Day 15

WOW! Senior project is over and i cannot believe it. Just when i thought Wednesday's class had a lot of pressure on me, today i had even more responsibility. Ms. Hildebrand WAS NOT IN CLASS FROM 9 TO 10! This meant that i was with the kids from about 9 to 9:30 while they were eating snack and working on a giant Connect the Dots paper. This was not difficult to monitor the kids while eating and be in the room without Ms. Hildebrand, but it was scary that she was not even in the school. I have been in the classroom, alone with students working on Fairy Tales, which was much more work than what i did this afternoon, but i was at ease because i knew she was just across the hall if i needed her for anything. Not only was Ms. Hildebrand not in school, but Ms. Jensen, the other second grade teacher, was not in school either! So, after snack and connect the dots i brought the students into the other second grade classroom to do a writing reflection worksheet with their fairly tale partner, on the writing process. I was relieved that i didnt not have to teach anything, but i continued to do what i like best, which is working with just a few students at a time. The classroom got a little wild at some times and i needed to call certain partners closer to me so i could keep a better watch over them. Relatively speaking, the students behaved exceptionally well for having a substitute and i run BOTH classes together in one room. At 10:00 i brought Ms. Hildebrands students to Computer Class, which i didnt stay for today and instead i went to Sports Assembly. Ms. Hildebrand came back after Lunch and red Holes to us for a short period of time, while i put stickers in a box next to everyones names which either said Excellent day, Good day, Poor day, Very poor day, depending on how they each behaved over the entire week. Reading time was short today because it was "Game Friday with Trenny!" The kids and i played various different board games on the floor. I played Jenga for a long time with Aiden, Ryan, Hayden, and DJ for a while, and then i played Aiden, also known as "the chess master," in chess. We didnt have time to finish the game because we needed to head down to the Gym for Andover Idol. This was very entertaining to watch the 6th, 7th, and 8th graders dance, lip sync, or do Cherokee in front of the entire school. Some of the performances were absolutely outstanding and others could have used a little more practice, but all in all it was impressive that any of them even got on stage in front of the whole school. Ms. Hildebrand's class was very respectful during the show and watched intently. It was funny to see some of the girls sing along, clap, and dance in their seats while watching some of the middle schoolers on stage sing. It's like you can see a little bit into the future of the lives of the girls in Ms. Hildebrand's class who know all the words to the songs and sing along. Once Andover Idol ended there was only about 15 minutes until dismissal. Ms. Hildebrand gathered the class together and we all sat on the floor. I figured she was going to read Holes to us, since it was a shortened reading after lunch, but that didn't happen. Ms. Hildebrand presented me with a Curious George book, which had pictures of me and the kids glued into the front cover and all the second graders signatures on the back cover. AND THEN Ms. Hildebrand handed me another gift. It was a photo book with pictures of the me and the students from over the past three weeks and a page designated to each of student for them to put a hand drawn picture in it for me. It was SO kind and thoughtful of them all. I felt like i was going to cry, it was so sweet. I have appreciated all that the kids have thought me and most of all how much Ms. Hildebrand has guided and taught me through these three weeks. We then got all packed up to leave and went out side to the playground for a big group HUG! I am really going to miss the kids!!

Weekly Reflection 3

My last week at AEMS has been great! I have become more comfortable with the kids in the classroom and more confident with my ability to assist and teach. This week i have worked a lot with small groups of students in math, reading, and fairy tales. But, not only did i work a lot with small groups of kids, but i organized a project for the whole class to work on. This meant that i had to present and speak to the entire class, all at once. This was new to me and i was not totally confident with my presentation, but i feel that it went relatively well once i started talking and i got the first nerves out of my system. I think i was more nervous standing up in front of the whole class because that meant that Ms. Hildebrand was watching me closely too. Not that Ms. Hildebrand is intimidating in the slightest, but it was just the fact that she was trying to learn what i was explaining too, so i really had to make sure that it worked and i explained it clearly.  

Monday was SHARE day, which meant there  was no schoolwork, so it was fun to see the students play and interact in a nonacademic setting for an entire day. I noticed different characteristics about students that i had never noticed before in the classroom. During the rest of the week i met with small groups of students for math, reading, and fairy tales. During those times i observed and aided the students while they worked, either alone or with a partner. I think i have learned the most about kids and teaching when i have been with students one on one or in small groups. It has been really helpful for me to interact with them at a closer level and i can imagine that it is helpful for the students who are learning as well.    

I have become so much more confident in dealing with students and their questions. I dont feel as much of a desire to need to double check with Ms. Hildebrand about every little question the kids ask me. I have become a much better listener and more understanding with the students. Especially this week, being my last, i feel that i have given all of the kids the attention that they want/need. I have tried to reach out to some of the shier students, like Myles, and i have had patients with some of the more needy students, like Hayden, and i have tried not to cling to the students who i feel comfortable with or who cling to me for help. It has been such a pleasure working with all the students and i feel that i have really finished up this week strong. Though i am done working in the school, i still have one project left to do for the kids. I am making all of the second graders T-Shirts with their names on them to wear to their field trip on friday! i think the kids will really appreciate this and hopefully they will remember me when they wear them :) 

