From Student to Teacher @tinageorgesingh-blog - Tumblr Blog

The end is here

The end is finally here. These moments are truly bitter sweet. The stress of having school along with my internship is over, but the joy you get from being with the students is also over. I am truly going to miss my students. I have thoroughly enjoyed being at the school I interned. The principal is amazing and my collaborating teacher was a great example to follow. She supported me in various ways and was there to help me any way she could along the road. So then what have I gained or learned through this all?

I was so unsure whether I would succeed being in an ELA classroom. I was nervous about all the writing and modeling I would have to do. In the beginning this was something I struggled with. As I would sit in front of the class I could feel my body overheating from my nerves. I felt as if I shouldn’t be up there talking to them because I would lead them astray. This of course was a temporary feeling. As weeks went by, and the more I had to do it, the better I became at think alouds for writing. Don’t get me wrong, by no means am I saying that I have conquered writing think alouds. However, what I have slightly conquered is my doubt of being able to do it. The writing think alouds I truly enjoy are narratives. Since it’s not structured by adding text evidence, I feel freer to do as I wish. For narratives there is a structure I still need to follow, but it’s not the same as adding text evidence.

I had many ELL students in my class and I feel over the short period of time I was there I have been able to help them do better. These students were not willing to raise their hand in class to answer questions or read questions out loud. Now, I have too many to choose from. I had one student who didn’t care to write in English and is now willing to write a few words for me in English. I now have one student who doesn’t feel that he needs the extra support and attempts to do the work on his own. I have made it very clear to him that if he ever feels like he is unsure he is always welcomed back for help. These students have made such a difference in my life and I am so grateful for that. As much as I want to teach them I always look forward to learning something from my students as well.

As the semester comes to a close and as I venture out into the world without any supervisors, I do know one thing for sure. I know I want to try to make a difference in at least one student and from the help of my program I feel that I have the capability to do that.

Personal Narrative

This past week was a busy week for me. I got observed three times on three separate days. My collaborating teacher observed me for writing on Tuesday, the principal observed me for writing on Wednesday, and on Thursday I got observed by my supervisor. If this had happened in the beginning of the semester I would have probably been stressed out. Since my semester is ending I didn’t feel that I wouldn’t be prepared for the observations. For writing the students were working on personal narratives. This is something that hasn’t really been touched on throughout the year. Since I am in fourth grade, the student’s mainly focus on informative and opinion writing. These are their FSA writing topics. During these writing sessions, students had to focus on various skills, such as pulling text evidence. For some students, this was difficult to do and this was not necessarily fun for them. However, personal narratives are a whole other story.

The students had a lot of fun writing personal narratives. This is easier for them to write because it is more personal and they don’t have to pull information from a text. I wrote about my little niece falling from a stool because she wanted chocolate chip cookies. One of the days we focused on vivid verbs. This was the day the principal came to observe me. I was very nervous to have her come and observe, but all went well. She stayed for twenty minutes and was very happy with what I was doing with the students.

Introducing vivid verbs was so much fun for me. I gave them an example on how to use vivid verbs. I told them, “The boy ran across the room.” I then asked them, “Did I give you guys a good picture of what is happening?” The class was saying yes and no. I then said, “The boy dashed across the room. Did I paint a better picture in your mind?” The students agreed that I painted a better picture of the boy going across the room. As I was talking to them I was kind of acting out what the boy would be doing. I told them as writers they paint pictures in our minds when they are telling us a story. I then began to model my writing. The minute I started adding in vivid verbs the students hands shot up. They were really getting into the writing trying to find the vivid verbs. I then released them to do their writing and to incorporate vivid verbs. Once the students finished their part with vivid verbs I had volunteers come up to read what they wrote. I told the class that when they hear their friend read a vivid verb I wanted them to flash the number two with their finger two times. When their fingers show the number two they are also making the letter “V”. By flashing it twice they are putting up two V’s which can stand for vivid verbs. The kids had so much fun flashing their V’s in the air when they heard vivid verbs. They also helped their peers come up with better words for their writing.

This was an exciting writing day for me and the kids. I feel that I have gotten more confident when it comes to talking out loud during the writing process. Part of it could be that personal narratives or more flexible and fun. There is no text evidence that needs to be included for personal narrative. I look forward to more opportunities of these types of writing.

Let’s summarize

This week for reading we read about Cesar Chavez. For this text I wanted the kids to work on summarizing. The students struggle summarizing texts. In the beginning we read the text and then every day after that we would make a t-chart to help them be able to summarize the text. As they would go through the text they would write important information down in one column and then they would write the page number they found it on in the other column. I had them do this for three different pages on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. On Friday they made the t-chart for any remaining pages we didn’t do the previous days. Now the reason why I had them make the t-chart was to help them put their summary together. If I just ask the students to summarize a text they tend to leave out information. This was to ensure that they included what was needed for the summary. However, instead of having the students just write a summary on a sheet of notebook paper, I thought I would change things up a bit.

