Journals+&+Reflections

8/23/11 In the morning Mrs. Self had the students start the day by coloring a Tt worksheet. She gave the tables a penny in their cups if that table was being quiet and doing their work. Each child has their name at their seat for when they arrive in the morning, and her room is very organized! They do quiet morning work each morning, and following that is their routine morning exercises which currently consist of calendar time (days and months of the year), weather, numbers, how to write sentences, counting, days of the week, etc. During calendar time, each student has a certain square on the big rug to sit on. She has a “classroom job” chart where the students get to take turns being line leader, door holder, and caboose. She has the students repeat after her to really learn stuff. **Repetition is KEY with the little ones!** She will call out a student if they are misbehaving, and politely ask them to stop.

8/24/11 This morning Mrs. Self went over time, money, calendar, writing a letter, correct punctuation, and numbers. Also, Mrs. Self showed a cool video from the projector about days of the week, money, and shapes. It was a GREAT visual for the kids.

8/25/11 This morning Mrs. Self went over the letter G and the letter Y, and what sounds they make. Then she continued to go over the rest of the alphabet, but she went out of order so that the students wouldn’t just memorize the alphabet in order to a tune. They also learned about school bus safety today from a Lumpkin County police officer. Later that morning the students did an activity to practice writing an uppercase and lowercase Yy and Gg. They used their “sky writers” (their finger) to practice writing the letters in the air-great idea!

8/26/11 This morning Mrs. Self went over calendar time. She also went over the days of the week, and they spelled out what day it is today (Friday). They went over all of the months in order, and days of the week. They also reviewed what a penny, nickel, dime and a quarter is with a cute song about how much each coin is worth. Mrs. Self also read, “How people make you peel” which is a book all about feelings, with fruit and veggies that are the “people” for the illustrations. It was a really cute book, and the kids loved it! Then they danced to their warm-up songs.

8/30/11 Mrs. Self had the students sort into boy/girl groups. They did different movements in their two different groups. The students also practiced writing their names. Both of these exercises (the movements and the writing practice) worked on their gross and fine motor skills, which are still developing in kindergarten.

8/31/11 Today after morning work, Mrs. Self went over numbers 1-10 out of order. They also went over their money again (penny, nickel, dime and a quarter). Mrs. Self allows a student to use her pointer to point out the months and days of the week if they were behaving well during rug time.

9/1/11 Mrs. Self explained explained that there is a holiday on Monday, which is Labor day. She also put "September" up on the calendar, and explained that today starts a new month. She also explained that there was going to be a tornado drill today, and how to properly act/sit during the drill and where to go.

9/2/11

Long Branch Elementary had career day today! The students had 30 minutes for morning work, but the rest of the day was spent traveling from room to room to learn about different careers. The students loved this and had so much fun!

9/6/11 Today Mrs. Self is teaching them all about the letter "I"! They did a rhyme during shared reading "I Spy Someone". This rhyme helped them work on their I's and their rhyming words. I did an activity with them today where they water-colored their invisible I's! Mrs. Self also asked them what other words rhyme, so they could practice themselves. In their animal big book, Mrs. Self showed them that Iguana starts with "I".

9/7/11 Today Mrs. Self had the students "recall" how they came to school today to jog their brains. I helped Mrs. Self today with calendar time, and I had a group that I did an activity with. We all cut out "O"s for a venn diagram map (graphic organizer).

9/8/11 Today Mrs. Self played a new alphabet song for the students. They also practiced their songs that they are going to sing for grandparents day. Mrs. Self also wrote her morning message and had a student find the O's in the message. They sang the alphabet song and counted to 100.

9/9/11 Today is grandparent's day! All of the students sang songs to their grandparents and gave them crafts that they made with a picture of them with their grandparents. The class also sang songs to their grandparents that they had been practicing for a couple of weeks during calendar time. It was so sweet to see how excited the children got when they saw their grandparents in the classroom.

9/13/11 Today I did a lollipop activity with a small group. They had to write an upper and lowercase "Ll" on their lollipop and color a pattern (this incorporates math) on their lollipop stick with their two favorite colors.

