Summary of Experience Mrs. Gerard has a wonderful and bright kindergarten class. The students are all unique and diverse in their own ways. A few students were of different races and ethnic identities. There were several different lessons taught throughout the field experience, as well as many different ways of evaluation. The teacher-student, student-teacher, and student-student interactions were excellent and Mrs. Gerard’s classroom management skills have created a wonderful classroom-learning environment to which you can see different theories being used. Mrs. Gerard’s class consisted of twenty students. A few were of different races. There was one African American student, one Hispanic student and eighteen Caucasian students. The African …show more content…
All of the lessons taught were from the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). During group reading time and the reading center, the lessons consisted of being able to identify characters, setting, and major events in a story. The students were to be able to tell which was the author or the illustrator of a book. They were to compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in familiar stories with their own life experiences for example, when the Councilor read the book Kelly Bear which was all about feelings, the students all shared a time when they felt sad in their life. Students were to also have small discussions with their peers about books that were read in class. During reading time, Mrs. Gerard would have the student turn and face each other and talk about the story. During individual reading centers, the students were to understand rhyming words. Mrs. Gerard taught this by using many songs such as, Humpty Dumpty. They also had to identify these words by pointing to them. Mrs. Gerard made this more enjoyable for the students by using the projector and placing a poem on it, then the students would use a finger pointer and point as they …show more content…
No single student seemed to have a social problem. All students worked well with their partners during corners and when they were to discuss the story during reading time. The students seemed to respect Mrs. Gerard and Mrs. Gerard seemed to respect her students as well. The students were not afraid to ask questions to the teacher but they were often instructed to ask their peers first before asking the teacher. She used different ways to get the students to listen to her if the class was being to loud; some of which included songs, rhymes, and a reward system for good
.... (2007). Tips for teaching: Differentiating instruction to include all students. Preventing school failure, 51(3), 49-54.
Being able to understand the development of a child is vital in aiding that child during that process. Parents play a vital role in this regard by offering the necessary support. On the other hand, once the child has been enrolled in a kindergarten or a preschool, most of the responsibilities of shaping the child are transferred to the teachers. This makes it vital for teachers to be able to help the child during their developmental stage. In this field report, the learner visits one kindergarten and one preschool to assess the learning environment. A comparison is made between these two schools as well as comparison with those proposed in Meier in her book The Power of Their Ideas: Lessons for America from a Small School in Harlem. The fieldwork also includes interviewing of two teachers and one Principal of one of the kindergarten schools.
According to “Cognitive Development and Learning in Instructional Contexts,” by James P. Byrnes, in order to best predict a students reading achievement, it is best to see if children are able to repeat stories that were just so recently read to them. This is a better way of assessing the students than any digital span. (Byrnes, 2007, p. 175) With this in mind, I asked questions that provoked a lot of thought and guided the conversations. I also implemented turn to talk into my lesson to hear what the students were saying to their peers about the story as
The Child Development Center of College of San Mateo provides early care and educational programs for children between the ages of 3 to 5 years old. Children are divided into classrooms with a “master” teacher, a “regular” teacher, and two or three “associate” teachers. Klara attended Classroom, “A,” a stimulating and well-resourced classroom. Klara was observed for two hours on Monday from 9 am to 11 am and for two hours on Wednesday from 9 am to 11 am. During these two hours, classroom activities consisted of “free time,” “story time,” and an outside “play time.” A “master” teacher, a “regular” teacher, and two “associate” teachers were present during observations. Additionally, a total of eighteen children were in attendance during the observed days.
Diversity among students including differences in culture, language and socioeconomic stance is not a new trend. The difference, however, is that today, the school system realizes that all students, including those who differ in some way from the "average" student, or those “at-risk” must be provided with an equal, opportune education (Morris, 1991).
I believe that each child is a unique individual who needs a secure, caring, and stimulating atmosphere in which to grow and mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, socially, and academically. It is my desire as a future educator to help students meet their fullest potential by providing an environment that is safe, supports risk-taking, and invites a sharing of ideas. There are two elements that I believe are essential to establishing such an environment, (1) allowing the child’s natural curiosity to direct his/her learning, and (2) promoting respect for all things and all people.