Day 14

Today seemed fairly long for some reason. The day started with math, so i took Ryan, Britta, Todd, and Kathryn into the hallway to work in their math books. The first page was little money bills, either one, ten, or hundred dollar bills that were in a row and the students had to count them and write in the number value. We did the first one together and then after that the kids all got the hang of it enough to continue on their own.  The next page was a little trickier. There were lists of numbers and then three blanks following the list, which the students had to fill in accordingly. Once we did one together, Britta and Todd could figure out the rest on their own. Kathryn tried to work with Britta on the problems, but Britta couldnt explain to her how or why the answer was what it was, so i think often times Kathryn would just copy her answers. I tried to include Kathryn into my explanations and working with Ryan, but she was more focused on finishing and getting answer. Ryan also likes to get answers and get things done with, but if i stop to ask if he understands, he is really good about saying no and listening to me explain it again. I feel that most kids at that age do not stand up and say they dont understand something, but instead keep going along with the other kids even if they're confused. So, i helped Ryan through about the first 4 or 5 problems and by the time we got to the end he was capable of doing them on his own! It was really rewarding to see him get correct answers because that means i did a good job of explaining it to him. Kathryn would chime in to listen at times and and questions, but for the most part she liked to try to work on her own and with Britta. The last activity that we did in math was with toy money. The kids seemed to really start to understand the concept of money and learning how to exchange change for bills. The activity involved trading dimes and pennies for dollars. It was so interesting to see the kids have 12 dimes and need to count to make sure that they had enough for a dollar, or if they had 3 dimes and 8 pennies they would need to count a few times to check if they had a dollar. Their eyes have not yet been trained or had enough practice to see that there is no way 3 dimes and 8 pennies could add up to a dollar. After math it was snack time and then Fairy Tale reading practice. Each of the students from both second grade classes got together with their partners and practiced reading their fairy tales. I worked with Hayden and Ryan G. because they didnt get a chance to practice reading together yesterday. I wrote H's and R's next to each chunk of words that that person was meant to read. It really helped them because they glued their word on different pages than each other, so the pages dont match up. The same thing happened with Nelson and Todd who i worked with. I had them each read through their stories twice, practicing reading slowly, clearly, and showing the pictures while their partner is reading. Nelson and Todd were great at showing the pictures, but they read fast and Ryan and Hayden were the opposite. Though i think it must to hard for them to practice reading it aloud of there is no audience, but tomorrow they will be reading their stories to the first graders. While the kids went to their special, i went through everyones books and glued down any loose pages.  Then after lunch and recess Ms. Hildebrand continued to read Holes while i wrote all the students names down from both second grade classes because i am making them T-shirts to wear on their field trip next friday! The whole afternoon was designated to reading. We went over to the town library and the kids checked out a new book. The kids LOVE the town library! They all went in, knew exactly the area where they were going to find their new book, checked it out, and lined up at the door to read their books on the floor. I was fascinated at how much more they enjoyed the public library than the school library. After the long walk across the parking lot, to and from the library, the kids got out their book boxes for quiet reading in the classroom. Britta, Myles, and Matt each took turns reading to me for about 20 minutes. These  students are three of the more accelerated readers in the class. Britta is a very fast reader and comprehends all that she reads, but she does tents to mumble and skip over small words.I wonder if she reads them in her head, but is going so fast that she doesnt say them out loud or if she doesnt even realize that she skips them? Myles is a very shy student, but he reads at a great pace and his comprehension is impressive. Matt is very cute. Ms. Hildebrand describes him as a "little man," which is exactly right! He is very little, but is interested in older man things. He loves to read books about wars, the army, the navy and even the holocaust. Today, he read to me a book that he wasn't comfortable reading because of the German names, but he did very well with sounding them out! He too needs confidence when he reads because he is very good at sounding out words and more so than not he gets the words correct when he takes time to sound them out. After listening to the three of them read to me, it was about time to pack up for the day. For the last few minutes the class played Hangman on the board. Though, the second half if the day was relaxing and revolved around reading, for some reason it seemed to cary on. I cannot believe that tomorrow is my last day! I feel as though i just got to know the students and i am not ready to leave them yet.  

Day 13

So, today all eyes were on me! Ms. Hildebrand handed out a little math sheet for the students to work on while waiting for the announcements to come on the intercom. Meanwhile i got everything set up that i needed for my art lesson. I wet all the paints, organized the paint brushes and sponge brushes, and put water into separate cups for the students to rinse their brushes. By the time announcements were over i was set to present the project. I handed out thick, white paper, a sponge brush, and the cups of water to every students. I explained to them that the first step is to wet the paper with the sponge. I demonstrated the action and then let them loose to do it on their own while i passed out the watercolor paint trays and the paintbrushes. Then came time to explain the next step, which was to get the paint brush wet with lots of water and paint and then start painting. I did not set any boundaries for what they could and couldn't do, but i did emphasize that focusing on color and designs often turns out better than trying to draw a specific person or thing. The object of this activity was to use many colors which would bleed on the wet paper and then after have the kids find what they see in their picture and write about it. The kids were allowed to paint three pictures, which was good because they didn't quite get they hang of it the first time around. Many of the kids tried to draw specific scenes and their paper was not wet enough to have the colors bleed. By the second or third painting the kids really caught on and they looks amazing! I was truly impressed with how great some of the paintings turned out. I walked around the room and tried help wet the papers that were drying and i encouraged the students to stay away from black until the end, so their whole paper wouldn't turn brown/black... which a few did. When everyone was done with their three, we cleaned up and went outside to get our pictures taken in our TIE-DYE T-shirts that we made on SHARE day. I am so impressed with how the shirts came out! Not one person from Ms. Hildebrands class had a brown tie-dye nor did anyone have a white tie-dye, which meant that everyone followed directions. The class and I posed for Ms. Hildebrand for many pictures: some smiling, some yelling "tie-dye!," and some goofy pictures! I stuck out about 2 feet taller than everyone in the middle of the picture, and i think my eyes were closed just about every time! It was so much fun to see the kids so excited about how each of their shirts turned out. After our photo shoot, each of the students picked their favorite painting and brought it to their desk. Ms. Hildebrand and i handed out white lined paper and told them to write about their painting: a poem, a story, a description, a list of words, or a song. Ms. Hildebrand really set the mood and put on some very quiet music to play in the background and opened up the windows. It was a very relaxing atmosphere and the students worked so quietly. I was amazed at how careful and thoughtful they were while analyzing their paintings and writing about them. Just as everyone finished it was time for Gym class!!! 

I am so pleased with how smoothly this whole process went. I feel like the students really enjoyed it and so did i! The only difficulty was how absorbent the paper was. The kids needed to keep wetting it because it would dry so quickly and if they didn't then the technique wouldn't work. I am so glad that i could organize something on my own to teach the kids, and it was fun!  

