Laura+Wyrsch

For my prestudent teaching assignment, I was assigned to Mrs. Dotson first grade classroom at Oakley Elementary. This is a very lively group that welcomed me with open arms...literaly. I have gone to observe for the past two weeks Friday September 22 and Friday September 29 from 9am until 2pm. I have observed a lot so far in the classroom, from SSR time, spelling tests, group reading time, "fun fridays", lunch moniter duty and recess as well. I chose to be placed at Oakley because of the environment and the demographics of the student body, and the attitudes of the teachers toward the school community. Mrs. Dotson I was told and now I observe is very soft spoken. She has plenty of patience and is always aware of each of the students in the classroom. She gives great tips and is very encouraging to me as a student teacher. As always, I have goals for myself this semester. I want to become completly comfortable in the classroom. I want to learn each of the students names by Fall break, and I am going to ask Mrs. Dotson if I can help her lead a few lessons, since I haven had the chance to do that in any of my fieldwork placements yet. I am excited yet scared.

Hello Laura from Laura, Annie, and Lynne. Looks like you're off to a good start. We are looking forward to meeting Mrs. Dotson as your adventure continues!

On friday October 6 I was in Mrs. Dotson's classroom from 9 until 1:15. This day started out slow, because I decided **//NOT//** to drink coffee on this particular morning...__//**BAD IDEA!**//__ But, I knew that I couldnt be yawning all day, so I tried to talk my self out of being sluggish. I entered the classroom during a spelling test, and right after that we did SMILE time and snack. When it was time for fun friday, I got really excited, because this is usually a lively event and I knew that this would keep me on my toes. I came to find out that for this particular Friday, the "special" event was watching The Lion King. The teachers had special permission to watch the movie, because in Social Studies they were studying animals and their needs. Well as we all know sitting in a warm dark room will quickly make you sleepy. So I decided to walk around and stand up for most of it. Later at lunch (I help moniter with the assistant teacher), another assistant teacher asked me if I would watch her class outside while she took some student to the office, and grabbed something out of her room. This was both fun and challenging, as I took on a class of about 20 first graders while they were eating luch outside. All together this was a good day. Although I startd out tired, I learned a lot and had a fun time. I am still working on learning all of the students names. I think that I know about 50% of them...until next time.... //**Laura, It sounds like taking over the management of 20 children woke up pretty quickly. You're learning a lot from the diverse experiences at your fieldwork and considering what it takes to have the energy to be with children all day. - Annie**//

On October 13 I visited from 9 until 1. Today I remembered coffee! I actually got to school a little earlier than 9, and the class was running a little behind scedule, so I was able to see their calender/morning routine. Mrs. Dotson calls over the students one table at a time and they all stand on the rug by the calender. I wasnt expecting what happened next. She turned on a song on the cd player and a pop rendition of zipididuda came on. The students and Mrs. Dotson all sing a long and they all know coreographed moves. It is the funniest and greatest way to start the day. After the song we sang happy birthday to the birthday girl as well as all of the students whos birthdays were over the summer. Altogether calender time was very productive. I was glad that I got to see this, because I had never really seen calender time executed. I was also there for spelling, I almost led a SMILE group...but the teacher who was absent showed up, funfriday was sucessful, we went on a walk outside and looked at the way the leaves were changing, then we went back inside and painted VERY ELABORATE pictures of what we had seen. This day was also sugar over load day because the birthday girl brought in cupcakes, the snack person brought in poptarts and the snack for fun friday was a very sugary trail mix...the students were HYPER! Again, this day was a great learning experience. I am glad that I have worked it out so that I can go for almost a full day of school every friday. Every time I am in the classroom I see that Mrs. Dotson is very involved in the students learning. She shows great passion for the students learning, and finds different ways that all the students will learn and enjoy school. she shows commitment by always being on top of her duties and taking notes on what needs to get done. I have observed that all of the students and teachers respect her and she in turn respects them. I am glad to be placed with Mrs. Dotson this semester, she is a great mentor and someone I know I will learn a lot from. //**Laura, It sounds as if you've found a very good placement for next semester. Your description of the morning sing-along sounds like something you would enjoy. You have also noted that the teachers and students have a lot of respect for Mrs. Dotson. What is it, specifically that creates this atmosphere of respect? - Annie**//

