman, I had to write the year on a star with a sharpie. The star would go on the snowman's hat. Some of the glue got onto the sharpie but it was okay. After that I had to write their names on the back of their snowman. This gave me the ultimate test to see if I knew their names. I passed! Everything went as planned and it was a good day over at Fountain Woods.
November 15, 2017
ReplyDeleteSince I had so much fun on Wednesday, I didn't know what to expect today. When I walked into the classroom, I discovered that the students were learning to multiply by tens. I got excited because I love math and helping others to understand it. Mrs. Calderone pulled me aside to inform me on the students that might need extra help with today's lesson. I know that teachers aren't suppose to have favorites, but I do. My favorite student, Victoria L., asked for my help multiple times. She didn't quite understand the basis behind the ten times tables. I noticed how she would count by fives on her fingers but she didn't know how many times she was doing it. I decided to take her hand and show her that her whole hand resembles five. I did it again to show her that two of her hands equaled ten. We did the problems together and with my help she got them all right. I realized after helping a few more students that the school curriculum has changed. The students are taught to solve each equation by using what looks like a factor tree method. I was taught to memorize my times tables as a child. It takes my students forever to finish one problem. I noticed that the public schools are also a year behind the Catholic school systems. I was learning division, fractions, and decimals while they have learned up to the eight times table. It is interesting to see the school curriculum for different schools. I felt good knowing that I could help a student to understand the lesson more clearly. I took what I observed from the student and tried to teach her in a way that was easy for her to understand. Overall, I had a good day in classroom C127.
December 18, 2017
ReplyDeleteToday was boring compared to my other experiences in the classroom. The students were taking a Language Arts test so it was very quiet. I thought that I was going to grade homework, but I was wrong. Mrs. Calderone had me create multiplication games on construction paper. She had printed out several questions and wanted me to glue eight of them onto a piece of construction paper. It started out okay, but it wasn't really fun. I wish I had graded homework instead. I like doing that because I learn what kinds of students the kids are. Their handwriting is cute and I like putting stickers on their work when they receive a 100%. I also like working in Mrs. Calderone's grade book because it makes me feel like a real teacher. Instead I was gluing questions to a game called Scoop. The glue ended up getting stuck on my hands, resulting in my hands turning black. Since it's almost break I thought we would be doing crafts. I really hope I get some hands on experience with the students tomorrow.
December 20, 2017
ReplyDeleteToday was so much fun! I had a blast with my kids. It was the last full day of school before break. Today was a craft day! The students were given the option of making a reindeer or a family of snowmen with their hands. Mrs. Calderone put a giant jug of brown and white paint on the back desk. She asked if I could put the paint on two different plates. At first I was afraid of spilling it because the jugs were so big. After getting everything we needed for this craft, Mrs. Calderone asked the students which hand painting they wanted to make. I was in charge of the reindeer paintings. The first student I got was a boy named Richmond. He squirmed when I first painted his hand with brown paint. I gently placed his hand down on the paper and held it there until it was time. Then I rotated the paper and did the same thing. Once he lifted his hand, he could go to the bathroom and wash off. Several of these students had tiny hands that were so cute. I liked hearing the ones that screamed at the cold paint. I actually was able to talk to the students and learn more about their personalities. By the end of the craft I was covered in brown paint. The students offered to show me the bathroom so that I could wash my hands with them. Mrs. Calderone kindly showed me the teacher's restroom so that I could wash the paint off. When I got back to the classroom it was time for me to go. Mrs. Calderone and the class got me a Christmas gift. I was so happy and thankful. Today was so much fun and I didn't want to leave.
Today was very boring in Mrs. Calderone's class today. The kids were taking a test so I couldn't have any hands on experience with the students. However, after the test, Mrs. Calderone pulled Ryan aside. She introduced me to the reading benchmark. This is a type of testing that happens three times a year. The January testing is the second testing of the year. It was interesting to hear Ryan read out loud because his accent is so cute. I hope that I am able to do more reading benchmarks with the kids soon.
ReplyDeleteJanuary 4, 2018
ReplyDeleteNo field experience today.
January 9, 2018
ReplyDeleteNo field experience today.
January 11, 2018
ReplyDeleteMy wish came true today. I wanted to have more experience with the reading benchmark, and that's exactly what I got. Today, Mrs. Calderone started with Levi. He has been stuck on level N for a while and Mrs. Calderone was trying to get him to level O. Level O is where the average 3rd grade student should be. He read a story called, Vanessa's Butterfly. He had to read the story out loud and answer the questions. I was so happy when he completed the benchmark and moved on to the next level. I'm excited to do more benchmarks with the children.
January 16, 2018
ReplyDeleteToday was another boring day. The children were taking another test which was taking them forever to finish. I was able to speak with Mrs. Calderone about the benchmarks some more. She informed me that the next student on the list gets very upset when she can not remember the story. It was going fine with the student until it was time to answer the questions. She couldn't remember which made me feel bad for her. Mrs. Calderone ended up giving her another story to read that was on the same reading level. She did much better with the new story, but still was not able to move on. I felt so bad for her, but I know that she'll get it next time.
January 17, 2018
ReplyDeleteToday, Mrs. Calderone and I discussed my lesson for my formal observation. I was going to teach the lesson the next day, but she wanted to give me some pointers ahead of time. We went over my lesson plan and she made she that I was comfortable with teaching the material. I couldn't wait to teach my lesson on prefixes the next day.
January 18, 2018
ReplyDeleteToday was my formal observation! I was so excited and nervous at the same time. I was surprised with how well the students understood what I twas teaching them. They didn't have any questions and got most of the answers right. During the assessment, they had so much fun screaming out the answers to the bird game on the computer. This formal observation has given me the opportunity to see what it was like to be an actually teacher. I can't wait to do this in the future.
January 19, 2018
ReplyDeleteI was so happy today I when I found out that I was grading papers. I really enjoy doing this for some reason. Mrs. Calderone felt bad that she was giving me this work. She even told me that it was my choice to do it or not. I find so much joy in putting stickers on the students papers. I got a lot of her grading done and she was so thankful.
Today was another benchmark day. At this point, I was a little tired of benchmarks. There are certain students that are so cute so that makes the benchmark interesting. However, there are other students that I don't really remember. Today I got to benchmark Johnna who wasn't able to move forward and Jacob, who advanced to the next level. Tomorrow is my last day and I'm not ready to say goodbye.
ReplyDeleteJanuary 23, 2018
ReplyDeleteToday was my last day for teaching and I was so upset. I didn't want to say goodbye to the class that I've come to love. I've enjoyed every second with my class. I gave them their presents and they were so happy. I gave the students little packages of pretzels. They were so happy that they started dancing in their seats. I gave Mrs. Calderone a candle with my educational quote on the lid. She really appreciated me being her teacher cadet. They even gave me presents! I was so sad to leave. I'm really going to miss my class.