Day 12

            Today was really fun, but I don’t necessarily know why. Ms. Hildebrand was really on top of things this morning and wrote up an agenda for me. I started with Ryan, Kegyn, and Jason in the hallway and worked in their Math Books. The focus of the plan was on Area. The students had to trace one hand and one food on separate paper, which was made up of square centimeters. The boys traced their hands nicely, but two of them needed my help tracing their feet. Ms. Hildebrand and I decided that we would only have them count the blocks that were MORE than half full and consider them 1 block. I drew a line through the halfway point on their hands and feet so that they could count each half separately and then add them together, eliminating the trouble of loosing count before finishing. They also put little marks through the blocks that they WERE counting and left the blocks that were less than half empty. This went really well and there was only one minor mistake with the counting, which was easily solved because it was only half of the foot that needed to be recounted. I am impressed that there was not more mistakes made because the chorus was singing very loudly and sometimes it is hard for the kids think while there is noise in the background. There was a bit of a competition between the boys to see whose foot was bigger. I had to explain to them that A, it doesn’t matter who has a bigger food and B, tracing their feet wasn’t actually that precise because it was done with socks on and different people traced them. They got over it quickly and then we had snack in Mr. Jensen’s room while an Occupational Therapist shared with us some of her rock collection. The kids were so funny gawking over the rocks and trying so hard to wait their turn to get to touch each one. When she presented the rocks, she used very difficult words that the kids did not understand or even care to ask what she meant. I too probably would have used words like etching and acupuncture if I had never dealt with second graders before, but now that I have learned more about their level in ability to understand and comprehend it seemed silly to me that she though they would actually know what she was talking about. I now know about the level of vocabulary that the students are at, so I make sure that I speak for them to be able to fully understand what I am trying to say.

 During Art class today I got all the materials that I need for the activity that I am organizing for tomorrow. I found paint trays, cleaned out the dirty colors, found some sponge brushes, regular brushes, and paper! The kids were anxious to find out what are doing tomorrow and why i was cleaning out the paints. I kept it a secret. Then, after lunch and recess Ms. Hildebrand continued to read Holes to the class, which i enjoy as well. We then stuck with the theme of reading and the kids got into their reading groups and did what they were assigned to do. I really enjoyed this part of the day. I had the luxury of being read to by Kathryne, Hannah, and Jack. They each read to me a book from their book boxes for about 10 to 15 minutes in the hallway. Kathryne is a fairly quick reader, but she doesn't always read the correct word. She reads for speed and often says a word that she thinks sounds like it might come next, but isnt actually the correct word. I had to slow her down and correct her quite a bit in the beginning, but they she got the hang of it and started to read more smoothly and correctly.  Hannah had a bit of the same problem, but she wasn't quite as speedy. Hannah just didn't seem very motivated or into reading. When she would get stuck on a word i would try to make her sound it out, and then if she still didnt get it i would give her the beginning sound. If that didnt help her then i would tell her the word, but she didnt want to repeat what i said and would just keep reading on. She too would sometime make up words that she thought would fit in the sentence instead of slowing down and reading the words. Jack on the other hand did not seem to struggle with much, he was an amazing reader. His speed was great and his comprehension was excellent, but he did read very quietly. It was so fun to be able to work with different students and listen to them read one on one instead of in a group of students. Then to finish off the day we went into Mr. Jensen's class for a science experiment. The students had sand/dirt in a film container, a plate, and magnifying glasses. Ms. H and Mr. J and I went around and poured water into into the film canister while the students got to observe the water sink to the bottom. It always fascinates me how interested the kids are in such silly little experiments involving dirt, rocks, and water. It's great! Today felt rather calm and relaxing compared to the last few days. Tomorrow is only a half day for me, but i am excited to do a little water color project with the kids! I hope it goes smoothly, i am a little nervous...

Day 11

Today was S.H.A.R.E. Day, which is the equivalent to Project Period for Proctor, but it's only one day at AEMS. The 3rd grade students and on sign up for different activities and projects to do in the morning, then the whole school eats a catered lunch together, then the Proctor Chamber Choir came to sing, and after groups instructors shared with the school what they did in their group. There were many projects to choose from including fly fishing and sushi making. I was with all the 1st and 2nd graders who don't actually get to choose what they do. All the 1st and 2nd graders did tie-dying and mask making. I was only one of the many helpers for this project. The students were each given a spot at a table and a brown cardboard mask to paint. I went around with the other chaperones to squeeze paint for the students. The rule was that they could only use three colors, but a few students managed to not follow directions and use their neighbors paint. It was interesting to see how some students blended all their colors together and then painted their mask, some didn't fully cover their mask with paint and only made designs, some took their time and were very precise and careful with their paint, and some painted it so quickly and sloppy because they wanted to be the first. After painting the masks the kids played outside and had snack while the chaperones, teachers, and i cleaned up the mess. After painting it was time for tie-dying. The students all watched an instructional movie on how to tie-dye. Every time the woman would show what one of the techniques looks like the kids would ALL cheer and scream, "Ahhhhhh!!! I want to make that one!!!" It was so funny! I helped many of the kids twist up their T-shirts the way they wanted and put on rubber bands. This was tough for the students to remember how to do each of the techniques that the woman on the movie showed, so it was helpful that there were many adult to assist. The dying was by far the most exciting and chaotic part for the kids. The kids would yell out the color that they wanted, and there was lots of colors being sprayed on the table and not on the T-shirts. Overall, i was very impressed with how smoothly this project went with 50 1st and 2nd graders. The students had so much fun picking their colors and designs to use on their shirts. Once the tie-dying was done and the shirts were put into labeled bags it was time for decorating the masks. There were jewels, feathers, fake hair, and glitter clue that the kids could decorate their masks with. This was really funny to see because it was obvious that the kids just wanted to be able to use all of the materials offered, and they not necessarily conscious of how their mask looked at the time. Most of the students had jewels glued all over their mask, glitter glue everywhere, and either feathers, hair or both! Once they covered their masks with all the accessories it was difficult to see the paint on some of them, but they sure did look colorful! I helped the teachers cary the mask upstairs to the cafeteria where they were going on display and they really did look so colorful and great next to each other. The students had a blast making them and were disappointed to hear that they have to wait until tomorrow to take them home. SHARE Day went very well and the students all had so much fun in their groups! I enjoyed watching the 1st and 2nd graders interact with each other and noticed that they meshed really well. There was no bullying or problems between the two grades and you really couldn't tell who was in what grade based on the art work. The kids were a little more wild and hyper than usual because they were not sitting in a classroom with the same students and the same routine that they are used to. The students and I had so much fun today; i think tomorrow might be hard to adjust back to the normal schedule and school work.     