On November 3 I was back at Oakley from nine until 1. The day was a great learning experience. The usual stuff happened, spelling test, fun friday, lunch...the usual stuff that I always reflect on. But today one of the SMILE teachers was out sick, and so Mrs. Dotson asked if I would like to lead a SMILE group. I was glad for the experience. She quickly ran me through what the group was doing and some strategies to use in teaching the lesson. From the beginning the group was arguning and I had to warn all of them that they would have to move their names down. They all began to listen and cooperate with me except one girl. For the entire thirty minutes she challenged me and my patience. After struggling with her to pay attentnion and listen and stay along with us I just ignored her. She was wining and even sat under her desk, but I continued to ignore her. The rest of the students thankfully followed my lead and ignored her as well. When SMILE time was over I told all of the student thankyou for cooperating and they were allowed to move their names up, but I told the one girl that she couldnt but she didnt have to move her name down. Instead she challenged me again and moved her name up. Without arguing I just took her name and moved it back down. I susspect that one of the other students in the group must have told one of the other teachers what had happened, because later in the day she (the student) handed me a card expressing her appologies. It was a great learning experince. I kept myself from getting into a power struggle with her and decided that it was more important to keep up with the rest of the group rather than waste the time arguing and becoming stressed out. //**Laura- You had a very real experience with a student challenging your authority. You made some decisions, on-the-fly, to ignore the student and keep the lesson moving. Sounds like it worked and you were able to keep the other students on task for the assignment. I was left wondering if it might have been beneficial to talk with this student, one-on-one, after SMILE time, about the behavior and to ask the student to write an apology or to think about her behavior. I know these are not YOUR students, but they will be soon. Perhaps talking with Mrs. Dotson about how she would handle this situation, in the future, would be a good next step.**//

I have started to go to Oakley from 9 until 12:30 every Monday and Wednesday as well as going everyFriday from 9 until 2 every Friday. On November 6 I was at Oakley from 9 until 12:30. I got there just as the students were returning from the computer lab and we all quickly moved to the carpet for calender time. I am glad that I am getting to see this part of the day more and more, because I feel that it is very fast moving and there is a lot to remember to mention and talk about. Maybe soon I will ask Mrs. Dotson if I can lead calendar time, or just take one section from her so that I can get a feel for how it works. Maybe it isnt as fast paced as I think it is. Next we took the pre spelling test. This as well will be something that I want to ask Mrs. Dotson if I can administer one day so that I can get a feel for that as well. I had a conversation with Mrs. Dotson about being a student teacher in her classroom. She was actually the one who brought it up to me. Since I feel pretty sure that I will be in that classroom, I have really been shadowing her clasely. On this day I decided to sit in on her SMILE group, as this will probably be the small group that I would take over if I student taught with her. We did a really great activity with vizualization. Mrs. Dotson read them a story and read it over a couple of times. Then she asked them to draw a picture that they saw in their minds when she read them the story. As the students drew the pictures, she read the story a couple more times. For some students this was a hard activity, but in the end they all had a good time sharing what they saw in their minds. Later we went out on the playground, which was a good opportunity for me to see some medeation between some of the students. Good idea to do the close shadowing you're doing. You're making notes of significant details. I'm wondering if you've taken over any of the sections of the calendar time? This would be a good idea for your remaining weeks there (before student teaching).//**
 * //Laura-

On Wednesday the 8th I was back at Oakley again. Nothing that different happened on Wednesday then on Monday. But today, Mrs. Dotson introduced the students to readers theater. The students were split into three groups. I took one, Mrs. Dotson took another and Mrs. Rice the other. Each of the student were designated a different part of the play. We went over the lines in our small groups, and then later got together as a large group and said our lines together. This was a good learning experience as well, because I had to juggle a group of seven students who were all at different reading and comprehension levels. //**Laura - What a great activity. It reminds me a lot of what Steven Levy talked with us about -- how each person has a visual story while he/she reads. This is a great way to get at that skill. Thanks for sharing. - Annie**

