End of Semester wrap up!

I learned so much in this semester’s field experience. I learned a lot from the teacher and a lot from the students and their interest as fourth graders. My teacher did a great job getting me involved with the classroom. During reading groups I worked with the mid leveled readers. It was great to see how their skills improved over the two months that I was there and as they got into more author studies it was nice to see them really get involved with the story. My teacher allowed me to grade a lot of the student’s work which allowed me to see just what the students were getting wrong on tests and how they were set up. In the beginning a lot of students did poorly on their unit tests, but my last day they took one and it was awesome to see the kids work so hard. Many of them came up to me and showed me how much they wrote on the open ended questions and were excited to tell me what they wrote about for the story question. Most of the kids used the entire time to take the test and check it over before turning it in. You could tell that when they turned it in they were confident and proud of the work they had done on it. I was not able to see what grades they got, but I am sure that most of them did very well on this exam! I think that a student being proud and confident in their work is half the battle for teachers. We all know that they can do it, but it’s getting them to take pride and really working their hardest. I think that this classroom of fourth graders is on the right track to accomplishing a lot of great things. I learned a lot about lesson planning and organizing the week from my teacher. You must be flexible and organized enough that you can change something in the schedule just like that because you never know if the students are going to need more time on something or if they become really interested in something and want to take more time on a subject. If you put in the right amount of time before or after school it will make your day go so much smoother. It does not have to be a ton of time, just a little to sit down and get things organized for the day. I really enjoyed this semester and my teacher and the class. On the last day I gave the kids a chapter book to read for Christmas and they were so excited about reading it. My hope is that they all take the time to read and discuss with their classmates what is going on in this book. I think that discussion can build more classroom connections and confidence in the classroom. I am looking forward to seeing how this class does in the semester after Christmas break! I will be sure to take a day and stop in to see them!

We must be accountable!

I think that accountability in public schools must be placed on the teacher. Students need to be improving their levels in all subject areas and I think that is a reflection of the teachers ability to work with students and find creative ways to engage them in their learning. I think that teachers should be evaluated somewhat on the performance of the students in their classroom. While their must be some exceptions to this rule, I do believe that most children in a classroom should show certain steps of improvement as they move up in age and grade level. If a student is allowed to simply pass through grade levels without learning materials from the previous grade successfully then it puts them behind and not only does that hurt the child but it hurts the teacher who has that child in the class the following year.

            Teachers should try new things with different students and find new and creative ways to engage each child in the classroom. If something is not working it is not fair to the student to expect them to just do it one way or not learn at all. A good teacher will find different ways to reach out to all students in the classroom. No student is the same and no student should be expected to do everything one way just because the teacher says so.

            If teachers know that they will receive a bonus or higher pay because the students in their classroom show a large margin of improvement then it will encourage them to find new and creative ways to engage students and get them to understand material being taught. I see only positives in holding educators and administrators accountable for student achievement.

            I think this would put teacher morale higher because it would encourage teachers to work together to find new and creative ways to teach. It would encourage them to pay attention to every student in the class and give them the opportunity to learn and grow as a student. No teacher should be afraid of this because it should be used as an incentive to mix up curriculum and do things in a way that will get students excited and engaged in classroom activities.

Having Expectations for All Learners

High expectations for students is something that is very important because it shows them that you believe in them and that you think they can accomplish goals. Children will need stronger leadership to accomplish their goals if they are coming from a lower income family or if they are a minority. It is so easy for these children to fall between the cracks because many times both groups can fall into the minority category. Children who are from poorer families tend to come from a single parent household and may not get as much attention because their family members are working extra hours to try and better themselves and their family.  This is where having higher expectations can actual help the students in my opinion. The expectations can guide students and help them know exactly what they need to accomplish. The teacher can use these expectations to shape curriculum. Students will know what they are learning and why they need to learn it because they know what is expected.

            Expectations that are clearly set at the beginning of the school year can help create a positive classroom community as well. If every student knows and understand what will be expected of them throughout the year it will help your classroom run smoothly. I also believe that the expectations will help them respect you the teacher and help form a positive relationship between all parties. 

            A lot of children do not have positive role models at home and that can cause them to have a lack of confidence. I believe that have expectations and holding students accountable for their actions can help them build confidence in themselves. It will help them understand that there are things that they can accomplish and goals that they can achieve. It may be beneficial to start out giving students small goals that are easily achieved but it will help build their confidence so you can encourage them to work towards bigger goals.

