Field Experience Week 2

This week, I had the pleasure of seeing so many wonderful things in the field. I saw future teachers excited about working with their students. I saw a love, passion and enthusiasm for the teaching profession that is so contagious! I am thrilled and so happy for all of you! Please click on "comments" below to share your best experiences.

On Monday, I popped into Mrs. Shea's room to find her and Buffy working hard to grade papers and enter scores.

On Tuesday, I popped in at Bethel and found Ellie hard at work with a small group of second graders. The fifth grade was involved in MAP testing, so Chandler lent a helping hand with the smaller ones.


Over in the first grade hall, I found Lorelle hard at work teaching a lesson on telling time with a small group of students. They responded so well to her.


Thursday brought me back to Bethel where I found Chandler reviewing area and perimeter with her fifth graders.


I discovered Zac in the first grade hall hanging up student work outside of his classroom - Oh the fun stuff!!!

Friday brought me to Mauldin Elementary School where I found Jordyn completing some computer work for Miss Quinn.

Meanwhile, I found Kelsey, Jordan and Hannah administering spelling tests to their third grade classes.

Finally, I ventured over to the Kindergarten wing where Courtney was doing an excellent job leading calendar math with her little ones.

Great job everyone!

Field Experience Week 1 Blog!

March 5 - March 14

Roll out TCADS!!! March 5th - all the cadets have entered their field experiences! Click on the "comments" tab below to add your stories about your favorite experience this week. Be sure to read each others and leave encouraging comments! Have a GREAT experience!

February 6-10

Monday, February 6, 2012-We went to the library to learn how to use the Promethean board. The demo wouldn't work so, we watched Mrs. Turner. Mrs. Turner showed us so much stuff we could do and how we could incoporate it into a lesson for our future classrooms:)! I thought it was so cool!!

Tuesday, February 7, 2012- More Promethean fun!! We met in the library to learn more about using the Promethean board. We learned how to group stuff and make shapes. We also learned about all the backgrounds and games we could play. We played around a lot! It was fun!



Wednesday, February 8, 2012- Our special speaker came from Furman University. He showed us a really cool micoscope. Also he informed us about a program that is trying to get more students interested in math and science. He hooked the microscope up to the Promethean board and we got to play around with it. We looked at boogers, hair, and cuts. It was fun!! He also showed us how you can use this microscope in your classroom and in your lesson. The microscope would be really useful in elementary science classrooms and high school biology. He also gave us one to borrow for a couple weeks! YAY!!







Thursday, February 9, 2012- We went to the library again! We learned a lot of cool new stuff. We learned about using "buttons" to make a picture appear and disappear. It was sweet! We also learned about containers and how to make Mr. Potatoe heads:)





Friday, February 10, 2012- I was sick :( But I think the schedule was rearranged and we have HSTW testing on Monday and Thursday. Also our peer lessons got pushed back a week. I hope everyone had a good weekend!! :)

"All children learn and succeed, but not on the same day, in the same way"~William G. Spady

"I'm gonna dare to live, I'm gonna live to learn, I'm gonna learn to dream, and I'm gonna dream big..."

~Payton Rae, Dare to Live

Friday: February3

It was a "Crafts with Kate" day:) We all made these crazily cute froggy valentine's for our first grade froggy friends! They were easier to make than what everyone thought at first, and turned out so well! Thanks Kate for teaching us this "hopping" idea for a Valentine's Day card!

Thursday: February 2

Today we got to "think outside of the box" by creating paper airplanes. Through this lesson we were able to see that not everyone thinks (or folds paper airplanes) the same way and that we have to think outside of regular teaching norms to help each and every student. Thanks to Ellie balling up her paper, the lesson was a success!! She helped show that you can get farther by thinking a little differently.

Wednesday: February 1

Today we talked about cooperative learning. We learned all about the five different types of learning we can use in our classes: think/pair/share (we heard the question, shared our answers with a partner, then gave our shared/mutual answer to the class), pairs check (we answered a question with a partner, then compared our answers with another pair), numbered heads (we numbered off, went into groups with the same number, then renumbered to answer questions we discussed as a group), jigsaw (we stayed in our small groups, but then became "experts" on the article we read then went into other smaller groups and shared our "expertise" on the very interesting articles), and finally inner/outer circles (where half where in a group facing out, the other half facing in, then we answered questions which each other and rotated partners). Through these types of learning lessons we learned that having that group, or partner suppert made us feel more comfortable and less stressed, allowing us to feel more confident in our anwers, and anwer questions easier.

