October 12-15, October 19-23

Monday October 12th:
We reflected in our journals about our toy trip to Wal-Mart, and our play day on Friday. In our journals, we talked about our favorite toy, the toy that was hardest to find, and other experiences from our field trip. We then swapped journals and made comments about other experiences, and had a class discussion about what we found most interesting. We also talked about the play day on Friday in relation to our lesson on the purpose of children's play in relation to cognitive development as well as the centers that cater to different types of learning and their effectiveness of teaching what they were intended to.





Tuesday October 13th:
We discussed the psychiatrist Vgyotsky and his theory of the importance of language in relation to social interaction. Which in simple terms, stated that language and social interaction encourage learning. We experienced this, by experiencing learning with out language through a Leggo activity. We were each assigned different jobs to complete a Lego model in which our speech was limited or who we could talk to was limited. It was incredibly hard and frustrating, and made us appreciate our ability to convey our thoughts verbally without many restrictions.

Wednesday October 14th:
This was our field trip to Overbrook Child Development Center. We met at the school at 8:30, and divided into cars and all followed Mrs. Turner to Overbrook. When we got there, we were greeted by a large parrot and a friendly staff member. We all piled into the cafeteria and heard all about Overbrook and their funding and how they are unique from other development centers like them. Then, we divided into groups of three or four and spent about 5-7 minutes in each classroom. While there, we all had very interesting experiences: like Rachel's hair being brushed with a broom and braided, being fed fake food, being climbed like a mountain, etc. We all interacted and connected with the children so much, and we were very upset to have to leave. We headed out and met at I-HOP for a after field trip reflection, in which we wrote in our journals and shared our interesting and adorable experiences.

Thursday October 15th:
Our day started early for the Upstate Teacher Cadet Conference, we all moved to the auditorium at nine o'clock. In the auditorium, we had a speaker from CERRA tell us about how important we our to the future and the program. We then had Ann Marie Taylor come up and do a fun activity that involved singing and dancing to represent how she runs her classroom. From 9:15- 10:20, we attended our first workshop. From 10:25- 11:10, we attended our second workshop. Between 11:15 and 12:40, we either had lunch and time to look around at the booths or an informational session on Teaching Fellows and other scholarship opportunities. 12:45- 1:30 was the last workshop. At the end of that workshop we all made our way back to the auditorium where Jason Fulmer discussed his classroom and read excerpts from Thank You, Mr. Falker. Then, final announcements were made and door prizes were handed out.




The week of October 19-23 was spent working on our Barrier Books to be turned in on Monday.

'Do not go where the path may lead; go where there is no path and leave a trail.' Ralph Waldo Emerson

Monday Oct 5- We used the laptops with our partners to work on our children's books. Mrs. Turner also discussed The Upstate Teacher Cadet Confernce. She showed us what the shirts will look like and discussed what we were going to do through out the day.
Tuesday Oct 6- We continued using the laptops with our partners. Mrs. Turner gave us a sheet to sign up for the sessions during the UTCC. Mrs. Turner also assigned homework on the cognitive stages children go through.
Wednesday Oct 7- Mrs. Turner went over our homework about the different stages kids go through. We took notes on Piaget's Cognitive Stages: Sensorimotor (birth to about age 2), Preoperational (2-6), Concrete (7-11), and Formal Operations (12+).

Thursday Oct 8- We took a field trip to Walmart! Our assignment was to fill out a chart of how children play and what type of toys attract the different type of age groups.
Friday Oct 9 - Our class was cut short because of pep rally schedule. During our shortened class, we had different stations to play at: play dough, shaving cream, card games, finger paint, imaginary play (with dress up items and baby dolls), and coloring materials. We had two guests during the class period. Mrs. Wethington, a kingdergaden teacher at Mauldin Elementray, told us about the importance of each station and how it help build a childs ability to learn. Mrs. Quinn, our pen pal's teacher, was there to observe us and brought most of the toys for us to play with.

September 28 - October 2

Quentin and Joe reading The Acorn People

Monday September 28

We continued our disability unit and started reading The Acorn People. Some finished the book the weekend before but others finished in class and worked on their news articles or other things.

Tuesday September 29

Katherine and I with our acorn necklaces!

We talked about our special education observations for Wednesday and where we were going for the class period. We talked about the Acorn People and how the main characters where children with disabilites that were "thrown" into a camp for boy scouts. At the end of the book, the children and the counselor, Ron who was just looking for a way to make money for the summer, realized that they could actually accomplish things and have fun without being someone's "hidden secret" or "inconvience". The children and Ron made acorn necklaces and called themselves the "acorn people." Later in the class, we made our own acorn necklaces with the characters and their descriptions.

Victoria, Aliyah and Quentin and some of the students in Mrs. Smith's class.

Natalie, Chelsea S., Casey and I with some more students in Mrs. Smith's class.

Wednesday September 30

Everyone split up and went to their different sites for our special education observations. A few of us stayed at school and went to interact and have breakfast with Mrs. Smith's class, which was just a minute away down the hall. The teacher cadets and Mrs. Smith's class were both excited! We all talked about different things and realized that the class learned things that aren't usually taught, like cleaning, cooking and etc.

Thursday October 1

Mrs. Turner was absent so we had a substitute. We continued working on our acorn necklaces.

Quentin and Johnakin

Friday Ocober 2

Mrs. Turner read us a great story about how a math teacher had her students write positive things about each other and they all ended up saving them years later to remind themselves about what their classmates said about them. One of the main characters, who was disabled, kept his list all those years in his wallet even after dying in the Vietnam War. After the story, we all read our positive pot. I'm keeping mine! At the end of class we also choose our partners,topics and age groups for our barrier books. And it was Nisha's birthday!

Quote

"The greatest barrier to success is the fear of failure"
-Sven Goran Eriksson

"Do not fear the winds of adversity. Remeber: A kite rises against the wind rather than with it." -Unkown

I chose these quotes because they show that even if you're not like everyone else, you can still overcome your obstacles and make something of yourself.