Do not post here any longer.
The integrity of the site has been compromised. It is a private Blog, but we have chosen to no longer use it for our class. Please post all reflections directly on LiveText from today forward.
Dr. Thomas E. Murray
Monday, November 5, 2007
Wednesday, October 24, 2007
Jennifer Lung
October 15, 2007
12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
I was once again in the fourth grade class. As soon as I walked in the door all the students were so excited to see me. They were all begging for my attention and I felt important. I felt as if I was really beginning to be welcome in the class and the students were starting to like me. I also know now that I have a greater burden on my shoulders. Now, it will be even more important for me to care for these children and help them the best I can. These students were going to now be depending on me to come in week after week and give them everything I have. I am ready and willing to rise to the challenge.
Today the teacher asked me to work with an intensive reading group. I worked with three students. We sat and read a text book, chapter after chapter. It was incredibly boring and I honestly don't see how this was helping. How could reading a text book help a child learn to read better? I am concerned for these students and their ability to succeed in school. It was difficult for the students to stay focused and I can understand why, it was boring. And that was it. I sat there for an hour and a half while the students read to me.
October 22, 2007
12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
I am starting to catch on to what's happening. At the times I am in the class is when the students are reading. So, today I went in the class and the students were reading and doing workbooks. Also, there was a substitute in the room because the teacher was in a meeting. Yay! I just walked around and helped the students that needed it. I was shocked at what one student asked me. He said, "Do cat tails grow?" I told him I didn't know. He then read the sentence to me. I realized what was going on! The story was talking about marshes and it was referring to the plant cattails. I never really realized how much students do need background knowledge to understand stories. This interested me and I have been thinking about what the child thought the whole time.
The substitute insisted the students remain in their seats and make no noise. She would not allow them to do many things their teacher allows. She told them it was because she wasn't used to it. I then thought about the children. They are not used to all of your rules. So, who is right here, the students or the sub? They both have the same exact defense! One student in the class was continually talking. She looked at him and said, "you're disappointing me." He just stared blankly back at her. I wondered if he really cared. She wasn't anyone important to him, he hardly knew her. Why would he care if he disappointed her? I now wonder if her tactics were successful. The class was quiet for the most part but what did she accomplish? A quiet, bored class that probably didn't learn anything.
12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
I was once again in the fourth grade class. As soon as I walked in the door all the students were so excited to see me. They were all begging for my attention and I felt important. I felt as if I was really beginning to be welcome in the class and the students were starting to like me. I also know now that I have a greater burden on my shoulders. Now, it will be even more important for me to care for these children and help them the best I can. These students were going to now be depending on me to come in week after week and give them everything I have. I am ready and willing to rise to the challenge.
Today the teacher asked me to work with an intensive reading group. I worked with three students. We sat and read a text book, chapter after chapter. It was incredibly boring and I honestly don't see how this was helping. How could reading a text book help a child learn to read better? I am concerned for these students and their ability to succeed in school. It was difficult for the students to stay focused and I can understand why, it was boring. And that was it. I sat there for an hour and a half while the students read to me.
October 22, 2007
12:30 pm to 2:00 pm
I am starting to catch on to what's happening. At the times I am in the class is when the students are reading. So, today I went in the class and the students were reading and doing workbooks. Also, there was a substitute in the room because the teacher was in a meeting. Yay! I just walked around and helped the students that needed it. I was shocked at what one student asked me. He said, "Do cat tails grow?" I told him I didn't know. He then read the sentence to me. I realized what was going on! The story was talking about marshes and it was referring to the plant cattails. I never really realized how much students do need background knowledge to understand stories. This interested me and I have been thinking about what the child thought the whole time.
The substitute insisted the students remain in their seats and make no noise. She would not allow them to do many things their teacher allows. She told them it was because she wasn't used to it. I then thought about the children. They are not used to all of your rules. So, who is right here, the students or the sub? They both have the same exact defense! One student in the class was continually talking. She looked at him and said, "you're disappointing me." He just stared blankly back at her. I wondered if he really cared. She wasn't anyone important to him, he hardly knew her. Why would he care if he disappointed her? I now wonder if her tactics were successful. The class was quiet for the most part but what did she accomplish? A quiet, bored class that probably didn't learn anything.
Monday, October 22, 2007
Service Learning Reflection--Rebecca Guess
I've been out of the classroom for a couple of weeks due to a bad case of strep throat but last week I ventured back into the classroom. It was interesting because there is an autistic boy in the classroom. I understand the whole movement to incorporate handicapped students into a regular classroom but I can't understand this. He's autistic and isn't capable of anything that the other students can do. It may sound mean or cruel but he shouldn't be in the classroom with other students. He runs the length of the classroom screaming and yelling. That's not fair to the students that are trying to get their work done.
