Last week I began my mini-unit on the Solar System. Today I began putting up my bulletin board in the hall. Since this was going to be my final bulletin board at the school I wanted to make it a great one! Last week I hand painted all of the planets and the sun. Today I got everything assembled and up on the wall.
All day long I heard/saw kids out in the hall admiring the planets and naming them. Many students pointed out the big swirl I had on Jupiter and asked their peers "Did you know that there's a storm on Jupiter that has lasted over 300 years?!" This made me realize how meaningful bulletin boards can be. They may be time consuming to plan out and put up, however they make the halls of the school so much more inviting (and educational). Some are meant to be decorative, but some, like my solar system board, spark academic conversation among students and get them thinking even when they aren't in their own classroom. Pictures to come soon!
Monday, February 29, 2016
Worn Out
February 26, 2015
Today I had my final formal observation at this placement. It was a math lesson right at the end of the day. Overall, the lesson itself went great! However, it was obvious that the students had checked out of school. Not only was it the end of the day, it was the end of the week. They all knew that as soon as my lesson was over it was time for the weekend. This was the first time I really had to deal with this. Our schedule was switched around a bit today because of my formal observation. This seriously had me thinking...what if math was already at the end of the day?! This started a conversation with my co-op.
She told me how huge time of day plays in a students attention span. She explained to me how she carefully thought out her schedule when planning what subjects are taught in the morning, and which take place after lunch. This all made so much more sense to me now. I will definitely be taking this into much more serious thought when planning my own classroom scheudle one day after this today's experience.
Today I had my final formal observation at this placement. It was a math lesson right at the end of the day. Overall, the lesson itself went great! However, it was obvious that the students had checked out of school. Not only was it the end of the day, it was the end of the week. They all knew that as soon as my lesson was over it was time for the weekend. This was the first time I really had to deal with this. Our schedule was switched around a bit today because of my formal observation. This seriously had me thinking...what if math was already at the end of the day?! This started a conversation with my co-op.
She told me how huge time of day plays in a students attention span. She explained to me how she carefully thought out her schedule when planning what subjects are taught in the morning, and which take place after lunch. This all made so much more sense to me now. I will definitely be taking this into much more serious thought when planning my own classroom scheudle one day after this today's experience.
Thursday, February 25, 2016
Reading Night
Myself, the first grade teacher and the second grade teacher spent the past few weeks planning and organizing the school's first ever Reading Night! Tonight we finally put all of our planning into action.Our theme was If You Give a Mouse a Cookie. We began by reading that book to the students. We then had 3 activity centers for the students to rotate through. We had a word work activity, a cause and effect activity and a craft. At the end of the stations all the students came back together for a few rounds of sight word bingo. During this time all the students met with one of the teachers for a small session on how to help your child while reading with them.
Overall the night was a huge success! We received wonderful feedback from all of the parents. The principal also attended and was elated with what we produced. There were multiple requests for more in the future. This was a great experience for me to have. There was a ton of work and planning involved but seeing everything come together was worth every minute of it.
Wednesday, February 24, 2016
Engaged
No...I am not engaged to wed. I am referring to students being engaged in their learning.
Today we had a presentation from Mr. Yuk. The topic was on dangerous/poisonous household items. We have a handful of students that have a very difficult time paying attention to anything going on throughout the day. Each student has a different way of getting themselves off track. Some talk to other students, some get out of their seats, some play with their pencil, some doodle on their paper, etc. My co-op and I are always speaking to the kids before programs about being on their best behavior, being attentive, etc. Today's program was no different.
One of students that tends to lose focus a lot throughout the day a lot say front and center for Mr. Yuk. He kept his eyes on the presenter the entire time and traced her movements. He raised his hand for every question and volunteered to be a participant in the program. I was in awe watching his actions and behavior the entire hour we were at the presentation. It amazes me how different a student's actions can be when they are interested in the topic at hand. This really connects to why it is so important to make your lessons interesting to the students.
Today we had a presentation from Mr. Yuk. The topic was on dangerous/poisonous household items. We have a handful of students that have a very difficult time paying attention to anything going on throughout the day. Each student has a different way of getting themselves off track. Some talk to other students, some get out of their seats, some play with their pencil, some doodle on their paper, etc. My co-op and I are always speaking to the kids before programs about being on their best behavior, being attentive, etc. Today's program was no different.
