Amanda+Carter

=**This wikispace logs Amanda Carter'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.




 * Amanda's Fall 2009 Paraprofessional Placement**
 * School: || St. Agnes Elementary ||
 * Field-based supervisor: || Carrie Roerig ||
 * Content area or grade level: || 1st Grade ||
 * FBS e-mail address: || carrie.roerig@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;"> || **<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;"> ||
 * 9/22/09 || .5 || Initial Meeting ||
 * 9/24/09 || 1 || Introductions, Venn diagrams with hula hoops, reading corner, individual reading ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 9/25/09 || <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 2.5 || worked with Colby on math (arriving at the same sum different ways), 5th grade buddies, recess/clean up, Shelby's birthday treats, writing in family journals ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 9/29/09 || 1 || math review using pennies, nickels, dimes, and quarters; I practiced adding the prices of classroom objects (2, 3, 4 and 5 cent items) with the class as they wrote their totals on the poster "receipt" ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/2/09 || 2.5 || gone to church for fifteen minutes, observed classroom decoration (lots of posted things: alphabet, months, numbers, character counts; lots of reading materials around the room: reading corner, individual reading boxes, extra workbooks; different stations: art easel, reading corner, messy art table, round table for anything, horseshoe table for teacher help, floor space in front of the whiteboard.), individual reading time, interviewed FBS during recess time, finished apple pie art projects, sorted papers, wrote in family journals and reading logs. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/6/09 || 1 || Worked individually with Colby. We read books out in the hallway and I was to give no hints on the sounds of words, just ask questions that would lead him to the right pronunciation. He read all right, but continually guessed on easy words (he, she, three) and began to look around for words to guess instead of sounding it out. He also tried to skip entire pages of the bigger book. He had the small books memorized and closed his eyes while 'reading' them aloud to me. Mrs. Roerig shared with me that his mom refused to have him tested for ADD or ADHD last year, and hopes that Colby will be tested this year in response to his continual lack of improvement and observations that myself and she has made. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/8/09 || 1 || Bathroom break after recess, then the kids put their heads on their desks for five minutes. (They were having one of those days and couldn't listen or remain quiet). While I counted their tickets (they get a ticket and write their name on it if they show good judgment or 'character counts' qualities. The ticket winner gets a prize) Mrs. Roerig taught the class the "-ing" ending and the kids came up with words that ended in "-ing". They then did individual reading for about ten minutes before separating into their centers of math, coloring, spelling, phonics, and reading with Mrs. Roerig. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/13/09 || 1 || The flu and different sicknesses are going around school. While the class went down to the rosary after recess, I counted box tops, milk lids, and campbells labels. Each of these are important to collect because they come on items used everyday by families and provide extra money to the school. The class then read aloud together. Mrs. Roerig echo read the vocab words before the story started and the kids were to turn to their neighbor and use the vocab word in a sentence. When the story began, Mrs Roerig asked for volunteers and quite a few kids raised their hands. They seemed very enthusiastic about reading. ||
 * <span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> 10/22/09 || 1<span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 10pt;"> || Students went to the gym to say the rosary again (October is the month of the rosary) while I corrected papers in the classroom. When they got back, the all sat down in the reading corner to read Frog in the Bog together. They had practiced the harder words in the story previously and all knew the jist of the story now. They all read aloud together as Mrs Roerig used her pointer to point to each word as they read. They talked about what an ellipse is (the ... in a story) and practiced how to read a sentence containing an ellipse. ||
 * 10/23/09 || 2.5 || I corrected and sorted papers while the class went to the 5th grade classroom to have buddy time. I put report cards into their take-home folders (there is a new system of report cards: rated 0-5 on progress with each standard [state and church] instead of in overall subject areas. It's quite interesting.) The kids wrote in their family message journals and reading logs. There was a bit of extra time so Mrs. Roerig read some out of their class book. ||
 * 10/27/09 || 1 || We took a bathroom break when they got in from recess. It's quite hard to manage kids whose names you are still unfamiliar with. Mrs. Roerig and I co-taught today. She read over a story with the class and talked over the vocabulary words. Then I did a worksheet with them that went over different vowel sounds and matching the correct word with a picture. ||
 * 10/29/09 || 1 || When I arrived, the kids were coming in from recess and sat down at their desks to finish their science projects. A list of 4 animals and plants was on the board. Each student was to choose either the first, second, or third list, and draw each animal on a separate strip of paper. They then had to connect the strips together (like a Christmas count-down chain) in the order of the food chain. Most students picked the first list, meaning their strips went from Cat --> Bird --> Ant --> Plant. When they were finished, I checked to make sure their chain was glued together correctly and then they read quietly at their desks. I started a new book with Allyson and we worked on reading the cover page and page 1. ||
 * 10/30/09 || 2 || The kids were reading quietly around the room when I arrived. While they went to indoor recess, a student's mother came in and helped set up for the Halloween party. For the Halloween party, we decorated cookies, made candy necklaces, and of course admired each others costumes! The kids were dressed very entertainingly and it was definitely a lot of fun! ||
