Week 1 (September 23 & 24) Journal
(school name and location removed for safety). The school caters to PreK – 1st grade students, not 2nd graders anymore this year. (sent. deleted for safety) I noticed corner street stores right by the school. Driving around, I saw a few other schools around the area, like schools #11 and #19. In the (kindergarten) classroom I am in, of the 21 students, 20 if not all of them are Hispanic including the three teachers in my assigned room. From previous experiences in the area, I know (deleted) has a large majority of Hispanic families, with a few African Americans and other races.
When I first walked into my assigned kindergarten class, I was welcomed by the special education (SPED) teacher and I think a teacher’s aide (I don’t remember the position of the latter). The cooperating teacher (CT) had not come to her room yet, but when she did, she was more than surprised to find me there. She was a little mad that she wasn’t “informed”. Although she said it wasn’t my fault or doesn’t blame me, I felt like she was a little mad at me for being there. The next day I found out why. She felt it was distracting to have so many adults in the room. The first day, including me there were four adults at first. Later, an observer from FBA came. So with five adults and others coming and going in and out of the room, my CT felt like her room was a circus. The other two teachers were nicer, but hopefully the CT will start to see me as an asset to her room and students rather than a distraction.
After the students came to their homeroom at the start of the day, I was a little surprised to see that they were provided breakfast. When I asked about it, the SPED teacher said the students got breakfast every day because many of the students came from low income families and don’t eat breakfast or at least a decent one. For example, the second day I went, a student didn’t want to eat the breakfast provided to him (he is a picky eater I heard). A teacher asked what he ate at home and he replied pretzels. She wasn’t satisfied and told him to eat it because he would be hungry again soon. Working with students whose families don’t have the means to provide (a healthy) breakfast everyday would definitely affect the performance and behavior of the students, especially young energetic children like these kindergarteners who need enough good food to grow and play.
Listening to the three teachers in the classroom and others in the teachers’ lounge, I heard many complaints about what they are required to do by people in “higher up” positions. They felt pressured and restricted with all the demands on them. One teacher was aggravated and said that she wasn’t going to do anything for anyone if she didn’t want to. She didn’t see the point of labeling words for the students based on tiers if the students didn’t understand the difference anyway. If I was to teach in that school in the future, I would probably feel like the teachers currently working there; unappreciated and lacking support. The fact that I am not fluent in Spanish in a school where the majority of the staff and students are Hispanic would also make me feel uncomfortable.
A lot went on in just 2 days. Something I think the three teachers could improve on is to not talk negatively about the students out loud right in front of them if the student is not being spoken to directly. The teachers did this once and the students would look up at the teachers a little nervous, thinking they might be in trouble or did something wrong. I loved the ABC songs on YouTube by Have Fun Teaching that my CT put on for her students while they were working. I realized little children like music and if it is educational, why not use YouTube as a resource?
So far I enjoyed the first week for the most part. Of course it will take time for us adults to adjust to each other. The amount of time spent in the school for practicum is also something my body and brain will have to get used to. But, the children make it worth it!
Week 2 (September 30 & October 1) Journal
I have enjoyed my time in the classroom more this week. I feel like the students and I are starting to form a good relationship. Many of the students are getting more comfortable around me and I am trying to get more involved in what the students do. One girl asked if I would be around when they were on the rugs while another boy gave me a quick hug later in the day. A quiet ESL student came up to give me his folder instead of giving it to another teacher and the same boy actually said bye to me at the end of the day on Wednesday! These might be typical actions the students do with their teachers, but for me, I found these to be signs that the students are really taking my presence in their classroom as a good thing which I am happy about.
This week, I have gone down to lunch with the students. Their lunch is around 45 minutes and the teacher’s aide stays with them. Spending this extra time with the students showed another side of them where they don’t have to be so serious and can talk as much as they want. I realized that little kindergarteners really need a lot of help; from the teacher going to the bathroom with them, tying their shoelaces, helping them with their lunch, cleaning up after them, etc. But they are young, so I didn’t mind! I also went to gym with the students again this Wednesday (the aide usually stays with them here too). This week, they played “bowling”. Some had a lot of fun while others were nervous to try something new, saying they couldn’t do it no matter how many times I said they can and should try.
One day during a math lesson, the SPED teacher was looking for a number song on YouTube in front of the students. A previous professor told my class that teachers should already have videos chosen before the lesson instead of browsing the internet right in front of the students. It wasn’t a big deal, but it did waste some time and there is always the chance that something inappropriate could appear, especially for younger children.
My CT does centers with her students and has 5 centers each for reading and math. In reading they have played educational games online at abcya.com, listened to stories being read, wrote sentences, etc. In math, they also played games online, did jigsaw puzzles, sorted pictures into categories, made patterns with manipulatives, etc. While the students are in their groups, I go around helping, observing, and working with them. Some students like to show us their work, while others need extra help and I try to work with a few of these students.