            I will do my best to be sure that all students are able to make goals and that they have the resources and encouragement to achieve these goals. It will help make my classroom a positive environment and the results will show in the child’s achievement levels.

Article Review 2

I read the article that was titled “The Big Class” was written in the Scholastic Instructor. I found this article to be very interesting because it talks about the ever growing class size in American classrooms. The current economic recession has pinched budgets and forced states to cut education thus raising the size of classrooms. This article gives teachers who have never experienced large classes’ ideas to help create a successful learning environment. Main talking points are “Setting the tone, making space, Forge a Community, Being prepared, using groups, and rethinking homework. Throughout the semester several of the ideas talked about in this writing went with different things we learned in classes. I also have witnessed teachers putting several of these methods into place throughout PHM schools. While a lot of classes are not nearly as large as the instructor in this article is talking about these ideas can be used for any class size. The main point of the article is to help teachers realize that if they can simplify their classroom procedures and workload then it makes things easier on you the teacher and the students in the classroom. Students play off of the teacher and if the teacher is getting overwhelmed and frustrated then the students will too. I like the idea of working with the entire class to develop the rules of the classroom. This gives students ownership of their actions and consequences. The article reminds teachers to be creative in setting up their classroom and to make it work smoothly especially when class sizes are large. Group work and centers can help the teacher reach out to all students in the classroom on a more personal level. Groups of 5 with different stations can allow the teacher to walk around and talk to each group or it can allow the teacher to have a station that students come to him or her to get more detailed lesson. Homework was another talking point that encouraged teachers to not take too much time to grade homework every day but to allow homework to be based on a system of checking if it was done or not done. Teachers can assign homework and check to see if it is complete for the grade and then go over answers together as a class for students to check their own work and understand that they will not be punished for incorrect answers, but that they should ask questions for any missed answers.

I enjoyed this article a lot and I know I will use many of the methods talked about in my own classroom. I was familiar with many of the methods and ideas because we have talked about them a lot throughout the semester of classes.  The articles mostly encourage teachers to be creative while finding new ways to actively engage students especially while in a large classroom settings.

Mid Semester Check

I am currently working with a fourth grade class at an elementary school in lower Mishawaka Indiana. The school consists of a wide variety of children from different socio-economic backgrounds. 70 percent of the children are eligible for the free or reduced lunch program.  The classroom that I have been placed in has a wide variety of learners. One child has extreme HDHD issues and his parents do not regularly give him his medicine. The skills that these children have vary greatly. Some are high achieving while others are way below. The difference in students really shows during our math time. Some of the kids cannot multiple or divide and struggle with simple addition and subtraction. These issues are the biggest struggle for the teacher and me in the classroom.  

                I like the way my teacher has her room set up. She has things on the walls that relate to what the students are learning throughout the year. The classroom rules and expectations are understood by the students and the teacher does a good job at enforcing them. The schedule is the one thing that I do not like and that is out of my teacher’s control. The kids go to their Specials every day at 8:45 which is 45 minutes after their day starts. This forces the teacher to split the math lesson into two because they do a part of it before specials and a part after. I think this makes is difficult for the students to really take time to ask questions and understand the concept that is being taught that day. Our language arts time is right after math and goes until lunch.  When we come back from lunch on Tuesdays we have Doctor Popcorn which teaches children about food habits. Next we have science or a daily wrap up time. The way the day is set up, we only have 1 hour after lunch of school time. This is a challenge because the long mornings can make it hard for students to focus during the second half of language arts.

                I enjoy working with the kids in small groups during math and language arts. I have been able to work with the lower level groups and try to help the understand that basic concepts of the day. I enjoy working with all the kids in the class. I taught a math lesson and the biggest challenge was meeting the needs of all the students in the class.  I used the highest group of students to assist other students in the class after they finished their workbook page. This provided me the opportunity to work with 5 students who were not grasping the concepts. It is important to use group work to work individually with students.

I really enjoy my classroom and the teacher. I am looking forward to learning a lot this semester!!

