Kristy Westfall

Journal Entry #1
EDF 4467: Learning Theory and Assessment

Date: Friday, August 31, 2007
Time Spent: 8:15 to 11:15; 3 hours

ESOL: 0
Autistic: 2


Today was my first visit to Mrs. F first grade class. I was there right when the students began coming in. Their first task in the morning is to take out their “Morning Journal” and fill in the phrase that is on the board. Today’s phrase was:

Today is ________________________.
I feel happy today.
Sometimes I feel _________________.

The students were also to draw a picture of how they felt. It was interesting to see that most of the children filled in the blank for, “Sometimes I feel” with sad. I’m not sure but could they be making a relation for the opposite of happy? Once they were finished with the journal, the student was to go and find a book to read quietly until it was time for the next activity. During the lunch count, Mrs. F incorporated a mini-lesson in math. She asked how many children wanted PBJ and how many wanted a meat sandwich. Next, she asked how many children brought their lunch. Then, she relayed what they had found out. “We have 16 children in class today. Four want PBJ and eight want a meat sandwich. How many is that total? How many children should have brought their lunch?” The class answered with 4. I thought this showed how you can make a lesson out of any activity.

I was able to help a student one on one with a vocabulary fill in the blank worksheet; I will call him “J”. He seemed like he knew the answer but he was unsure of himself. He would sometimes switch the words around when he was reading. I was told by the teacher that he is one of the students in the class that you have to “push”. He gets distracted easily and does not want to stay on task. I’m glad I was able to coach him as he read orally. After the vocabulary worksheet, they had snack and then, came the “field trip”. The school has a butterfly garden on property and we took a science walk to see what we could find. Each student had a small, spiral notebook and was told to draw what they saw. I also have a spiral notebook that Mrs. F gave me so I could draw what I saw. After we came in, each child got an opportunity to go in front of the class to share their pictures of what they saw.