Before we started their writing I had them take out a book they were reading. I then had them turn their books to the back to tell me what it was. I then asked them what was written on the back of their books. The students responded by telling me it was a summary. I then asked them why it would be written there. My students responded by saying it was to help them pick out the book. I explained to them that when authors write books they put a summary of the story to help us know what it is about. I then explained to the students this is what they would be doing. They would make their t-chart with information about the text, summarize it, and then make a book. Once the students were done with their t-chart they needed to let me check it. After I checked it they would be able to write their summary. The reason why I wanted to check the student’s t-chart was to ensure they had proper information to make their summary. I didn’t want them to write their summary and make their book and then have them go back and fix their summary because they left something out. I’m so happy I checked their t-chart because some students left out a page or two. I would then ask them if there wasn’t anything important that happened on those pages. If they said no, I would have them go back to their seats to check. If they still struggled I would then help them by asking questions about that part of the text or have the students read the text to me. Most of time when I asked them to read the text to me, in the middle of them reading I would get an ohhhhh.

Once the students wrote their summary they could then draw a picture for the cover of their book. I reminded them to use their imagination for their cover and to not copy the cover of the text. They could then draw a picture inside for their summary. The students had a great time doing this.

I really enjoy these teaching moments! I look forward to more of them.

Compare and Contrast

Having the students being able to compare and contrast can be a difficult task. It’s easy for the students to be able to tell you what is the difference between the stories, but they tend to have difficulties telling you what is the same between the two. My biggest challenge is helping my LYA’s understand what is being asked. I had them write at least one way they are different and then had them draw a picture. Then they had to write one sentence about how they are same and then draw a picture. They then needed to write one sentence about how they are same. For my LYA’s who struggle writing in English, I had them draw a picture of the quests from both stories. They seemed to enjoy this. For my other students they needed to write a five sentence paragraph. I modeled for them how to write the five sentence paragraph. For my model I two texts they had read previously so they would still be able to follow along. I know modeling how to write is extremely important for students to understand the writing process, but it’s still something I am working on. I think what I struggle with most is, I feel that the students are bored. I am still trying to figure out how to make it more interesting as I think aloud. I know this may take time, but I will continue to work on.

Not only did we compare and contrast stories, they also needed to tell me what the theme of the story was. We read Zomo’s Friends. This was a folktale about a rabbit who didn’t have any friends and was trying to make friends. The students really struggled to remember what theme was. I didn’t think they would struggle as much because we had discussed theme with previous texts. One student went on a tangent and luckily Mrs. C was there to help me. Mrs. C pointed out to the student what she was describing was mood not theme. After the clarification the students seemed to understand better what they needed to look for.

Although I always point this out for myself, I am continuing to work to be better at writing out loud.

How entertaining is your commercial?

So this past few week the students were testing. It has been long a week for me so I can only imagine how the kids felt. They would test all morning and then in the afternoon I would teach them. They tested everyday but Friday. On Friday they were supposed to do their performance task which was a written response to their reading. Since they were testing the past four days I wanted to shake things up where they weren’t sitting at their desk and just writing. So I came up with them doing a commercial for their performance task. They had to convince their peers how people and animals benefit each other.

I gave the students a checklist on what was required for their commercial. I gave them 45 minutes to plan their commercial and I had 45 minutes for them to do their commercial in front of their class. Not only did they still need to include text evidence, but it also helped them with public speaking. Usually when I have them do pair work I pair them up, however, I thought for this activity I would let them choose. Mrs. C gave me a great idea called sticky high fives. I gave them a minute to find a partner and when they did they would have to stick their hand up and give their partner a high five and be stuck together. This was visual for me to see who was paired and who was left.

Before they began I had red squares and green squares. I explained to them that they needed to convince their peers to not change the channel for their commercial. I asked them how often they may change the channel when there is a commercial. I told them to look over their checklist to decide whether they would change the channel or not. Their peers had to include the checklist in their commercial. If they wanted to change the channel they would put up green and if they didn’t want to change the channel they would put up red. I reminded them that whichever color they put up they would need to have a reason and be able to explain it. The kids had so much fun making their commercial. It worked out really well.

For my afternoon class I have a lot of ELL students. They are all native Spanish speakers. One of them raised their hand because he wasn’t quite sure what the color papers meant. So I thought I would use something he would know. I asked him if he watches Telemundo, this is a Spanish channel. He said yes. So I told him if you don’t want to change the channel from Telemundo then you put the red paper up. I then asked if he watches the Disney channel. He said yes. So I told him if you want to change the channel from Telemundo to Disney the channel you put up green. The kids were having so much fun with this concept because if one of them weren’t sure what to do they would ask their friends Telemundo or Disney?

Having the students make their commercials was so much fun for me to watch because they really got into the acting and being creative. I hope to incorporate this again for their performance task.

It’s Tea Time

Before the students went on spring break I handed them their Social Studies assignment. They were each given an African American that either invented or made a contribution to our society. I picked Popsicle sticks and had each student come up and pick their person. I gave them three index cards and a checklist for what was required for their assignment. I explained to them they would be researching and learning about the person they picked. On March 20th we would then have a tea party where the students would pretend to be that person. I went into further detail telling them to write the information down on their index cards because they will be using them to talk to their peers.

This was the checklist:

Checklist for African American Tea party

Name of person____________________________ Your name____________________

___Birthdate ___Where they lived or live

___Death or if they are still alive ___How long did they live there

___Invention/Contribution ____Were they married or have children

At least 5 interesting facts: ____Describe how they felt during that time

1.__ 2.___ 3.___ 4.___ 5.___

I had bought juice pouches, popcorn, and sugar cookies for the students to have during tea time. For those students who did not do their work, I explained to them that they had two weeks to do their work and during that time they could have had asked me or Mrs. C for help. Since they didn’t ask for help or do their work, I placed them on the computers in class and had them find information on their person. They did not participate in the tea party.