__Ok first of all, I cant figure out how to change the font on the page, so I appologize that it is all bold, underlined and highlighted. Second, I appologizg for my lateness in recording my observations. This semester has been difficult to remember to post because I am never in the department.__ **Ok I fixed the underline thing, but the rest will have to do.**// On **//N//**//**ovember 13 I was at Oakely from 9 until 12:30. I still wasnt quite ready to take on teh calendar, but I have been paying close attention to what happens.(Kind of doing the process in my headas it takes place.) Today we practiced more of the readers theater. The students really have fun doing this and are learning to work as one large group to accomplish a task. The days are starting to really blend together, and I am seeing progressing on lessons and learning.

November 15 was the day that Mrs. Dotson and I had set aside to do the assigned interview. When I got to the classroom at 9 I realized that there was a substitute in the room, and so the interview would have to wait. Even though there was a substitue in the room, Mrs. Rice the assistant teacher was the main teacher for the day. My eyes were opened today to the importance of team teaching and how we all have to adapt to other teachers styles. The substitute in the class was great and a fantastic teacher by all means, but her style of dealing with the students was very different from what I have observed of Mrs. Dotson and Rice. Plus, this was a good opportunity for me as well to observe another teachers methods. We practiced the readers theater some more today, and the students are starting to memorize their lines and say them with more enthusiasm and feeling. Since Mrs. Dotson wasnt in the classroom today, I was asked to lead her SMILE group. This was a good opportunity for me to practice my teaching skills on a small group of students. There are all girls and only one boy in the group. When we ask them to pick partners, the girls always complain about having to read with the boy. I decided to assign readers this time that way the boy would be

On November 17 I was at Oakley again from 9 until 12:30. I have picked up on a lot of the students different learning styles and needs. There is a girl in the class who is considered a high level reader, but the more I observe her she seems to struggle with her reading a lot. I noticed today when we were in SMILE groups that when the students were asked to read two chapters quietly to themselves. When I asked her to read to me I noticed that she was almost finished with the assignment ( it had only been about 3 minutes) I was surprised at how far she was compared to some of the other slower readers in the group. I realized that she had just listened to the girl next to her and had not actually done any of the reading. I talked to Mrs. Dotson about this, because I feel that it could be detrimental to her development if she continues to not read and jsut listens along. Mrs. Dotson said that she has begun to notice this too and is concerned. She told me that she may move her down to a lower level, and that there are other students who could move up into her place.

November 20 Today Mr. Chandler the principal at Oakley Elementary came in to observer Mrs. Dotson. It was a good comforting feeling to see that she gets nervous when she is observed too. She didnt tell him, but before he come in the room, she was running through things in her head to make sure she didnt forget anything. Today was also the day that we presented our Readers Theater to the principal Mr. Chandler. First we practiced and then asked him to come in and watch. Mr. Chandler is a great principal from what I have seen. He is ver involved with the students. Every day he comes in the classroom to say hi. I know that I will enjoy working with him, he seems demanding but also very understanding of his teachers. A great team leader.

November27th was another day of being REALLY tired. I had been traveling from 4:30am until 9:30 pm the day before and I was exhausted. Even though I had a lot of coffee I just felt like a slug. I appologized to Mrs. Rice and Mrs. Dotson and they said that they felt the same way. The holiday really took the energy out of all of us. This was a good gauge for how the begining of student teaching will be, I have planned to lay low for the New Year celebrations so that I wont be a zombie the first day.

November 29- Today when I got into the classroom Mrs. Dotson and I made sure that I got the interview that I needed. It was really great to sit down and talk to her. As all of us know, there really isnt time to sit and chat in the classroom. She filled me in on really important stuff and told me that the most important thing to remember in student teaching is to ALWAYS ask questions and never be afraid to ask for help. After the interview, we went back to the classroom and worked on spelling words and centers with the students.

