Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Week #2 (March 27): Getting Comfortable
Once you have completed your 3rd visit to your practicum class this week, write another reflection by Friday. What have you learned about teaching children to read or write? About motivating children's learning? Has anything surprised (pleasantly or otherwise)? What are your biggest questions at present?
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
This experience has taught me that reading is a HUGE part of Kindergarten. I have learned that teaching children to read requires a lot of repetition and reading the same stories over and over. I have learned so many new activities to help children learn to read and write. My teacher strongly believes in hands-on activities. This is a great way to motivate students to want to learn. I was very surprised at how much time is spent on reading in Kindergarten. This is not a bad thing though because reading is what I most look forward to teaching! A question I have is how do you decide how much time to spend teaching each subject?
ReplyDeleteI have learned that it is pertinent that children get a firm foundation in very early grades in reading and writing in order to succeed in higher grades. In the 5th grade, there are many reading levels and it amazes me how low some of them are. Some students are reading at a 2nd grade level. This is such a difficult problem for the teacher to deal with because how do you go back three years and cover what the students should have already learned?? My biggest surprise though is how advanced one student with autism is. When I learned he was disabled, I did not expect him to be so smart. But reading and writing is his strong point. He writes and illustrates his own books for fun! He also got a 100 on his spelling pre-test without any prior knowledge of the words. It's so enlightening to see a child who could potentially struggle, succeed in a regular classroom. My biggest question is how do you approach students who have been passed onto higher grades, but are still reading at a very low level? What steps do you take to get them back on track?
ReplyDeleteSince I'm in a 5th grade classroom, I feel like the lessons are not quite as focused on teaching how to read and write, because the students in the class I am in are the honors/AIG group. I have noticed, though, that the reading teacher uses strategies discussed in class such as partner reading and read aloud in the novels they are reading. Also, in the particular classroom I was assigned to, the teacher primarily teaches math. However, the students to have sustained silent reading and read aloud in that room also. These activities are in addition to the reading they do in their reading class, so literacy is stressed heavily. I loved the fact that many of the students seemed so excited to begin reading again, whether it be classroom reading or books they had checked out themselves. It seems like we've studied primarily about motivating young readers. What are some different kinds of motivation to use with older students?
ReplyDeleteKayla Rash
In my 5th grade classroom, children learned to read and write when they were younger. More than half of the class is on reading level, with the exception of a few. One boy in particular is on a first grade reading level so he can't spell at all. When I gave him the QIWK assessment this morning with the 3 lists for 5th grade, the words he wrote didn't match at all to the words from the list. My teacher told me to read him the K-1 list and some of those words you couldn't even read. I honestly don't know how my students are motivated to read - they are required to read. When they get into class after lunch, they know they have to read an AR book for 30 minutes except on Friday when they are able to read anything they want. The students are extremely smart! Just having conversations with them, I am shocked by the things they know. For instance, after reading a story about wildfires, one boy said, "some people set fire to their houses to collect insurance money." I didn't know what insurance was in 5th grade, much less insurance fraud! When our kids have silent reading time after lunch, what should I do? I've been talking to them about their books and such, but should I read? Should I model reading to them?
ReplyDelete-Amanda Jackson
I have learned that children learn to read and write at their own levels. There are some children who catch on more quickly than others. I think that it is imperative for children to engage in silent reading time. I believe that this really helps them to "get the hang" of reading. Silent reading time where children can choose their own books to read is very helpful in motivating student learning. The students in my classroom have silent reading time after lunch and many of them are so excited about what they are reading that they come and tell me about it. Excitement about what they are reading is very helpful to their growing knowledge.
ReplyDeleteI have noticed that there is a boy in my class who is very far behind the other students in his writing ability. He cannot spell words that he should know. He is in the fifth grade and when he writes an unfamiliar word, it is not even phonetically correct. How do you meet his individual needs in the classroom when you are trying to meet the needs of everyone else?