I put the students in 5 groups of three, one group had two students, and I gave them each a number. If they were number 1 they would not rotate in to a different group. I had number 2 rotate clockwise and 3 rotate counter clockwise. This way they were always talking with different peers. They each had a minute to tell their peers who they were. As I set the timer I would sit at the different table groups and listen to what the students were telling their peers. Some students were amazed at what some people accomplished throughout history. When time was up all I heard was groans around the room. It was time for them to go home and at that moment they rather would have stayed in class and continued the tea party then go home. That was a great feeling. They truly enjoyed the activity. I am making a rubric to grade their index cards. For my LYA’s we handed them questions to answer in Spanish so they understood what was expected. Two out of the three wrote in Spanish so I will give the ELL teacher the rubric so she can grade it.

Besides this Social Studies activity I have also have begun to implement extensions for when they are done with their work in the classroom. They also have a self-assessment checklist for when they turn in their writing. I have begun to implement checklists for most of their work. A few of the options I have given the students to do after they have completed their work is utilizing the word wall. They can use five words from the word wall to make an alliteration sentence. They can make up a story with words from the word wall. They can make a picture dictionary from the words on the word wall and they can use 5 words from the word wall to make a sentence. Each of these have requirements and it is all written on the sheet they take from the file. I also have three different types of papers with boxes and lines. I told them with this paper I want them to draw a picture and then write a story based off the picture they drew. I have a checklist for this as well. I am also going to implement writing a story using the vocabulary words we go over in the beginning of the week. For my students who have difficulty with comprehension I am going to pull them for small group. We will go over a text and I would then have them take a sheet a paper and fold it into thirds. In the first column I will have them draw a picture of the beginning of the text and then write a sentence about what the beginning was about. The second column they will draw a picture of the middle and write a sentence, and the third column they will draw a picture of the end and write a sentence. I am also going to implement a bingo sheet where they will color in a square every time they complete something. The bingo sheet will be done by trial and error.

The students loved the idea of getting to write about anything they wanted. I had received so many questions about whether they had to write an opinion, persuasive, or informative story. I told them no, I wanted them to draw a picture and write a story, they just have to include characters, a setting, and problem/s and solution/s. They were so excited!

As time goes on I am going to continue to think of other activities they can do that will help them in reading and writing.

Observation

This week was my first observation and boy was it rough. I only say that because I was sick. So sick that I had to ask my professor to come earlier then my scheduled time because I didn’t know if I would make it through the day. The students were reading an informational text on how we affect the environment. We were discussing how authors persuade readers through evidence and reasoning. For the first thirty minutes the students spent their time discussing what the author was trying to persuade us about. Once this discussion was done we changed gears to the FSA questions my CT had come up with. The students were given time to answer the questions on their own. I then had sticky notes around the classroom and had the students go to the spot with the letter they had chosen as an answer. The first question was not written out well, where it had even confused me. Mrs. C had to help me clarify what the question was asking. Unfortunately, since the question wasn’t worded well there was a lot of confusion for most of the time. Since the first question took up most of our time, I didn’t get a chance to go over all of the questions.

Also having the students get up and go to different spots didn’t work out so well. There was a lot of confusion from it as well. This would not be something I would do again because some questions had two letters for an answer. That was where the confusion took place.

From my observation I took away that enthusiasm is important in teaching because I was ill I didn’t have any. This also caused the students to not have any as well. Got to fake it until their gone to make sure they are alert and taking in what is being taught. Also where I position myself is also important. Even if I am talking to a group of students I always need to make sure that I can see everyone in the classroom. Hopefully my next observation will be much smoother than this one.

��h�K�[x

All votes are in!

This past week I have been preparing the kids for their writing exam. What I noticed they often did was not cite their text properly. They would cite their text by saying, “in paragraph 3…” or “in the text” and not writing the title of the text. Therefore, when I modeled for them how they would cite their text, they caught on by saying that I didn’t cite my text. I reminded them that they didn’t read my text, so I needed to make sure I wrote the title in my essay. I told them whoever reads their essay didn’t read their text, so they should make sure to include the title. This has been our life for the past three weeks. So for Social Studies I thought I would shake things up.

To honor President’s day I thought I would teach the kids about the election process. I had them go home and find out what political party their parents belonged to.

I then explained to the students about the Electoral College and why we have them. We can’t just rely on majority vote to decide on our president, therefore the Electoral College helps us with voting. I printed out a map of the United States with all the states on them.

I started by explain to them that when George Washington was president the majority was 35, we now need 270. I gave them a few presidents and how many Electoral votes were needed during that time. I then told them when LBJ was president in 1964 he needed 270, which is how many that is needed now. I then asked them to find out how many electoral votes are in Florida. I also encouraged them to find the amount of electoral votes each state has.

Once we went over the Electoral College I separated them into two groups and had the students come up with their own political party. They came up with United Freedom and Hispanich (it’s supposed to be Hispanic). I then pulled sticks to pick presidents from either side. We then discussed what role a president has and their characteristics.

