May 7-Reflection of Unit

As I reflect back on my unit, I really think that I gained a lot from this experience. First, I think that this teaching experience has taught me to be more self-aware of the goals and expectations I set for myself. That is, throughout the unit I felt that at times I was going with a lot of goals that I personally wanted to accomplish and at times some of these personal goals of mine were not met because I did not want them to interfere with the goals of the unit. Nevertheless I do believe that I did accomplish a lot of my personal goals and I can see that I have grown as a teacher. For example, in this classroom it was my first time that I learned to leave the "nice" teacher image behind and for the first time I needed to implement a teacher with authority. I feel that last semester I was really nice with the students and when they did something wrong I didn't let them know that their behavior was wrong. This semester my teacher Mrs.M recommended that I teach with more authority especially when these students acted up. So I listened to her and I found that I was more effective in letting them when their behavior was out of line. In terms of their behavior alone, I also feel that I have learned new strategies for classroom management. One of the strategies I learned is to implement classroom rules from the very beginning of the school year. As I reflect on other teaching field experiences I can recall a strategy that was used in my Language block field placement last semester. In this pre-k classroom, when the teacher would read a story before she read she talked to the students the five finger rule. She established the rules of the classroom, reviewed these rules with the students to make them aware their importance in class instructure. I think that I will definetely adopt this strategy next year in my teaching experience. Overall, I feel that I have gained a lot from this field placement and I was very pleased with the results it brought.

5th Lesson-Summative

For our last summative lesson assessment my partner and I decided to give our students a booklet. This booklet was based on our three main topics: coins, needs & wants, and jobs. Each page revolved around activities that were pertenent not only to these topics but also we were able to incorporate Curious George into the booklet. For example, in the first page, the students had to help Curious George write coin value of each picture coin. I loved the worksheet because it fostered differentiation across the spectrum. Next to the picture of each coin for instance, I added a picture showing how much the coin was worth in terms of fingers so it was easier for kids who weren't sure to simply count the fingers the picture showed. Then they had to write the coin "i.e. penny" and write beside it how much it was worth "i.e. 1 cent." For the worksheet on needs and wants, the students had to help Curious George pick two things from several options (pictures) to carry in his backpack. Finally, the students had to draw a picture of a job for Curious George and then describe it in a sentence. the lesson was going well until we were rushed by the substitute. Prior to coming in to teach our final lesson we had informed Mrs. M that we would come in the afternoon however she thought that we were going to come in the morning according to the substitute teacher. Therefore we didn't really have much time, not even time to sing our "I'm a little firefighter" song like we had done in the previous lesson. We were alloted about 30 minutes as a whole which to me was definetely not enough time. for example, the substitute wanted to give them their free time and so kids while completing this task were constantly blurting out "are we done yet? i want to play" In fact, half of our class was only able to finish the booklets. Most of them were given to permission to play by the substitute after they were done with the second page (2 of 3 pages). I think the lesson would have been better if we were given more time. We weren't even given a chance to ask the students wrap-up questions of our unit, like whether they had enjoyed it, what things they learned, etc. But this again shows that sometimes it's very hard to carry out our plans or goals. Other than that, I think the unit was great. I had a fun time working with my partner and I had a fabolous time teaching my students.

4th lesson

Our fourth lesson was completed today. Our lesson was on Jobs in the community. I really liked this lesson because I got to read one of my favorite stories when I was kid, Curious George takes a Job. I read the story to my students pointing out the jobs that George had or encountered such as the painter and the movie director. The kids really seemed to enjoy the story and they were able to draw connections between the story and the lesson on jobs. We talked about jobs that George had in the story and then we came up with more jobs, jobs that helped our community such as a teacher or a construction worker. In the preassesment the students had a hard time differentiating a job from a job/task. For example, in the preassesment when asked to draw a picture of a job they knew of some students drew themselves doing a job or performing a task such as "cleaning my room." So today's lesson I really had to emphasize job as a career or an occupation that people have and get paid to buy goods. Afterwards, my partner worked with the students and showed them two objects that was representative of the job they were to guess. The students really had fun with this activity because they all participated and were thoroughly engaged. I think this was one of the few times that we've shared that our students were really excited but also very nice to each other in respecting each other's space and turns. Usually, whenever we have the kids in the circle they tend to disrupt each other. I think one of the hardest things we have had to face is classroom management. I have often found myself telling the kids to keep their hands to themselves or we have asked certain students to sit by other students. Our teacher Mrs. M also suggested that we should be firm with these students and I was very surprised to hear that because I usually do want to always remain calm and offer a soothing voice. However throughout these lessons I have found myself letting these students know when they are being disrespectul. Of course ideally you do want a class with students that do not have pronounced behavioral problems however that is not always the case or reality. So I think in terms of that alone, this classroom experience has been wonderful and very enlightening.

