Blog Post #9

Blog Post #9

        After this class and after completing my service learning I have decided that becoming a professional teacher is something I would like to pursue. I think through this course's material and through being in a classroom, teaching has again been something to spark my interest. When I began this course, I had decided I wanted to be a teacher because it was something that I thought had a lot of job security, something I could see myself excelling in and a career that would let me still have a family, yet provide for them. I now see through this course that teaching is a career that not only includes the reasons I originally saw as a plus, but also many other things.

  

    One thing that I really liked about this course was all of the technology involved and all of the little projects we did. This helped me to see that teaching was a career in which I could be creative. I have also loved being creative, and now see that through teaching you can create so much. Another thing I learned that I really love about teaching is that it is a career in which, you are always a leader. Throughout my life, I have accepted and wanted to be apart of leadership committees. I love being in charge, and love problem solving while working in team-like environments. Through these small things I have learned through this course and through service learning more about the teaching profession then I ever known possible.

So as you may have guessed, I am going to pursue this career path. I love the idea of becoming a teacher. I love children, and seeing them succeed and seeing their smiles, helps me to see just how rewarding this career can be. I plan to spend the next 3 years learning more about teaching.  I also plan to do some sort of service learning each semester so that I can see all different types of classrooms and all different types of teaching methods. I hope that one day I can be as all those teachers who have inspired me to be a better teacher. Overall, I loved this experience and hope that as I learn more I can continue into this program and succeed in this profession.

Blog Post #8

Blog Post #8

Looking back on my portfolio I believe that this blog has really helped me to solidify my ideas. This blog has also helped me notice things, or the different strategies teachers use and how these ideas and standards are incorporated into the classroom. Through different course topics I can see how relevant some of the topics are in teaching currently. Even today I was able to talk to a woman who told me of the current testing issue in her elementary school, and all about ELL's in her classroom. Being in the classroom helps to see that you are not only reading about strategies and these different aspects but that they apply to real life situations. I also think that learning in the classroom, has helped me to see more ideas that are not mentioned on paper. It has helped me see more of the "behind the scenes" of becoming a teacher and how to really plan and prepare for some of these obstacles that come with being a teacher. My perspective on teaching and what it involves has really changed from the first blog post to the last. To start off, I am now volunteering at a different school because the one I had previously met with did not ever call me or have any classrooms I could go into to help. I also noticed just how different elementary schools can be not only curriculum wise but just how they are operated. Vineyard Elementary school has really opened my eyes to what being a good teacher means, and how to prepare and to become a good teacher. I have met many role models there, who I aspire to be like. I also have learned much about how people affect a school and really how much teachers and schools do for the sake of the children. I have really grown and learned that I really do want to pursue this profession because I love the children and seeing them learn and grow. I want to be a role model for them.

Blog Post #7

Blog Post #7

In my service learning  experience I have seen many standards taught and met by students at Vineyard Elementary School. In a recent 4th grade classroom I was in the teacher was able to teach her students about fractions. I now realize that this teacher went through and taught and retaught two of the core standards. One of the standards she taught was comparing two fractions with different denominators. The teacher used a day by day booklet to teach different aspects of fractions and different ways to solve fraction problems. I have also seen many standards taught in math in 1st grade. In her class the teacher taught the idea of "taking away" or subtraction by using a real life problem. The teacher compared student home lunches to student lunches. We then helped the students to determine how many more had home lunch then school lunch. I also then have seen many times English taught through cursive writing in 3rd grade to interpreting stories in 4th grade based on text. Some topics I have not seen Surprisingly I have not seen anything related to computer education in the classrooms I have worked in. I have seen occasional uses of computers but only when "free time" is given. I think that this a missed opportunity. I believe that if teachers used this resource of technology more their students would be able to interact better and have more chances to have a fun lesson they would remember. I believe more emphasis has been shown in both English specifically reading and in math curriculum. I think this may be due to the fact that these topics are generally harder for students to learn and must be continually retaught and built upon. My cooperating teacher feels that standard testing is good to show where the students are at in curriculum but unfair in the number of tests given. I agree with this statement and think that generally testing is a good measure of knowledge and skills yet, I think there is a line where there are too many tests given.

