November 15-19, 2010!

Monday:

Last week we began watching the Ron Clark Story movie. Today we got to finish this inspirational movie of how Ron Clark became the Teacher of the Year. After finishing the movie, we began to watch interviews and documentaries of Ron Clark's new school in Atlanta, Georgia. He explained how the school would operate and how it would differ from the normal school experience so many kids are use to in that type of area. Our class was very receptive to all that this teacher was doing and how much he lived for bettering the lives of all of his students.

Tuesday:

Today each teacher cadet was given five sticky notes and five topics: Classroom Management, teaching styles/methods, teacher/student relationships, Classroom Control, and Miscellaneous. We were then given the opportunity to make up questions in regard to each question that we would be able to ask at our teacher/student breakfast. We split up into groups and began choosing and compiling a list of our favorite questions for each topic. These questions were taken and typed up by Mrs. Turner, so we could use them to reference to when talking to the teachers at our breakfast on Wednesday. We came up with some pretty intense questions!

Wednesday:

Today we had one of the most amazing breakfasts ever! All the teacher cadets and teachers who had first period planning came together and ate breakfast while learning about each other and their experiences as a teacher. This was very eye opening as a student, and being able to see that even the "good teachers" have problems while teaching. They gave each student great advice and tips to help us be more successful in the Spring when we begin our field experiences or even when we become actual teachers. Everyone seemed to benefit from this event and we thank Mrs. Turner for allowing us to do it and all the teachers who came to speak with us!

Thursday:

Today we had a follow up from our Teacher Cadet Breakfast we had with the teachers on Wednesday. We discussed the responses we got from teachers on each question. We shared interesting stories some of them gave us we thought the other teacher cadets would like to hear. Overall we all seemed to benefit in a great way from the interaction we had with these teachers on a one on one basis.

Friday:

We read the book "Courage" by Bernard Walker and discussed various people and actions that portray courage. Ultimately, teaching is one of the most courageous professions. We did an activity where we got into a circle and passed the "red ball of courage" (an apple). Each person listed something that takes courage, or someone that displays courage for each letter of the alphabet. This was a meaningful activity. “Teach the children so that it will not be necessary to teach the adults.” ... Abraham Lincoln

Surena Mitchell's Post November 8th-12th

Monday:

Today we talked about our expirience in the elementary classrooms. It was very interesting to hear about the different things everybody saw especially hearing Jessica tell us about the teacher Elizabeth went to who sung everything. We also briefly learned about the social and moral developments of different age groups. The class ended with Mrs. Turner telling us about her lovely birthday weekend with her husband which was very cute:)





Tuesday:

Today we had an amazing guest speaker named Kelly Nally who was the SC state teacher of the year. She was a very entertaining speaker that spoke with us about the joys and the downs of teaching. She kept everybody alert by starting her speach with an activity of what happened during betweeen the years of 1992 and 1993. She then shared with us many pictures of her as a teacher cadet,students that inspired her and quotes from a book called Courage. Another part of the speach i found entertaining was listening to some of her journal entries from her first years of teaching at Donaldson.

Wednesday:

We started the movie The Ron Clark Story about a man from North Carolina who moved to New York to teach in a low budget school to unpriveleged kids who werent exactly the easiest to get along with, but with his different types of teaching methods he helped the children to cooperate and learn the material they needed to learn to pass required tests.

Thursday:

We continued The Ron Clark Story, but didnt get to catch the ending due to the class ending and we were left wanting to know what happens next!

Friday:

We had middle school observations where some students went to Mauldin Middle and other to Hillcrest. It was a very fun and interesting expirience and it was very nice to go back to schools where we once attended and see the classroom from a different point of view.

Courage is being a Teacher -Kelley Nally

Meghan M.

Monday: Nov 1

Monday was the day after Halloween. Many of us were dressed up for country day/redneck day because it was Rival Week. We had a good class discussion on pre-schools and montessori schools.



Tuesday: Nov 2

We had no school on Election Day! YAY!



Wednesday: Nov 3

It was college day, so we were all sporting our teams' colors. We made our teacher of the month signs and delivered them to the designated teachers. Many of the teacher were very excited to know that they were appreciated. We also began responding to our pen pals with the cute turkey letters.



