Lasy Day

   Yesterday when I walked in the classroom the kids gave me letters they had written me thanking me for everything I've done for them. It was really good to see that they recognized and appreciated the time and I spent with them and the effort I put in to the class. Watching the kids progress in their school work and grow throughout the year has been an awesome expirience.
   Being a teacher aide in kindergarten this year has been a fabulous experience and it has encouraged me to keep my goal of teaching kids. I want to either do Elementary Education or Special Education. Even though I haven't worked with any special education kids in a school environment, I have volunteered with them at church every week for about two years and I think they are amazing people with a lot of potential. I would be happy teaching either and I would get satisfsction out of teaching both. I'm definitelyexcited for my future career and the things I will do.

May 6th

In celebration of Cinco de Mayo, in kindergarten we watched a short kid-friendly video clip explaining what the holiday is, what it means and how it is celebrated. This was good for the kids because they weren't sure about what it was. After that we set up activities at each table, where the students learned more about the Mexican traditions and all the other holidays. They stayed at each station for about 15 minutes, either copying sentences about Cinco de Mayo, Coloring pictures including the Mexican flag and making a charts. These activities covered just about every subject and the kids really learned a lot about Mexican traditions.

April 21st

     Thursday at Westwood the Kindergarten teachers were doing an Easter Egg Hunt for the students. The activity was supposed to take place at 1:00 but the plans changed unexpectedly last minute. When I walked in the classroom around 8, the teacher was frantic and obviously stressing. The Easter egg hunt was moved from 1pm to 9am, meaning she only had an hour or so to get everything together. Kids were told to bring baskets and eggs filled with candy but a majority of them didn't bring their baskets and would feel left out if they couldn't carry their eggs. So online we found a cut out of a bunny that could be made into an Easter basket, made out of construction paper. While the teacher was trying to keep the students busy, I was tracing the cut out and folding the paper and stapling their baskets. I had to quickly make 18 baskets and in an effort to keep the kids busy, when I would finish one basket I would give it to a student to color and decorate and that way the teacher could help me instead of trying to keep the students busy. After a stressful hour and a half we finished everything and the kids lined up for their Easter activity.
     Another type of assessment used in Kindergarten is when the kids first get there in the morning they choose one person to do the calender. They change the date and count the number of days left of school. This is another way of testing all the students on a daily bases, whether than taking a test on the days of the week and counting.

April 15

In Kindergarten today I did the same thing I did last week. I had to finish giving the kids their verbal test in counting 1-100. This test was important so they teacher can see what level everyone is on and what she needs to do in class to improve their scores. While I was doing this, the teacher was inside testing the kids on their reading skills. This test also is to asses the kids level of reading. Kindergarten is a crucial grade because the students come in knowing none of the basics and now they are starting show what they have learned. In kinder they learn to count, write, spell and read. This is crucial for their education and they learn the basics that they'll use for the rest of their school careers. By doing an assessment teachers see the rate at which their students are learning and what they need to do to help their students. The most popular assessment used by teachers is testing. There are verbal tests, non-verbal tests or essays. Assessments are important to the teachers and to the students, because if the student isn't tested on what they've learned then the teacher can't reassure that the student is learning what they need to be.

April 7th

Yesterday in Kindergarten the substitute asked me to take each students out of class one at a time and test how well thye know their numbers. They had to count from 1 to 100 while I marked each number they got correct or if they needed extra help. Some students you could tell would have no problem when they started but a majority of students had trouble once they got to 60 and on. I had to show them the chart and count with a few of them. The substitue warned me of this and so I wrote a note on the papers that I had to do this for. I did this so the sub would know which kids need the most help and which area they needed help in. It was a productive day and it was good to see the different rates kids learn even though they are in the same class.

April 1

Yesterday I went back to my kindergarten class. When I walked in they were reading books at their tables and they were so excited to show me how good they can read and the level of difficulties on their books. All the students are on different reading levels but the teacher still teaches them on the same level. The kids that don't really understand or are slower than the rest act out more than the faster kids I've noticed. The sub yesterday had me take about six kids out in the hall and play a spelling game with them. I noticed that if they don't know how to spell something they start acting out or just shut down completely. I tried to keep this from happening by helping the kids that needed a little more help than the rest. This helped and we all had fun and it really helped them with their spelling. I haven't experienced any other kinds of disabilities in the classroom, but if I were a teacher and I had a special ed student I would have to make certain accommodations and tweak the lesson plans for them. I think its fair to have special ed kids and regular students together just so they all get the same experience and get to be social.

