Working with Mrs. Light at Central Elementary School was such a great experience. When I first entered her kindergarten classroom, I was extremely unsure whether or not I was a good fit for this age group. Previously I had finished several weeks at Dublin Elementary in a 3rd grade classroom. The transition was definitely challenging.
The more I worked with the group of students, the more I came to enjoy it! Mrs. Light understood my worries but forced me out of my comfort zone. It was exactly what I needed. It was with this class that I learned the importance of getting on every child's level. Communication is key but it's essential that it is kept brief. Interactive and cooperative learning activities are also necessary for the growth of each child. Creating real life experiences gave students a reason to learn on a daily basis. Establishing a solid routine is crucial when trying to improve on classroom management. Towards the end of my clinical experience, I was able to take over the classroom which meant that I had to teach and plan daily lesson plans for 2-3 weeks. At Central Elementary, the teachers create bundles that keep up with 3 weeks worth of lesson plans. Their daily routines and lessons are mainly taught through the smartboard. When it was my official time to take over, my mentor teacher had already created the bundle that I was teaching but asked for me to change it up to my liking. When changing the bundle I was able to add interactive guided writing lessons, subitizing math lessons and changed the guided reading lessons around. During this clinical experience, I was also able to work one on one with 3 specific students on a daily basis. 2 of these students had learning disabilities. They specifically had a challenging time learning phonics, writing and math. The third student was an English Language Learner who I really enjoyed working with for 8 weeks. This student went from speaking only Chinese to being able to say my name along with short English phrases. It was an amazing experience to see him progress in such a short time. I strongly believe that he made such progress by interacting with his peers on a daily basis, receiving one on one time with his main classroom teachers as well as his ESL teacher. I am so thankful to have worked for and with such a wonderful elementary school. This kindergarten class in particularly changed my perspective on what future grade levels I want to teach. It's opened my eyes of how important these teachers are and what a major difference they make in the world. |
Mrs. Light's Turkeys During the first week of taking over the classroom, the students and I read Turkey Trouble. Every morning the students would read the book and learn something specific about the book (the characters, setting, schema, visualize, connect and predict) through an interactive activity. At the end of the week, each student was able to make their very own turkey!
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50th Day of SchoolOne of the students in Mrs. Light's class. We celebrated the 50th day of school by dressing in 50's clothing and dancing at the Sock Hop. She had her first root bear float and was able to count to the number 50 all by herself!
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College DayOn College Day, one of our students decorated her own Tarleton pendent to celebrate higher education. It was on this day that I gave a brief lesson about Tarleton and the importance of going to college.
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