9/14/11 Today I did calendar time with the students, and I did an activity with a small group. The activity was finding U's in a magazine paper, cutting them out, and gluing the letter U's that they find **//under//** the **//umbrella.//**

9/15/11 Today the students did a "letter U" worksheet, and they had to make an AB pattern on the umbrella.

9/16/11 Today I got observed for the first time. It went very well! I did a reading/phonics lesson with a small group that reviewed capital and lowercase letters, and matching the correct capital and lowercase letters. If the students behaved during the lesson, I gave them "smartfood" (goldfish). I was very pleased with how the lesson went.

9/20/11 Mrs. Self discussed the cycle of the four seasons today for the first time as a new topic to the class.

9/21/11 I got observed for the second time today. It went very well! My lesson plan was titled "Creating apple sets". It was a challenging and fun activity for the students, and it showed them how you have to __count__ items.

9/22/11 During calendar time, I reviewed an AAB pattern, and words on the sight word wall. I also reviewed money and shapes. They are learning about the four seasons and during calendar time they learned a new song about the seasons. They also sang a new song about action words.

9/23/11 Today was all about apples! Mrs. Self played a Dr. Seuss book about apples on the projector, and a funny apple and bananas song from YouTube. The students also played an apple partner game, and they tasted all different kinds of apple treats! It was definitely a fun Friday!

9/27/11 The students are continuing to learn about the four seasons, and they are still reviewing all of the letters of the alphabet. We all worked in small groups on a worksheet that was all about the letter "L". The had to draw "L" pictures on a "ladder". For example, they could draw a ladybug, a lady, a lemon, etc. Almost all of the students did exceptionally well on their pictures.

9/28/11 The students are really improving on their journaling skills. Every day they have a journal time, where they are able to work on their writing skills. In kindergarten, I found it interesting that in kindergarten, it is more important for the students to learn what sounds the letters of the alphabet make, therefore, they are not expected to spell words correctly, because the teachers just want to be able to see how the student sounded out the word (the thought process). Sounding out the words during phonics time can help them master beginning and end sounds with words. For example, they could spell "my" like "mi", or "sister" like "sestr". This type of spelling is called inventive spelling.

9/29/11 I did a lesson on the four seasons today! I allowed each student to pick out a "season item" out of my "season's bag". I picked four well behaved students to come up and represent the four seasons. When the students picked out an item out of the bag, they had to decide who would wear that item, or which season matched that item. For example, if the student picked out a scarf out of the bag, they placed the scarf around the student who represented Winter. The student's had a lot of fun with this lesson, and it was an exciting way to get the students engaged.

9/30/11 Today was my last day in Mrs. Self's kindergarten class. It was bittersweet, because I know I will miss everyone in that class, but I am also very excited about exploring all of the different grades. I have had so much fun in kindergarten, and I have already learned so much in my first six weeks! Mrs. Self was a wonderful role model to follow and learn from, and I feel very lucky to have been placed with her. I can not wait to see how much more I am going to learn in the next six weeks!

10/4/11 Today was my first day in my second placement, Mrs. Dickens' second grade class! I loved getting to see how different second grade is from Kindergarten! In second grade, the students have actually grades, homework, and tests. It is amazing how much students grow from kindergarten to second grade!

10/5/11 Today I did my first lesson in Mrs. Dickens' class! It was a very fun lesson, and the title of it is "Plural Nouns Race". It was a game that reviewed how to make a singular noun plural. The students had to decide whether to add an -s, -es, or -ies to the end of a singular noun to correctly make it plural. This game/review lesson really helped the students on their nouns test. Many of them made A's!

10/6/11 Today the students had to take three different tests. They have "old fashion day" tomorrow at LBES, so all of the teachers had to do any tests/assignment s today, that they would normally do on Fridays due to the fun/free day tomorrow. After the students took their tests, I helped Mrs. Dickens with all of the grading, and the students got to make "mouse houses". They read a book about two mice yesterday, so the mouse house is a fun craft that goes along with the story.

