10-19-22

I came in for thirty-five minutes to briefly go over the lesson plan that, I created. tomorrow the following day. I planned well for this lesson and I’m super excited to present and teach. Stay tuned!

10-13-22

It’s good to be back this week with my mentor teacher and her second-grade class. I like the fact that I have the opportunity to sit in on many lessons and various subject areas. This week my mentor teacher allowed me to teach a math activity about my place value. This lesson was fun for both the students and me. We utilized various colors of math cubes and made whatever choice of an object out of them. Most students chose robots including myself. I completed mine first so, the students could see a completed visual of the finished lesson. The cubes were in sets of ones, tens, hundreds, thousands, ten thousand, hundred thousand, and millions. Each student cut out their own math cubes and used as many as they or wished as far as sets. They then placed their choice of cubed sets onto a large sheet of construction paper.

At the end of the lesson the students named their My Place Value Creation and I named mine, Mr. Sunshine. This was a exciting and interactive lesson. More fun next week!

10-6-22

This week the student worked on making nouns plural. This lesson was presented via Smartboard and with whole class participation. I enjoyed seeing the students learn this lesson and verbally discuss it. Some of the making nouns plural examples were of the following:

fox/foxes

brush/brushes

tree/trees

flower/flowers

nest/nests

bush/bushes

dress/dresses

lunch/lunches

glass/glasses

bench/benches

church/churches

sandwich/sandwiches

After the students went over making nouns plural they wrote short sentences with the plural nouns. I spoke with the students and answered questions throughout the lesson. It’s amazing how my mentor teacher second grade class is advancing so well and learning at a fast past rate. I’m looking forward to seeing the growth continue.

9-29-22

Before coming to class today, I was sent an email by my mentoring teacher. She wanted me to know that she would be in a meeting all day and the principal wanted the Governors State University future student teachers to attend. The students was still in class with an substitute teacher while my mentor teacher and I was in the meeting. I appreciated the invite to the meeting and with the staff. I received a wealth of information on how educators sit at the round table and discuss the process and or developmental needs of each student in attendance. The meeting amongst the staff was planned to determine if all the current students placed in selected tiers are making progress and if they will stay in their current tiers and or move on. The discussed the students Grammar, Hearing, Sensory, Speech Path and Comprehensive Strategies. The support for the children and assessments used was also, a determining factor within the meeting.

The tiers the students are placed in are for Reading, Math, and Language. There was a total of 16 staff members who attended the meeting and everyone lend their expertise, suggestions, and plans to move forward. Case studies, Percentiles, EL Support, Hype Fixation, Areas of Need, Accuracy as Data Point, Decoding Words, Students Deficits, Homeschooling, Target Skill, Cause and Effect, Sequencing, and Target Skill were all discussed and collaborated on. This was a very detailed and informative meeting. All staff agreed with the plans put in place.

9-22-22

Besides learning this week, I was invited to one of the students extracurricular sports games. I thought this was so nice that the student wanted me to attend his game. Although I did not attend, I told him to thank you and I wished for him to have a great game and fun with his teammates. Another student let me know he had two kittens by the name of Jupiter and Whisker. The young boy told me one of the kittens was sick and would not make it much longer. I was sad to hear of this and I can tell his heart was in grief. I told him to think of all the good times he has had with his pet kitten and to hold on to that. In situations like this, you listen as a teacher and show continuous support. Children have feelings and sometimes they like to vent and just know that someone cares and their feelings matter. I care for all my students and will always be a source of rescue.

9-15-22

Happy Thursday!

This has been a very busy week the second grade class. They have been working on quite a bit such as sight words, vocabulary words, short vowel, long vowel and consonant digraphs. In class at Governors State University we also, have covered some of these subject areas especially, digraphs. I love the reinforcement of learning that is taking place in both of my learning environments. This weeks vocabulary words were hairy, mammals, litter, stayed, canned, chews, clipped and coat. The vocabulary words are are posted on the board Monday through Thursday and taken down on Friday’s. The students have a spelling test every Friday of their weekly vocabulary word list. They continued their learning with highlighting sight words on a worksheet, along with short and long vowels. I help engage the students with learning , answered their questions and continually, getting to know them in their learning styles.

This week in class at Governors State University, I did a mini-lesson on consonant digraphs. Consonant Digraphs are two or more consonants that together represent one sound. The students are aware of this and did a great job with the lesson on digraphs. I enjoyed working with the students again today, they are so, lively and have good conversations. My mentoring teacher allowed me to go over some of today’s learning via smartboard. Everything in today’s learning environments at the click of a button helps the student and teacher to become more technology savvy. Another great week completed and I look forward to next week.

Have a good rest of the week and weekend!

9-8-22

On this day the teacher was reviewing the parts of speech with the students. They have worked on the parts of speech throughout the week so, by Thursday the are pretty fluent with the lessons being taught. During journal time the student wrote about the various parts of speech. I walked throughout the classroom speaking with the students and reviewing their writing skills and what parts of speech they chose to write about. Their was a beautiful bulletin board with the parts of speech displayed. Nouns, Adjectives, Verbs, Adverbs, Prepositions, Pronouns, Conjunctions, and Interjections were on the board with bright diverse illustrations throughout. Each poster also, provided examples of each parts of speech. The board was large enough for each student to see.

If a student asked me how to spell a word that was on the board, I directed them to view the correct spelling that was visually provided. When students can have visuals provided that are related to their lesson it allows their learning experience to be more impactful and aligning. At the end of the lesson, my mentoring teacher allowed me to review the parts of the speech with the students and go over a few examples. The students had a very good concept of what the parts of speech are and how to recognize them when seen. I had a very good day during my field experience and look forward to growing and learning.

9-1-22

My first day visiting Mokena Elementary School was a true delight. I was greeted by the office secretary and she explained the sign-in procedures, school badge, and timesheets. I also met the Assistant Principle and she was nice and very welcoming. I was then able to go meet my mentoring teacher and her second-grade class. I introduced myself to my new mentoring teacher and all the students in the classroom. The teacher and her students were expecting me and extended a very warm welcome to me in their class. My mentoring teacher’s classroom was very organized and the themes throughout the classroom mirrored what the students were currently learning. I was very satisfied with my placement where I will come every Thursday for the next fifteen weeks.

I spoke with the students and let them know, I would be there to learn, work with their teacher, and assist them in any way possible. Each student had name tags on their desk and when I spoke to them I used their names. Doing so will help me learn their names for the future weeks to come. This was a short day and I look forward to next week’s class session.

I learned that there are many fun and innovative ways to connect with others. And, blogging is a way to illustrate your gifts, ideas, thoughts and communicate openly. Blogging is almost like a diary, let’s write, share and keep the dialogue going.

I learned that you can communicate, share ideas, photos, and gain information from others by blogging. Blogging is a newer way to stay connected to those both near and far. Let’s keep in touch.