A Speech On The First Cycle

In a good classroom, students should feel safe and comfortable. The classroom was staffed with Ms. Caitlin the kindergarten teacher and Mrs. Doherty the teacher's assistant. The class size consisted of twenty children. The classroom held five round tables with four students per table. Having tables rather than individual desks, Ms. Caitlin encouraged a sense of community rather than allowing a child to be alone at a desk. The furniture was at an appropriate level and size for 5 and 6-year-old children. Also, there was space for children to store their work and personal belongings in cubbies. The class had four different learning center stations these included: writing/reading center, block center, math center, and the kitchen center. Bulletin boards were displayed and decorated with colorful pictures which reinforced concepts learned in the classroom. For example, the alphabet, numbers and days of the week. Student work was also visible in the classroom. In the front of the classroom, a smartboard and rug was arranged for the students to gather for lessons and play. This area was kept free from all forms of distraction. In the back of the room, extra materials were available such as pencils, erasers, crayons, glue sticks, and scissors. Overall, I believe that Ms. Caitlin provided her students with a positive, cheerful, and organized learning environment. She instilled in her students that the classroom is a

The rooms were inviting, and the students were engaged in learning. I quickly noticed that having a positive, and inviting classroom environment is of upmost importance for successful student learning. As the students walked through the second grade classroom they were greeted with a hug. When the students’ finished their morning work, the chimes signaled the students to line up, and transition to their first class of the day which is Science. This is where I was able to observe both Mrs. Stanford, and Mrs. Taylor

Before the children come to school, I will give myself thirty minutes for planning. During my planning time, I will review my day’s plans and ensure I have all necessary materials are available to the children. When the children arrival to school, I will greet them and assist them if need with storing their belonging. Breakfast will be prepared for the children with serving bowls to sever themselves. When the children are finish eating breakfast, the quite centers, such as math and manipulatives and literacy centers, will be available for the children to enter. At nine o’clock I will signal for the children to store their materials away and we will transition to having our group meeting. During our group meeting, we have an open discussion

Journal one of the Westminster College class EDU 562 Field Experience was related to observation and participation with a first grade classroom, on Monday, January 4, 2016. Upon arrival the class teacher provided instructions to assist in the set up of the classroom January calendar, make a graph of the lunch choices, and to pass out morning work for the students to complete as they arrived in the classroom. At 8:30 a.m. the teacher welcomed most of the students with excitement as they entered the room. She informed the students in detail and repeated the routine and morning arrival instructions. Once everyone arrived, the teacher rang a bell which symbolized it

My new assignment moved me to be with the fifth graders in Ms. Bolds’ room. I had heard of each of these students but hadn’t met them. It took some adjusting, and more adjusting, but I got to know each of these new fifth graders. We also invited some “pull out” students to our room every day for some extra help with Math and Writing. This made our room crazy at times. One of the things I love about this job is that I never have the same day twice.

The routines established include lining up quietly outside the classroom door, walking in and taking their seat quietly, each row will be called by the teacher to retrieve and return classroom textbooks and workbooks, and any supplies will be handed out and collected by a row captain. Other routines established during the lesson plans include: taking out and checking the previous night 's homework, a group lesson plan that reviews the objectives and standards, group work formation by the teacher, and a quick check assignment during class is used as a formative assessment for the day 's lesson plan. Bathroom breaks are during class changes or students may go during class, but only

Moving ahead with the school day, there will be recess for younger students (ages between five and ten) at least twice a day, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, and there will be a break after lunch for the older students (ages ten to eighteen) for about forty-five minutes in order to burn some energy and keep the brain active and moving. Students will be able to let the imagination play during these breaks and come back to a non-traditional classroom setting. Students will be learning through activities, hands on approaches, and dramatic and active approaches into each lesson. The objective is for every student to learn in a way that is conducive for his or her success.

