Learning from our Experiences

As a teacher, it is important to be flexible. On the day of my observation, that was the one piece of advice that I believe helped me the most. Murphy is always laying down his law to remind everyone that things will happen and all we can do is make the most out of our situations. Due to transit delays for many people, our observation began later than we had originally scheduled, we improvised by carrying out our full morning meeting and singing songs such as “Willoughby Wallaby Woo” using all the children’s names and some energizers to keep the children engaged and their minds active while we waited to begin our lessons.

When I did begin my M&Ms graphing lesson, it unfolded as I did plan for the most part. I had planned accordingly and was focused on the objectives of modeling how to sort and transfer information to a graph. I was also more attentive in reiterating key terms that I wanted the children to use and learn from the lesson. I repeatedly used the words: graph, sort, more than, less than, the most, and the least as often as I could while I modeled how to graph. I was extremely satisfied with how engaged the children were and how they volunteered to participate.

As I walked around the classroom, the children stayed on task and sorted independently, begun graphing, and were able to distinguish which color M&Ms they had the most of. I was able to ask almost half of the children which color they had the most and which one they had the least of. A few were even able to tell me additional things they observed such as having none of some colors and an equal number of M&Ms for some of their other colors. We were also able to close the lesson with two children sharing their findings with their peers on the rug. They expressed interest in asking their peers questions about their findings and responsibility in picking who would answer the questions.

I was especially interested in using M&Ms as a tool to teach graphing with the children was to engage the children and keep them excited. The M&Ms proved to be something that the children were indeed excited about. They stood up and began to talk simultaneously. Luckily, I was able to bring them back to task by reminding them that I would pick children that were sitting and raising their hands to help me. They quickly fixed their bodies and remained engaged. They made some great predictions about which colors they thought would have the most and we were able to sort and graph all together.

Although, I was satisfied with their level of engagement, I feel that there is usually room for improvement. In hindsight, I would have only picked one or two volunteers to help me model sorting for each step of the procedure. The children proved to be meticulous when they were picking which color they were to sort and how they colored in their graph.

The reason I felt this lesson went well was that I had actually discussed and gone over the appropriateness of the lesson and how to modify it better for the group of students in KC several times with the teaching team in KC and with my professors. We discussed appropriate segues and ways to connect the topic to prior knowledge and efficient ways to streamline the lesson better. Although the M&Ms math lesson is not my original idea, I did indeed have to vary the lesson to best fit the children I teach. My cooperating teacher and my fellow student teacher discussed talk and turns, or ways to keep the children engaged. We decided that keeping the plan simple and straightforward was our best approach considering many of our children become excitable and distracted with too much stimulation.

I believe that the difference between the first observed lesson and this lesson is that I felt more at ease after meeting my observer and discussing ways to improve my teaching strategies such as being able to walk around and assess, staying focused on my objectives, finding ways to help the whole group stay engaged in the lesson, and having the children repeat main points to ensure they have understanding. Making sure the children have understanding of what was expected of them and staying focused on the objectives was really the key to helping me carry out the lesson. I also had time to discuss with my colleagues ways to improve the execution of the lesson.  Although the children threw me for a loop occasionally like when I asked what the children what they were supposed to do at their desks, a child said, ‘whatever we want to”, I was able to laugh and say “good thing, I checked before you went to go work at your desks.” I then repeated the steps and had them repeat the steps to me.

I was able to learn from the shortcomings of my first lesson. I did not let it wither my confidence, but used it to keep me grounded and focused on the important aspects of the lessons such as making sure I modeled the math vocabulary I wanted them to learn and being focused on their learning objectives. My teaching strength lies in how I relate to the children and how I try to listen to what they have to say. Challenges that I want to overcome would be learning ways to write strong lesson plans in less time than it took me to tailor the M&Ms math lesson for my students. As a full time teacher, I will not have the luxuries afforded to me now such as the low student to teacher ratio and the flexibility to teach one lesson a day. I would like to come to a point where I can streamline writing lesson plans and still make the lessons engaging and specific for my students. I hope with time and experience so much more becomes second nature to me.

