Our AM Class
Our PM Class
Monday, April 13, 2009
Sunday, April 12, 2009
Behavior is everything!
FROGS-each student has a number. The frog chart is called "Jumping for good behavior." With each warning, the frog moves down. Once the student has reached the bottom, which is a sad face, they have no priviledge of getting a prize for that day.
PRIZES-students can get prizes in many ways. depending on where their frog is, if their homework log sheet was full, or if their group earns points, it is up to each student as an individual to keep his/her prize for the day.
GROUP POINTS-this is where TEAM comes in. The students have to work as a group to get 50 points to be able to earn a prize at the end of the day.
CALLING PARENTS-This is our last resort. If behavior continues to be a concern, parents will be called in to sit with their child for the remainder of the class time.
PRIZES-students can get prizes in many ways. depending on where their frog is, if their homework log sheet was full, or if their group earns points, it is up to each student as an individual to keep his/her prize for the day.
GROUP POINTS-this is where TEAM comes in. The students have to work as a group to get 50 points to be able to earn a prize at the end of the day.
CALLING PARENTS-This is our last resort. If behavior continues to be a concern, parents will be called in to sit with their child for the remainder of the class time.
Assessment Tools
1.Homework Log Sheets-allows us to see if the work at home was completed and if parent involvement exists.
2. Journals-shows us if students are really comprehending what is being taught, if there is progress, and whether assistance is still needed.
3. DI-allows me to work with the students to strengthen the skills being taught and work closely with them. It gives me the responsibility as a teacher to determine their reading level and see if they should move up or remain at the same level.
4. Whole class lessons-allows me to see if the class can work as a whole and it allows students to share their ideas and thoughts with each other.
5. Worksheets-this is more of an individual based assessment. It lets me see if students need more group work or more help on certain tasks.
6. Final Product-every center requires a final product which allows me to see whether directions can be followed in all aspects of learning.
2. Journals-shows us if students are really comprehending what is being taught, if there is progress, and whether assistance is still needed.
3. DI-allows me to work with the students to strengthen the skills being taught and work closely with them. It gives me the responsibility as a teacher to determine their reading level and see if they should move up or remain at the same level.
4. Whole class lessons-allows me to see if the class can work as a whole and it allows students to share their ideas and thoughts with each other.
5. Worksheets-this is more of an individual based assessment. It lets me see if students need more group work or more help on certain tasks.
6. Final Product-every center requires a final product which allows me to see whether directions can be followed in all aspects of learning.
Making Learning Relevant
1. 100 days of school
2. Valentine's Day
3. St. Patrick's Day
4. Dr. Seuss Birtday
I think these four activities demonstrated relevance of learning because it taught the students that there are many different ways to celebrate occassions. It gave them the knowledge of why each day is celebrated.
(for brief description of each activity, refer to diversity is all around us blog)
My Professional Growth
1. Statewide PD's-This was one of my first experiences in a statewide PD. It helped me as a teacher in training because it allowed me to work with other teachers and other schools and it gave me a taste of what I should expect when I become a classroom teacher.
2. Staff Meetings-This allowed me to mingle with the rest of the teachers at our school so it let me grow as a teacher with them and it let me see what they had to offer and what my school was all about.
3. Child Study Meetings-This was a big change in terms of comfort for me. I had to go out of the box and see what the student was like outside of the classroom. So it was an experience in its own. It helped me realize that parent/teacher relationships are very important and parent involvement is key in every students life.
2. Staff Meetings-This allowed me to mingle with the rest of the teachers at our school so it let me grow as a teacher with them and it let me see what they had to offer and what my school was all about.
3. Child Study Meetings-This was a big change in terms of comfort for me. I had to go out of the box and see what the student was like outside of the classroom. So it was an experience in its own. It helped me realize that parent/teacher relationships are very important and parent involvement is key in every students life.
Diversity is all around us!
1. 100 days of school-With this activity, diversity is implemented because of the simple fact that different schools have their different ways of celebrating. Depending on your whereabouts and your resources, you will have limits on what you can do to celebrate the event.
