Literacy Lesson Post Reflection

            Upon reflecting on my lesson that I taught in my clinical classroom, I felt as thought it was strong and went very well with the students. The students were to be able to identify the location of definitions, number of definitions for an entry, and most common use. This lesson was important for the students to be aware of the dictionary as a resource because it can be beneficial for the students understanding of terms in the future.

            I did this lesson with rotating small groups throughout the day. I personally thought that doing the lesson like this really helped me to ensure that the students were understanding and grasping the content I was teaching. I cannot image how this lesson would have worked out if it were done through whole class instruction. Earlier in the day I had the opportunity to see my CT incorporate the use of dictionaries into a lesson, so I was able to connect to the students prior knowledge by saying, “I know that you are familiar with dictionaries because I saw you use them this morning.” To hook the students, I showed the students two different dictionaries. I then asked the students what they are and what they can be used for, which led to a discussion about dictionaries. I am very glad that I was able to see them use the dictionaries because I feel as though this helped my understanding of the students prior knowledge and helped with the flow of the lesson as well as its outcomes by having them connect to what they have used dictionaries for in the past.

            I then asked the students what a dictionary tells us and what a definition is. I had visuals made up of information regarding a dictionary and definition to reference when explicitly teaching the students. Next, I had the students open the dictionary in front of them to any page and look at an entry of their choice. I asked the students what they saw for each entry, what each part tells us, and how many definitions they saw listed. I was very pleased with what the students were able to tell me.

            After I regained the student’s attention and focus, I started to do more explicit teaching through the use of an enlarged sheet with dictionary entries. I should have transitioned the students a lot better than I did; I could have told the students why we were moving on and what we were going to do next. While modeling the students through this sheet, I was very please with the way that I asked questions to the students to push them in answering questions and understanding the content.

            When it came time to do shared practice, the student’s that I had previously done the mini-lesson with, because I was doing rotating small groups, had no problem working together to complete the model sheet together. This group, however, seemed to work more independently during the shared practice and I should have prompted more interactions and provided guidelines. The students also had many questions during this. Looking back, I definitely should have readdressed my teaching points and expectations for the sheet before moving on to ensure the students success in this lesson.

            While reflecting on my chosen assessment strategies I planned to use during the lesson, I was proud of myself with using the checklist. However, using assessments during lesson implementation is fairly difficult for me and it definitely something that I will need more experience working with. I am glad that I did use the checklist because it did help me have a better understanding of the students as well as how well the lesson was working. It also provided me with great feedback for myself in how well or not so well my lesson went for the students.

            If I were to do this lesson again, I would change a couple of things. Instead of having worksheets for the students to use during independent practice, I would come up with a list of words that the students are learning about and using in the curriculum. This could also be done during shared practice with the students. The students would be presented with kid-friendly dictionaries to look up the words themselves rather than them already being shown and printed for them. Doing this would really make my lesson stronger and the rationale for the lesson more successful.

            Overall, I am very pleased with my lesson implementations. I am glad that I took Kira’s advice of adding visuals to the lesson because they helped not only me but also the students during the lesson. I am glad I provided dictionaries for the students to physically see and look through/at, but in the future I will have more kid-friendly dictionaries available and point out to the students parts of the dictionary. I am also glad that I took Kira’s advice and created my own worksheets using definitions that the children had been learning about in there literacy readings to help connect the content; however, as I mentioned earlier, I will just give the students a list a words connecting to the curriculum and have them search for the words themselves. Using a word list instead will also help to differentiate the lesson a little more because I could create different difficulty levels of words to meet the students individual needs. I also need to work on my transitioning of students during lessons. It is important to have these transitions to help aid the students during the lesson and to help with the flow.

Bringing it Altogether

• Review the course goals you wrote about in your first post at the beginning of the semester.
• What progress have you made on them?
• What does this do to inform your practice next semester in student teaching?
• What goals do you still have moving forward?
• Include overall reflections on what you have learned in this clinical course and on-site this semester.

