Day 1: Field Experience

Yesterday was the first day of experiencing a 2nd grade classroom and it is a lot different from last semester. Being in the classroom yesterday, I was taught a lot about classroom management. Mr. Robinson who was also a former student of GSU and student of Dr. H explained everything he was doing with the classroom and why. The classroom was ran very smoothly during centers especially during the reading and math block. These students knew exactly what to do when the teacher put the timer on the board. During these centers, the students did not mess around and once their work was completed, they knew they had to work on extra work or read a book. Once the timer went off, they switched into the next center and so on. One of the reasons Mr. Robinson said about classroom management was through classroom management, he can build healthy and mutually respectful relationships with his students, and allow students to build postive relationships with their peers. Effective classrooms management ensures that students interact appropriately, and allows for them to create and strengthen relationships. I believe that classroom management is an important tool to establish in their classroom the first day of school. Students need to know who is in charge and what they are expected of them. Mr. Robinson reminded me that classroom management does not happen over night, it took almost 2-3 years to get where his classroom is right now. I really look forward to a great semester with my teacher and his 2nd grade classroom, I believe I will come out of it learning very important classroom tools.

Day 1: Math Time

Day 1 of field experience was a great experience and I learned a lot. My cooperating teacher was out sick and was not there for my first day. I was upset that I wasn't able to meet her my first day but I was able to contact her via e-mail. The substitute teacher that was taking over for my CT was an awesome substitute. She allowed me to jump right in and help the students when they needed help. The substitute included me in all the lessons she was teaching and asked for my input on a lot of the material the students were learning. Most of the students warmed up to me quick and they were not afraid to ask me questions. The students were well behaved for this sub and treated her with a lot of respect. I was a little surprised because usually when classrooms have subs they tend to act out more and not listen.

The main part of my day that I learned a lot from was during math time with the students. The students were working on tens and ones place value. The substitute played a YouTube video and it was a song about place value, the students really enjoyed it. Then the sub would show the students 10 cubes and ones and the students would have to write the correct number on their whiteboard. When I was observing the students doing this activity I thought they were doing a fantastic job and really understood what they were learning. But, when the students got back to their seats the sub handed out worksheets of addition and subtraction problems and word problems. Most of the students were confused and asking for help. I remember helping this one student and when she was shown a problem she didn't understand how to add or subtract. I was thinking of different ways that I could help her and she would understand. I finally came up with one way, I grabbed a number line and showed the student how to add and subtract using a number line. The student understood what I was teaching her, and it was the best feeling.

Throughout my first day I learned that as a teacher you have to be quick on your toes. You may think your students are understanding the material until you hit them with a different activity and they are lost. As a teacher you have to have to understand that each student learns differently. For example, the one student that I helped with the number line she was able to understand it that way but a different student may understand it a different way. As a teacher you have to teach in more than one way. Overall, I had a great first day and next week my goal is to learn all of the students names.

                                                  This is how my days look on Thursday's.

First Day!

This week I got to experience a full day in a classroom. I was nervous and excited to start our labs but the Principal made me feel welcomed. When I walked into the room all the students seemed excited and the CT mentioned to the classroom that a guess will be coming. I introduced myself as Ms. Liz. My CT was explaining to me that she has been out for a while due to her injury and needs to sit down majority of the time. I helped her by decorating the board outside the classroom. The halls are filled with art in the school I am placed in. I believe artwork is important, especially if it's your student's work. 

In the afternoon, my CT informed me that she was going to a meeting. The classroom had a sub for the remaining afternoon. For some reason, the students acted differently while the substitute teacher was there. Students were not doing their work, continue talking, one student even said to the sub that she was a "nobody" because she told him to stop talking or she will send him to the Principal's office. I tried helping the substitute teacher by going to each table and talking to them and making sure they were on task. Now that I have time to reflect, I believe that the students are not used to change. What I mean is that the sub handed out worksheets that aren't for the afternoon, she did not know the students well enough therefore, she couldn't pronounce names right, doesn't know which child is allowed to walk around because he is autistic, and maybe the homeroom teacher did not give good instructions. All these can be the cause of a child's attitude to change and engage differently. 