Shelby Johnson
After visiting Glen Alpine for 3 days I have noticed that reading is the main focus in kindergarten. Everything that the teacher needs to incorporate into a lesson can be done with some form of reading. The main part of the day is spent on guided reading, using sounds to make words, and making sentences. I have learned that teaching children to read and write is an ongoing lesson. You have to be patient with children and let them come up with the answers on their own. I really like how my teacher uses repetition when she teaches something new or old. She uses songs and movements so that the children can remember the stories and letters better. I learned that without motivation children have no need to complete a task. They need to feel appreciated and like they accomplished something. Even if they do not complete a task telling them that they did something good motivates them to eventually complete what they were working on. I was pleasantly surprised with how well behaved the kindergarten class was. They followed a routine daily and there are hardly any disruptions within the class. My biggest question so far is what are some strategies to incorporate science and social studies into the younger grades?
ReplyDeleteKatie West
I am in a Kindergarten Class and teaching children to read and write makes up most of our day. So far I have not seen a lesson that didn't involve reading or writing. I was excited to see many of our activities incorporated into the school day, our students spell out words together and they played "wordo" today. To teach children to read and write you have to motivate them and make it fun!In my kindergarten class the students get to read a different book every day and they learn about a variety of subjects. They have read about monsters, animals that come from eggs, and careers. Afterwards they write sentences and draw pictures about what they learned in the book. I was surprised that there was no science or social studies included in the day and also that the children spend most of their time sitting still. I thought that I remembered moving more when I was in kindergarten. My biggest questions are the same as some other people. I would like to know how much time should be spent on reading and writing? Is around half of the day appropriate or should it be more or less?
ReplyDeleteMy experience at Glen Alpine has been so beneficial for my quest to one day become a teacher. I am in a 3rd grade classroom and I honestly haven’t learned anything about teaching children to write, but I have learned a lot about reading. One aspect I enjoyed is how the teacher ties in social studies to practicing reading for the EOG’s. She has the children read a passage, answer questions and then they talk about it. The teacher goes over the answers and helps them with vocabulary they might be unfamiliar with. I have learned that hands on activities and “centers” are great ways to keep students motivated. The teacher I am interning with has math and reading centers. Every day students are at a different center and they do the work at that center, weather it be a word game or answering questions. This is a great way to get children up and moving while they are learning at the same time. The only circumstance that surprises me is how great me teacher is with only having minimal experience. She is such a phenomenal teacher for only teaching for 6 years, and only one of those years is in the 3rd grade. A question I have is what are some good books for classroom management? After observing I would like to know more about the most effective ways to handle classroom situations to maximize each child’s learning experience.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I am very lucky to be in the classroom that I am in with the teacher I was placed with. She is an incredible teacher and she has allowed Molly and I to teach a lot and interact with the students in almost everything they do. My passion for teaching has only grown and I can not wait to have my own class. Most everything the students do involve writing and reading. We do not spell any words for them, so they have to sound them out and spell them themselves. If we can understand what they are writing then we give them credit, we never mark them wrong. For letters the students had worksheet, for example with the letter (v) and had different pictures on the worksheet. If the picture started with a v (vacuum, violin, van) then the student would write a capital V and a lower case v at the bottom of the picture. If the picture did not start with a v (elf, tree, house) then they would put an x through it. I have found that a simple "you did so good", "I am so proud of you for working so hard and getting that right" really works for motivation and making assignments fun. My biggest question is about a student in my class. He is slower than the other students and just doesn't get sounds and letters. He has a really hard time sounding out words and writing them and you usually have to help him sound it out, write it in dots and then let him trace over the letters. This morning my teacher and the teacher who has his twin brother had a meeting about holding the two boys back. The sad thing is that their home life is not good at all, the parents are in and out of jail for drugs and it is just a tough situation. How do you help children like this, especially with reading and writing, the boys are pulled out of class for extra help but is that enough??
