Blog 4

Last week, I went to Mrs. Wensel's first grade class again on Tuesday. We had an interesting and exciting morning; we got to skype a children's author (I can't seem to remember her name now, it was a long one). It was a lot of fun, the children absolutely adored her because she read two of her stories to them, and she also had the kids read a long on the repetitive words. One thing in particular I noticed was that when one of the boys was misbehaving, Mrs. Wensel handled it perfectly. She quietly mouthed to him to sit indian style, and to be quiet, which he did immediately. I don't think I would have known what to do when we were skyping someone, and I had to deal with a student not cooperating. I asked her afterwards how they listen so well and she said she is sincere and repetitive with them, but in a nice way.

During this time, I observed how Mrs. Wensel managed assessment. It is sometimes difficult to do this I have noticed, because while she gives feedback to each student individually, it is hard to keep up with the class as a whole. It becomes time consuming. I have noticed that she manages this by setting a certain time limit to giving feedback individually.

I have participated in a lot of preparation for this class. I tend to come right at 8 in the morning when school first starts, when the 'early morning' students are there. During this time, they quietly read a book or write in their journals, so I like to take this time to help out Mrs. Wensel any way that I can. Usually it is just cutting out papers for their activities later on that day, or picking out a book for story time. There is usually not a ton of things to do, but I try to use my time wisely and help out Mrs. Wensel vs just sitting there observing. I love to go around the class and ask if they need help with anything. I enjoy their cute questions they have for me. The other preparation I have done is I came up with a song to teach them one day about shapes, which was a lot of fun.

Blog Entry 8

I have learned a lot during these field observation hours. I have really enjoyed not only observing the children, but helping out and conversing with them. The most important thing that I have learned is that you need to have patience throughout the day. Especially in first grade, there is so many different things going on in just one day, that it is crucial to have patience with everything going on, and dealing with making sure each student is keeping on task.

I have noticed in Mrs. Wensel’s class that she is extremely good at being patient with each student. She kept telling me that is so important to be strict at the beginning of the school year, then the students know what is expected of them. She is so patient with each child, and I can tell they really love their teacher. I am excited and have definitely been persuaded to teach first grade after doing these observations.

Blog Entry 7

Yesterday, I enjoyed helping out in first grade again. It was a busy morning, we learned all about greater and less than. We had the students go around the room and ask who liked dogs better, and who liked cats better. Then the students had to figure out how many people liked dogs more than cats, according to their own information. We also had the students do this by their favorite flavor of ice cream.

When they went to recess, I asked Mrs. Wensel a few questions. I asked her what the classroom rules were and how they were enforced. She told me that the main rules are: no talking without being called on first, be polite to those around you, and to try your hardest. She said the best way to enforce the rules is a behavior chart that she has. All of the students have colored paper clips, and if someone is not behaving, Mrs. Wensel asks them to walk up and move the clip from "Great Day" to "Warning" (the signs are on colored paper plates that are taped to the white board). If the student is still acting out, they have to move the clipboard down to "Stop! 3 tickets" and give 3 'tickets' to Mrs. Wensel. They all have tickets, and at the end of the week depending on how many tickets they have, they can buy something from the treasure chest.
They also have table points, so if their entire table is doing well and quiet, they get a table point, which they love and try really hard to get.

Some of the procedures Mrs. Wensel uses to make everything run smoothly in the class is songs that they sing together, when she claps they clap back until it's quiet, and they have some rhymes as well to participate. One thing I really like and hope to use in my classroom is sign language. Mrs. Wensel has them use the sign for 'bathroom' when they need to go, and during story time when the students agree with the speaker or like something they said, they pat their chest as a sign that they agree, instead of speaking their opinion out loud.

Blog 5

This week in Mrs. Wensel's class, we did a lot of different activities in the morning. She read to them, we put on music and got our "wiggles" out, we did a worksheet for math and coloring, and cleaned up around the class.
While they were at recess, I asked Mrs. Wensel what the most difficult part of being a teacher was for her. She first joke and said "waking up early every morning!" But then she stated that being patient with each student was probably the most difficult. She said each year there seems to always be one or two students that just "don't get it". She adores them all and is the sweetest teacher so it is a good thing that she also knows how to be patient and understanding.
Mrs. Wensel's favorite part of being an elementary teacher is being able to put smiles on their faces, and have them learning something new every day.

Blog Entry 1

This blog entry is out of order, but this week I had an amazing opportunity to join a class in going on a field trip. I was in the same first grade class (Mrs. Wensel's). We first went to the fire station, and then over to a play. It was a blast being a chaperone. These kids are so well behaved that they hardly needed any other parents to be there. It was just me and Mrs. Wensel taking over, but most of the kids were very attentive and listened to what we were telling them. An interesting thing that happened at the fire station was that when one of the firemen was explaining what they do when they get a call, was that every kid was paying 100% attention. They were all intrigued with the firemen.
What I noticed out of this experience the most was the way Mrs. Wensel really takes charge of her class. Her students are so little, yet they all seem to really like her. I asked her afterwards how she has such a well behaved class, and she said that at the beginning of the year, she was really strict with them and laid down what needed to be done. Afterwards, she is now nice to everyone and a "fun" teacher. She said that that has really worked in the past for her. She said it is important to make it clear what needs to get done that day, but not be too mean that the students don't want to participate. I hope to be like that as well when I am a teacher. I also am really enjoying these first graders and leaning towards teaching a younger grade.