November 24th-28th

This week was a two day week due to Thanksgiving break, but that by no means implies that it was an uneventful week!

Monday was our You Matter Teacher Appreciation Day, so we made treats for the teachers, which we delivered with a thank-you note. Each cadet made a Pilgrim hat for each of their adopted teachers by overturning a Reese's cup onto a fudge stripe cookie, gluing it together with icing, and then adding a tic-tac as a buckle. The Pilgrim hats were then put into Ziplock bags with funny Thanksgiving jokes stapled to them. (What happened to the Pilgrim who was shot at by an Indian? He had an arrow escape.) At the end of class, we took the treats to the teachers and put a Post-it note on their You Matter posters thanking them for all of their hard work.

Tuesday we went to Mauldin Elementary School to visit our little buddies. Together, we made Ashlyn's scarecrow glyph to describe the kids. At home, we had cut out the pieces for the scarecrow, so all the kids had to do was color the pieces according to the glyph key. It was a great way to get to know more about our buddies and it was a fun craft to put together with them! Once the scarecrow was finished, if there was time leftover, we read to the kids.

Tuesday night, our entries for the Teacher's Talk Newsletter were due to Anderson University. We had to write a short article or poem relating to educational issues. Before the end of the school year, up to two papers from each school may be published in the Newsletter.

And then we had the rest of the week off because of Thanksgiving! On that note, I am so thankful to be a part of this class, it is a wonderful experience. I am thankful for Mrs. Turner, who makes every day something exciting and magical. I am thankful for every one of you, because you inspire me to be a better person and motivate me to do my best. THANK YOU!

Our best teachers do more than impart facts and figures - they inspire and encourage students and instill a true desire to learn. That's a fine art in itself. ~Sonny Perdue

November 17-21

     This past week was Teacher Appreciation week, so first of all, We love you Mrs. Turner! On Monday, we went over the schedule for this week and upcoming weeks. We then had a discussion about our visit to the Montessori school and our views on it. We talked about the pros and cons of the school and what we liked and disliked.
      Tuesday, Mrs. Turner had the word "Middle School" on the board which immediately stirred up conversation. She then had us write a word or phrase we thought of when first saw it. We talked about middle school, shared some horror stories, and described the stage of Piaget middle schoolers are in. We then listened to a radio broadcast about views of middle schoolers, whats going on at that age, and even listened into a middle school dance. For some of us, it brought back memories we wanted to forget, but in the end was very entertaining.
      Wednesday we began the movie "The Ron Clark Story" that we watched through Friday. It was an amazing true story about a teacher from North Carolina who ends up teaching a sixth grade class in Harlem. This class had been through several teachers and had the lowest scores in the district. Through his love for his students and teaching, Ron Clark changed the students hearts and minds and also their test scores, making them the best in the district by the end of the year.

"The best way to create compassion within the classroom is to model that type of behavior yourself."- Ron Clark

November 10-14

 

On Monday, we introduced the theories and concepts behind Montessori Education. We watched a video on the major goals of Montessori education as well as the different tools and ways of teaching that are used at these schools. We then talked about these things to prepare for our observation of Five Oaks Academy on Tuesday. Among the most prominent and defining characteristics of these schools are that the teacher does less teaching and more "directing" as the students learn by themselves. The Montessori school provides students with materials that encourage them to learn on their own and at their own pace.

On Tuesday, we went to Five Oaks Academy, which is a Montessori school in our area. There we got a tour by a very informative (!) director of the school, who essentially reiterated the things we had learned in class the day before. Then we got to see some of the classrooms. The classroom for the middle aged students was almost eerily quiet, as manners are stressed by the school. We got to see them in a rare, structured "circle time" of sorts as they talked about some of the new materials they got in the room and how to use them. The younger classrooms were taking part in activities that are more typically associated with Montessori education. The younger kids were playing independently with toys that promote learning and what Maria Montessori would call "work." The kids at the middle school ages were learning math by counting blocks and beans to work out algebra. As we were leaving we also got a chance to check out the labyrinth that the students go to in order to work out issues or calm a temper.

On Wednesday and Thursday, we did our observations of elementary education. We all either observed a classroom with very young children (Pre-K or kindergarten) or older ones (around the 4th and 5th grade levels). This gave us as idea of the adaptability teachers in elementary education have to have to be able to teach children that require help with personal and academic growth, and who are often on many different academic levels.

On Friday, we got to take a field trip to Anderson University and meet other teacher cadets from all over the state. The day started off with an informational session about the teaching program at the school and about some of the clubs for teaching available there, such as Call Me Sir. We then went on a tour of the school based on the majors we were interested in, and we got to see a dorm room, dining halls, and several of the academic buildings. After the tour we got to meet with a panel of students that go to the school and ask them questions about the program and the college. The day ended with a brief wrap up of everything we had learned as well as a talk about the application process to the school.

 

"Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all." -Aristotle

November 3- November 7

On Monday, Mrs. Turner returned back from her trip. We had to catch her up on the previous week's events and tell stories about our cute buddies. We talked about our pre-school observations. We compared the different things each pre-school had to offer . Collectively, we decided that if money was not an issue we would send our children to Legacy. If money was a limitation the next best option seemed to be The Sunshine House. We briefly discussed two articles: Hurried Child and the Montessori Method. Also on this day Mrs. Turner informed us on our upcoming events, such as our trip to Anderson University.

Tuesday: Election Day!!!!

On Wednesday, MRS. TURNER'S BIRTHDAY! We successfully pulled off our surprise party. We sung happy birthday (very off key), and ate cake and donuts. This was a really special day because Mrs. Turner is a very special person and she means the world to every single one of us. After partying for more than half of the class, we learned about glyphs and lesson plans. We looked a sample of a lesson plan that was about a pizza glyph that we did. We learned about how children can learn and analyze data using these glyphs.

On Thursday, We had a guest speaker, Mrs. Kelly Nalley. She told us about how she was pushed to go into the medical field because of her brains, but her heart told her that she wanted to teach. Mrs. Nalley gave us insite on how the first years of teaching would be and how it made her feel. She shared with us a few words from her journal which included descriptions that would have made me quit, but she kept following her heart. She told us how she had to let go, because nothing was going to be perfect when it came to teaching. Mrs. Nalley, was an amazing speaker and gave us a good insight on the elementary school teacher's point of view.

On Friday, we shared our personal glyphs that we made. Everyone's' glyphs looked absolutely adorable. We moved around the classroom to see each others' creations. All of them simply looked great, but that's expected because we are great :)

October 27-31

On Monday, Mrs. Turner gave us our agenda for the whole week since she was going to be out of town. On Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday we did preschool observations at Kids R Kids, Legacy Academy, Gateway Academy, and the Sunshine house. During the visits to the preschools, we were given the oppertunity to see the different classrooms, classroom curriculums, and the different age groups that ranged from 6 week old babies to 5 and 6 year olds.

Finally on Friday, which was Halloween, we went to visit our buddies in Mrs. Vaughn's class at Mauldin Elementary. We brought them cards and candy, and we also made spider hats. At the beginning of the class we danced with them of course! It has become our routine when we visit them. Spending time with them and seeing how happy they were because we came to their class really made us happy, and to see that something so simple such as bringing them a card and candy really made their day and how much they cherished it goes to show that it is the simple things that matter, and all it takes is a little effort AND "Kindness is free, so sprinkle it everywhere"