Okay, so local experience is a lot different than urban and I do not like it. I do not know if it is the specific classes, or the specific teachers or if it is because I like urban schools better, but I do not like the local immersion. My cooperating teacher is very organized and has everything planned out, but she does not include or inform me on these plans. She just goes. She will say, 'Here, take these kids and lead them in this activity,' when I haven't even read the activity yet.
Overall, I feel as if the school as a whole is not nearly as welcoming. I do not know if this is due to the diversity factor or the fact that one is public and the other is private. The fact that the urban school is more welcoming than the rural school goes against my prior preconceptions. I do not know what to make of this. I believe that the diversity factor plays a role in why the urban school was more welcoming. A part of the mission of the school is to be welcoming and accepting of all. The rural school does not have this component to it's education. This frustrates me. I do not know if it is because of the diversity or the fact that it is a private catholic school. I wish we could have gone to a public and a private school in the urban and in the rural. It would help in taking a closer look at the reasonings schools have for certain decision.
Today, the students had AR time as soon as I got there. Then a custodian came in and read a picture book for 'I Love to Read Week.' Then I lead a small group in reading a book on Chinese Immigration. Two of the students told me that "Chinese people do not matter. We don't even need to read this book anyway." I was shocked. I understand that there is almost no diversity in St. Joe, but really?! Then the kids went to Phy. Ed. and Music. So I was actually with them for like an hour. sweet. Hopefully tomorrow will be better! I get to read one of my favorite books: Love You Forever by Robert Munsch. I'm excited for that!!
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Sunday, February 17, 2008
February 14, 2008: First day of local immersion
So, for local immersion I am in a fourth grade classroom. When I got to the school, the teacher was no where to be found. She arrived 8 minutes after school had started and after all of the students were in the room. This was an extremely uncomfortable and awkward way to start my experience. I had no idea what we were to be doing and what my cooperating teacher expected me to do. It was most definitely a different start to my student teaching than the last school was. It causes me to wonder if it is because of the urban/rural, the diversity/no diversity, or the private/public difference that made it this way. I definitely felt less welcome at my local experience than I did my urban. So far I like urban better.
It is also weird that we are only there for the morning. I know that it makes things easier for our own class schedules, as we still are college students, but it makes it difficult to compare experiences for they are not the same experience. I don't mean that they are suppose to be the exact same experience. I mean they are different kids in a different environment, but the setup is not the same. In any experiment there is only one variable that is changed. In our urban to local experience there is way more than one variable being changed. This makes it extremely difficult to think about diversity. We do not see the kids for the same amount of time or during the same times of the day. This could have a difference on the behavior of the students that would be intriguing for us to take a look at.
As far as the actual kids go and the experience that I had while I was there, I don't know how much I like it. All of the students appear to have the same color of skin that I have. Most of them were welcoming to me. Well, not really. Now that I think about it, I would say maybe 1/3 or 1/4 were welcoming to me. Maybe it was because it was Valentine's Day and they were too busy with the excitement or maybe it is just the way they are. I wish we could have spent Valentine's Day at the urban schools. I miss the kids. I hope that as time goes on, my experience at the local school were give me at least as much passion and desire for teaching as the urban school did. I hope it tells me 'yes, I can teach anywhere', or 'Wow, I have a passion for urban/rural schools.' (I'm thinking more urban as of right now!) I do not believe that it will tell me to find a different career choice.
Tomorrow I will not be going because I have an appointment and Monday is President's Day so no one is going. I hope Tuesday is more organized and that I have a better experience. Next week is 'I love to read week,' so the teacher wants me to read one of my favorite stories from my childhood. But she doesn't want any supplementary activities: no talking in the middle, no questions at the end, the activity to go with it. This is weird to me since we are learning about how to do all of those things effectively in order to get students more involved IN reading and to like reading better. I don't really know what to expect. I guess we will just wait and see.
It is also weird that we are only there for the morning. I know that it makes things easier for our own class schedules, as we still are college students, but it makes it difficult to compare experiences for they are not the same experience. I don't mean that they are suppose to be the exact same experience. I mean they are different kids in a different environment, but the setup is not the same. In any experiment there is only one variable that is changed. In our urban to local experience there is way more than one variable being changed. This makes it extremely difficult to think about diversity. We do not see the kids for the same amount of time or during the same times of the day. This could have a difference on the behavior of the students that would be intriguing for us to take a look at.
