Day 12

This marks snow day number 5. Our last snow day before the school district starts taking days away from break. Boy or boy, I could not believe how much snow fell today. Maybe a good 8 inches and then freezing rain on top of that. It was not the best snow for sledding, but that did not stop many hopeful children from doing so. Snow days are not just rest for teachers, it is a time to plan and catch up on any grading that needs to be done. For me, I will be preparing my first ELA lesson for my observation on Tuesday February 11th. Enjoy the snow!

Teacher tips:

1) Use snow days affectively!

2) Try not to sleep in too long because that will play with your daily schedule. 

Tomorrow:

February 6, 2014

During P.I. the students will finish any unfinished work. We will work on prefixes and the students will complete my UDHR lesson up to the QR activity. If they have time, they will start of the essay which will act as an assessment. 

Quote of the day:

"Though no one can go back and make a brand new start, anyone can start from now and make a brand new ending." ~ Carl Bard

Day 11

At last, a full day of school! Not only was it a full day of school but it was a school filled with determined teachers and three student teachers!

First period: All of out students came into the classroom to finish the social studies government unit test they did not finish last Friday. The period was a success, all of the students finish except for two. One was absent on Friday and the other needs double time in order to finish their test. 

 Second period: Mrs. Stern took it away today by teaching the students some economics terms. All of the students were disgruntled at first, but Mrs. Stern's energetic teaching style got them engaged. For homework they will have to make ten index cards with the meaning and the definition on the back in order to practice for the next test.

Third period used to be D.A.R.E., but now that all of our fabulous students have graduated from the program, it will be replaced by science. Now the students will have two science periods throughout the day instead of one. Good thing because they have a big classification test coming up on the 6th of February. The students used this period to study for their test with partners. It was truly effective and both the general education students and the special education students knew their material! I can smell fantastic grades on this upcoming science test.

Fourth period: This is our math block. The students watched a Math antics video on percents and fractions. The students were mind blown when they found out a percent is a fraction! We stopped the videos after about 30 seconds and discussed what was going on, talking about the denominator, numerator, and what those words really mean. After whaching those videos, the content seemed to be reinforced into the students a bit more. Math is a struggle for a lot of students, but we are trying our best to make it entertaining and easier to understand. 

Fifth period/sixth period: lunch and recess

Eleanor Roosevelt, what an inspiration!

 Seventh period: The continuation of my UDHR lesson! Last Friday we went over articles 1, 2, and 16. First things first we went over those three articles, and then we dove into articles 17, 23, 25, and 28. The students continued to watch the one minute videos with me, discuss the article, and then make up our own summary together that I would write on the board for everyone to see. Tuesday seemed to be a bit better than Friday because we got through 4 of the articled as opposed to 3. It also helped that we had three adults in the room: my cooperating teacher, a CTA, the writing teacher, and a sub. Each adult stood by a child who has trouble concentrating and the lesson moved along slowly. Tomorrow or Thursday depending on the snow, the students will complete a QR code adventure I designed for them, as well as the Engage New York Lesson 5 packet on the UDHR. Then on Thursday or Friday depending on snow, the students will write their essay on what Human Rights means to them and they must show examples. I believe in my students and my teaching, they will all succeed!

Eighth period: Half of the class went to band so we turned the class into a read aloud. I read the book, The Lotus Seed by Sherry Garland. I read this book during one of the C.I.R.C.L.E meetings at school and I feel in love with the deeper meaning and knew the students in this class would love it as well. After reading the book we all spoke about what their special good luck charm was or if they had a family heirloom that will be passed down to them. The students responded very positively to this book and really enjoyed the fact that it was a cultural book, they wanted to know more about the Vietnamese culture, so I told them as much as I could without straying away from the story. One of the students even raised their hand and said they thought the Lotus seed was a symbol of the grandmother in the book. This sign of higher thinking was amazing to witness. Once she said that it got the whole class thinking and they started piggy backing ideas off of each other. Needless to say I think the read aloud was very successful. Although next time I will read them a book on a higher reading level. 

