Adjusting

The first two weeks of pre-school are all about adjusting. The students have to adjust to school and the parents have to adjust also. The first two phase in days were hard. Hard for myself, hard on the teachers, hard on the children and hard on the parents.

The first day there were some parents who stuck around, some may have because they wanted an opportunity to see their children interact in the setting and some may have because they were reluctant to leave without heir little one by their side. Surprisingly there were no tears on the first day from the students. That was until nap time, but even then all it took was some back rubbing and comforting and all was well again. This first day was a piece of cake, a piece of heaven, or maybe a dream. It was as if the students had been in the classroom for months, not days. By the afternoon, the students knew the routine, the procedures, and were following all the rules. With such a smooth first day, I knew our luck was sure to run out the next day.

As soon as students began filing in on the second day, I could tell we were in for a toughie. There were students who were glued to their parents' hips, with the look of defeat and terror spread across their face. There were students walking into the classroom with tears already in their eyes and only a few students walking in with a smile on their face. The day was filled with lots of tears from many of the students and ended with myself in tears as I watched a terrified, screaming and crying student looking at me for help out of the window of the bus as it pulled away.

Reflecting on the first week of pre-school, I find I have spent the majority of the days adjusting. Adjusting my expectations, adjusting the schedule, adjusting the classroom, and adjusting to the students. Coming from a third grade class this past spring, to a class of three and four year olds this fall was not the easiest transition. I forgot what it was like to explain directions to a four year old, I forgot how hard it is to get a three year old to understand a routine, I was not expecting the high level of difficulty for getting students to warm up to me or the classroom, and I was not ready to spend nap time rocking students to sleep, or passing out hugs and wiping tears of those who miss their mommies. By the end of the week, I feel I have done well in making those needed adjustments and in expecting the unexpected. At any given moment, I'm ready to pass out a hug and snatch a tissue to wipe a tear before it has fallen. I find myself at all times of the day, outside of the classroom, speaking in simple phrases and sentences and my imagination has been lit again.

Beginning the second week of Pre-K, I was slightly apprehensive and afraid that it would start the entire process of adjusting over again. Seeing how the students had three days of school, followed by a four-day weekend. I was pleasantly surprised that on Tuesday, many of the students still remembered the routine and were able to complete the morning tasks independently.

I feel that the students have done a better job at adjusting to school than I have in adjusting to being in a pre-k classroom. Coming from a third grade classroom last semester, it has taken come time to get back into the groove of handling the emotions and needs of a class of three and four, and now some five year olds. I found that I was a little rusty on the interactions and engagements that take place in some of the interest areas, specifically blocks and science. I was able to spend some time researching and reading up on those interest areas to gain some ideas and tips for extending the child's play, which I will dedicate another blog entry to writing about. I also find that behavior management, i.e "discipline" in older grades and "positive behavior support" in early childhood is something that I am still working on adjusting too. With talks with my mentor teacher and the paraprofessional in my room, I am continusouly learning new strategies and phrases to use to help my behavior management techniques and it is something I want to continue to research and read about as well.

Reflecting over the course of the first weeks of school, I have found that there are continously new ideas, questions, and strategies that I want to read about, learn about, and try out. I often find myself wishing I had more time in the day to read about early childhood, so that I can be (as corny as this is) "the best I can be" for the students. I have already developed a strong sense of care and love for my students and I want this semester to be as successful for them and for myself as possible. Some areas that I would like to read about, improve, and develop further include:

- Nap time: strategies for the restless students and for those who get upset
- Positive Motivational Strategies: To encourage over-all class behavior, we have a "light and smilie" system for individual behavior, but at times I wonder is that enough - especially when students do get a red light and continue to act out, what happens next?

- Criers: What strategies can be used for those students who become very upset? How do you comfort them but express "enough is enough" and keep it from being a distraction for others?


Ending out the first two weeks, I strongly believe the studetns, teachers, and the parents deserve a pat on the back for the job well done of adjusting. It is not an easy feat to face, much less accomplish. And after these first two weeks, I am proud of us all for adjusting so quickly, easily, and smoothly into the life inside pre-school. And, at the rate it's going, before too long, I will be adjusting to living life as a four year in a twenty-two year old body.

First Days

Many people believe that teachers are in the profession for three things: June, July, and August. That period of time where all of our responsibilities, duties, and work is non-existent. What they don't realize is that the work of art of teaching never stops. There is never a moment that a teacher is not thinking about, looking for, or working towards bettering their classroom.