As far as the actual kids go and the experience that I had while I was there, I don't know how much I like it. All of the students appear to have the same color of skin that I have. Most of them were welcoming to me. Well, not really. Now that I think about it, I would say maybe 1/3 or 1/4 were welcoming to me. Maybe it was because it was Valentine's Day and they were too busy with the excitement or maybe it is just the way they are. I wish we could have spent Valentine's Day at the urban schools. I miss the kids. I hope that as time goes on, my experience at the local school were give me at least as much passion and desire for teaching as the urban school did. I hope it tells me 'yes, I can teach anywhere', or 'Wow, I have a passion for urban/rural schools.' (I'm thinking more urban as of right now!) I do not believe that it will tell me to find a different career choice.
Tomorrow I will not be going because I have an appointment and Monday is President's Day so no one is going. I hope Tuesday is more organized and that I have a better experience. Next week is 'I love to read week,' so the teacher wants me to read one of my favorite stories from my childhood. But she doesn't want any supplementary activities: no talking in the middle, no questions at the end, the activity to go with it. This is weird to me since we are learning about how to do all of those things effectively in order to get students more involved IN reading and to like reading better. I don't really know what to expect. I guess we will just wait and see.
February 13, 2008: Last day of Kindergarten
I am going to miss these children so much. I feel so comfortable in the classroom. And the more that I get to actually teach them, as opposed to being a helper in the room, the more I realize this fact. Today I was able to lead the 120 minutes of reading and writing time in the morning. I read a story about Valentine's Day, and had them journal as well as other activities. It is amazing to see how creative their minds are and how imaginative they are. I love being around the kindergarten students with their enthusiasm, but I do not know if I could teach kindergarten by myself all day every day. I definitely enjoy being around them, especially these specific children, but I do not know if Kindergarten is the grade that is calling me.
Something that I have thought a lot about especially after talking to other students teaching, is the experience as a whole. I do not know why but I feel as if I am missing something from "the experience." I have learned a lot from my cooperating teacher and from my students. However, I was never hit with an, 'ahh they live a different life from me', or 'wow, I am culturally diverse from them.' There are two reasons that I can think of for this. One, is that for whatever reason, I feel more comfortable around those who are culturally diverse from me. I enjoy learning about them and learning from them. I don't think of them as Different from me, just different. It isn't that they are so different from me that there is this huge divide between us. But rather, that we are different. Just as I am different from my brother, the person who lives across the hall, or the cashier at the grocery store. These children are just different in a different way. I don't realize that I am so different from them until I sit to think about it. The other reason for my lack of 'ahh-hhhhaa' is that they are kindergarteners. We did not have a lot of personal one-on-one conversations about their lives. While they do talk a lot and often about whatever is on their mind, which often includes family members, they did not tell me details of their life. They don't realize the details and the difference of my life to theirs for they are too young to realize any of the things that we discuss. I am not saying that it doesn't affect them or that in five years they wont recognize the differences but that five and six year olds are only aware of what they have lived through. They have not been shown that I am so different from them so they do not feel the need to tell me or point out to me these differences. Either way, or for a reason I do not see, I feel comfortable around these children and I have a huge amount of respect and love for them.
This week as made me wonder if maybe I should be an ELL teacher instead of a regular teacher with a Spanish major on the side.
Something that I have thought a lot about especially after talking to other students teaching, is the experience as a whole. I do not know why but I feel as if I am missing something from "the experience." I have learned a lot from my cooperating teacher and from my students. However, I was never hit with an, 'ahh they live a different life from me', or 'wow, I am culturally diverse from them.' There are two reasons that I can think of for this. One, is that for whatever reason, I feel more comfortable around those who are culturally diverse from me. I enjoy learning about them and learning from them. I don't think of them as Different from me, just different. It isn't that they are so different from me that there is this huge divide between us. But rather, that we are different. Just as I am different from my brother, the person who lives across the hall, or the cashier at the grocery store. These children are just different in a different way. I don't realize that I am so different from them until I sit to think about it. The other reason for my lack of 'ahh-hhhhaa' is that they are kindergarteners. We did not have a lot of personal one-on-one conversations about their lives. While they do talk a lot and often about whatever is on their mind, which often includes family members, they did not tell me details of their life. They don't realize the details and the difference of my life to theirs for they are too young to realize any of the things that we discuss. I am not saying that it doesn't affect them or that in five years they wont recognize the differences but that five and six year olds are only aware of what they have lived through. They have not been shown that I am so different from them so they do not feel the need to tell me or point out to me these differences. Either way, or for a reason I do not see, I feel comfortable around these children and I have a huge amount of respect and love for them.