After school I met with my Mount Saint Mary College Supervisor. Her name is Dr. Lewis and she will be observing me three times during my first student teaching experience. She came to Crompond School today to introduce herself to Ms. Barber and myself, and to plan for my first observation. My first observation will be Tuesday February 11, 2014. That day I will have to have a Mount Saint Mary Special Education Lesson Plan ready and a killer lesson just like every other time I teach. This seems a little intimidating, but I know everything will be just great! 
Teacher tips:
1) Never be the last one in the building in the morning!

2) Follow the rules of the school at all times. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Tomorrow
January 5, 2014
The forecast looks like a lot more snow coming our way. We may or may not have a snow day. For the sake of learning lets hope there is school tomorrow! 

Quote of the day:

"You're braver than you believe and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think." 
~Christopher Robin

Day 10

Hello first snow day of student teaching!

I never thought I would ever say this before...I'm kind of upset we didn't have school. I'm really starting to like all of my new students! Today is a day to not only relax but to plan, plan, plan. Getting ready for Tuesday! Have you ever read tuesday's with Morrie, if not try and take the time to read it. You will not be disappointed.

Tomorrow
January 4, 2014
Hopefully it will be a full day of school and no delays. Fingers crossed! Everyone stay warm and safe.

Quote of the day:

"Without love, we are birds with broken winds." ~Mitch Albom

Day 9

Looks like in the teaching profession you will have your short days and your long days. Today was definitely filled with a variety of obstacles. The day started out when the announcements went over the P.A. Today's slogan was about safety: It is easy as an ABC 'Always Be Careful.' I also heard over the announcements that the fifth grade has a library club that meets at 11:45 in the library weekly. These students meet once a week and discuss a book they all read on their own. In Mrs. Stern's classroom, the Do Now was to give an example of literal language and figurative language. Some students came up with draw the drapes,  break a leg, and kill two birds with one stone. 

During first period with Mrs. Stern the students went over classification and the six kingdoms. 

Second period, the students started their social studies unit test. Since all of the students are obligated by their IEP to have the tests read to them, we split the room into three groups and did just that. 

Third period the students went to Physical Education. For many of the student in this class, Physical Education is their favorite period. Ms. Barber and I spent this time preparing for the next lesson, and we even took some time to celebrate our CTA, Mrs. Bilton's Birthday with a beautiful little cake and our favorite Happy Birthday ditty! 


Fourth period the students took their math quiz. All week Ms. Barber has given each student certain worksheets on percentages and fractions for homework. Those same questions from the worksheets were actually the questions given to them on their quiz. Many of the students memorized the answers but only some of the students could explain why they got that answer. After seeing those results we knew we would have to back track a little bit and teach the material in a different way in order for all of the students to understand. 

Fifth/sixth period was lunch and recess. During this time, Ms. Barber had to address some pressing matters, and concerns a parent had with the curriculum. She met with both the principal and the school psychologist in order to handle the situation in the most professional way. 



Seventh period was the first time I had the opportunity to take over a lesson! When the students came back from recess I asked them all to grab a dictionary from the shelf, find their seat, and think about what they are grateful for. I had them think about what they are grateful for because we has a lot of material to get through that afternoon. After sharing a few things they were grateful for we started our lesson. I put the students into groups they were in previously while they were making a hard copy of article one of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. During this time I asked the students to use their dictionary skills to look up the words: brotherhood, conscious, dignity, and empowered. I had the students read the definition and then we created our own together and they wrote it down on their large copy to remember. Then I asked all of the students to go back to their seats to further the lesson. I used the SMARTboard to pull up the website, youthforhumanrights.org. On the home page there is an inspirational 9 minute video that will play automatically and it is great to watch, but I did not use it in my lesson. Instead, I handed the students a worksheet with articles 1, 2, 16, 17, 23, 25, and 28. The language is tough to understand, therefore I used the videos on the website, 30 videos-30 rights in order to give new meaning to the articles and to reinforce the learning process. After we watched the videos which are only about 1 minute long, I had the students discuss the video and together we wrote down a summary for them to remember because at the end of this lesson they will have to write an essay on them. We were able to get through articles 1, 2, and 16 successfully, but then we had to go to 8th period for a guest speaker.

