Spring 2013 Welcome!
Welcome to the Blog!
For the rest of the semester we will check in here weekly. Sometimes I will ask you to respond to a particular topic and sometimes you will just do a short overview of your week with a highlight and a stretch. AND--respond to each others' posts like we are having a conversation.
This week please talk about how the classroom is set up and your impressions of the classroom climate. A short overview of your experience thus far and what you did during the three day weekend. That should get us started!
Chris
posted by Chris @ 11:31 AM
3 comments
3 Comments:
Because of the standards and testing, most of our day is focused on reading (writing takes backseat) and math. We do very little direct instruction; often, we use small groups and centers to expose our scholars to a variety of tasks and skills that we would like them to master. Our room has an abundance of furniture. I can see how many teachers would want a room with this much furniture and storage, but it is a bit much. I feel like it is a maze to move about the classroom, so most of my instruction is done on the carpet. As my students begin to leave, the room will continue to seem to grow.
My first day in the classroom scared me a bit; I have to admit that. Of all the first grade classrooms I have been in, I have never seen 6- and 7-year-olds behave so immaturely. This makes it difficult to joke around and loosen up as I instruct. Any little misstep can cause a good fraction of the students to lose focus and, literally, roll on the ground laughing. Of our 15 students, 7 of them were significantly below grade level in almost all academic areas. My guess is that many of their home lives are as stressful as many of the teacher's lives here -- no one has a clue where they are being shipped off to or when they will be leaving. The downsizing across the posts is making it difficult for people to get paperwork processed too. Despite the craziness, the students are so sweet. I can tell that many of them are trying their best and just want attention. My first two weeks here have been a huge challenge, but I am glad that I will be tapping into all of the strategies I've learned and resources I've collected to address any issues that come my way. Carol, and my advanced practicum mentor, have been a huge help thus far.
For the three day weekend, Madelyne, Rachael and I caught an ICE train to Paris. We stayed in a hostel, met a handful of wonderful people, and saw many of the iconic landmarks that Paris has to offer. Two days was simply not enough time in Paris, but it will have to do for now. We were forewarned by staff members, parents, and friends about precautionary measures to keep us and belongings safe. Of course, much of the advice is common sense, but it is nice to feel like we're being looked after while we are overseas. Paris was our test run for how well we can navigate through unfamliiar and foreign cities. I think we did really well, budgeted our time and money wisely, and stayed safe. I look forward to our daytrip to Austria tomorrow!
My student teaching experience has started off incredibly well. From the second I walked into the classroom I could tell it was going to be a great experience. There are only 15 students in the class, which automatically makes it a much calmer atmosphere than my last practicum class. The students are set up in table groups in the middle of the classroom. Mrs. Smith does a great job with classroom management and has done a great job setting up how she wants her classroom run.
The students are all very helpful, polite, and work well together. What I was especially impressed with was how the students reacted to one of their peers in the class who is autistic. I was surprised with how well he does in the class, which I think has a lot to do with his classmates helping him out. He sometimes takes a little longer than others to get ready, but the other students always help him to get his things. Or, he will shout out or demand a spot in line and the students are very cooperative with him and know how to work with him. Even though he sometimes is disruptive, I have been very impressed with his behavior overall. Mrs. Smith has set up a behavior chart for him where he gets 3 checks for each subject area. One check is for staying in his seat, one check is for getting to work right away and the last check is for being polite to others. He gets rewards for having all of his checks which I think has been very beneficial to him and helpful for his behavior.
So far everything is going really well! I have almost completely taken over the morning routine and am teaching more and more throughout the day. This next week I am going to start doing more of the reading lessons, and hopefully will start experimenting with filming. Hopefully in the next week or so I will be ready to film for my TPA lessons!
For the 3 day weekend, like Kryssa mentioned, we all went to Paris! We had a fabulous time seeing the sights and meeting new people! Yesterday we did an express trip through the base to Salzburg, Austria to do the Sound of Music tour! It was VERY cold but it was great to see the sights from the movie. I think we are getting the hang of traveling and look forward to planning at least a couple more trips :)
The classroom I am in is filled with wonderful resources for instruction and for the students to use. One of my favorite aspects of the room is the Smart Board. We didn't get very much experience with using Smart Boards prior to coming here, so using it has been an excellent experience! Most instruction in Mary's room is focused on math and reading, but we make time for writing and science, which we incorporate into many other subject areas. The students work in table groups, and all instruction is done by breaking the students up into groups and instructing based on skill level. This is crucial in the success of the students because not only is the room I'm in a 3/4 split, but some third graders need to work at the fourth grade level and visa versa. We are down to 14 students, and are losing another in a couple of weeks, which has already been somewhat of an emotional process but we're trying to keep the kids positive about their lives changing.
I was shocked and thrilled at how welcome the students made me feel. My advanced practicum students were wonderful and I made strong connections with them, but it took the first few days to begin those connections. In this class, I feel such a strong bond to all of the students, even the one who left only a week after I arrived gave me a big hug and kept telling me how sad it was that she had to leave right after I got there. There are some students who clearly have less supportive home lives than is ideal, but this is a challenge that makes me appreciate how far those students do come. Working with Mary has been the most successful experience I've had with a teacher thus far! She is warm, caring, wonderful at what she does, and eager to teach me and let me take over when I am ready. I feel very fortunate and will miss her company and advice when we leave.
Kryssa did a wonderful job of explaining our three day weekend! It was such a blast and meeting people was possibly my favorite part. I had been to Paris before, but it was even more fun this time to do things at our own pace and in the winter with the gorgeous snow (our feet weren't too fond of the snow though). We are definitely looking at some warming destinations for later on. :)
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