3rd Lesson -Needs and Wants

Our third lesson was on needs and wants. For our lesson we began by introducing them the word need. In our preassessment it showed that our students were somewhat familiar with the terms of needs and wants, so we wanted to do a lesson that would keep them engaged while at the same time help them understand the difference between needs and wants. So I began by asking them a question. I used a felt board andpicture to paste on this board and I asked them what plants needed in order to live and grow, stressing in particular "live and grow." I was glad that they had cover the growth of plants, that was the only thing I was unsure of prior to planning. So in this aspect, I think I definetely need to make sure with teh teacher if certain information has been covered. Luckily the students shared their thoughts. So we used the board to point out that plants need sun, soil, water, and air in order to live and grow. I explained to them that these were things that helped plants grow and that these things helped plants live and survive. This was a great way to move on to the next part of our lesson, introducing the students to the needs that people need in order to live and grow. So I posed the same question and the students thought of great answers. They came up with food, house, warmthness (very cute), but they did have trouble figuring out the third most important need: clothing. So I did have to explain and clarify this. So we used the felt board and divided it into needs and wants and under needs I placed the corresponding pictures and then I asked them to think of some things that were not needs, these things being called wants. I asked them, "Boys and Girls, what are some things that we want but are not necessarily needs?" They were very excited to share their responses. Of course they were starting to get a little silly but I helped them focus again. for our last section they completed a worksheet organizer which was similar to the felt board labeled needs and wants. They had to draw 2 things they needed and 2 wants. They really enjoyed completing this worksheet because some of the students even drew and wrote more on the back of the organizer. I was very pleased with this lesson.

2nd Lesson

Today we taught our second lesson. Our lesson was pretty much a follow up to the first lesson on buying goods and services and reviewing of coin value. My partner began by reading her really cute story, Caps for Sale and reminded students to point out to the job of a peddler and what he needed in order to sell his caps and what he received for selling his caps. Then I reviewed with my students the value of the four coins we learned in our first lesson. I used my fingers to help them remember what each coin was worth. I could sense that the students understand the value of the first three coins, the penny, the nickel and dime, but they do have trouble understanding and differentiating between the nickel and dime. From here we moved on to our last activity where the students had to play the role of peddler/seller or buyer. We demonstrated and modeled if of course. Like the peddler in the story, we reminded that he was selling caps so one person in their group would play this role. They had pictures of caps with different prices on them worth a penny, 10 cents, nickel, and quarter. The rest of their group would play the role of buyer or consumers and in order to buy a cap they each had four coins (aforementioned). The seller would state, "Caps for Sale, 10 cents a cap for a blue cap" and starting with the person next to the seller, he/she had the opportunity to purchase a cap using his/her coins. I think the lesson went really well although there were some minor dilemmas. For one, I had a tougher group in terms of how their behavior usually becomes a problem. I had to work with K and D. Both of these students in particular K has critical problems paying attention and focusing on an activity so I felt that I had to guide him along the activity and I felt that in a way that jeopardized my guidance with the other students. Other than that I think the lesson was great, perhaps I would have changed some things like making the pictures bigger or having the students work in partners instead of as a group. I think this way would really help them focus and retain directions and understand the material further.