Eighth period was dedicated to our guest speak Mr. Rick Cerrone. The students have been learning about three forms of government for the past five weeks, and one of those governments was the Communist Dictatorship, specifically in Cuba. You're probably thinking, what does this have to do with a man who writes about baseball. Excellent question, Mr. Cerrone not to be confused with the catcher, worked with the Yankees for many years. Enough years to collect six World Series rings! Anyway, he worked closely with El Duque (Orlando Hernandez). El Duque used to live under the laws of a Comminust Dictatorship when he was younger, but when he became a shining star in baseball he looked into leaving his country. Now when you leave Cuba there are some serious repercussions, not only is the person who leaves dubbed a traitor, but they are never allowed to go back to Cuba again. But that is not all, if El Duque was to ever speak out against Castro or the Communist party his family would be beaten or killed. Mr. Cerrone had the opportunity to tell the students about what El Duque was like when he first came to America. He even shared a story with the students that made all of their jaws drop [did you like my figurative language :)]. He told the students about a time when they took the players shopping and El Duque had never been in a super market before, so when he saw an aisle dedicated to hi favorite soft drink he fell to his knees and started crying tears of joy because he had never seen anything like that before. The students could not believe this story because they see these things daily. 

What a day it was and how exciting too. Happy Friday!


Teacher tips:
1) If a student is an excellent artist and you find them always doodling, have them draw a picture during their major subjects in order to remember the material.

2) If the students are having a difficult time remembering the word as a class, play a friendly game of hang man and then have them look it up in their notes. Example: Taxonomy 


Monday
(Starts our first day of school in February)
February 3, 2014
Apparently snow is in our forecast so we will see what Monday brings. As for planning we have social studies tests to finish, math tests to be taken, and DIBELS/DAZE to be finished. 

Quote of the day:

BE S.M.A.R.T.!

S ay please and thank you

M ake friends and be thoughtful

A rrive on time, prepared, and ready to learn

R espect yourself and others

T ry your best!

Day 8

Today went by very quickly! 

Period 1 the students went to the library. The man who teaches library asks the other teachers to sit in the class while he teaches. During this period the students went over plot once more and it was definitely more successful than the last time. 

Period 2 was physical education for the students and the teacher's prep. During that time I graded fluency packets that were assigned to the students last week. 

Period 3 was our math block. We worked on fractions. What is a half, what is less than a half, and what is more than a half. The students used fraction bars and their resources to participate in the lesson. At the end of the lesson each student had to come up to the board and put a fraction in the SMARTboard vortex lesson. If it was right then it went into the vortex but if it was wrong it would spiral out again. This vortex assessed if the students understand the concept we were teaching. Not only did they have to drag and drop the fraction but they also had to explain why it was right or wrong.

Period 4- Science with Mrs. Stern. Mrs. Stern went over the 5 Domains and stressed the acronym King Philip once more.

Period 5- P. I. Half of the group was assessed with DIBELS oral reading fluency while the rest of the class finished their Donavan's Word Jar story. 

Period 6: Lunch/ Prep/ Graded DIBELS

Period 7: Our ELA time block. I continued to grade fluency packets, the students that needs to finish their social studies vocabulary test had the opportunity to do that during this time. When everyone was finished with their test, each student filled out a reflection of the week. What they learned that week, what they had trouble with, a new vocabulary word, and their favorite subject that week. 

Period 8: The Heart lesson. The students were read a story about respect and were spoken to about the new bus rules. I did not get to stay for the entire lesson because there was a serious issue that unwrapped during lunch time that my teacher had to address.

