Vicki’s Edu260 Weblog

This was the final week of field and it was an interesting week. The first 2 days we helped the students find places on the computer for their “virtual vacations” that would be interesting and fun to visit. This took a lot of time because a lot of students have yet to develop the skill of using the internet and the concepts behind it. So for 2 days, we did this, helping them to also take notes and print things out that they can use for their report that they are doing. Then on Wednesday, Hilary and I got there and when we walked in no one was in there, so we waited around for a bit, but they never came back so we went to the office and they said they were at the high school for an assembly, so Hilary and I left because there was nothing for us to do for a hour before they came back. On Thursday, Ms. Dillon wasn’t there so there was a sub and the kids were soooo bad. Hilary and I led most of the things that were going on because the Sub really had no idea what was happening. Hilary dealt with 2 different disciplinary issues with great ease while I talked to the kids about what they enjoyed while we were here. The Kids all said they loved the lessons that we taught and really were going to miss us. We took the class cookies and a flower with a card, which we left for Ms Dillon.

Overall, this field experience was interesting. I’m not sure how else to sum it up. It was definitely unique and special in it’s own way and showed me the positives and negatives of the 3rd grade.

This week Hilary taught her geography unit and worked with the students on understanding and using maps and all the components of a map and then had the students make their own maps, using everything that they had learned in the first 2 lessons. Letting the students do their own maps was a great activity and we got to really see their creativity at work and their actual interests through their maps and names of places on their maps.

I really enjoyed seeing Hilary teach because it gave me a chance to really observe how the students worked with one another and with Hilary as a whole. It was very interesting to just be observing for the week instead of actually interacting like a normal week.

This week I taught my Wooster History Unit for the 4 days of field. Overall it went very well, with only a few minor snags here and there.

On Monday I introduced the students back to social studies by having them look up vocab words from the dicitonary. After looking them up, we discussed them and why they are important in history. We also went over dictionary techniques like if there is more than one definition, which one pertains to history more. After vocab, we read a story from their social studies book, Aurora Means Down which talked about a family that moved to Aurora, Ohio for cheap land. We then discussed why people moved and how this is important to our history.

On Tuesday, I did a lesson on time lines. To start, we looked at the page in their book about how to read time lines and answered the questions about them. After doing this, I gave them a worksheet on answering questions about a different time line about Arizona’s history. Then I gave them a time line with events in Wooster and Wayne county and they had to put them in order. This is where it started to get a bit hairy, the time line was just 1800———————————–1900 with no in between markings, and the students became very confused by this. So I went over with them and then Ms. Dillon explained it even further to divide it up into 1825, 1850, and 1875. I did not even think about doing this because this was a worksheet they had used in the past and I just assumed that it would be ok, but I learned differently for this lesson.

On Wednesday, I presented the main section of my unit, the power point on The History of Ohio, Wayne County, and Wooster. I did not want the students to get bored with packets, so I decdieded this might be a more interesting way, since they don’t see a lot of this kind of technology. The one thing I did that Elaine pointed out was don’t ask “is everyone done”, but make it more fun and not as pointed by saying “When everyone is done, put your finger on your nose” or something along those lines for after the students were done filling in the blanks. The students really seemed to learn information about the history and really liked the power point, at least from their reaction to it being over was disappointment.

Thursday was review and test day. What I did for review though was had the students look at their packets for a few minutes, then gave each of them a card with answer and had them ask each other questions about what we had learned in the last few days. This way they got to do the interacting, but weren’t put on the spot having to answer a question in front of the whole class. Then after that they took their tests on this unit, which 5 students did not finish their tests in the time allowed, so I’m anxious to see how they did, but I haven’t yet graded them and will sometime before Monday.

Overall, it was a great week and I really learned a lot from my unit topic and from the ways of teaching 3rd graders.

On Monday, almost as soon as we got there, we went to an assembly on Women in History. It was with all of the early elementary kids, so that was great to experience the assembly mode at Cornerstone. The presenter gave the students a look into important women in history including Amelia Earhart, Clare Burton and  as she went through these women figures, she asked the kids questions, brought a few up on stage to do demonstrations, and tried to the best of her ability to keep the kids attentions, though that was very hard, especially for the 1st graders. After the assembly, the students broke up into their reading groups, which two of the groups got to switch, which was very exciting for the students. I sat in with the smaller group, which is technically the lower reading level group, but they aren’t told this. This group is only 4 students, 3 girls and one boy, and the girls are very mean to each other…even their reading teacher told them to not talk to each other because they have nothing nice to say and it just causes distractions. Seeing this group, I can see how 3rd grade is a lot more challenging because the students are older and know how to really make each other mad enough that the tempers flare.

