First and foremost, I feel that being provided the opportunity to participate in and receive DIBELS training is something that was very beneficial to my contract and myself. I learned so much about the system and Oral Reading Fluency. It was nice to also take what I learned with me to observe and visit Mylan Park, a Title I school.
During my hours, I had the opportunity to work with four different classrooms of students. I also DIBELed a few students from other classrooms because they were absent during other times of benchmarking in the week.
From this experience, I learned how DIBELing goes into the placement of students. I learned that students that are in 'the red' are considered the 'at risk' students. But something that I thought of during this experience was what if something was going on with child the day that he/she was being DIBELed. What if the student hadn't had breakfast and when is lunch was what was going through this student's mind? I worked with some students that seemed completely uninterested in what was going on. These students didn't even want to look at me, let alone read to me. What does this do to their DIBELS results?
Overall, I feel that DIBELing is something that is great and beneficial in relation to benchmarking, but at the same time, I wonder how the results can be misread or have a negative effect on students. I believe that based on what I mentioned above, there have to be students that are misread and marked based on what is going on in their life outside of school that causes them to be distracted, which in turn causes their results to be low...
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Technology Interview and Shadowing
Being placed at North throughout the last three years has been such a privilege. North has so much technology available to the students and teachers compared to other schools. Within my contract, I decided that I wanted to learn more about North's technology. For this task, I worked with Amy Hernandez-Bailey.
During this two hours, she told me about all kinds of technology that I never even knew existed anywhere, especially at North. I learned about airliners that are sort of like an etch-a-sketch where the students can pass this equipment around and write on it with a pen. The only difference is that what is being written goes onto a main computer and can be displayed onto a white board. These are also referred to as Mobile Presenters.
Also during this time, Amy walked me through the process of setting up the CPS system. This is a system that is portable in the school like the clickers that the university has in classrooms on campus. She taught me about the different ways that this technology can be used with questions, with a PowerPoint setup, or simply as a timer and a clicker for students to respond without the distraction of any writing/text. This was a very exciting because I took time during my internship creating jeopardy games and questions through PowerPoint to use as reviews and now i know how to use this technology to link it to clickers.
Lastly, Amy provided me with a great deal of resources and information on SMART Boards. North received twelve new boards at the beginning of the physical year. But, most teachers that received these boards did not know yet how to use them. As part of a professional development, she had all sorts of materials available to assist in working with the boards. I found it very interesting and awesome that she shared these with me. In the future, if I am working in a school that has SMART Boards, it will be nice to have this information to refer back to.
During this two hours, she told me about all kinds of technology that I never even knew existed anywhere, especially at North. I learned about airliners that are sort of like an etch-a-sketch where the students can pass this equipment around and write on it with a pen. The only difference is that what is being written goes onto a main computer and can be displayed onto a white board. These are also referred to as Mobile Presenters.
Also during this time, Amy walked me through the process of setting up the CPS system. This is a system that is portable in the school like the clickers that the university has in classrooms on campus. She taught me about the different ways that this technology can be used with questions, with a PowerPoint setup, or simply as a timer and a clicker for students to respond without the distraction of any writing/text. This was a very exciting because I took time during my internship creating jeopardy games and questions through PowerPoint to use as reviews and now i know how to use this technology to link it to clickers.
Lastly, Amy provided me with a great deal of resources and information on SMART Boards. North received twelve new boards at the beginning of the physical year. But, most teachers that received these boards did not know yet how to use them. As part of a professional development, she had all sorts of materials available to assist in working with the boards. I found it very interesting and awesome that she shared these with me. In the future, if I am working in a school that has SMART Boards, it will be nice to have this information to refer back to.
Shadowing a Special Educator
Another thing that I decided to do for my contract was that of observing a Special Educator. I had originally planned to shadow and teach lessons in TAG, but scheduling was becoming difficult and too close to the wire. Thus, I decided to use my alternative special education hours.