The students were loving every minute of this. I then introduced to them how people have to register to vote. Once they turn 18 and want to vote, they need to register.

I printed a form out that they needed to fill. Instead of their home address,

I had them fill out the address to the school with the school’s name. I wrote the address up on the ELMO. I then explained to them that once they are done filing out the form, they would receive a voter registration card. I reminded them that they should not lose the card because without they card they wouldn't be able to vote. As they came up to me with their form filled out, I would send them back for any misspellings or incorrect information. I explained to them that it’s important they take their time to fill out the form because if forms are not filled out correctly they will get rejected. I would tell them something was wrong with the address or they had put down a city and not a country. Once they filled their form out correctly, I handed them their voter registration card. I told them to fill out all the information on the card and to draw a picture of themselves so I know it’s their card. I told them to keep their cards and to make sure they have them for voting day.

Voting day finally came. They each showed me their voter registration card and I gave them a slip to vote. It had both candidate names on it with a box next to the name for the students to check. Once everyone had voted, I pulled out the slips from the box. I then had a student tally the number of votes under their names. By popular vote one of the students won. The kids were so excited and clapping. Then, I asked them, does the president win by popular vote. They said no. When I asked them how an election gets decided they said by the Electoral College. The day before I had written states on a posted note and placed it under each of their desks. Whichever state they had was the amount of electoral votes they got for their political party. It was a close race, but one of the students won by a few points. I then reviewed with them about the process on voting for a president.

This real world Social Studies was so much fun to teach. The students were so engaged and I feel they learned about the president election!

Opinion Essays

This past week the students were writing an opinion essay. I really liked the advice and modeling my teacher did. She explained to me, while they are learning to write their essays, we need to help them learn a craft. This past week they learned about adding transition words and interrupter phrases.

During the lesson I explained to the students the importance of adding transitions words. Mrs. C helped me find the words to explain it to them. I told them, a transition word is like a signal. When someone is driving a car they put their turning signal on so the person behind them knows they are turning left or right. When we add transition words into our writing we our letting the reader know we are changing our train of thought. First, I read a part from the text I used to write my opinion piece. I highlighted transition words within the text. Then I modeled my writing and had them turn and talk about where I used transition words in my middle. I had students come up to the board and underline where I used them. If the student didn’t find a transition word and underlined the wrong word, I had the student pick on someone. I then explained to them that I wanted them to try to incorporate transition words into their first middle. I left highlighters on their tables. Once they were done writing they would highlight their transition words. When I taught them about interrupter phrases, I went through the same process. I encouraged them to try to add interrupter phrases in their second middle.

For our reading block I decided to try something different. I noticed when I would be reading the text from the book, there were students who weren’t following along. Part of it could be, for some students English isn’t their first language. So the second time around, I turned the ELMO on. I didn’t want to sit at the ELMO with the book to help them read along. I wouldn’t be able to circulate around the classroom. While I read the text, I walk around the class. This way I can see what all the students are doing. This is how I realized there were students who were not following along. As I turned the ELMO on, I told the students we would be trying something different. I would have them place their books under it and help their peers follow along. It worked! Everyone was following along. Even as I asked questions, more students volunteered to answer. I think from now on I will be using the ELMO when reading.

Onto Social Studies. I had them go home and find out which political party their family was a part of. I divided chart paper into four squares and wrote a political party in each square. I had the students write their name under the political party their family members belonged to. I then went on to explain on how we vote for the president. We then discussed the different political parties. I also explained the Electoral College. I told them it wasn’t a place where you go to college. I explained why we have electors and that each state has a certain amount of votes. I placed a picture of the U.S. and started writing how many electoral votes each state had. I went back into history and told them at the time when George Washington was running for president, he only needed 35 electoral votes. Now we need 270. They were stunned because it was such a low number of votes. On Tuesday, when we have Social Studies, they will get divided into their groups. They will have to come up with their party name.

Next week the students will be writing an informative essay and will be working on different crafts to incorporate into their writing. We will continue to focus on elections and on Friday they will vote for a president.

Informative writing

What is an informative essay? This was the type of writing the students were learning about this past week. For the next few weeks we will be working on informative and opinion writing. The students will soon be taking their writing essay exam and we are trying to prepare them for it as much as we can. I had written earlier about modeling writing and how difficult it was for me. It’s still hard for me to model because I have to talk aloud as I write. Hopefully, as I continue to model the writing, I will get better and more comfortable talking aloud.

The students have to learn how to plan and write their essay. Planning is a bit different. They don’t use a four square model, like they were taught earlier. Now for planning they have their topic on the top of the page, a beginning, three columns, two for their middle and the third is for their sources, and at the bottom of the paper is their ending. I watched Mrs. C model how to teach this type of planning and I felt a bit better when teaching the model to the students. I think my biggest issue is the importance of this lesson for the students and I want to make sure I don’t mess up for the students to not do well.

Aside from all the writing that is happening for the next few weeks, next week is President’s day and this month is Black History Month. To help the students learn more about president’s day I have decided to change our lesson for Social Studies. The students will be divided into two groups. They will have to come up with a political party name and a candidate to run for President. Every day we will be learning about the election process. On Friday we will hold elections on who the President will be. The following week we will be focusing on Black History month. Each student will get an index card. The students will select an African American that has made some type of contribution and write the name on the index card. They will have to find information about this person and write it on the card. At the end of the week we will have a tea party where the students will pretend to be the person on their card and have questions they will ask each other to learn more. The next two week in Social Studies will be quite exciting.