10/11/11 Today I reviewed the morning work questions and answers with the class. It was a math warm-up worksheet, because they are being tested over math today. The students were a little bit rowdy this morning, but Mrs. Dickens' quickly got them to settle down. When she speaks she is firm when she states how she wants her students to behave, and how she expects them to behave. After she administered the math test, she stated, "Some of you did amazing, and some of you guessed". She discussed how just by looking around she could tell who was really trying their hardest, and who just guessed and did not try as hard. She makes sure to let the students know how disappointed she becomes when she feels that some people do not even try. On a more positive note, she also always makes it a point to say that she did see a lot of people try their best, and that she is sure that they will do great! Today I also sat in with the second grade teachers and the assistant principal for a grade level meeting. It is interesting to hear about everything that is going on in second grade, and how the teachers plan their lesson ahead of time, plan field trips, and discuss improvements, etc.

10/12/11 Today I got observed by my supervisor over my social studies lesson. The lesson reviewed the five regions of Georgia, and it involved the students being creative through painting the five different regions. The lesson also involved a worksheet that required the students to utilize their social studies textbook, and write one or two sentences that briefly describe the five regions of Georgia. The lesson went very well! All of the students had so much fun, and it was a wonderful way to incorporate technology (I used the projector to show the transparency of the state of Georgia with the five regions on the whiteboard), art (through painting), and writing (the worksheet). I loved how the students were able to have fun and show their creativity, while they were still learning all about the five regions of Georgia!

10/18/11 Today I worked with a small group of four students, and we read two stories about snakes out of their reading textbooks. The students played "popcorn" in order to take turns reading a page out of the stories. After we were done reading, they had to complete four workbook pages that worked on reading and answering questions from a table, vowel sounds, rhyming words, and opposite words. After the students were done working in their small groups, they returned to their assigned seats and listened to Mrs. Dickens teach them more about snakes and reptiles.

10/19/11 Today I played a spelling word game with the whole class. They all got placed in groups of five, and they had a bag full of paper letters. One person in the group was assigned a "runner" who would run up, bring the letters that they thought spelled the word that I called out, and spell the word with the letters in front of me. If it was spelled correctly, their group got the point. This game allowed me to see the student's competitive sides!

10/20/11 Today I did an "Irregular Plurals Lesson" with the students. It went very well, and most all of them grasped the concept of how to correctly change an irregular noun to the plural form. The lesson allowed the students to get creative by illustrating their sentences that contain the plural form of the irregular noun.

10/21/11 Today I shadowed a student with special needs. It went very well! I got to observe many different characteristics of the student, and I will use all of my observations later in a paper for my SPED class. This was a really good experience, and I enjoy learning more about students with disabilities, and how to work with them the best. The one thing that I found most interesting in my observations was how the little boy wears a vest that wraps around him very tight. He is autistic, so the feeling that the vest provides of "security" makes him feel more at ease during the day, or more comfortable.

10/25/11 Today I observed reading time in third and fifth grade classrooms. I enjoyed getting to see how different third and fifth grade students are, and how much harder the reading level is for fifth grade. The fifth graders read from a chapter book, and the third graders read from their reading textbooks. The fifth graders really focused on reading fluency, and the third graders focused more on reading with emotion/expression in their voices. I also really enjoyed getting to observe the two teacher's different teaching styles. This allows me to take note of different ideas I can use one day in my future classroom. In Mrs. Dickens class, the students are learning all about possessive nouns. I walked around the classroom and helped the student's write their possessive noun sentences.

10/26/11 Today I observed reading time in a fourth grade classroom. The teacher that I observed actually graduated from NGCSU last year, so it was really neat seeing someone that was very close to my age teach. They focused on key vocabulary words, sequences in the story, the main ideas, and predicting what happens next. After the reading their teacher got them to make T-Charts, which cover "cause and effect". Mrs. Dickens administered a reading test today. The students use the dividers on their desks to remind them not to look on their neighbor's paper. Before they were given the tests, the students listened to the tape on the book, and followed along with the reader.

10/27/11 Today I did a lesson over possessive nouns. It was a great review for the students before they had to take their possessive nouns test. This lesson included a fun game/activity, and technology; both things helped the students to engage in the lesson. The students were surprisingly very well behaved today as well, which made my job much easier. After the test was administered to the students, I graded them for Mrs. Dickens. It was interesting to see how well the students //really// knew the subject after my lesson over it. Most of the class did well; there were only a certain few students who really struggled with the concept.