During my observation in Whitney Fisher's special education classroom, I first observed students interacting with First in Math activities. One of the games that the two students played in the first hour was called 'Equal Pay.' This is a game where students have to match the money in words and numbers on the right side before using enough of each coin to be the equal amount or pay on the left. Something that I noticed during this activity was that one of the students, a third grade learning disability student, could not process that different coins still add up to equal some amount of money. For example, instead of using a dime, the student would use ten pennies every time.
After conferencing with Mrs. Fisher, she explained that for this particular student, even processing the money in numbers and words has been an accomplishment throughout the year. I learned from this experience that student understanding is something that can easily be assumed or taken for granted when it is not the case, especially when a student has a disability or some sort or if as teachers we have in our minds "they learned that last year...". I feel that from this experience, I have learned to be more sensitive and caring to all students because after thinking back, I believe that I have not been so understanding in similar situations before.
During my observation in Whitney Fisher's special education classroom, I first observed students interacting with First in Math activities. One of the games that the two students played in the first hour was called 'Equal Pay.' This is a game where students have to match the money in words and numbers on the right side before using enough of each coin to be the equal amount or pay on the left. Something that I noticed during this activity was that one of the students, a third grade learning disability student, could not process that different coins still add up to equal some amount of money. For example, instead of using a dime, the student would use ten pennies every time.
After conferencing with Mrs. Fisher, she explained that for this particular student, even processing the money in numbers and words has been an accomplishment throughout the year. I learned from this experience that student understanding is something that can easily be assumed or taken for granted when it is not the case, especially when a student has a disability or some sort or if as teachers we have in our minds "they learned that last year...". I feel that from this experience, I have learned to be more sensitive and caring to all students because after thinking back, I believe that I have not been so understanding in similar situations before.
Mylan Park Visit--Title I School
For my contract, I thought that it would be a great idea to visit a school that has something different to offer compared to North. I chose to see what it was like to be a Title I school and I chose to so at Mylan Park Elementary here in Morgantown.
Upon my entrance to the school, I was immediately approached by the principal, Mrs. Tampoya. I found this to be very welcoming. It was a nice feeling that someone was excited to have me in their school, no offence, and a completely different feel than that of entering North.
After being introduced to the school, I saw down and interviewed Luann Baker, Mylan's intermediate academic coach. She told me about all of the extra funding that goes into being a Title I school, which they mainly use for teachers and other professionals. Also, she told me all about the extra funding that is used for various resources. For example, one thing is the number of resources and books for various leveled readers and extra practice. North has these resources available to them, but at North there is one wall shelf about three feet wide full of these types of books while Mylan has half of a classroom full!
Then, I worked with Aimee Henkins, a Title I teacher. I talked with and observed her instruction for two and one-half hours. She used the "Read Naturally" system in her instruction. This is a designed system that focuses on Oral Reading Fluency. The students read a passage for one minute while the teacher marks misreadings and add-ins. Then, the students set a goal for their next reading. They practice seven times before they are timed and marked again. This system was very nice to see because the students were very excited to see if they could do better; they were anxious to improve!
Overall, this was a great experience. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to visit another school and see how things are different, especially doing so in a Title I school. I feel that I learned a great deal about the school and what it means to be a Title I school.
Upon my entrance to the school, I was immediately approached by the principal, Mrs. Tampoya. I found this to be very welcoming. It was a nice feeling that someone was excited to have me in their school, no offence, and a completely different feel than that of entering North.
After being introduced to the school, I saw down and interviewed Luann Baker, Mylan's intermediate academic coach. She told me about all of the extra funding that goes into being a Title I school, which they mainly use for teachers and other professionals. Also, she told me all about the extra funding that is used for various resources. For example, one thing is the number of resources and books for various leveled readers and extra practice. North has these resources available to them, but at North there is one wall shelf about three feet wide full of these types of books while Mylan has half of a classroom full!