Unfortunately there was a case of good touch and bad touch at lunch today. Four of our students were involved, therefore my cooperating teacher had to handle the situation. She pulled aside each student and spoke to them individually and then everyone together. I learned how to handle an uncomfortable situation such as that and the proper steps you need to take such as calling the students parents and having a meeting with the principal because according to PBIS that is a major offense. 

Teacher tips:
1) Handle every situation that you come upon professional. Someone is always watching.

2) There are always two sides to a story. Please listen to both and try not to point fingers. 

Tomorrow:

January 29,2014

Our second dress down day will be tomorrow in honor of the Chinese New Year. Everyone will have the opportunity to wear red shirts for good luck :) 

Quote of the day:

"Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement, nothing can be done without hope and confidence." ~ Helen Keller 

Day 7

Yet another delay for the Yorktown Central School District. This time there was a two hour delay which means that we had 20 minute periods except for lunch, that was 40 minutes. Since today is Wednesday we got a new word of the week. We actually got two words this week, literal language and figurative language. After the announcements we took the students to physical education for a lesson about researching the Olympics. During this time, Ms. Barber and I went to a meeting about organizing a school trip to the UN. Mrs. Fazio and Ms. Barber showed me an example of a proposal and the permission slip that must be handed in to the principal. The three of us sat down to talk about an alternate assignment the students can do if they do not go on the trip. Thinking about my past experiences with school trips I couldn't help but hunk about a virtual tour. I have the teachers this suggestion and they loved it. Based on the virtual tour, the three of us were also able to create an assessment the two different groups could complete. In my opinion it was a very successful meeting! 

During second period I observed Mrs. Stern's social studies class. Since they have a unit test on Friday, the class went over the necessary flow charts the students have to memorize. When class was over they were all asked to put their binders in their backpacks to study for their unit test. I stayed in Mrs. Stern's class for a few minutes after social studies to peek at what they (general education) were doing in math class. I saw that they were proficient in adding and subtracting fractions. During our math class we were learning about percents and slowly getting into fractions. 

Next period was science class with Mrs. Alessi. The students worked independently on a classification graphic organizer that they will see on their test. When the class finished, Mrs. Alessi pulled sticks to partner up all of the student so that they could check their work with a peer. If a student did not finish in time, Ms. barber and Mrs. Alessi would assist them. They also went over the very famous acronym Dear King Philip Came Over For Good Spagetti. There will be a science quiz next Thursday February 6th. The students also have a D.A.R.E essay due on February 4th.

The next period was lunch. After lunch, it was time for ELA. The students were asked to write two reasons why they are important. This will prepare the students for their google docs pen pal. They will be sending their pen pal a poem about why they are important. After sharing a few thoughts and comments, we went on to teach a lesson about the prefixes: in, pro, and im. After a successful lesson, it was time for the students to take their social studies vocabulary test.  The students were given two types of tests that counted as one. One half of the test was multiple choice, and the other half was fill in the blank. All of the students must have their test read to them because it is stated in their IEP, except for two students. 

Since each student cooperated and performed well on their test, we decided to reward their good behavior with Kid Chat questions. The question of the day was: if you could have 8 more ears, eyes or mouth, which one would you choose and why? One of the students replied, " I would like 8 ears to hear my brother sneaking up on me." Another student said, " I would like 8 mouths so I can eat more."

The next question was: what two things would you mix together to see what it would make? The most interesting mixture was orange juice and grape soda. Before we knew it was time to walk the students to the buses. 

After school we had a full staff curriculum meeting. I had the opportunity to sit in with everyone and I really felt like I was part of the team because a lot of the staff knows me now. In the meeting the principal spoke about the abominable student bus behavior. 

Next week the students will each go to bus assemblies based on the bus they ride daily. In the assembly the students will learn about bus behavior and the new incentives they will get if they act respectfully. A heart ticket will be awarded to the entire bus if there is no foul language or horse play. If the bus collects a certain number of tickets they will become the bus of the week and the bus will receive a giant stuffed bus. The stuffed bus will stay with the bus for the entire week. Also starting February 3, 2014 the physical education teachers will start announcing special facts about the Olympics during morning announcements. They will also be calling special days where they will ask the students to wear a color of the Olympic Rings and they will learn about the significance of the ring that day. The physical education teachers are extremely creative! 

