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I was placed in a classroom for 2nd through 5th graders, who have autism, in Elim Christian School. A meaningful moment I've had was watching the teacher teach a reading lesson with a rhyming worksheet. She first read a book with rhymes aloud to the kids and then had them complete a worksheet of all the rhyming words. After that she encouraged them to read the book along with her by using their worksheet as a reference. This was pretty cool because it was an application of our discussion about phonemic awareness in class.

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I am in a 3rd grade classroom this semester and I have been learning a lot about what not to do. That said, the kids in the class are really great. They often do group work and just today were creating posters about the traits, feelings and motivations of Snow White from the Russian folktale version. As I walked around the room listening and jumping in to help, they often only needing a small prompt to launch them into a new idea. These students and those in my other placements constantly surprise me with their creativity and independence.

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The most meaningful moment I have had was when I observed in Worth Elementary School for first grade. It was my first time observing in a classroom, I felt so welcomed by the students and the teacher. From the first day I was able to help out and stalk to the students. The teacher even had me read a book to them by the second time I observed, I was really nervous at first because it was my first time ready a book to a large number of students and it gave me that feeling of being a teacher was amazing. This experience had build my social interaction and confidence in introducing myself in new placement field and being able to interact to students.

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My placement is at Fulton Elementary in a fifth grade classroom. I really love the class that I am observing in and I am very excited to be in my own classroom in a couple of years! A meaningful experience that has happened to me in my
observation is not just one experience but the opportunity I have been given to work one on one with an ESL student who just recently moved from Jordan. At first it was a challenge for me to work with him because he is still trying to develop sense of how the United States works and he would never pay attention to the learning aspect of working with me. Over the past week I have been able to really connect with him on a personal level that allows him to trust me when it comes to school work and that has been a really meaningful thing for me. Working with him is the highlight of my day every
time I go in there and I love it. My minor is ESL and I honestly just choose it at first because I did not know what I wanted my minor to be. But, with experiences like this it makes me excited that my minor is ESL and I cannot wait to see what the future holds for me in the education field.

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My placement in the 1st grade classroom at Chippewa has shown me how everything we've been learning is put into practice! The class uses Jolly Phonics each day to learn a new phoneme, such as /er/. On the board they look at a picture with /er/ words and listen to a song or story, then talk about the /er/ words they heard. For spelling, the school uses Words Their Way, so there are about 7 different lists given within the class. I was surprised that the students only do some word work activities in place of having spelling tests. My favorite part of the school is the Reading Room. This room is filled with bean-bag chairs and hundreds of leveled books organized in bins according to the Fountas & Pinnell A-Z scale. The students all know their letter, so the teacher knows students are choosing books at their appropriate reading level.

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I am really enjoying the experience I am having at Elim so far. It makes me very excited about my future career and anxious to get started in my own classroom. A meaningful experience that I have had did not happen in the classroom, but outside at high school activities. There were two boys that I was trying to bond with, and it didn't seem like they were really responsive or really even cared about my presence. After a few days outside, I started to figure out what games they like. For the first, I joined his imaginary game and played with wind, fire, and tornadoes. For the second, I played catch and chased balls all over the yard. These were small moments that may not have meant much to the kids, but it has helped me find my place and comfort in the classroom.

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Anna VanderWall: Response to Lauren Reske

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Anna VanderWall: Response to Lauren Reske

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Your placement sounds so great! It's really cool to hear how much they seem to love you already. It's also cool to see how much your teacher is letting you get involved with the class and giving you the room to truly experience authentic teaching opportunities.

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Anna VanderWall: Response to Melinda Russell

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Anna VanderWall: Response to Melinda Russell

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I really liked how you were able to communicate in new ways. Its always so amazing to me too to see how many different ways we can understand someone and be understood

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My placement is at Elim this year and has been really amazing to see how the teachers respond to the different abilities and needs of the students. One meaningful experience I observed was the response of my teacher when one student was talking badly about another who was having a behavior. She turned to the student and asked if what they said was kind and if they would like to have the students do the same to him if he was having a bad day. It was just really powerful to see that even during her frustration with one student, she was still able to teach and show that respect for them as they disrupted the room.

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Melinda Russell: Response to Lauren Reske

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Melinda Russell: Response to Lauren Reske

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Lauren, your placement sounds like a lot of fun. It is not always easy to enter a classroom and have the children's respect but it sounds like you're doing an awesome job. I had a similar experience in a past placement, leaving was tough but I was able to reflect on what a great learning experience it was. It sounds like you are doing great things for those kids and teaching them a lot!

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Melinda Russell: Response to Katelyn Sena

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Melinda Russell: Response to Katelyn Sena

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Katelyn, it's awesome that you get to observe such effective classroom management. I love that you said it allows for more student led activities. I think that is so important!