Then, I worked with Aimee Henkins, a Title I teacher. I talked with and observed her instruction for two and one-half hours. She used the "Read Naturally" system in her instruction. This is a designed system that focuses on Oral Reading Fluency. The students read a passage for one minute while the teacher marks misreadings and add-ins. Then, the students set a goal for their next reading. They practice seven times before they are timed and marked again. This system was very nice to see because the students were very excited to see if they could do better; they were anxious to improve!
Overall, this was a great experience. I am thankful to have had the opportunity to visit another school and see how things are different, especially doing so in a Title I school. I feel that I learned a great deal about the school and what it means to be a Title I school.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Release April 16 Fox
On my last release day, I covered for Mrs. Fox, a special educator. She works with between one and six students at a time. I found that her organization system for her students was something that was very nice for the students. She had folders for each student with their work in them in different locations in the classroom. One student had a space in the corner with his own desk and materials. I think that if students are being pulled out for minutes, this is something that they need and is very special to them in general. It seemed to make the students that I worked with more comfortable as well. In the future, when I have students with special needs in my classroom, I will take this into account!
During this time, I dealt with a student that she prepared me for explaining his on and off days meaning sometimes he just shuts down and doesn't want to do anything. Today for this student was an off day. He completely was against doing anything for math. But, when it came to it, i was able to get him to solve an alphabet puzzle by identifying letters and sounds in the alphabet. Granted, we were supposed to be working on math, this was something that I found to work and keep him from sitting and doing nothing to miss precious minutes.
During this time, I dealt with a student that she prepared me for explaining his on and off days meaning sometimes he just shuts down and doesn't want to do anything. Today for this student was an off day. He completely was against doing anything for math. But, when it came to it, i was able to get him to solve an alphabet puzzle by identifying letters and sounds in the alphabet. Granted, we were supposed to be working on math, this was something that I found to work and keep him from sitting and doing nothing to miss precious minutes.
Release April 16 Tate
On this day, I released Mrs. Tate in third grade again. I was able to work students on morning work in relation to work and letter changes to create new words or change the meaning of words. I also collected a lunch count before the students switched for math.
I hadn't even collected homework before my group was called to the gymnasium. This was a day that Chinese acrobats came to the school to put on a performance. It was nice and enjoyable for the program itself, but I also had the opportunity to see how to keep order of the students when they are outside of the classroom. I took with me her class list, a pencil, and some student reminders. I thought that it would be a good idea to have these materials just in case the students got out of control. But, the students behaved very nicely and respectfully to the performers. They were excited to see the performance and refrained from any mischievous behaviors. I think when I have my own classroom, this is something that I will do again during assemblies in order to keep track of students and their behaviors.
I hadn't even collected homework before my group was called to the gymnasium. This was a day that Chinese acrobats came to the school to put on a performance. It was nice and enjoyable for the program itself, but I also had the opportunity to see how to keep order of the students when they are outside of the classroom. I took with me her class list, a pencil, and some student reminders. I thought that it would be a good idea to have these materials just in case the students got out of control. But, the students behaved very nicely and respectfully to the performers. They were excited to see the performance and refrained from any mischievous behaviors. I think when I have my own classroom, this is something that I will do again during assemblies in order to keep track of students and their behaviors.
Release March 16 and April 13 Kate Teeter
Another classroom that I really enjoyed completing my release hours in was Mrs. Teeter's second grade classroom. I found that I really like her classroom setup of group desk arrangements. I feel that at a young age and in the primary grades, students work and learn best when they are cooperatively learning. Another thing that I really liked about her classroom was her organization for stations. For each group of learners in stations, the students were separated based on ability level, but Mrs. Teeter had identified these leveled groups based on color.
For example, I worked with the red group of low level learners. This group consisted of two students with special needs and one at risk student. These students were very low readers, but they were a joy to work with for the fifteen minutes that I was able to work with them.
I believe in my future classroom when putting together collaborative groups, I will use this color system because I think it is something that the students like because colors are fun, but at the same time the students varying ability levels go unnoticed.