This week as made me wonder if maybe I should be an ELL teacher instead of a regular teacher with a Spanish major on the side.
February 12, 2008: Fourth day of Kindergarten
Okay, so teaching the math lesson. My cooperating teacher said that it went really well but I am not quite so sure. Because it was Abraham Lincoln's Birthday, I did the math lesson on pennies. (We had a little thematic teaching going on: earlier in the day she read a book about him and they did a writing activity to go along!) First we talked about what all is on a penny: "In God we Trust" Lincoln's head, the year, the building and the monument in the building. The kids had magnifying glasses so that they could see things more clearly. Even though I demonstrated how to properly use a magnifying glass, the students were doing all sorts of things with them. I had them look for what year was on their penny and write it down on their piece of paper. I gave them a "bank" of pennies and had them do activities to earn more pennies. Tomorrow they are going to use their bank to go to the "store" and buy things. Throughout the entire thing, the students were very interested. However, it was very hard for me to get them all to be quiet. I was afraid to give directions because I knew some of them were not going to hear them. Afterwards, my cooperating teacher told me that the hardest thing is to get them to be quiet. Once you can do that, you can do anything with them. As soon as I was done with the math lesson and she took over the kids were silent. I mean there was no noise at all. They all listened to what her directions were and followed them. It confuses me as to how they are so well behaved for her and semi-behaved for me. She told me that the key to classroom management is to start from the beginning. To let all of them know that you love them but that you will also be fair. To give discipline and stick to it.
The morning meeting went well though. The kids are so cute. They helped me out when I forgot what came next in the order. It is amazing to see how much consistency and order affect their learning. Especially in the younger graders, do the students need to know what is coming. My cooperating teacher said that when things are rearranged and they do not know what is happening next, they are very uneasy and there is utter chaos.
So, funny little story. Today I think I heard my favorite Spanglish so far. During choice time, two of the little boys were playing with legos. One little boy was trying to tell the other little boy to push a button and then something would happen. Instead of saying push or the equivalent in Spanish, the little boy said 'pushar.' It was beautiful. It is clear that I have a passion for Hispanic children.
The morning meeting went well though. The kids are so cute. They helped me out when I forgot what came next in the order. It is amazing to see how much consistency and order affect their learning. Especially in the younger graders, do the students need to know what is coming. My cooperating teacher said that when things are rearranged and they do not know what is happening next, they are very uneasy and there is utter chaos.
So, funny little story. Today I think I heard my favorite Spanglish so far. During choice time, two of the little boys were playing with legos. One little boy was trying to tell the other little boy to push a button and then something would happen. Instead of saying push or the equivalent in Spanish, the little boy said 'pushar.' It was beautiful. It is clear that I have a passion for Hispanic children.
February 11, 2008: Third day of Kindergarten
WOW!!! Today was so much fun! I absolutely love these kindergarteners! They have so much energy and excitement for learning. Even when they feel discouraged, or are having a hard time figuring something out, they continue to persevere and find the answer. I feel so comfortable in the classroom. I know that I have not had a extreme amount of exposure to diversity, but I feel more myself in this classroom than I do in any other classroom that I have been in before. Until I sit and think about what happened throughout the day, I do not even realize that my cooperating teacher and I are the only white people in the room. There is such a level of respect from the teacher to the students, from the students to the teacher, and from the students to each other. It is never even a question as to if a student's race is a factor in the education being received. It is clearly apparent that my cooperating teacher has love for her students.