1st lesson

March 16- Today's lesson was the first of five lessons for our unit on Kingergarten Economics. We began with an interactive read aloud and my partner K led this first half of our lesson. She read a story called "Caps for Sale," a perfect story to fit with our follow-up activity on coins. She did a great job reading the story, engaging the students and really helping them understand the meaning of the story. I was very pleased and proud of my partner. Following the interactive read-aloud we went into instruction time. We discussed coins, particularly we covered penny, nickel, dime and quarter. I was very happy to see that most of the students had covered this in their classroom prior to this lesson. Well they had focused on one at least, the nickel. I originally planned to simply discuss these coins by showing them a picture and having one of the kids come up and paste the corresponding name and its value next to it using the easel board. However I realized that with this particular group you really have to be very careful with how you plan instruction time. Instruction for these kids is often a frustrating experience. My classroom has several, I would imagine actually the majority of the classroom has kids with behavioral problems, some with severe and pronounced ones. So when it comes to teaching a lesson it's often a bit stressful on both ends. So I knew that I really had to push this lesson, really help them see beyond. so i changed my lesson a bit. for the discussion in order to help them remember the value of the penny, i used my fingers and hands to show them. For the penny i said, "boys and girls, how much is a penny worth?" and some knew it was one cent while others shouted 10 cents, so i told them, "everyone lets raise one finger and wiggle it around, one penny is one finger, keep that in your head." then i moved on to a nickel and again i used my fingers, I said, "A nickel is 5 cents so thats one hand or how many fingers in one hand boys and girls?" and they shouted "fingers," and so forth. i could really see from their expressions that this helped them actually understand how much these coins were worth, or at least i saw this for the time being. so after working with coins and their values i demonstrated what they were to do at their tables. for this activity, the kids would play the role of buyer. each child had 4 coin picture cards (picture cards of a penny, nickel, dime and quarter with the corresponding value next to it to help them remember) then in the middle of the table they had 10 pictures (2 sets of 5 pictures: a doll worth 10 cents, a pencil worth 1 cent, a beach ball worth 10 cents, a book 5 cents and a soccer ball worth 25 cents). so the object was for each child to go around twice and use their coin cards to exchange or purchase an object from the middle of the table. so for example, the child would use one of their coin cards, the 10 cent and exchange that card for the doll, saying "i want to buy..."
The lesson overall went well there were still students who were confused especially when they had to record what they bought in the worksheet. some wanted more than two turns while others were as usual distracted by other things. i think this classroom has been challenging for me because i always have to think outside the box and by this i mean that a lot of times i have had to as in the past improvise. i think though this is a great experience for me because i can see something like this happening in the future and fortunately i have completed my lessons successfully even though i did had to improvise some parts of the lesson. i think the climate of this classroom has also helped me think about what i will do if i do have students with severe behavioral problems, how will i accomodate with their needs and how will i still continue teaching the classroom. i think that i am very pleased that i am working with mrs. m because she has been of great support and she always gives us a heads up for how the classroom is behaving or how their behavior has changed, if any. i am looking forward to my next lesson on tuesday.

3rd Observation: Pre-Assessment

March 2- Today we admistered our pre-assessment for our unit. Because our unit has three different focus areas--community jobs, wants and needs, and money--we wanted to an interactive assessment. So we divided the class into three stations that they were to work at. The first station was the money or identification of coins like a penny, nickel, dime, quarter; the second station was individual work--they had to draw a job they knew about or were familiar with; the third station was group work again and they worked with sorting picture cards that showed either a want or a need. From the results of this pre-assessment I noticed that the students' familiarity with the unit was somewhat satisfactory. That is, at the first station studetns were familiar with coins however they still need to work on how much each coin is worth. In terms of jobs, most of the students knew what jobs were but there were two students who thought a job was a task, like "cleaning my room," a student wrote on her paper. So we definetely need to work from there, introduce them that that particular task is indeed a job that has to be completed but also let them know that a job entails more than a task..etc etc. At the third station, the students knew the difference of a want and need, but there were still a couple of students who were confused with these terms. For example, T placed the barbie under the need category and when I asked her why she made that choice she said, "I love barbies so I need them" I think we definetely will have a great unit, hopefully a successful one and one of course that will be memorable to the students. I am looking forward to our first lesson next week.

Second Observation

February 27- Today's observation was held at a different time. usually my partner and I always go in the morning but today we decided to observe in the afternoon. Mrs. M was not there, so her assistant teacher was in charge of the students. I was very surprised and in a way shocked that the students engaged in play time for that last hour before school ended. I thought that Mrs. M would have the assistant teach a lesson or continue with a lesson, however when we came in the kids were allowed to have "free play time." I was upset because I strongly believe that time is so critical and specially time that should be otherwise devoted to instruction. nevertheless, from what I could observe I noticed that students were very happy and more collaborative, more cooperative with one another than when they usually are in a regular day. In other words, the kids were very nice to each other. For example, usually K is disruptive and sometimes even not nice to his classmates, but today he was whole new person to me. He was so nice and caring when he played with dolls with his other peers including C and S. He was so gentle and endearing, I was very happy to be there to witness this behavior. Another thing I observed was something that is very common from this age group. Play time for these students is revolved around make-believe or pretend play. They pretended they were on a train and they even accomodated the room and the chairs to look like one. It was very very cute. Finally, the assistant teacher gave out a few cards, she gave a red card to J. The response that J gave however was not one that should otherwise be expected. I would imagine that after receiving a red card, the student would be aware that he/she has done something wrong and that sitting out from playtime would make him realize that he/she needs to change that behavior. However J was enjoying himself, he was smiling and laughing and playing by himself. Overall, I saw in today's observation perhaps a new side to these students. Play time really allows them to be their true selves and while it was great to see them laugh and play, I would have wanted them to learn instead.

