Vicki’s Edu260 Weblog

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.