Journal 4 Domain 4

Describe different ways (strategies) the teacher presents material to the students.
While I have been in the classroom observing and helping out, I have not been around for a new introduction in any of the subjects. The Tuesday schedule, the day which I am mostly there, the students are performing the same activities. However, when explaining a worksheet that the students will be working on, the teacher will have the children open up the worksheet, or have it passed out before beginning to speak about it. This is so the children can use visual and auditory senses to understand what they are about to work on. This helps to incorporate different types of learners. I feel that this helps most of the children in the classroom to grasp the concepts that they are being introduced too.

What type of student groupings does the teacher use? (one-on-one, pairs, small groups, whole class?)
The teacher in the classroom most often gives the children in the room individual activities to work on. She will also have the children sit on the carpet and they will act as one group. While in the classroom this week and for the first time I have seen, the teacher told the students to look to the person next to them on the carpet and discuss what they thought about the book that was just read. I felt that the children were able to stay on task and discuss what they thought about the topic. Other than this, I have not witnessed any small group activities. The closest that the students are to group work is the tables that they sit at. The children share many items such as pencils, erasers, glue, scissors and the bins that they keep their books and notebooks in. They have learned to hare with one another. This shows that they are able to work efficiently as a group within their table. The tables, as a group are also used when calling the children up to the door for any reasons that they may need to leave the room.

What techniques are used to assess and evaluate learning? Describe any assessment technique you have observed.
In the time that I have spent in the classroom, I have witnessed the teacher assessing the students reading skills. This was done by having each child individually sit at the teacher’s desk and she would have them read a book or a passage. While she listened she was able to evaluate the reading skills and progress of the child. She documents the progress of the child to show how they have grown as a reader, or to see where there is still room for improvement.
Also, the children have a packet that they work on each week. This is filled with the children’s penmanship sentences and words for them to practice writing. The teacher, and I will check the writing each day. This will help to keep the children on track. There are other items that the children complete throughout the day that the teacher or will check on to make sure that the children will do things correctly.

What are you learning about this age group?
I have dealt with children this age before, but each time the children are different. It is amazing to see how children of the same age can be so different from year to year. The teacher that I have been working with had told me that she felt the same way. In the 23 years that she has been teaching, she said that it still fascinating to see how the children will surprise her.
I have found that the children are all at their own pace at this age. Some of the children are great at reading and math and can complete their own work at a fast pace, and understand what is going on. There are other students that are the same age, in the same class, and will struggle to complete the same assignments. I feel that this is due in part to the amount of help that the parents or guardians at home help out.

What do students enjoy and dislike most?
The students in the classroom stay true to the mentality of their age group. The more time they are able to play, or have free time the better. I agree that they should have the extra time at the young age to have the time to play. The idea of the importance of play was stated by Vygotsky, and I believe that this was rightly so. Children need to expand their imagination, and use play as a tool to deal with different problem solving strategies through play. The children in this classroom have shown that they are imaginative through play by pretending to have a pizza shop, and asking what kind of pizza I’d like them to make for me.
The children are also very eager to impress both the teacher and myself. When they are proud of their work, they are excited to show what they have completed. They enjoy doing their work when they are able to use their creativity and/or color on the pages. A special treat to them is when they are able to use marker on the sheets they are given.
With the age group that I have spent time with, they don’t seem to dislike anything about school. I feel that the students are very eager to learn and advance their status in the community. Learning to read and write is such a huge accomplishment, and I feel that the students are eager to catch up to others in the class, in their home, or any other person they may look up too. This concept can also be related to the other subject in which they learn information that is valuable to them.

Do you see technology being used in the classroom?
In the time that I have spent in the classroom, I have not seen much technology being used. The teacher will sit at the computer in the morning while she takes attendance. The school has it set up electronically. Other than this, the teacher has not used any other technology from what I have seen. However this will all change very soon. The class will have a Promethium board installed. The teacher has gone through training in preparation for the new addition. She has also told the class what to should expect. She is very excited to find ways to incorporate the new technology into her lesson plans.
The board will not be installed until April, so I won’t have the chance to use it. I have seen and had a brief opportunity to work on a board in another classroom. I think that the new addition to the classroom will be useful for both the teacher and the students.

Connections:
In the seventh chapter of the book, the author discusses the idea of a learner-centered teacher. The idea is that the teacher can tell how the students learn and interact with their school material to gain from what they are learning. I feel that this is shown in the class when she checks in on how the progress of the penmanship and other papers are coming along. This helps the teacher provide different scaffolding to the different students. She can help them in a way that is beneficial to them, without taking away from what they need to learn themselves. I have seen how the students are able to interact with the teacher in a comfortable manner to have help with their work. This is important to have in a classroom so that the learning environment is a safe place for the students to learn and grow. I feel that building this connection is also very important for all aspects of the classroom. This idea, which is talked about in chapter 1 is called rapport. This will help the classroom both in the immediate and far future.