Routines and Patience

My first day in a 1st grade classroom was rather exciting.  I realized how much time, thought, and effort must go into teaching the minds of young children.  This day specifically taught me the importance of routine and patience.  I entered into a classroom that had a substitute for the first half of the day.  While this may seem like a minor change, it meant the world to those children.  The students found it difficult to focus, listen, and complete tasks that the substitute teacher had asked them to complete.  The students were excited to see their classroom teacher return, a familiar face that they are used to seeing.  I believe the reason that the students respond more appropriately to their classroom teacher is based off the fact that they know what is expected of them.  For instance, students know their rules, routines, and classroom procedures and when an unfamiliar person is attempting to lead their classroom, the most simple discourse may cause them to partake in difficult behavior.  It is, however, inevitable.  Students will have to deal with change and teachers will have to be absent for various reasons.  I believe the best way to deal with this change is to prepare the students beforehand.  Inform students when an absence is going to occur and go over rules and expectations for substitute teachers with them.  In addition, I learned that teaching takes a great deal of patience.  Students need to be given a specific amount of time to think and then respond.  The classroom teacher also needs patience when dealing with difficult behaviors.  She must always remain calm, speak about what the desired behavior is, and redirect behavior, when needed.  I really enjoyed my first day in the first grade and look forward to this experiance; I really think I can learn a lot from the students in my classroom and my CT.

Week 1 field experiance

Today was the first day of my field experience with my classroom of first graders, it was a little bit chaotic to say the least but I was able to make it work and it turned into a huge learning lesson. My CT was out of the building the entire morning until after lunch so it was just myself and the sub. My CT left a plan to follow with the kids so it was organized in that sense. The sub I was with was asking me more questions of how to explain the work to the kids and how to go about the lesson so I took over and taught the entire morning with some additional support from the sub such as walking around and helping the kids with their spelling and writing. I always heard other teachers say be prepared for change because everyday will be different with other challenges to overcome and that was the day I had. My classroom was very warm and respectful to me while I was teaching and helping support the room but the class was also very talkative and loud. The students were acting out by talking to their peers and getting loud during work times, I did have to remind them several times of what zone level we were in according to what part of the lesson I was teaching (such as red zone for independent work) . I had no idea who any of the students were and their abilities. I had a special friend who I had to keep close by me and even move his seat because he couldn't contain himself. After I had a talk with him and reminded him again he began to have a much better day. At first I was really nervous to take over, she did leave a plan for us to accomplish but she did not provide me with how to teach it so I had to figure it out on my own. Honestly through this experience it opened my eyes on how kids behave when change occurs and also how in depth I need to be when providing plans for my sub to follow in the future because it was unclear. The students have gym in the classroom twice a week which I found to be odd but since the other grades are at lunch during their gym time they have to do gym in the room so the gym teacher did travel down to the room.

My CT then arrived after lunch so I was able to work directly with her for a couple of hours but I did not have the ability to talk to her a ton because the classroom needed a lot of redirecting. I am not sure if this was due to the fact that it was an off day for them or if the classroom itself struggles as a whole and I am curious to find out as time progresses. The students did a lot of worksheets throughout the day for their content areas. Most of the time things were done in a whole group setting at the board and then they would be provided a worksheet that went along with what was taught to work independently on back at their seats. My CT does have a lot of incentive programs for the kids when they follow procedures correctly such as movement through dance which I enjoyed a lot and the kids did as well to break up time in between all of the worksheets. I was really hoping to see more classroom management skills but given the sudden change, I believe next week will be much better. Overall I am excited to learn more about the culture of the room in the upcoming week and continue to be hands on during my entire time in the classroom.