I think it is extremely important that these students, who are mostly Hispanic, are taught in English. I believe that school is the primary place where children learn standard English and can perfect it without being judged or criticized. I think it is an effective teaching technique to speak in English while teaching a lesson or giving instructions. When the students do not understand because of a language barrier and not because of comprehension, then should the native language be used. This is how my cooperating teacher runs her classroom. It is clear that the students are learning English in a non-threatening manner. They feel comfortable to make mistakes and know that the teacher will still love them. However, she never discourages them from speaking their native language. During any and all time where my cooperating teacher was not actually teaching, Spanish could be heard. During choice time, work time, transition time, lunch, and recess the children all felt comfortable to speak Spanish. I believe that this method is very effective for having children learn English while still being encouraged to speak their native languages. Both are necessary components of these students lives.
So...tomorrow. I am in charge of the entire morning meeting - which means I have to write the morning message. I never realized how much pressure goes into that. (my cooperating teacher laughed when I told her that :) ) First, what you write on the board is what goes into their brains, the standard English that they are learning. And second, I have to write letters properly...I have horrible handwriting!! Not only am I in charge of the morning meeting I am also teaching the math lesson for the day. 40 minutes of me being completely and utterly in charge. scary. Needless to say. I am a little nervous for tomorrow.
I think it is extremely important that these students, who are mostly Hispanic, are taught in English. I believe that school is the primary place where children learn standard English and can perfect it without being judged or criticized. I think it is an effective teaching technique to speak in English while teaching a lesson or giving instructions. When the students do not understand because of a language barrier and not because of comprehension, then should the native language be used. This is how my cooperating teacher runs her classroom. It is clear that the students are learning English in a non-threatening manner. They feel comfortable to make mistakes and know that the teacher will still love them. However, she never discourages them from speaking their native language. During any and all time where my cooperating teacher was not actually teaching, Spanish could be heard. During choice time, work time, transition time, lunch, and recess the children all felt comfortable to speak Spanish. I believe that this method is very effective for having children learn English while still being encouraged to speak their native languages. Both are necessary components of these students lives.
So...tomorrow. I am in charge of the entire morning meeting - which means I have to write the morning message. I never realized how much pressure goes into that. (my cooperating teacher laughed when I told her that :) ) First, what you write on the board is what goes into their brains, the standard English that they are learning. And second, I have to write letters properly...I have horrible handwriting!! Not only am I in charge of the morning meeting I am also teaching the math lesson for the day. 40 minutes of me being completely and utterly in charge. scary. Needless to say. I am a little nervous for tomorrow.
Friday, February 8, 2008
February 8, 2008: Second day of Immersion
Today was a much better day! I did not get the overwhelming feeling that I did not want to teach kindergarten. I think that is because I had more of a teacher role today and less of an observer. I was able to facilitate approximately 30 minutes if the reading time!! I read two stories and led an activity! It was very nice to have the exposure and gain some confidence that all teachers need. While I was reading one of the stories many of the children were getting extremely active and began to become a distraction to the rest of the class. I felt a little uncomfortable because I didn't really know how 'hard' to discipline them. My cooperating teacher and I discussed this later. She told me that a lot of new teachers are often too nice to the students which results in chaos within the classroom. This is something I struggle with, well... kind of the opposite. I am very much a structure and order person. I often get easily annoyed when things are not running as smoothly as they can be. I often fear that I may be too mean on the students. Maybe then I overcompensate and am one of those too nice teachers?! It was nice to be able to feel uncomfortable and force me to decided what kind of teacher I actually want to be. I definitely feel as if I could be a kindergarten teacher after today. It is a lot of basics, however, that is where the most difference could be made. Or at least the most obviously outward difference.
So, Spanish...Today I got to use my Spanish!!!! I was extremely excited! There were many moments today where my cooperating teacher spoke to the students because they were not understanding. The math lesson was about balance. The students had to guess how many of a certain object would balance a hard boiled egg. She often repeated her questions in Spanish so that they could do the math without having the English be the reason for their education not continuing. Also, the students had Spanish class. This was extremely interesting. The full term Spanish teacher is sick so there is a long-term substitute teaching. Today, the sub had to leave early so the principal was the Spanish teacher. I do not think I will ever forget that half an hour. It was the most disorganized class I have ever seen. The weird part is that the principal was a kindergarten teacher for 18 years and this is only her second year as a principal. One part of this class really irritated me. The principal seemed to know Spanish, but did not use it. I believe overall, in the entire 30 minutes, maybe 100 words were said in Spanish by the principal. Simple phrases that could have been said in Spanish were said in English: 'Sit here' instead of 'sientate aqui.' It really isn't that much harder to say it in Spanish. Because of this, I began speaking Spanish to the kids as I walked around during their work time. The principal heard me speaking Spanish and asked if I would read a story. I was able to do a read-aloud in Spanish!!!!! It was so exciting. After class, I continued to speak to the kids in Spanish for a little while. I even said some of their names in Spanish rather than the English version. They were all extremely amazed that I was able to speak to them in Spanish.
