FEAPS 2a. Organizes, allocates, and manages the resources of time, space, and attention 2b. Manages individual and class behaviors through a well-planned management system 2c. Conveys high expectations to all students Every morning my CT write the date and any other important information on the board. The students know to look there as soon as they come in the door so that they know what to start working on immediately. It also lists homework and any other announcements for the day. My CT has asked me to take over writing everything on the board when I can come into the classroom every week so that I can get into the routine of it. This is an important task because we have learned that establishing a routine from the beginning and setting clear expectations for our students will generate more success in the classroom. Consistency is key for positive behavior from students. In my future teaching practices, I think having an area for students to look to for all announcements is good habit to get into. It also helps the teacher remember any topics they need to go over with the whole class.
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FEAPS 2a. Organizes, allocates, and manages the resources of time, space, and attention 2b. Manages individual and class behaviors through a well-planned management system 2c. Conveys high expectations to all students In a previous blog post, I wrote about the morning routine and how we did number of the day to help students with learning about place value. My CT came to me and said that although we will still do number of the day occasionally as needed, she wanted me to take the lead on checking the homework in the morning, as well as teaching my own mini-lesson about prefixes and suffixes. For checking homework, my CT uses a behavior tracking chart that she created. Each column represents a different subject area and she writes notes throughout the day. She uses a new chart every day and dates it. She also keeps every chart as evidence if needed in conferences with parents or other teachers. When the students got seated, I asked them to take their math homework out so I could come around and check it. I walked by each students' desk and checked to see if they completed their homework. Homework is checked on a completion basis every day, and then turned in at the end of the week. After I checked everyone's homework, I moved into the prefix and suffix mini lesson. I chose the prefix anti- and the suffix -ful for this week's lesson. I wrote them on the board. I first started with the prefix anti- and explained that it meant against or opposite. I wrote the word antibiotic on the board and asked students to use their prior knowledge of the root word bio that they learned in science and what I just taught them about the prefix to try and figure out the meaning of the word. Students were very fast at being able to come up with meanings of the word and they mostly got the correct answer. We then moved onto the suffix -ful and how it meant full of. I wrote the word careful on the board and students were eager to tell me that it meant someone was full of care. We finally reflected on the mini lesson and established that knowing common prefixes and suffixes can help us decode words that are unfamiliar to us as we move on to reading harder texts. I will give them new prefixes and suffixes every week and keep track of the ones we have already talked about on the word wall in the back of the classroom. Looking back on this morning routine, I really like the behavior tracking chart that my CT uses every day. It is an easy way to behavior and homework and keep evidence if behavior becomes a problem in the classroom. I was a little nervous when my CT asked me to lead a mini lesson every week. I thought for the most part I led the lesson pretty well. At the end, after I was done, I got stuck on how to transition into the next lesson. My CT helped me and jumped in. She also provided me feedback and told me as a rule of thumb, three is the magic number when calling on students to answer. She suggested that any more than three and we can get lost in the lesson and not move forward in a timely fashion. I appreciated her advice and definitely understood where she was coming from. In the future, I will make sure I am staying within the time constraints and keep sharing ideas to three students. I also will make transition into the next lesson less choppy by knowing what lesson will be after mine and asking students to get the supplies needed out for that lesson.
FEAPS 2a. Organizes, allocates, and manages the resources of time, space, and attention 2b. Manages individual and class behaviors through a well-planned management system 2c. Conveys high expectations to all students 2f. Maintains a climate of openness, inquiry, fairness and support 2h. Adapts the learning environment to accommodate the differing needs and diversity of students This week while during field experience, I took the lead on part of the morning routine, which also included doing a math small group with three students after instruction. In my CT's class, we always start with number of the day. Every morning when the students walk in the room, there is a number on the board. 47.375 was the number I chose, and the students complete different activities using that number. They are learning about place value and multiplying using standard algorithm, so the activities tie into the lesson. I have observed my CT doing this the first two times I was in her classroom and she asked if I wanted to pick a number for them and lead the number of the day. I noticed that my CT would usually pick a tricky number so that questions could be addressed during this whole group discussion. She would give the students about fifteen minutes to complete the task on their own, and then we would go through the activities one by one on the board. To call on students, she would pick popsicle sticks out of a jar with their names on them so that way everyone participated and had a voice.
I started the morning by writing the number 43.375 on the board so the students could see it when they walked in the classroom first thing. I asked my CT if there was any particular number I should choose and she told me as long as it had a decimal to the thousandths place that it would work for the activity. When the students walked in the door, I reminded them to get settled and then start on their morning of the day activity. The students were pretty conditioned to this task already, so I didn't have to remind too many of the students on what was expected of them. I gave them about fifteen minutes to complete the activity and then I got their attention by ringing the gong my CT uses. When my CT rings the gong, all of the students become quiet. I then told the students we were going to discuss the number of the day. We went through each of the activities, which included questions about place value, rounding, multiplying by base tens, etc. My CT also suggested that we try doing standard algorithm since it related to what they were learning. We decided to do 375 times 47. I wrote the problem on the board and asked the students step by step how to complete the problem. We used side table math to make sure we did our steps correctly. After we completed the standard algorithm question, the students were then prompted to take out their math worksheets to complete more practice problems on standard algorithm. My CT asked students who thought they were on level 1 to come to her table, and students who felt like they were level 2 to come to my table. I then led a math small group and we completed more standard algorithm practice. A picture below are the problems I completed with my group. We went through each step, completed side table math, and then estimated our answers to make sure we were correct. From completing this task I learned that it is important to be thoughtful and prepared before starting the day. Making sure everything is set up for the day will ensure success in the classroom. If I am prepared as an educator, my children will be more likely to respond positively both academically and behaviorally. I set the mood for the entire day by what happens in the beginning. I also learned that setting high expectations for students early on in the year will make everything easier in the classroom. The students knew what was expected of them when they walked in the door and it made it easier to start the day. I didn't really have to remind anyone on what to do. I think that says a lot about how good my CT's classroom management is. Based on the ongoing observations of my CT, I hope that I can have a good morning routine with my students and have such a smooth morning every day. The students knew what was expected of them, knew where the information and tools needed to complete the activity were, and knew exactly what they were supposed to do. My performance task this week was assisting in getting materials ready for an activity and writing on the white board. The students in my class did a science lab. The science experiment was measuring the temperature of water and then measuring water after baking soda was added. I filled large pitchers of water for the students to pour from and I got the baking soda into containers for the students to measure from. After the students were done with their lab, we went over their results as a class. On the white board, I wrote each groups' readings on the board to show them the importance of doing multiple trials of an experiment.
This task was important because it helped me interact with the students. During the experiment I was able to walk around the room and make sure everyone was on task and using the materials properly. While at the white board, it was important to get every students input. I used my CTs method of drawing popsicle sticks with students' names on them ask them to participate. If I had to repeat the task, I would have the centers set up before the activity so that there was more time for the experiment, rather than setting up while explaining the directions. I think the white board discussion after the experiment was beneficial to bringing the lesson back around and getting students to participate. |
AuthorDanyelle Estill Archives
December 2016
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