Hey Dr. Robeck! Hope you enjoy reading my blog! Just wanted to let you know that my Critical incidents are under the comments.

Friday May 7, 2010

Due to the all the snow days, my classes were shifted and so now I have a class on Friday morning when I would normally be at my placement. So today was my last day with the second graders, not my last day with Mrs. Charlton since she is going to be my mentor teacher for my internship in the fall. We started out by doing the "We do, I do" Activity. This is when the teacher reads a story from their anthology book and they answer some questions and then for the 'I do', students separate into their reading groups and answer the same questions but on their own reading. At this moment I work with the lower level reading group. They are a little tough because it is hard to keep them focus and the reading process is really slow. They are great kids though so I enjoy working with them. Afterward the students have a special of Physical Education. During this time I help my teacher grade papers and I get a chance to talk to the intern about the internship in the fall. When the students get back the teacher reads them a story on the rug. As soon as it is time for lunch I tell the students that today is my last day but I have treats for them! They all yelled of excitement. Then they rushed over and gave me hugs and told me they would miss me. I will miss these kiddos!

April 30, 2010

Today in class the students were learning about adjectives and how to use a and an. There' s something classed special adjectives that I think the students really did not understand. Even I was a little confused by them as well. The intern was teaching it and she was getting frustrated that the kids were having problems with it. I never even knew about these special adjectives so I did not have a way of helping her. The lesson had to be cut short because the students had an assembly that recognizes their achievements during the marking period. After this the teacher took the students to the back of the room to the reading carpet where she started to explain what realistic fiction was. She then read a book that depeicted real things that people do on a normal bases. The students were required to point out some things that they did just like the character in the book. Afterward the students went back to their desks and they partner read a story in their reading books. They had to find places in the book where they can relate to and put the page number. After this the students went off to lunch.

April 26, 2010

Today at my placement I was going to do my guided reading assignment. I was going to read along to Lacey's Loud Voice with the on level group. But that was going to be later on in the day. The morning started out with a special. After the children got back the intern did a science lesson with them on insects. they were learning about characteristics and details of insects. Later the intern separated the children into groups and handed them a bag of plastic insects. The children had to observe them and list some characteristics of them. By using these characteristics they then had to separate them into like categories. Then the teacher talked about everyone's findings. This lesson sort of similar to my lesson on trees. This lesson used observation and categorizing. Afterward I did my guided reading lesson. It went very well. The students all read and when they needed help they would just help each other out. Afterward we shared stories about a time when they had a problem and what their solution was. I enjoyed hearing the funny stories they had to tell me.

Tuesday April 13, 2010

Today was the day that I did my science lesson. I came prepared and ready to teach my students all about the things that come from trees and what part of a tree. I was a little disheartened when I went into the class because there was another teacher there. I thought that my mentor teacher forgot about my lesson and did not tell me there would be a sub. Luckliy my mentor teacher was at a meeting and she was going to be back soon. Pheww I thought. When she came in she was ready for me to begin my lesson. After I set up the trays for the groups I needed to put up the video that I was going to show. Unfortunatly the video was on youtube and that site was blocked by the school. I was a little worried about that but the lesson still went great. The children were so surprised that all the differnt things on the tray came from trees. When they grouped the items in the tray into categories my mentor teacher was surprised at the unique ways the students grouped the items. My mentor teacher helped me alot, which is good. Overall, it was a good lesson and the children really seemed to learn alot. The rest of my time there I spent testing students on reading levels.

Firday April 9, 2010

Today I got the chance to see a science lesson. The intern teacher talked about plants and how they are important to the environment and there structures. The students got a worksheet in which they had fill out the parts of a plant. After, they got to color a cup with markers and designs so that they know it is their cup . Then, the students put soil in their cups and got to plant a seed! Through out the weeks they are going to watch the plants grow and water them. I thought this was really cool and fun! The students seemed really in to it. After the science lesson the students broke up into their reading groups. I got the lower level students and we started to popcorn read. That is when one person reads and then he/she chooses someone to read or sometimes the students just read when one person finishes. Afterwards we learned about realistic fiction and as a class the students read a story. They had to figure out what can be real and what can never really happen. I also got to talk to my mentor teacher about my science lesson and guided reading lesson. Great day today.

March 29

Today in class the students were reviewing the long 'i's and 'e's. They did an activity that when the teacher read a word the student had to decide whether the sound was a long e or i. Then they had to color it its appropriate color. Afterward since the students were going to an assembly about the Ringling Bros. the teacher used the last ten minutes to have them color a circus elephant. The best color-er would get a prize. After the assembly of magic tricks the students got to stay in their homeroom to do some math. The kids were working on Subtraction. I mostly helped one boy in particular who after doing the problems with me a couple of times started to get the hang of it. That is always a good feeling, when you have felt that you actually taught something and someone understood.It was almost time to go home for the day. The teacher read to the students a book by Shel Silverman. There was alot of rhyming and lot of patterns. Soon the students started chanting the rhymes along with the teacher. They really seemed to enjoy the book!