While there is a "first day" back for teachers and a "first day of school" there are no first days. Teaching is a continuous process of learning and working. If a teacher waited till the "first day back" to prepare their classroom for the upcoming year, essentially the teacher would be setting themselves up for failure. With all of the meetings, home visits, and conferences and professional development that is crammed into those few days, there is a very limited, if any, time left for the teacher to actually work in their room and prepare their classroom for the upcoming students.

I was able to spend eight days helping to prepare the classroom. Out of those eight days, there was only one day that was completely uninterrupted and devoted to only preparing the room. Multi-tasking quickly becomes a teacher's strength. During these eight days, we spent time completing all the paper work for the children, updating the STEPS preschool online documentation site, printing pictures and label, labeling the room, and making everything personalized for this year's group. So of my own personal tasks that I completed in this time for the classroom include:

A birthday chart                                      

 

  A Velcro sign-up Chart

   

And a new behavior management class chart

Pocket charts can be very expensive, so I made my own "pocket chart" using business card holders that are a lot like page protectors, I just cut them in half to make the rows of five, a poster board, and tape. It was very easy and very cheap - two of a teacher's favorite things!


Getting a classroom ready, is not an easy task. It is a monumental, on-going, task that at times seems endless, makes the teaches want to pull their hair out all the while they promise themselves that when given the time they will become organized - that next year it will be easier, if they had the time. IF they had the time.

But it's okay - because as soon as the students walk in that door on that first day, all that hard work, all that tiring work, all that stressful paperwork, all those negative thoughts go out the window. All that work that went into getting the classroom ready no longer seems monumental, because, it is when you have 18 smiling faces, 18 eager and curious minds, 18 morning hugs that you realize it was all worth it. And in that moment, you wish you could have done more for these students, after all, they deserve the best and only the best.

On Home Visits

When I was in kindergarten, there were no such things as Home Visits. In fact, the concept of a home visit was first introduced to me my tutor year of the program when I first began student teaching at Suncrest Primary. In Monongalia county, teachers are required to conduct home visits for pre-k and kindergarten students. In my home West Virginia county, Putnam, no such requirement exists.

I found the idea of home visits to be interesting, beneficial, and eye opening. I believe knowing the background of a student, the student's family, the home life, and the living conditions provides an abundance of insight into the behavior, the cognitive function, and the over-all student. It also allows the teacher to catch a glimpse into the daily life of the student outside of school.

Before going on my first home visit, I was both excited and apprehensive. I was unsure what to expect or even what to do! The first home visit went very smoothly and I found that I was able to easily interact with both the student and his mother. As I continued on the home visits, I began to form more opinions on home visits from my experiences and made notes about them importance of home visits and key elements of a home visit for the future.

• Home visits are a time to get to know the student: During a home visit, I found it was a great opportunity to find out what the student's interests are. Have them show you their favorite toy, their favorite book. After all, they are in a safe environment, their home, and are probably going to be more outgoing and welcome to you in this environment than on the first day of school in a new classroom. 
• Prepare students for the first day of school: While it is critical to get to know the student, it is also important to have conversations with the student about school. Tell them about the classroom, tell them about yourself, run through the schedule, show them pictures, relate parts of the day/the classroom to their interests. Ideally, through conversations, you can help put any fears or doubts of the first day of school to the side for the student and get them excited.
• Find out the parent's expectations: It is crucial to ask the parents what they expect out of you and out of pre-school. Asking them for their expectations, allows you to set your own goals for your classroom and clarify any misconceptions - such as "I want my child to learn all of his numbers and letters". Well, yes ideally, we would hope the child would leave pre-school knowing more numbers and letters, but that is not a direct goal of pre-k.
• Successful Home visits --> Successful Year: Beginning the year off right with a successful home visit, helps set up the entire year. This first interaction with the child helps foster a positive relationship for the entire year. Involving the parents from the beginning will hopefully lead to more involvement throughout the year as well. Having home visits before the school year begins, allows you and the parents time to get the classroom prepared and labeled with names and pictures and all the forms and paperwork collected. 
• Calm all nerves: At times, it appears the parents are more nervous and more hesitant about this step into preschool than the students. Especially if the child is the first one to be sent to school. Home visits are a great time, to not only get to know the parents, the students, and the expectations, but to calm any nerves and set any worries or concerns aside. Ask the parents what concerns they have - and do the best to ensure them, they are tiny, tiny issues in the larger scheme of the day
• Leave them wanting more: Leave the student with something to look forward to. Rather it be noticing their collection of dump trucks and saying: "You know what? When you come to school on Monday we will get the dump trucks and play with them at the sand table ... How does that sound?". Or even promising the child time will be set aside for a read aloud of a book of their choice from the huge classroom library. Whatever interests the child, latch on it, and use it to help spark the curiosity and excitement of pre-school - give them something to look forward to!