Supporting All Readers

            When I read articles about “struggling readers”, I often read it with a “slightly raised eyebrow”. I come from an immigrant family who provided what they could for me, but as my parents did not speak English, I could have easily been classified as a “struggling reader”.  As I read these articles, I always look to see the circumstance of the children that are being highlighted. I also look for answers to my questions. What is it about the story that the children do not comprehend? Sequence? Subject matter? Vocabulary? Does the material connect with the everyday lives of the children in your classroom? Are the children English Language Learners?

            I do not accept the notion that just because the children come from low income families or have hard circumstances in their personal life as a reason for their struggles in reading. Although it is helpful to know the background of the family, their income and the educational achievements of their parents, it important to not have those factors as the reason why the children can not read or are struggling. I do believe that as Maslow theorized that children’s basic needs must be met before they can learn. However, school can also be seen as a haven. Teachers can be adults who listen and care. School can shelter and nourish your mind and body as well. I found comfort in going to school. Although some children may have more difficulties doing this, school is often a safe place for children. We take the information about the children’s home lives and we use it to be empathetic and to find ways to help them learn, not to let it be the reason that limits them.

            It is the teacher’s job to make connections from stories/books/concepts to a child’s everyday life. Our job is to make concepts applicable to the children and connect them to their interests and prior knowledge. It is also to make reading and writing a task that can be achieved by all learners. A great example of this occurring in practice is including situations that happened into math problems or into writing prompts.

Our classroom does an author of the day activity and the children usually tell stories about their daily routines or something special that happened over the weekend. Each child has a chance to be an author and an illustrator. Their story gets told (as well as heard) and they build confidence in constructing a narrative or storyline. We need to make connections and acknowledge their life stories and then build from that point.

For example it is popular for schools to include the reading of Chrysanthemum by Kevin Henkes to introduce a girl’s insecurities about her name. I would instead read The Name Jar by Yangsook Choi. The Name Jar shows a real girl who struggles with feeling comfortable about her name. To enhance the story, I could also tell a small story about how I grew up with a different name and the feelings that I felt. As I recount this to the children, they may begin to make connections of their own. These are more realistic stories. (This also goes into the debate of using stories that depict people instead of animals for certain subject matters.)

As a teacher, it is instrumental for one to pause to check understanding, providing appropriate prompt questions, making connections to relevant experiences, checking understanding of vocabulary, vary your tone of voice so children can infer and make predictions. There can also be a follow up activity to ensure understanding and then repeat the readings. Children often do not tire of repeat readings. New understanding is usually gained when books are reread. For younger ages, discussions can become tiresome. Create a re-enactment! For example, for “We are going on a lion hunt” if the children actually went on a mock lion hunt, the children are more likely to remember prepositional words and the sequences.  Children are naturally visual and kinesthetic learners.  Most adults still learn more by doing than just mere listening.

Borrowing ideas from reading with younger readers for older readers, we can still incorporate finger plays and/or puppets into storytelling and read-alouds.  We can also pose questions such as, “What would you do if you were _____?”  We can also sing songs that rhyme and/or mean the same thing. Dr. Suess books are great resources for word play. We can also play games with synonyms. Take turns saying words that mean the same thing until someone gets stuck, “Fabulous, Great, Excellent, Fantastic, etc.”

“The single most important activity for building the knowledge required for eventual success in reading is reading aloud to children. During read-alouds, it is important to discuss with children what they are hearing.” (Barrett-Mynes, 2010) I agree with Barett-Mynes that read-alouds are important, but what happens during and after the read aloud also makes a large impact. Much about learning how to read and learning in general is to spend time and practice the skills needed.

The author did a great job highlighting her steps in how her teaching evolved. It is also important to note that the interactive read-aloud and discussions helped comprehension immensely, but also that the children were getting extra time to discuss the books with an adult and their peers. Organic conversations and thinking is taking place. All of this varied and increased exposure is more than likely to have positive outcomes than negative outcomes. How much more time did the teacher spend incorporating these new strategies as opposed to the amount of time spent reading and discussing stories with the children prior to her study?