ReplyDeleteThis comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI have learned a lot about reading and writing during practicum. It is funny because I am picking up on everything that we have discussed in the classroom. I have learned in Kindergarten that repetition is the key. Every morning they go over what day it is, the day yesterday, and the day tomorrow. They always write a morning message and always go over the months of the year. One thing that our teach does is baggy books. Baggy books are bags with each student's name on them. In the bag is the book and level that they are reading on and a list of new site words for that particular student. If they pass the book, that means they have read the book to us without any mess ups, and then they can get a piece of candy. If they do not pass, then they have to keep the same book till the next day. The nice thing is a lot of kids get to read to one of us individually, which is really beneficial. However, they are being rewarded for reading, which I do not know if that is hindering or helping their teaching. They get read aloud to once a day and also do a big book once a day. She does a lot with reading and writing. They also have a writing center where they have to write a couple of sentences, and we have to come around and just write the correct word underneath the word they meant to say. They also have to get a check, smily face, or a one hundred after every activity before they put it in their cubby. They have a list of ten new site words I think every two weeks. They also have a word wall, which is really helping the students read. Some students are on a second grade reading level, and others are barely reading because of disabilities that they have. My question is that do you think it is beneficial that they are giving them a piece of candy for passing the book and their words? I know that is a reward, but its not a reward for reading just for passing the book off.
ReplyDeleteMolly Suddes
I have been in a 4th grade classroom for two days and a 3rd grade classroom for the third visit. The 4th grade classes are clearly on two different reading levels. My teacher does completely separate lessons with each group. One group is considered AG. The AG class has more abstract assignments where they have to use critical thinking skills, while the other class is working on placing things in sequential order and does more worksheets. Both groups participate in sustained silent reading and have the opportunity to choose what they read. In my 3rd grade class, the students did a lot of seat work and had worksheets to work on in different reading centers. The classroom environment was very quiet and the children were constantly reading whether it was AR books or assignments. A few of the students get pulled out of class for reading and I was wondering how a teacher makes them feel included and know what assignments to do when they are pulled out for the entire time? Also, is there any way to help this students with their reading on top of being pulled out of class?
ReplyDeleteI have learned a lot over the past 3 trips to Glenn Alpine. From day 1 I was helping the children read and write. I was instructed to not tell the students how to spell a word, rather to let them sound it out anf figure it out on their own. I found this to be extremely benificial. 8 of out 10 times the child would spell the word correctly. Same goes for reading, they need to sound out the word and try to figure it out of their own. These children seem very motivated to learn and i always try to let them know what a great job they are doing. When ever they get the word right or finish their assigned work, I always high five them and tell them something nice about their work. These children are so full of engery and life and you can tell on their faces that they want to do good. I was pleasently surpirse that my teacher has really let me and Beth take over the classroom and really get some one on one experience. This past Wednesday we were pretty much in charge of the class all day while the teacher did report cards. It was amazing and so far this experience has only made me more excited for becoming a teacher and just validated my reasons for wanting to become a teacher. I absolutely love it!
ReplyDeleteHowever my biggest question is what do you do for those children who seem to understand something but dont show it. For example, I was helping a student count and graph and we counted jelly beans together and got the answer 7 but he wrote down 6. How do i fix this? He knew what number he wrote down but when we counted them he knew the right answer. It baffled me and i was not sure how to fix it.
-Molly Maness
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI have learned a lot so far in this practicum experience. It is surprising to me how little time is spent on science and social studies, but my teacher has integrated a few things into her lesson plans. On Wednesday, she had them read some social studies material and passages in the format of the EOG's so they were learning social studies topics and to practice answering questions in the format of the EOG's. I have also noticed that centers is a great part of this 3rd grade classroom. She had centers for reading as well as math and it got them up and moving around and working with partners to complete and activity, game, or simply asking questions. I have also noticed that these students basically do reading for several hours a day, which shows it is very important. I currently have not seen any examples in our classroom to show how they teach writing concepts. For the most part it has surprised me how well the students are on task and pay attention to all of the constant reading and math instruction, but one of my questions would be that for those few students that just do not pay attention and get bored with reading and certain passages, what should we do?