During one period, the students watched the Leap Frog Letter Factory DVD which I liked! I think I can use this for a future class of KG students or even younger children. I thought I could also show this DVD to other children I spend a lot of time with. I noticed the teachers in my room put a lot of songs for the students to learn their ABCs, numbers, days of the week, months in the year, adverbs, etc. The teachers also read a lot of books aloud. With this being said, I think I should implement some of these in my future lessons with young children!
Overall, this week has been enjoyable with a lot to take in and I look forward to next week. It feels like time is going by so fast already. Four days (2 weeks) of practicum are already done
Week 3 (October 7 & 8) Journal
A lot went on this Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday October 7, the teacher’s aid was absent and this makes a big difference in a kindergarten class of 21 students where they are used to 3 teachers. For example, the TA usually goes to lunch with the students, but since she wasn’t in, I was basically in charge of the students in the cafeteria, with some help from other teachers. Before that, I was asked to work individually with a student during reading centers who needs extra help. I was specifically told to teach him how to correctly hold a pencil using his special one since he would place his fingers in what looked like an awkward position. There was nothing wrong with his hands physically, but after a few attempts at showing him how to position his fingers around the pencil and even holding his hand, he would go back to what he was comfortable with/ use to doing after maintaining the position for a few seconds. I was trying to get him to write a few sentences as part of work from a center, and although he could write a few letters correctly, I was surprised that he needed a lot of help, which I noticed later.
When writing, he would say he can’t do it, but I would insist he can and needs to try. A few times he would even ask me to show him how to write certain letters, so I would on another paper. Step by step, I showed how for example, for a “k” make a long line going down, one little line going like this (showed him diagonally up) and one down (diagonally down). When some letters repeated, I would say he knows how to do it since we did it together. It wasn’t until I went to the computers with him to play capital/ lowercase alphabet bingo on abcya.com, did I realize, he didn’t recognize a lot of letters! In the game, a letter was said and the correct letter had to be clicked until a row was filled. I noticed he would randomly click letters until he saw he got it right. Because he had headphones on and I couldn’t hear to see if he chose the correct letter because he knew or randomly guessed, I told him to tell me the letters out loud. I started to write a few letters for him so he could match my letter with the one said on the screen. I also used the big ABC “flashcards” the teachers used during morning reading routines to show him how the letters looked. Eventually, after I showed him the cards for the letters said on screen, he started writing them on paper! I was pleased to see him do this on his own and doing a good job that I gave him a ticket (a reward system the teachers in my room set up) which he was really pleased with!
During math centers, the SPED teacher and I worked with groups of students to make monsters out of construction paper shapes. While they glued their paper shapes, I asked them what shape I was holding and suggested different shapes they use to make a funky looking monster. Later that day during science, the students had to color, cut, and paste the correct order of the life cycle of a pumpkin plant. Some students had difficulty with the sequencing, so while I went around the room, I asked them what order of the life cycle they remember from the pumpkin book that was read to them before the activity. The CT even modeled the correct order and it was on the board for reference, so I pointed to it while I explained and later on, some students brought up their work so I could compare their work with their teacher’s to see how they did.
Wednesday the 8th was picture day and it was nice to see the students excited with their hair-dos. The best part of this week was when the class went up to the playground on the roof for gym (because the gym was being used for pictures)! I didn’t know about it until I went up with them and I think the students didn’t either. They had so much fun on the seesaw, slides, and playing tag. I don’t like to just sit around, especially if there are younger children to interact with, so I walked around while they played, even playing a little “tag” with a few of them. Something I think the teachers could work on is to not sit around and chat, for example during gym, but rather go around and make sure the students are playing fair, don’t get hurt, are actually participating in gym, etc. Maybe because I was there the 2 teachers felt they didn’t need to get up, but I had to tell students to share, not jump off from high places on the gym set, or go up the slides (instead of down).
One thing I really like that the teachers say are the little sayings/ chants. For example, the teachers say, “I say, you say” for students to repeat information; “1, 2, 3 all eyes on me” to get the student’s attention, and “zip it, lock it, put it in your pocket” for the students to stop talking. I think these are really cute and creative, and would like to use these (if I remember to) when I teach!
With 3 weeks done and only 9 more to go, I am trying to make the most of my stay by getting as involved as I can with the students. I told my CT that if she ever needs anything to let me know since that is what I am here for and although she doesn’t tell me to do anything really, I observe, walk around, and interact with the students on my own (and have been since the beginning). I am continuing to get to know different students more as I talk, read, and work with them. I also go wherever they go as a class, i.e. lunch, gym, getting pictures taken, collecting leaves, etc. I know I will miss the students once I am done with practicum!
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