I am a believer that when we view children as capable beings and provide them with support, they can accomplish a lot. The author was able to really take a look at how reading was taking place in her classroom and adjust it to have the children become more independent. They were able to take strategies and direct their own learning. To enhance read-alouds, making the learning and content meaningful to the children is also paramount.

Teaching with an Open Mind and Ready Body

Although I have observed teachers in other kindergarten and first grade setting before, teaching and working with a team is different. The GO Project is my first experience working outside of the preschool setting. At my preschool, I know all of the staff and all of the children. I know the children who will move up to my room and they know who I am.  It was daunting to go into this program not knowing any of the people I would be working alongside or any of the students. I only knew that I wanted to learn strategies to deal with children who are older and how to work within a non-preschool setting.

On the first day of setting up for our classroom at the GO project, my cooperating teacher said, “My motto this summer is to not kill myself.” My jaw dropped slightly and my mind went into panic mode. As we set up the class, I did not feel confident about being prepared. What would be expected of me? What I should expect from the other teachers and the students? It was alarming for me to not to have a plan or scramble to have a plan. I like researching and being prepared.

Throughout the first week of school, I discovered that “not killing myself” did not mean that my cooperating teacher did not care or was not knowledgeable in her profession. It meant that she was not going to stress things that she could not control. My cooperating teacher is full of laughs and is very helpful. She has a stern side and does put her foot down when necessary. Although her firmness may not be what is outlined by NAEYC standards, it works. She will let the class know in a strong voice when the children are not behaving as expected. Too often, I believe that reasoning with children will get them to straighten up, but many times, it does not. It is refreshing to feel that I can also be firm. I have observed in classrooms where the teachers never raise their voice and the children will only “listen” momentarily. I am a believer that although we get stern, we have created an environment where the children do know that we care, so they shape up and fall in line. I hear stories of the teaching assistants saying our class can be a nightmare in the afternoon, and I am thankful that when we have them they behave better. And as a person who recently did her first breakfast duty, our kindergarteners are saints compared to some of the other children.

Although our curriculum has guidelines, we have been able to incorporate a little creativity into our days. We recently did fishbowl math where we worked on subtraction with the children. We had real fish cutouts and fishbowls for the children to solve their individual (differentiated) math equations. I think the children had fun solving math problems using tools other than unifix cubes and paper.

I have also observed firsthand how to use Fundation drills and work with children who are learning how to read. There is still so much to learn, but I feel that the experience I have had thus far has been great. I am beginning to have a clearer understanding of where the children in our class are and where they should be. Although there is much to do in the next few weeks, we can only focus on making sure the children have a strong understanding of the foundations of reading and math. So in KC, we are not “killing ourselves” but we are working hard to try to make them feel able and ready for the coming school year. This means building their confidence and their ability to make connections to the foundations we are teaching to their everyday lives.  

Our classroom is an environment where we can laugh while we learn. So although I was taken aback in the beginning, it has become an environment in which I am comfortable and I enjoy working in. The teaching team in KC works well together even though we all have different personalities. We all are open to new suggestions and are mindful of each other's ideas. We come in and are ready to pitch in. As we support the children and their learning, we support each other. 

Reflections on being an Observee

   Observation is such a necessary component to learning about a person and/or environment. As it is important for teachers to observe the children that they teach, it is important for professors to observe the teachers they guide. I have complete understanding of why it is so difficult to ignore an observer and “be yourself”. There is someone who is standing over you or near you just watching you. This is one reason why children behave differently when they are being watched. It is a funny dynamic and adults are no exception to being more wary when they know they are being observed. The way I teach is to try to be casual and relaxed. Sometimes this is more difficult to do when you are wary of making mistakes or feeling that a mistake or mishaps cannot happen.

   I hope that for the second observation, that I am able to put my mind more at ease and be accepting and even welcoming of some curves. Teaching in the classroom hardly ever plays out as we imagine or expect it to in our lesson plans. Although being flexible is an important component of teaching, The one aspect of the lesson that went well was that the children were engaged and wanted to try out the wheel. A goal was to help them make the connection that if they can read a word like “cat” they can read many more words because they know the phonemes of the letters of the alphabet.

