The End is Here: Where did the time go?

It seems like just yesterday I embarked on my second student teaching placement. Time has flown by so fast that I have yet to post about my first graders. Lets see, first grade was nothing like I imagined it would be. I had really low expectations for what first graders were capable of and lets just say that they blew me away with what they were able to do and learn. Throughout my placement I taught them about fluency, setting, questioning, dinosaurs, fractions, money and matter. I never realized how much a first grader could write either! My favorite part about first grade was seeing how enthusiastic they would be every morning when they would walk in the door. Before they even had their jackets off, they would be talking your ear off about what they did last night or about what they read recently.


My favorite unit during this placement was teaching about dinosaurs. Growing up I was never really a fan of dinosaurs, but seeing how excited the first graders were to learn about each one,  made me excited to teach them about dinosaurs. Each day I let my students pick a new dinosaur. I would read them a book about the particular dinosaur and then they would have to write at least four sentences about that dinosaur in their Dino Facts books. One day they even got to type their sentences in the computer lab and print out their pictures. We sent home their colorful pictures to show their parents and displayed the black and white photos for the rest of the community to see. The ones displayed
below are of Tyrannosaurus Rex. It just so happened to be the first dinosaur that the first graders were able to learn about.

I truly have enjoyed my time with the first graders and will miss teaching them everyday and hearing their wonderful stories when there is not supposed to be conversations taking place. My all time favorite moment of this semester was seeing many of my students learn how to read. It seemed like over the course of a few weeks reading just clicked for many of the students in the classroom. One boy in the classroom looked at me after his reading group finished meeting with me and said, "Can I be in two reading groups?" This came from a boy who just two weeks ago was significantly below the reading level benchmark. One day it just seemed to click and he could not read enough. He wanted to spend all of his time either reading or writing.

Tomorrow I start a new adventure! I will be meeting with my supervisor to pass in my University of Maine Student Teaching Portfolio, where I will show that I have met all the standards and proficiencies to become a first year teacher. From there the application process will begin!

From Persuasion and Engineering to Simple Addition and Subtraction: Transition from 5th to 1st Grade

This past two weeks with the fifth graders has been amazing! We have been working on three large units full time and one unit off and on as time permits. Over the past two weeks I have taught a unit on persuasive writing, a unit on simple machines and industrial engineering, and a math unit that has ranged from PEMDAS to negative numbers. Each of these units has taught me how to be flexible in my own planning and teaching. By the end of my first placement we were all a little strapped for time. There never seemed like there was enough time in a day, so we had to make due with the little time we had.

The biggest unit, or most prioritized I should say, was my persuasive writing unit. This unit consisted of a read aloud everyday which allowed the students to see persuasion in mentor texts. We also looked at several television commercials so students could see that we are being persuaded to buy or do something everyday whether we realize the intention behind it or not. By the end of the unit the students had brainstormed topics and wrote a persuasive letter to whoever they chose to write to. This unit taught me how much writing skills range in the fifth grade and that for some students they need support every step of the way.

The second unit I was teaching at the same time was "Engineering is Elementary" put out by the Museum of Science in Boston was all about technology and engineers. Most people do not realize it, but technology is any item that was created to solve a problem. We learned that there are many misconceptions around us about technology and I was able to debunk many of those misconceptions. We also learned that an engineer is someone who uses math, science, and/or technology to create something that solves a particular problem. Students quickly realized that they could all be engineers in a elementary setting. Throughout the unit students were able to work with simple machines (lever, single/double pulleys, short and long inclined planes, and wheels and axles) to create a factory subsystem right in the classroom. The last day of the unit definitely did not go as planned, but it led to great discussion about how things do not always work on the first try.

The last unit I was teaching was all about positive and negative numbers. Students in fifth grade have had a tremendous amount of experience with positive numbers, but this was the first time that students really had to deal with negative numbers. I am not sure what was harder for the students, whether it was subtracting negative numbers or putting parentheses around the right numbers to make a number sentence true. Either way I learned how something so simple to me can be a great struggle for many students. There were many students that took the rules and ran with them and others that needed help and support through ever lesson.

Flexibility was key throughout all three of these lessons. On top of teaching three units at one time I also got the chance to go cross-country skiing with my fifth graders and participate in a Winter Wellness day. Cross-country skiing was great success and I even got to topple over once at the end of the ski trip, which many of my students thoroughly enjoyed even though they fell a dozen times or more. All of us were able to just laugh it off and have a great time. Winter Wellness day allowed us to take a walk to the YMCA to participate in one hour of physical activity. Students were able to use the gymnastics equipment, a foam pit, and the track and field. These two days allowed me to see the students in a non-academic setting! So much can be learned in such a little time outside of the classroom, as well as in the classroom.

This week I move onto a new adventure in the first grade classroom. I was able to learn all about the Daily 5, as well as reading groups in my classroom. I even worked with a small group during math time, which consisted of adding and subtracting single digit numbers. The transition is definitely bittersweet, because I miss my fifth graders already, but I also love the challenge of something new!

Science Experiments Everywhere!

Over the past few weeks students have been exploring two different units in science. The first had to do with Nutrition. We were able to do science experiments throughout this unit, which was great for the students because it was hands on for them. I was not able to get pictures of the first few experiments, but we started off by testing for fats and sugars in foods that we eat. Surprisingly, even I learned a few lessons from these experiments. Then we moved onto testing for acids in fruit juices. The students had a lot of fun with this experiment!

Lots of fruit juices to choose from!

My mentor helping a student get some fruit juice.

Two students saw that their juice contained some acid.

Later on, we moved onto learning about what our plates should look like when we are eating our meals. We learned that the average consumer uses a plate twice the size of what they need. Students were split up into groups. One group worked on creating a "MyPlate" and the others were able to go on a nutrition website to learn more about what goes into healthy eating. 

Exploring the nutrition website on the laptop.

Two students working on their laptops to create healthy meals. 

Cutting out sales ads to create a "MyPlate."

A finished product!

This past week we were able to start a new unit on the "Reasons for the Seasons." Students have been learning about why we have different seasons, why we have day and night, and why there are timezones. Today we were able to create "Earthmallows" as my mentor put it. We used marshmallows to create models of the Earth.

Drawing the equator on the Earth. The straw represents the Earth's axis.

Drawing the equator.

Seeing how the Earth rotates on it's axis and revolves around the Sun!

Creating day on Earth!

Night on Earth!

Day on Earth!

There were definitely some tricky parts to this lesson when it came time to drawing the countries on the marshmallows. Even though they had jumbo marshmallows, they just couldn't get all the countries on the marshmallows in the exact spots. Although, they had fun trying! The students really enjoyed this lesson and best of all, they were able to eat their marshmallows after the lesson was over!

Welcome!

Welcome to my new blog site! In this blog I will talk about my journey throughout Student Teaching! I am currently five weeks into my first placement at Old Town Elementary School and I am loving every second of it! I have a wonderful mentor and students that love having me in the classroom. I do not know what I am going to do when I leave my students for a second placement in three weeks. Be sure to check back later for more details on my experience in a fifth grade classroom!