January 22-25

Tuesday:
Today we came back from a wonderful four day weekend!  Class began with us writing down all our important dates for February.  We were excited to find out that some of those were days with Mrs. Vaughn's class.  We will be visting our buddies in her class for the hundredth day of school, and Valentine's day.  Then Mrs. Turner taught us about Bloom's Taxonomy and gave us a handout to use on our assignment. To apply the lesson, we read children's books and made a "quiz" about the book we read using the strategies from Boom's Taxonomy.  Mrs. Turner also passed out a "webinger" hunt about the school district for us to complete in class tomorrow.

Wednesday:
Mrs. Turner wasn't here today, but had us well prepared for what to do while she was gone.  We began the class period by taking one of our classmate's quizzes that we created yesterday.  After we completed the quiz we gave them back to the person who made them and they graded it.  We worked on our "webinger" hunt for the remainder of the class period. 

Thursday:
Today in class, we learned about cooperative teaching techniques.  We also completed each of them after learning about it.  The first was Think/Pair/Share.  In this activity each student has a partner.  When the teacher asks a question you first think for 15-20 seconds, then share your answer with your partner.  The second was pairs check.  In pairs check partners will work together to answer the questions and then check them with another pair once they have completed them.  Numbered heads was our next technique.  In this activity, the class numbers off and divides into groups.  Once the students are divided, they number off again, because each time a question is asked the teacher rolls a die to see which student from each group writes down the answer.  Our next activity was jig saw.  For jig saw, the students are divided into groups again and each one reads a different article together.  After they know their article, students renumber and group up differently.  In these different groups there will be a member from each of the first groups.  Each student will share what their atricle was about.  The last activity was inner/outer circle.  In this, the class is divided in half and forms two circles, one inside the other.  The inner circle faces a partner in the outer circle.  Each time a question is asked, the inner circle answers first and then the outer circle can answer.  The inner circle rotates with each question so that the students have a new partner each time. 

Friday:
Today Mrs. Turner taught us what a lesson plan consists of and gave us a template to help us create one.  While we were listening to her explain this, we got an announcement that we would be leaving school at 10! Although we were excited about this, we had to finish the lesson.  At the end of class Mrs. Turner gave us a list of websites to use to guide us in making lesson plans. 

January 2th-January 11th OUR FIRST WEEK AND A HALF BACK FROM CHRISTMAS BREAK

Wednesday January 2nd:
Today was our first day back from Christmas break! We started the morning off (very early) by spying on Mrs. Robinson as she saw her room after we gave it a makeover. She loved it and was completely shocked! In class, Mrs. Turner reminded us that our midterm was due January 15th and gave us some great tips on how our brochure should look. Then, we began discussing our timeline assignment we began over break. We were given a chart with different types of school, technology, and social changes and we had interviewed our grandparents and parents on what they knew about these topics from their generation. Some of the topics were cooking, how students were assessed, communication, and media/entertainment. When we were discussing what we had learned from our interviews with our group and comparing what our grandparents had said, it was really neat to hear how things like how they entertained themselves differed from how we entertain ourselves today. We switched groups a few times so that we could hear lots of different views of topics and how our older generations differed. This was a fun way to learn more about how our grandparents and parents lived! 

 
Thursday January 3^rd:
Today, we picked our midterm topics! We also got thank you letters from Mrs. Robinson and Greenville Connection for helping them out and decorating her room. Then, we started discussing our midterm and going over our rubric. Mrs. Turner reminded us that we have to have a presentation other than our brochure, like a PowerPoint or fun activity. Then, we started discussing debatable issues we’ll face as future teachers such as birth control being offered in school and students being grouped by academic ability. Mrs. Turner would put the issue on the Promethean board and we would type our answer into our little hand held device that connected to the board. Then, Mrs. Turner could see what percentage of people agreed or disagreed with the issue. We were welcome to share our opinion. It was refreshing to hear different opinions and try to understand how people felt the way they felt.

 

Friday January 4^th:
Today, we discussed rules of conduct for teachers throughout different centuries. It was shocking to think that teachers in the late 1800’s were responsible for whittling writing utensils and teachers in the early 1900’s had to start fires at 7 a.m. so the classroom would be warm by 8 a.m. when the students arrived. This is very different form the responsibilities of today’s teachers. Today, teachers have to create lesson plans, be evaluated, and go through very lengthy tests to even become a teacher. The profession of teaching has really evolved. Then, we played “Four Corners” to say how we felt about certain debatable issues. “Four Corners” was Mrs. Turner would put a debatable issue on the Promethean Board and you could choose one of four options; Go the door if you strongly agreed, Go to the door if you disagreed, Go to the computer if you strongly disagreed, and Go to Mrs. Turner’s desk if you agreed. Then, Mrs. Turner would have a few people explain how they felt about that topic and why they chose to agree or disagree with it. This is a fun way to get our students fully engaged in learning and strike up a discussion in our classroom one day.