He does have an aide but she's at a complete lost as of what to do. He cannot complete the work with the other students and he's always given some alternate assignment to complete. An example, the day I was there they had folded up pieces of newspaper and he was attempting to cut them into strips so that they could be coated in paper-mache and made into a mask. The other students had completed this assignment almost a month ago. The autistic student won't even start, it's something that the teacher knows and so does his aide. Don't get me wrong, he's very nice and I don't mind him in the classroom but I can't help but feel bad for the students that are trying to get their work done. The times when he runs up and down the class they have to jump out of his way because he will run them over, he doesn't bother to navigate through the students.
I really love going to this class and the teacher I have was actually my teacher eight years ago. He's asked me to bring in my old portfolio so I can help with his advanced students and show them my work. I will also be helping him this week at the Arts festival.
I know the autistic student will be there and he'll be doing what he always does, which I'm used to by now but I can't help but wonder, who is it really hurting and helping by him being in the classroom?
He does have an aide but she's at a complete lost as of what to do. He cannot complete the work with the other students and he's always given some alternate assignment to complete. An example, the day I was there they had folded up pieces of newspaper and he was attempting to cut them into strips so that they could be coated in paper-mache and made into a mask. The other students had completed this assignment almost a month ago. The autistic student won't even start, it's something that the teacher knows and so does his aide. Don't get me wrong, he's very nice and I don't mind him in the classroom but I can't help but feel bad for the students that are trying to get their work done. The times when he runs up and down the class they have to jump out of his way because he will run them over, he doesn't bother to navigate through the students.
I really love going to this class and the teacher I have was actually my teacher eight years ago. He's asked me to bring in my old portfolio so I can help with his advanced students and show them my work. I will also be helping him this week at the Arts festival.
I know the autistic student will be there and he'll be doing what he always does, which I'm used to by now but I can't help but wonder, who is it really hurting and helping by him being in the classroom?
Sunday, October 21, 2007
Brandy Barnett
Service Date and Time: October 19, 2007 8:00 a.m.-11:00 a.m.
I stayed the whole day today but, I am only going to count three of the hours towards this service project. I wanted to see what an entire day was like versus just “popcorning” in for the same two hours each week on Fridays. Same routine: spelling test, and library. This is what I normally witness on my visits. After the library I usually leave. Today became much more interesting.
Today took on a new approach. The teacher told me that she did not have any work for me to do with the students specifically and that she wanted me to be able to observe the classroom. I thought that was a great idea. Today she said would be a little less instructional because the children would be having a fire drill, library time, a visit to see a fire truck, computer lab, and music special. So today was filled with a lot of transitions. I really enjoyed watching her morning routine. Normally I am working with one or two children so I miss what the class is doing at the time. In the morning she has them sitting in the front of the classroom in a large group. She goes over what the day it is, what day it was yesterday, a student checks the weather outside, and another student tells what shape comes next in the pattern on the calendar. They go over descriptive words, frequency words, money, phonics, and sing a song. All this is done in a time span of 15-20 minutes daily. It is very interactive. She calls on students for each of the activities. A boy has a turn then has to choose a girl, and vise versa. She explained that if that rule wasn’t in place the other gender wouldn’t get a turn. One of the children kept misbehaving during group time and he had to go back to his seat. I felt bad for him. He was moved after he had already put his name under the “sad face” on the board. She read to them a class book that she had bound for them of a previous activity that they had done. It was a worksheet displaying each child’s pumpkin face they had created. The kids lit up when they saw the book. They love to view themselves as authors and illustrators. The class has made five books so far. I noticed during the course of the day that during independent time she played music on a cd player and the kids would sing along. I observed that she gave out 3 worksheets today. One was on vowel sounds, one on what is safe and not safe to play with (in correlation to fire safety), and one about math. If today was so busy with transitions I wonder how many she normally gives out. One of my favorite times of the day was when we came back from the library and I read to them “Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus”. They absolutely loved that book. Of course they all participated. It is a great read aloud. I had learned about it from Gina’s author presentation. (Thanks Gina). It had went so well that they were all begging me to read aloud their library books that they had just checked out. Secretly I wished that I could have. I love reading books to the kids. My second favorite part of the day was when the teacher and I went to go pick up the students from music class. The music teacher had four students singing karaoke and the other students were dancing. The teacher and I observed for awhile. The kids were just having so much fun, laughing and dancing. How I wish their whole day could be that much fun. During the second song four more students volunteered to sing while others dance. It was in that moment that I remembered what the author Mem Fox said, “Teachers need to let their students see them as human too with real feelings and real emotions”. I disregarded all inhibitions I had of looking stupid and silly and got out their and danced with the kids. I didn’t care what my service learning teacher or the music teacher thought, well maybe I did a little. But the look of surprise and excitement on those kids face was simply priceless. Some may say that it’s dangerous to cross that line, “be like them and you’ll lose your authority”. Maybe I will… or maybe they will respect me more because I take the time to enjoy what they enjoy, share in their laughter. I truly believe that you don’t always have to be in front to lead a child. I think you can also lead sometimes just walking with them side by side.