Thursday: Nov 4

Thursday was class color day, so we were all wearing YELLOW. We discussed element children and the hurried child. Alot of us agreed that some kids grow up way too fast.



Friday: Nov 5

Mrs. Turner was absent, so we went to observe elementary classrooms. Some students went to Oakview Elementary, whereas some went to Mauldin Elementary or other schools. It was really neat to see many of the teachers who taught us in elementary school. This was another chance for us to decide what age group we might be interested in teaching. However, we were on pep rally schedule, so we had to hurry back to school to check in with attendance.

"Good teachers teach from the HEART, not from the book." -Author Unknown

October 25-29

Monday - oct 25
Today we split into groups and went out to observe preschools in our local area. Some of us went to Mauldin Methodist, some went to a day care, and some went to Simpsonville First Baptist. It was really cool to get to see how different the preschool was from like a kindergarten or upper level class. The kids were all really cute!

Tuesday - oct 26
We had our senior meetings about cap and gowns.

Wednesday - oct 27

Mrs. Turner talked to us about Montessori education and gave us notes on how it was different from a normal school. She showed us pictures of different learning tools they used at these schools and talked about an article that we read.

Thursday - oct 28

We all met Mrs. Turner at Five Oaks Academy at 8:15 and took a tour of the Montessori school. We split into two groups and walked into the classes and around the school. It was really different to see the kids getting to do the things on their own instead of a teacher teaching it to them. It was a cool experience to see but was very different from how many of us had gone threw school. Some of us decided that we would want our kids to go to a school like that but wouldn't like to teach at a school like that.

Friday -oct 29

On Friday, we went to see our pen-pals. We made candy corn with their name on them so they could wear it. It was fun being able to spend time with them and get to know them better.

"Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire" -William Butler Yeats

October 18-22, 2010

Monday


Today Mrs. Turner was out sick, so we had a sub. We read an article from the laptops about Jean Piaget and the stages of cognitive development. Since several of us had already taken or are currently taking psychology, we knew much of this information.

Tuesday

Mrs. Turner was out sick again today, so we read another article. This one was about different types of play that children participate in. Some of these are solitary play, group play, parallel play, symbolic play, and play involving construction.

Wednesday

With Mrs. Turner back today, we went over the articles we had read the days before. We talked about our assignment for Thursday-- shopping!! We created "shopping lists" and "cheat sheets" to use when we went shopping for toys for our students.

Thursday

Today was shopping day! Our class met in the toy section of Walmart to shop for toys that would be useful in different stages of cognitive development and different types of play. It was confusing at first because we didn't really know what we were doing, but once we figured out what to do, it wasn't too difficult to find the toys. The hardest toys to find were the toys made for black and ethnic children.

Friday

Today we were on Pep Rally schedule so we had a shortened class period. So, we wrote in our journals and reflected on our shopping day at Walmart.

"Tell me, I'll forget. Show me, I'll remember. Involve me, I'll understand."

October 11th- October 13th

Monday

On Monday, Katie presented last weeks blog! Then we hung our teacher of the month dots. When we were done hanging our dots, we used the binding machine to put the finishing touches on our books. With the time that we had left, some of the groups were able to present their books to the class. Everyone loved to hear the stories and gave constructive criticism when needed.

Tuesday

On Tuesday the rest of the groups presented their books. All of them were so cute!!!! Everyone was very excited to go to the elementary school and present them to their groups and do their activities! Mrs. Turner offered to bring anything we would need. She is very helpful!!!! We all love her soooooooooooooo much!!!

Wednesday

On Wednesday, we all had such a great time! We got to Mauldin Elementary at 8:15 to get our groups to read our books. The kids all loved them! After we read the books, we got to do our planned activities with the kids. There were constant smiles all over! Before we left the Mauldin Elementary we made sure to get the letters from our pen pals. J And lets not forget the romantic story from Ms. Quinn! After leaving the Elementary school, the teacher cadets had our first…. “faculty meeting” at IHOP!!!!!! Meanwhile, Caitlan and Miriam represented us at the District Fall Teacher Forum speaking before all of the District Teachers of the Year. After our “meeting” we all went to Overbrook Childhood Development Center and received a tour. Overall, it was an amazing day!

Thursday- Friday

NO SCHOOL!!!

“Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn." -- Benjamin Franklin

October 4th- October 8th :)

Monday 10/4
On Monday we got to choose our "Pen Pals" from Ms. Quinn's Class! Mrs. Turner put all of the names up on the board and each of us got to pick which student we wanted. Some of the girls in our class picked a child from Mrs. Rainey's class and one from Ms. Quinn's class. Each month were doing a different animal for our letters, so this month it was different cats. Our "Kitty Cat" pen pal letters turned out so cute! There was a variety of cats such as lions, tigers, cheetahs, leopards, etc. On top of the letter we got to draw the face of the animal. Then we cut on the bold line and it formed an adorable folded letter!
Tuesday 10/5
On Tuesday, we all came in and finished up our pen pal letters from Monday. They were introductory letters so we could get to know our pen pal. After we finished those, we met with our childrens book groups and continued to work on our stories. Mrs. Turner gave us a lot of work days to work on these, so we were all very productive in the time given.
Wednesday 10/6
Wednesday morning, we came in a little earlier than usual because it was the first Wednesday of the month, which means Teacher of the Month Dots! All the girls chose a teacher and got to decorate a thank you sign for their doors. The theme is polka dots so we continued to use our creativity with all the different materials Mrs. Turner has in her cubbard full of items. Some of us took all period to make these, and those who finished continued to work on their childrens book.
Thursday 10/7
On Thursday, everyone came in ready to work. As you looked around the room, childrens books were beginning to come together, and everyone was focused. My group used a piece of cardboard that Mrs. Turner had to form the outside cover. We glued everything together and were very pleased with the product. Everyone's childrens books were looking so cute, and I could not wait to see all the finished books.
Friday 10/8
Friday finally rolled around which meant the last workday before our childrens books were going to be due. I was on a field trip so I was not in class, but I know that everyone finished up their books and tied the final strings. Monday we are presenting to the class and I absolutely cannot wait!

"The aim of education should be to teach us rather how to think, than what to think."
-James Beattie

Week of 9/27-10/1

Monday

Katie introduced us to her dad, Dr. Kelly, who is a developmental pediatrician. From him we continued to learn about barriers to education. He talked a lot about how our brain receives, processes, stores, and sends out information. We also learned about ADHD and Autism and the various types and degree of severity of those. Mrs. Turner was very excited to learn new things!

Tuesday

We started our day by reading My Brother Sammy. It was a really cute book about the range of emotions that the siblings of children who have special conditions can go through. Next, Mrs. Turner explained that we would be creating our own barrier books in pairs to read to the children at Mauldin Elementary. She showed us some examples of past books and the mini projects that went along with them. We read some of them and started picking out the topic for our own books.

Wednesday

Mrs. Turner was gone at a CERRA, Center for Educator Recruitment, Retention, and Advancement, meeting. While she was away we had a work day. Many of us started planning out the stories for our books, and some of us took the opportunity to get our pot messages done.

Thursday

Mrs. Turner was back from her meeting and told us about some of the things that she had done and heard there. It was interesting to hear the creative ideas teachers from other schools have come up with, so that we can maybe implement similar things into our own school. After catching up, we went back to working on our barrier books. People are writing their books about everything from sleep deprivation, to divorce, to language barriers.

Friday

The last day of the week was another work day for our books. Some pairs are already starting to do illustrations and covers, so it was great to see what people are coming up with. Mrs. Turner checked over any completed stories to provide suggestions as we prepare to present them to each other and the elementary school students. Mrs. Quin, from MES, came to tell us about the children in her class who will become our pen pals. Everyone is excited to have a little buddy at MES!

"Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity." - Aristotle

Monday-- On Monday we did a variety of activities to understand the difficulty kids have with disabilities. We did one where we had to put marshmellows in our mouth and try to talk/understand the other people talking for the kids with hearing problems. Another activity had us drawing a picture using our mouth for the kids who dont have use of their arms. We also had to write using mirrors, color with our eyes shut, put peanut butter on crackers without seeing, read a story in a foreign language, and use oven mitts to put fruit loops on a bracelet. We all then chose a disability to walk around with for the rest of the day.

Tuesday-- We had our senior picture, so we missed most of first period! In the last couple of minutes we went over some of the barriers to learning that we researched. Teacher cadets on character day!