 
Monday January 7^th-Wednesday January 9^th:
Monday and Tuesday, Mrs. Turner was sick so we had a substitute. L But she was back and better on Wednesday! We watched the Freedom Writers, a book about a high school who had recently had integrated their at-risk students with their advanced students, all three days. Erin Gurwell teaches an at-risk class as a first-year teacher and fights to give these students every opportunity to succeed. She sacrifices her marriage to take on extra jobs in order to fund the things that keep the students engaged in learning. Throughout the book, no matter what the students say or do, she continues to care for them and show them all the possibilities they have for their future.



Thursday January 10th:
Today, Mrs. Turner let us use the class period to work on our midterm brochures. We got to use the laptops and Mrs. Turner walked around to answer any questions and help us in any way. We only have 5 days until our midterm!  

Friday, January 11th:
Today, we got to go to the library to work on our midterm brochures. While we were in the library, a few of us could check out a copy of the Freedom Writers if we needed any last minute service hours. Thank you Ms. Morris for going out and buying copies of this wonderful book for us to read!

 

 

    "It takes a big heart to help shape little minds." -Pinterest

December 10th-December 19th: LAST WEEK AND HALF OF SCHOOL BEFORE WINTER BREAK

Monday December 10th:
This morning many of the teacher cadets started their morning out early and came to school to decorate Mrs. Turner's classroom for Christmas with the help of Mr. Bufis. They added many paper snowflakes and hung them all over the ceiling. they also added light up snowflakes and stockings! Mrs. Turner was very surprised when she walked in. Later that morning we went to observe a high school class within our school. I had the opportunity of going to Mr. Leine's personal finance class. The class was very interesting and they were learning about different scams that happen during the holiday season and how to avoid them. We also got to start our Secret Santa week which ends on Friday.

Tuesday December 11th:
Today we had an observation day! we got to choose a place where we wanted to go, whether it was preschool or high school. I had the opportunity to visit Monarch Elementary School, which is a new school that uses technology based learning. I went to Mrs. Peay's first grade class and I loved every minute i was there. The classroom had rocking chairs for the kids to sit in and Mrs. Peay would start singing and the kids would quiet down and start singing along too. Mrs. Peay was very encouraging and helpful to every student and was so proud of them.

Wednesday December 12th:
Today we had another observation day where we could go anywhere we wanted. Today I went to Bethel Elementary School and observed Mrs. Manley's 5th grade class. Mrs. Manley teachs English and spelling and her class switches with another class and they learn different subjects. Her classes did more independent and group work.

Thursday December 13th:
Today we discussed everything thats coming up in our teacher cadet class. It was kinda like a catch up day. We talked about whats happening on Friday and the rest of next week. we have another opinional observation day next Tuesday and we talked about our teacher's Christmas gifts. We talked about visting our little buddies tomorrow and everything we have planned for the rest of the year. Mrs. Turner gave us a changes in society throughout generations which we will discuss when we return to class after break.

Friday December 14th:
Today we went to visit our little kindergardeners in Mrs. Vaughn's class at Mauldin Elementary School. First we read two christmas books to them and then we made a craft. For our craft we made reindeer with a picture of ourselves sitting on top of them. For  this craft both the cadets and our little buddies got to make a reindeer! After we finished we gave our buddies a small christmas gift to them and each gift contained at least on book so they'll be able to practice their reading!

Later that night we had a christmas party at Mrs. Vaughn's house. She invited all the cadets and Mrs. Turner over to have a mexican buffet. Many cadets were excited that night because most received a college acceptance letters today for the University of South Carolina and Charleston and we were exchanging Secret Santa gifts also! Thank you to Mr. and Mrs. Vaughn for inviting us to your house tonight!
Monday December 17th:
Today we discussed everything for our extreme makeover: classroom edition. We decided to makeover Mrs. Robinson's English class. She is a new teacher who came from North Carolina. We decided how we were going to change her room and what we are going to buy.


Tuesday December 18th:
Today Mrs. Turner and a few of the teacher cadets were on a field trip with the Spanish 5 class so we didnt get to see her today. The rest of us got a few things done for the makeover tomorrow and we made a poster for the Teacher of the Year.

Wednesday December 19th:
Today is the day of our Extreme classroom makeover. During our class we built shelfs and laminated letters for the wall quote, and we created a picture frame with favorite books. Everyone was busy getting everything organized for later today. We started our makeover during 7th period with the help of Mr. Campbell and Mrs. Biggs. We cleaned her whole room and got right to work! We changed her bulletin board, put up a wall quote and decals, hung curtains, organized her desk and closet, and spray painted her podium and placed a rug in the front of the class. We didnt finish her room until 7:45. Thanks for all your help Alex C, Jessie, Olivia H, Olivia B, Manuela, Rachel, Anna, Amy, Delaney, Mr. Campbell, Mrs. Biggs, and Mrs. Turner. It turned out awesome!

BEFORE

AFTER

WE HOPE EVERYONE HAS A SAFE AND ENJOYABLE BREAK, CHRISTMAS, AND NEW YEAR! SEE EVERYONE NEXT YEAR!

Quote:

A teacher affects eternity:
he can never tell where his influence stops.
Henry Adams