March 25

Yesterday was my first day back in Kindergarten. I decided to switch back from First grade because the class I was in already had a teacher aid and I wasn't as involved as I would have liked to be. Back in Kindergarten I found out that the teacher was on maternity leave and the sub looked very nervous/overwhelmed when I walked in. Even though it was my fist day back in my old class, I remembered their schedule so I helped the sub organize lesson plans for the day and got the kids to help the sub as well. The students like helping out when there is someone new and they stayed on task very well for her. Being in my old class was good, all the kids remembered me and told me how much they missed me while they greeted me at the door with hugs. Kindergarten is better for me I think because I get to be more hands-on and now I am able to help the substitute on things she isn't sure about. Overall it was a good first day back!

Objectives in the classroom: March 11

Yesterday in First Grade I was looking for what objectives the teacher was assigning for the class. When I first got there the teacher asked three specific students to pick out books and they took turns reading to the class, so the teacher and the class could evaluate their reading skills and their progress. After the students read their book their classmates complimented them but they also told them what they need to work on. This activity tests the student's skills in reading. Another objective they had was to work in their math stations. In their stations they have different activities, depending of their level of math they are currently on. While kids were in the their stations the teacher would pull them out one at a time to test them on the certain level they were on to see if they could move up to the next level. This lets the students work at their own pace and also lets the teacher see how productive they are in their stations. The lessons done in class were mostly to help the teacher see the progress the students are making in class by testing them in their different subjects.

February 17

Today in first grade at Westwood, the teachers switched up their regular routine. Instead of doing math first in the morning when I got there they were doing silent reading. Then we moved on to working on their word problems. I like walking around the room and helping them if they need it. Then they went into their math stations and the teacher asked me to help two students in one particular station because they were struggling. I had fun helping them and it was a fun station to work at. Also I went to the Westwood "Hollywood" dance. I was expecting to be put to work but they didn't have anything for us to do so we were able to dance with the kids and watch them have fun outside of school. Overall it was a fun experience.

January 28

Yesterday was my second day back in First grade. I think yesterday went better than last week because I had more time in class with the kids and I got a chance to know them better by helping them with their activities and interacting with them during class. So far I think i'd rather be doing kindergarten than first just because of the structure of the class. First grade is fun but in the class I am in now, the kids dont look like they are having that much fun and the students should have fun in school and do activities they'll enjoy. Class should be fun and not as stressful for the kids in elementary.

In case of an Emergency / Dangers of Stereotypes

     Yesterday during an assembly the fire alarm went off unexpectedly. As a teacher in this situation, I would try and stay calm and keep my students as calm as possible. I would wait for instructions from the administrators in the auditorium and tell my students that it is important to stay quiet so we can hear the instructions. Then I would walk my class out of the auditorium and tell them where our meeting spot is located outside of the school. This way my students know where they're supposed to be and I can keep them all together. I felt yesterday was in a way unorganized. The teachers did not know where all their students were and students were confused as to what to do in this emergency. 
     As a senior I have seen and heard many different stereotypes. I came into high school believing that the pretty girls were snobs and no one could live up to their standards. I went through my freshman year to find that this wasn't true at all. Everyone in high school has their "cliques" and you just have to find where you fit in. You may not fit in with the popular kids but that doesn't mean you can't become friends with them. In a way you become friends with everyone because you spend a crucial four years of your life with these people, they become like family. You meet new people through your classes and activities outside of school. The more you put yourself out there, the more people will accept you and the more friends you'll make. There are dangers in believeing every stereotype. People get bullied and feel unaccepted just because of their skin color or the way they dress. In my case when I first meet people they see that I'm blonde, meaning I must be stupid. They assume that because of my hair color I'm a fake or that I am a snob and that I can't think for myself. Well i'm pretty sure i've proven those people wrong through these four years and I know that I should never just assume something about someone before I get to know them.

January 14th

Yesterday was my first day back at Westwood. I asked to be reassigned to a First Grade class for this semester, instead of Kindergarten. I want to see the difference in the two classes and to be able to learn more things from a new class. Although, I didn't exactly get what I was hoping for. Somehow I managed to get out in a First Grade ESL class. This terrified me at first but I tried my best to make it work. The teacher was nice and suspected that I didn't know any spanish, and she was right. The kids were sweet as usual and they were hard workers. I was there to help them with worksheets and their journals in class and the teacher asked them to speak english only while I was there, which was helpful. It was a good day overall and I enjoyed the class even though it was difficult at first.