2. Valentine's Day-Diversity exists because people have different ways of expressing emotions. With this activity, we had our students make crafts for people other than their parents. We want them to understand that its not just for mommy and daddy or a husband and wife but it is to show love to ANYONE that is important to you.
3. St. Patrick's Day-With this activity, we had to make sure that the religion was not the MAIN reason for this celebration. So we had the students do different activities to show the different ways to be appreciative for the holiday and St. Patrick.
4. Dr. Seuss Birthday-With this activity, we wanted to show the students that people celebrate birthdays in many different ways and so what we came up with did not have to be the same as what other schools had. We did the celebration the way we thought it should be done.
5. STUCO spirit week- This had a lot of diversity implemented because the kids got to express their OWN spirit and so it brought out the diversity of their very own kindergarten class. An example was one Filipino student who came in with a hat that represented her culture. Each day the students were asked to wear something different and each day we saw a piece of each students culture.
6. Family Learning Fair-Students from different backgrounds came together as one to work as a team to complete a task and make succeed as a team and not just as one individual.
2. Valentine's Day-Diversity exists because people have different ways of expressing emotions. With this activity, we had our students make crafts for people other than their parents. We want them to understand that its not just for mommy and daddy or a husband and wife but it is to show love to ANYONE that is important to you.
3. St. Patrick's Day-With this activity, we had to make sure that the religion was not the MAIN reason for this celebration. So we had the students do different activities to show the different ways to be appreciative for the holiday and St. Patrick.
4. Dr. Seuss Birthday-With this activity, we wanted to show the students that people celebrate birthdays in many different ways and so what we came up with did not have to be the same as what other schools had. We did the celebration the way we thought it should be done.
5. STUCO spirit week- This had a lot of diversity implemented because the kids got to express their OWN spirit and so it brought out the diversity of their very own kindergarten class. An example was one Filipino student who came in with a hat that represented her culture. Each day the students were asked to wear something different and each day we saw a piece of each students culture.
6. Family Learning Fair-Students from different backgrounds came together as one to work as a team to complete a task and make succeed as a team and not just as one individual.
TEACHING METHODS AND STRATEGIES
1. Journal Writing-Journal writing affords the opportunity for thinking and writing. Expressive writing requires that participants become actively involved in the learning process. This process becomes less effective if participants need to worry about spelling or grammar. Students should be encouraged to write freely in their journals without fear of evaluation.
**In this section, my students did journal writing on a daily basis. There was one center that was devoted to JUST journal writing so that is how the teaching strategy was used in our classroom. They had to draw out their ideas on the given journal topic, then I or Ms. Tudela would come around and ask them what the picture represented. As they told us what the picture represented, we would write out the sentence and it was there responsibility to then copy our sentence which also helped build their writing skills.
2. Whole Class Discussion-A true discussion occurs when a group of people including the leader, share experiences, debate ideas and theories, discuss experiences, and work together on common problems. It is not: a teacher asking question and a participant answers. Class discussions can be used to initiate, amplify or summarize a session.
** This again was done on a daily basis. Students and I would carry discussions that would help to answer questions they may have about anything before we carried on with our lessons.
3. Small group Discussion-participants working together can help simulate each others creativity. Small group activities are cooperative, but have less formal structure than cooperative learning. These activities encourage collective thinking and provide opportunities for participants to work together and increase social skills.
**This takes place during centers. The students share their ideas and help each other to complete the assignments.
4. Celebrations-Activities that focus on the joy of completion and accomplishment. These activities serve as reminders and markers. It is appropriate to stop and acknowledge and appreciate their accomplishments.
** We had celebrations on Fridays. We called it our FUN CENTER days. The students would basically have activities that were fun but also it was work that summed up everything they had learned and done throughout the week.
5. Mini Lectures-The mini-lecture is a concise way to provide participants with background information, research findings, or motivational examples to spark interest and give them a frame work for discussion or activity to follow.
** We had mini lectures before each center. I had to go to each center to give them the needed information to complete the assigned activity.
6. Games and Puzzles-Games and puzzles can be used to provide a different environment in which learning can can take place. They can also be used in cooperative learning groups.