It is imperative to view home visits as an integral, positive responsibility of teaching early childhood, not as a chore. It is crucial to go into a home visit with open eyes, open ears, and more importantly an open mind. Be sure to remain excited and positive - and make this energy contagious to both the child and the parents. 

After my first year of home visits, I not only look forward to seeing my students again on the first day of school, but in conducting the follow-up home visits later in the year and in future home visits of future classes.

Beginning Days

   Returning to school at the beginning of August was a big change, but it was worthwhile. When given the opportunity to attend a conference with my mentor teacher, I knew it was something I couldn't pass up. The Pre-K classrooms in Mon County were all given a grant as part of Choosy Kids - I am Moving, I am Learning. A program designed for obesity prevention which takes a proactive approach towards addressing child-hood obesity by increasing the quantity of physical activity, improving the quality of physical activity and promoting healthy food and drink choices.

This conference was very interesting and eye-opening. The statistics given about the obesity rates in West Virginia and across the nation are startling and scary. As an educator, it made me want to take action and incorporate the fundamentals ideas of Choosy Kids into the daily instruction and interactions I have with my students.

One of the workshops, Observing and Evaluating Motor Skills, in particular really sparked my curiosity and got my wheels turning. It intrigued me to begin thinking about possible action research ideas. I cannot wait to interact more with my students and observe them in the classroom to see if this route of action research would benefit the students in my classroom.

As an early childhood educator, I feel there is almost a pressure to develop students' fine motor skills in preparation of them to learn to write and use scissors. However, before their fine motor skills can be developed, their gross motor skills must first be fully developed. If you expect the child to write the number eight, but yet they cannot move their entire body to create the number eight with their legs, their arms, etc. by crossing their midlines - then how can you expect them to make that same movement on an extreme smaller scale? My experiences in early childhood centers has shown me that teacher led gross motor skill practice and development is either non-existent or left entirely up to the physical education teacher.

Integrating motor skill development into existing curriculum is easy. During teacher directed time, the focus of the station, such as letter or number recognition, does not have to be a sitting table top activity. It can be a physical activity, such as throwing a ball into a lettered bucket, hopping the number line, etc. Therefore, the students are still learning - both their numbers and letters and developing their motor skills, and being ACTIVE!

With the WV Early Learning Standards Framework dedicating a section to gross motor skills it is evident that the importance of physical activity and the development of these skills is critical in an early childhood education and would be beneficial in possibly exploring this route for an action research topic.

Beginning the school year by attending this conference was the best decision I have made. It got my wheels turning, got my excitement up, and has me motivated to make a positive change in the classroom. I am looking forward to meeting my students and reflecting more on if this is an appropriate route to take for my action research.

Inquiry Celebration

I found the inquiry celebration to be more enjoyable and less overwhelming this year. I am unsure if these feelings stemmed from my experience at the celebration last year or because I am more confident in myself and my standing/understanding in the program. Regardless, I found that all presentations I sat in on at the celebration made this complex idea of action research look easy. Coincidentally enough, all of the presentations I watched were on using math strategies to enhance number sense or mathematical understanding. As I watched these presentations, I began to dissect the process each teacher researcher was involved in. A brief overview: First, literature. Second, planning. Third, implementation and data collection. Fourth, data analysis. Fifth, conclusion. I found the interns from my school, Sarah and Nicole, were able to collaborate on their action research as they were both in kindergarten classrooms. I found their presentation to be one the best I have seen, as they made it look especially easy and effortless. They implemented four different strategies in order to help teach number sense. They did a pre-test, a weekly activities, and a post test for each strategy as part of their data collection. Watching their presentation, I was able to get a better understanding and good ideas to use for data collection and sharing.

