Day 3

Today was not an ordinary day at Crompond Elementary School. My cooperating teacher was out with the stomach flu and the CTA in the room also called out sick. Even though there was a sub in the room, that still left me to step up to the plate. Happily I stepped up and took control of the classroom for two periods. Periods 1-3 were dedicated to our fantastic science fair! All of the fifth graders in the school set up their projects in the gymnasium and prepared from their daily presentations. Members of the Yorktown High School Science Research Class took a field trip to the Crompond Science Fair to show their support to the students giving presentations. Many of the fifth grade students were overjoyed when they had a high school student come and talk to them about their projects!

During period 4 Mrs. Alessi went over how to write an essay for their upcoming quiz. I really liked the way she presented the topic. Mrs. Alessi used the SMARTboard to write the essay, but she did not write the essay, she had the students add what they thought would be necessary to answer the question. Along the way she guided the students and steered them in the right direction. At the end, she printed out the final copy, highlighted the important facts and gave it to the special education students to study from. Period 5 was my time to shine! Since my cooperating teacher was absent I did not get to find out what P.I. meant. That will have to be my main goal for Monday. Anyway, none out of eleven students showed up to P.I. today and I had a little something for each of them to do. I decided to use the period as a time for the students to catch up. During social studies I went through all of their binders and wrote down any work they did not complete for homework or class work. Since it was an incredibly hectic week it was understandable for the students to have some missing work. I set up at least 3 worksheets for each student to complete. If they finished their worksheets then they had the choice of reading silently or showing off their reading skills to me. When the period was over I sent each student back to their home room for lunch. After lunch was another scheduled session of the science fair. Each student had to collect 20 interesting facts from their fellow fifth graders science fair projects. This assignment will be handed in for a grade tomorrow. 


 There were only about 35 minutes left in the day, so I took my eleven students and brought them back to the classroom. During my lunch break I created a quick version of government jeapordy to prepare the students for their quiz next week. I split the room in half and created two groups. I asked each group to create a name for themselves because from now on they will be working as a team. One team named themselves 'The Red Phonenix's' and the second named themselves 'The Blue Hawks.' Each question was worth two questions except the last question was worth five because it was a bonus. As the teams battled back and forth they proved to me that they have been not only paying attention in class but have also been studying at home. During the game we had two mental break downs that I think I handled well. One child was upset because he did not understand why he was wrong. I sat down next to the student and explained in detail the correct answer compared to the answer he gave. His spirits were a little crushed so I allowed him to read for a little bit to calm down. Ten minutes later I asked the student to join the game again and they did with high spirits. The second breakdown was with a different child who was under the impression that his team was ganging up on him and did not respect any of the answers he was putting forth. There were a few tears shed, but I took the child out into the hallway and we spoke for a little bit about the problem they were having. The child insisted that he wanted to keep playing the game, and apologized for having a tough day with an unstable schedule. I told the child he did not have to apologize this time and that he was getting every question right so far (which was true). He put on a smile, went back into the game and ended up winning the game for his team, The Red Phoenix's'. We were having a great time learning that I didn't want it to be the end of the day! 

Teacher tips:

1. Even when you don't have a plan, improvise and think what's best for the student.

2. In the event of a student breakdown, take a deep breath and handle the situation delicately.

3. Utilize all of the technology you are given! Some teachers are not as fortunate.

4. Take pictures of your students work, watch them grow throughout the year.

Tomorrow 

January 24, 2014

Friday is spirit day! The entire school will be wearing green shirts to celebrate. Friday will also be my second first full day of school :) I will also have the opportunity to teach two periods because my cooperating teacher is calling out sick again tomorrow. Wish me luck!

Quote of the day:
"Always do what you are afraid to do." ~Ralph Waldo Emerson