February 16-20, 2009 .Rachel Walt.

Monday (2.16)
PRESIDENT'S DAY
(no school)
p(^.^)q

Tuesday (2.17)
Presentations of practice lessons began.
Practice Lesson: Cadet teaches the class using lesson plan he or she created in order to prepare for our upcoming field experiences.

Courtney taught shapes using groups, movement, a story, and the hokey pokey while the rest of us acted as kindergarteners; some of us were a bit more immature =D *ahem* I mean, got more into the role.

Wednesday (2.18)
We floated with Caroline (~^.^)~
She set us up in groups in order to figure out and then draw what given objects sank or floated in a container of water. One student confused us all when she used a method to float a paper clip (which is supposed to sink).

Next, we graduated from kindergarten and became 1st graders. Abbey taught us about fact families, a group of equations with the same numbers. We were able to learn about fact families through movable flash cards with numbers, addition signs, subtraction signs, and equal signs. She also gave us a worksheet for practice.

Thursday (2.19)
We, still as 1st graders, got a new math teacher D= But we all love Taylor. She taught us how to count by 5s and 10s using a colorful chart on the promethean board. We were also able to count off one by one, a student saying 5 and the next 10 and so on.

Then, we somehow zoomed past 2nd grade and ended up in Kelsie's 3rd grade math class. We learned about probability using M&Ms. If there were 3 greens in a bag of 20, we had a 3 in 20 (3/20) chance of taking out a green.

...We then ate the M&Ms... although some people couldn't wait... ¬.¬
So thank you Kelsie =3

Friday (2.20)
We got a new math teacher again!! WHY DO THEY ALWAYS LEAVE US?! Wow... there are a lot of cadets who want to teach math. Ashley taught us the multiples of 8. She connected the fact that 8x2 is the same as 8+8. There were even cute stories that were used to remind us our 8 multiplication table (Skate x chicks = Fort E Cake -8x6=48- in which chicks who loved Fort E baked a cake and tried to eat it while on skates).

w00t Middle School (where'd our childhood go??)
Lauren taught us about the Digestive System in our 7th grade science class. She had a cool interactive flash slideshow as well as a poster for us to label in order to keep the class engaged.

~~~~~~~~~~

All in all, it was a successful first week of practice exams. All cadets did very well and can easily become teachers in the future.

~~~~~~~~~~

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire."
-W.B. Yeats

I chose this quote because I completely agree. Educated people aren't those who just spew out information, but are those who can use their knowledge to solve problems big and small.

On a less serious side (because I really do love this quote and we can all relate):
"Education costs money, but then so does ignorance." -Alice Duer Miller

February 9-13, 2009 (Mackenzie)

Monday, February 9
Today, Mrs. Turner explained different levels of learning, otherwise known as Bloom's Taxonomy. We read a story called The Dot and then made a quiz based on the different levels in Bloom's Taxonomy. We learned how to apply those levels in our future classrooms and challenge our students with higher levels of thinking. After the quiz, we started "High-tech Teaching" and learned about technology in the classroom. We browsed different educational websites that would be helpful when making lesson plans and providing different, creative ways of teaching.

Tuesday, February 10
Today was all about lesson plans. Mrs. Turner explained how we should begin, and gave us helpful tips for creating our lessons. The rest of the class was used for working on our lesson plans.

Wednesday, February 11
Today was a workday for lesson plans.

Thursday, February 12
Today we wrote our letters to our pen pals at Mauldin Elementary School and prepared for our visit on Friday. The rest of the class was used for working on lesson plans.

Friday, February 13
We went to Mauldin Elementary to visit our pen pals before Valentine's Day. We helped them with an activity, making "Valentine people," and we exchanged cards. We gave them a letter and a small bag of candy and they gave us little cards with their pictures that they decorated.

"The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows."
-Sydney Harris

I chose this quote because I believe that teaching is not just about giving information to students and expecting them to learn it. It is about giving students opportunities and letting them be creative and expressing themselves.

Ashley Teague: February 2-6, 2009

Monday, February 2
Today Tyler reviewed last weeks experiences and we watched some of the extras on the Freedom Writers DVD. We saw how the video affected the different actors with the parts they played and got to hear some of their own personal stories. We also received lesson plan books that Mrs. Turner put together for us over the weekend. They have the grade that we plan to teach and a subject for that grade with the state standards.

Tuesday, February 3
Today we went around the school and interviewed different teachers and learned how they feel the best way is to set up their classrooms and handle class procedures. We also asked them about how they feel the best way to handle discipline is.

Wednesday, February 4
Today we played games like Jigsaw, where we got into groups and were assigned categories, like snacks, ice cream, chocolate, or candy, and had to come up with as much of that category as we could. We had to give the names of the candies or ice creams and the brands and the packages they came in. We then numbered off, in Numbered Heads, in each individual group and moved to different groups according to our numbers and shared what we talked about in our first group. We then played a game where Mrs. Turner asked our groups different questions dealing with the original categories. Once we finished, we got back into our very first groups that we were in with Jigsaw, and played a game called Round Table. We took turns writings answers to questions on a piece of paper and passed it around the room. When we received our original questions we shared the most popular answers with the class.

Thursday, February 5
Today we began talking about how we could relate the games that we played yesterday to teaching in a classroom. We got into groups according to which grade level we planned on teaching or which subject we were teaching and discussed different games we could use for that level or subject. We then discussed them as a class and helped each other to come up with new ideas.

Friday, February 6
Today we finished our discussions on the games and began discussing different ideas for classroom procedures and disciplines. We discussed our own experiences with different teachers and then talked about ways we could improve their methods or use theirs to come up with our own. we discussed good and bad ways to discipline a classroom and how to deal and not to deal with certain behaviors depending on their age and grade levels. We also discussed ideas on classroom procedures and shared ideas.

Quote:
"They may forget what you said, but they will never forget how you made them feel." -Anonymous
I chose this quote because as a teacher it is not only important to teach them, the students, the knowledge they need to know, but you need to be able to connect with them. Students aren't always going to remember every piece of information that a teacher may teach them, but if you are able to connect with them they will never forget you. I personally have had great teachers who teach what they are supposed to, but they never connect on a personal level so I tend to forget about that class. I have also had great teachers who teach what they're supposed to and connect on a personal level. Though I may forget everything they tried to teach, it was these teachers who inspired me to become a teacher myself.

January 26th-30th (Tyler)

Monday-
We began class by going over the schedule for the week. As a class, we defined each of the seven gifts of teachers and gave examples of teachers in Mauldin who have them. Mrs. Turner explained the letter we were supposed to write to teachers who possessed the seven gifts. Last we exchanged our journals of the paper airplane activity.

Tuesday-
Today we started by making our boxes and delivering our gifts to teachers around the school. Next we started Freedom Writers. During the movie, we were supposed to look for examples of the seven gifts that Mrs. G showed.

Wednesday-
Continued watching Freedom Writers.

Thursday-
Continued watching Freedom Writers.

Friday-
Today we met our pen-pals for the first time! We helped them celebrate the 100th day of school by counting out 100 Fruit Loops and making a necklace out of them. Then we helped them draw a picture of what they think they will look like when they are 100 years old.

"A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell where his influence stops."
Henry B. Adams

I like this quote because when I read it, it makes me think of how the teachers I have had in the past have influenced me to become a teacher. They passed their knowledge on to me and in return I will pass it on to others.