During this time I helped to manage behavior and facilitate conversations with the students. Some of the students were hesitant to talk at first, but as I worked more with them, they asked if I could sit with them. After snack, the students moved to their classrooms for homework time. I alternated working in both classrooms, kindergarten through second and third through fifth. Homework time was challenging, because in addition to tutoring, I had to help monitor the students behavior. The students knew that the same rules from school did not get enforced at Chapel, so they tried to see how much they could push the rules. After the students finished their homework, they had free time in the classroom; there were a few games for them to play as well as crayons and markers if they wanted to color. When homework time ended, the students had a bathroom break then returned to the cafeteria for dinner. Like at snack time, volunteers sat with the students and monitored behavior and facilitated conversations with the students. After dinner, the students went home. Occasionally, the kindergarten through second grade students would have field trips to the library during tutoring time. I was able to go

[ The lesson plan was cut short due to a two hour snow delay, this change forced the lesson plan time to be shorter than expected. Due to this change, I decreased the amount of whole group instruction. I made this adjustment because I wanted to offer students as much peer discussion and social learning as possible within the time offered. ]

What works better with the children? The Reform Church Nursery School is a play based school so they introduce more academic things through play like numbers and letters. Whenever Ms.Grealy has an opportunity to show counting or letters she involves fun games. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t because the children are in different levels of learning and understanding. What works poorly with the students? At this age sharing and taking turns. Some students get frustrated and some are patent because they have older siblings. Ms.Grealy tries different strategies for the students for example when the students are lining up some come right away and some need a little me guidance.

introduces us to a band of students as well as their teacher. We experience through

On Monday, November 20, 2017, at 7:30 am I observed twelve children in a classroom environment. This daycare is a local daycare in my hometown, Bryan, TX. During this visit, I learned a lot of new information, how and why children communicate. The classroom consisted of about twelve young boys and girls ranging from the ages of two years old through five years old. This classroom was not diverse. There were only ten African Americans, and two of the children were mixed with African American and White. There were two daycare staff workers, who were both African American. The theme for this week at the daycare is Community Helpers. The two staff, answered questions, assist in a particular station for the day, and made sure that every stay on task. There is a total of four stations, where three children pair up to each station. There were two stations, that were self-start station. Those stations include Reading/Writing and Math station, the children were familiar with the daily routine and did not need much help or attention.

I was surrounded by many interesting works of art as I walked through the Lowes Art Museum. One painting captured my attention; it was by Juanita Guccione entitled, “Cycle: Beginning and End.” It evoked thought in me because of its complexity; images were placed within images. The colors in the piece complemented each other. As I stood there gazing at the painting, I could continually make out new images. I took a few steps forward to get a better sense of the painting’s detail. There I could see the intricacies of the colors, their combinations and the numerous brushstrokes flowing in various directions. I began to wonder how much time the artist spent on the painting and with all that time and

Similar to Liz’s room, Mary and the students were seating in a triangular fashion, which allowed Mary to control their behavior with more ease. Mary stressed turn taking between the children and was very animated throughout the lesson, which held each individual child’s and the entire group’s attention. Moreover, she ensure each student would have equal talking time by pointing at each child to signal whenever their turn was. Mary redirected misbehavior by move the student’s hands if they began to increase their fidgeting. Furthermore, when the students become handsy with the tube of dough, she gently moved their hands as she warned them that they didn’t want to squeesh it. Lastly, Mary had appropriate expectations of the student’s behavior as seen when Zachary ate a small amount with his tongue and Elijah followed suit. Mary gave each a verbal reminder followed by a verbal warning that they need to eat like “big kids” with their hands instead of their tongues. The students rarely became distracted in the lesson, and those moments that some may have deemed distractions were really just spontaneous comments about the activity. For example, Elijah asked about sharing the turnovers with the observers after they were finished, and also invited the observers to the table to make

Your observations of the Independent Practice will be used to assess studentunderstanding. Ask the students to complete their dismissal routine, followed by theirmorning routine. They will stack up the chairs again on their own, prepare and put ontheir backpacks, and organize themselves based on bus, car-rider and after-school care.Leave the room only once the line is ready. Then, students will go to their designatedareas in the hallway, as they will need to do later that day. Let them know that you willnow move back to the doorway to role-play the morning