Week Seven

This week was a great week at Summerville. No one taught a lesson in my classroom so it was so nice to just be able to observe after teaching two lessons so that I could learn even more for my third and final lesson. The kids were great! Virginia taught her lesson earlier in the week so it was just me in the classroom which was so nice to be able to have the kids all to myself and they were so excited to see me. I got to watch Mrs. Young teach the writing lesson and the math lesson that I will be teaching this week and it was so great to be able to see everything that I will be teaching this week. Overall, it was a very relaxed and fun day and I loved being able to participate in all of the activities with the children.

I loved class this week. I though the woman that spoke for us about parent education programs was so informative and wonderful and to be honest I had no idea that these kinds of programs existed as a resource for new parents. What a wonderful thing that they do and it is definitely something that I want to be a part of later in life. I think it is such a great thing for parents to have as well as for the children. It is so difficult to be a parent and also prepare your child for school and I think this program is so wonderful in that it helps parents know what is developmentally appropriate for their children and what kind of activities and things they can work on while they are at home.

Week Six

This week I taught my second lesson and I feel like it went really well! This was a huge change from my transition lesson which was nice as this time I felt like I actually got to use a lot of the techniques that we have been talking about which are difficult to incorporate in the transition lessons. The lesson I taught was a literacy lesson and the children seemed to really enjoy it. I really felt like throughout the lesson I had some great behavior management techniques too that worked! I had them show me what active listeners look like and I counted down from five and throughout the lesson I only had a few small behavior problems. I think the children really understood the lesson and that they really enjoyed it as it related to Halloween and they got to draw pumpkins! Overall, it was great. I really love my class and enjoyed teaching the lesson.

I loved the format of class this week where we essentially taught each-other. I think that for me personally, there was not a lot of pressure like in cold call as I knew what I was going to be responsible for in the discussion and it make it much more enjoyable and I was able to focus and truly listen to the classmates in my group. I loved that it was a small group and we all lead each-other, and I felt like it allowed for more time to talk out-loud and voice your own opinion in the group. I also enjoyed our guest speaker that assistant principle as I learned a lot from him and it was great to see someone so young in administration. He was so positive about his whole experience which made me feel positive as well.

Week Five

This week went very well in the field. I know the children's rountine well and am able to help Mrs. Young in the classroom a lerge amount. This week Virginia taught her literacy lesson. It went very well. She did a great job of keeping them under control and keeping them focused. The children really understood the lesson and I think that they loved it because it had to do with Halloween and they got to draw something chasing after them. It makes me excited to teach my literacy lesson and I hope that it goes just as well. Hopefully I have learned even more about some behavioral management techniqies that it will be easier to manage the classroom because we will not be transitioning so the children will be able to be more focused.

I loved class this week as well. I thought it was so great to see all of the teach like a champion techniqies acted out, it really helped me to remember them. I also loved being a part of Summerville Elementary's Reading Day. I thought it was so great and such a great thing to do to get the parents involved. My teacher told me that when they offer them dinner they always get a large turnout than when they don't. I also got to sit in on a reading of the local children's book writer who writes the Hermie the Hermit Crab Books. It was so neat to hear her read one of her books to the children and tell us about where her inspirations come from. What a fun night!

Week Four

This week I had another great day in Mrs. Young's class. The kids are so used to us coming in now that they expect us and give us a big welcome which is so nice. Right away I began to teach my lesson which was on transitions. I knew it was going to be a little bit difficult because Mrs. Young has them tightly wrapped around her finger and I knew I would have big shoes to fill. I found that I did a great job teaching and keeping the children's behavior under control in the line, but I did realize that it became difficult because Mrs. Young was still taking charge a little bit with the children and the children did not know exactly who they should turn to and who was in charge, which made things difficult. I officially know all of the children's names and I am so proud of myself because there is so many of them! But I think it is such a good thing to know everyones names when you are doing a behavior management lesson so that you can call the children out who are not behaving well. I think that my next lesson will go a little bit better since I will actually be teaching the children a writing lesson and not just focusing on the transitions from place to place.

I am really enjoying the class so far. I feel like this week I learned so much information about title one schools and how they work like a machine. I was so impressed with Chicora and the people who work there seem so wonderful it just amazes me how happy and uplifting the whole school seems to be with these children who do not come from the best home life situations. I had no idea that Chicora was at 100% poverty level. What an amazing thing that these teachers do every day for these children, it is so inspiring!