ReplyDeleteLaura Davis
After visiting with my 2nd grade class for one week, I have notied that reading is a huge part of their curriculum and spent much of their day on a variety of reading activities. During the day they have centers., In these centers they read a book together on Monday then split into different cnters that include: listening, writing, ABC, computer, etc. Each center has a different activity for the students to do about the reading they have read, whether it is comprehension questions or learning in more detail about the books culture or rereading the book again. I notice that students learn at their own pace and you work with them to try and reach their reading and writing goals. After reading with advanced, moderate and below readers i feel like they all work really hard. none of them have really gotten to frustrated with themselves and they enjoy telling me about the books they have read. They also have AR reading for atleast 30 min a day. Here they can read by themseves or a partner and then afterwards go take a quiz online asking about the book to get their points they need for the 9 weeks. Depending on te reading level you are on, each student must get a certain amount of points each 9 weeks to go to the reward party at the end. I notice the students get really excited about reaching their goals and only few, if any do not make it. Motivation is essential in reading and I feel like Mrs. Wilson has done a good job with that, and I feel like i am learning alot form her nad especially the students. Do most students know when they are put into reading groups and are the lower level readers? Does it bother them at all, I did not notice it was a problem in my classroom.
ReplyDeleteMeggie Colhoun
After working with the students this week, I am now really excited about reading and writing in the classroom. The first week I was a little overwhelmed and wasn't sure how well I would be able to teach, but after the second week I can already see myself as a teacher in the future. Reading and writing are both a huge part of kindergarten as they are trying to learn the basics of both. I have noticed that there is a wide range of levels in the classroom and was pleasantly surprised at how the teachers were making time to read individually with each student every day so that they could all be challenged at their own levels. Overall, the students do most all of what we talked about in class; morning message, word wall, name wall, guided reading and different types of reading aloud. The students get a lot of practice with both reading and writing throughout the day, in group time and during centers. One thing that I have noticed in my classroom is that the kindergarten students in my class need very little motivation. Because the lessons are so much fun, they automatically are excited about learning. They raise their hands to answer questions and get their work down easily. There are a few students whose attention wanders at time, but even those students want to learn, they just need someone to revert their attention to the activities. My biggest question as of right now is how do these routines get established in the beginning of the year, especially in the kindergarten classroom? I also am wondering how you know how much time to spend in teaching each subject?
ReplyDeleteLeslie Sheppard
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteI am in a fifth grade class. The teacher that we were assigned to teaches math and science. The children are reading a novel right now. Some strategies that the teacher uses in reading this novel as a class is; teacher read-a-loud, partner reading, and silent reading. They have silent reading time each day where they can chose any book they want to read. If they haven't finished reading the chapters they need then they are required to read that at silent reading time. It seems that there is a lot of focus on reading and math in these classrooms. There is such a range of reading levels in one classroom. How do we as teachers know which books to use in our classroom if the children's reading levels are so far apart? How do we manage? What should we do to try and help the children get to reading levels or just some improvement?
ReplyDeletejoni little
In week two, I haven't been able to interact with the reading lessons. I am in a split class and they go to a different room for reading and I have not yet been with them. I have noticed that computers seem to make the students happy and any chance they get to use one it makes their experience better. One thing that bothered me about the students that didn't get to go on the Wilmington trip was that they were being punished for not being able to go. I would like to know how to keep the students that don't go on the field trips interested in school without it seeming like the work is punishment?
ReplyDeleteI'm sorry I didn't write this by Friday but I just saw that this blog was posted...
