Brittany+Stanton

Type in the content of your page here. =**This wikispace logs Brittany's experiences in the classroom during the fall 2009 SEED 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.




 * Brittany's Fall 2009 Paraprofessional Placement**
 * School: || Jolley Vermillion Middle School ||
 * Field-based supervisor: || Melanie Mahowald ||
 * Content area or grade level: || 5th grade ||
 * FBS e-mail address: || Melanie.Mahowald@k12.sd.us ||
 * FBS phone: ||  ||
 * USD instructor || Mary Collins, Phone: 605-677-5155, e-mail: mary.collins@usd.edu ||

I would be going into her classroom. || one with their since homework. As I was helping him out it just seemed to me that he didn't even read the chapter or really wanted to try to search the reading to find the answers. It was one of those science worksheets that follow your text book very carefully. But their was something about this child that was pretty incredible. He actually guessed what the answer would be and some of the times he was right without me even reading any of the text to him. ||
 * 30 hours of field-based classroom participation **
 * **Date ** || **Hours **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> || **<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;"> ||
 * 9/28 || 30min || Met with the teacher and went over the assignment and discuss what days and times
 * 9/30 || 2hrs || Observed her classroom and her teaching styles. Also got to help a student one on
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/2 || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 2hrs || Helped her grade papers and got to see how the kids did art and did my interview with her. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/5 || 21/2 hrs || I got to sit in with her while she did a group reading with kids. It was very interesting to see how this worked. They have just started this new program of reading for kids that were having trouble with reading. So I got to participate with her and her group for this part of the day. As I was listening to these students as they were reading it seemed like they didn't want to have the other students in the group hear them read or they were trying to impress the others by seeing how fast they can read. I sat next to a boy who kept his head down on the table the whole time others were having their turn in reading. Then when she would ask them about the reading and what was going on he didn't know what the answer would be. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/6 || 2hrs15min || I got to teach a her regular class a reading assignment in the National Geographic magazines and helped a math group work on an assignment with pattern blocks. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/7 || 2 hrs 15min || Teaching another National Geographic story and watch her teach language arts and helped the students when they have questions. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/8 || 3 hrs || Went with the class on their field trip to the Music Museum and got to monitor my own group as we went to different speakers their. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/9 || 4 hrs || Helped her correct papers so that they can start putting in grades and get them finalized by next Tuesday. Otherwise observed her teaching her other section for science. ||
 * 10/13 || 4hrs || Today I helped her teach a math class and I also taught my National Geographic reading time which was so much fun. The kids are having so much and they are participating very well with it. Also helped her correct some papers so that she can get ready for the end of the quarter. ||
 * 10/14 || 2 1/2 hrs || I helped out with her math class again and then finished my National Geographic reading with the kids. Then today I got to teach the Daily Fixits and English lesson of the day. I was so nervous with trying to teach this particular lesson about Helping Verbs to the kids. I felt like I did not explain it as well as I could have, but I did realize when I had made my rounds helping them they then soon understood what it was they had to do. But I'm sure that I will do better the next when I get to teach a lesson. ||
 * 10/15 || 3 hrs || Today I again got to teach the daily fixit and the english lesson of the day. Today went better since most of the kids knew what they were doing. But the others I still helped them one on one and then they understood what they were doing. Also today I helped the same student as before with math again since today he was behaving badly. ||
 * 10/16 || 2 hrs || Today I helped her correct more paper and helped indivdual students who had questions over there assignments. ||
 * 10/19 || 2 hrs || I corrected more papers and went around the room helping the students that had questions. ||
 * 10/20 || 3 hrs || I corrected some papers and teached the daily fixit and the english lesson for the day. ||
 * 10/22 || 3hrs || Today I did the daily fixit assignment and helped any student with their homework. Also i helped her correct papers. ||
 * 10/23 || 2hrs || I helped out the substitute teacher when the kids were behaving badly and corrected papers for the teacher since she was gone. I also during freetime played a game with some of the students. ||
 * 10/26 || 2hrs || I got to teach her own special reading group and help and read along with them in a cirlce. Then I got to teach the daily fix-its. ||
 * 10/27 || 3hrs || I helped out with her particular math group. Then I taught the daily fix-it and got to teach the beginning lesson of their language arts lesson for the week. And I also got to correct some papers for her too. ||
 * 10/29 || 2 hrs || Today was a short day when I have arrived at school. I didnt get to do a whole lot but I did help her accomplish some of the grading she needed to do. ||
 * 10/30 || 5hrs || Today i got to see what the class got to do in the morning for once on my experience. They dont get a whole lot accomplish due to music class and p.e. Even though the class didnt get to celebrate Halloween do to religious beliefs but we did a little reading in the dark with flashlights to do at least something with the holiday but not too big. I also graded some papers and helped out with her math class. ||
 * 11/2 || 2hrs || Today I helped graded some papers, participated in her math class, and I taught the daily fix-its and the new English lesson for the week using the smartboard. ||

=Working Journals:=
 * One entry should describe work with an individual or group.
 * On October 6, 2009 when I went to Mrs. Mahowald's classroom for my experience I got to teach my own group. In this group we got to do a National Geographic Magazine during their reading time. I had to pick out a magazine to do and each one had some worksheets that went along with. I got to decide whether to do the worksheets or not and to read as a group or in partners. I went with reading as a group and then do some of the worksheets. Also after each story we would have a group discussion over what it was that we just got done reading. Since this has taken place at the beginning of my experience and the students were not used to me yet, but i noticed that they were shy about participating in the discussion. But as we continued through the magazine more and more of the students started to participate in the discussion and I got to know the students a little bit more.
 * One entry should describe your creation of bulletin board or powerpoint or your use of the internet for researching material for a lesson.
 * Every week the kids have an art class when different people come in and show the students how to do different kinds of art. Well this one week a lady came in and was showing the students how to paint a still life with watercolor paints. They had to paint a vase with flowers in it. I came up with the idea of when the students were done with these paintings to hang them up on the bulletin board to show their pieces of art. So we both took down her old bulletin and we put up new black paper for the background and a fall like border to go around it. Then when the students were done with their paintings and they were dry we would then put them up on the board. We have only got a few of them up on the board but more and more are getting put up each day. Their art paintings are really good for not even drawing anything on it except for the vase and thats it.
 * One entry should describe the lesson you cooperatively teach with the Field Based Supervisor.
 * Almost every day that I have gone to this classroom I practically helped her teach a lesson. It was always during her math class. The students were learning about improper fractions and mix numbers. I would help her by going around and checking to see if the students got the answer right or helped them get to the right answer. Also I got to actually give the students problems to solve to give them more practice. They were also working on problems where they had to solve for //x// that were in form of fractions (5/6=x/12). It was quite an experience to see how these students could understand what the teacher was actually lecturing to them. But if they did not understand what it was being taught, she always did plenty of examples to make sure they students got what it was they were suppose to be doing.
 * One entry can be observations/interactions of your choice.
 * The more I came into the classroom the more the students became attached to me. If I was gone for a few days and the next time that I would return they would be excited to see me. Also they would ask where I have been and why I wasn't there. Even for Halloween when I was there the day before and I had to leave early they all got up to give me a hug good bye. It was so cute of them and they even got more excited when I had told them that I have brought them treats. It just amazes me on how much the students change over time that you are in the classroom. Like how when you are brand new into the classroom they are shy to even talk to you but they keep looking over at you. Then eventually the more you come in and be around in the classroom they start to warm up to the more you come. I know that I will never forget this class and only wish that I had more time to be with them in this classroom.