Blog #3

a. How would you describe your teaching style (i.e. how would your classroom run)? 


I believe that students learn best when they are comfortable. I hope to have a warming yet fun environment for my students. I want my students to want to learn rather than have to! With my experience in level 2 so far I have noticed that my students like to tell stories whether it be about themselves or someone else. It is great to let them share and relate to them. I want my students to participate in the class rather than be called on. I want to have a positive behavior chart rather than a negative one. I hope to point out the positive things that students are doing rather than making them change their card for something bad. Also I want parents to be involved in my classroom as much as possible. I know this can be either really difficult or really easy but I think it is great when the parents are involved. It also makes the environment of school more welcoming by having visitors. 


b. Are you more authoritative and teacher centered or collaborative and student centered? Why?

I like to say that I am a little bit of everything! I love having student-centered teaching because it is fun and allows students to teach their peers but this is not always best for every lesson. It is important that we do not have the students run the classroom. My internship teacher now is very teacher centered. Although she does allow the students to teach one another at times she is mostly the authoritative figure in the classroom. I think that it is important to be both teacher and student centered because it is beneficial to the students to learn from not only their teacher but one another.


c. What types of routines will you establish in your classroom?

I really enjoy how my internship teacher now has many routines. Students come in to the classroom in the morning, hand in their homework and planners, and then start their morning work. This is really helpful because the students usually do a fun activity in the morning to get their brains working until the bell rings. To go to the bathroom the students raise their hand with two fingers up and to get a drink they do the same but with one finger. This is really a great way to not disrupt the class. Students are never allowed to get up to sharpen pencils they start out with about 10 in a basket at their groups and during planning and lunch my teacher replenishes them. To line up at the door the students are called by group by whoever is ready first. For the most part they are all simple routines that the students follow. I hope that my class can follow routines similar to these in order to not disrupt the class from learning to simply sharpen a pencil or go to the bathroom.


d. How will they be useful in creating a positive and productive learning environment?


Routines are great for the students because it allows them to have guidelines of what they are supposed to do. It also helps them to set up routines for other things that they do at home such as playing, homework, and even getting ready in the morning. Routines help the classroom to be a little less hectic and have students be aware of most questions they would ask that aren't content related.

Blog #2

1. In my classroom thus far I have observed that there are students that are at all different levels. With only thirteen students in the class it is very easy for my teacher to accommodate students who need extra help with certain things. The classroom is very organized and the students are in a perfect routine. I have also found many things in the classroom that I hope to use in my classroom such as the weekly homework check, which is a paper that parents sign daily and students are able to show them completed homework. I also like how the desks are set up in the classroom. They are in lines rather than groups or rows. This makes it easy to group the students together but also keep them apart.
2. My teachers teaching style compares to mine because she is very organized and makes sure her lessons are suitable for all students. To me this is important because all students are different and she is able to understand this and teach them in a way that is best for them! She also reviews and assesses a lot to make sure that students are understanding and in case they do not she is able to help them individually or in small groups so that they do not get behind other students.
3. Elements that I would like to incorporate in my style are as I said before teaching to all different students learning styles and also to relate to them. I think that these are both important because the students are understanding to why they are learning certain subjects when they are related to them. I try to incorporate both of these elements but at times it is a struggle so I hope that from my teacher I will be able to learn more and hopefully perfect my teaching with these elements.
4. After being in New York this summer and helping students of similar ages the curriculum is completely different. The second grade math in Florida that my class is just now learning students in first grade already know in New York. For me personally I have seen all of the curriculum and feel comfortable with it thus far. Something that is new to me is the social studies. My last cooperating teacher never taught social studies but my teacher now thinks it is very important for students to learn about other places than Florida and to understand other cultures.
5. The behavior chart is something that I have noticed does not change very much from school to school. It was something that from the first day I was comfortable with since I already knew what was going on. Also the reading intervention is very similar from school to school and I have felt comfortable with it so far.
6. Next I hope to teach my own lesson. My teacher and I have met and are starting to plan a lesson together. I think that it is really great that the students think of me as their second teacher and respect me as if I am a teacher. I can't wait to start teaching to the class. I have taught a few small groups and I think that the experience so far is great and I cant wait to continue learning how to be the best teacher that I can be!

Blog #1

1. The courses that I have completed so far in the education program are Learning and Developing Child, Social foundations of Education, Creative Experience for Child, Health/Phys Ed for Child, Teaching Elementary School (K-6) Math 1, Curriculum and Pedagogy of ESOL (ESOL1), Classroom Management, Literature in Childhood Ed, Teaching Elementary School Math II, Reading and Learning to Read, Level 1 Internship, Teaching Elementary School Science, Teaching Diverse Populations, Intro to Ed/Field Experience, Into to Educational Technology, Teaching Writing, ESOL 2, and Teaching Social Studies. The courses that I am currently taking are Level 2 Internship, Linking Literature, Integrating the Exceptional Child, Measurements, and ESOL3. The course that has impacted me most is Teaching Writing. I took this course over summer all day for one week. I got to experience working with the students and then assessing them after. It was a great experience to see how the students worked in groups and how each student was very different from the other but they were all coming together to do the projects. I think actually getting to know the students was the best because not only were we able to see how they read and write, we were also able to get to know them for more than just one day.
2. I have had a lot of different experiences with children throughout the years. I have been a babysitter/nanny for as long as I can remember. I have worked with families from newborns to 12 years old. I am currently a nanny for a four year old girl and a seven year old boy. Every summer I work at a lacrosse camp with girls ages 7-14 who are learning the sport. For the past three semesters I have tutored through the SCATT program at different middle schools in the area with mostly 6th and 7th graders. The experience that impacted me most was probably tutoring through SCATT. These students were all underprivileged and just needed someone to help them with homework and assignments as well as just be there to talk to. I learned how important it is to relate to your students and let them know that they can succeed.
3. My expectations for this internship are to keep improving when teaching and learning new things. I hope that my teacher will be able to help me become a better teacher and prepare me for my next internship. My fears are that I will get a teacher who will not let me teach at all in the classroom. I know a few people who had very bad experiences at this school but I hope that mine goes well and I have a very positive experience.
4. Throughout the years I have had some really great teachers, some mediocre teachers, and some horrible teachers. The experiences that stand out most to me are the best teachers that I had but also the worst ones. My best teachers were dedicated not only to the students but the content they were teaching as well. They cared about their students and wanted everyone to do their best. These teachers were able to be the "best teachers" because they didn't teach how they wanted to, they taught in ways that all of the students would benefit. It is important to not only lecture in a class but to take in consideration all of the different learning styles and accommodations that students may have. The teacher that were the worst experiences that I had were the teachers who only lectured, didn't care about the students, and were not understanding of how all students can be different. I think that it is important for teachers to be interested in what they are teaching no matter how long they have been teaching, they also need to be able to relate to their students in order to keep them interested in learning.