** We had games and puzzles to help students refresh their memory on a certain task or lesson. One example was the alphabet. We had puzzles and games ready for them to complete so it helped us to assess on whether or not they mastered the alphabet without our assistance.
7. Artistic Expression-Participants may be offered a choice of expressing themselves in art, or through writing. Such a choice accommodates the different learning need and talents of students. Completed work should be displayed.
** An example of an artistic expression would be when my students did marble painting. They got to freely create a piece that they could be proud of.
8. Experiments and Demonstration-With this section, my students just showed the class what they created for their 100 days collection. They told us how they came up with the work, what they used to create the piece and what it took to finish.
9. Self-Assessment-This was done through the games that I created. The students had the chance to assess themselves to see if they mastered the material that we worked on during the week.
10. Student Presentation-students shared their work with their classmates.
1. Journal Writing-Journal writing affords the opportunity for thinking and writing. Expressive writing requires that participants become actively involved in the learning process. This process becomes less effective if participants need to worry about spelling or grammar. Students should be encouraged to write freely in their journals without fear of evaluation.
**In this section, my students did journal writing on a daily basis. There was one center that was devoted to JUST journal writing so that is how the teaching strategy was used in our classroom. They had to draw out their ideas on the given journal topic, then I or Ms. Tudela would come around and ask them what the picture represented. As they told us what the picture represented, we would write out the sentence and it was there responsibility to then copy our sentence which also helped build their writing skills.
2. Whole Class Discussion-A true discussion occurs when a group of people including the leader, share experiences, debate ideas and theories, discuss experiences, and work together on common problems. It is not: a teacher asking question and a participant answers. Class discussions can be used to initiate, amplify or summarize a session.
** This again was done on a daily basis. Students and I would carry discussions that would help to answer questions they may have about anything before we carried on with our lessons.
3. Small group Discussion-participants working together can help simulate each others creativity. Small group activities are cooperative, but have less formal structure than cooperative learning. These activities encourage collective thinking and provide opportunities for participants to work together and increase social skills.
**This takes place during centers. The students share their ideas and help each other to complete the assignments.
4. Celebrations-Activities that focus on the joy of completion and accomplishment. These activities serve as reminders and markers. It is appropriate to stop and acknowledge and appreciate their accomplishments.
** We had celebrations on Fridays. We called it our FUN CENTER days. The students would basically have activities that were fun but also it was work that summed up everything they had learned and done throughout the week.
5. Mini Lectures-The mini-lecture is a concise way to provide participants with background information, research findings, or motivational examples to spark interest and give them a frame work for discussion or activity to follow.
** We had mini lectures before each center. I had to go to each center to give them the needed information to complete the assigned activity.
6. Games and Puzzles-Games and puzzles can be used to provide a different environment in which learning can can take place. They can also be used in cooperative learning groups.
** We had games and puzzles to help students refresh their memory on a certain task or lesson. One example was the alphabet. We had puzzles and games ready for them to complete so it helped us to assess on whether or not they mastered the alphabet without our assistance.
7. Artistic Expression-Participants may be offered a choice of expressing themselves in art, or through writing. Such a choice accommodates the different learning need and talents of students. Completed work should be displayed.
** An example of an artistic expression would be when my students did marble painting. They got to freely create a piece that they could be proud of.
8. Experiments and Demonstration-With this section, my students just showed the class what they created for their 100 days collection. They told us how they came up with the work, what they used to create the piece and what it took to finish.
9. Self-Assessment-This was done through the games that I created. The students had the chance to assess themselves to see if they mastered the material that we worked on during the week.
10. Student Presentation-students shared their work with their classmates.
Sunday, April 5, 2009
...and transition begins
During the week of March 30th-April 03, 2009, I was doing my final week of full days. It was an interesting week because the kids were already REALLY comfortable with me teaching so I kept thinking about how it would be when Ms. Tudela started to take over again. Today is April 06, 2009 and the students had Ms. Tudela in the morning. They were a little off task in the beginning but they got back on track in no time. I'm really going to miss being with Ms. Tudela and the students but its been a long road and I think I deserve a little break.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Taking over begins
From January 20-January 23, 2009, I took over during the morning routines. I had the class in my hand for about a half hour and the first day was a little nerve wracking but I managed to survive and from there I learned what I could have done better and fixed it right away.