Blog Post #6

Blog Post #6

In the classrooms I was in today I saw many different types of diversity. First, I was put into a 1st grade classroom. I watched as all the children walked in from recess and noted how different they all truly were. They all had unique traits and personalities radiating from their smiling faces. In my first grade classroom, the teacher did very well in making sure all students participated and understood the content of her lesson. My teacher started after recess by having rug time. In her rug time, she asked one student to tell them the day, the weather and about their day. Then she had the student sit down and all students recite a song they had learned earlier that week. She then had the 2 more students come up to practice math they had learned. Each student she picked was random, yet all the classmates supported and helped each other. You could tell there were some students who did not know english too well, yet the songs, repition of words, and classmate support helped the student to succeed in front of the class. There were also many differences between race and ethnic diversity.  The teacher through her intstruction made sure to stop, and ask if anyone had questions. The students that needed extra help also were able to work with a separate teacher in the room specifically to help them. We also visited a 5th grade classroom, where 2 students had disabilities. One clearly had  ADD while another had dsylexia. I was able to help each student work through learning their vocabulary words and also in focusing at the task at hand. In both classrooms, the teachers were very patient with the students and let them work at their own pace. The teachers also went very slow and clearly stated all they were teaching. The teachers also used many non-verbal cues to help those in need to clearly understand the topics being taught.

Blog Post #5

Blog Post #5

 In the many classrooms I have been in throughout the year I have noticed the ways in which history has positively affected the classroom. For example, today the classrooms I have been in are not segregated. All students are allowed and welcomed in to the classroom, no matter what color skin they have. This supports the Brown vs. Board of Education Act which was established in 1954 which stated segregated schools was unconstitutional. In many ways I have also seen how Sputnik, the satellite has effected classrooms. This satellite has changed the way students learn science and has reignited the spark and interest elementary kids have in science. Many classrooms now offer STEM a program which stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. In my classrooms, I have specifically seen support for English learners as well. One student that I was able to work with barely spoke English and Spanish was her first language. When I asked the teacher what this student should be doing she encouraged the student to write in her first language, so she could be comfortable in her classroom. When I went up to tell the student her task she smiled at me and said thank you. This is a huge step in education because we have evolved to have multiple cultures in our classrooms and multiple people who have just come to America. There is a large support for these learners though, which I see as an amazing step. This was a possibilty due to the Bilingual Act of 1968 and 1974  and VI Civil Rights Act that permitted no discrimination in education and funding for children to be able to learn still if English was not  their first language.

Blog Post #4

Blog Post #4

In the classroom I was in this week, I noticed many ways in which the teacher I was cooperating with was both effective in engaging students and also ways in which activities could be more engaging. One way my teacher engaged her students was by using technology. She began the class period by having one select "student of the day" go up to the smart board and sort information about what was going on that day, and different aspects about what they had previously learned. This not only engaged the student at the board but also the whole class as they helped their classmate succeed. Another way my teacher engaged the students was by using project based learning. The students after each unit, would create a project demonstrating what they had learned. For example when I was there they were studying bugs. For their project at the end of the course they were to make a life size bug from certain materials and label the type of bug they made. Another way my teacher engaged students was by adding action to regular activities. The teacher I had had one student also share an item with the class for sharing time. She then incorporated their object into something they were learning that day. For example the student I saw brought in a stuffed animal. She then applied this to a certain subject such as science or something that they had learned about previously. This showed that the students could apply what they had learned to everyday life. One activity that was not engaging was when the teacher told the students to take our their warm up booklets. This booklet had a variety of activities the students did, yet it was hard to focus the students or help them because they were all in very different places. Most students did 2-3 pages then were instructed to have free time. In my opinion this did not help the students, and surely made them rush through assignments for free time. I do not think this was engaging. To be more engaging I believe they could work in small groups on the same page or have the teacher do one page with them and let them do the next alone. I also believe they could create  a game out of this activity. All in all, the class was fairly engaged and I believe my teacher had a very engaging lesson.

Blog #3

Blog Post #3

1. What does the cooperative teacher do to establish a positive relationship with each student?   The classroom I was in this week had a substitute teacher. Yet there was one teacher that came in to help with classroom management who seemed to have a very good relationship with most students. This teacher started by going around the room and asking how each students day had been and starting them off by giving them a high five. This routine helped the students to trust her and to look at her as more of a friend than a teacher.