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I have learned so much from my placement at Elim this semester. One meaningful experience I have had this semester was being able to work one-on-one with a student who is nonverbal. She uses a communication device so I was able to learn about how it works, but more importantly I was able to learn a lot about her. This experience was so meaningful to me because it made me realize that before technology, communicating with this student would be so difficult. She is able to demonstrate how smart she truly is using her device and that amazes me. Without her device, she is able to demonstrate her knowledge through pointing and gestures, but with her device she is able to make sentences. Engaging in conversation in this way was a great experience for me.

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Lauren Reske: Response to Lauren Vander Velde

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Lauren Reske: Response to Lauren Vander Velde

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Isn't it funny how seeing things like this can make you feel old? I had a similar reaction at a placement and all I could think is I wish I had these opportunities to read books on Ipads when I was younger. Students are so advanced with technology it is great.

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I'm glad that you are able to look past his labels. what a great experience it has been for you to work one on one. This is something this student will remember later in life and find value in. I can remember having great and positive connections with student teachers at this age and I'll never forget the way that I thought they were nice just for taking time to get on my level and talk to me

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I am loving my placement this year. I have never had such a strong relationship with the class. It will be a tough day on my last day. The kids are great they all get excited when I teach lessons. They ask when I'm coming back again. They ask when my last day is. They give me hugs for greetings and goodbyes. We play tag at recess and have so many opportunities to talk and laugh. I love that I can see the class all playing together. I've learned great classroom management strategies. I'm learning so much from my mentor teacher also. I've had many opportunities to teach spelling, guided reading, math centers, geometry and reading and writing. I've observed that participation is high on days I'm there. They want to learn what I am teaching them. What a blessing it has been.

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Alyssa Bava: Response to Elisabeth Childers

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Alyssa Bava: Response to Elisabeth Childers

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Elisabeth,
I am in the same school as you are so I understand your frustration. It's hard to watch a teacher not being able to ad lib and freely teach her students because she must adhere to exactly what the book says. I don't believe that makes for a natural and comfortable learning environment. However, I do love the stations work. I think it's important for students to have that routine and in my classroom it's something the students really enjoy. It allows my teacher to do her guided reading lessons with her small groups while having the other students do productive, meaningful work.

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Alyssa Bava: Response to Elisabeth Childers

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Alyssa Bava: Response to Elisabeth Childers

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Elisabeth,
I am in the same school as you are so I understand your frustration. It's hard to watch a teacher not being able to adlib and freely teach her students because she must adhere to exactly what the book says. I don

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Katelyn,

I like how you are recognizing how crucial classroom management is to a successful classoom atmosphere. We have to know our students and establish rapport with them in order to have a well run room. There must be an order and organization that can give students ownership and awareness in their classroom. You mention that group work is sometimes difficult.. Would it be different is the teacher paired the students differently? I think that maybe some activities would be best for heterogeneos groups, meaning students on different grade levels, but some activities may be best for students who are on the same grade level to work together, that way the teacher can assist them all at once or they can be working on the same activity all together.

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One meaningful experience I have had in the classroom has been with observing a student in the general education classroom who has a communication disorder. He uses a device to speak but how the aide and the teacher interact with him has really challenged my previous thoughts and ideas. When the students get their snack, this  student is forced to wait until he finds "I want a snack" on his device and "thank you" before he can get it or eat, however,  none of the other students have to do this. Since he has only been using his device for a month and in Kindergarten, he's extremely slow which means he misses out on snack time. The teacher and the aide are also constantly pushing the buttons and using his device for him. I think if we are viewing his device as his voice, we should be allowing him to use it, not doing it for him. Lastly, they will adjust his volume for him or "mute" his device which I think is the same thing as putting duct tape over a students mouth. We have to give each student the right to
communicate and observing this teacher and aide has really challenged my thinking about that.

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Elisabeth Childers: Response to Hannah Lins

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Elisabeth Childers: Response to Hannah Lins

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I hate to see that this specific child is labeled as a "problem child". I also don't believe it's right to label someone because of the way they are in school. There could be a million reasons that contribute to his behavior including a bad home life or lack of attention at home. This might be his way of getting that attention he craves. It's cool to hear that you have been able to work one on one with him and learn things about him! It definitely could be that he struggles with the curriculum and that is why he acts out. I love hearing you getting to know him and seeing that he isn't a bad kid! Thanks for sharing!