Tuesday was a snow day, so on Wednesday the students did an activity similar to the activity we did in class a while back.  They had to draw a creature, anything they could imagine, with color and then describe it as precise as possible because they were going to read their description to another student and have them try to duplicate their creature  just by what each student wrote. Some students did incredibly well, while others didn’t do as well, leaving out KEY details of their creature. After this activity the students wen to their reading groups again to discuss what they were reading. Again in the lower level group, I saw the students learning key concepts of words  (like cAT, fARm, mAKe, plAY) and they have to match similar sounding words then read through the lists. Then the students try to write 4 of the words and they go over if they missed them or not. Then they got a new book called Grandpa and Gus and they began reading the first chapter and discussing it.

On Thursday, we went back to the science experiment they have been working on for about 2 weeks, but due to the snow days they have yet to complete it. Today was their “build it and see if it works” day so it was really great to see all the different designs that the students came up with. Hilary and I were in charge of the Hallway testing, while Ms. Dillon and a student from Akron University were in the classroom. We found out that Matt (I didn’t catch his last name) will be there Tuesday and Thursdays for awhile, so that will be another interesting variable in our classroom, having a male teacher in there. After the science was wrapped up, the students did a quick write about some sort of travel machine and drew their machine. They had 14 minutes to do both picture and discriptions and then got to read them to their classmates.

It’s really neat to be able to see all the different creatures and travel machines that the students thought of this week. They all had soo many different ideas and everyone had something unique about their creature and machines and that so many were excited to share them with each other and the teachers.

This week was the first week we actually got to see Science within the classroom. Ms. Dillon told us why this is and it is because she “goes in clumps” between social studies and science because there is only a hour a day set aside and she thinks that going in clumps is easier and more beneficial for the students than switching back and forth.

On Tuesday is when we went over the science lesson. Back in December (January was Social Studies Month), they studied Force and Motion. First they reviewed the key words and talked about what each one meant and then Ms. Dillon described their new project they were going to tackle. Previous projects included the force of 2 cars hitting each other, building ramps to see whose marble could go the slowest, using magnets to see the pull and push of the force between magnets, and a ping-pong force game, using straws to push it between 2 straws. So their new project was to design something that uses their own force (pushing, throwing, ect.) that will travel the furthest in the hallway. The kids were really excited about designing and got right to work, coming up with a few different designs in case their first one didn’t work out.

On Wednesday the students worked on publishing their stories on the mobile computer lab. Working with the computers, Hilary and I helped with technical difficulties, spelling, and anything else that needed to be done during that time. After the students put their computers away, they headed for their reading groups. I was again in the Amish Book group, but they had finished the book, so now they are discussing things that they saw in the book. On Wednesday, Ms. Dillon brought in her own quilts that others had made her to share with our reading group, because the day before Mrs. McCoy had brought hers in to show the students. The students loved learning about the stories behind the quilts that were shared with them. After putting the quilts away, Mrs. McCoy started to show them how to thread a needle and sew patches of material together. This was a little chaotic, but it was a great experience because most of the kids had never done this before and might never get the chance either.

On Thursday was the Writers Notebook where the students listen to a story and then write something that was inspired by the book. Today’s book was The Rag Coat by Lauren Mills. After reading the book, the students got 20 minutes to write their story, poem, or whatever they felt compelled to write. Then,we all gathered back into the circle and shared whatever we wanted to of our writings. It was really interesting to hear all the different things that the students came up with. After that, we went back to our reading groups where the kids were learning how to sew buttons today. Mrs. McCoy said this was important because it’s a life skill that EVERYONE should have, so it was great that she was tkaing the time to show the students how to do it correctly.

This week, the thing that really interested me was the sewing lesson. This is a lesson that I think most children should have, but I now can see how and why it’s hard to do, even with just 7 kids at a time. It is an important life skill, just to be able to stitch and sew buttons and I really think that these students really will benifit from learning this through their classroom. Also, during the Writers Notebook today, a few students connected what they had learned from the Amish book to what we were reading and showed that they really understand and listened to what they were learning, which is a great thing to see!

Also, connecting to last weeks presentations on how to encourage kids and say “good job” in a different way or how to say “no that’s wrong” in a nice way, I heard Ms. Dillon say this week to a student who’s answer was not right “I don’t know if I agree with you…” and then she went on to explain why and what the real answer was. I really liked this approach because you aren’t saying “no you are wrong” but more of along the lines of discussing why this is not quite  right.