For example, I worked with the red group of low level learners. This group consisted of two students with special needs and one at risk student. These students were very low readers, but they were a joy to work with for the fifteen minutes that I was able to work with them.
I believe in my future classroom when putting together collaborative groups, I will use this color system because I think it is something that the students like because colors are fun, but at the same time the students varying ability levels go unnoticed.
Release March 15 and April 12 Morris
I really enjoyed releasing Mrs. Morris because I am familiar with her classroom and the students. I believe that because the students know who I am, they are also more comfortable with me. During her release times, I covered math. One day, she was teaching integers and adding positive and negative numbers. This is something that I am fairly good at compared to my other math knowledge and background. I worked with students throughout the time on three different math pages in their math journals. Mrs. Morris didn't use any special teaching strategies with this lesson except for a number line, which is generally used to teach integers.
On the next day that I released Mrs. Morris, she was giving a test. But, this was a take home test that the students had been given to take home on Friday and they were finishing it in class on Monday. This test also had to do with integers as well as exponents. The only thing that I was instructed to was to review the directions for the test and remind students that in class, they were not going to be allowed to use a calculator. While the students were testing, I answered a few questions as to how to go about solving problems. I also graded several papers that had been turned in for makeup work.
During these two release days in Mrs. Morris's classroom, I found that I am more comfortable in teaching math than I initially thought. I am not sure if it was because I was teaching integers and I was comfortable with them or it it was because I was familiar with the classroom and the students. Either way, it was a great feeling!
On the next day that I released Mrs. Morris, she was giving a test. But, this was a take home test that the students had been given to take home on Friday and they were finishing it in class on Monday. This test also had to do with integers as well as exponents. The only thing that I was instructed to was to review the directions for the test and remind students that in class, they were not going to be allowed to use a calculator. While the students were testing, I answered a few questions as to how to go about solving problems. I also graded several papers that had been turned in for makeup work.
During these two release days in Mrs. Morris's classroom, I found that I am more comfortable in teaching math than I initially thought. I am not sure if it was because I was teaching integers and I was comfortable with them or it it was because I was familiar with the classroom and the students. Either way, it was a great feeling!
Release Hours April 8th
On this day, I released Mrs. Stewart in the third grade. Since I have previously been placed with Mrs. Steward, I am familiar with her routine and behavioral management system. I did learn something new though. She is using a three finger system for having students to raise their hand. She asks the students raise their hand and one finger if they need to tell her something. Then, raise their hand and two fingers if they need to ask a question. Then, the third finger to ask to leave the room for some reason. For example, restroom or drink at the water fountain. I found that I really like this system. It allows for more instructional time and more time on task. Students know that they cannot (well should not) get out of their seat before raising their hand and using the finger system. I believe the only exception to this system is when the students are taking a test.
I also had to give students check marks for not following directions, talking our, or being disrespectful. In this classroom, there seems to be a great deal of special needs and differing learning levels. Some of the students were talking out and being disrespectful in questioning why when asked to do simple tasks like put their library book away, because it was time for social studies. I learned that you have to be firm because some of the students became very upset and one even started crying after I had given her checks, but it was a necessary because of her behavior.
The last thing about this classroom and something that I really liked was the system of helpers. Each morning, Mrs. Steward selects a helper by going alphabetically through the class roster. I feel that this is something that I would use in my classroom in the future. I think that it is a good system because if you have a student helper for the entire week, the student may by one that isn't enthusiastic or someone that goes to deliver the lunch count only to return 20 minutes later. I think that having one helper everyday is something that would be good to prevent this problem, at least for a week's period of time.
I also had to give students check marks for not following directions, talking our, or being disrespectful. In this classroom, there seems to be a great deal of special needs and differing learning levels. Some of the students were talking out and being disrespectful in questioning why when asked to do simple tasks like put their library book away, because it was time for social studies. I learned that you have to be firm because some of the students became very upset and one even started crying after I had given her checks, but it was a necessary because of her behavior.
