Fire Station Field Trip

Parents,
We had such a fun time going to the fire station this last friday. Thank you for allowing your students to attend and helping us give them a chance to learn so much from a member of our community. It was very fun to watch them learn and we also got to see a fire truck and ambulance leave on a call. They learned so much and I hope you have had a chance to talk to your students about what they learned and look at your house plan and make a fire escape plan. They have had a lot of fun this unit and next week we will be learning about thanksgiving. We will be doing some activities with one of the younger classes and we are way excited. Thanks for all you do for your students. They are learning so much.

Field Experience #3

This week went well but it was kind of a pain trying to just get everything done that was expected of us. Teaching enough lessons was not a problem at all but just making sure that whatever we might need got done before friday. Also we had a lot of drama with our advisor because we had the wrong name and the couldnt get a hold of the right lady.....it was just a pain. These three weeks were a great learning experience and im glad we got the chance to do it, but im also glad that we get to finish up this semester in our classes.

Field Experience #2

We have had the opportunity to teach four lessons this week and it was way fun but way challenging as well. I am so use to Kindergarten and preschool that it can be weird teaching older children. Yesterday I taught a lesson all by myself and that became quite interesting fast. It started out really good and then two helpers from the high school showed up (so at this point there are 5 teachers in the classroom). Right when I was about ten words from being done with the instructions, a child came to class from who knows where. I got her in a group and then another child came and then a couple minutes later one more later comer. At that point I had in some ways lost control just for unseen circumstances, but then I get them settled and they were supposed to be silent reading and I asked the three late comers to come see me so I could catch them up.
All through this the high school students were calling children back to work with one on one. This also caused problems with management they came back and were confused or had not read the assignment by the time they were ready to make their posters. They made their posters and joined with their everyday teacher in the back (we decided for times sake to just present the posters the next day). As they were with their teacher I got a little bit of comfort by reading the posters to see that they did write what I wanted them to learn.
Today though was the best reward. Even after a day like yesterday I was able to see the students still learn and retain information. today as they presented their posters lots of questions were asked and they knew the answers they shared their favorite things and every thing that was required to be on the poster. I really felt a lot better.

Parents

I'm so sorry if anyone has been reading this that I have been doing such a horrible job updating this!! We had some fun activities this last week talking about washing our hands and germs that make us sick. We learned all about Red and White blood cells and how Red cells carry oxygen and the white cells let out antibodies that fight the germs. They got really excited about this and caught on really fast. This week on Wednesday we are planning on having a dental assistant come in (as long as everything works according to plan). This should be a fun week we will spend a couple of days talking about teeth health and also doctors and other community helpers that help keep our bodies healthy. The next week we talk about community helpers that keep us safe, such as firemen and policemen. I'm very excited to help them learn more about health and safety. I talked with most of you at parent teacher conference about starting up a store. They are really working hard on learning their money and it has been fun to see them grow in this area. I am excited for the next two weeks and will try to post another blog toward the middle of the week.

P.S. sorry about all the posts for classes! It has been quite the month!

First Reflection on Field Experience

I am teaching over at Geneva and love it. We just kind of observed on Monday and then yesterday didn't do a whole lot more. Today was a little bit more exciting we were able to do some organizing and put some art together to put up in the hall and then I had the opportunity to do a little literacy circle with the students. I really enjoy 4th grade. We wont start our actual lessons until Monday but we should have a fun rest of the week with the activities laid out already! Hope everyone else is having a great experience! Good Luck!!