Day 1: Meeting Students and Teachers

• By Nadine Hamideh
• Thursday January 30, 2020

Today was the first day of field experience, it was a little hectic just because many of the teachers had to go to a meeting and so it resulted in me going into two different classrooms. I started the day off in the second grade classroom and they began the day by completing a timed addition worksheet. Once that was done the CT reviewed the answers with  the whole class. The CT also told me that the classroom was divided into three tiers being tier 1,2 and 3. The CT said that this was beneficial in terms of having the students all work together and help one another. The students were also completing a writing assignment and were starting on their final draft of their writing assignment. I was able to interact with some of the students and give them feedback on their rough draft. After writing they had stations, and I learned a lot of new things in terms of getting students to smoothly  transition from one station to another. The CT has hung up the different names of each station. The CT explained to me that he put the station names above each station to allow the students to know which station they are to rotate to without any inclusions. The second grade CT also used class dojo as a way to manage the classroom. By incorporating a points system in which was a way to keep students well managed through the use of positive reinforcement. Good behavior was rewarded, while bad behavior was ignored. The CT also said that they best way to teach is by finding a way to get all the students to reach their academic goals, while there are low leveled students and extremely high leveled students it is important to keep them all growing forward.
For the second half of the day, I went down to my CT and the students were coming out of steam and also worked on a timed addition practice.  I was able to see a shift in classroom management and class structure during my time in the first grade classroom it was mostly whole group/class activities and lessons whereas in second grade it was more station based. I also felt that the first grade classroom was more structured, whereas in the second grade classroom it was more student directed. Throughout this experience I learned a lot in terms of how to manage a classroom as well as have effective transitions. All in all it was a great experience to be able to get glimpse of both a first and second grade classroom as well as the ways that they compare and contrast.
Attached is a picture of one of the reading stations, and a picture of the 5 steps of writing anchor chart that the students used as a guide when completing their writing.

Week 2: Beginning Field Experience

Today was our first day of field experience and I already learned so much from my CT and the classroom. The students started the day with a substitute teacher and towards the afternoon their regular teacher came back from a meeting. During the first half, some classroom management skills I was hoping to see were not displayed. The class was working on worksheets for a majority of the time that the teacher was gone. The directions were not being explained and the students did not get a model of what was expected of them. This made the class act out more because the students were conversing with their peers and not focusing on completing their assignment. When the CT arrived, the students knew that they were expected to behave. They had some trouble getting back into their scheduled routine, but when they started their math block the CT directed their attention into the lesson. During the lesson the students were not acting out and they were interested in the manipulatives they had in front of them. I believe this was a good change of instruction since they had been only doing worksheets for the beginning of the day. The students were working with adding and subtracting base 10 blocks. I believe I learned a lot about classroom management and flexible schedules during my first day at field experience. As I was getting familiar with the classroom I noticed the teacher had a board displaying their math objectives, goals, and standards that they had to achieve by the end of the year. Attached is a picture of that board in the classroom.

Day 2: Substitute Teachers

Today was my first day in my field experience, and honestly, I really enjoyed working with her. She is a very organized teacher, and she makes life so much easier for field experience. At the beginning of the day, we talked to the students, she introduced me, and then we had our morning circle. During the morning circle, we talked about bullying and how bullying is bad. The school actually has issues with bullying right now, which is why we were on the topic. Aftward, they had a science lesson. The science lesson that I observed was really great. It was more hands-on and the students really were able to stay on task with the use of manipulatives.

Then my CT went out for the afternoon for meetings. That's where it went really bad. The sub the kids had seemed to yell a lot. My CT wanted me to teach their math lesson and also read them a book, but the sub seemed to yell and interrupt more than anything. And the students don't have the respect for me that is needed for me to adequately manage the classroom. I barely had their names down. They wouldn't listen to me when I asked. The students were very rowdy, and it was rough. Next week, I hope to watch my CT more and learn some more of her classroom management strategies.

This week my goal was to learn their names. I think I'm pretty far along with that. I wrote their names down, and I want to get them all down by the second or third week of class!