The last thing about this classroom and something that I really liked was the system of helpers. Each morning, Mrs. Steward selects a helper by going alphabetically through the class roster. I feel that this is something that I would use in my classroom in the future. I think that it is a good system because if you have a student helper for the entire week, the student may by one that isn't enthusiastic or someone that goes to deliver the lunch count only to return 20 minutes later. I think that having one helper everyday is something that would be good to prevent this problem, at least for a week's period of time.
Thursday, February 25, 2010
Release Time-Day Two
Today, I again released Ms. Tate, a third grade teacher. This time, I had even more fun with the class. The students are great and the environment makes anyone feel welcome. I had the opportunity to see how the routine is different at a different time. Although the morning seemed like it was going to be long and take forever, it flew by!
In this third grade classroom, I had the opportunity to teach Math, Science, and English. The activities that I did were relating to review in Math and Science. But I was able to share some of my own personal strategies with some of the students that were struggling, with Math and multiplication facts, as well as tricks to learning and remembering new vocabulary terms, which was really neat.
Then, before lunch, I had the students ready and lined up early so I decided to have each of the students tell me something that they learned or something fun that they did today. My favorite thing was that several of the students were really excited to say that they learned the little tricks or strategies from me. This makes me feel really excited! Also, I think that this is something that I like doing just to see if the students were paying attention and can recall information that they learned throughout the morning.
In this third grade classroom, I had the opportunity to teach Math, Science, and English. The activities that I did were relating to review in Math and Science. But I was able to share some of my own personal strategies with some of the students that were struggling, with Math and multiplication facts, as well as tricks to learning and remembering new vocabulary terms, which was really neat.
Then, before lunch, I had the students ready and lined up early so I decided to have each of the students tell me something that they learned or something fun that they did today. My favorite thing was that several of the students were really excited to say that they learned the little tricks or strategies from me. This makes me feel really excited! Also, I think that this is something that I like doing just to see if the students were paying attention and can recall information that they learned throughout the morning.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Release Time-Day One
As I approach my second day of release time, I am very excited, especially to be releasing the same teacher again! During my first day of release time, I was placed with Angie Tate at North Elementary. She is a third grade teacher. I really liked the way that she had her classroom set up. She has her students placed in groups of four to five students/desks. I believe that she does this to have a large open area and mat for oral reading time.
My favorite thing about her classroom and teaching strategies was that of her routine for stations. For each student, there is a folder that travels with them to each station. I find this to be very nice for tracking students' work without having to collect it everyday and have mounds of paperwork. Also, I believe that she uses this system to keep track of which stations various groups have been to during the week and which ones that they need to go to in the event that there would be any confusion.
Lastly, I really liked the system that Mrs. Tate used for the station rotation. She has note cards with all of the students' names on a card and then a magnet is glued to the back. She groups the students together and sticks the magnets on the board writing that group's rotation next to it. She does this for each group. Also, in the groups, she uses a post-it to symbolize who will be the group leader for the day's stations.
I really like this teaching strategy for reading and language arts instruction relating to ability levels. This is something that I would look into using and molding into my own system in my future classroom.
My favorite thing about her classroom and teaching strategies was that of her routine for stations. For each student, there is a folder that travels with them to each station. I find this to be very nice for tracking students' work without having to collect it everyday and have mounds of paperwork. Also, I believe that she uses this system to keep track of which stations various groups have been to during the week and which ones that they need to go to in the event that there would be any confusion.
Lastly, I really liked the system that Mrs. Tate used for the station rotation. She has note cards with all of the students' names on a card and then a magnet is glued to the back. She groups the students together and sticks the magnets on the board writing that group's rotation next to it. She does this for each group. Also, in the groups, she uses a post-it to symbolize who will be the group leader for the day's stations.
I really like this teaching strategy for reading and language arts instruction relating to ability levels. This is something that I would look into using and molding into my own system in my future classroom.
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