Good morning, 4th grade! Have a SWEET day!In the morning, my CT casually greets students as she notices them in the classroom. In order to make my students feel appreciated, welcome and important in the classroom, I stood by the door and greeted each learner individually. Starting at 7:30am, I welcomed all my 4th graders into the room with a big smile and cheerful "Good Morning," as I gave them the bags pictured below. Making students feel welcome is a necessary start to fostering a supportive classroom environment. Getting to know the learners interests, goals and future aspirations is essential to engaging students, as well as considering their preferences and building on their background knowledge.
interest groups will build community and further learner's social skills. Below, I have included some activities that will allow me to get to know my future learners better and build community in the classroom.
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It's been over 10 years since I've been in 4th grade.For my Senior year at the College of Education I will return to a 4th grade classroom with my internship placement. Prior to the beginning of a new year, I had the opportunity to meet my amazing Collaborating Teacher (CT), participate in the school's pre-planning and data presentation, and pop in to surprise my students. Pre-Planning.A week before students arrive for a new school year the building has already been packed with administrators, teachers, school staff and aides. This year, I attended pre-planning as an intern. This week I witnessed team building and school spirit raising as the teachers worked together with administrators to begin the 2016-2017 academic year. I attended a Technology Integration Meeting led by a teacher at the school that introduced tools like Padlet, Nearpod, Axis360, and Skype to any attending educator. A new idea that I would love to integrate this year would be integrating one of the virtual field trips hosted over Skype. My CT is a welcoming, fun, knowledgeable and kind woman who will be referred to as Mrs. D*. (*= Pseudonym). I was able to preview her lesson plans, contribute to setting up the classroom and share ideas for the coming year. My favorite task was organizing the in-class library. First, I categorized Mrs. D's vast collection of books, dependent upon their genre. Mrs. D explained the chaotic state of the library as a result of students not putting books back correctly. To alleviate the issue, I included a "Lost Book" box for unsure students. As a came across interesting books, I created a recommendation section where I displayed books that I believe would interest a variety of 4th grade readers.
Faculty Meeting.According to a survey given, 100% of staff members are proud to work at the elementary school! At the meeting, the teachers participated in a superhero themed presentation that shared their "powers" and unique dream for the year. However, only 75% of instructional staff feel there is an atmosphere of trust and mutual respect. The importance of community building amongst teachers and the staff is highlighted by the informative, inspiring and fun atmosphere of the faculty meeting. 91% of parents say they are proud their students attend the school! We watched the county's Back to School News Conference. The county school district I am interning in is the 8th largest in the nation. The graduation rate is currently 77.9%, but by 2020 the district's goal is a 90% graduation rate. Annual Data Presentation.During the Faculty Meeting, an annual data presentation was given. 91% of students graduate when they are "kindergarten ready" and at a level 6 by the end of the year. Only 66% of students graduate if they are not kindergarten ready. This inspiring quote helped me realize the importance of the primary grades, as well as Elementary school as a whole, in regard to accomplishing the district's goal. The most shocking statistic I heard was that America is building prison beds based on the number of 3rd grade retentions. 7.4% of 3rd graders in our district were retained, our school retained 11.6% of 3rd graders in Summer 2016. Let that soak in and boil into a demand for radical system change. For the past school year, the elementary school was rated as a B school, (but, just barely, according to the presenters). The presentation included an explanation of learning gains, FSA scores and the School Improvement Plan. The Principal shared the school's vision, "to ensure students reach their fullest potential." She also reminded teachers that a child is much more than a number and to educate the whole child while inspiring them to learn. Meeting my students.
they were interested in. Students told me they wanted to learn about fossils, extinct animals, dolphins, crystal, aliens, space crafts, megalodon, spiders, and how to make a movie. The perfect thing is... I want to learn about all those things too! I gave the students a bag including tissues, a fun pencil, space-themed eraser and shaped sharpener. I was surprised by their grateful responses and big smiles! I'm really looking forward to working with these students. So what:By introducing myself to the students and beginning to show my enthusiasm for their interests in learning, I have begun establishing trust and my position in the classroom. I hope that students will recognize that I am there to support their academic goals and to facilitate learning about their unique interests. The students recognize that they are important to me. I believe it should be an educator's priority to get to know their students in the beginning of the year. Now what:Moving forward, I will be able to engage students by appealing to their interests. In my own classroom, I plan on extending the time I spend getting to know student's learning preferences. Also, I hope to allow them time to creatively introduce themselves to each other and recognize connections between their interests.
Elementary aged children are experiencing new things everyday, and I see the excitement, wonder and curiosity arise in the Kindergarten students I work with each Thursday. Consequently, emotions in the classroom can help or hinder student learning. Students learn and perform better when they feel secure, happy and excited; however, their cognitive performance is inhibited if students feel distracted or negative emotions toward the subject matter. (Bohlin, Durwin, Weber. 68) Schooling needs to go beyond the curriculum and guide students to be prepared to deal with real-life problems, challenges and emotions. As a future educator, I wonder how I will be able to include character education (based off students' emotional impulses impacting their behavior and their emotional intelligence levels) in my daily curriculum. Emotional intelligence involves students' understanding of their own emotions, as well as emphasize with others and acting accordingly. Ed Psych Modules offers insight on how to foster emotional intelligence in students, through various dimensions. In my internship, I witness these practices being applied daily. To promote emotional understanding in the classroom, students have "Share Time" during their calendar studies. The class sits on the carpet in a circle and passes a stuffed animal around clockwise. Whoever is holding the stuffed animal is encouraged to share how they're feeling or what they did throughout the week. Students love the opportunity to share their personal life with their peers. In dealing with behavior, emotional intelligence is fostered by teaching appropriate responses to the emotions of others. Ms. J frequently models ways to be caring and considerate of others' feelings when students report a rule has been broken. For example, Tamara* was upset when Lucas* pushed her while making his way to the water fountain. Tamara instantly reported the incident to Ms. J, who asked Lucas why he would be so inconsiderate of Tamara's personal space. Lucas is guided to realizing that his actions impact others, and he is led to apologize to Tamara. To promote emotional regulation by providing training in conflict resolution skills, Ms. J takes an opportunity to turn the disruption into a lesson. The class is reminded of their procedure for when something like that happens, to ask the person kindly not to do the undesirable action and to apologize for misbehavior. While doing letter study, multiple students frequently feel frustrated with their handwriting. I hear countless "I can't do it!"'s throughout the day, and nothing breaks my heart more. Each time a student doubts their own capability, Ms. J and I are sure to lead them by encouragement to continue to try their best. Lucy often is frustrated by her inability to master the curves of a capital G, or the strange line work in an S. Through individualized instruction and a little positivity, Lucy is quick to be prideful of her accomplishments and I'm happy to celebrate with her. Sharing enthusiasm and encouraging students to persevere increases their self-motivation and builds emotional intelligence. While continuing my internship, I hope to uncover each student’s behavioral cues, and find ways to help them grow their individual emotional intelligences. I wonder how to group students in ways in which they could balance each others behavioral weaknesses with their own strengths. For example, would sitting Tamara, who is more motherly, next to Abel, who has frequent behavioral out lashes, allow for peer comfort and help them achieve? Or would the mismatch of behavioral levels cause further disruption and impede their learning process? (* = New pseudonym) ReferencesBohlin, L., Durwin, C., & Weber, M. (2012). Emotional Development. In Ed Psych Modules (2nd ed., pp. 68-69). New York, New York: McGraw Hill.
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