One of students that tends to lose focus a lot throughout the day a lot say front and center for Mr. Yuk. He kept his eyes on the presenter the entire time and traced her movements. He raised his hand for every question and volunteered to be a participant in the program. I was in awe watching his actions and behavior the entire hour we were at the presentation. It amazes me how different a student's actions can be when they are interested in the topic at hand. This really connects to why it is so important to make your lessons interesting to the students.
Tuesday, February 23, 2016
Math "Problems"
The title of this post may be deceiving. I am not referring to math problems such as "2+2=". I am referring to problems, or struggles, in math. I have been very fortunate with my math abilities. It has always been my strongest and favorite subject. This led me to be very excited to begin teaching math. Today I ran into a huge disconnect. I've always been aware that many people struggle in math. It does not come easy to everyone. Today that hit me like a brick wall during my lesson.
We were doing problem solving lessons today. All of the problems were similar to the following:
Max has 56 apples. He can fit 10 apples in each basket. How many baskets does Max need.
We began by using red counters (apples) and cups (baskets) to show the problem. I had all the students write down predictions, and then we "acted out" the problem. We came to an an answer of 6 and everyone seemed fine. We did a few more examples using the counters and cups and we also used the students and chairs to represent seats in a car and going on a trip. Again, everything seemed fine, everyone understood what we were doing.
It was time to complete the workbook pages on this lesson. We did a guided problem, the students that answered answered correctly and everyone had the correct answer on their page. It was now time to move onto independent work. A few students came up with the correct answers and drawings to show their work. However, the majority of the students all of sudden were coming up with blank pages and blank stares. They didn't know what to do when they were working individually. At first I think I was coming across frustrated. That wasn't the case at all, I was just confused. I didn't understand how just 10 minutes before everyone was giving me correct answers and showed no signs of being lost in the lesson. After multiple attempts at helping the remaining students come to a solution I pulled those students back up to the carpet and did an intervention lesson with them. Again, they all knew exactly what to do! I must say I was even more confused now than ever. After doing that one problem together I sent them back to their seats to do one more. This time it went better and students had the right answers, however, I still do not feel confident that they fully understand this lesson. I am hoping to get some time tomorrow to help these students one-on-one with the concept.
We were doing problem solving lessons today. All of the problems were similar to the following:
Max has 56 apples. He can fit 10 apples in each basket. How many baskets does Max need.
We began by using red counters (apples) and cups (baskets) to show the problem. I had all the students write down predictions, and then we "acted out" the problem. We came to an an answer of 6 and everyone seemed fine. We did a few more examples using the counters and cups and we also used the students and chairs to represent seats in a car and going on a trip. Again, everything seemed fine, everyone understood what we were doing.
It was time to complete the workbook pages on this lesson. We did a guided problem, the students that answered answered correctly and everyone had the correct answer on their page. It was now time to move onto independent work. A few students came up with the correct answers and drawings to show their work. However, the majority of the students all of sudden were coming up with blank pages and blank stares. They didn't know what to do when they were working individually. At first I think I was coming across frustrated. That wasn't the case at all, I was just confused. I didn't understand how just 10 minutes before everyone was giving me correct answers and showed no signs of being lost in the lesson. After multiple attempts at helping the remaining students come to a solution I pulled those students back up to the carpet and did an intervention lesson with them. Again, they all knew exactly what to do! I must say I was even more confused now than ever. After doing that one problem together I sent them back to their seats to do one more. This time it went better and students had the right answers, however, I still do not feel confident that they fully understand this lesson. I am hoping to get some time tomorrow to help these students one-on-one with the concept.
Mystery Readers
February 22, 2016
Once a week there will be a special visitor in first grade called a mystery reader! The mystery reader chooses a book of their liking and a snack and spends some time with the students. The students are told the morning of that there is a mystery reader coming but they have no idea who it is. They may or may not even know the reader prior to their visit. Some of the readers include, but are not limited to, other teachers, older students, parents, friends and family members of their teacher, etc. On Friday we had our first reader! My co-op asked me a few weeks ago if I had anyone that may be interested in coming in to participate. I was excited to bring people from my own life in to the classroom to get a sense of what I do everyday and to meet my wonderful class.