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Elisabeth Childers: Response to Lauren Vander Velde

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Elisabeth Childers: Response to Lauren Vander Velde

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I think it is crazy to see that all schools are going the route of one to one with iPads and Chromebooks! It's awesome to see the advances in technology but as a student I liked having the book in front of me to physically turn the page and highlight what I needed to know. It takes some training to learn the iPad and chromebook  with the ways to highlight and underline the important information. I personally would love to have the technology available to me but I know I'll have a hard time having the students always read on their iPad rather than a physical in hand book. Thanks for sharing Lauren

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Katelyn Sena: Response to Lauren Vander Velde

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Katelyn Sena: Response to Lauren Vander Velde

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Lauren, I remember in school going to the library weekly and getting a silent reading book. Now when I go into that same school and classroom I went to, I see tecnology being used in everyday instruction. Technology has played an increasing more active role in learning. Although thre are benefits to technolgoy in the classroom, I think there can be drawbacks if the use of technology is not incorporated apporpriately or not balanced with teacher instruction. I have also noticed my weaknesses in technology. In my placement, the teacher uses technology every day. Also, my placement school and other schools are beginning to become Google schools. The role of technology is increasing in the classroom setting becuase of the advancements made in society and the changing of the world.

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Hannah, I love how you have recognized the strengths of this student through your one-on-one interactions with them. I think it tends to be easy (and sometimes we do it without realizing it) to judge or label students solely based on their weaknesses or behaviors rather than their individual interests. As teachers, I think an important charactersitic to have is patience in yourself and your students. It may be frustrating at times to consistently address a student's behavior in the classsroom, but it is important to realize the individual student and determine the reasons for their behavior that may affect their learning.

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Katelyn, your experience in your classroom this semester sounds like such a great and enriching learning experience! I think that it is so cool that your teacher has such a student-centered classroom and places such emphasis on student involvement and interaction. I can see how this would create a positive environment in the classroom. I also think it is wonderful that your teacher is providing so many opportunities for student-led activities. I also agree with you in saying that these types of activities should be balanced in a way that is most beneficial for your students.

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Hannah Lins: Response to Elisabeth Childers

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Hannah Lins: Response to Elisabeth Childers

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Elisabeth, I enjoyed reading about the four different stations that you experienced in your placement this semester. You talked about phonics work, iRead, guided reading, and self selected reading. These four centers remind me of the Daily Five, which we talked about in class that consisted of Read to self, work on writing, read to someone, listen to reading, and word work. I think this goes to show the importance of having various centers to work on aspects of literacy. I also agree with you on what you said at the end of your post and how following everything to a "T" does not leave room for much creativity.

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In my placement this semester, one meaningful observation so far has been helping one of my fourth graders one-on-one. For the sake of privacy, we will call this student T. T is one of the students that has been labeled as a “problem child” of the class. He likes to talk out in class, does not do the best in school, and can sometimes get off topic. However, I don’t think that it is fair to label a child in this way, and not recognize their strengths as well. By working one-on-one with T, I have learned so much more about him by observing both strengths as well as reasonings behind his weaknesses. T has no accent, but I learned that he is fluent in Spanish which may have contributed to some of his trouble with academics. I also learned that he dislikes math, yet is so passionate about science. From the get-go, I could tell that T was such a sweet kid, and that there is so much more to him than what he is labeled. It has also shown me patience, and that you must really get to know your students in order to get past the labels that they carry in order to truly understand them and teach them in a way that best fits their needs.

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In a previous placement, I had observed that in my class the students would have silent reading time. During this time students would have on headphones and share an iPad with one or two other students. They would determine a book they would have read to them, and or what they would read. I found this really interesting, but also very confusing. It was interesting because it showed how well students used the technology and solved problems they had while using the reading app. It was confusing to me because when I was in school, I had always used an actual textbook and not technology. It had also showed me that I did not know much about technology, and that as I go further into education, that technology will be used more within classrooms.

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In my placement, my cooperating teacher has created a relationship with each of the students which has led to success in her classroom managment. The students work well together in small groups and whole group discussions and are aware of the expectations of their behavior in the classroom. This creates a positive environment for learning. I obvserved her teaching reading and mathematics.  Her teaching style is student-based in that she incorporates students taking a more active role in their learning. The lessons are designed where she introduces the concept and then the students work in their small groups to complete the assignment or exercises
. I love the management she has established in the classroom because it provides opportunities for more student-led activities. However, one disadvantage to working in groups often, is that if students are moving at a different rate than their group, the rest of the group is obligated to wait for them to "catch up". I did think group work should be included but to a balanced extent where students are still being challenged in their learning and learning to work with others.

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One meaningful observation I have had in my placement so far is the way she teaches her literacy. She starts off with a group lesson with a passage and they work through a skill. They break off into groups assigned to them and go through stations. Those stations include phonics work, iRead, guided reading, and self selected reading. I love this approach because they are working the entire time on their reading and comprehension skills. I personally don't like their curriculum "benchmark advanced" because they are supposed to follow it almost to a "T". It doesn't allow for much creativity to happen.