Weekly Reflection 2

This week was really experiential for me. I focused on working with small groups of kids in math and reading. I developed better relationships with those students who i worked closely with and i was able to observe how the students processed information much more closely. This week i got to know them better as individual learners and as kids. I noticed many interesting things about the students, which triggered questions for me to think about. I realized how young the students are as learners, but how mature and old they seem as people. Many things that i think are common sense or "no brainers," are completely foreign to the students. The idea of adding and subtracting money and reading a sentence smoothly, without really needing to concentrate is very challenging for the students to do. As kids, i think of them as being older than they really are and more responsible than i thought. They are so careful that Ms. Hildebrand lets them use Sharpie markers in the classroom.    

While getting to know the students better this week, i was put through a few tests by the students. While i know the students really do enjoy my presence and help, it was sometimes hard for me to see that. There were a few kids that liked to test my patients and authority at some points, which was difficult, but i am so glad that they did act out because it made me see how hard it is to deal with students who don't always listen and cooperate. Before then, i had only experienced the wonderful students who looked up to me and always wanted to listen to what i had to say, which isn't always the case in teaching. I felt a sense of what a really great day of teaching was like and what a really tough day of teaching was like, and both are exhausting!! All in all, I absolutely love being with the students in Ms. Hildebrand's and Mr. Jensen's class. No matter what type of day it is, the students really are amazing kids. I feel so welcome and appreciated in Ms. Hildebrand's class that it has been so fun to learn about elementary education and teaching. I cannot wait for next week, but I'm sad that it's my last!

Day 10

Today went really well! I worked in the hallway with Ryan, Myles, and Jack in their Math Books. I really enjoy working with them because they are always focused and really try to help each other understand and work together. It's funny because they make math seem like a game and get really excited and cheer when they get the correct answer to a problem. So, that was a great start to the day and after we worked on Fairy Tale's and trying to get everyone to finish! The kids were so patient, respectful, and all followed directions this morning. I was wonderful! After a rough day with Derek yesterday, he did a complete turn around and was so sweet with me today. He was polite, ask for my help, and waited in line quietly when i was helping other students. I was very impressed! I cut out many cover pages today, help students glue them on properly, cut out little white rectangles for them to write their title's on and then glue to their cover, and helped students glue their about the author and dedication into their books. It was a very successful morning! Many of the students finished their entire book today, leaving only a few more to finish. 

I am fascinated in the wide range of the quality of work and effort that the students put into creating the fairy tale's. Some of them are so well done; their cuts are clean, their pictures are all colored and glued in neatly, and their cover and title is glue on straight. Then their are the students who went for speed; their pictures are sloppy, their story is glued on crooked and hanging off the pages, and some words/pictures are even taped on. The majority of the students tried very hard on this project and wanted to do their best work, which is amazing. 

After working on fairy tales the students went to Computer class, lunch, recess, and then were going to watch a movie, so i took a half day today. It was beautiful outside this afternoon and it was a nice, relaxing way to end the long week. I am having so much fun spending time with these kids, even though some days are difficult, and i really look forward to Monday! 

Day 9

The combination of not getting much sleep last night and some of the kids really testing my patients made today a real challenge.  We started the day in Mr. Jensen's class doing a rock experiment. The kids used different sized strainers to sift the smaller rocks through and then they could arrange the cups of rocks from biggest to smallest. It was interesting to see how the kids had trouble figuring out which strainer to use first, big, medium, or small, in order to separate the big rocks from the rest of the rocks. I saw many kids dump their pile of rocks into the smallest strainer and wonder why none of the rocks would go through except the sand. This was another instance of what i thought was common sense, but isn't second graders. How can kids have so much fun with a pile of rocks and stay interested in them for a long period of time? I can't imagine putting a pile of rocks in front of high schoolers and expect them to look at them for more than 2 minutes. It's amazing what kids are interested in. 

Fairy Tales came next. This is when two boys really tested my authority and my patients. DJ, who is done with his fairy tale was meant to be sitting quietly on the floor free writing or drawing. Ms. Hildebrand was out in the hallway with a student working on his fairy tale, while i was in the classroom. While i was at the round table putting covers on students books, i overheard DJ talking very loudly to Todd, who was trying to finish his book. DJ was not sitting on the carpet where he was meant to be working quietly, so i asked him to stop distracting Todd at his desk and to go where he was meant to be. He talked back to me without hesitating. He told me he was allowed to be there and that he didn't have to sit on the ground because he didn't want to. I couldn't believe he talked back to me with such confidence, as if i couldn't do anything about it since Ms. Hildebrand wasn't in the room. I asked him a few more times and i had to raise my voice before he listened to me. It was frustrating that he tried to take advantage me and thought he could do what he wanted. Then, after DJ gave me trouble i had to deal with Dylan being difficult. I tried to help Dylan cut out his fairy tale and assemble his book. I numbered the paragraphs in order from one to eight on the back of his typed story so it wouldn't get mixed up when he cut it apart. He told me he didn't need me to number them because he knows the order of his story and then he said that i numbered it wrong because his title isn't a page and i number it #1. He kept giving me attitude while i was helping him put together his book. I told him to finish cutting and gluing his story and then i would help him with his cover. While i was working with someone else he lunges over the table and grabs a cover page and starts to rip it. I immediately told him that he isnt allowed to touch that paper and whoever wants a paper needs to tell me which one and i will be the one to rip it out of the booklet. I continue working with the other student and all of a sudden he holds up the cover page, ripped partly down the middle and says, "Trenny i got the page that i want!" I was about to go crazy! I couldn't believe he did EXACTLY what i told him not to do. It was so difficult for me to stay calm but i asked Dylan, "what did i just tell you about that paper?" Dylan didnt like that question much and he repeated what i had told him. Then i asked why he didnt follow my directions and he blamed it on the student that i was helping at the time and said, "Jack told me i could!" I was so upset with him, not only did he not follow directions, but he ripped a beautiful paper that now cant be used to cover his book with. Then, before anything else could happen it was time for the students to go to music class. I stayed and talked with Ms. Hildebrand about what happened in the classroom and she was not surprised with the boys actions. She reassured me that i handled the situations in the best way that i could have, which made me feel a little better. She told me a little bit about some of the students and their individual issues, which i found so interesting. There is one boy who is very nice, doesnt talk back, but always asks why, and talks very slowly, tells irrelevant stories that trail on for a long time, makes noises often, and is a little spacie. He is one boy that i have trouble being patient with, but i dont know why because he is a great kid and doesnt seem to cause any problems. I couldn't put my finger on what was different about him, but Ms. Hildebrand said that he has sever ADHD and a mild case of turrets, but is heavily medicated which makes him act that way. I now have a bit more patients for him and i am more understanding when he tells long stories that sometimes irritate me. It's interesting how different each student is. 