Journal #3 Domain #3

How is the day planned? What is the teacher’s daily schedule? How does it relate to the age level of the group?
Each day is planned in the same manner. The children know their schedule for each day is the same week to week, unless there is a school assembly or any other type of event that disrupts the day. The morning is started with the announcements and the pledge recited over the PA system. Then the students all gather on the carpet in the front of the room and the star helper of the day beginning the morning routine. He or she adds a straw to the day’s in school count. They then tell the class how many days they have spent in school. They continue with the day of the week, the month, year weather and change the schedule chart to the current day. This process goes on each morning, and the star helper is always very excited to recite the morning routine.
The students know their schedule because it is posted on yellow laminated paper for them to see. Like mentioned, they flip the chart for the class to see what they will do for the day. They also mention what specials they will be going to for the day. Tuesday’s, when I’m usually there, they go to art from 2:05-3:05. Monday’s are the only day of the week that they don’t have any specials to attend.
What I feel differentiates the schedule from an older class are the breaks that they students are given twice a day. The young students need breaks more than the older students. They 1/2 classroom are between 6 and 8 years old. They need the extra break time to release the energy of sitting in the classroom. The students have a morning and an afternoon break for 15 to 20 minutes. This gives them the necessary time to let off steam so when they return to their work they are able to concentrate.
How is the classroom time used?
The students have been in school for 112 days (as of February 23rd 2010). This means that they are familiar with the schedule that they have had during their time in school. While they are in the classroom, they know what they need to complete in their different subject times. There are also consequences if they do not use their time well. The teacher that I work with gave me the authority to tell two students that they were not able to take their afternoon break because they did not complete the assigned work. They were able to play once they had completed the work.
The schedule for the day is always posted in the front of the room, and the children are aware of the schedule, and can check it at any time they need. The children know when they return from their lunch hour, they are to sit down at their tables and begin silent reading. Most of the students will sit down quietly and begin to read their books. However some students won’t always be so diligent. If the teacher finds that most of the class is doing this, she will add time onto the reading time, and knock it off of their free time.
To help the time it takes to get around the classroom, the teacher has devised a traffic-plan for the classroom. The children know that if more than one or two people are walking around the room, they must walk around the room on a certain path. This is to help the children so they don’t bump into each other. This saves time, and also helps the children avoid collisions. Also, she will make sure to call one table at a time to do things such as visit their mailbox, line up at the door, go to their lockers and other such activities. This is to save time by having the children not clustered in a small area. This helps with the organization of the children during the day, and even though it may only have a minute here- or a minute there- it definitely adds up.
What presentations were made to start and conclude various activities?
The teacher in the classroom has different ways of getting the classes attention to end an activity. I have heard her try the following: She’ll yell “1,2,3” and the class responds with “eyes on me,” she’ll begin to speak quietly and say “I won’t raise my voice any higher than this, if you can hear me, stop what you’re doing…” , or she will set off a kitchen alarm, or blow a train sounding whistle. The children know that when they hear the following it is time to follow instruction to begin the next activity.
Generally in the afternoon, the teacher will write a list of items on the white board that the students are to complete in the given time. She will recite them while she writes them on the board, and will have the students read the direction out loud. This is to help know that the students understand what is expected of them.
When the teacher begins a new topic, she will use different methods to keep the students attention. While I was in the classroom, I had watched as the teacher had gone over groupings of 10. She began by explaining that when you count to 10, that you can group that, and begin another group of 10. She used different manipulatives for the students to count out groups of ten. They also compared and counted as a group at their tables. This gave the students the opportunity to use their new skill to count to 100 and more using the grouping method.
Also, while in the class on 3.2.10, the teacher had incorporated a Dr. Seuss book into the curriculum. This worked very well because it was Dr. Seuss Birthday. She began by reading The Foot Book. After the book, she asked the children who sit at the green table to stand at the front of the room. She asked the class how they could count the feet at the green table. The students stated that they could count by one’s, or by two’s. The teacher was going for the idea of counting by two’s to go along with the on-going topic of counting by groups. She posted the findings for all four tables in the room. The class was then asked if they could add the number of feet that were represented by the students in the room. The equation on the board was 10 + 12 + 10 + 12. The children were given the opportunity to give an answer that they found was correct. I found it interesting to see how the children explained how they came to their answers. The activity ended by reminding the class that it was Dr. Seuss’s birthday. This wrapped up the discussion in a rounded way.
Can you identify the purpose or objective of each activity?
The directions and activities that happen in the class are very clear for the children to understand. The children will often perform many repetitive type worksheets that help them with their studies. Such worksheets include their daily-writing worksheet, which helps them with their penmanship and different spelling worksheets that make them write their words many times. These activities help further the necessary skills they need to learn in the primary grades of elementary school.
There are many other activities throughout the day that pertain to the topic that the children are learning about. For example, the children were given a worksheet that contained the first half of a yil-iga-yalk, which is a made-up animalistic character that relates to Dr. Seuss. The children were asked to fill in the back end of the character. This was to have them use their imaginations. I feel that children need the time to think creatively during the day rather than just learning hard facts. The children loved the activity. (I hung them all in the hall!)
How are cultural differences considered and needs met?
The cultural differences are not discussed while I have spent time in the classroom. The differences are definitely clear when you listen to the children’s names, which I have previously discussed. I can see how the needs of the English Language Learners are being met. The children who need extra help with their English and reading leave the room to meet with different specialists that can help them on a smaller group or one-on-one basis
Connections:
The events that I have written about in this journal relate to the ideas in chapter 5 about personal bests. By posting the Yil-iga-yalk photos that the children had drawn on the wall, it was showing them that their work is important. The students were very excited to see their creative work posted for them, and the entire school too see, right outside their classroom. Showing the children that their work is important gives them the pride that they should have about what they can do while in school. I feel that schools are focusing too harshly on strict academics and forgetting to let children run wild with their imaginations. Also, as Dr. Freedman has mentioned many times, it is not fair to waste the time of the children throughout the day. The teacher that I work with is very good about staying on task, and making sure that they children are not sitting around or waiting. Their daily schedule is set, and rarely changes. The children know that they have the specific time in the day to complete the tasks that are asked of them. I also like how the teacher will have the children work on their worksheets during their break time if they didn’t do so during the time that was previously given to them. This shows the children that if they don’t use their time wisely, or waste the time of others (example: the teacher or other classmates) that there are consequences. I feel that this is very important to teach the children as an academic and life lesson.