It's Been Awhile

It's been awhile since I have been able to post on my blog but so much has been going on! My mom and I dressed our horses up for halloween. Our video is on youtube just type in The Halloween Tutu Trot. It is very creative! I went to Vermont with my boyfriend for his birthday. Also, my best friend Ruth and my boyfriends brother Joe came for a fun filled weekend with many surprises. Other than that I nanny for my cousin who is 5 months old. I am also waiting to hear back from UConn about my graduate studies. I hope that everything goes as planned. Well that's all for now!!!

Undergradute work completed!!! :)

This is a blog that I started for one of my college classes so I really haven't done much with it until now. I decided with some inspiration from my friend Ruth to start using my blog again. All my old posts are posts from a class that I took. Now that I have finished my undergraduate work I thought this would be a fun and innovative way to show the world who I am and what I am made of.

Thanks Ruth for your inspiration to get started on my blog again!!!

P.S. Ruth's blog is awesome you should go check it out... her name is Ruth Writes.

Well that's all for now!

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Throughout Tuesday Experience I have always wondered how to tell a parent about their child’s strengths and weaknesses for conference time. The teacher I am working with says that conferences are one of the hardest things to do because no parent wants to hear that their child is lacking in an area or is not working to their best capacity. Last Tuesday I was able to sit in on a conference which was such a wonderful learning opportunity. The parent that let me sit in was so excited to have me there it was just such a great experience. The teacher that I am working with showed me how to set up a conference folder and what types of examples of student work to include in the folder. She also showed me what their report cards look like, even though every school is different, so that was very interesting to look at. She explained to me how at Aiken the parents do not receive the report card until conference night. She said she likes it this way because she is able to just go through the report card and not have the parents wondering why certain areas on the report card could be lower or higher than their child’s last one. It was great to see how important it is to have clear cut examples of student work to show to the parents and let them take home. I feel that this really shows the parents how involved you are in their child’s learning and shows them examples of where they may be excelling and where they may need extra help. I was so happy that I was able to sit in on one conference because it let me really see one way to do a conference since I had never seen one done before.

One thing that she really explained to me was that not all parents are accepting of what you tell them, they may come in with complaints and issues that you are going to have to deal with right there. I learned that you can never be too prepared for a conference. This really helped me since I am more of a visual learner, but I wondered if anyone else was able to sit in on any conferences and what the teacher may have done differently or the same. I look forward to hearing what you have to say!

Classroom and Time Management

In Tuesday Experience, I am learning a lot about different teaching methods that I could apply in my classroom. I am also learning that sometimes things do not go as planned and you may need to adjust or re-teach certain subject material. For example my teacher was not sure what to do for a math lesson, so I was able to talk to her about a math lesson that I could do. We both decided on a math lesson based on counting coins, since the children have a hard time switching from one coin to another. It turned out to be a very good lesson but I feel as though sometimes even the best teacher may be unprepared. I am really learning a lot about having good time management. It is so hard to fit everything into a day never mind if you don’t know what lesson to do. Another aspect of teaching that I am learning a lot about is transitions. It is so difficult to transition to children from one subject or activity to another. They seem to be all over the place, not listening, and not prepared for the next lesson. The teacher I am working with has discussed this with me and has even said that transitions are very tough for her. Does anyone have any ideas that may be useful for a first grade classroom for transition times?

The one subject that I am learning so much about is language arts and writing. I did not quite understand how reading groups worked until I was able to take over a reading group. I did not realize how many different reading levels children in your classroom may be at. I also did not realize how difficult it may be to find books for children in a reading group. In being able to work with all four reading groups in my classroom it is making me feel more comfortable with what I need to do when I become a teacher. As I have written about in Professor Chatel’s Blog writing is a very important aspect in her classroom. I talked about the different types of writing activities my teacher incorporates into her classroom and how responsive the children are to them. I am learning so much just be being in the classroom it is unbelievable. I do not think that I would know as much as I know now if I was not able to be in Tuesday Experience. We have learned so much in all of our classes but actually seeing it applied makes a huge difference for me since I am visual learner. I hope that as Tuesday Experience comes to a close I can take away a lot of useful information that I will be able to use in my classroom.