Tuesday: January 31

Observation day! A lot of us went to different schools to revisit or see some new classes to help determine where we want to go for our field experience:) oh my gosh! its getting closer!!

Monday: January 30

Today was the class buy out! There were a scatter few of us that didn't buy out, but that's okay! Because we all got to talk and get to know each other so much better:)

January 23-27

Monday, January 23

Mrs. Turner went over what we were doing with our Froggy Friends on Friday and let us know about a service hour opportunity by attending a School Board Meeting (the fourth Tuesday in every month). As a class we shared what we on during our Cerel Talks and our High School Observations at Mauldin and Greeville Tech Charter.


Tuesday, January 24

Buffy is 18 years young! We discussed the Family Night Basket for the Silent Auction. All basket goodies are due on Monday, January 30th. Then we went to B250 to work on our scavenger hunt.


Wednesday, January 25

Kelsey made a delicious chocolate cake for all of the January birthdays! Ms. Robert visited and told us about the Pixar guy coming. The cost is $1. Ms. Turner taught us Bloom's Taxonomy ad we took notes. Then she gave us a reference sheet for Bloom's Taxonomy. We buddied up and then began reading a selected children's book.
Thursday, January 26
We finished up our work from Wednesday, where we made up tests with questions that went with our children's book and gave the test to another group.


Friday, January 27

We visited with our Froggy Friends and got to celebrate the 100th day of school with them! Everyone had a great time!

“If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.” - Ignacio Estrada

Teacher Cadets January 17-20

"The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education."
-Martin Luther King, Jr.

"It's hard to soar like an eagle if you are surrounded by turkeys." -Anon

Monday Jan 16: Martin Lurther King Jr Day. No school.

Tuesday Jan 17: Mrs. Turner gives us important dates and info (housekeeping). Also, we are given an assignment to find a high school teacher and shadow them for the next morning.

Wednesday Jan 18: Everyone shadows the teacher of their choice...I choose Mrs. Blount. We are asked to take notes on what we observed. We return back to class and write questions for our cereal talks as well as sign up for teachers to talk with.

Thursday Jan 19: MORNING OF OUR CEREAL TALKS! 2 students are paired with teachers of their choice and ask them questions regarding teaching all over enjoying a nice cup of cereal. We enjoyed juice, cereal, and getting to know our teachers a little bit better. I had Ms. Biggs and she was interesting because although she was a new teacher, she still had so many stories just for 2 years.



Friday Jan 20: (Day of Jason Aldean concert!) Today we took a class trip to Greenville Technical Charter High School. Office K came with us and knew almost every student there. We learned that the reason why it was a charter school was because it keeps their classes small allowing them to know their students personally. We saw english, history, science, and a mandarin !classroom! At the end we split up and got to sit in one a classroom. And when we were leaving I discovered I lost my earring.

Midterm Presentations

The Cadets impressed Professor Kimbrell with their midterm presentations. He said they were the BEST he has seen yet. I'm so proud of you all!!!!




More fun stuff!!!




... and a little bit more!!

January 2 - 6

Monday, January 2 - FINALLY 2012! 150 days until graduation. Everyone was pretty upset about being back at school when the entire world was off, but we all somehow managed to survive the winter break hangover. Mrs. Turner asked about our winter breaks and we all shared fun stories, but then it was time to get down to business and we were told all about our mid-term and then she yelled at us about being slackers (that may be a tad bit exaggerated). She also told us about our timeline project and we all got in groups to start working on it.

Tuesday, January 3 - 149 days until graduation. We were all pretty busy working on our timeline projects and that took up pretty much the entire class period.

Wednesday, January 4 - 148 days until graduation. We had our last bucket morning, which means that every teacher now has a bucket on their door! Although bucket morning is intended to be before class hours, it always manages to take over the entire class period, so we all worked on buckets and then worked on our timeline projects with whatever class time was left.

Thursday, January 5 - 147 days until graduation. We presented our timeline projects. It was really cool to hear about all the changes throughout the past 100 years. Although it would be cool to live in the 50s with poodle skirts and diners and things, I definitely could not live without my technology!












