November 11th-15th, 2013

Monday, November 11th, 2013

On Monday we had field experience in either early education or elementary classrooms. My experience was in early education in a K5 class at Mauldin Elementary with Mrs.Wethington. Her kids were pretty independent learners and moved around the classroom in different stations at their own speed until they had completed all the centers with things like spelling, matching, and thanksgiving crafts.

Tuesday, November 12th, 2013

Today was for whichever grade level wasn't observed the day before so I was in Mrs. Johnson's 5th grade class at Mauldin. Her kids were taking a division pretest for the length of the observation, but you could see it was geared for older kids and the transition to middle school with the layout of the classroom and computers.

Wednesday, November 13th, 2013

Today our flowers for our motivational teacher pots were due, and sorted. Afterwards we read a poem and listened to a podcast about middle schoolers to transition into learning about middle and secondary education.

“What is a Middle Schooler?

By an anonymous middle school student

What is a middle schooler,

I was asked one day?

I knew what he was,

But what should I say?

He is noise and confusion.

He is silence that is deep.

He is sunshine and laughter.

Or a cloud that will weep.

He is swift as an arrow.

He is a waster of time.

He wants to be rich.

But cannot save a dime.

He is rude and nasty.

He is polite as can be.

He wants parental guidance.

But fights to be free.

He is aggressive and bossy.

He is timid and shy.

He knows all the answers.

But still will ask ‘why?’

He is awkward and clumsy.

He is graceful and poised.

He is ever changing,

But do not be annoyed.

What is a middle schooler,

I was asked one day?

He is the future unfolding,

So do not stand in his way.”

Thursday, November 14th

Today we hung the motivational flowers around the school and afterwards began a movie called "The Ron Clark Story" about an enthusiastic teacher who moved to an inner Harlem school to, hopefully, spread the excitement of learning.

Friday, November 15th

Continued watching the Ron Clark Story :) 

November 4th-8th, 2013

November 4th-8th, 2013

Monday and Tuesday November 4th-5th

On Monday we went to Five Oaks Academy for our Montessori education observations. Montessori is an alternate type of teaching style that focuses more on hands on material learning rather than traditional pencil and paper. This style of teaching has its pros and cons , but its main pro that we all noticed was that it teaches the students self reliability. This is an important part of education that isn't usually stressed in a traditional setting. Tuesday we discussed what we saw and what we thought some of the advantages and disadvantages of this for of education. Some also told about what they had experienced outside of school with Montessori education.

Wednesday November 6th

On Wednesday the state teacher of the year; Mrs. Kelly Nalley came to speak to us about her experiences in teaching and gave us advice on things that are good to do when we become teachers. One thing she really stressed was that we should always remember that teaching is all about the kids and not just another job with a paycheck. She made sure we knew that if you don't put your full heart into it and truly believe your passion that you won't become a good teacher. we appreciated her coming and she left us with a book of quotes from teachers of the year.

Thursday November 7th

Mrs. Brenda Byrd came to speak to us about her experiences and gave us some good information for getting into the career. She was named the district principle of the year and had also been a teacher at one point. She talked to us about getting registered to teach after college and some of her daily duties. She also stressed the importance of putting all you have into your students; just like Mrs. Nalley.

Friday November 8th

On Friday we took a trip to Anderson University on a bus with the Hillcrest Teacher Cadets. We went on tours of the campus alongside multiple Teacher Cadet programs; while we were split up into groups based on our college interests. It was a nice campus and we learned a lot about the education program offered there. We ended the day with further discussion among all the guides and our tour group.

October 21st-25th

October 21st

Today was our pot delivery day! We distributed our individualized pots of encouragement to each teacher, and turned in our portfolios containing samples and reflections on what we did in the first quarter of our school year.

October 22nd

On the 22nd we learned about Jean Piaget:"The Father of Cognition". We learned about the four Stages of Cognitive development, and the three aspects of intellectual growth, as well as different kinds of play, and what they mean to a child's development.

October 23rd & 24th

These days we all went off site to visit different preschools, and observe how Piaget's theories applied to the activities the students were participating in. We went to Kids R Kids, Legacy, Gateway, and Pocketful of Miracles.

        Legacy Acedemy

              Gateway Acedemy

October 25th

Today we read childrens books and reviewed them by their relevence to age level, and how we liked them.