Being able to actually use my Spanish to the kids caused me to think a lot. I almost want to change my major to ELL. I do not know if that is just from the excitement of actually using my Spanish for something good that I had today or if it is an actual possibility. It is something that I need to think a lot about!!
I am super excited for Monday.
So, Spanish...Today I got to use my Spanish!!!! I was extremely excited! There were many moments today where my cooperating teacher spoke to the students because they were not understanding. The math lesson was about balance. The students had to guess how many of a certain object would balance a hard boiled egg. She often repeated her questions in Spanish so that they could do the math without having the English be the reason for their education not continuing. Also, the students had Spanish class. This was extremely interesting. The full term Spanish teacher is sick so there is a long-term substitute teaching. Today, the sub had to leave early so the principal was the Spanish teacher. I do not think I will ever forget that half an hour. It was the most disorganized class I have ever seen. The weird part is that the principal was a kindergarten teacher for 18 years and this is only her second year as a principal. One part of this class really irritated me. The principal seemed to know Spanish, but did not use it. I believe overall, in the entire 30 minutes, maybe 100 words were said in Spanish by the principal. Simple phrases that could have been said in Spanish were said in English: 'Sit here' instead of 'sientate aqui.' It really isn't that much harder to say it in Spanish. Because of this, I began speaking Spanish to the kids as I walked around during their work time. The principal heard me speaking Spanish and asked if I would read a story. I was able to do a read-aloud in Spanish!!!!! It was so exciting. After class, I continued to speak to the kids in Spanish for a little while. I even said some of their names in Spanish rather than the English version. They were all extremely amazed that I was able to speak to them in Spanish.
Being able to actually use my Spanish to the kids caused me to think a lot. I almost want to change my major to ELL. I do not know if that is just from the excitement of actually using my Spanish for something good that I had today or if it is an actual possibility. It is something that I need to think a lot about!!
I am super excited for Monday.
Thursday, February 7, 2008
February 7, 2008: First day of Kindergarten
So, "bi-lingual kindergarten" I found out isn't really bi-lingual. The teacher is bi-lingual but the classroom is not. She does all of her teaching in English. The only time Spanish is spoken to a child from the teacher is when the child is not understanding or is not listening. It is not quite the experience I was expecting, but I am still learning. Within the school as a whole the largest demographic contributors are 10% are Caucasian, 35% are African American, and 40% are Hispanic. The class has 14 students. One Somalia student, one Vietnamese student, and I believe the rest are Hispanic.
I am aware that throughout my life, I have not experienced an extensive amount of diversity. My public schooling was not very diverse, our college is not that diverse, and I have lived in the same area my entire life. Even so, I feel as if I must have experienced some diversity. It never dawned on me that there were no "white" kids in my class until the end of the day when my cooperating teacher and I were talking about the school as a whole versus other Catholic schools and public schools and the demographics of them all. I know that I am comfortable with diversity. I do not know if it is because I have experienced it or because it is simply my nature. I have always had the desire to work in public urban schools because, to me, they have the most diversity. Seeing that a private Catholic school can have such great diversity causes me to second think where I might want to teach.
It was really...weird and interesting. As the day went on, I continued to notice theory and practices and strategies that we have been learning lately. I realized that most of the things I already did, I just never knew the reasoning for them before. She definitely modeled "good reading skills" during read-aloud! We also did holistic learning! It was a very eventful day!