From the 26th-the 30th of January, I had the class for an hour and a half. The times were getting longer but I was really liking the whole process because I was on my feet more and busy more so I felt really confident and I was learning a lot more things which made the process even more enjoyable.
From the 2nd-the 6th of February, I had the class for 2 and 1/2 hours. I was excited about this because I got to take them all the way up to right before it was time to go home. That was when it was the most difficult to keep them focused so I was excited about getting to see that and deal with it and I think I did a great job at the whole situation.
From the 9th-the 13th of February, I had the class all the way through lunch. By this time, I was really comfortable with my AM session and they were really comfortable with me. We were really getting to know each other and I really felt the respect and connection we all had.
From the 17th-the 20th of February, I started taking over almost all of the PM session and I was taking over ALL of the AM session by this time. It was my first week with the PM class and coincidently, Ms. Tudela was under the weather at this time, so the students thought that she wasn't feeling well enough to teach them so she had me teaching them. Little did they know that this was the 1st of 7 weeks that they would be with me.
I started my 6 weeks of full day on the 23rd of February. It is now the 26th of March and I've only got one more week of full day before I begin my transition period. Its been a wonderful experience and I am really glad to be in this classroom with these students and my mentor teacher. I've learned so much from her and I have grown to love these students and I'm REALLY excited about taking them with me to the 1st grade. They don't know that yet so I think they are going to be in for a big surprise. I'm just really excited to be in this experience and i am really happy about where I was placed and I can honestly say that I am TRULY going to miss it.
From the 26th-the 30th of January, I had the class for an hour and a half. The times were getting longer but I was really liking the whole process because I was on my feet more and busy more so I felt really confident and I was learning a lot more things which made the process even more enjoyable.
From the 2nd-the 6th of February, I had the class for 2 and 1/2 hours. I was excited about this because I got to take them all the way up to right before it was time to go home. That was when it was the most difficult to keep them focused so I was excited about getting to see that and deal with it and I think I did a great job at the whole situation.
From the 9th-the 13th of February, I had the class all the way through lunch. By this time, I was really comfortable with my AM session and they were really comfortable with me. We were really getting to know each other and I really felt the respect and connection we all had.
From the 17th-the 20th of February, I started taking over almost all of the PM session and I was taking over ALL of the AM session by this time. It was my first week with the PM class and coincidently, Ms. Tudela was under the weather at this time, so the students thought that she wasn't feeling well enough to teach them so she had me teaching them. Little did they know that this was the 1st of 7 weeks that they would be with me.
I started my 6 weeks of full day on the 23rd of February. It is now the 26th of March and I've only got one more week of full day before I begin my transition period. Its been a wonderful experience and I am really glad to be in this classroom with these students and my mentor teacher. I've learned so much from her and I have grown to love these students and I'm REALLY excited about taking them with me to the 1st grade. They don't know that yet so I think they are going to be in for a big surprise. I'm just really excited to be in this experience and i am really happy about where I was placed and I can honestly say that I am TRULY going to miss it.
Jan 05-Jan 16, 2009
In these first few days, I was just observing my mentor teacher and the students. I sat in the class and minded my own business but also tried to make it so that the students knew that I was still there and I was going to be with them for a while. I helped out in any way that I could and I did my best to keep myself busy. In these two weeks of observation, I learned a lot from Ms. Tudela. I saw what a GREAT teacher she is and I adapted a lot of her management skills and teaching strategies.
In this time frame, I also got to know my mentor teacher and my students really well. I tried the best I could to make the students comfortable with me being in the class because eventually I would start taking over and I just DID NOT want it to be a bumpy road ahead of me.
In this time frame, I also got to know my mentor teacher and my students really well. I tried the best I could to make the students comfortable with me being in the class because eventually I would start taking over and I just DID NOT want it to be a bumpy road ahead of me.
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