STEM Fair

Let the judging begin, judging for the STEM Fair. I got a chance to experience STEM Fair from a different point view other than just being the Science teacher, guiding students with their projects. I walked around and got a chance to talk to nine students about their experiments. It was my first time judging the STEM Fair and I was nervous. I can only imagine how the students felt. So, I’m going to pretend to wear the other pair of shoes. To be the one telling the judges about an experiment.

Being nine years old and having three adult strangers come up to me can be nerve wrecking. I’m not quite sure what they will be asking, if they will be personal, or just all business. They have us all sit in a row and wait for the judges to come. They don’t tell us when the judges will come, they just make us wait. Waiting makes me nervous. Sitting in my chair waiting for the judges to come is putting my stomach in knots. Finally, the judges arrive. What a relief. They’re nice and friendly. I begin to get a calm feeling throughout my body.

At last, they are asking me questions. I really enjoyed doing my experiment, so having to discuss it comes naturally for me. The experiment was something that really interested me. I didn’t feel as if I was just doing something for school, it felt more like I was doing something to help me in the long run. I already know what I would want to change if I did it again. They are asking me so many questions. The questions don’t bother me because it’s making me think they are really interested in my project. Once they are at my table, the nervousness goes away. Since I’m confident in my project, I don’t feel nervous to talk about it. Waiting for them to come talk to me drove me crazy. The not knowing who I am going to talk to and whether they will be nice and interested in my project. Once the judges leave I feel better. Whether or not if I win don’t cross my mind. I still feel like I did great because the judges seemed interested in my project and I really liked what I did.

Until the next project.

Teaching the LDC

For the next two weeks, we are doing the LDC. I have taken over the class where I teach both the morning class and afternoon class. This week has had its ups and down. Monday was my first day teaching the whole day. The LDC is broken down on what needs to be accomplished within a certain time frame. Monday’s lesson was supposed to take 60 minutes. I took 90 minutes. It was difficult for me to get all that needed to be done within the 60 minutes the LDC had allotted. Mrs. C assured me that it was fine, and sometimes everything you plan for doesn’t always get accomplished for that day.

The next few days, I tried planning out how long it would take me to teach the lesson. For the rest of the week I timed myself with a timer, while I taught whole group and while the students did work. As I continued to time myself, I was getting closer and closer on keeping the lesson within the time allotted. Wednesday and Thursday went pretty well.

Although the week was flying by and I did a lot of teaching I particularly want to discuss Friday. The lesson for Friday had the students use a note taking chart to write down the different properties of minerals, write a description about the property, and then find three examples from the text. This was the precursor to the writing assignment the students had to complete. With the morning group I had set 2 minutes to discuss the writing prompt. I wanted them to discuss what the prompt was asking them to do with their shoulder partner. Then for 3 minutes we discussed it as whole group. I had the students underline important parts of the question. I then modeled for them how to find a property from the text, write a description, and three examples from the text. I then had them work independently for ten minutes to fill the rest of the chart. Once the 10 minutes was up, I had the students compare notes with their shoulder partners for 5 minutes. We then came back as whole group and I had the students tell me the properties, the descriptions, and examples from the text. It went smoothly. I was even able to finish before the time that was given. However, it just seemed so boring and dry. So we decided we would switch it up for the afternoon students.

I had three students per group and assigned them one of the properties on chart paper. Together they had to find the description and examples of that property. I gave them 15 minutes to complete the assignment. I then placed each property on the board and had the group come up and explain their description of the property and example from the texts. In whole group I had them place a thumbs up if they agreed, thumbs down if they didn’t agree, and thumbs in the middle if they weren’t sure. This was going smoothly in the beginning of the lesson, then it began to drag on. At times helping the students understand why a description they chose for a property didn’t work was a bit of a struggle for me. It took me 90 minutes to complete this task. At the end of the lesson I asked Mrs. C what I could have done differently to help it move along. These were her suggestions:

When I call on students, pick two students to discuss the description or example. If it seems that they are already a bit off track, I should give more support instead of calling on more students to get to the right path. She explained by having multiple students give an answer, there is more of a possibility that students could get more confused or they will zone out because so many people have spoken.

When one of my ELL students says, “I don’t know.” I should probe them twice, then tell them that I will get back to them when we discuss what it is. This way I’m not spending too much time on one student.

While they were in their group, I should have corrected any misconceptions about the property then, instead of during whole group. That would have helped whole group discussion move along better. I did go around and take notes on how the group was working together and whether they were understanding the lesson at hand.

All of Mrs. C’s advice I found so beneficial. I will take it into consideration for the future.

Next week we will still be working on the LDC, and I will try to incorporate more group work where the students move around the classroom. Just to shake things up and not make the lesson seem boring!

Talking aloud while writing

This past week of school was short. We only had school for three days, and the week went by quickly. On Wednesday and Thursday the students had to take a reading test. This took up all of the morning. They had until lunch to finish the test. Once they came back from lunch, we would teach the morning block for an hour, switch, and then teach the afternoon block for an hour.

