Fire Drills and Penguins

Monday
Today was one of those average days -- nothing exciting enough happened, but it wasn't horrible either.

Today was my first day teaching math! Overall it went well. We use a program on the computer which really seems to catch and hold the students' attentions. We just started graphing and the students are already doing well with it; although today was just basic stuff like figuring out the meaning of 'more,' 'fewer," and 'equal'. My cooperating teacher told me after the lesson that whenever she begins a new unit, she always does a pre-assessment first. I guess I'd noticed that before, but I never really applied it to what I when I would teach. There's always so much to
remember and I find myself forgetting things. Not terrible, though. Could've gone a lot worse.

Two of my guided reading group students were out today so my groups were smaller than usual. This was kind of nice because it allowed for more one-on-one attention and it gave me a better chance of working with the students deliberately on what they need extra help with.

Reading was fun too. Today was Earth Day so we talked a lot about that. We discussed recycling; what it means, what things we can recycle, and how to do it. They honestly didn't know much about this and it was cool to see them so interested in it. We also read a book about the earth and then did a tree craft. Turned out okay.

The rest of the day went fine too; nothing special to report.

Tuesday
We also had a sub today so the kids were a bit more noisy than usual. However, sometimes I enjoy teaching a bit more when my teacher isn't around. I just feel more in-control. And it doesn't seem like someone's watching me the whole time.

A picture actually taken during a
camping trip I took this weekend :)

We also had a fire drill today. Of course. I had a basic idea about what to do but generally had no clue. Luckily the sub helped me out. And the teacher next door. The kids weren't bad; although, a
fter, they had a ton of questions about it. It was cool to see them interested in the idea and curious about what to do if there was actually a fire.

Today in math we learned how to collect data. The kids asked their friends who liked certain foods better. They really liked the activity and they all seemed to catch on pretty quickly.

In guided reading we worked more with our flash cards and played a few games with those words.

During reading, we read read two books about bears -- one by Eric Carle and one non-fiction. Then, we did a bear art project. They seemed to like them. There were a lot of little parts involved and the kids were crazy throughout the project. It definitely takes a lot of patience during these little art projects. The kids are all in different places and always feel the need to come up to me and ask questions or seek clarification. Or, you know, just tell me random things.

Today was gym too. They weren't bad; not great either though.

Finally, we did our journal after gym. It was about Earth Day. The kids were actually pretty good with it. They stayed pretty quiet.

Wednesday
Guided reading went well today. I had made some new flashcards so the kids had new words to learn and look for in the books. They're doing pretty well at this. And they enjoy it more than other things.

We also read a book about bears and finished our art projects. They turned out really cute and the

Our bear projects. They turned out really well!

kids had a ton of fun with them. We also did some dictations on the white boards. After making sure that all of the kids had a board, a (working) marker, and an eraser, we got started. I read a word or a short sentence, containing mostly sight words, to the kids and they wrote them on the board before showing me and then erasing. They love the dry erase boards and they seemed to like the activity. However, it was tricky at first to make sure that they weren't just drawing pictures instead of actually doing the work. Overall, I think it went really well.

One of my more out-going students had already lost all of her stars by now. So, as a means of keeping her accountable for her behavior, since the behavior plan technically doesn't really apply to her now, I ended up making her sit out of play-doh time for about seven or eight minutes. She was really upset about it, crying even. I was fine with that -- she does it often. And it was the very first time I've seen her really impacted by any type of classroom management. Usually, when asked to pull a star, she just shrugs it off and keeps doing whatever it was. So, needless to say, it was encouraging to see her upset about being disciplined. It's going to be a battle with her.

Thursday
Today I brought in a video camera to record some footage for my Senior Seminar class projects. Of course, the kids saw it right away and got extremely excited. They wanted to know all about it. And then they kept walking in front of it, at least in the morning, waving their hands around and acting silly because they thought they would be on t.v. or something. After a while, the newness wore off. I think I got some solid footage too.

Thursdays mean library in the morning and then a long chunk of reading in the afternoon. Today we did some work on blends. The kids know a few blends -- the common ones -- but I don't think they quite get the concept yet. If you ask them what a blend is, they'll probably start talking about the kinds of foods you can make in a blender. Anyway, we did a cute activity with penguins today.

Each child got a little penguin with a picture on it. Each picture started with a blend (example: flower, school, drum, etc.). They were to identify the blend and then match the picture to the correct penguin blend. It was pretty fun. Each kid got a turn and it seemed to hold their attention for a little while. We also read a book that had a few blends in it and they tried to listen for the blends. That one didn't work out too well, but the book was cute.

Computers went fine. They were actually really good. The afternoon itself was pretty solid overall.

Friday
Today was a little bit crazy. It was a beautiful day and the kids were excited for the weekend. The management went okay overall.

Guided reading went well for the most part. The kids seemed distracted but they had fun on some of the little games we played. We've been trying to work on a few select words to get really good at them; however, they're still having trouble with a couple. I'd love to see them really pick these words up and have them in their little toolbox of words.

Reading went fine too. We read an Eric Carle book called The Foolish Tortoise and then made a
little art project about turtles. We also talked about opposites and the kids participated in an activity on the Smart-like board. They really liked that activity and their behavior imitated their interest.

Even though it took some time to make the activity, it was definitely worth it. I'm going to try to incorporate more of this in my lessons.

Gym was in the music room today because there was a first grade performance of a play happening in the gym itself. The kids were a bit confused by this but they adjusted pretty quickly. They weren't actually too bad after gym, surprisingly. We read a non-fiction book about turtles and tortoises before doing the surprise box. Because this was my first week of full teaching, the kids were still adjusting to my teaching styles and methods. So, needless to say, there weren't a whole lot of stars left on that behavior chart by today. I think there were only about seven or eight kids who got to go to the surprise box. So, my cooperating teacher and I spent some time planning out new strategies for classroom management for the next few weeks.

Honestly, Fridays have been worse. After school, I spent a good amount of time planning for next week. So, it's been a long but rewarding week. I'm excited to see what next week holds.