Friday, January 6 - Best day of the week and only 146 days until graduation. We have our brochure mid-term project due on Tuesday, so we spent the entire class period working on them in the library.

WEEK BEFORE BREAKKKK :)

December 12-16

Monday! We continued watching Freedom Writers. I love this movie so much! :)

Tuesday! We watched Freedom Writers, but had to turn it off right before the end. That kinda sucked. We were so close to finishing but the bell rang. Who needs second period? :( haha

Wednesday! We finally finished up Freedom Writers and briefly talked about it. After that, we discussed dabatable topics. It was really interesting to hear my friend's opinions on some of these things. I thought it was good to discuss because these issues are happening now.

Thursday! SURPRISE!!! We went and surprised our Froggy Friends at MES. They put on the cutest Christmas concert I have ever seen in my entire life. Their little faces were so cute when they saw all of us sitting in the audience.

Friday! We had a Christmas party with our Froggy Friends!!! We got to exchange gifts and hang out with them. They were so wild and excied but it was so precious.

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

"The best teachers teach from the heart, not from the book." - Unknown

Week of December 5-9

Monday and Tuesday: On Monday and Tuesday we continued to go on Middle School observations at various schools. I went to a music class and the time flied by! On Tuesday I stayed at Mauldin high to watch the Ron Clark interviews and helped with clipboards. Ron Clark is an inspiration for us all!

Wednesday: Wednesday was bucket day! We spent the class doing our favorite thing, making buckets!

Thursday: We watched one of my favorite movies, The Freedom Writers. I didn't want to leave class because that movie is so good!

Friday: Friday we took our Teacher Cadet Picture for the year book. After, we continued our movie.

!

Monday: We discussed 'What is a Middle Schooler?' And recieved the Erkison article which we were suppose to write in our journals our opinion about it that night :) We then discussed what we needed for our journals, then began listening to the middle school radio discussion, which felt for me like I was reliving middle school. All the awkward feelings came back to me. I began feeling nervous and wondering if I looked okay today.

Tuesday: We finished the middle school radio discussion, which once again I was flooded with the awkwardness of middle school. Then we discussed our up coming events in our calender and discussed where we could go for our observations: Langston, Hillcrest Middle, Mauldin Middle, Five Oaks, or one day we could stay at MHS and watch the excerpts from the Ron Clark movie and work on clip boards!

Wednesday: JANET KIRBY CAME FROM HILLCREST MIDDLE! She talked to us about middle school and the awkwardness of it and how you have to be a teacher of adolesnces and high schoolers at the same time, because they need a set out schedule to stay on track. She also talked about how a middle school teacher has to be aware of a students home situation and help them deal with peer pressure and other things that could affect their learning. I really, really liked Mrs. Kirby and she inspired me and honestly made me think about wanting to become a Middle School teacher!

Thursday: Greg Abel came and talked to use about Langston! He told us about how a charter school starts with a grant given by the state to a group of people with an outlined plan for a school and the school's main goal. Langston's is community service. He also told us about how they had leadership classes and catered meals like CHICK FIL A YUMMMY! A little side note: I visited Langston for my observations on tuesday and absolutely loved it because the teachers and students were SO engaged and I really want to do my field experience there!

Friday: Some of us went out to observe, but I myself stayed at MHS to watch the Ron Clark excerpts and work on clip boards. It was a lot of fun, I got to learn how to work the cricket and it was kinda difficult... so I'll leave that to kaylie!

"If you want to live more, you must master the art of appreciating the little everyday blessings of life. This is not altogether a golden world but there are countless gleams of gold to be discovered in it." --Henry Alfred Porter

November 21 and 22

With two days until Thanksgiving, we made lots of TURKEY COOKIES!!!! We delivered them to our wonderful teachers on Tuesday to brighten their day. We are so thankful for the staff here at MHS!

November 14 - 18

Monday: On Monday we met in the library and had breakfast with the teacher cadets from Hillcrest and Patti Tate, South Carolina teacher of the year! We did an activity with construction paper and tissue paper; "making miracles." We also watched a presentation Patti Tate gave about elephants, the book "Perfect Square," and her philosophy on teaching.