Wednesday-- On Wednesday Mrs. Timberlake from Overbrook Child Development came in to talk to the class about autistic children and how she works with them. She presented a slideshow on different things we learned about autism. We also did an activity she would do with her students to help with sorting the different buttons.

Thursday-- On both Thursday and Friday we all visited different special needs classrooms to observe and work with the children. Some of which were autistic, mentally challenged, or just had difficulty learning.

Friday-- We continued to visit different teachers and classrooms. This is some of the teacher cadets on kappa delta cow day!

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." -Nelson Mandela

Monday September 13, 2010

We began watching the movie Gridiron Gang. This movie illustrated Maslow's heirarchy of needs. These needs consist of basic needs along with safety and security. Next comes the need of love, affection, and the sense of belonging. Fourth, comes self esteem and then last comes the need of self actualization. This is the development of a sense of commitment to something larger than yourself.

Tuesday September 14, 2010

We continued watching the movie. We also had a morning bake sale and brought in $48!! :)

Wednesday September 15, 2010

We continued and finshed our film. We also got the see the real people of Kilpatrick prison at the end.

Thurday September 16 , 2010

Today we discussed the film and how it showed Maslow's needs. We also had a journal about how we felt about the film

Friday September 17, 2010

Today we learned about what other problems could hinder children from learning. Some of the problems consisted of teen pregnancy, poverty, and latchkey kids just to name a few. Although these problems, any child may over come them with hard work and determination.

"He who opens a school door, closes a prison" ~ Victor Hugo

Puppet Shows & Learning Styles

Monday, September 6

Monday was Labor Day, so we did not have school. Yay!!

Tuesday, September 7

On Tuesday, we all previewed our puppets shows that we would be performing at Mauldin Elementary. We were able to give compliments on what we liked about every puppet show, but we were also able to give constructive criticism where needed.

Wednesday, September 8

On Wednesday, all the teacher cadets and Mrs. Turner met at Mauldin Elementary in Mrs. Quinn's 1st grade class. We were able to meet all the kids and perform our puppet shows for them. We asked questions after every performance, to make sure the kids were involved and paying attention, and they really seemed to enjoy our company, especially little Jeremiah, who came over and sat with some of us and talked about our clothes and the puppet's hair. After performing the puppet shows, we were able to leave and run and get some breakfast, which was very nice.

Thursday, September 9

On Thursday, we wrote in our journals what our favorite activity was in our career as a student. This then led us into our lesson about learning styles. We went into Mrs. Ward's computer lab, where we took 3 learning style inventories. We then reflected in our journals if we agreed with these inventories on our learning styles.

Friday, September 10

On Friday, we had a journal swap and commented on each other's entries about learning styles. Then we discussed as a group about the different types of learning styles, and how it is important as a teacher to make sure you acquire for all the different learning types in the way you teach. For the last 15 minutes on Friday, we started our "I Am Special!" sheets, that will be sent to our first grade class, so they can learn more about us as individuals.

"Learning is finding out what we already know. Doing is demonstrating that you know it. Teaching is reminding others that they know just as well as you. You are all learners, doer, and teachers." -Richard Bach

August 30-September 3rd

Monday, August 30
On Monday at the beginning of class Mrs. Turner shared some announcements about the week to come and what to expect. We also shared our thoughts about The Self-Esteem Fraud article we read that weekend. Then we read "Have you Filled a Bucket Today?" by Carol McCloud. The book is about how everyone carries around an invisible bucket that represents their Self-Esteem and you can be a bucket filler or a bucket dipper. Then we worked on our Self-Esteem puppet shows.

Tuesday, August 31
On Tuesday, we began class with a remembrance video of 9/11 and discussed our September bulletin board. Then we split into our puppet show groups and worked on our shows.

Wednesday, September 1
On Wednesday, we all came in early to work on Teacher of the Month. This activity ended up lasting the entire period. We decorated papers to place on the teachers doors.

Thursday, September 2
On Thursday, we delivered our Teacher of the Month decorations to the teacher of our choice. Then we worked on our puppet shows.

Friday, September 3
On Friday Mrs. Turner wasn't here so Mr. Alewine was our substitute. We worked on our puppet shows and some of us went to the library to laminate props for our shows or to get our Teacher Cadet IDs.