Teacher tips:

1) Experiences are the building blocks for your future.

2) Study tool: Use pot it notes and cover up the answers on your flow charts

3) Change up your dive steps of writing: brain storming, sloppy copy, don't forget about revising, editing, and publishing. Makes it easier for students to remember.

4) Use a large index card to break up instructions and problems on worksheets and tests.

5) If possible have different furniture in your classroom such as a bean bag or a rocking chair,

6) Word banks are okay to use in 5th grade. 

Tomorrow

January 28, 2014

I will witness my first "Heart" lesson. Keep in mind a Heart lesson is not about the human heart.

Quote of the day:

"Don't limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as your mind lets you. What you believe, you can achieve." ~Mary Kay Ash

Day 6

This Tuesday at Crompond Elementary School was Teq Tuesday. One Tuesday a month, the teachers from each grade have two hours to learn about useful technology in the classroom. For the first two hours of the school day, the fifth grade team went down to the computer lab to learn how to use google docs. After learning about the topic of the day, I grew very excited because I knew a great deal about google docs, therefore I could show my cooperating teacher all the knowledge I have using this technology. During the class I even learned a few new things such as, nutmeg education.com and we transfer.com. Nutmeg is a website equip with excellent lessons for math class and we transfer is a website you can use to send large files to other people such as SMARTboard lessons (you can also send them through google docs). In conclusion the training lesson on technology was extremely frustrating for the older teachers.

Once we got back into the classroom it was time to get work done. Immediately we had the class sit down and listen to what they will be doing during this period. Each student was asked to do three things. They were asked to finish their Donavan's Word Jar story, once they finished that there was a review worksheet for their government vocabulary quiz, if they finished that then there was a science classification sheet (o prepare for their test next week) they could work on independently. Each assignment is tailored to every students individual needs this way they can complete the work without any help. All of the students are also encouraged to use their resources when they are completing these assignments. 

While each student is working quietly and diligently my cooperating teacher and I will be testing each student using the DIBELS oral reading fluency assessment. When the period ended, we escorted the students to art class. While the students were at art we prepped for the afternoon then went to lunch. 

After lunch is our ELA block.  When the students entered the room they read the directions on the board: 1) Sit quietly, 2) close your eyes, 3) reflect silently on your day and think about being grateful.

When the students have been quiet for five minutes they were asked to go back to their seats and to take out their writing notebook. It was time to go over the word of the week, analyze. Each student was given a graphic organizer that allowed them to write the word, the definition, write it in a sentence, write a synonym, and draw a picture. We filled out the graphic organizer as a class. 
The remainder of the day was dedicated to context clues, prefixes, suffixes,and root words. All of these topics will help increase all of the students comprehension. To reinforce all of these topics we watched brain pop junior videos on context clues and prefixes. 

With five minutes left in the period, we decided to stop what we were doing and to have each student sit on the rug. Ms. Barber took out this book called Kid Chat. Inside it was filled with thought provoking questions interesting targeted towards elementary school students. The first question asked, what kind of animal would you be and why? What would you do during the day? One student answered saying they would be a lion and they would chase turtles all day, whereas another student said they wanted to be a shark because they would be the top of the food chain. Since we had time for one more, the students chose another question. This time the question was, are you afraid of anything? With thirty seconds left in the period, one student answered saying they were afraid of being alone. Hearing this student's answer made everyone think about how grateful they are to have such a great support system at home. Everyday these students are becoming more grateful :)

Teacher tips:

1) Always post your learning target where the student can reference it easily.

2) Always reference your learning target throughout the lesson to keep your students on point.

3) Asking for help can be very difficult, but you will not regret it. 

Tomorrow

January 27,2014

I will be debriefed on the school's behavior policy called PBIS. It stands for Positive Behavior Instruction. We will also administer the Daze to our students.