RachelTraneEDEL1010

The teacher I observed was very organized. She had the day's schedule outlined on the board every morning before the students arrived.  I think it is so helpful for the students to know what they are doing from the start of the day.  Then, when they think they can't stand to do math anymore, they can look at the schedule and see what time they are moving on to the next subject and know that math isn't going to last all day. It was clear to me that the teacher had been consistent all year long because when it was time to transition from one activity to the next, the students knew exactly what to do.  It would be interesting to compare the transitions at the first of the year and the end of the year.  As I watched this class I could clearly see that consistency is one of the most important aspects of classroom management.

 When I observed in a fifth grade classroom, the students were presenting their State research papers.  They had to follow a specific rubric and include certain facts in their presentation.  One of the things they were required to include was why they chose that state. I think the teacher was smart for letting the student decide. That way the student had an active role in choosing their state, and they usually had a personal reason for choosing that state. Another requirement was that they student had to bring a snack or treat to represent their state.  In general kids love food, so they were all very excited to share their treats and they were all equally excited to eat what the other students brought. At the end of their oral report the student had to answer three questions about their state from their classmates.  I think the teacher did a great job of engaging all the students from start to finish.  It was a project that involved multiple mini-proje...

I think the most important role a teacher plays is that of being a constant, reliable part of a student's school year.   It is important that student's know that their teacher will be there, and that the teacher shows the students that their education is important to them.  A teacher can do this by not missing a lot of class time, taking an interest in what is important to them, and setting consistent boundaries and expectations.   Consistency is so important because it helps the students feel safe, shows them that you care, and lets the students excel if they know what is expected of them. The most challenging role for teachers is trying to manage all the roles they are expected to fill.  In a single day a teacher can be an educator, a cheerleader, a mediator, a coach, a friend, the list is almost endless.   I think managing all of those roles and keeping a positive attitude and staying sane is what makes a great teacher.

I have spent a good amount of time prepping items in the classroom.  One of the things I have done is cut out clear contact paper for an activity that the teacher had planned the next day.  I have also graded papers for the teacher and put them back into the student's binders.  I have set out papers at different stations while the students were at recess so the teacher could start the next activity as soon as the kids came in from recess. This made me realize that parent involvement is so helpful for a teacher.  A good teacher does a variety of activities, but I don't think it would be possible to get to all of the activities if you didn't have help doing the prep work for them.  If parents would realize that helping for even 20 minutes means that their student gets to have more hands on activities, I think more parents would be likely to offer their help.

There are several ways I have seen teachers make modifications for exceptional learners.  One thing I noticed is that the student with diagnosed ADHD was sitting right next to the teacher's desk.  The desks were all in rows and she was in the the first row closest to the teacher.  The way the teacher had the class arranged did not single the student out, but made it possible for the teacher to be close to the student so that she could keep the student's behavior under control.  I noticed this was helpful to the rest of the class because as the other students were working, the teacher could correct behavior or answer any questions the student had without creating a disruption to the whole class. When I observed this class, they were presenting their state research papers. The teacher mentioned that this particular student had a really hard time finishing her paper.  The teacher broke down each section of research and each idea into very simple parts for her. ...

I have had the opportunity to work with small groups in a few different classrooms.  In the classrooms I have been in, the students were grouped together according to their proficiency in the subject they were working on.  I think that is a good way to group them. If you have students of all levels in one group, sometimes a student that might be struggling won't feel confident enough to participate in the activity. Kindergarten students were working on math games when I helped them.  The teacher told me ahead of time which groups would need a more difficult version of the game.  The students loved playing the game.  They had a stack of cards with numbers on them.  They would each draw two cards and then come up with the sum of the two cards.  If they got the answer right, they got to feed the cards to the "number monster". Once all the cards were gone, the game was over.  The students on a more advanced level could choose three or four cards to ...