Tuesday:
Today has been rather boring because the children are testing, so I have taken two children out into the hall and read the test out loud to them, and honestly I think the questions are very difficult! When I was in third grade, I am confident that I wouldn't have been able to answer them because the wording is so challenging! And as a teacher, I know that it must be very difficult to prepare these students for the tests because they aren't an adequate representation of whether or not the students understand the concept because of the way the questions are worded and all of the steps that students must do to get full credit. Students can't simply add the numbers and achieve the right answer they have to answer a confusing question about it, which is mentally exhausting!
But, I am excited because later today I am returning to Britton to help out in Mrs. Hart's room for my Renaissance project! I will get to lead my own lesson about thanksgiving and my plan is to relate that even when they are having a bad day and life doesn't seem so good that there are things to be thankful for! I created my own lesson plan for this event, and we are doing tons of fun activities like building gummy bear towers and making turkeys out of feathers and then decorating them! Afterwards, we are going to play thanksgiving bingo! Because there are Renaissance Ambassadors coming from Davidson I know Mrs. Hart's students are going to have a blast because they have teenagers that they can look up to!
I am pleased to say that my project went so well, and I am so proud to have helped these students in so many ways. All of the students did such a great job, they listened to what I had to say, no one got angry with each other, and I felt like they thoroughly improved their social skills! I brought other Renaissance Ambassadors along with me, and it was evident that they were surprised by the fact that this was considered successful because the students were talking very loudly and were ignoring some of the instructions. One thing that I learned from all of this was a great way to grab student attention, and that was to turn off the lights! The students immediately quiet down and you can talk to them without interruptions! But, I haven't spent a lot of time in Mrs. Hart's classroom this year, but I have seen so much improvement with so many of the students, and I am so impressed. I love Mrs. Sutliff's class, but I love Mrs. Hart's just as much. When the event had ended, one of the students gave me a big hug and thanked me for what I had done, and I know that he truly learned something about being thankful.
Thursday:
Mrs. Sutliff is going to let me teach my own lesson! I am so excited to have the opportunity to actually get to teach and practice my classroom management skills! I will be so nervous, but I know it will be such a great experience. On the other hand, observations are going very well, I have truly observed the students blossoming. A few weeks ago, the students were focused on simply adding two digit numbers and now they're beginning to learn multiplication. It's amazing to see the impact that Mrs. Sutliff has on her students! One of her students is really struggling, last week she had several issues, with refusing to do work and crying. It's difficult for Mrs. Sutliff because she has to train her to behave properly by punishing her when she tries to skip around the work and only does what she wants. The cooperation between home and school isn't very cohesive because the parents appreciate this behavior and aren't seeking for this child to receive the help she needs! It's evident that this student is very intelligent, but she lacks the necessary support for success! These upcoming weeks in Mrs. Sutliff's class are going to be wonderful!
Today has been rather boring because the children are testing, so I have taken two children out into the hall and read the test out loud to them, and honestly I think the questions are very difficult! When I was in third grade, I am confident that I wouldn't have been able to answer them because the wording is so challenging! And as a teacher, I know that it must be very difficult to prepare these students for the tests because they aren't an adequate representation of whether or not the students understand the concept because of the way the questions are worded and all of the steps that students must do to get full credit. Students can't simply add the numbers and achieve the right answer they have to answer a confusing question about it, which is mentally exhausting!
But, I am excited because later today I am returning to Britton to help out in Mrs. Hart's room for my Renaissance project! I will get to lead my own lesson about thanksgiving and my plan is to relate that even when they are having a bad day and life doesn't seem so good that there are things to be thankful for! I created my own lesson plan for this event, and we are doing tons of fun activities like building gummy bear towers and making turkeys out of feathers and then decorating them! Afterwards, we are going to play thanksgiving bingo! Because there are Renaissance Ambassadors coming from Davidson I know Mrs. Hart's students are going to have a blast because they have teenagers that they can look up to!
I am pleased to say that my project went so well, and I am so proud to have helped these students in so many ways. All of the students did such a great job, they listened to what I had to say, no one got angry with each other, and I felt like they thoroughly improved their social skills! I brought other Renaissance Ambassadors along with me, and it was evident that they were surprised by the fact that this was considered successful because the students were talking very loudly and were ignoring some of the instructions. One thing that I learned from all of this was a great way to grab student attention, and that was to turn off the lights! The students immediately quiet down and you can talk to them without interruptions! But, I haven't spent a lot of time in Mrs. Hart's classroom this year, but I have seen so much improvement with so many of the students, and I am so impressed. I love Mrs. Sutliff's class, but I love Mrs. Hart's just as much. When the event had ended, one of the students gave me a big hug and thanked me for what I had done, and I know that he truly learned something about being thankful.
Thursday:
Mrs. Sutliff is going to let me teach my own lesson! I am so excited to have the opportunity to actually get to teach and practice my classroom management skills! I will be so nervous, but I know it will be such a great experience. On the other hand, observations are going very well, I have truly observed the students blossoming. A few weeks ago, the students were focused on simply adding two digit numbers and now they're beginning to learn multiplication. It's amazing to see the impact that Mrs. Sutliff has on her students! One of her students is really struggling, last week she had several issues, with refusing to do work and crying. It's difficult for Mrs. Sutliff because she has to train her to behave properly by punishing her when she tries to skip around the work and only does what she wants. The cooperation between home and school isn't very cohesive because the parents appreciate this behavior and aren't seeking for this child to receive the help she needs! It's evident that this student is very intelligent, but she lacks the necessary support for success! These upcoming weeks in Mrs. Sutliff's class are going to be wonderful!