Reflection on First Observation

February 22- Today was my first observation at my designated school. I have worked with the teacher previously last semester so I think I can say that I am beginning to build a special relationship with the students. The students themselves from this classroom are students with discipline and behavioral problems. There are perhaps only two that don't necessarily step out of this box but maintain rather a calmer behavior compared to the rest that is. The atmosphere of the classroom today was a bit hectic. We came in and Mrs. M gave out a red card to D. He had been disrupting the class for a while so the teacher felt it was necessary to change his yellow card to a red one. In terms of classroom management, the system that Mrs. M works with is a behavior chart with cards labeled and colored as green, yellow, red. A green card shows that the student is showing acceptable behavior, the students aim for maintaining their green cards throughout the day. A yellow card means a warning, it shows that the student has disrupted the classroom and should be more careful of his behavior. A red card shows the student has exceeded disruptions and that a note to his/her parents will be sent. Each student has a composition notebook in which Mrs. M notes particular comments on his/her behavior for that day. She might write positive feedback praising a student or if the student received a red card she might write about this. Personally, I think this system works to a certain extent. While it does remind students of their behavior and allows to self-monitor, at the same time it allows students to have chances to make these disruptions. The students in the past have received plenty of red cards and these same students haven't really made an effort to change their behavior, so in terms of how effective it is, I would say that it is not so effective. This made me aware of problems that I myself might face as a teacher. How would I deal with students who constantly disrupt instruction time? Will writing notes to parents alter their behavior or would that just make it worse? I haven't found answers to these questions yet but I have, from observing my classroom, considered them and thought about possible solutions. I think in my classroom I want to set high expectations and I will set them from the very beginning of the school year, I will remind them constantly and I will want to have effective consequences for expectations not met. At the same time, I do want to create a strong bond with my children, perhaps this bond will help me understand them and help them respect me as a teacher.

Teaching is like....

People envision teaching differently. Some may see the complexities of it, knowing the ins and outs of teaching, while others focus on the simplicities of teaching, the rewarding aspects for example. I see teaching as a dynamic process, one that is coherently evolving and perhaps becoming more innovative in terms of teaching methods and techniques being used. Therefore, teaching to me is similar to coaching, and to be more specific, I’ll say that teaching is like coaching a soccer team (my favorite sport). As a teacher, we have to coach our students, the “soccer players” on a day-to-day basis. By coaching I mean we have to plan and develop strategies or teaching methods to help our players achieve their goals or rather, score on the field, or the classroom.
We have to consistently motivate them, challenge them, and give them feedback on their performances on the field. We motivate them by soliciting them to try their best; we challenge them by allowing them opportunities for which they can grow as players, perhaps developing new strategies on the field to defeat the opposing team (i.e. exams, SOLs, etc) or maybe challenging them implies how, as teachers, we have to give them new ways to approach a problem. Finally, we give them all sorts of feedback, mainly those that will help them become better players; scrimmages can function as the assignments that are given on a continuous basis and how we use these scrimmages to help our soccer players practice using the tools or “soccer ball, their soccer shoes-foot, etc” to achieve and succeed. For example, scrimmages can also be the assessment activities in which as teachers, we use these activities to see the progress of our students and areas where they are succeeding or need more improvement. Moreover, a good coach will help a soccer player with weaknesses; obviously she/he won’t ignore these weaknesses because that would jeopardize the entire team’s success. Similarly, a teacher has to help those with weaknesses to strengthen and maximize the entire team’s success, because when one soccer player is not performing to his best ability, his performance in turn affects the entire team’s performance. We can appreciate thus, how there is also this unique relationship between the coach and the player and amongst the players themselves. A team succeeds when all its players are performing at their best and likewise, the success of a class is a result of everyone’s successes or whatever input the students contributes to make the class a success.
As a future teacher, I would like to see myself in the role of a coach, one that guides the learning process of my students, challenges them, encourages them, and motivates them. I truly believe that a class should be like a team because in that way we can take care of each other, help each other rise to the top as well as learn from each other and be inspired by each other’s strengths or “soccer talents or tricks.” I want to have strikers and defenders, midfielders and goalkeepers; I want a classroom filled with children of different backgrounds, different cultures, different needs and goals. As a teacher, I want to be able to provide them with the necessary equipment to assure their success. I want to be creative in my teaching methods so that they themselves can be creative with the “ball” or their learning skills. I want lots of goals to be scored, this being the goals they have set for themselves and thus achieved as well as how they have excelled in the classroom; I want regular attendance to practices and absolutely no fouls. I want my children to bring out their best attributes, their best performance on and outside of the field as well as bring out the best in each other. Essentially, I want my students to be excited and feel passionate about “playing on the field” because soccer is not only a sport, it is a deep passion within the players that is waiting to burst out on the field, and reciprocally, I want my children to be excited and feel passionate about learning.