Justine+McCrea

=This wikispace logs Justine McCrea's experiences in the classroom during the fall 2009 ELED 296 Paraprofessional Experience =

 This is the first field experience of the teacher education program. Its purpose is to provide insight into the real world of teaching in the K-8 and 7-12 setting. It provides a “hands-on” experience in which students may ask questions and share concerns they may have regarding the teaching profession. The experience will provide an opportunity to observe, record, and assess student behavior, effective teaching practices, and characteristics of different learning environments appropriate for children. This course will provide structure and guidance for the students as they observe, gather information, and reflect on teaching as a career. John Dewey, one of the most famous American educators, wrote extensively about reflective teaching. He defined reflective teaching as avoiding the “routine” and “impulsive” behaviors in favor of taking the time to “give serious consideration” to our actions. According to Dewey, the intelligent person thinks before he or she acts, and action becomes deliberate and intentional. In order for students to secure knowledge and insight from the field experience, their observations and participation have to be made with careful, analytical, and deliberate planning. Paraprofessional students develop their leadership skills while contributing to, learning from and influencing the learning of others.




 * Justine McCrea's Fall 2009 Paraprofessional Placement**
 * School: || Tea Elementary ||
 * Field-based supervisor: || Sarah Greer ||
 * Content area or grade level: || Kindergarten ||
 * FBS e-mail address: || Sarah.Greer@k12.sd.us ||
 * FBS phone: ||  ||
 * USD instructor || Mary Collins, Phone: 605-677-5155, e-mail: mary.collins@usd.edu ||


 * 30 hours of field-based classroom participation **
 * **Date ** || **Hours ** || **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;">Description of my activities/participation in the classroom.... **<span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> ||
 * 10/6 || 3 || Today was the first day I met with my FBS, Mrs. Greer. The KGers introduced themselves to me, and I watched the beginning of the day routines which they call Calendar. The students went over their "snap words" and watched the DVD of the snap word songs on the SMARTBoard. I also pulled a student aside and worked on letter sounds. ||
 * 10/8 || 3 || The students had their very first fire drill today, and Mrs. Greer read them a book on fire safety before the fire alarms went off. She also explained the routines and what they should do in case there was a real fire. After the fire drill, I traced some students' feet and hands for a pumpkin craft project. The students also went to the library at 10:30 and checked out books. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/13 || <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> 3 || I passed out lunch cards to the students and greeted them in the morning, which is what Mrs. Greer does to help them practice their manners. I walked around the classroom to help students when they needed it, especially on their Writers' Workshop stories. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/15 || 2 || I co-taught my lesson with Mrs. Greer. The lesson was "Star Student," in which one student is picked for the day for the other students to learn how to write his or her name. I used the SMARTBoard to write Annika's name for the students to see and practice writing her name. I also showed the students how to draw a person, since Mrs. Greer asked me to demonstrate. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/20 || 3 || Today I helped the KGers with Writers' Workshop, in which they write a sentence on something they have done recently. They use letter sounds to spell out words, even though the word spelling may not be correct. The students learned a new snap word, so I got to learn the dance on the snap word DVD along with them and Mrs. Greer. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/22 || 3 || I checked the students' papers, in which they practiced writing the number 5 (and I had to star my favorite, and correct a few that needed improvement), and also letter sound packets, where they circled the picture that started with the letter sound given. It was a fun day for the students, so we played a letter sounds ball game on the carpet, and also the dice number game. ||
 * 10/27 || 3 || Today was the day were I taught my lesson without my FBS! The lesson was to review their snap words for their test. We played around the world, and the kids really enjoyed it! ||

11/10 2 1/2 Today was my last day in the classroom! :( Mrs. Greer made it a fun day to celebrate my being a paraprofessional student in her classroom and as a going-away party. The KGers, Mrs. Greer and myself all sang the snap word songs on the SMARTBoard. I helped students who needed help write the letter B. Ashlyn needed help with it a couple of times. I brought the students Rice Krispie Bars that I made myself as a treat to show them that they were the best class of KGers ever! They really enjoyed them. Then I said my goodbyes, and it was a very sad day! :(
 * 10/29 || 2 1/2 || I stapled together the monthly newsletter for Mrs. Greer's KG class while she did the Morning Message. I also graded the KGers' Writers Workshop stories. Dylan needed some help with his Writers Workshop story that morning, so I helped him think of an idea and come up with a sentence. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> 11/3 || 3 || The students brought back their "disguised turkeys" for Thanksgiving, and I cut out the ones that were still on the full sheet of paper. I also copied papers for Mrs. Greer as she was busy working with the students and did not have time. I took photos of the students with my digital camera for my bulletin board that I am going to finish on Thursday. I had some time to start the border and put up the letters on the bulletin board while the KGers were at recess. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> 11/5 || <span style="color: black; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 10pt;"> 3 || I completed my bulletin board while the KGers were at recess and took photos of the finished product as a memory. Mrs. Greer played a fun alphabet game with the students called Super Soup, and I got to join in. The students were making a Halloween candy wrapper alphabet book from the candy they all had ate after Halloween, so I taped the candy wrappers to their appropriate letter pages. ||