On December 1 I was at Oakley again from 9 until 12:30. Mrs. Rice was out today, and there wasnt a substitue for her, so I sort of acted as Mrs. Dotsons assistant teacher. During SMILE time I was able to lead Mrs. Rice's group. Thiw went really well. The student filled me in on what the group was doing. First we went around the circle, and I would hold up a flascard with a word on it. The students had to tell me the begining and the end sound of the word. We continued this exercise for a coupld of rounds and then I asked them to also tell me the vowel sound that they heard. After a couple rounds of that I included that they had to tell me if it was a long or short sound. The students really liked this activity, and as easy as it sounded to me in the begining I realized that they are still learning recognition and sounds. (This would have been really helpful last semester in our Reading and Language Arts class.) I found out the day before(Nov.30) that I would be student teaching in Mrs. Dotsons class. I was and still am really excited about it. While the students were eating their snacks, I asked Mrs. Dotson if I could look at what she had planned for the following semester. She showed me calenders of Jan, Feb and March, and also gave me a planned week to week lay out of what would be covered. She told me that if I had something that I wanted to add, that I sould feel free to do what I want. I know that Mrs. Dotson is going to be very supportive of me and my work. Mrs. Dotson lead fun friday today and we read a story about christmas and made stained glass windows. This was enjoyed by all.

On December 4 I was back for more observations. I was still aprehensive to lead the calender, but I am going to make myself do it on Wednesday. I did however administer the pre spelling test. The students were eating snack and Mrs. Dotson and I decided that I would administer the test, because she needed to prepare some student records. Mrs. Rice was helpful in getting out the blinders and running off the test papers for me. She handed me the spelling words, and then it was like an unspoken handover of responsibility. I was glad for this, because it felt like they really trusted me. As I asked each of the tables one at a time to clean up their snacks, I assigned one person to hand out the tests and two more to pass out blinders. That was when I lost a little bit of control. My transition wasnt very smooth, and when I tried to refocus, there were a handful of students who continued to talk. As I finally had everyones atteintion there were still two students talking and Mrs. Rice stepped in and reminded them that I was in charge. After that it was smooth sailing until I noticed that as we were on word #5 there was a student without a paper. Somehow he had been skipped and he didnt feel the need to have to tell anyone. I quickly handed him a test...then we had to find him a pencil and I quickly got him back on track. Altogether it was a really good experience...it was even fun to think of sentences to say after each word to clarify. I learned that I need to have a louder voice when I am in front of the class especially in situations when I am taking control, I realized that I sort of get stage fright and dont speak as loud as I should.**//


 * //Hey Laura- Kacie here, Hope you don't mind me intruding on your wiki. Happy to hear you've found a placement. I never see you anymore; I look forward to sharing the student teaching experience with you. 22 day countdown haha. Reading your entry gives a preview of what is to come with student teaching. It is great that you are noticing your weaknesses and fears and telling yourself to go for it. I have always been excited about you being a teacher! I myself am a bit nervous about getting students to take my presence as the teacher figure seriously. Getting everyone's attention, calming everyone down, keeping everyone at the same pace; I think it is an important time for us to be thinking about what it is we want to get out of this experience. I’m excited about trying out different ways to transition and using the classroom as much as I can as an experiment of sorts. We are all going to have some great advice and stories to tell at our conferences. Making up sentences for the spelling test sounds like fun. Sneaking in that creativity where ever we can within the already structured classrooms might be a challenge but a good one. Sounds like you are getting to know the students and already taking great initiative in the classroom. The experience you has at SMILE time with the flashcards (I realized that they are still learning recognition and sounds//** ) **//is a good example of how our assumptions about where are students are at will quickly dissolve and we will get to know each individual student matching our lessons up to their needs as the weeks go on. I guess a big part of teaching these young ones is remembering that practice and review is important. I like the idea of bringing back lessons and ideas that are familiar to them because it is empowering to both let kids have a chance to express what they really know and to have a second, third, fourth chance at things they night not have gotten the 1//****//st//** **//time. Thanks for sharing your experiences Laura! Have a great week long break!//**