For those of you who have been following my blog about my clinical experience this semester, it is now coming to an end. Upon reflecting on the goals I had set for myself for the semester, I am satisfied with my accomplishments of them. The first goal I had set was to boost my confidence. In previous semesters I had struggled with this; I needed to have confidence in myself when I was teaching lessons and not be afraid of messing up. This semester I really noticed an improvement in my confidence level. I realize that it is okay to mess up and that I can’t be perfect in teaching. Even though I improved my confidence level, I still need to work on boosting it.

            Another goal I had set for myself was to work on my classroom management. This is something that I, as well as my CT, noticed improve as the semester went on; even within implementation of lessons. I feel as though it really helped seeing the numerous classroom management strategies being implemented constantly throughout the day really helped me become comfortable using them as well as getting the students attention. In the past, I struggled a little with addressing the classroom rules and expectations during my lessons and this is something that I really improved on this semester. It is so important to reinforce the rules and expectations throughout the lesson to help it run smoothly and also make it an effective lesson. At the beginning of the semester, I asked my CT about her expectations for me during my clinical experience and she was very resourceful in this.

            The last goal I set for myself this semester was to really get to know the students in my classroom. I feel as though this is something that still really needs improvement. I feel as though I did not get to know the students well enough this semester and it definitely disappoints me. It is so very important to understand the students individual strengths and weaknesses so that I can meet their individual needs when implementing lessons to ensure that they are being provided with the optimal learning experience to promote their growth. The past couple weeks I have gotten a little bit of a better understanding of some students, so I was able to provide them with additional support in certain areas.

            Next semester for student teaching I would still like to work on meeting these goals I had set for myself. In addition, I would also like to work on my time management on planning as well as implementation of lesson. The thought of staying on track still makes me fairly nervous while teaching. I need to use a calm down strategy that my 3^rd grade students are learning about right now. “Stop. Name your feeling. Calm down.” This can be done by taking belly breaths or just talking to yourself to calm down and ease my nerves.

Here is a link to the “Calm it Down” song lyrics from Second Step that Oakland elementary uses.

Gumdrop Domes

Recently I implemented my science lesson in my clinical 3rd grade classroom. The students were engineers and working on building gumdrop domes to test out their strength and durability against the weight of books. Here are some pictures I took of the students working and testing out their domes!

These two boys wanted to create their own structure to test out! After testing its structure with the weight of the books, it ended up becoming completely flattened. :(

This group had a great idea of connecting all of the domes together with toothpicks to make it stronger!

Science in 3rd Grade

What have you noticed about science instruction and assessment in your setting?

• When does it take place? Does it take place? Think critically.
• What does it encompass?
• During science instruction, what does your CT do/ say?
• What do students do/ say? How do they respond?
• What are your opinions/ feelings about this?
• How does what you observe about science at this site connect with past clinical experiences/ early childhood theories/ and or science practices you have been learning about at ISU?
• How does knowing this inform what you will do when teaching and assessing science (either this semester, next semester in student teaching, and/or next year)?

Having been at my clinical placement for six weeks now, I still have not really had the opportunity to see science instruction. I am in a 3^rd grade classroom where my CT teaches social studies and the other 3^rd grade teacher does science. I like the idea of switch of the students switching classrooms and having a different teacher for subjects because I have had that experience in every grade. I felt that it was beneficial to me as a learner because I was able to receive different forms of instruction and it was nice to have a change of scenery.

Like stated in my “Social Studies in 3^rd Grade” post, at 1:30 my class goes over to the other 3^rd grade classroom for science wile the other comes in for social studies. At 2:00, the classes switch back to their homeroom for the other subject. The lessons are scheduled to last 30 minutes. One day I did ask my CT if I would be able to go over to Mrs. Foley’s class to observe her doing a science lesson with the kids. I was unable to because it was just a review/catch-up day and so the students were just watching a movie. The other days I was there, my CT was absent so there was a sub in the room and it was a “crazy day”, then there were ISAT prep days, ISAT testing so they didn’t switch, then I taught my social studies lesson to both classes, and then last week I was unable to make it to see science. I am hoping that in weeks to come I will be given the chance to see science instruction in a 3^rd grade class.