 * 11/10/09 || 1 || I was immediately informed that one student in the class, Colby, has been throwing temper tantrums for a week and his mother still refuses to have him tested for any disorders, such as ADHD. Mrs. Roerig has been doing everything possible to help him learn effectively, but it's not working and the school is setting up a TAT (Teacher Assistance Program), meaning all the teachers and principal will get together and discuss how to best help Colby. While the principal was observing Colby read with Mrs. Roerig, I counted box tops and made sure everyone was quiet at their center. Centers included math (they measured classroom objects in 'links' and 'feet'), word work (they put words together on the overhead to form sentences), computers (an educational game was set up), religion (they drew a picture of what they were thankful for since Thanksgiving is coming up), and reading (they read books quietly in the library corner). ||
 * 11/12/09 || 1 || I helped Allyson complete her science worksheet that the class had started that morning. We looked through her science book and wrote 6 facts about the sun on a diagram of the sun that contained 6 lines (one for each fact). Then I helped her finish a paper about student council. The paper prompted "I want to be on student council because ___." ||
 * 11/13/09 || 5 || The class met with their fifth grade buddies and together they made turkeys out of colored construction paper. Near the end of this time, I created a bulletin board for Mrs. Roerig by putting up class projects. Each student had painted on an ear of corn that had a prayer written on the inside. After the fifth grade buddies left, the students could choose which center they wanted to go to if all of their homework was complete. For those with incomplete work, I sat at the back table and assisted in finishing assignments. After lunch, I helped Mrs. Roerig with her duty to watch inside recess in the gym. When recess was done, the class read independently and then headed down to library time. [During the past week, Colby has become very disruptive and belligerent toward students and staff members. No one knows the specific cause of this change in his behavior, but each staff member who works with him is 'done!' after about five minutes of trying to work with him.] At the end of the day, the students wrote in their family message journals and learning logs as they always do on Friday afternoons. Because there were a few spare minutes before the end of the day, Mrs. Roerig sat the students down in the reading corner and explained that sometimes people have bad days. It's not anyone's fault and we should all try to help the person change their bad mood so it doesn't affect everyone else. She also said that the issues should stay within their classroom family because they are indeed a family. Mrs. Roerig read a story to the class after this talk until the clock read 3:10. ||
 * 11/17/09 || 1.5 || The class read Hondo & Fabian during the morning. When I arrived, the students were instructed to write their own version of Hondo & Fabian, only including one of the characters. (Hondo is a dog who has adventures outside, Fabian is a cat who has adventures inside the home) They were to write at least four sentences and create an illustration for their story. Most of the class could do this on their own, but some students insisted on asking for help to spell words they know. It is very irritating to try to help a student who isn't even trying to learn. Colby had issues again today and refused to complete work at the centers. Mrs Roerig took him down to the office while I read with Cael and Connor. These two boys could read very well, even though they joked around amidst the learning. ||
 * 11/19/09 || 1.5 || Today we went into the church so the class could practice their reading parts for the morning mass tomorrow. The students could not remain quiet and respectful while we were walking in the hallways or in church. Most of them did well reading their parts, though. When we got back to the classroom, Mrs. Roerig started to read with the students while I finished the poster she had started for church. Each student pushed their hand onto an ink pad and then stamped their hand onto the poster. Each hand print was strategically placed so all of the hands together formed the shape of a heart. ||
 * 11/20/09 || 2.5 || The students finished coloring the scarecrow faces and hat that they had started. I cut string for each of them to glue on as hair. Then their fifth grade buddies came over to do their weekly project with the first grade. Today they made Thanksgiving cards for their parents. The turkey wing was separate from the body and was to be attached with a fastener so it spun. The students wrote a message to their parents on the inside of the card. They had recess. Then they wrote in their family message journals and learning logs for the week. Colby had more issues today; he laughed as a teacher scolded him for being disruptive in the bathroom. The principal tried to talk to him and he ran to the gym; he started yelling and crying that everyone was being mean. It's so hard to talk to / punish children because actions can be misunderstood and exaggerated. ||
 * 11/24/09 || 1 || The students were talking about the Pilgrims and the Wampanog Tribe, as it is Thanksgiving week. For social studies, the class created a map of the Wampanog Village area and created Wampanog Huts, called Wee-Tu's. There was a great deal of arguing in the group that was drawing the map. They were supposed to talk about the location of the ocean, river, garden, dirt path, and huts before anyone started coloring. This of course did not happen, and everyone thought they had the greatest plan in the world and started arguing. We finally figured out where things were to be placed and everyone started coloring. ||
 * 12/01/09 || 1 || I cut out some Christmas light bulbs while Mrs. Roerig worked on some reading with the students. The students learned about the "-ong" ending and made a list of words with that ending. Then they talked about what happened with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. The students are still very eager to answer questions, even when they don't have the right answer. When I arrived, Colby was sitting at his desk (during recess) finishing some math homework and he seemed to be very respectful of the classroom environment. About ten minutes later when the class had a bathroom break, though, Colby started running around the classroom to avoid getting in line or having Mrs Roerig catch him. He was very disruptive. ||
 * 12/03/09 || 1 || The class talked about how important pre-writing is. Mrs Roerig showed an example of a story board that she created and the class helped write sentences of the story from the pictures on the story board. They are to draw their own story boards as pre-writing soon. After we finished talking about pre-writing, the class worked on worksheets that reviewed the 'u' sound. Mrs Roerig wanted to review the 'u' sound because it was clear from their writings that the class did not fully understand how and when to use the 'u' sound in words. ||
 * **TOTAL** || 33.5 ||  ||