Introducing myself to Mrs. Smith the classroom teacher, and Mrs. Brown the teaching assistant; I explained that I will be observing the classroom. Mrs. Smith informed me that the name of the program is County Unified School District First 5 Pre K Academy, there are 12 elementary, 7 schools that have this program; a goal of the program is to have the other 5 elementary schools with the program. They are also part of a few other programs that make this program possible for the students: Color Me Healthy, CATCH, and First 5. Each of these programs have a high impact on the program, they help in their own subject of the program. This Pre k program is offered to students’ age 4-5 years old, and it is based on a first come first served basis.
Great teaching requires sacrifice and consistently puts the development of the child first Esquith, after teaching for over 30 years and writing several award winning books, exemplifies this child centered philosophy of teaching. His purpose is to share his dedicated and selfless approach to teaching with teachers, in the hope that they too, will be inspired ‘to teach like their hair is on fire.’ He believes that commitment to each individual student is essential. As a role model, he stresses the importance of being dependable and providing an atmosphere that is safe and that promotes the love of learning. He focusses on values and teaching his students to respect themselves and others, to be kind and to always work hard (Esquith, 2007). With Esquith’s simple motto of, “be nice, work hard and there are no shortcuts, in the classroom” (Esquith,2007), it is easy to see why his students are so happy and successful.
It is my strong belief that each child is entitled to a safe, secure, stimulating and caring learning environment. I always believed that each child is a unique individual with much curiosity and many academic, social and emotional needs. Children need our support in order to mature emotionally, intellectually, physically, and socially. As a teacher, one should aim to help students in fulfilling their dreams to become successful and educated individuals. We must provide them with a safe learning environment for their learning to succeed.
What separates a good teacher from a great Teacher? “First and foremost a teacher must love working with children. No matter how well you teach, there is always room for Improvement ” (Killen,2009.p.100) .In this Essay I hope to show some of the key attributes, that I consider essential to becoming an effective early childhood teacher. Those key aspects are communication, building lasting relationships, engaging students effectively in the learning process, and encouraging and appreciating diversity in the classroom.
Children are unique individuals with different desires and needs. They provide challenges for teachers to meet and conquer. Some of these many differences stem from the diversity of the students in the classroom. Ultimately, much of this diversity comes from the many special family situations in which students live. Cultural factors, prior experience with education, family structure, and socioeconomic factors all have effects on children’s education.
That is the goal of being a fluent reader. Mrs. Baughman uses the components of a story to teach comprehension. The components of the story are the setting, the plot, the conflict, and the resolution. If students can easily pick out the answers for the components of a story then their comprehension is growing. Another way to teach comprehension is by using graphic organizers like Venn-diagrams, story maps, and cause and effect charts. Teachers can also ask questions to make sure students understand the text. Not only does the teacher need to ask questions, but so do the students. If a student can ask questions, and with guidance answer it themselves they understand the material. The same goes with summarizing texts. A good way to check comprehension is to see how well the students summarized the texts. Doing so, can show if they really understand the material or they are just reading without thinking about it. Group work is a good way for students to share their thoughts on texts and help explain it to others in an easier way. If students do not comprehend text then their reading skills for the future will not be good. Teaching comprehension is not by just asking questions. There are many ways to check it that give a better view on how students are
On April 1, 2010, I was welcomed into Mrs. Smith’s all day kindergarten class at the O’Dea Core Knowledge Elementary School in Fort Collins Colorado to observe and note the classroom conditions, interactions of the children among themselves, the teachers or other authority figures and the manner in which learning takes place.
Compton and Hoffman described positive schools as being “caring communities that are built around cooperative relationships” (2013, p. 269). Research has shown that our brains are designed for social relationships (Wilson & Conyers, 2011a), and people learn language and thinking skills best in the context of a positive relationship (Willingham, 2009). In Thinking for Results, Wilson and Conyers stated that, “More than any other element of education, the teacher makes the largest difference in the amount of student learning” (2011b, p. 11). By encouraging positive relationships between teachers and students as well as students with other students, the classroom environment will not only be more enjoyable but will also help students to learn
I attended a second grade class at Smallville Elementary on February 22, 2014; the class began promptly at 0855. There are 26 children in this second grade class. There are 15 male students and 11 female students. The student diversity is 2 Hispanics, 1 African-American, 1 East Indian, and 1 New Zealander (White but with an extreme accent). Three children were left-handed.