Even though I am not familiar with my clinical placement’s science instruction or assessment, I was able to see their curriculum map for science. They start out the year with life science (plants, animals, ecosystems, and food chains), then earth science (rocks and soil, changes on Earth, and natural resources), next is physical science (energy and sound), and then space and technology (patterns in the sky, solar system, and science in our lives).

I wish I had the opportunity to see science being taught so that I have an idea of what to do in my own classroom as well as see what works with kids and what doesn’t.

When talking with my CT about my science lesson planning, she recommended that I maybe do a review because the other teacher may not like it if I interfered with what she is going to be teaching the students. Since I am not sure what exactly the students have done and I don’t want the students to repeat a lesson, I found an engineering activity to do with the students using gumdrops and toothpicks to build a dome. The students will then build as many domes as they think they will need in order for the domes to support the weight of books. I am excited to teach this lesson to the students on Wednesday!

Here is a link to the activity I found courtesy of PBS Kids sent in by Tunisia of MO.

In my future classroom, I want to be sure to crosscut content. Crosscutting is something that we are continuously learning about at ISU. I want to be sure to incorporate science throughout the day and integrate it into other subjects as well. I was able to look through the teacher’s manual for literacy and was excited to see a science activity incorporated into the lessons. Science is something that I always enjoyed when I was younger because it was hands on and a lot of experiments were used. I want to be sure to provide my students with active activities for them to take part in to help their learning and understanding of the content being taught rather than just direct instruction.

My Social Studies Lesson Reflection

Hi everyone! Last week I implemented my first lesson in my clinical classroom. We did an activity on global trade and created a web using yarn to represent how global trade connects the different communities/countries around the world. Here is my reflection on the lesson!!

Upon reflecting on my lesson, I felt as though it was strong and went well with the first class. However, I did not feel that way with the second time I did it with my class. With the first class, the activity flowed nicely and we were able to make a deeper connection with what the students have previously learned. The students were able to create a visual representation and describe how the world is connected through global trade without much problem. With my class, when Kira was there, I felt as though the activity was a disaster. We were to create a web to represent global trade and many of the students were pulling at the yarn or letting go of their piece. By the end of the lesson I did not feel as confident that the students met my objectives for this lesson.

            I personally thought that the hook that I used grabbed their attention. Once I showed them the yarn and asked them what they though we were going to do with it, many of the students had some great ideas and some were even correct about what we were going to be creating. After I hooked the students’ attention, I was able to link the lesson to prior knowledge of what they have done the week before as well as the days leading up to my lesson. Looking back at my implementation, I wish I had made more connections to what they had been learning about global trade the days leading up to my lesson.

            While presenting the students with the new information that I was really explicitly teaching, I went very fast. I should have slowed down a little more and added more information to the matter. I am glad that I added pictures that represent global trade into my explicit instruction. I hade two small pictures that I presented to the class; if I were to do this lesson again, I would either enlarge the pictures or provide multiple copies.  After I showed the students the pictures I had them turn to a partner to talk about what they thought they represent. While they were talking with a partner, I was very pleased with what the discussions I was hearing going on, although I did find it hard to really be able to listen to multiple. I know that as I become more experienced I will be able to listen to multiple students at once. I am pleased with the way I was able to use attention getters to gain back the students’ focus. I used an attention getter that the class was already familiar with and they responded very well to it.

            While reflecting on my chosen assessment strategies I had planned to use during my lesson, I found that they are also something that I am going to need practice using. I had originally planned to use a checklist during my lesson but while I was implementing it I felt rushed, which I did rush, and unable to even think of the students name quickly.  

            I felt that my informal assessments throughout the lesson were very helpful and very strong; I was asking the students to raise their hand if they agreed with another student’s answer as well as checking to see if the students were turning appropriate cards over and using the correct words and prompt. It was very easy to see the students understanding of buying a good from another community and selling of their communities good through the use of the cards. In the future, I would have the students explain why they are doing what they are a little more. The active application took longer than I expected. If I were to do this lesson again with the same amount of time, I would only give the students 1 trade card. This would help with the struggle I had to keep things moving during the activity as well as students trying to buy another item/good when they had already bought one. I am glad that I provided the students with a prompt that said “My community produces _________, who would like to buy my community’s item?” I felt as though this prompt helped me to see and identify the students where were struggling with the activity and their understanding of global trade.

