Kristy Westfall

Journal Entry #3
EDF 4467: Learning Theory and Assessment

Date: Friday, September 14, 2007
Time Spent: 8:15 to 11:15; 3 hours; total hours to date: 9 hours
Grade: First
ESOL: 0
Autistic: 2

Today was my third visit to Mrs. F first grade class. Instead of having the students fill in the blanks of a phrase for their morning journal, Mrs. F wanted them to use their “thinking” skills. On the board she wrote, “Write a story about two bad ants.” The story they had read for this week was about ants so the students knew what ants could do. I thought this was a good way to get their critical thinking skills going.

Mrs. F was kind enough to let me look at her lesson plans. She reminded me that hers are not in much detail, but advised me to have my lesson plans in great detail for the first couple of years at least. I saw that with Science, Math, and Social Studies she listed the standards that were being met. I also saw that the assistant principal had come by a few times already and initialed the lesson plans. I worked at the school last year and I do remember having her come by and check to make sure lesson plans were completed. The teachers also have to incorporate extra time (besides P.E.) for physical activity. The teacher needs to have listed, in their lesson plan, when this activity is taking place and what they are doing with the class.

I was able to grade the reading comprehension tests the students took today. I also reviewed sight words with the students who missed quite a few on their test the day before. An exciting activity that I got to do today was have a child come back to the table with me and I had them read a story to me and I then asked them questions to see if they were comprehending what they were reading. The students varied in their reading ability. One student was able to read each word and others could read most and some had a very difficult time reading. I had to help them sound the word out on a regular basis. This activity was helping them with the short vowel sounds.

The student I had been observing and helping occasionally was doing quite well today. “J” did not have to be reminded to do his work as often as last week. “A”, who is autistic, was happy to see me and would come and sit next to me while I was helping other students.