Week Three

Week Three

Observations: What I have noticed about this class is that every body gets along so well. I was expecting in an elementary school class that there would be frequent arguments and bickering but I have yet to see that. It must be a combination of the level of children and the discipline stype that Mr. A and the school inforce. The students are respectuful of one another as well as their authroty. I also think that Oak Pointe Elementary has made an effort to create a sense of cummunity so that all kids treat eachother fairly. I tis amazing to see how well everything flows at this school.

Learning Expereinces: When Mr. A teaches and explains things its more like he is letting the students share what they know to help clarify for others. The kids will go up to the board to work the warm up math questions or when Mr. A goes up to expalin a problem he really lets the kids tell him step by step what to do to keep them involved. I have learned that these techniques keep the kids engaged and excited for math. Whenever I go up to the board I now know to use the same technique because that is what works best. Afterall Mr. A is the "Math Daddy".

Reflections: School has been so different now that I am not able to see my fellow teacher cadets everyday. It is bitter sweet becuase I do not get to see them but the sweet part is being able to be in an elementary class every other day. School is starting to feel almost over with the preparation for AP exams, recieving our graduation supplies, and the upcoming spring break!

Stories:  This past Thrusday was Pi day in Mr. A's class! He gave me an awesome Pi Day shirt to wear so that I would be matching the entire class as well as him. He incorportated pie into his lesson and tought the kids about finding the circumfrance, radius and, diameter and afterwards they got to have a slice. I read "Sir Cumference and the Dragon of Pi"to the kids. It was a fun way to to fimiliarize the kids with the terminology.

Week Two

Week Two

Observations: From seeing how the students and Mr. A have to interact with the special ed student made me realize that sometimes you just have to ignore these type kids when they are disrupting because I have noticed that when the other students lash back at this child they are only making things worse. I have noticed that all of the kids seem comfortable in this class and are not shy nor timid. I realized it was because the way Mr. A interacts with them and takes to time to answer every question and solve all the problems that they need help with. I feel like his willingness to help the kids have made them feel comfortable in a math learning environment where often this is one of the most disliked classes by students.

Learning Experiences:  Most of the time I am in Mr. A's class it is when he is teaching math, but this past late Wednesday I was able to see what they do for science. It was the coolest thing, each group had a 2 L coke bottle cut in half, the top filled with dirt, grass and crickets fitting inside the bottom half that was filled with water, 2 fish, snails, and a type of water plant. They keep a log in their journals and record the changes in the plant growth as well as the animal life (and in many cases death). I was having so much fun going around and looking at all of them so you can imagine how exciting it is for the kids! By seeing this first hand it really helps them learn and understand the material.

Reflections: Being able to go to field experience every other day is a breath of fresh air for highschool. With AP tests coming up, prepartaion for college next year, and seniorits school has been pretty dreadful. Being able to see the kids who eagerly await you puts a smile right back on your face and gets you looking forward to at least a portion of the school day.

Stories: Every Friday morning Oak Pointe has this gathering called Morning Meeting. It was crazy, the entire school comes together in the middle of the school as Kidz Bop is blaring and sits on the ground while the principle begins to kick off the day. They get the students involved, hand out awards, and get excited for the weekend. I think it is awesome that the administrators make the effort to be a presence in the students time at school, the kids enjoy it tremendously.

First Week Field Experience!

First Week Field Experience!

Observations: From the first day I became a part of Mr. A's class I knew it was going to be a fun and engaging experience just based off of his personality. He moves around the classroom and is always engaging the kids whether he is teaching or checking answers. He is encouraging towards the kids and ensures that everyone is understanding the lesson. 

Learning Experiences: For the first week I began to see how their class works and what Mr. A does to make things work for his class. From the get go he was already giving me tips- when making foldables for their math notes give all the kids the same color construction paper so that you as the teacher can refer back to it easily-that would be a helpful tool I would not even think about! The kids got to learn about CMS and what it will be like as a 6th grader next year. CMS came for a short period of time and started to get them ready for the transition to middle school. All the kids were excited as they got to learn about the new changes when being in middle school, some positive such as lockers while other not so much like shorter recess. 

Reflections: The first thing that connected with what I learned in the classroom with my field experience was one of the students in Mr. A's class that has aspergers. Mr. A told me what I had already learned, that they try and keep the special needs kids integrated with normal kids as much as possible. I think its great that this particular child gets to be in normal class like everyone else and receive the same benefits as other kids in these AGP classes.

Stories: As we are going over homework I start to hear Mr. A start signing and then the kids start to get out of their chairs and sit on their desks. Before I know it they are all sings harmoniously about the different types of triangles  It was like out of a scene of High School Musical (Elementary School Musical rather..ha) except they were actually learning and able to use these songs to help them with math. It took me by surprise but it was too cute.