Week Four in Mrs. Way’s Classroom

This week, once again, was cut short due to another snow day.  It is interesting to see the children after a snow day because they have so much more energy and because of that, many times they have less than perfect behavior.

Everyday, I am working with a student, “Johnny.”  The reason why I am working with him is because he is so far  behind in math, that Mrs. Way actually pulled him from the “Everyday Math” curriculum and wants him to work in last year’s workbook.  He is a nice kid but has issues focusing.  When he is moving through patterns (AbAb or AbbAbbA) he is excited but when it comes to writing the answer (usually the kids would color in the answer but since we have no crayons, we just write the first letter of the color)… he does not care.  I believe this is because he does not know his alphabet.  So, prior to each math lesson, “Johnny” and I sing the alphabet song and try to remember the letters.  I feel that he is improving but I do not know how he will be able to reach to the same level of his peers.  I know all I can do is work with him for those 15- 20 minutes a day but he honestly needs more.

3rd week

This week in field I did some more busy work for Mrs. Way. I was also able to work with some children on math and reading. The reading group I had are very intelligent and are doing well in the subject. The math kids are intelligent but need some more work because the group I had were the children that were behind on doing their math pages in their workbook. To be honest, I think the pace of the math class is extremely fast because some of the kids I was able to work with were just understanding the concept. I graded some tests the week prior to this one (wk 2) and the kids that failed that test were the ones that I had in my math group last week.

Many of the children have issues focusing and I am finding that difficult to manage sometimes. I feel I am handling them well but there is always room for me to improve. I try and tell them that once this is done we will be able to go and work with the whole class to show off what we know and a lot of the time it works. The other times is when the kids just wont do their work unless I am watching them.

My Second Week in Field

I really like being in Mrs. Way’s classroom.  She seems really nice and it is interesting to see her classroom management style.   Her style is pretty much opposite of mine but I am not saying that as a bad thing.  I really like it!  She has an “organized chaos” feeling about her room.  Students are walking in out of her room almost freely and there is always talking.  I dont know if I could do a “organized chaos” feeling because I dont handle that well but she makes it work.

My first day in Mrs. Way’s classroom, I was set outside of her room grading tests and giving make- up tests to some of the students.  They were having some issues (some more than others.)  I did not get to work with 95% of the class because they had already taken their tests.

My second day in the class was during the Valentine’s Day Party and they were all busy playing the games parents brought in.  So, I did not really get to chat with any of them or even get to know their names but I will next week!

First Week of Field

I really enjoy working with the first graders at Melrose Elementary. I also love working with Mr. Larousse. He is a wonderful teacher because, though there are SOME behavior issues, he is for the most part very patient with the children.

My first day in the classroom, we were working on math and some of the children were having issues with “turn-around-facts.” For example, a turn around would be 2+4=6, 4+2=6, 6-2=4, 6-4=2. While Danielle and Mr. Larousse were walking around the room working with students, I stayed at one table because 4 of the 5 students were completely lost or refused to do their work. While I was trying to work with one student, I would hear “Miss Ault! I need help!” It was a bit of a challenge trying to explain the concept and for four of the kids, they just did not get it. One child, at first, did not want any help. He sat there, clearly confused, and when I asked how he was doing, he replied, “leave me alone!” Well, I had to tell him that “it was not nice to speak to a teacher or friend who only wanted to help” and so I left him there. After 5 minutes, he warmed up and was more willing to accept my help though only after telling me his name was “Josh” when “Josh” is not his name. Another student told on him, so, I did learn his name, but not without him laughing. So, I laughed with him, told him “that was a good trick on me but other teachers would not like that so we need to say our real name from now on.” After that, he was a really nice kid and ended up, once understanding the concept, really doing well on the worksheet.