            Another formative assessment that included was through the use of the yarn/web. This web helped me to know that the students were able to work together to create a web that would represent global trade. After the activity, I asked the students several questions related to the activity. With my class, I felt rushed during this part because I felt as though I was loosing the students’ attention and focus. I should have paused and gotten control over the students again before moving on with the questioning. I realized throughout this lesson that time is something that is very hard to manage.

            In the future, I will definitely consider adding more guidelines for the yarn use and provide more practice and examples ahead of time. I will also think of more ways in which the activity could go wrong and strategies I can use to fix those problems. I now know that in lessons to come I need to really add more into my explicit instruction because that is really where the teaching of the content takes place. Throughout the implementation of my lesson with my class I was losing energy and did get a little frustrated with the way things were flowing. In the future I need maintain a high energy level and examine what it is that is making the activity or lesson get a little bumpy and fix the problem right then.  This lesson implementation helped me better understand my students and also gave me insight to how I should plan future lessons for this class. 

Thanks for reading!! :)

Social Studies in 3rd Grade

What have you noticed about social studies instruction and assessment in your setting?

• When does it take place? Does it take place? Think critically.
• What does it encompass?
• During social studies instruction, what does your CT do/ say?
• What do students do/ say? How do they respond?
• What are your opinions/ feelings about this?
• How does what you observe about social studies at this site connect with past clinical experiences/ early childhood theories/ and or social studies practices you have been learning about at ISU?
• How does knowing this inform what you will do when teaching and assessing social studies (either this semester, next semester in student teaching, and/or next year)?

In the 3^rd grade classroom at Oakland Elementary that I am placed my CT teaches two classes social studies. At 1:30 my class goes over to the other 3^rd grade classroom for science while the other comes in for social studies. At 2:00, the classes switch back to their homeroom for the other subject. It is definitely interesting to see the differences of the two classes during social studies instruction. The lessons are scheduled to last 30 minutes. Since I have started clinical, I have really only had the opportunity so see social studies instruction once because of my CT being gone one week, ISAT preparation, and ISAT testing.

The one lesson that I had the opportunity to see was about activists.  To introduce the lesson, my CT talked with the class about the different activist. While talking about each individual in history when a student would raise their hand, she would allow them to talk or make a comment because typically the students had questions or either additional information about the activist. Even if the students were wrong or not too sure about the information, my CT did not shut them down instead she would say things like “oh wow, I did not know that”. She would also thank them for their information or ask them questions about the information they were presenting. I liked that she also took those opportunities as a learning experience for herself.

Once she was done giving the students instructions, she gave the students the option to choose which activist they wanted to study and thank the students who changed groups because there were either too many people in a group or not enough. Once the class was split into groups and assigned an activist to study. Within their groups they were to discuss which job each person was going to have whether it be the leader, sculptor, recorder, or reader. The students were to read about their activist, present information to the rest of the class, and create a sculptor based off of information they learned to represent their activist.  I was unable to see the students present the information, but I think that it would have been interesting to see.

 I personally love the way my teacher provides the students with an active learning experience rather than just direct instruction. During read aloud time, I had the opportunity to read a story about an activist to the class. When I had finished reading the book to the class, my CT keeps the books on display in the classroom for the students to be able to look at and also provides them with additional books regarding the same topic. My CT does a good job with incorporating and cross-cutting content across the subjects. Cross-cutting content is something that I have been learning about at ISU.  

In my future classroom, I want to be sure to also incorporate social studies throughout the day an integrate it into other subjects as well. I also want to provide the students with hands on activities during my social studies lessons. Today, March 19, I am actually teaching my social studies lesson to the students about global trade and the affect it has on our community. Although I am nervous to teach it and about how it will go, I am excited to be doing an activity that will provide the students with an active role in their learning as well as creating a visual representation of the content being learning.

