Ashley's Weblog

Kean Carnival

aault09 — Wed, 07 May 2008 00:44:55 +0000

Kean carnival was a great time! Kids were running around and it was nice to see the teachers relax while the parents are running activities. Mrs. Way was having a nice time with her grandchildren and I saw many of my students. I noticed that the children had the most fun in the dance club playing Hannah Montanna and when they were winning prizes. Kean Elementary, from what I have seen, has a wonderful relationship with the parents. I have seen a parent in Mrs. Way’s class atleast once a week. When I have my own classroom, I hope to have the same relationship with them as Mrs. Way does.

Last Week in Mrs. Way’s Classroom

aault09 — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 20:25:20 +0000

The last week in Mrs. Ways classroom was interesting. We had a substitute teacher come in and the students would not listen him. I felt a little guilty because I was not sure whether to jump in and have the students listen to me or let him keep going without them listening. I finally decided to take control of the students and, I am glad to say, they listened right away. I did not want to “over-step my bounds” but something had to be done. After that, the children were great.

I taught my last lesson the past week and it was fun. I taught them about adding and subtracting 10′s and 20′s. The students really seemed to grasp the concept. After the lecture portion, we played a game to gain a better understanding of the concept. I chose the partners because some students would not work as well together but I did have one issue with my lesson. I completely forgot to go over the rules with the class. After a little while, they understood on their own but I feel that if I had gone over the rules with them, they would have understood faster. The only thing I can do is to learn from this mistake and read the rules with them. Otherwise than that, everything was wonderful.

Week 7 in Field

aault09 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 23:48:56 +0000

This week, it was wonderful to have the sun!!!!! I could tell that the students seemed to be in better moods and just more cheerful! I loved it!

I have still been having issues with Bobby. I feel as though he has already given up with school. When I was working with him today, he did a whole page of subtraction by himself with little help from me. After he was done, I said, “Wow, Bobby! Look how smart you are!” He replied with “Im not smart.” I felt awful because he knows he is a little behind in concepts. So, the only reply I could think of is” Oh Bobby! I know you are smart and you know it too! Dont forget, I am a teacher so I have seen a lot of students and I KNOW you are smart.” Whether that was good to say or not, I dont know. I was taken aback and that was all I could think to say. I know he can do math if he is more motivated and I find it frustrating that I am working with him for only 10- 20 minutes a day. I know that he is a bright kid, he just needs to learn that too.

Field Week 6

aault09 — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 23:35:53 +0000

This past week I taught a lesson in science. Mrs Way has a huge book about the Earth and it talks about children working together to save the Earth. Then, the students and I brainstormed how we could reduce, reuse and recycle (3 R’s.) I found this good song for kids about the 3R’s (please ignore the random photos of the artist.)

Almost everyday, I work with a reading group of about 6 students. We have been reading science books and then the students and I discuss the readings. I like working with them except a few of them get really excited and loud. Otherwise, they are all really nice kids. Mrs. Way told me that most of the teachers do not teach science as a subject but incorporate it in their reading. I disagree with doing that. I feel that the students need to experience science through experiments and being more “hands-on.” Reading is great and needed to get by in the world but I feel science is equally important.

Week 5

aault09 — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:32:40 +0000

Nothing too much going on except for my one student, “Bobby.” I have been having some issues with “Bobby,” because he does not like school and thus does not try. Mrs. Way thinks that he should be held back and be put into LD classes. I do not mind working with him but he already has the mentality that school is not fun and so he is not even trying. I work with him in math and he is picking up on that pretty quickly. I do not know if it is from the individual attention and thus able to succeed faster or if it is because he knows what to do and now is trying more.

Week Four in Mrs. Way’s Classroom

aault09 — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 19:30:45 +0000

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

aault09 — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 14:31:01 +0000

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

aault09 — Thu, 14 Feb 2008 23:03:30 +0000

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

aault09 — Thu, 07 Feb 2008 16:21:17 +0000

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.