Today I mostly helped. I was a reading buddy and led a few small groups in math and reading. I also walked around during work time and helped the kids as they needed me. On Tuesday, I am doing the math lesson and on Wednesday, I am doing the entire 90 reading lesson! I am really excited for it. She told me that tomorrow will be a very exciting day and I will be able to have more "teacher" time. I do not know if it is because I was not teaching as much and more of observing and helping or because it is kindergarten, but I do not know if I want to teach kindergarten when we graduate. Up until now I have always thought I would teach 1st grade, I know there is a big difference between kindergarten and 1st grade, but still, I am going to have to really think about that. I guess we do have a lot of time to figure it out as well!!
I am really excited to go back tomorrow. I definitely feel comfortable in a classroom and in a school. There is no doubt in my mind that this is what I was born to do.
I am aware that throughout my life, I have not experienced an extensive amount of diversity. My public schooling was not very diverse, our college is not that diverse, and I have lived in the same area my entire life. Even so, I feel as if I must have experienced some diversity. It never dawned on me that there were no "white" kids in my class until the end of the day when my cooperating teacher and I were talking about the school as a whole versus other Catholic schools and public schools and the demographics of them all. I know that I am comfortable with diversity. I do not know if it is because I have experienced it or because it is simply my nature. I have always had the desire to work in public urban schools because, to me, they have the most diversity. Seeing that a private Catholic school can have such great diversity causes me to second think where I might want to teach.
It was really...weird and interesting. As the day went on, I continued to notice theory and practices and strategies that we have been learning lately. I realized that most of the things I already did, I just never knew the reasoning for them before. She definitely modeled "good reading skills" during read-aloud! We also did holistic learning! It was a very eventful day!
Today I mostly helped. I was a reading buddy and led a few small groups in math and reading. I also walked around during work time and helped the kids as they needed me. On Tuesday, I am doing the math lesson and on Wednesday, I am doing the entire 90 reading lesson! I am really excited for it. She told me that tomorrow will be a very exciting day and I will be able to have more "teacher" time. I do not know if it is because I was not teaching as much and more of observing and helping or because it is kindergarten, but I do not know if I want to teach kindergarten when we graduate. Up until now I have always thought I would teach 1st grade, I know there is a big difference between kindergarten and 1st grade, but still, I am going to have to really think about that. I guess we do have a lot of time to figure it out as well!!
I am really excited to go back tomorrow. I definitely feel comfortable in a classroom and in a school. There is no doubt in my mind that this is what I was born to do.
Tuesday, February 5, 2008
February 1, 2008: Linguistic Diversity and Placements
Recognizing that all types of linguistic diverstiy have an impact on the classroom is important. Whether it is a compltely new language or a different for of the same language can both create learning probles. The role of the teacher is to eliminate as many complications due to linguistic diversity as possible. Every child has the right to learn everything and anything that he/she can. A teacher has the responsibility to accoplish this and the holds the skills to do so. Many things can cause difficulties in the classroom. An effective teacher knows how to handle and control all situations in which problems arise.
PLACEMENTS!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to bilingual kindergarten at Risen Christ Elementary. I a super excited. I have always wanted to teach in an immersion school and/or in a school with a diverse community. I have been given many opportunities to experience diversity and to use my language skills. However, none of these have been specifically for the classroo. While tutoring while on mission trips in classrooms has brought me some experience, this Urban Immersion provides me with the opportunity to see first hand how a bilingual classroom operates. I a extreely excited to see if this is really a place that I will feel comfortable and be able to be effective, or if it is simply a nice idea. Can I actually do the things I wish to do? Do I actually have the language skills that I have been told that I have? Can I be effective in two languages? In one language? I am extremely excited and hopeful for this experience.
Risen Christ -- Here I Come!!!!
PLACEMENTS!!!!!!!!!!! I am going to bilingual kindergarten at Risen Christ Elementary. I a super excited. I have always wanted to teach in an immersion school and/or in a school with a diverse community. I have been given many opportunities to experience diversity and to use my language skills. However, none of these have been specifically for the classroo. While tutoring while on mission trips in classrooms has brought me some experience, this Urban Immersion provides me with the opportunity to see first hand how a bilingual classroom operates. I a extreely excited to see if this is really a place that I will feel comfortable and be able to be effective, or if it is simply a nice idea. Can I actually do the things I wish to do? Do I actually have the language skills that I have been told that I have? Can I be effective in two languages? In one language? I am extremely excited and hopeful for this experience.
Risen Christ -- Here I Come!!!!
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