Tuesday Experience (2-26-08)

This week during my Tuesday Experience was very interesting. My classroom teacher was out sick, so it was me and a sub the whole day. I felt more in charge than ever! It was a great learning opportunity for me to run most of the class. I implemented many of the classroom management strategies that i have learned so far. The class was very well behaved..which helped a lot.

The funny thing is, my blog a little while ago was concerning managing the classroom and connecting to all the students. This past Tuesday, eased my mind a lot and allowing me to feel more confident in the classroom.

I also had the opportunity to go peer review in a first grade classroom. I saw the children practicing a reader's theater, from a book that they have been practicing with. I really enjoyed this, not only was I able to see a different classroom grade level, but witness a reader's theater. I think that acting out the book is a great way for all the children to get involved and really have have with the book. Sometimes its hard to get children interested in reading,but I think this is a great way to start. Also reader's theater is great for children looking more into the characters and the plot. (GREAT JOB ON THE LESSON CHRISTINA!!)

Developing as a Teacher (2-20-08)

Just being in my Tuesday experince has allowed me to grow as a teacher. I feel that I have developed more of an understanding of different concepts in the classroom, as well as students themselves.
The main thing that I have picked up on in the classroom is classroom management. The worry that I have going into teaching is the management part. How can I get my students to do what I want them to, but also make the enviroment fun? I am able to pick up on different ideas everyday. I notice that my classroom teacher incoperates many different aspects of management, allowing for more understanding between teacher and students. I will feel more confident going into my own classroom, with new ideas that I would be able to apply.
Developing a Language Arts lesson was also very helpful in developing my understanding and confidence in teaching. This was my first time teaching to a whole class and I loved the experience. It was a great opportunity to test out my own lesson and evaluate the process. Also, it was helpful to look at the student's work and assess it. I really did not have any experience assessing work...great idea!
I still have hestiations about what to expect going into the education field. My may concern is connecting with all the children and making sure that everyone is on the same page. I know that the students in my classroom are all going to have different needs, how can I accomadate for all the children in my classroom?

Student's Writing (2-14-08)

Over the past two weeks I have learned many new techniques on how to look at children's writing. Not only the convention aspect of writing, but the ideas of organization, word and sentence variety, and fluency. I found that looking into student's work with more detail allows us as teachers to accomdate everyone's needs.

Before looking into the different aspects of writing, I based some of the student's writing on the looks. Just at first glance, many times I would assume that whichever paper looked the neatest would be the paper that would sound the best. I have learned that even if it does not look like a 'A' paper, does not mean that it isn't. I am glad that I was introduced to the writing characteristics and ways to apply them.

I look forward to observing more of the students' work and seeing the trends in writing. During my Tuesday Experience I hope to be able to read some of the children's work and be able to decide a plan that would help the children in their troubled areas.

What Readers and Writers Do (2-13-08)

I am glad that this topic came up at this time. My classrooom teacher and I have been working with the children on the steps that make good a writer. Everyday during writing we also have to stress the steps that writers do. I really like the way that the book laid out the description of each stage. I think that this would be a better way for the students to look at the different steps in the stages.
In my Tuesday experience I had noticed all of the stages in what writers do. As mentioned earlier my teacher always stress the steps, but the children never really seem to grasp the idea. I think that there is more pressure on the teacher to make sure that the students know who to write, especially with the CMTs coming up.
As for the what readers do; I haven't really seen much reading, other and independent reading done. The children often pick a book that they would want to read, there is never really a discussion with the stages in reading. I have noticed that when my teacher does a read aloud, she demonstrates some of the stages, but the chidlren do not specifically. She will ask them questions for responses and do activities with them to get them to explore and apply.
I would love to apply this strateiges to my own classroom. After reading over the stages of what readers do, I find it very helpful, especially for children that can not really get into reading. The book lists off many strategies that would have the student really get into the reading and be able to connect it to thier lives. Also, the stages in writing would be great to have posted in the classroom. Many times children do not know what to do in writing or even where to begin. I really like the prewriting stage description, i think that this would help a student get interested in a topic and really be able to get ideas flowing.