After lunch i went with the first and second grade on a two hour walk/hike around Black Water Ski Area. The kids needed to find a favorite rock on the walk and Ms. Hildebrand and I passed out popsicles to all the students for a little treat at the end. It was a great escape from the classroom, but i was so focused on getting eaten by the bugs it was hard for me to enjoy it as much as the kids did. Today was the toughest and most tiring day yet. I hope tomorrow will go a little more smoothly and i will have more patients for all the students after a good night sleep! 

Day 8

Today was very short and busy. The class kicked off the day by finishing their drawing that they worked on with Ms. Homan, Todd's mother. Ms. Homan brought in pastels for the students to use on their drawings. She did a demonstration for the class to show how to use the pastels properly and shared a few techniques for the kids to practice. She emphasized using light colors before using dark colors and to always use the side of the pastel, not to hold it like a pencil. I was fascinated to see how well the students listened to what she said. Everyone was very good about not pressing down too hard and making sure they used the flat part of the pastel. I was sitting at the round table in the back of the room with all the pastels so when students came to get their colors i could see which ones they were choosing. I learned something new about colors when two students came back to me and asked if they could use pink and if pink is a light color. I told them to check with Ms. Homan because she didn't specifically say they could use pink, like she did the light blue, light green, yellow, and orange. I was sure pink was a light color, but i had them check just in case, and to my surprise pink is considered to be a dark color in pastels. The students were so quiet while Ms. Homan was in the room because they were focused and interested in the pastels. I couldn't believe how wonderful the pictures turned out and detailed they were. After this project it made me wonder why some of the students who are great at drawing really struggled with the pastels and blending the colors, where as some the the students whose drawings were not as outstanding were excellent with the color and and blending the pastels together. After a long, productive time working with Ms. Homan on their pictures it was time to clean up and move onto Fairy Tales with Mr. Jensen's class. Today i didn't have a chance to really interact with many of the kids, but i helped Katharine, Samantha, Dylan, and Hayden cut out decorative paper to make a cover for their books. This was a fun craft for me and a bit more relaxing than helping students find lost books, or look for missing pictures, or trying to keep them on task and focused on their stories. 

It was Gym time before they knew it. They left everything at their desks they way it was and lined up for Gym. At this time i cleaned up the paper scraps around my area and left AEMS to attend my lacrosse game at Vermont Academy. I can't wait for tomorrow; i get to go with the second grade on a hike and eat popsicles!!

Day 7

Today Ms. Hildebrand had a meeting from 8:15 to 10:30. I met with Ms. H when i first arrived to school and she let me know what i was going to be doing with the substitute while she was gone. This morning was the most independent i had been yet because i didn't have Ms. Hildebrand to rely on to ask questions. From 8:15 to 9:00, i was with Myles, Ryan, Hannah, and Lauren at the circle table in the hallway working in their Math books on Money problems. Myles is a very quick learner and is so good at explaining math problems to Ryan so that he understands better. Myles would often solve the problem very quickly and then help Ryan with his problem. Hannah and Lauren were not quite as cooperative and helpful with each other. Hannah seemed like she was focused, but when i would tell her what she needed to plug into her calculator she had trouble responding and typing in exactly the numbers that i would say. I would read off her paper very slowly what she had written down and say, "type into the calculator thirty cents" then pause because she wouldn't respond, "point three zero, exactly what you wrote down on your paper," and then she would do it. I then would read off the next number that she needed to add because she had trouble copying from her paper to her calculator and say, "now add one dollar and twenty five cents," and she would forget the decimal point and need to start over. This was very challenging for me to not get frustrated and to keep encouraging her that she can do it on her own. I don't know exactly why she could solve the problem, write down on her paper $0.30 and say, "thirty cents," but not be able to type .30 into her calculator. It seems that maybe she has trouble transferring information from one spot to another, yet i have not noticed a problem with her copying words down from the board. Lauren was my other big struggle. She had lots of trouble focusing and wanting to do work. As soon as she came out to the circle table and was not with Ms. Hildebrand or another adult, she became really stubborn. Lauren did not want to work together with Hannah. Lauren would get an answer and i would ask her to compare answers with Hannah, who i worked with on the problem, and their answers were different. Lauren didn't want to listen to Hannah's answer and was sure that her answer was correct, and would not work through the problem again with me to double check. I wonder what made her so resistant to working with Hannah and i, and why she seemed so confident in her answer, but couldn't prove it to me. While the boys worked very well with each other on one side of the table, i struggled with Lauren and Hannah working as partners. Eventually i was able to have Lauren cooperate a little bit and she was willing to do the problems with hannah and i, but it took a lot of encouragement and attention from me. 

After math the students had snack and then went into Mr. Jensen's class for Geology. Today, the two classes examined the river rocks again, but this time they put them in a cup of water to see if/how they changed. At 10:00 it was time for Ms. Hildebrand's class to go to Art class. The students continued working on their Weather drawings, focusing on foreground, middle-ground, and background. I wonder why some students understand the concept of depth, and making things smaller in the background and larger in the foreground, and some students absolutely do not understand the difference. Kathryne thought it was like a story line and drew a really great picture in the bottom third of the paper, but she included the sun and the sky. Then in the middle of the paper she drew the same people, but smaller and drew the sky again but it was darker, as if its later in the day. I wonder why she couldn't understand that it's supposed to be looking out very far at one moment. The art teacher and i tried explaining it to her and she seemed to acknowledge what we were saying, say she understood, but then kept doing what she was doing and thought it was right. At what point will her eye realize that her picture doesn't make sense? It is so fascinating to see where the gaps are in the students knowledge. What someone my age might think is common sense, like perspective, some second graders have not quite figured it out yet. I also wonder why some students are so attentive and focused in some classes and not in others. Lauren for example, who struggles with paying attention in Ms. Hildebrand's class, is the most diligent worker in Art class and is always on task.  