Read Aloud

In the first grade classroom that I am working in for Tuesday experience, the teacher loves to do a read aloud book almost everyday. When I am there on Tuesday’s, I am the one reading the read aloud book while the children listen carefully. During the read aloud a student is able to ask questions or talk about the book only if they raise their hand and it really does pertain to the story being read. As I have witnessed in this room the children seem to like being engaged in the story and it helps them to focus on what is going on in the story. For example when Miss Rausch just reads the book, the children seemed to get bored and they became inattentive, but when they were able to interact during the read aloud they were more attentive, focused on the story and also what was happening in the story, rather than out the window. This is very important because it helps facilitate the students to understand and comprehend the story that is being read. I also like that Miss Rausch mixes up the stories that she reads, or has planned for me to read. She reads both non fiction and fictional stories, and even the students are able to read the stories. I think it is great that the students get exposed to so much different literature at such a young age.

You can tell how much her class focuses on reading and writing. Every free moment that the students have in that classroom is either focused on reading or writing. They are able to work on the stories that they are writing, or read a book if they finish their work early. You can see how much the students really enjoy reading, especially when they get to read in front of the class. They love sharing their stories with the class. It is amazing to see their faces light up when they are called to read their story. I love how Miss Rausch gives each student a chance to read their story and if they do not want to share they do not have to share. I am really learning a lot about different comprehension styles and different techniques to try to facilitate reading comprehension. I am learning so many different ideas that I can use in my classroom someday and I am really taking so much away from this experience.

A Way of Expressing Your Feelings

At first, I did not fully understand how blogging worked until I saw how it is like a conversation. I really like this idea because sometimes students are too shy to add in comments to a conversation. This is a great way for them to be able to speak their mind, without actually speaking. If a child feels uncomfortable saying something to the class, the student could post it on their blog and then the other students would be able to read it. I also think that a blog can be used for so many different things, whether it is a book discussion, or just their own way of expressing their feelings.

I also believe a blog would be great for the parents in your classroom. This would let them express their ideas anonymously and could give the teacher in the room great insight to other activities that they may want to incorporate. It could also help to get parents talking and involved in their students work. The parents would be able to see their children’s blogs to see their progress as well as the teacher.
Blogging can have many different uses and I think that it could fit in anyone’s classroom, it is just about figuring out a way to incorporate it into your classroom. Another useful resource is to go on a look at other schools blogs. It is interesting to see how other schools are incorporating technology, including blogs, into their classroom. This is a great resource and I feel that more teachers should be utilizing this resource.

Developing as a Teacher

The more and more I am attending Tuesday Experience the more I fees as though I am developing into a teacher. When I first started at Tuesday Experience I was not as confident in myself as I should have been. I was not sure how everything was going to play out. As I have been attending Tuesday Experience more and more I feel much more confident in myself and my teaching abilities. As the weeks progress I am doing more and more in the classroom. For example I am able to lead lessons, and work one on one with the children who need help. I am also able to work with reading groups which is such a great learning experience.

I am really learning a lot about classroom management skills. The teacher I am working with says she does not have very good classroom management skills, so it is interesting to me to see how she runs her classroom. She also told me that she would like me to be able to take over the classroom for a day. She would like to see how I would run the classroom so she can also get new ideas for how to run the classroom.

However, with as much new information that I am learning, I do not see a lot of technology use in the classroom. The teacher I am working with does not incorporate any use of technology into her lessons. I find this a disadvantage for both the students and the teacher. Although this is a first grade classroom I feel as though the teacher should incorporate some sort of technology into her lessons. She has two computers in her room, but I am not sure if she lets the children use them any other day that I am not there. I think that in my classroom I would like to incorporate the use of technology in at least one of my lessons per day. This helps keep the students focused and it is an exciting new way for students to learn.