Here is a link that provides you with a video of the activity I will be performing with the students.

Click on 9. How Does Global Trade Affect Our Community?

Enjoy!!

Literacy Focus

LITERACY FOCUS
Having spent two weeks in your clinical classroom, you have become acclimated with the literacy instruction in your setting. Draw on that knowledge in this discussion.

What have you noticed about literacy instruction and assessment in your setting?

• When does it take place?
• What does literacy instruction encompass?
• During literacy instruction, what does your CT do/ say?
• What do students do/ say? How do they respond?
• What are your opinions/ feelings about this?
• How does what you observe about literacy at this site connect with past clinical experiences/ early childhood theories/ and or literacy practices you have been learning about at ISU?
• How does knowing this inform what you will do when teaching and assessing literacy (either this semester, next semester in student teaching, and/or next year)?

What other additional reflections/ concerns/ questions/ musings do you have after spending these last few weeks on the site? Use your own experiences, especially those from your activity log for the last few weeks.

After spending 2 weeks in my clinicals classroom so far, I have learned a couple things about the literacy instruction in the classroom, something I feel as though I did not have the opportunity to learn much about in previous clinical placements. Even though the first week I was at my placement I was unable to see much literacy instruction because it was a “special day” and they had other activities planned, I was able to see it the second week. Literacy in the 3^rd grade classroom is incorporated throughout the day in basically every subject someway or another. The class begins with morning routine and spelling for about 30 minutes. During spelling, the students are to work on their spelling that is provided to them on the SMARTboard as well as on a worksheet. The students are to practice writing the spelling words in cursive and once they are finished they are to find an additional creative way to practice writing their spelling words, whether it be writing them in different colors, a triangle, or any other way the students come up with. Based on what I have learned in previous classes at ISU, it is great to have the students practice writing the words in different forms to help promote their learning.

            Next, the students have reading for about 45 minutes. The students are usually reading in groups, with a partner, as a class, or on their own. My CT has been trying out literature groups in the classroom. In each group the students are to read the provided book aloud to each other and then complete worksheets as a groups. Since the students get a little side tracked during this time, it has not been working out so well. The students take a while to get into their groups, open up to the right page, decide who is reading, and figure out who is going to read next. While the students are in their groups, my CT walks around to each group helping them and making sure they are staying on track. Although I do like the idea of literature groups in a 3^rd grade classroom, in my opinion, I feel as though it does take some time away from the students because it does take them so long to get everything situated in the groups. I think that if I were to do this in my own classroom I would assign the groups a designated area in the classroom for them to meet as well as a bin for them to place their books, worksheets, and other materials in so that everything would be ready to go when it is literature group time.

            After lunch, the students have DEAR, Drop Everything And Read, time. The students are either doing silent reading or reading aloud as a class for 30 minutes. The students are able to pick a book of their choice and are free to sit anywhere in the room where they are comfortable. I think that allowing the students to do that is important to them as readers and I have also learned in Dr. Sanden’s class that the students should have the opportunity to sit in other locations than their desk to read. Once the students have completed the book they have been reading, they are to take a reading test on the computer for scholastic points.

            Next the students have writing for about 30 minutes. Throughout the day my CT incorporates a lot of use of technology through the SMARTboard. From only being there for two weeks, I haven’t been able to see this implemented very much. I do know that the students have pen pals with the elderly at a nursing home near by. In previous literacy classes I have taken here at ISU, I have learned that it is very important to provide the students with a variety of audiences to write for.

            I am able to see many different things that I have learned at ISU in my clinical placement in a 3^rd grade classroom. I am also able to see a small group instruction and assessments with a couple of students. The assessments my CT uses during this time are generally fluency checks of having the students read aloud a selection and her scoring them as they read. I think that in my future classrooms I would like to use her method of assessing the students and also using running records on the students.