After Art class, Ms. Hildebrand came back from her meeting and it was time for lunch and recess. When the kids came back from recess Hayden shared with the class his book called Wool Animals and some of the animals he has created. The kids were amazed at the little wool animals that Hayden made. While listening to Hayden try to explain to the class how to make the wool animals, i found myself a little frustrated with his explanation because i really couldn't understand HOW to make the animals. He kept saying to the class, "You just poke and poke the wool into the shapes. Its whicked easy!" At what age do you learn to explain stories or actions in detail? Is it normal at this age to be very vague and not be able to find words to explain actions with detail? The little animals that he made were absolutely amazing. He created a little wool bee, sheep, and bunny that were adorable. Because of Hayden's show and tell, story time was shortened to only 10 minutes. Then, it was time for reading groups. I met in the hall with the three boys who i usually work with: Aiden, Todd, and DJ. They read a short chapter from their book and then i handed them a paper with a question on it that asked them "How did Uncle Pedro feel about Ivy and Gregory painting the house?" DJ is by far the fastest reader of the group, but he does not understand the content that he reads, as well as Aiden and Todd do. The answer to the question was not written out straight forward so they needed to read thoroughly and find clues to help them. DJ immediately gave up and said the answer isnt in the book, he cant do it, Uncle Padro doesnt say anything about the kids painting, etc. For DJ being such a fast reader i would think that he would have more confidence and believe in himself. I find that he gives up quicker than most of the students in the class, but he is so bright. Aiden and Todd figured out the answer without my help, but they took a much longer time to read the chapter. I wonder why some students can read faster than others, yet understand less than the slower readers. When they all answered the question they went back into the room and then i read with Ryan out in the hall. Ryan is a really interesting student. He read a book to me about a dog named Wags. He would often get stumped on little words like: with, what, which, two, and one, because he would just guess instead of actually reading. Ryan did something very clever when he was stuck on a word, he would look at the pictures on the page for clues to help him and then he would start guessing words. I would have to remind him to just look at the word and sound it out. When he sounded it out he would get it every time! Ryan falls under the category of students who comprehend what they read very well, like Aiden and Todd, but the reading pace isn't as fast as some of the students. Once Ryan finished reading the 31 page book, it was time to go back into the classroom for an art lesson from Todd's mother. She showed the students tricks  for sketching and drawing pictures. She will be coming in tomorrow morning too! Today was overwhelming with activities and observations, but i am enjoying every moment that i spend at AEMS. I look forward to tomorrow :)   

Day 6

My first day back after the weekend went pretty smoothly. Because it is Monday, the students began with their weekend journals and wrote down their favorite activity they did over the weekend. Then, when that was complete the students took a math worksheet that focused on MONEY and started to work on it quietly at their desks. I walked around and helped the students who had questions or needed a little extra help deciphering which coins they should use to add together to create certain amounts. Even though not everyone was finished, Ms. Hildebrand started to go over the answers on the board to save time. By then, it was snack time! The students got their snacks and sat down at their desks while Ms. H read off the weekend journals and the students guessed whose journal she was reading. It was interesting to see the kids guess names because even though every student only wrote one weekend journal, the students would still guess names of people whose journals had already been read, as if they had written two. When all the journals were read, snack was over and the students lined up at the door with their chairs to head over to Ms. Jensen's class for Geology! Mr. Jensen read a story to all the students about a boy who collects rocks and organizes them in different ways. So, that is exactly what the students did. They found a partner, sat at a desk, and Ms. Hildebrand handed out plastic dishes of river rocks to each pair. The students organized the rocks into different categories: shiny rocks, soft rocks, big rocks, small rocks, flat rocks etc. They were also given magnifying glasses to examine the rocks. At 10:00 it was time for specials, so Ms. H's class lined up at the door and went down to the Library. The students returned the books they had, checked out new books, and the librarian read them two books aloud. After Library, the students went back up to Mr. J's class for a few minutes to finish their activity with the rocks and then it was time for lunch. After lunch and recess, Ms. H continued to read Holes to the students while they had snack. After story time the students went back to their seats for Cursive. Ms. Hildebrand wrote the uppercase letters for I,J,K, and L on the board and the kids copied them down on their own papers for practice. Cursive practice was not very long and after that came Fairy Tales! The kids lined up at the door and went over to Mr. Jensen's room to figure out what stage they were at in the writing process and in which room they would work in. I stayed in Ms. Hildebrand's class with all the students who had completed putting their stories and pictures into their books and were ready to decorate their covers. My job was to cut out decorating paper of their choice and fit it to the cover of their books. The kids worked on this until the end of the day! Hopefully all their books will be complete by the end of the week!  

Weekly Reflection 1

The first week at AEMS went extremely well. I went into the first day of school very nervous, but after the first 30 minutes i felt completely comfortable and welcomed by all the students. Ms. Hildebrand and i decided that for the first week i would just watch and be a spectator for the class. It didn't take me a whole week to get involved with the students. After about the first hour on Monday i was sitting with two students, Lauren and Hannah, at the back table working on a math problem solver worksheet. They were my first two students that i dealt with and from then on i have been an active helper throughout the entire week. I walk around the room to answer any questions, aid students who need help, i take aside students who need extra practice reading, and i am a just a new, fun person for them to talk to. I was not expecting to be this involved with the students by the end of one week, but i am so glad that i am! 

In this first week i have been given just a little preview of what it takes to be a teacher. I have helped students solve problems, with classwork and with classmates, i have run errands, i have created a little art project for mothers day, and i have organized papers that need to be sent home to parents and put them in the students cubbies. I do know there is so much more to be done, such as creating lesson plans, teaching the lessons, grading papers, and thinking of new projects for the students, but i feel that for the first week i have experienced so much of what goes on in a teacher's day. I truly never thought being a teacher would be more tiring than being a student, but i am exhausted at the end of a day at the elementary school. I have realized that being a teacher takes so much energy because you always have to be positive, happy, supportive, and optimistic. 