The students had a writing task they needed to complete. We have been reading about Amelia Earhart. Last week they had to text code the passage with the letter B for how she believed in herself. This past week they had to text code the passage with the letter A for what she had accomplished. The writing task they had to write about was in their opinion what do they think Amelia Earhart accomplished. They had to use text evidence from the passage in their writing.

Since it had been awhile that we had read the passage, Mrs. C went back and reviewed what they had text coded with B’s. She then used what they had text coded with B’s and modeled how to write, how Amelia believed in herself. As she modeled the writing she asked the students for their input on what else would need to be included. She explained to the students how to add evidence from the text into her writing and she needed to include her insight. Once she was done modeling she asked the students to reread the passage and text code with the letter A for Amelia’s accomplishments. The students did this independently and then came back as whole group to go over it. Once the passage was text coded, they were to write their opinion on what Amelia Earhart’s accomplishments were.

I got a chance to do the same thing with the afternoon block. Since there are so many ELL’s in the class, I had to change certain parts of it. I reviewed what the students had text coded with B’s on how Amelia believed in herself. I then modeled the writing with how Amelia believed in herself. Once I was done I had told the students to text code with A’s for what Amelia accomplished. I had them text code with their shoulder partners. We then came back as a class and text coded the passage together. I then explained what their writing assignment was. For those ELL’s who need a lot of support, I had them find all the ways Amelia accomplished something and had them just write down her accomplishments. For the other ELL’s who could write a little bit more, I had them attempt the writing and asked them to at least include three text evidence.

The most difficult task for me was modeling how to write. When Mrs. C asked me how I thought I did, I told her I have to get used to talking and writing out loud. I made a mistake while I was writing and I could feel my body starting to overheat. Mrs. C told me that it will take me awhile to get used to talking and writing, but it will get better as I get used to it. I think I will take the advice I got in my Master’s program from my writing professor. “As you write papers at home, talk aloud about how you are writing it.” Even as I am writing this I am trying to talk aloud about my writing process. Hopefully, this process will become a little more natural for me down the road.

Ready for Fourth Grade

I have officially left Kindergarten and graduated into Fourth grade! It’s a leap, and although I was nervous about being in the intermediate classroom, I now feel comfortable. On Monday I woke up ready to start my day on the right foot. I met my collaborating teacher, Mrs. C, a pseudonym, who is absolutely amazing. My first day, I introduced myself and watched Mrs. C in action. She is amazing at what she does. I know I will learn so much from her.

The classroom I am in is subject specific. Mrs. C teaches Language Arts and the teacher next door teaches Math/Science. They both teach Social Studies at the end of the day. Monday I walked around with my note book and jotted down anything and everything I was hearing Mrs. C say or do. I know I won’t be exactly be like her, but it’s nice to have somewhere to start. The day went smoothly and by the end of the day Mrs. C asked if I would like to teach the students their vocabulary words the next day. I was open to the idea of doing it. That’s when I flooded Mrs. C with questions on what I should do and how I should do it. This is where it is nice that the classroom is subject specific. I can watch Mrs. C do the lesson in the morning, have an idea on how it should be done, and then do the lesson in the afternoon. So, I watched Mrs. C do the vocabulary lesson. This is what I noticed. She sat in the front of the class and had a sheet of paper under the ELMO. As she wrote the title and the date she also said it out loud. Then I noticed she did something different. She didn’t just sit in her chair at the ELMO, after she would write a word and the definition, she would get up and circulate the room. As she would walk around the room she would put the word in a sentence for the students to better understand the word. As the afternoon rolled around it was my turn to teach the students their vocabulary words. I did what Mrs. C did in the morning and she gave me feedback. She noted down that I gave examples of the word and I walked around the classroom. The afternoon class has a lot of ELL students, so they were looking up the words in Spanish and I also included the Spanish words in parenthesis. Although it was a small lesson I did with the students, it built up my confidence level with them.

On Wednesday the students had to read a story. The essential question was, “How can I monitor my comprehension?” The objective was for them to text code to remember what they wrote. I gave each student sticky notes to help them text code their text. This was the legend.

C=character

S=setting

E=important event (plot)

P=problem

A picture of a light bulb was drawn for solution

Students wrote the letter and on the sticky note and then placed the sticky note in the appropriate spot. The students in the afternoon consist mostly of ELL’s. Mrs. C told me I did well, however, next time to place the text on the ELMO and show them how to text code. Since there are so many ELL’s in the class, some of them were having difficulty text coding. The minute she said it, it clicked. I should have done that. It didn’t cross my mind to show them how to text code. The reason why it didn’t cross my mind was because I didn’t see Mrs. C do that with her morning class. She didn’t need to do it with her morning class because they don’t need as much support as the afternoon class. I have to remember the two classes are not the same.

On Thursday they needed to know what the author’s purpose was for the story they read. I had them talk to their shoulder partner to discuss what they thought the author’s purpose was. As they were talking I walked around with my clipboard and wrote down what they thought the author’s purpose was. I then had them read what the genre of the story was. It was a biography. After they read what the genre was I had them talk with their shoulder partner again. I than asked them to get up and go into designated corners for what the author’s purpose was. In one corner were those who thought the author’s purpose was to persuade the audience. Another corner had those who thought the author’s purpose was to explain something to the audience. The other corner had students who thought the author’s purpose was to inform. I explained to the students they will have to explain their reasoning for why they think one is the author’s purpose. Those students who were in the persuade corner eventually changed to inform after we had a discussion about what persuade meant. They went back to their seats and had to think about what the theme of the story was and then had to write it down. They also had to back up their theme with evidence from the text. Mrs. C reminded me to not be scared and to be on top of the students when they were off task.

