The first placement has ended; the second placement will begin Monday. I cannot believe that my time in second grade is over already. I miss my students already. Yesterday, they threw a goodbye party for me. The students had made posters and cards for me. My teacher and TA had gotten me a card and a practical gift of bulletin board letters, post-it notes, and such. It was really sweet of them.
My second placement is a 3rd/4th MAC class. I'm not sure how I feel about MAC classes, but this should be good experience because I have always wanted to teach 3rd or 4th grade (emphasis on the or though). I am a little bit worried about this placement though. When I met my cooperating teacher a few weeks ago, she gave me a whole list of things that I will be doing right away. I would like to have a little bit of time to get to know the teacher, the class, the schedule, and the routines/procedures. I am excited to be moving up in the grades though. I will enjoy that the students can be a little bit more independent. Second graders, early in the year, are not very independent.
A none teaching note: I cannot believe that it is snowing in October. I am not excited about having to walk up the hill to my car in nice shoes and pants on Monday in the snow.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Nearing the End of Placement One
As the last week of the first placement starts, I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. I will definitely miss these students. I hope to make the most of this last week with them. It is going to be very hard to say goodbye to them.
At the same time, I am definitely ready to move onto a new classroom and a new cooperating teacher. I am ready to see how someone else deals with classroom management. I am also ready to move up to a higher grade. I'm thinking that second grade might not be my niche. I have wanted to be a third or fourth grade teacher since I was in those grades, so it will be interesting to see if one of those grades is my niche.
At the same time, I am definitely ready to move onto a new classroom and a new cooperating teacher. I am ready to see how someone else deals with classroom management. I am also ready to move up to a higher grade. I'm thinking that second grade might not be my niche. I have wanted to be a third or fourth grade teacher since I was in those grades, so it will be interesting to see if one of those grades is my niche.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Motivation, Attention Span, and Intelligence
My cooperating teacher, TA, and I are seeing some major changes in a few of our students. As we are getting to know the students better, we are better able to help them. One of the students in particular has a hard time concentrating. We have found that by giving him the motivation of getting a sticker for the completion of each major assignment of the day, he is better able to focus. Being able to focus has made a big difference in the quality of his work. Another student also has trouble concentrating. We have not been able to find an effective motivational strategy for him yet.
There are also a few students in our class that do not listen, so they never know what is going on. For one of them we have found that physical proximity makes a difference. Another student needs the instructions explained one on one; he has trouble processing information given in group settings. As we have made these modifications, it is amazing the change in the work coming from these students. Some of the students that we originally thought were behind are actually highly intelligent and just needed some minor accommodations. I truly think that this class is one of the most intelligent classes of second graders that I have ever come across and it makes me sad that I will soon be leaving these students for my next placement.
There are also a few students in our class that do not listen, so they never know what is going on. For one of them we have found that physical proximity makes a difference. Another student needs the instructions explained one on one; he has trouble processing information given in group settings. As we have made these modifications, it is amazing the change in the work coming from these students. Some of the students that we originally thought were behind are actually highly intelligent and just needed some minor accommodations. I truly think that this class is one of the most intelligent classes of second graders that I have ever come across and it makes me sad that I will soon be leaving these students for my next placement.
Monday, October 10, 2011
My thoughts on taking the Strength Finder test
I had a hard time taking the Strengths Finder test. The questions were worded in such a way that I often was neutral because I strongly agreed with both options. Usually tests where you are supposed to pick one of two options, the options are opposites.
I'm not sure that I agree with the results: Discipline, Input, Belief, Learner, Responsibility. I agree that I fall into all of these categories. I just feel that some of the other categories in the book are equally applicable to me. I do not like that it only gives you a top 5. I took a test that was similar to this once and it gave the results in the form of a chart that laid out all of the categories and how many of your responses applied to each category. I liked that because it showed strengths, close runners up, and weaknesses. I feel like it is important to know which categories you are strong in, but it is also important to see what your weaknesses are. Weaknesses are areas for improvement.
Having already written my Philosophy of Ed, I find it interesting to see which of these strengths are easily seen it. I feel that it is important for a teacher to be part of the learning community of the classroom. Teachers should always be learning, not stagnant. It is also important for teachers to be disciplined and responsible. As a teacher, it is also important to have good ethics and beliefs. Christian teachers have the advantage of a solid place on which to base their lives.
I find the Input category the most interesting. I had not really thought about this aspect of myself before. The book talks about collecting information and physical things and having the inability to get rid of things. I definitely fall into this category. I have kept every workbook, worksheet, list of books, textbook, storybook, etc that I have ever gotten because I might be able to use it when I'm teaching. I have boxes and boxes of "teaching stuff." I have been striving to become a teacher since elementary school, so I have quite a collection. At the same time though, I have managed to keep it fairly well organized. I can call home and ask my mom to scan something in and email it to me. Sometimes she knows where to find it; most of the time I tell her go in the box labelled ______ in the _______ book/binder/folder and about halfway through it there should be a page that talks about ____________. Almost always my mom finds what I wanted. I have gotten better at figuring out what I use the most and bringing it with me to college, but it would be impossible to bring all of my supplies.
Overall, the top 5 strengths that the test identified for me are things that I already knew about myself. This test did make me think a little more deeply about these strengths though. I hope to put them to their best use to aid my students.
I'm not sure that I agree with the results: Discipline, Input, Belief, Learner, Responsibility. I agree that I fall into all of these categories. I just feel that some of the other categories in the book are equally applicable to me. I do not like that it only gives you a top 5. I took a test that was similar to this once and it gave the results in the form of a chart that laid out all of the categories and how many of your responses applied to each category. I liked that because it showed strengths, close runners up, and weaknesses. I feel like it is important to know which categories you are strong in, but it is also important to see what your weaknesses are. Weaknesses are areas for improvement.
Having already written my Philosophy of Ed, I find it interesting to see which of these strengths are easily seen it. I feel that it is important for a teacher to be part of the learning community of the classroom. Teachers should always be learning, not stagnant. It is also important for teachers to be disciplined and responsible. As a teacher, it is also important to have good ethics and beliefs. Christian teachers have the advantage of a solid place on which to base their lives.
I find the Input category the most interesting. I had not really thought about this aspect of myself before. The book talks about collecting information and physical things and having the inability to get rid of things. I definitely fall into this category. I have kept every workbook, worksheet, list of books, textbook, storybook, etc that I have ever gotten because I might be able to use it when I'm teaching. I have boxes and boxes of "teaching stuff." I have been striving to become a teacher since elementary school, so I have quite a collection. At the same time though, I have managed to keep it fairly well organized. I can call home and ask my mom to scan something in and email it to me. Sometimes she knows where to find it; most of the time I tell her go in the box labelled ______ in the _______ book/binder/folder and about halfway through it there should be a page that talks about ____________. Almost always my mom finds what I wanted. I have gotten better at figuring out what I use the most and bringing it with me to college, but it would be impossible to bring all of my supplies.
Overall, the top 5 strengths that the test identified for me are things that I already knew about myself. This test did make me think a little more deeply about these strengths though. I hope to put them to their best use to aid my students.
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