I feel a great reward at the end of the day. It makes me feel so good when i can answer questions for the students and they don't have to ask Ms. Hildebrand for help. When i explain a problem to a student and i can see that a little light bulb goes off in their head and they understand what i have explained to them, it makes me feel so satisfied and good about myself that i could make a difference in their understanding. When a student succeeds and understands something, its the teacher is succeeding too. 

Day 5

I did not go to school until 9:00 this morning because i am trying to catch up on some sleep and get overcome this head cold i have. When i went into Ms. Hildebrand's classroom there were no students, so i checked in Mr. Jensen's class where everyone was. I opened the door and all the kids began to clap and cheer! It was very welcoming.  The kids were sitting in Mr. Jensen's classroom on the floor, in a circle, around a pile of rocks. Each student from Ms. H's class was assigned a rock and they had to describe what it looked like on a piece of paper. Then the papers with the descriptions written on them were handed out to students in Mr. J's class and those students needed to find the rock that was described on their paper. Then the roles switched and Mr. J's students wrote descriptions about their rocks and handed the papers out to students in Ms. H's class. When this was over, it was snack time and the students returned to their assigned classrooms. After snack, Ms. Hildebrand's class had computer class. In computer class every student needed to find 2 pictures of their chosen thing in clip art. Some of the things that students picked were: gangsters, pig with wings, Bubbafet from Star Wars, giant Yo-yo, king on a throne etc. The students will be drawing the pictures that they found on the computer sometime next week. When we returned to class there was time for one game of Boggle. The class was trying to beat their high score of 18 words. Ms. Hildebrand wrote the letters on the board and the students raised their hands to call out the words. They tied their score of 18 words and then it was time for lunch! I left at lunch time and came back to my room to rest. I cannot wait for Monday, so i can be with the kids again!   

Day 4

Today was different from all other days. When i arrived to school at 7:45 the kids started the day by coloring in coupons for a mothers day book. While they were busy doing that, Ms. Hildebrand sent me on my first errand. I went down to the art room and talked to the teacher about how to create a cardboard book to put the coupons in. We figured out how to bend manilla paper to create a match book. I got all the supplied from the art room and brought them up to Ms. Hildebrand's class. Then i was sent down to the teachers office to use the paper cutter, and i cut all the manilla paper into 14 pieces. My job was to create a sample booklet for the kids to see with it will look like when they are done. When they finished coloring their coupons, they cut them out, and handed the pile to me so i could put it together. Then after about 45 minutes or so the other second grade class came into Ms. Hildebrand's class to finish working on their fairy tale books. I helped DJ cut out his story, match each picture with the designated sentence or two that went along with the picture, and then glue it into his book. Then, the students left everything as their desks and went into the gym to practice their song for the music recital  tonight. When they came back it was snack time and everyone sat on the floor because their desks were full of fairy tale materials. Then they continued to work on their stories or they could work on their mothers day project if they were not done. I put more mothers day booklets together. Lunch time came and then it was recess. After recess Ms. Hildebrand read aloud Holes to the class, but they sat in their desks so they could continue to work on their mothers day projects if they still hadn't finished and they could eat a snack. Story time was extra long today. Then the class either read alone, worked on their fairy tale, or worked on their mothers day present. Around 2:00, kindergarden through fifth grade went to the gym for a dress rehearsal of the chorus and band concert, which is tonight. While Ms. Hildebrand's class was in the gym i stayed in the classroom to organize everyones homework folders and notebooks and i filled them with papers that needed to be sent home to parents. Then i had to find their names on their cubbies and put them in. After, i went down to the concert, which took a little over thirty minutes. It was so fun to watch. When we got back to class Ms. Hildebrand decided it was time to play a game, which they played until the bell rang for dismissal. 

Today was a wild and busy  day, which didn't involve much structure. The focus of the day was to try and to finish the fairy tales and the mothers day coupon books. I have almost completed a whole week!! 

Day 3

Though today was a shortened day, it was still just as tiring and chaotic. Today, the kids started the day with Word Matches. Each student was given a sheet of paper with words that have "i" in them or they were given a paper with words that have "o" in them. Their job was to cut out the words and categorize them into three groups: hard vowel sounds, soft vowel sounds, or oddballs. When they thought they organized the words into the right columns, i went around the class and checked to see if they were correct. While the students waited for others to finish, they looked through books to find other examples and write the words down in their journals. This was a relatively mellow activity. Next, we all traveled into Mr. Jensen's class to figure out where the students were going to work on their fairy tales and to see what stage each group was at. I went back into Ms. Hildebrand's classroom with half of the students who were working on their illustrations for their book. I walked around the room to each partnership to make sure that they were on task and to help them figure out what pictures still needed to be drawn. It was still a challenge today to convince the students that they needed to color their pictures. Many students just wanted to be finished with their book and never have to draw or color again. At nine o'clock writing session was done, everyone cleaned up their area, and went back to their assigned classroom for snack. Today, i really paid attention to the kids during snack time. It was funny to see the kids barter and trade snacks, to see what was a popular snack, and who had the best snacks. As soon as it was snack time, everyone races to their cubby to get their lunch box, opens it, claims which items they will absolutely not trade with anyone, and then hold up the items they are willing to trade with someone else. Today, the cheese still was very unpopular and was traded about 5 times between the students. Anyways, after a wild snack time it was time for quiet reading. I was assigned the same three boys: Aiden, Todd, and DJ, to take in the hall and read another chapter of their book. This time it was different, the boys were told to read the whole chapter silently and write down important points that related to the title of the chapter. DJ is a very fast reader and completed the chapter in a third of the time that the others completed it. Once they all finished we went around in a circle sharing what they had read and what they wrote down on their paper. Most of the points they said were very similar but none of them had all or the same points as one another. After discussion it was time for gym class. Ms. Hildebrand and i walked the class to the gym and then i left the school in time to get ready for my lacrosse game! 