2. What clear routines are established in the classroom?  How do they support a productive learning environment? One routine I noticed in the classroom I was in was that the students had all been taught to raise their hands with a different amount of fingers to say what they needed. For example if a student needed to use the restroom they would put up a number 1. The teacher would then go over to their desk assess their work and let them go to the bathroom, or do  whatever they needed. This routine established order and kept the classroom calm. This also established a productive learning environment because they were silent while doing this and knew that before they could go do the thing desired their work would be assessed. Another routine the teacher had was saying a phrase such as hey class, and the class would stop what they were doing and answer hey teacher. This routine helped when it was getting too rowdy and also helped so the teacher could explain assignments and other things.

  
3. What has your cooperative teacher done to make students feel loved and safe?
 To make students feel loved and safe, the teacher established a good relationship with the students and was able to establish classroom rules which helped the students to know what was and wasn't acceptable. The teacher also has set emergency rules to help the students know what to do in case of emergency.
 

Blog Post #2

Blog Post #2

               This week in my service learning, I went to Vineyard Elementary School. Unfortunately, I had to switch schools this week, because the other elementary did not need volunteers, and did not get back to me when I called. So this week I spent an hour at Vineyard Elementary school. I volunteered and was able to help with children's recess and a little in a classroom type setting. From the briefs moments I saw, the learning theory that was exhibited most was behaviorism. Specifically, I noticed several moments when I saw the assistant principal helping the different children she worked with. One example of this was when a student had been missing from recess. The assistant principal lead with courage as she found a team to help find the student. She then found the student thanks to her other helpers. She showed behaviorism as she rewarded those who helped her find the students with a candy bar and doctor pepper. She rewarded them for their exemplary behaviors and in turn they now have made a connection in their brain that helping the assistant principal was a good thing and something rewarded. The same strategy was used at recess. At recess, we as aides were told to watch for students throwing snow, and if we did see them throwing it to threaten to take away recess. This is a consequence of actions that in turn exemplified behaviorism. As I walked through the playground and told boys and girls not to throw snow or recess would end early for them they immediately stopped and I did not see them throwing snow again. I also believe constructivism was used in the classrooms because I noticed that there were used as there were many materials in the classrooms such as blocks, and other hands on items. One specific child I worked with needed to go to the bathroom, as we took him there, he quickly ran in and ran out. I then asked if he had washed his hands and he quickly flashed a mischievous smile. Clearly this was something he did often. Yet I was not going to have it. I quickly told him he must go back and wash his hands and if he did not I was going to make him go back into the bathroom. The next time he came out, he had washed his hands and made sure they were clean afraid of the consequences. I believe this also showed behaviorism. The teacher I was with made sure she repeated items, and showed various examples various ways to help each student with their different learning strategies. This week has taught me a lot about learning strategies and how they really are everywhere we look.

Elementary Education 1010

Blog Entry #1

           Serca Park Elementary 

    The school I will be volunteering  at will be Serca Park Elementary. Serca Park is an 

Elementary school that is k-6. It is located in Orem, Utah. When I first drove up to the school, I noticed it was a bit small and looked a little run down. The schools exterior consisted of bricks and a small playground. The school did not seem to have a field surrounding it which I thought seemed a little strange.  The houses that were next to the school, were all ranch style homes. When I first walked into the school I noticed some third graders walking out of the library eager to read their new finds. I also noticed a huge picture of all the students and teachers displayed on the wall it seemed to be polished and hung with pride. I also noticed a life size Mereda from the Disney film Brave. This school seemed brave they seemed to have good values and good bones. I talked to the head secretary who told me that I would be added to a volunteer sheet where I gave the times I could come in. She said I would be added to the list and be called when a teacher from one of the grades need help in her/his classroom. My understanding of service learning is to have a hands on experience with children in a classroom to help us, as students in elementary education decide if we want to continue our careers in teacheinf. It is a hands on process where you will work with kids of all levels k-6 and see what a teacher really does to teach their students. I am very my looking forward to this opportunity and hope to touch the kids with my presence even if I am not their teacher.