Tuesday: On Tuesday we were supposed to watch a video but couldn't find it. But it's no biggie Mrs.Turner! :) So, instead we worked on our pop-up thanksgiving letter for our pen pals. As we worked on them we talked a little bit about Ron Clark. We saw a video about some of the kids talking, rapping, and dancing about politics. They probably know more than me! They were impressive and so cute.

Wednesday: On Wednesday we got the Ron Clark Story movie and started watching it.

Thursday: On Thursday some of us brought popcorn and other snacks and finish the movie. It was such a great movie!

Friday: On Friday we went to Mauldin Elementary School and visited with our froggy friends! We gave them the thanksgiving pop-up letters we made and received a turkey and a letter from them that they made. We had all picked out a book the week before that we wanted to share, so we brought them and read them with our little friend. Also, we had a big paper that we got to color together for thanksgiving and on the back helped our buddy write down what he or she is thankful for. Even though none of us wanted to, after that we said good-bye and came back to school.

"...I teach you, you teach me, and together we learn to love to learn." Ron Clark

"When love and skill work together, expect a masterpiece." John Ruskin

October 7 - October 11

Monday and Tuesday: On Monday and Tuesday we visited an elementary school and observed either an early elementary classroom or an upper elementary classroom. It was a lot of fun and we were able to see many different teaching techniques.

Wednesday: On Wednesday we were supposed to talk about what we observed...but we got a little sidetracked. Instead we presented Officer K with his t-shirt and took a group picture in the hallway. Then we got distracted with a bus evacuation.

TCADS - ROLL OUT...........................Literally!







At the end of class we did manage to get a little discussion in.

Thursday: On Thursday we spent the class period discussing The Hurried Child article along with an article on parenting elementary aged children. We learned a lot about each other and heard some very interesting stories.

Friday: On Friday we checked out children's books from the Media Center. It was a lot of fun seeing books we read when we were younger as well as many new favorites. My personal favorite was The Night Before Christmas in South Carolina. After that we went over the schedule for upcoming events and began making our turkey cards for our first grade froggy friends.

"I challenge you to make your life like a masterpiece. I challenge you to join the ranks of those people who live what they teach, who walk their talk." -- Anthony Robbins

"A very wise old teacher once said: "I consider a day's teaching wasted if we do not all have one hearty laugh." He meant that when people laugh together, they cease to be young and old, master and pupils, jailer and prisoners. They become a single group of human beings enjoying its existence." -- Gilbert Highet

"They may forget what you said but they will never forget how you made them feel." - Carol Buchner

Jordyn's Week! October 31-November 4

On HALLOWEEN Monday, October 31, 2011, we finished up our "Boo-pops" for all the teachers. We also kicked off our Montessori education stuff. We watched a video from Lander that pretty much explained what Montessori education was in order to have a better understanding for what we'd see at Five Oaks when we went for our observations.

On Tuesday, November 1, 2011, we met at Five Oaks Montessori school. We were able to walk into three different classrooms (pre-school, early elementary age, then older elementary age) and observe the way a true Montessory school worked. The director (who's name I cannot remember) took us through a typical day in a Montessori school. The biggest commonality between all three rooms was the overwhelming feel of independence. With all that we saw, many different opinions were made, and shared on Wednesday.

On Wednesday, November 2, 2011, we had an open discussion about Montessori. We each were able to give our own opinions and thoughts about that specific type of education. Many of us shared the same opinions, but there were also very many differing thoughts. I personally didn't like it as much as I wanted to. Some of the ideas and concepts I could agree with it, but overall, it wasn't my cup of tea.



On Thursday, November 3, 2011, T-Cads went to Anderson University with our Hillcrest friends. We toured the campus at Anderson, and kinda acted up a little bit during all of the lectures (T-dog). Lunch was SO good. Sweater-vest guy was SO cute :) Oh, we also learned alot about the Teaching Fellows scholarship and program. It helped alot! On the way home, we sang lots of songs with Hillcrest and did lots of student council cheers. It was a really really fun day. KRISTEN WOOD YEAHHHH!!!




On Friday, November 4, 2011 we had a PEP RALLY!! So, we didn't have the whole period. We each signed up for our elementary observations and threw T-DOG a BIRTHDAY PARTYYYY!!!! YAYYYYY :) Finished off a LONG week RIGHT! Woooooo!


"Today you are you, that is truer than true. There is no one alive who is youer than YOU!" -Dr. Seuss