Today when i first entered the classroom i was given a very thoughtful card and a beautiful flower plant from Sofia, who is in Mr. Jensen's class. The card read, 

"Dear Trenny 

these flowers are for you 

Love Sofia

you are the best helper"

Then as the day went on i was given a card from Britta and Kathryn who said basically the same thing. They were very cute. I feel as though i have been helping out in the Second Grade for much longer than just 3 days! It have been extremely exhausted but i am enjoying it so much! 

Day 2

Today was only my second day at the elementary school and i feel as though i have been there for weeks. I now know 95% of the students names in Ms. Hildebrand's class and Mr. Jensen's class. I got to school at 7:40, just before the students arrived in the classroom. We started school with Math today. Students worked in their Math books while Ms. Hildebrand and I walked around the room aiding students with problems. Once that exercise was complete the students were given a sheet of either addition, subtraction, or multiplication problems and were given 2 minutes to complete it as best they could. As i walked around the room, it was interesting to see the little mistakes that some kids made under the pressure of being timed. On one paper that a student was working on there were the problems 11-10, 12-12, and 6-6. He answered each one of those problems with a 0. I am sure if he was given more time he would have noticed that 11-10 was not 0, but it was interesting to see what types of mistakes were made when second graders are under pressure. After a tough morning focused on math, it was snack time. After snack Ms. Hildebrand's class and I went into Mr. Jensen's class to continue our rock investigation. Today, the students were given the same rocks that they had yesterday, but i also handed out to them a cup of water. They were told to put each rock into the water at separate times, and observe what happens to all three of the rocks. I walked around the class to hear what the students discovered about the rocks. There were some funny observations and claimed made by the students about the rocks. One being that the white rock smells like a doctors office, is made of salt, and the salt comes off of it and rises to the top, looking like bubbles. Well, after these observations and guesses were made about the rocks, Mr. Jensen shared what the three names of the rocks actually were and said that all three of them were formed from Lava. The students were given a packet of three pages and wrote down the names and drew a picture of each rock. After science class it was time for Art. Ms. Hildebrand and I walked the kids down stairs to art class. I sat in on the class, which was interesting to see how the students acted with another teacher and in another atmosphere. Some of the students who are very quiet in Ms. Hildebrand's class immediately became talkative in art class and it was difficult for them to focus. After a loud and chaotic art class we traveled back up to Ms. Hildebrand's classroom and got ready for lunch. Recess was cut  short because of the rain, which made the kids especially rowdy in the afternoon. Ms. Hildebrand began reading aloud the story Holes, which the kids seemed to be interested in. After about twenty minutes of story time we traveled back into Mr. Jensen's class to talk about the writing process of their fairy tales. The students who needed to complete the writing part of their book stayed in Mr. Jensen's class with him and Ms. Hildebrand and I took the students who were drawing pictures for their stories into Ms. Hildebrand's classroom. It was extremely difficult to explain to the kids that each student need to have separate pictures for each page of their book, even if they were partners to write the same story. Another dilemma was that they didn't want to color their pictures. Many of the kids tried to convince me that their picture looks better without any color. After about an hour of drawing, coloring, and writing the students went back into their designated second grade classroom for a Cursive lesson. This was definitely the majority of the students least favorite part of the day. Some of the students would get frustrated because they couldn't copy the letter that Ms. Hildebrand would write on the board down on their own paper. Once they figured out how to do one letter they thought that was enough and would not want to write the same letter again. Cursive did not last long, after was quiet reading time. I went into the hall with the same three boys as yesterday and they read aloud to me, practicing their change in the tone of their voice when reading dialogue. Today was much better than yesterday, but i had to keep reminding them to follow along while the other student was reading. It was then about time to be dismissed from school. I left at 2:30, before the stampede of students would exit the building. 

During the day i did not feel quite as exhausted, but i noticed my lack of energy in by the time lacrosse practice was in session. I am hoping that as i start to go to bed earlier i will become less tired throughout the day. Tomorrow is just a half day for me, so i will leave right before lunch. 

Day 1

Today was my first day in Ms. Hildebrand's Second Grade Classroom. I went to Karl Methven's house at 7:30 am to walk over to the Andover Elementary School with his kids. The first thing the students did was write down what they did over the weekend and once they finished that they were given a math worksheet. I sat at the round table in the back of the classroom and worked with two girls on the worksheet. When everyone completed the worksheet we went over the answers on the board. The next assignment was working with money. I walked around the classroom helping the students who were stuck on problems. Next came snack time. Everyone ate their snack while Ms. Hildebrand read aloud the highlight of each students weekend, which they wrote on a paper in the beginning of class. The students had to guess which student they thought the story belonged to. After snack we traveled across the hall to Mr. Jensen's Second Grade Classroom. In his class the students were given 3 rocks to examine with a partner. They had microscopes to look through and could rub them up against each other. The students tried to figure out where the rocks came from, which one was the hardest and which one was the softest, and what type of rocks they are. I walked around the classroom and tried to give the kids hints and spark some ideas as to what they thought about the rocks. After science in Mr. Jensen's class, we went to the Library. I sat with the kids and listened to the librarian read a book aloud. After, the students could check out a new book for themselves, if they returned their old book. Then, we walked back up to Mr. Jensen's classroom and finished talking about rocks and i cleaned up all the materials. Lunch time was next. The students are given from 11:00 to 11:30 for lunch and then recess is from 11:30 to 12:00. At recess i played "doggies" with most of the girls and then "restaurant." After recess we came in and listened to Ms. Hildebrand read aloud while sitting in a circle eating a snack. Then, we went back into Mr. Jensen's class where the students finished writing a fairy tale with a partner and began to draw pictures that go along with their stories. I worked with Kathryn and Ryan on their two separate stories. I helped Katharine organize her ideas so her story would make sense and edited her story. Ryan lost his story, so he dictated to me what he wanted his story to say and i wrote it down. Then at around 1:00 we went back to Ms. Hildebrand'c classroom for quiet reading. I sat in the hallway with Dj, Aiden, and Todd, who read aloud to me, to practice changing their of tone when reading dialogue. After reading, the students got ready to go home and sat at their desks to play a game before the bell rang for dismissal.  

At 2:45 when i left the school, i was exhausted! I could not believe how tiring it was to be in school with Second Graders all day. Though, now that the first day is over and i know what to expect, i look forward to going tomorrow!