   As social and emotional development is such a big factor for the children at the GO project, it was important that they felt that this task was achievable. I was very proud when some of the children began to make up their own pseudo words and traded word wheels with their friends. The most important outcome would be that the children realize that they have the tools to be readers and make connections between Fundations work, spelling work and reading. They were attentive and engaged. I had to laugh when Maria pointed out that I did not start from the beginning of the book. It showed me that she knew the principles of reading and that she way paying attention. It was also a funny moment when I held up the word wheel and Angel said very certainly, “Oh, that’s a circle.” (It is a great reminder of how literal children are.) He was correct, I guess I should have clarified to them that it was a word wheel and engage the children by asking the children to show thumbs up or down if they know how to use a word wheel. Then demonstrate if no one knows or have a volunteer explain how a word wheel is used. The main objective was to be able to hear the children sounding out the words in their word family. This would enable me to assess whether the children were familiar with their letter sounds and their ability to put the sounds together. I was able to hear Calvin sound out the words. I was also able to see that he inverted his “h” and “s” when he wrote the words down. An additional benefit of having the children list their words allowed me to see their writing as well as who was able to generate their own pseudo words. I was satisfied with the way the children were engaged. They followed along and were seated on the rug very well.

   For future lessons, I believe it could have been strengthened with clearer and more thorough instructions when I want the children to perform a task in the whole group, before transitioning to small groups and as needed within the small groups. Remembering to do so will only help by letting me know that my instructions were clear and if not, to clarify further. It would also benefit the children as they would not sot idly waiting for the allotted time for the lesson to be over and not be engaged and immersed in the lesson.

   A strength I had was using some strategies I would normally use with preschoolers such as reading a fun book by Dr. Suess to tie into the lesson. Also using the word wheel where the children can touch and manipulate on their own engages them more than if they only had a word sheet and an alphabet chart. One of the personal goals I had was to try to incorporate more arts into their learning. It works so well with the younger ages and I believe the children in KC would also enjoy. Kindergarten is such a hard transition grade because so much of what they were familiar with in preschool is not present. In the two short weeks we have had tests and assessments by their new teachers and a slew of specialists. The children are very aware that GO is not a summer camp for fun until first grade comes in September.

   If I could teach this lesson again, I would have begun the lesson by emphasizing the sounds of the word family and reiterated this more. I would have also liked to have reacted quicker to children who were struggling or just needed clarification so that they do not lose confidence in their ability to complete the task. There are times when it is difficult to gage when is a good time to allow the child to think or to assist them so that they do not feel discouraged by limiting their “unsure” moments. I also did my best to account for the varying developmental levels the children within KC were on by having word wheels that the children could self-check with a picture opposite it or that would give them hints as to the word the wheel created. I would have also provided tasks or assignments for the rest of the children who are not currently assisting me so that their minds are not idle. For example, while a student is helping me circle the two words that are in the same rhyme family, the rest could see if they could come up with other words that rhymed with “hop”. A strength in my teaching is that I enjoy having organic conversations with the children. This helps me try to think of ways to relate the educational concepts I am trying to teach to them in different ways. It has helped that we ask a lot of questions to try to get to know the children I can strengthen my teaching by being able to divide my attention to the rest of the class without making the individual children feel neglected. Perhaps by paying attention to points where I can give myself an “out” by prompting the children to finish their words and ensuring them that I will come back to check on how well they have done, then going to each table and checking in as well. It would be an additional pro if I mapped in my mind which children needed more checking in and which work well independently.

   In future lessons, I believe that I would throw out a challenge to the whole class before they transition to working independently. I would have posed the challenge to see how many children can create new words within their word families and encourage them to share their wheels as well. In my second observation, I hope to feel more at ease and just focus on making sure the children understand the lesson and the objectives I have set for them. As we head into our third week of school, I have been able to take advantage of the writing prompts and transitions to learn about the children more. The more I know about the children, the more of their personalities show and I can use these as tools to reach them when I am trying to teach them lessons.