ReplyDeleteLast week I was able to interact with a group of students and I was able to read with a few children. I felt so much more comfortable in the classroom this week. In my class they're so many different reading levels and learning levels. I read with a child who was reading Jurassic Park and then a child who had problems reading a short picture book. I have learned though that sitting down with a child and having them read to you really helps them read better and they really enjoyed reading to me no matter what their level of reading was. It is hard though to teach a lesson when they’re so many different learning levels. How can I teach where all students will learn and benefit from the lesson?
Sarah Purrell
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteSo this is really sad, but from being in the classroom, I haven't really learned anything about teaching kids to read and write. I feel like the kids never do reading, or at least while we are in there. Seems like all they do is Math. I have only seen them do reading once and they split up in partners and read a section together. I have really enjoyed being in the class, but it just surprised me that they don't do that much reading especially since they have EOGs coming up. I have already taught a Math lesson and the classroom teacher reminded me that to really motivate the kids learning was to make things interesting for them. He told me I should try writing bigger on the board and talking louder. The only question I would have right now is why they don't do reading????
ReplyDeleteKayla Sizemore
So far in my experience in the classroom, I realize how difficult it is for young children to read and write. I am in a kindergarten class and when I did the "making words lesson" it was pretty difficult for the children to spell. I had to guide them through it more than I had planned to. Also I have noticed that children that age get extremely distracted and can only hold attention to a certain activity for just a little bit. Also the activities they do, need to be fun and have a lot of variety. Sitting at their desks and tracing and copying letters day after day get boring. I really do believe I am learning a lot from visiting the schools and doing the lessons. The only question I have is why don't they implement more fun activities for the children?
ReplyDelete-Hannah Hobson
This experience has been great so far because it is showing me activities to do and not to do in the classroom. I thought it was interesting that the kids use their arms when spelling out their spelling words one day. For example if the word is "spell"..they say anchor the word then if the letter is above the middle line they put their arms up when they say the letter...and if its below the middle line they put them down. The only bad thing is that they use AR and the kids are so conscerned about meeting their goal. After I did the guided reading lesson the kids said "I can use this book for my AR test!!!" I was just wondering what do you do when the whole school is using the AR program but you do not want to do it?
ReplyDeleteWell, so far this has been a great experience. I really enjoy being in the fourth grade class, but sometimes I feel I do not do much. I spend most of my time in the math classroom, so I see math all day. I have not gotten a chance to see reading or other subjects being taught due to the fact that we have split classrooms. Both classrooms tend to focus mostly on these two subjects. I just wish I could see more going on. I have the same question as Heather H... What are appropriate activities for children that do not get to go on school trips? I felt so bad for them that day because they did math and reading all day. I know its important because of the EOG, but I think they must have felt like they were being punished.
ReplyDeleteSiomara Castillo
I have enjoyed Glen Alpine so far and I feel that it is preparing me to become a better teacher. I have seen that with children you should not let them get discouraged when they make a mistake in reading and always allow them the oppurtunity to try. I see motivation daily with my teacher. She is very nice to the students and understanding. She lets them be a part of the classroom instead of just "do as I say." I have been surprised that the students switch classrooms for math and english and again for social studies. I also find it weird that they do either social studies or science for 4 and a half weeks and then switch. I feel that this confuses students and gives them a disadvantage for learning their optimum. I have the same question as Siomara and Heather, What are appropriate activities for students to do when they are not able to go on a class trip? Also, What do you do when a student continues to ask questions about things that are off topic?
