Getting Involved: My Second Day of Kindergarten!

Today was my second day in Mrs. Noble's Kindergarten class and I am really having a lot of fun observing. The kids are very friendly and I am already getting to know names and I am getting some ideas about certain student temperments. I am still trying not to judge the students off of first impressions though after all of our class discussions on forming biases. Today was most exciting for me because I got to interact with the students for the first time and help them in the group centers in their reading activity. The teacher told us she is going to use both Sam and I a lot to help, which is great experience and I think I will learn a lot more being involved than I would just observing. It was also helpful today becuase I got a chance to watch Mrs. Noble and work with her side-by-side, as she modeled for me how she teaches reading and how she teaches differently to different leveled groups.

 I chose the child for my case study and it was actually her birthday today which was fun, although we missed cupcakes:(. The principle announces birthdays over the lodspeaker for the whole school and the students get to go to the principle's office for a pencil and special ribbon. The student I am observing is very interesting to observe becuase although she is behind in many areas, she still actively participates and thinks for herself, whereas some of the other students I have watched looked to what others are doing if they are unsure of him/herself. I also set up my lesson plan focus for next week and my cooperating teacher wanted me to do something related to Valentine's Day so I am so excited to teach it! Valentine's day was always my favorite in elementary school where we would make mailboxes and exchange valentines. I can remember having a long weekend right after that Friday for President's Weekend and driving up to the Sierra Nevada Mountains to go skiing and opening all of my cards with my sister. I can also remember keeping all of the Valentine's Day cards that I received from my crushes (there were like at least 10 boys I wanted to marry in my class each year-I had serveral backups). In fact, I found them cleaning through my room when I left for college!

Activities today happened in the same routine, which I liked and I think the children like becuase they always know what is going to happen next. They did the caledar and the weather, as usual, and are starting to learn about money. I was amazed becuase I vividly remember learning about money in the 2nd grade, so what these kindergarteners are learning is completely different from what was being taught about 20 years ago (and wow, now I feel really old... 20 years ago!?). The Student Teacher worked with the students on the carpet to learn three-dimensional shapes by comparing them to two-dimensional shapes and how they relate to one another. The students passed around foam three-dimensional shapes like a, sphere, cylinder, cube, and a cone. I thought letting them using their hands to feel and hold the shapes was a great way of teaching this especially becuase the teacher mentioned that most students are tactile learners. The students also sang songs about the alphabet and used their body to represent the letters, reaching up high, putting their hands on their hips, and crouching down low. Again, this is great for students who are kinesthetic learners and great becuase it keeps kids moving so they get a break from sitting all day. I need to find some songs that I could use to do this with/I need to take some voice lessons! Mrs. Noble also read the students a story from Aesop's Fables about a grasshopper and ants, and after they discussed the moral of the story.The story taught them that you have to put in hard work first and then you can play. When she read this story, I immediately recognized it (however, I was never read the story) from an old classic disney cartoon that I had probably seen one hundered times and never realized it was an Aesop's fable, but still it was fun to recognize it and make the connection.

Again, when the students went to PE for almost a half hour, Sam and I, stayed in the classroom and had a chance to speak with the teacher. Again, I am really hoping to have an opportunity to observe them in PE atleast once this semester, so maybe if the PE teacher is having a good day or is in a good mood we will be able to observe, or maybe when they move outside she will feel more comfortable with us watching. When the students returned, it was time for group centers, where there are 4 groups of students divided by ability and they rotate between 4 different activities (each 15-20 minutes). Today they did math, reading, language arts, and an art ceneter where they made Valentine's. Like I said previously, it was very exciting to be part of this today.

I am so happy that our cooperating teacher is helpful and encouraging us to be involved in the activities and the students. I am really excited to teach my lesson next week and although I still have a lot to work on and learn, I am a lot less nervous than I was last semester starting out. I will also have the opportunity to work in groups this semester, whereas, last semester I only did one-on-one lessons and whole-class lessons.