One great activity I was able to see a student do was present a book report. In this project, the students are to read a chapter book, preferable a mystery, and present a book report to the class. They are to create a mobile that includes the plot, the mystery, outcome, and other information they find in the book. While the students are presenting to the class, my CT sits there with a rubric and is able to provide them with their grade right after they are finished. One thing about this that I really liked was how the class was to provide the presenter with “stars”, things they liked about the report, to the reported after they have finished. In Dr. Sanden’s class, we had to do something very similar but we also included “wishes”.

At the end of the day while the students are lining up to be dismissed, my CT pages out of a book to the students. I really like this idea because I feel as though it helped calm the students and make what can be a chaotic time into a relaxing time.

I would like to end with a quote from Frank Serafini..

“There is no such thing as a child who hates to read; there are only children who have not found the right book”

This quote assures me that I want to be the kind of teacher that helps my students find books that are enjoyable and interesting for them to read.

The Continents Workjob

This is my first geography workjob the I created using a file folder which is to be used in a 3rd grade classroom.

Workjobs are provided for the students to use in their free time or when they have finished their work early. This workjob helps students work on their mapping skills of the 7 continents and may be worked on individually or with a partner.

First the students must place the continent pieces in their appropriate location the the map (Earth). Then to get practice naming the continents, the students are to label each one using the provided pieces.

Once the students have finished, there is a self-assessment on the back of the folder that shows the correct locations and labels so the students are able to check their answers as they go.

This workjob aligns with Illinois Standard IL 17A.

Introductory Post: A Little About Me

• Write a brief paragraph introducing yourself to the blogging world
• Review the course learning objectives in the syllabus, the COE professional teacher dispositions, and your own reflections from past clinical and course experiences and map out at least four goals that you carry for yourself for this semester. What do you want to focus on? Improve in? Learn about? Think deeply as this will guide your work in this final clinical experience.

Hey there! My name is Margaret Welbourne. I am 22 years old and a senior at Illinois State University majoring in Early Childhood Education with the Special Education letter of approval. YAY! I am from a small town in southern Illinois called Jerseyville. Not many people know where it is or have even heard of it. For those of you who don't know, it is right around St. Louis; I consider St. Louis my Chicago. I have known that I want to be a teacher since 1st grade, mainly because my 1st grade teacher had such a great impact on my life. I have 2 nephews and 1 niece who have captured my heart. Last semester when I was placed in a first grade classroom for clinicals I told my nephew Lane, who is in 1st grade, and he whined "UHHH!!! I want you to be my teacher!" Him saying something as simple as that really just melted my heart and made me realize just how much I want to be a teacher. I want to be a teacher because I want to be that person that children feel comfortable talking to and look up to as a role model. I want to make for sure that my students are provided with the best opportunity for education to support them as learners. I want to incorporate different activities into the curriculum that support their needs, interests, willingness to learn. 

The first goal that I have set for myself this semester is to boost my confidence. I am generally a fairly shy and soft-spoken individual. From my previous clinical experience, my cooperating teacher and I both agreed that confidence is something that I need to work on. I need to have confidence in myself when I am teaching lessons and not be afraid of messing up. Even if I do mess up, I need to acknowledge the mistakes I make and move forward and learn from them without it getting to me. 
Another goal that I have set for myself is to work on my classroom management. This is something that in the past I have struggled with implementing right away. It is important for me to set my expectations for the class right away. I have learned that while presenting lessons to the students that the classroom rules and expectations need to be address before the activity as well as reminding the students throughout the lesson. 
I would also like to work on building better and stronger relationships with my CT. In the past during my clinical experiences my CT's expectations weren't always clear on what it was exactly she would have liked me to do. I had a CT who would have me do something with the students and then would raise her voice at the students when they were doing something with me. This would make me feel as though I wasn't doing it right or would really just confuse me. 
The last goal I have set for myself this semester is to really get to know the students in my classroom. It is really important to understand their strengths and weaknesses. I want to be able to meet each student's individuals needs when I am implementing each lesson to make sure that they are being provided with the optimal learning experience to promote their growth as learners. 

 EXTRA! EXTRA!
Here are 17 Signs You Were Meant To Be A Teacher from fellow blogger, Kate Bailey.