Lara+Lockner

This wikispace logs Lara Lockner'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.




 * 's Fall 2009 Paraprofessional Placement**
 * School: || Lincoln Elementary ||
 * Field-based supervisor: || Mrs. Arlene Stoebner ||
 * Content area or grade level: || 4th grade ||
 * FBS e-mail address: || __ AStoebner@ysd.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 ** || **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Hours **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> || **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Description of my activities/participation in the classroom.... **<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> ||
 * 9/30 || 1.15 || I met with my field based instructor, and was acquainted with the students in the classroom. I helped students with their art projects and observed class reading time. ||
 * 10/1 || 1.45 || I assisted with printing photos for the classroom, and taking down the old decorations. I had reading conferences with two students. Reading conferences are a short period of time which the teacher (or me in this case) sits with the student and listens to them read a portion of their chapter book. Then the student discusses with the instructor what they know about the book, some of the improvements they would like to make in their reading, and some of the reading mistakes they made. It is an opportunity for reflection and analysis. Observation (constructive criticism): When students have something they should work on in their independent reading, Mrs. Stoebner will discuss with them what was done well and what could use improvement. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 10/6 || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 1.45 || Today I prepared an example art project that the 4th graders will be doing with their 1st grade study buddies. This art project taught the children about line and warm and cool colors. I did reading conferences with two other students today. Mrs. Stoebner showed me the Dibels program, which is a program used to assess a student's ability to read and recall what they read. She let me observe while she tested one of the students. Observation (Independent Practice): Students have time to read chapter books on their own, incorporating all of the active reading processes they have already learned in class. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 10/8 || 1.45 || Today I finished preparing the art project for study buddies. I compiled a student roster for teacher conferences. I did three more reading conferences with students, discussing the book, analyzing their comprehension, and making goals for improvement. Observation (monitoring/adjusting): During group reading time, Mrs. Stoebner pauses at points in the book where words or situations may be unclear. The book was based on French culture and words, so the class took time to clarify the meaning of new words or ideas. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 10/13 || 1.45 || Today I fufilled book orders and prepared report cards for student teacher conferences. I also added the backing to the students art projects so they would be finished for presentation. Observation (Focus): In the morning, students complete the problem of the day while waiting for Mrs. Stoebner to complete attendence and lunch count. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 10/15 || 1.45 || I prepared red ribbons for red ribbon week at school. This is a week for observation and encouragement of a drug free life. I documented Dibels scores, and completed another reading conference. Observation (Guided Practice): Students had written letters to the teacher about a scene in their chapter books. Then students were asked to read their letters aloud by themselves and to listen for anything that sounded wrong and needed correction. Students made those corrections and then handed in their letters for teacher correction. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 10/20 || 1.45 || Today we prepared some projects for the students and started group reading with a class book. I sat with a reading group and assisted with reading, comprehension, and encouraged book discussion. Observation (student involvement): After reading the book "A Bad Case of the Stripes", students were allowed a chance to make up a story about their own illness. They thought up a creative case of the and then they colored pictures of themselves with their invented illness. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">10/22 || 1.45 || For a student project, I started assembling alphabet books today. Then we continued reading in our small groups, taking note of figures of speech, any connections we had to the book, and predictions at the end of every page. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 10/27 || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> 1.45 || Today I worked on assembling alphabet books again, and then I corrected the students' daily geography assignments. After that I helped a group of students who had been sick catch up in their classtime reading. Observation (Student motivation): Students are allowed opportunities to share their connections with the stories being read to the class. This keeps students eager and thinking about the text at hand. ||


 * 10/29 || 1.45 || We removed old artwork from the walls today and replaced it with the new artwork. I took inventory of a book order. Then I read a book to the students that helped enforce everything they've been learning about figures of speech, especially similes. At the end of that activity the kids and I made up some new similes of our own. I had two reading conferences today with a couple students. Observation (classroom climate): The walls are always covered with student artwork. It creates a sense of individuality and pride in the students, while allowing them to appreciate the work of their classmates. ||
 * 11/3 || 1.45 || I corrected daily geography assignments today and kept working on preparing South Dakota booklets for the kids. I read a book with a small group of kids about Samuel Morse, prompting discussion throughout the reading. Mrs. Stoebner showed the students an electromagnet telegraph line that she put together in the classroom. Students enjoyed seeing science in real life, and it inspired them to find out more about the process. ||
 * 11/5 || 1.45 || Today I finished the South Dakota booklets for the kids. My field based teacher and I discussed our plans for our co-teaching lesson while the students were at music. I read the book "Piggy Pie" to the students, and as we read we focused on visualizing the text and I demonstrated the importance of voice by reading expressively. Observation (objective/purpose): Before reading the book Piggy Pie, Mrs. Stoebner talked about how to visualize what is happening in a book and why visualization and voice are important in reading. After that I read the book and we practiced what Mrs. Stoebner talked about. ||
 * 11/10 || 1.45 || As part of a Veteran's day lesson plan, I prepared booklets that taught the kids about Veteran's day and the major wars in America's history. I co-taught my lesson with Mrs. Stoebner today. My part of the lesson included reading the book "The Wall" with the kids and talking about the Vietnam Veteran's War Memorial. After reading the book, the students would tell me some of the things they had learned through reading the book and we put it on our KWL (know, want to know, learned) chart on the smartboard. Observation (prompts): When students were trying to think of the names of countries in which our troops are currently placed, Mrs. Stoebner gave them the first letter, which helped them to recall the names. ||
 * 11/17 || 1.45 || Today I taught my independent lesson. It was based on the story "Paul Revere's Big Ride". In my lesson plan, we did an overview of history to get an idea of how long ago the Revolutionary War was and then we did an overview of the basic elements of literature in the story, and we defined some vocab. Then I read the first couple paragraphs to get the students started, and then they broke up into groups to read with a couple of their peers. The last portion of the story was a take home reading assignment. ||
 * 11/19 || 1.45 || Today I corrected math papers and I tried to help the teacher across the hall with some technical probems. That never got completely resolved, because in the end we think she was missing the electrical cord she needed to connect the sound to her smartboard. The students had taken a quiz over "Paul Revere's Big Ride". Three students did not do well and their answers indicated that they had not read the second portion, so I took some time with them to read through the second portion again and we had some discussion. The discussion was targeted toward enhancing understanding and recalling important information. ||
 * 11/20 || 3.5 || I took down some of the old artwork the students had up in the hallway. Since I went later today, I got to observe the weekly reader work and the day's math lesson. We also went to the library. Then I helped some students with their weekly readers and toward the end of the day I helped some students finish up their reading projects. They were typing up their dog poems and adding clipart, so I helped students with aligning their photos where they wanted them on their poem page. ||
 * 11/24 || 1.45 || Today I took down some old artwork and corrected the daily geography work. Mrs. Stoebner showed me how she graded papers and recorded them, so I graded the daily geography and put the grades into the grade book. Then I made a sample piece of artwork as an example for the kids, it was a woven ribbon sort of craft that looked like a Christmas ornament. ||