Blog Post #9

I have realized over the past while that there are so many more components to being a professional teacher than just teaching. It is more than showing up at 8:30, getting through the day and heading home at 3:30. There are a million and one things that happen before,after, and during those hours you are on the clock. From missing work, to hurt feelings, to scrapes and injuries, misplaced lunches, missing backpacks and forgotten computer passwords. Drop-off duty, recess duty, lunch duty and all the duties in between. If it can happen in a day, it probably will. 
The main thing I learned from being in a classroom setting is to expect the unexpected, and when the unexpected happens to keep your cool. You may have a very specific lesson planned, that you have hammered out and you know will be a huge success and then the internet goes down and your computer freezes. How you handle these challenges are a huge indicator as to the success of your day.
During my service hours I was in class during a scheduled Lock Down. The principal got on the overhead system and let the school know it was just a drill, and what would take place. As soon as 'Lock Down' was announced, the door was locked, windows covered and the kids ushered to a point out of view. The kids were doing their best to keep quiet and quickly a lot of 'what if' questions started being whispered my way. I did my best to answer them, and assure the kids it was just practice. One little girl asked, 'What if we are crying, will the bad guys hear us?' I told her that if it were a real emergency, there would likely be crying but we would do our best to keep things quiet. I realized that at this point, a teacher is so much more to these small kids. During this time, they were the safety and comfort the children were needing.
After the time spent in the classroom, I do think that a teaching profession is still right for me. I was able to work with several grades, and have a love for the little kids. Kindergarten is my preferred age, but I know that any grade would have its ups and downs. I picked up some valuable class management tips while in the school. My favorite is having a plug in doorbell. When the button is pushed and the doorbell rings, the class knows that it is time to turn their voices off and attention to the teacher.
Overall my time in the classroom was well spent. At this point I will continue my education and continue my path to becoming a teacher.

Blog Post #5

My service learning has been done at the school where my children are students. We live in an area that has a very diverse population. We have several families that the children have entered school, at various grades, as Spanish speaking only. There are a variety of things that are being done to help these students. Just last year, a volunteer named Crongi was named the volunteer of the year for the state of Utah and was recognized for his efforts in helping the students are our school. He comes daily to help our Spanish speaking students learn English.
One thing the school does is to print letters home in both English and Spanish, as many of the parents are only Spanish speaking, it is important that they are made aware of the things going on inside the school.
Other efforts to help Spanish speaking students, is having special small groups. Here there are three to four Spanish speaking students who are pulled and worked with in a group setting so the kids are able to learn from each other as well as the teacher.

Blog Post #4

Engaged learning is a huge strength for one of the teachers I have observed. He does class transformations where he decorates his classroom in a specific theme and then creates activities that revolve around that theme.
For one of his transformations, he made his classroom look like a pirate ship. He welcomed the class Monday morning dressed in head to toe captain attire.
Another transformation he did was a Monsters University theme. He used pringle cans and turned them into scare cans. There were five learning activities that the students were to complete. After each one was done, they could add a level to their scream can. When they were totally done the scream can was full. One of the days was 'Writers Inc.' there were five doors hung, each with a title above it: prewrite, draft, revise, revise, edit and publish.
For the entire weeks transformation there were monsters inc themed writing, reading, math and art activities. The kids loved every minute of the week.

Blog Post #3

The teacher that I have been learning from is great to show off the students work in the classroom. The teacher will collect art projects and assignments from other teachers and display the work on a bulletin board in the classroom, or in the hall for others to see. The teacher then collects the work and compiles it in a folder so that each student has a file of their accomplishments and projects from their school year. I love how this shows the great things they have done through the year and at each time throughout different times of the year.
I think the most important thing that my cooperative teacher has done to make their students feel loved and safe is to get to know them. Getting to know the student, their siblings in the school, their likes and dislikes. Letting the students know that they are accepted for who they are is the best way to show love.
I love going into a class that has a positive feeling. There is a classroom at school that has the most uplifting feeling. The mood in the class is always positive and happy. The class is designed and set up to let positive energy flow. There are several different seating areas, and seating types. Setting up a classroom that embraces a positive energy is a great start to a positive school year.

Blog Entry #6

The school where I am completing my service-learning hours is very diverse. We have a large majority of Hispanic children and families, there are several families from the Polynesian islands, both Tongan and Samoan, as well as African American. I am sure that there are several more cultures that I am unaware of. From what I have seen, all students are treated as equals and I haven’t noticed or picked up on any cultural bias. There are several children who are learning English in the classroom, and these children will be taken for small groups where they work along with a teacher and a few other students on improving their English.  
I have noticed that with such a high population of Hispanic children, most of which speak both English and Spanish, but in their home they only speak Spanish. There are modifications to notes and information sent home so that it is in Spanish and the parents are able to read it. We are lucky to have several Spanish speaking teachers and administrators, so when parents do come into the school they are easily able to communicate their child's needs. 

Blog Entry #2

The learning theory that I observed the most of was Behaviorism. While in a first grade class the teacher explained a rating system. She used numbers 1-4, one behavior would be the teacher having to stop multiple times to get children back on task, starting the lesson over, etc. A four behavior would be the best behavior, the entire class listening the first time and staying on task the entire lesson. The teacher herself gives the class a number, as well as when the class goes to specialties such as computers, music, art and library. The teacher will ask for the number the class received at the end of each specialty.
The teacher creates a secret word. For each four the class receives, they get to turn over one letter in the word. Once all of the letters have been turned over, the entire class earns a reward. Depending on the length of the word, and the behavior of the class they may earn their reward quite quickly, or it may take a little while.

Blog Entry #1

I have chosen to complete my hours at the local elementary school. When we moved to our new home five years ago my oldest son started kindergarten, he has just now started his fifth grade school year. I have helped in his and my other sons classes and have been part of the PTA, it seems fitting that I complete hours in a school I am familiar with and comfortable in. As for service hours, I will be planning on observing in several grade level classrooms from Kindergarten to Fifth grade. I will assist in any way the teacher may need.

The school I will complete my service hours in is a Title One school, so there are several families who are low income families. I would predict that majority of the families are low income. The school has also been accredited as a Silver Level STEM school. They frequently have family nights dedicated to STEM activities and always end up with a great turn out.