11/1/11 Today in Mrs. Dickens' class I read two short stories with a small group of students who are on the same reading level. Everyone took turns reading one page at a time. Reading in small groups really gives me a chance to observe those who are improving/not improving on their reading fluency (the teachers really focus on reading fluency in second grade). After we read in small groups, I assisted the students with their workbook pages that they had to complete after reading the stories. Every time they students read in small groups, they have to complete a worksheet packet after they are done reading. Because I have had the opportunity to work with a few different reading groups, I have been able to observe the different reading levels among the students. It is very interesting to see where the different students stand with their reading fluency skills.

11/2/11 Today I worked on an Emergent Literacy Analysis with a student that I felt would be a great child to work with. The student I chose is very bright, and she truly loves to learn! Seeing children like her is really encouraging to me, because children with such a passion for learning make me want to be the best teacher I can possibly be one day! Mrs. Dickens' students are drilling vocabulary today to prepare for their vocabulary test at the end of this week. They are also working on verbs a lot! Today Mrs. Dickens' instructed the class to draw a picture and write a sentence about a verb of their choice.

11/3/11 Today I taught Mrs. Dickens class with a reading lesson, a language arts lesson, and a vocabulary lesson. First I read a passage aloud from a worksheet, and I had the students read along with me. This was so they can work on their fluency skills. After this, I reviewed possessive nouns, and we did a possessive noun worksheet together as a class (language arts). Then I read a page out of Mrs. Dickens' "Wordly 3000" workbook. This passage reviewed vocabulary for the students. After this, we did another worksheet together as a class that required the students to look back at the passage we had just read to find the answers to the questions on the worksheet. I walked around the classroom the whole time, and assisted them if they needed some help.

11/4/11 Today I discussed my lesson plan that I am going to do next week with Mrs. Dickens. It will be a guided reading lesson for a small group, and I am very excited about it. There are really some great students in this second grade classroom. The students were given their weekly spelling test today, and I checked to see if everyone had their math homework done, and at least three spelling activities done; this is due every Friday. I also graded their math homework. After this I administered an alternative spelling test to a student; this showed me another example of differentiation. After all of this I went to the Pre-K to observe. It is so interesting to see how different Pre-K is from the elementary school. It is amazing to see how much the students grow in their learning from just Pre-K to kindergarten!

11/8/11 Today I discussed my guided reading lesson that I am doing with a small group tomorrow morning. I discussed with her what the lesson plan entails, and what standards will be covered. We also discussed which students I will be working with in a small group. I sat in a grade level meeting with Mrs. Dickens and the other second grade teachers. It is interesting to listen to what the second grade hall is planning to do with the students over the next couple of weeks.

11/9/11 Today I had my last lesson observation for this semester. It was a guided reading lesson, and it went very well! I worked with a small group of six students, and we read a short story together titled "In the City". I had the students "popcorn" read in order for every student to have a fair chance at reading. The main purpose of this lesson was to cover predicting a story, the main idea of a story, and using context clues. I would stop the reading to ask the students questions. These questions allowed me to see if the students were comprehending the story they were reading. At the end of the story, I asked the students to tell me what they thought the main idea of the story was; this required the students to summarize the story and only tell me the //main parts of the story.// If the students answered the questions, then they got rewarded with "smartfood" candy, which they loved! The "smartfood" really motivated everyone to try to answer questions that I was asking the group. After my lesson, I read a book to the class that was about a little girl who could not read until the fifth grade, and now that little girl is an author! The students thought that it was really cool that someone who could not read at all now writes children's books!

11/10/11 Today I reviewed the answers to Mrs. Dickens' student's worksheet packets. I called on every student in the class at some point to tell me the right answer to a question. I also graded a lot of homework for Mrs. Dickens, which gives me great practice for be efficient when grading, because teachers have a //ton// of things to grade on a daily basis, so I like to learn about the most efficient ways to do it.

11/11/11 Today I worked one-on-one with a student on three different tests. The student does not have much trouble with comprehension if he //hears// sentences or stories being read to him, but he has trouble reading on his own, so I assisted him by reading the tests aloud to him in order for him to comprehend what the text says. I also administered a spelling test to the entire class; it is very interesting to me to see how all of the students write spelling words at different paces.