Learning Theories

A classroom that is based on the behaviorist theory would use reward programs to help their students work towards their goals. The reward acts as a stimulus to get the student to work, hard and once the work is done the teacher will reinforce this behavior with a reward or a snack or activity. The behaviorist classroom would focus more on exactly what the student does and not so much have an emphasis on what the learner is thinking. The behaviorist teacher would have a very organized classroom with clear objectives and expectations of students. The students would probably be put on some kind of reward system for their work and behavior. The teacher would guide the instruction and have clear expectations for his or her students.

A constructivist theory based classroom would focus on things that the learner is interested in.  Experiences are very important in this classroom and building on those experiences is how a student learns. A teacher will scaffold the students just enough to give them what they need to learn.  The teacher in this environment will probably be more flexible to go with the flow and create lesson plans to fit the current students needs. A constructivist teacher will most likely use different material every year because he or she will have different students every year who have a desire to learn different things.

The classes could be similar with the reward programs. I believe that both constructivist and behaviorist classrooms can use rewards to encourage student involvement and participation. These rewards can also be used to encourage positive behavior in the classroom.

The challenge of behaviorism is that students may get too dependent on the rewards. It is important for students to have a desire to education themselves and not just work for a reward. Students must learn to educate themselves to a certain degree and work towards their goals on their own without a reward. If students are rewarded for every little thing in the classroom it may encourage them to work hard only while in your classroom. Students also need to work hard outside of the classroom as well.

The challenge for a constructivist classroom style is that students do need to have some scaffolding and previous knowledge of things in order to move up. If students are way behind on a certain subject, it may not be in their best interest to just work towards what ever it is they want to work at. Some students need to have structured math time in order to better their math skills whether they like it or not. It is important to cover all subjects and meet the standards for that child’s education. A teacher must work very hard in order to meet the needs of each individual student who have different interests.

I believe that a mixture of all styles is the best thing for students in the classroom. Teachers need to be flexible and willing to work with their students to find what works best for them. There cannot be a strict one way or the other, because that will not be what is best for each individual student. A teacher must keep an open mind and be flexible to meet the demands of each individual student.

Diversity in the Classroom

I have recently been working with a 4^th grade class at a local elementary school. This school is different than my transition to teaching placement. In this class there are two Chinese students. One of them can speak fairly good English while the other one cannot speak any English at all and moved into the school about 2 weeks ago. In my mind I have question the methods that the teacher is using to best teach the non English speaking student, and I have questioned her handling of these two students in her classroom.

            The student who speaks no English at all basically sits in the back of the classroom and works on a packet that matched words with pictures. I do not know how he does on any of this seeing as the words are in English and not Chinese. The other student who is his cousin, but has been at the school longer and speaks better English sits in the middle of the classroom and is able to work on everything that the rest of the class is involved with. While speaking to other teachers about this student they use words and saying that I do not feel are appropriate and many don’t seem to care much about finding new ways to work with the non English-speaking child. I have also witnessed aids and other teachers demanding that the English-speaking student translate for this cousin, which clearly makes him uncomfortable. The teachers demand him to translate and have said to me how they don’t understand why he does not want to speak Chinese while at school. Students in the class also jokingly bow to these students and make noises and phrases made to sound like they are speaking Chinese. I know that this makes the Chinese students uncomfortable, but I see their teacher giving little effort to stop this from happening.

            This whole situation is very uncomfortable for me because I do not know exactly how to deal with this issue since it is not my classroom. When I have the opportunity I tell the students teasing them to stop, but I think the teacher needs to do some sort of activity to encourage acceptance and to talk about how things certain people think are funny can really hurt another persons feelings. The entire staff in the school needs to understand that they cannot force a child to speak in a different language and should not demand children to translate for other children. I think the English-speaking boy feels uncomfortable speaking in Chinese because others in the class have teased him about it and it makes him different from the others.

            I am not more aware than ever about different children’s feelings and the way they handle these situations in the classroom. The children may be very proud of their culture and language, but certain judgments by classmates and teachers can really put them on the spot and make them uncomfortable. Teachers must not assume anything and we should not treat any students differently than others.

            If I were this teacher I would treat this situation as a diversity lesson. I would have activities encouraging all students to work together and to respect one another. I know that the students who are bowing to Chinese students and saying things to them do not intend to be mean to them, but because they are assuming something about them they are. I will do my best to use these kinds of opportunities to teach acceptance of different races and cultures in my classroom.  It is important that all students feel comfortable while at school, thus providing them with a good environment to learn and grow as students and children.