I stayed the whole day today but, I am only going to count three of the hours towards this service project. I wanted to see what an entire day was like versus just “popcorning” in for the same two hours each week on Fridays. Same routine: spelling test, and library. This is what I normally witness on my visits. After the library I usually leave. Today became much more interesting.
Today took on a new approach. The teacher told me that she did not have any work for me to do with the students specifically and that she wanted me to be able to observe the classroom. I thought that was a great idea. Today she said would be a little less instructional because the children would be having a fire drill, library time, a visit to see a fire truck, computer lab, and music special. So today was filled with a lot of transitions. I really enjoyed watching her morning routine. Normally I am working with one or two children so I miss what the class is doing at the time. In the morning she has them sitting in the front of the classroom in a large group. She goes over what the day it is, what day it was yesterday, a student checks the weather outside, and another student tells what shape comes next in the pattern on the calendar. They go over descriptive words, frequency words, money, phonics, and sing a song. All this is done in a time span of 15-20 minutes daily. It is very interactive. She calls on students for each of the activities. A boy has a turn then has to choose a girl, and vise versa. She explained that if that rule wasn’t in place the other gender wouldn’t get a turn. One of the children kept misbehaving during group time and he had to go back to his seat. I felt bad for him. He was moved after he had already put his name under the “sad face” on the board. She read to them a class book that she had bound for them of a previous activity that they had done. It was a worksheet displaying each child’s pumpkin face they had created. The kids lit up when they saw the book. They love to view themselves as authors and illustrators. The class has made five books so far. I noticed during the course of the day that during independent time she played music on a cd player and the kids would sing along. I observed that she gave out 3 worksheets today. One was on vowel sounds, one on what is safe and not safe to play with (in correlation to fire safety), and one about math. If today was so busy with transitions I wonder how many she normally gives out. One of my favorite times of the day was when we came back from the library and I read to them “Don’t let the pigeon drive the bus”. They absolutely loved that book. Of course they all participated. It is a great read aloud. I had learned about it from Gina’s author presentation. (Thanks Gina). It had went so well that they were all begging me to read aloud their library books that they had just checked out. Secretly I wished that I could have. I love reading books to the kids. My second favorite part of the day was when the teacher and I went to go pick up the students from music class. The music teacher had four students singing karaoke and the other students were dancing. The teacher and I observed for awhile. The kids were just having so much fun, laughing and dancing. How I wish their whole day could be that much fun. During the second song four more students volunteered to sing while others dance. It was in that moment that I remembered what the author Mem Fox said, “Teachers need to let their students see them as human too with real feelings and real emotions”. I disregarded all inhibitions I had of looking stupid and silly and got out their and danced with the kids. I didn’t care what my service learning teacher or the music teacher thought, well maybe I did a little. But the look of surprise and excitement on those kids face was simply priceless. Some may say that it’s dangerous to cross that line, “be like them and you’ll lose your authority”. Maybe I will… or maybe they will respect me more because I take the time to enjoy what they enjoy, share in their laughter. I truly believe that you don’t always have to be in front to lead a child. I think you can also lead sometimes just walking with them side by side.
Friday, October 19, 2007
Jennifer Sonneberger
Today (October 19), I went to Mrs. Mullins third grade class once again. I was surprised to find Mrs. Mullins absent, and a substitute there in her place. What a difference. From the moment I walked it, it was total confusion. This women had no control over these kids. They all got up when I walked it, and hugged me. They all had ants in their pants. No one could sit still. She never punished one person, so the consistency Mrs. Mullins has in her class went out the window. When it was time to line up, the kids were awful, talking and messing around. When I left, I felt bad for the substitute, because at least I know the kids names.