Looking ahead to next year I am in a Pre-K setting. This is both exciting and overwhelming to me. Exciting because it is my specialization and I love the little ones. Overwhelming because I have NO idea where to even start thinking of an action research topic. I feel I am more limited because there is no formal or direct instruction allowed, by law, in a Pre-K setting. They learn through play and socialization. I need to continue to do more research, but I am thinking I may try different strategies/activities that could be set out at the free play choice areas to see how they enhance either number or letter recognition.

It is crazy to think that in a years time, that will be up there in front of peers presenting my own action research at the Inquiry Celebration!

Final Practicum Plan Reflection

My learning goals for this semester included:
1. multiple video taping of lessons and analysis
2. continued use of SmartBoard
3. Continued practice of detailed lessons
4. Continued practice of differentiation

Like I mentioned in the previous practicum plan reflection, the strongest goal for this semester was using the SmartBoard. I implemented the SmartBoard during every single lesson, have found new exciting ways to use it (templates, pre-loaded games, etc.) and was successful in using the SmartBoard during my two week teaching period. In fact, one of the stations I implemented during my teaching time was a SmartBoard station where one day the students were able to play a comprehension game on their reading story using the SmartBoard. I found that using the SmartBoard is benefical but cThis an be even more beneficial and exciting if you give the students the chance to use it themselves.

Since my last reflection, I have been able to video tape multiple lessons. I was even able to create a short clip of multiple videos (two days of full time teaching) that I am very proud of. This video reflects my educational philosophy: having an interactive and collaborative classroom. The video is a combination of two days of teaching. I even took this a step farther and had the students video tape their own assignment, which not only allowed them to use technology but also was motivating, exciting, and gave me some qualitative data on my inquiry of questioning, as their video was them answering their reading comprehension question by taking on different roles in the story. Visit this link to view the video compilation of my teaching!

Visit this link to view the video the students made during my 2-week teaching!

During my two week period of teaching I feel I also made gains differentiating lessons. I was able to group the students heterogeneously which allowed extra support for the lower level students when paired with a higher student during the stations. When teaching my learning cycle, I also developed modified assessments for those students who needed it. I believe both of these modifications were successful.

Overall the practicum plan was very beneficial this semester. Especially toward the end of the semester, the practicum plan helped me to priotize and ensure all assignments were completed on time. When looking ahead for next year I will be in a pre-k classroom. For my goals, I definitely want to keep video taping even more lessons. I am unsure of what I want my other goals to be at this time. When I meet with my host teacher from this semester to do my evaluation I will be asking for suggestions of area of improvement and I will also be asking my pre-k host teacher for ideas to include as well.

Characteristics

"We believe the novice teacher should be an effective communicator. "

To me, Characteristic2, means a teacher is an effective communicator amongst students, colleagues, parents and the community. Communication takes on the role of a variety of forms. A teacher needs to be aware of and be effective communicating across various outlets, body language, technology, conversations, instruction, and discussion. It is imperative the teacher is an effective communicator with all entities involved in the school to make the school run as effectively and successfully as possible.

For this characteristic, I could use a couple different artifacts. First, my inquiry this semester is focused on questioning techniques. Depending on the outcome of my inquiry, I may be able to use my final paper that shows the effects questioning techniques can have on students understanding and engagements. I could also use the parent communication project for Educ 401. I developed this website, for a pre-k classroom, and I plan on using it next semester during my student teaching. This website may be the best artifact to use for this characteristic as it shows my communication to parents through the use of technology. You can visit the website by clicking here.

"We believe the novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of content. "

To me, Characteristic 6, means demonstrating an in-depth knowledge of content through the institutional strategies, classroom management, lesson plans, and conversations. Having an in-depth knowledge is critical  in the planning and delivery of the content material to the students, in order to allow them to grown and learn in the most effective manner.


For this characteristic there are a few artifacts that I could use to illustrate my knowledge of content. I have a literacy unit, art unit, and science learning cycle that would demonstrate my understanding of content and scope and sequence. I also have some pre-k lessons that I developed my tutor year that may also be appropriate to use because pre-k is my specialization. My plan and my goal is for this characteristic to use a unit that I will be developing my intern year. Next year, I am in a pre-k class, so using an unit that shows scope and sequence, and my knowledge of content and pre-k strategies and design may be the most meaningful and most effective to use to illustrate this characteristic.