Finally Friday came. My first week back was almost done and Mrs. C was out for the day. I was nervous about her being out because the responsibility of teaching both classes laid on my shoulders. The students had a performance task where they had to compare the story and one of the poems they read. I modeled how they should plan and write their paragraph. I used a story and poem they had read earlier in the semester. I then sent them off to work on their own. I think it went pretty smoothly. The students really tried adding evidence from the text into their writing. Both classes were able to do the task at hand. For my afternoon class, since I have so many ELL’s, I differentiated the assignment for them. Those who barely know any English I had them look at the three poems and write down any words that were the same in all three. For those students that were in the middle of learning English I had them compare a poem to the story. The students did really well.

As this week ended, I felt more confident teaching fourth graders. Its a grade I have never ventured into. I can’t wait to implement ideas I have learned from my Master’s program to the lessons I will be teaching the students. Next week is a short week and they will be testing in the morning for two days. Can’t wait to experience testing!!

It's so hard to say Goodbye!

Saying goodbye is always hard to do. The semester is over, my bags have been packed, and I’ve said goodbye to Kindergarten. It was a sad day. You would think since I was only in Kindergarten two days out of the week I wouldn’t get attached. But come on, let’s be realistic. Who can’t help but fall in love with Kindergartners. Although I have taught Pre-Kindergarten for about 2 years, I was still a bit nervous about going into Kindergarten.

I can still remember sitting in front of my computer waiting for the email confirmation on which grade I would be in. Finally the email arrives and I eagerly open it up. I’m searching for my name through the list of my classmates and there, there it is. I found my name. I frantically start scrolling over to see what school I would be attending and what grade I had received. That’s when I see it. Kindergarten. At first I think, oh okay, no big deal. They’re so close to Pre-Kindergarten, that I got this in the bag. After a few hours, all of a sudden, reality hits me. I HAVE KINDERGARTEN. I’m going to a school that I have never been in. I don’t know the teacher. Who knows if she’ll like me? Who knows if she’ll want me there? There is so much to teach in Kindergarten than in Pre-Kindergarten. A slight panic starts to build in me. I revert back to my Children’s Literature class. I remember learning about blending. I start rummaging through my books to find Words their way by Isabella Beck. The book is about selecting words for instruction, introducing their meaning, and engaging students in learning activities that promote both word knowledge and reading comprehension. As I begin to read the book my nerves begin to calm. I felt as if I had a protective shield. Soon the day finally came. Luckily we went into the school the day before the students started. This way we got familiar with the room and our teacher.

Well, as luck would have it, it was on my side. My collaborating teacher was amazing! She was warm and welcoming. She reassured me that although times can be tough in Kindergarten, it’ll all be well worth it in the end. I went to bed feeling anxious about meeting the students and parents the following day. As the next day arrived, I woke up feeling energized to start the day. I walked into the classroom and started greeting the students and parents as they walked in. The students put their backpacks away and found their seats. Mrs. G. started the day by introducing me, moved on to the rules of classroom, and then the calendar. The week flew by and I observed more than actually doing any teaching.

The following week, Mrs. G suggested I do the calendar with the students. Why not, I knew the basics for the routine. It was great as weeks went by and the kids got more comfortable, when I would forget a part, they would remind me. It was a great feeling to know they knew their morning routine. The two days I did show up to school I usually did the calendar and language arts with the students. At this time I wasn’t making up my own plans. I was relying on Mrs. G with her plans. It’s an interesting feeling, now when I think about it, doing someone else’s lesson plan. It’s not natural. I would stand up there and try doing the plan she gave me, but I wouldn’t catch their attention in the same manner she would when she would do the lesson. Or even when I would do my own lesson. Part of this could be due to the blood, sweat, and tears teachers put into their lessons. It may sound a bit dramatic, but sometimes when I make a lesson it’s the way I feel.

When it was my time to make a lesson plan, I had my lesson template out, and I was ready to go. I didn’t think it would be too difficult to input ideas into this lesson plan. I mean come on, it’s a template just add what you need. I quickly learned this was not the case. I had to differentiate between the students. As I read the boxes in the lesson plan template, I simply stared at the screen with a blank expression. My blank expression slowly turned to anxiety. That’s when it hit me. I don’t know how to differentiate between my students! What does it even mean and how could I possible manage to teach a lesson where I would need to change parts of it for every student. It wasn’t until a few weeks later my fears were put to rest. Thank goodness my professor took the time to teach us how to differentiate in the classroom. It wasn’t a daunting task like I thought. In fact, all you need to do for some of the lessons, is change a few words here and there, and you would have different options for differentiated lessons.

That was my saving grace on that part. As I began to write my second lesson plan I found it easier to implement differentiated instruction for the class. I had set my Science lesson plan where the students would be sorting by color and shape. I made a cube for those students who finished quickly with sorting, and for my students who needed some higher thinking activities for sorting. They would roll the cube and then do the activity stated on the cube. For my struggling students I gave them the option of sorting either just by shape or just by color. This is when I realized, well, I have these different activities for the students, and I have students who have different abilities and who vary at different levels. I need to be able to give proper feedback at the student’s level.