Without hesitation my wonderful boyfriend volunteered. He read a great interactive book to the class called Count the Monkeys. I loved watching someone read to kids that has little to no experience in this. (There's a lot more that goes into it, contrary to popular belief). The night before the reading I practiced reading with prosody and how to hold the book so that the entire class would be able to see. I felt as though I was receiving a little more appreciation for my career choice after the "lesson".
The day of the reading went great! The students were engaged and on their best behavior. During the snack portion we allowed the students to ask him questions or tell him something they like about school. Each and every one of the students opened up and participated. Next week my best friend and also my adviser from Bloomsburg will be visiting to participate in the mystery reader program. So far I love this activity and depending on the grade level I'll be teaching, I would definitely consider using this in my own classroom.
Once a week there will be a special visitor in first grade called a mystery reader! The mystery reader chooses a book of their liking and a snack and spends some time with the students. The students are told the morning of that there is a mystery reader coming but they have no idea who it is. They may or may not even know the reader prior to their visit. Some of the readers include, but are not limited to, other teachers, older students, parents, friends and family members of their teacher, etc. On Friday we had our first reader! My co-op asked me a few weeks ago if I had anyone that may be interested in coming in to participate. I was excited to bring people from my own life in to the classroom to get a sense of what I do everyday and to meet my wonderful class.
Without hesitation my wonderful boyfriend volunteered. He read a great interactive book to the class called Count the Monkeys. I loved watching someone read to kids that has little to no experience in this. (There's a lot more that goes into it, contrary to popular belief). The night before the reading I practiced reading with prosody and how to hold the book so that the entire class would be able to see. I felt as though I was receiving a little more appreciation for my career choice after the "lesson".
The day of the reading went great! The students were engaged and on their best behavior. During the snack portion we allowed the students to ask him questions or tell him something they like about school. Each and every one of the students opened up and participated. Next week my best friend and also my adviser from Bloomsburg will be visiting to participate in the mystery reader program. So far I love this activity and depending on the grade level I'll be teaching, I would definitely consider using this in my own classroom.
Monday, February 22, 2016
Kahoot!
February 19, 2016
If you are an avid follower of my blog then you already know how much I love technology. I want to discuss one of my favorite websites, Kahoot!. Kahoot! is an interactive quizzing website. I have found it great for reviews and assessing where students are on a topic. You can create your own quiz, survey or discussion.You can also access Kahoot!s that other users have created. Students answer questions individually on their own devices. In first grade I use the iPads and/or Chromebooks. The SmartBoard makes a great place to project the master Kahoot!. Students view the questions and answers on the master presentation and answer using their device (like I mentioned before). When the quiz is over I have the ability to go in and view the results. This allows me to get a sense for which students grasped the concept and which did not.
This week I used Kahoot! for an adjective review. This went wonderfully. The students were quiet and focused. I read a sentence aloud and the students were to chose the answer that had the adjective from the sentence. There were 10 questions and all students got at least 8 correct (many got perfect scores). This was a great indication that we were able to move on from direct instruction on adjectives. After seeing how much students enjoy this website I am trying to include into one lesson a week for the remainder of my time in the classroom. Next week I am testing out using Kahoot! with spelling.
If you are an avid follower of my blog then you already know how much I love technology. I want to discuss one of my favorite websites, Kahoot!. Kahoot! is an interactive quizzing website. I have found it great for reviews and assessing where students are on a topic. You can create your own quiz, survey or discussion.You can also access Kahoot!s that other users have created. Students answer questions individually on their own devices. In first grade I use the iPads and/or Chromebooks. The SmartBoard makes a great place to project the master Kahoot!. Students view the questions and answers on the master presentation and answer using their device (like I mentioned before). When the quiz is over I have the ability to go in and view the results. This allows me to get a sense for which students grasped the concept and which did not.
This week I used Kahoot! for an adjective review. This went wonderfully. The students were quiet and focused. I read a sentence aloud and the students were to chose the answer that had the adjective from the sentence. There were 10 questions and all students got at least 8 correct (many got perfect scores). This was a great indication that we were able to move on from direct instruction on adjectives. After seeing how much students enjoy this website I am trying to include into one lesson a week for the remainder of my time in the classroom. Next week I am testing out using Kahoot! with spelling.
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