Final blog of the Semester

I have had an interesting semester in first grade.  I have had kids get sick in class, throw tant`rums, refuse to do their homework and try to take advantage of the "new teacher."  But on my last day of class I was given a homemade book containing letters and pictures from every student in the classroom, and a cake and very thoughtful present from my mentor teacher.  I had students clinging on to me and arguing about who got to sit next to me at lunch, and who got to read to me.  I had students ask me if I could be their teacher next year, and why I had to leave.  And lastly, I had students that had tears in their eyes on my last day with them.  Yes, being a teacher is not easy; there will be times when students aren't the easiest to handle, GPS standards and paperwork that is constantly being shoved at you, and parents who will be on you because of one bad grade, and those that could not care less.  You'll have 9-10 hour days, sometimes more, and have to get up at 5 every morning.  But the looks on your students faces when they know you will not be their teacher anymore, and the love they have for you is priceless.  That is what makes all this worth while, and what I have learned most from my experience is that all the obstacles that are thrown to you are so worth it just to know that you have made even a little bit of a positive impact on a child's life.

Thank you to my first graders I will miss you!

        Love,
            Miss Ally

Comments4Kids

Kim's blog - http://kidblog.org/MissByrnesClass/kim42/78-field-trip/#comment-915
Kari C's blog - http://kidblog.org/MrsGoerendsClass/karic2017/how-to-take-care-of-a-dog/#comment-780

My observations so Far...

In regards to the writing workshop I am getting a little discouraged in the class that I observe in.  The first two weeks I was there my teacher did writers workshop almost every day and the students loved it.  Since then however the students have been doing more center work than anything else and worksheets which to me are boring, although I understand they might be neccesary.  The last time I saw them write was for Read Accross America Week where they watched the movie Horton Hears a Who and made a a story using sequences.  Besides that writers workshop time has been cut.  I however got the oppertunity to fo one of my focus lessons on character development with my students.  The students overall loved the lesson and coming up with characters.  Some started writing a story about their characters, others just left it there. I am hoping int the future they will want to incorpoarte their characters in their previous writing, and wish I had longer in the class to encourage them to do this!

Chapter 12

Ray talked a lot about units in this chapter.  I think they are a great way to tie in student's interests to school and incorporate multiple subjects.  In my week field experience I did a unit on animals since the kids in my first grade class love them.  Thankfully it was also a standard.  For the unit I incorporated plenty of books, language arts, art and math.  The students had olenty of oppertunities to be imaginative while still learning.  They created a home for a pet, made bird feeders to hang up at the school, learned about the basic needs of animals, and got the chance to see why certain animals have the adaptations they do.  They also did a two day writing workshop of an animal of their choice and practiced their informational writing and commas in a series, which they have been talking about.

The unit went great!

Chapter 7, 8 and 19

There are a few things I enjoyed reading about in this weeks readings.  In Chapter 7, Katie Wood Ray talked distractions in the workshop and how you need to plan ahead in order to solve them quickly.  I liked how she talked about teachers not allowing students to talk during writers workshop, and I have since this many times in the classroom.  Students should be allowed to talk as long as they are not screaming to each other across the room.  Talking to your peers about their work and getting feedback is a great way for students to improve their writing and sitting in their seats quietly is not going to benefit them. 

I also liked how she talked about spaces for students to go.  Too many times are students forced to sit at their desks to read, write, or do any other types of activities. To me that is not fair to students and I can see how some might get distracted.  I know for myself i like to curl up in a chair when I read or write, or lay down on the floor.  I do not like having to sit at an uncomfortable desk, I have trouble concentrating and I'm sure many students do as well.  I like the idea of "quiet spaces" for students who do not like noise around them.  I also never thought of allowing students to rotate spaces so that students aren't fighting for one.  I know in the first grade classroom I'm in now the student of the week gets a special chair to sit in during carpet time, and that way every student will  get a turn.

I liked the chapter on publications, I think this is a great way for students to see that their work is important.  I know that deadlines are sometimes scary for students, but having deadlines in the classroom will help students work towards their finished product.  By that deadline they will have a finished piece of work to share with their classmates, family, and peers.  I know for my classroom I am interested in creating a monthly newsletter.  At the beginning of the year the class will come up with the name for their newspaper and the content of it.  Every month students will get a chance to do something different (Write a story, make a comic, do a book review) anything that they would like to do and are able to come up with it themselves.  Each month they will have come together to publish their very own newspaper to bring home.  I think this is a different take on writers workshop, my only question is figuring out how to make sure students are still choosing what they want to write about but still having the different components of a newspaper.

Chapters 14, 15 and 17

I liked the chapter about conferencing with students, as I would never have thought about doing that during writing workshop.  Instead I would have maybe walked around and glanced at student's work and wait for them to raise their hands for help.  I liked how Katie Wood Ray talk about the four parts of conferencing: research, decide, teach, make a record.  It is a way to figure out what each student is succeeding at and what they are struggling with.  From there the teacher can help the student with what they are struggling with and help them become better writers. This also helps make sure that you are having an equal time with all the students in the class instead of just spending the most time with a certain couple of students.  The problem I am worried about is that some students are going to need more help than others so wouldn't they need conferences more often? 

I really like shared reading in the classroom, I think it is a great way for students to share with each other what they have written and helped them become more comfortable talking in front of an audience.  There are four kinds of sharing: simple response share, survey share, focused share, and student-as-teacher share.  The students in the first grade classroom I observe in do simple response share.  They will sit in a circle and read their writing and talk about things they can improve on for their final copy.  The teacher will ask them questions if they get stuck but she tries to make it a student led activity.  Lately however I have seen that the students have been doing more centers instead of the writing workshop that they were doing when I first started my observations.  The teacher had told me she was getting back on track from the snow days and therefore was implementing the centers.  The students still do some writing workshop however they do not share with each other anymore, at least during the days I am in the classroom.