Helpful Things.

So, throughout the course of the semester so far and through do my fieldwork, I have learned a lot of helpful little tips and tricks and rules of thumb from not only the class, but most specifically from other teachers. I have learned about little things to do inside the classroom, and things that are fantastic resources for teachers. Here is a little list of a few of the little things I've learned.

Inside the classroom:

• Write a small list of the the things that students need to be doing during quiet times of work and study. It helps to stay on track and on top of work because they can visually see what they need to work on, and they can mentally check off the list.
• Use fun little phrases to get the classes attention (ex. "1, 2, 3 eyes on me.."). My personal favorite is, "ready to rock"..."ready to roll". 
• At the end of the day, after the kids clean up, pack up and stack up, have a little competition for the "magic piece"...it gets them to clean up and it makes it fun.
• Create separate and small reading groups, this helps students who are not only struggling but it allows kids who are on different levels of reading to learn with kids on the same level. It goes back to the idea of the "increasing 'staircase' of complexity" that we talked about in class.

Resources for teachers:

• www.uen.org - great for looking at the curriculum and getting lesson plan ideas.
• www.teacherspayteachers.com - great for finding fun little lesson plans and ideas and a great resource for finding classroom supplies like signs, posters, boarders, pictures, etc.
• My favorite, PINTEREST! Great place to go for lesson ideas, classroom ideas, projects and crafts, and parties! 
• Craft stores like Michael's and  Hobby Lobby--great places for arts and crafts or different kinds of projects.
• Map World, which is actually is a large teacher supply store. I never would have thought of going there, but it actually is pretty fantastic.

All these little things I have learned have been really helpful and have made me that much more excited to become a teacher! I hope that it helps any future teachers and existing teachers out there! 

The biggest thing that I have learned so far that you just have to enjoy what you're doing and have fun, even when it gets hard and stressful. 

NO. 2 - One-On-One's and Goodbyes.

Through out the past two weeks, I have grown very fond of these cute little second graders that I have been with. They have definitely become some new little friends and I can't wait until I can go back and visit them one day!

Mainly I observed the class and Miss Watson, while I would walk around and help students with assignments and activities and answering any little questions they may have. But, every once and while, Miss Watson would have me go and do some little one-on-one reading sessions with students. I really enjoyed it! I loved being able to help teach her adorable little students, even in the smallest ways. And they liked it too!

While they read to me their books, I helped them sound out, pronounce and learn new words. When they got stuck, we used different reading techniques like chunky monkey (recognizing familiar chunks of letters and sounds to make sense of a word or phrase) and stretchy snake (sounding out individual letters and putting them together to make words). I helped them cross of their reading charts by seeing how fast they could read a list of words with out making any mistakes. That was always fun! I helped some students with expression while they read, because while they were super smart and fluent, they lacked some personality and enthusiasm in their reading. As I was helping them with their reading, I could pick out the students who were most likely auditory, visual and kinesthetic learners. Auditory learners would often choose the stretchy snake technique while visual learners would choose chunky monkey. Kinesthetic learners would use their fingers to follow along while they read.

I really enjoyed the time that I spent with these littles. So on my last day I took them all a little treat and valentine, and left those little second graders for the last time. Not gonna lie, it was a little heartbreaking. However I was lifted up a bit by one little girl drawing me a picture, and by my favorite little boy (I know bad of me to have favorites -- I loved all of them though) giving me a massive bear hug and asking if he could please, please, please take me home with him. Haha. I am going to miss those little second graders so much! It's a good thing I'm friends with Miss Watson so I can go visit them often!

    

NO. 1 - Back to Second Grade

Hello! This week has been a pretty exciting one for me. I began my first few days of fieldwork at Westfield Elementary with all the little 2nd grade lovelies and the adorable Miss Watson. I. AM. LOVING. IT. They are the sweetest most darling kids and they just make me want to be a teacher already and have my own little classroom. Through out the past couple of days, I have been helping Miss Watson with one-on-one reading and with little random activities such as games or craft and art projects. I've also helped with grading. Through out the past few days I've had, what I think is a good little insight into what is like to be a teacher. Just over the past days that I've been doing this, I have already learned so much and I can't help but to love Miss Watson's darling little 2nd graders...but then again it is hard not to love them when they all love you so much!