ReplyDelete-Kala White
I have learned a great deal at Glen Alpine so far. Reading seems to be a big part of the curriculum at Glen Alpine. There is a school wide Accelerated Reader program that is promoted a great deal. In the third grade classroom, I like something my teacher chooses to do. She calls it Self Selected Reading and it is similar to Silent Reading. Each child has a box. They are able to choose once a week which books to go in their box from the classroom library. The library is set up very nicely with labels on all of the boxes so the children can quickly see what they want. During this time some children read small picture books while other children read even up to novels like Jurassic Park (this one was brought from home and really surprised me.) The teacher allowed us to let some kids read to us during their selected reading time. I have had the opportunity to read with children who are being considered for AIG and with children who have been diagnosed with learning disabilities. Most all of the students are very eager to read with us no matter what their reading level. They all seem to try really hard. I guess a big question I have so far is how do you encourage those children that try really hard but are at lower level and keep them from getting discouraged about it? How do you help them to grow? Also, how do you keep the higher level children from getting bored during instruction?
ReplyDeleteBrittany Norman
As the second week has come to a close; I realize that Glen Alpine and my teacher, Mrs. Koon has a lot to offer me in the way of experiences and knowledge. During our class time, the kids do not get to go to the library so all of the reading that I see going on occurs inside the classroom during different activities and times throughout the day. I have been able to see many great readers in this second grade class, and have been able to help a couple other children who seem to have trouble with the phonemic awareness portion of reading as well as the rules for sounding out words. However, I was presently surprised that the majority of the classroom reads at a 2.8-2.9 AR Level or higher, that is where they should be at this time in the year. I was also glad to see Mrs. Koon using reading groups, but disappointed to see that the groups did not change from week to week and that they we based to the children's reading levels. So, my question is how can we use non-leveled reading groups and keep the higher leveled children on task and not board during this time in our reading instruction?
ReplyDeleteI have to say that I have learned a great deal at Glen Alpine so far. Mrs. Koon has been very welcoming and helpful. A lot of the student's day is focused around reading. They are reading when they finish tasks one student has almost read every book in the classroom. I have to say that I have learned that when teaching students to read or write that its is best to let them use their imagination and try their best to do things on their own. The students in Anna's class like to read and write. They love to tell stories. As of right not my question would be how can we keep the interest of students when reading with out using leveled reading groups??
ReplyDeleteDanielle Epley
I have learned a lot in the past few times I have been to Glen Alpine. I was in my 4th grade class the first two visits and in the classroom with the 8 4th who did not attend the field trip on my third visit. The most reading and writing that I have seen in the classroom was on the day the rest of the fourth graders were on their field trip. The teacher they were left with had them do reading EOG practice, do research on the internet, and read about pirates to answer questions. My cooperate teacher that I am with most of the time has only had about 10 minutes of reading total that I have seen. I know that I am only there every now and then but I have definitely been disappointed in not seeing more reading and writing activities. I hate that the students do not get more opportunities to read and write in the classroom. My question would be, how can you motivate the older students to want to read when there is not much time in the classroom for it?
ReplyDeleteMegan Cockrum
I feel extremely comfortable in the classroom. I know that my substituting experience has played a big part in that. The kids seemed to love us quickly. They were gone on a field trip for our 3rd day or practicum so on that day we stayed with the 8 that didn't go. They had to do EOG practices. I didn't learn much on that day because there were 5 interns for those 8 kids and all they did were worksheets and centers all day. My question would be, how do we motivate the kids more than we already have? The kids seem to be motivated because the teacher is really funny and plays with them a lot. But some of the kids seem to get bored quickly because they are either on a higher level or they are on a lower level and don't get what they are doing.
ReplyDeleteI have learned so much by being in the classroom. The most important thing that I have learned is class management. My teacher is wonderful when it comes to controling her classroom. She is fun and yet knows how and when to calm her class down. I have also learned how important it is to keep your students involved and engaged. When students are having fun they seem to forget that they are learning. In addition I have also learned the importance of being prepared. When planning lessons I have learned that it is always better to plan too much then too little. When it comes to reading I found that always read a book that students are interested in, that way they will enhjoy reading and will learn to love it more. As for writing not all children are good at writing, but I have learned to show encourgement to them and boost their self esteem. I have learned so much so far and I know that my knowledge will only expand.
ReplyDeleteJoy Cooper