    This week was a little crazy due to the weather here in Wooster. On Monday we had a “cold” snow day because the temperature was way too cold and on Tuesday, there was a snow day due to ice and the impending storm that was going to hit that afternoon.

On Wednesday, Hilary and I talked to Ms. Dillion about when we should teach our lessons. We looked over the calendar and decided which weeks would work best for us and Ms. Dillion approved those and is really looking forward to our lessons. My lessons will be a part of a unit on the history of Wooster and within that lesson they will learn a little bit about Ohio’s history, time lines, and traditions that have come from this area.  The rest of Wednesday, we circulated the classroom, just helping students here and there and then we split into reading groups. We switched reading groups this week and I went with the group that is reading about the Amish. The students were kind of rambunctious and were having a rough time sitting still, but the teacher, Mrs. McCoy kept their attention through the readings and props she had brought in.

On Thursday, we came into the classroom and saw the students finishing up a group reading on the floor. The book was about how everyone is different, yet we all are the same through our hearts. One student asked about those who don’t care about other people and Ms. Dillion asked the class why this may be and turned this into a great learning opportunity on why some people are not nice and how it’s important to be nice. Then they did an activity where they wrote something nice about everyone in the classroom on a heart with their name on it, passing it around the classroom. I did something similar to this project in 6th grade and I remember how great it felt to hear and see all of these kind words my peers said to me, so this was a great V-day activity. After this, they got started on decorating their V-day boxes and getting ready for the party.

Since this week was not a typical week, I didn’t get to do much besides helping students spell words and things like this. Hopefully next week is a little more exciting in the classroom when it comes to working more with the students!

This week, I started my first week in a 3rd grade classroom at Cornerstone Elementary school in Ms. Dillon’s class. As Hilary and I walked into the classroom, the first thing that hit me was the fact that in all of my other field placements there had been lots of organization and cleanliness within the classsroom walls, but I didn’t see this as much in Ms. Dillon’s class. As we settled in, I started to get a feel for how the room worked. It was set up into 6 rows, 2 being on the side, 2 along the back, and 2 more in the middle. They were separated and this allowed easy flow of students and teachers, which I really enjoyed. Ms. Dillon’s desk was in the back corner of the classroom and it was easily accessible by the students and was placed where she could easily see the whole room, including the door, so she could keep an eye on things. After the initial shock of the “mess” on students desk, we did see them clean it up, though the insides of their desks did not look much better. There are extra tables, some round some rectangle, with extra chairs for students to sit at during their work or small group activities. There was a reading area with books in different storage units. Located on the far wall are some extra storage cabinets, a sink, and their class pet, Floyd the snake.

Ms. Dillon gives off a great vibe to her students. She is very into what they are doing and how they are doing it. Her smile and her attitude are contagious for students and adults too. She is in some ways “at the same level” as her students, yet they do respect her and listen to her, when she says something to them. Some teachers you see in the field today are not for the students and are just there as a job and this is not the case for Ms. Dillon at all, she is all about her students and she has already told us what a great bunch they really are.

Around the classroom on the walls are a variety of things. There are a poster with some rules on, a poster with how to write a journal entry and what it takes to be a great journal entry, a poster on test taking strategies, along with a few other smaller posters of being positive and other generalized classroom expectations. On one board, there is a “Multiplication Community” which has buildings of all the multiplication facts on them for whatever number they represent and as the students learn their facts, they get to sign off onto the background paper saying that they learned these facts. I really liked this idea because this way the students can see their accomplishments and remind them to keep trying and pushing to finish the community. Along the outskirts of the room, there is a number line and everyday, the daily schedule is written up on the board. Also, they have flip cards for disciplin, which are located in the front of the room, to remind them of where they stand for the day.

In our class, we have a diverse group of learners. Some students act out, some are quiet, some are just fine. You can definitely see the differences though in class structure compared to some of my previous field placements.

Overall, this week was more of a “learning” the ropes of Ms. Dillon’s class structure and procedures. We get to see about a hour of social studies, but then they go into reading groups for the rest of the time we are there. Sometimes though they are working on Writers Block, where they write a story and then after approval, they get to type it up and print it out to turn it in, from their technology lab on wheels. Ms. Dillon also wants us to each do a unit and I’m doing the History of Wooster because for standards for 3rd grade, it’s all about local history. I’m working on the preliminary plans right now and am looking forward to getting to know the students more and working with them more on their daily activities. It was a great learning week and I’m excited to go back and get started with the students working on all types of activities.