I’ve always wanted to be one to help those students or student who feels as if they can’t accomplish a task. It’s just about finding the right words to make sure you don’t discourage them from their work. It wasn’t until I read a chapter on Adjusting Feedback for Different Types of Learners by Brookhart, that I got some ideas. She touches on how to give feedback to those students who may be struggling. She points out, to help those students struggling is to not focus on the negative part, or what they aren’t doing, but rather to focus on the positive part, what they are doing. I felt by helping the student see they have reached certain goals can hopefully help them see they can reach many other goals. I did have one student who always found it hard to stay on task. However, when she would be doing the task at hand or would complete a task I would make it a point to praise how well she was doing. She would smile at me, start kicking her legs under the table, and continue working hard. This method seemed to work with her.

So what have I learned this semester after being in Kindergarten? Teaching can be tough, but it’s a matter of being prepared, WELL PREPARED, and not allowing any short comings to slow me down. I know my lessons won’t always be perfect, I won’t always have their attention, and dealing with tough students can be, well, tough. However, those are the students who should be the ones that wake you up in the morning. They should be the ones you want to see the change in, and not to feel defeated by them. What have I learned? That there is so much I have learned throughout my classes with planning, writing, children’s literature, math, science, and social studies. But there is always room for me to grow. It’s just a matter of not being afraid of that growth.

As I said goodbye to my Kindergartners, I asked them, what was their favorite part of me being with them in class? To my surprise, so many of them remembered the various lessons I did in math, science, or reading. It warmed my heart to know that although I am still learning to be a teacher, they were able to learn from me. It wasn’t until one of my students hugged me and began to cry telling me how much he was going to miss me. A pain jerked in my heart, and I felt so sad leaving them. It was such a sad goodbye, but I promised them I would visit.

As I look back, I know what areas I need to work on. I also know that I need to look ahead. So, I begin to look forward to my next journey. My internship will be in a fourth grade Language Arts class. I can’t imagine me in fourth grade, but I look forward to conquering my fear of the older grades. Till next year. Where I continue to grow, and learn on my journey as a teacher!

#planning

Planning backwards

It’s been awhile since I’ve written about kindergarten life. For the past few weeks they have been learning about shapes, for math, properties, for science, and evidence in text, for reading. A few weeks ago I did a lesson with them for science. In theory my lesson seemed great. I had the students paired off into groups. They had to sort objects by their shape and color. I differentiated, which I have been learning about in my planning class, and had different materials for them to sort. What I failed to do was plan my lesson backwards. Affective learning can take place if teachers plan their lessons backwards instead of starting from the objective. One of the many ideas I’m learning in my planning class is creating a lesson backwards. The idea and thought process to this type of planning does make sense, however, I am finding it hard to do. Had I created my science lesson this way, I may have been able to teach the lesson better. My ideas and objective were solid, however, my assessment could have been stronger. This is something I want to achieve, for this is how I will know whether my students are understanding what I’m teaching or if they don’t understand. Without properly assessing the students I won’t know which direction I need to move. If I would need to reteach or move on to the next lesson.

The idea behind planning backwards is for you start with how you want to assess the students, or what you want to assess the students on. Not on the objective. We are always so used to starting from the beginning and planning forward. However, an affective lesson should be planned by trying to figure out how you want to assess the students. From there you can figure out how you want to teach the lesson. Basically, if you know your end goal it will benefit you in reaching it because your lesson is now based around the end goal, not solely on the objective. I understand this method of planning, I just need to retrain my brain to work in this way as well.

As I continue to plan lessons I am going to strive to achieve this idea of backwards planning. I know it may be hard for me to do at times, but I know the more I do the planning this way, the easier it will become.

#planning

Running Records

I finally got to see Running Records. Actually, I got to do them. We were discussing in seminar how we have not been taught yet how to do or what the purpose of Running Records are. Then Mrs. G told me she needed to do Running Records and asked if I would do some. I was thrilled. I asked her what I needed to do and what the purpose of it was. She explained to me that it helps us, the teachers, hear the student’s fluency and see what words the students may know or struggle with. She did one with a student for me to watch and then handed me the notebook. As the student is reading the words in the book, you have to check off the words they read correctly. If they say a word incorrectly you write the correct word and circle it, then above it write the incorrect word they said.

I did a few students. Then I got to a student who struggles with letter ID and sound. She was not able to read almost all of the words in the book. As she began to point and read the words she was making up her own story. I asked Mrs. G how I should assess her. Mrs. G needs some type of record for her reading so she suggested for me to write down what she is saying. This way when the VP or parent asks her how she is reading, Mrs. G can show them that she isn’t able to read the words.

In my seminar we discussed what Running Records are all about. I now have a better understanding of why these are done. They are done to help evaluate students meaning of the words, structure, and any visual cues. I just thought you needed to make sure they were reading the words correctly and to just check them off. I now know by doing a thorough job, students will be placed properly in their reading level. I am looking forward to trying to incorporate this with one of the students to understand it better. What better way than to do it!

Trending Blogs

Recently Viewed Blogs

From Student to Teacher