I then proceeded to Mrs. Christophers Kindergarten class. They all listened quietly while I read to them. She is really great. I hear her using positive reinforcement all the time. If one child cannot sit still, she will point out the child with the correct behavior, instead of singling out the child with bad behavior. It really works. The child not behaving usually comes back into line when she does this. It is amazing how much you can do by saying so little.
I then proceeded to Mrs. Christophers Kindergarten class. They all listened quietly while I read to them. She is really great. I hear her using positive reinforcement all the time. If one child cannot sit still, she will point out the child with the correct behavior, instead of singling out the child with bad behavior. It really works. The child not behaving usually comes back into line when she does this. It is amazing how much you can do by saying so little.
Jennifer Sonneberger
When I went to Mrs. Mullins class on Friday October 12, I was intending to stay until lunch. When I got there, she put me with the same kids she has me work with every week. It seems I have what would be considered the "slower" kids, though one child is not slow. He is very smart, and sweet, but he has a really bad speech impediment, and it is very hard to understand him. I think that is why is is grouped that way. He really struggles with reading, especially when we are looking for constant blend sounds, because he cannot really hear them, because of his speech impediment. He is in speech therapy. It just shows you how teachers make judgements about kids before they really know them. I had to leave early, because my son did not feel well, so my visit was cut short.
Thursday, October 18, 2007
Service Learning Hours 4467 - Rachel Gray
To complete my 15 hours of service learning I am reflecting on the time I spend monitoring study hall. I do occasionally get to help the students with their work. I do this 3 days a week for 4 to 5 periods a day. The school I am at has a mix of students from different socio-economic backgrounds. The majority I would say come from the higher end. There are a few of ELL students in every class. The students range in age from 13-15 years of age.
My first encounter was interesting because they were trying to feel me out as students do. They tried to be very creative and in sense won that round. Over time most have warmed up to me. There is one particular student that acted like she didn't like me. She was a bit defiant when I gave directions. (She was quietly defiant.) Now recently, students have told her they think we are related, so now she has an interest in me. She listens better and each day asks another question about me. My last class with her she acted like she wanted to ask a question but another student pulled her away before she got a chance. It's interesting how she now feels a connection to me after fellow classmates pointed it out. I relate to her more than she realizes.
Even more interesting is the fact that there are other students that look like this particular student but she can't seem to relate to them at all from what I have observed. I'm not sure if it is related to their English speaking abilities. They speak English but have problems from time to time. I also notice most of the female students stray from these particular students, who are also female. They seem very nice, yet they seem to stay in their own group also. I'm sure it's a comfort zone, but I also think it's because the other students don't let them in. The English speaking females are more accepting to the male ELL students then to the female ELL students. I can't figure out why. Maybe it has to do with the age. This will be one that I watch.
One of my favorite classes comes at the end of the day. I have an interesting dynamic going on. There is a group of students that if just one of them is missing, shut down. If all of them are there, they all become challenges. They are the ones that try to charm the teacher with comments at the same time basically not listening. Overall, they are a good group but like to buck the system when possible.
Overall, the students seem to blend well. It is the typical school where there are the real popular students, the studious students, and the ones that everyone likes to pick on.
My first encounter was interesting because they were trying to feel me out as students do. They tried to be very creative and in sense won that round. Over time most have warmed up to me. There is one particular student that acted like she didn't like me. She was a bit defiant when I gave directions. (She was quietly defiant.) Now recently, students have told her they think we are related, so now she has an interest in me. She listens better and each day asks another question about me. My last class with her she acted like she wanted to ask a question but another student pulled her away before she got a chance. It's interesting how she now feels a connection to me after fellow classmates pointed it out. I relate to her more than she realizes.
Even more interesting is the fact that there are other students that look like this particular student but she can't seem to relate to them at all from what I have observed. I'm not sure if it is related to their English speaking abilities. They speak English but have problems from time to time. I also notice most of the female students stray from these particular students, who are also female. They seem very nice, yet they seem to stay in their own group also. I'm sure it's a comfort zone, but I also think it's because the other students don't let them in. The English speaking females are more accepting to the male ELL students then to the female ELL students. I can't figure out why. Maybe it has to do with the age. This will be one that I watch.
One of my favorite classes comes at the end of the day. I have an interesting dynamic going on. There is a group of students that if just one of them is missing, shut down. If all of them are there, they all become challenges. They are the ones that try to charm the teacher with comments at the same time basically not listening. Overall, they are a good group but like to buck the system when possible.
Overall, the students seem to blend well. It is the typical school where there are the real popular students, the studious students, and the ones that everyone likes to pick on.
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