How could the funds of knowledge (socio-culutural knowlesdge about a child and their family) help you in your classroom instruction? What special funds of knowledge did you learn about during your interviews and observations?

The information that I learned about the literacy lives of the two children that I interviewed can help me connect with them in the classroom. For instance I found out that Darren likes to read books about bears and Drew likes books about castles, so I will look to incorporate books with these subjects for read alouds or to introduce future lessons. I also learned that one child reads a lot at home and the other does not, this information can help me because I know what to expect of them in the classroom. For instance I can encourage home reading for the boy that already does it by giving him some specific books to read, however for the boy that does not read at home, I may try to read with him during choice time or talk to his mom and see how I can help make that happen.

Classroom Management Skills

Wednesday

Mike was back today and we had a n early release. Need less to say, the day went by really fast. I tried to watch Mike closely today and take note of how he keeps the children engaged and under control. I noticed that he does not raise his voice, he points out the students that are doing a great job of following directions, and he moves children if they are sitting next to someone that is causing a distraction. Also, I noticed that all of the activities come across as fun and interesting to Mike, therefore the children want to participate. For instance this morning during morning meeting when the children were reading the poem of the week, Mike played a song on his tin whistle. He had to start again and work really hard to hit the notes right, but he was having a good time learning and the children loved repeating the poem because they were accompanied by him. All the students were very encouraging of Mike’s learning and were very patient while he figured out a new song. The children respected Mike and his authority but also had a trust in him as a teacher that he would have fun activities and that he always kept their best interests in mind. Mike is a great teacher with fantastic classroom management skills and I am learning a lot every day but I am very thankful that he gives me the opportunity to teach in the classroom so that I can practice some of the tricks and skills that I am learning.

Tuesday--Subbing!

Tuesday:

Tuesday was my first official day of subbing in my classroom. My mentor teacher had to attend assessment training and so I was the lead teacher all day. In the morning I had the assistance of Alexis, which was wonderful, and the afternoon it was just me. When I started the day off with Morning Meeting, I could see instantly that if I did not put my foot down I was going to get walked all over. During Morning Meeting the children were being silly and not listening very well so I rushed through it and got them off to gym. While they were in gym I thought about how I wanted to be the fun teacher that all the students liked, but without classroom management there is no way for me to have that freedom, so I would need to establish some boundaries first. I also found that if I showed an interest in the task at hand, then the children would be interested in, but if not than why would I expect them to be interested and engaged in an activity that I was not? When they came back from gym I felt like the whole classroom environment changed. We did some great exercises with word families. They found words that had the “en” sound and letters in them. They came up with some simple words like ten, hen, and men but they also found attention, detention, and women! I was so impressed! We also read a story called Ira Sleeps Over and I am not even exaggerating when I say that they children were silent! It was amazing. I felt so much more confident as a teacher and I was so glad that I was able to keep the children’s attention and focus. I made sure that all the activities were presented in a fun and exciting way for the rest of the day in order to eliminate bad behavior. I had a great time and I am already scheduled to sub again next month!

Community Research Project

I have been working on a research project with my fellow interns at Polaris and we came up with a final product in order to display our work. Check it out: http://jjlende.glogster.com/community-research-project-polaris/

Scientist of the Week

Friday

Friday afternoon was a little bit crazy. The kids were wired and ready for the weekend and we had a lot planned for them. For writing workshop we let them have their choice of what to write about as long as they added some words. For some reason they are really into making laptops with folded paper. I find that it is working out okay because they make a key board with all the letters of the alphabet and they are interested in secret codes. Alexis and I worked with the Kinders during math on writing numbers 1-10 on chalkboards. Mike took the first graders out in the hall and worked on fast tens. We all came together and tossed an inflatable globe around. When one person caught the globe they were to tell the class if their thumbs landed on land or water. We kept a tally to see is land or water occurred more. We found that we landed on water way more often than on land. We then learned that 75% or ¾ of the earth is covered in water. The kids took a circle, folded it into four equal parts, colored three parts blue, and the fourth part the color of land (green, brown, or whatever they thought represented land best). We brought the kids out for a quick recess and came back in the classroom for scientist of the week. This was a really neat experience where Judy’s 2/3 classroom came to our room and one of her students did a science experiment for all the kids. He made so much carbon dioxide using vinegar and baking soda, that it filled a balloon. After his experiment, one of our first graders showed the students that 15% of all minerals contain phosphorescence and you can see them when you shine a black light on them. This activity of scientist of the week was really fun because the students were totally engaged in their classmate’s demonstrations and the children and teachers learned a lot. This activity helps children’s social skills along with their math and science knowledge.

More literacy

The children have a sign out sheet to go to the bathroom where they have to write their name, time out, and time in. This helps them with their number and letter fluency.

Literacy in the Classroom

Here are some ways that literacy is shown in the classroom. For instance the children are all encouraged to write throughout their daily activities. As shown in the upper left, the children also participate in what is called interactive writing. This means that together they write a phase but each child just writes one letter in their best handwriting. Next to that is the sign in board. Every morning, Mike has the children read the board (with help from their parents) and sign in with a different symbol, letter, number, or picture.

The students also came up with writing ideas, so that when they are instructed to write or draw about something they can look on the board and see if there is a good idea.