Second Week of School

Monday, August 23

We started off the week with some arts and crafts. We created butterflies out of tissue paper which represented ourselves.

Tuesday, August 24

Proffessor Kimbrell came to speak to the teacher cadets on Tuesday. He described each asignment we will turn into him throughout the year. He generously left Teacher Cadet t-shirts for everyone.

Wednesday, August 25
Today we presented our butterflies to the class and hung them in the "Butterfly Garden." Next we read Chrysanthemum which taught us how important our parents are in building our self-esteem and that each of us is absolutely perfect. Then we each decorated individual name tags to put above our mini bulletin boards.

Thursday, August 26

On Thursday we talked about how our self-esteem is like a pot which can be filled with both good and bad things. After this we all began making "pots" to hang on our mini bulletin boards. The pots were made out of things that represent each student. Throughout the year we will fill eachothers' pots up with good things.

Friday, August 27

Today we simply finished up making our pots.

"To learn and never be filled, is wisdon; to teach and never be weary, is love."

First Week of School

Monday, August 16th
Today was the first day of school. We got our forms and learned about what we do in teacher cadets.

Tuesday, August 17th
We read the book The Dot today. We talked about how the teacher in the book inspired her student, who then inspired others.We then split up into groups to discuss ideas for our committees.

Wednesday, August 18th
Today we shared our ideas from the committees with the rest of the class. We also went to the library and learned how to use the die-cut and laminator.

Thursday, August 19th
We learned how to get on this blog and about how to use the teacher cadets website. We split up into groups and made CERRA posters. CERRA stands for Center for Educators Recruitment Retainment and Advancement. We also read The Crayon Box that Talked.


Friday, August 20th
Today we shared our CERRA posters with the class. We talked about the different methods that each group used to make thier posters. We read another book called The Wings of Change. The lesson learned was that sometimes change is for the better and so we need to accept it and step out of our comfort zones. We did an activity where we had to face a partner and memorize how they looked. Then we would turn around and change five things about ourselves and our partner would guess what they were. It was hard when we had to change five more things because we did not want to change the way that we were.

Field Experience - The Final Weeks

Hi Everyone!
I got soooo busy (and sick) - I forgot to maintain the blog! I'm soooo sorry! But anyway - over the last few weeks I saw the most amazing and wonderful things!!! Natalie taught a wonderful lesson on the Holocaust using the line game from the Freedom Writers' Diaries. Megan taught animals in Spanish to her kindergarten class. Nisha taught about money to her little ones, and she read the CUTEST story. Lorena and Shay were bombarded on the playground by a herd of first graders! Quentin and his Spanish 4 class shared a cultural breakfast at Barnes and Noble. Rachel gave a quiz and posed for a class picture while Victoria literally "Remembered the Titans" during mythology day in her seventh grade English class!

Field Experience Week 5

Hi Everybody -

I can't believe there are only 3 weeks left in this experience! I have LOVED visiting all of you. I look forward to more. Don't forget to report to Mauldin High tomorrow (April 12 and 13th) Final Exam papers for Anderson are due on Tuesday, April 13th.

This week, I visited Kirsten at Hillcrest Middle School. She taught a rock lab! We learned about various shapes of prisms and how they mimic minerals in the Earth

I also visited Kathryn at Hope Academy. She teaches a small - cute - cute - cute classroom of 6th grades. Her lesson revolved around measuring lines and pieces of lines.

Finally, I visited Kenzi here at MHS as she taught Elizabeth Barret Browning's Sonnet "How do I love thee....let me count the ways!

Field Experience Week 4

Hi Everyone!

It's spring break! Rest, and enjoy your time off, but don't forget to keep up with your journals and your portfolio for field experience. Also, don't forget to come back to MHS on April 12th. Your final paper for Anderson is due. I want to extend the due date to the 13th. I'll explain more in class.

Okay - this week, I went to Mauldin Middle, Oakview Elementary and Sara Collins Elementary. I am soooooo proud of the work you all are doing:



Tiffany taught a mini lesson on imagery using the senses. She gave her 7th grade students Hershey kisses and had them to write a few sensory sentences about them.



In Mrs Sanders' 7th grade social studies class, Natalie is working with small groups of students helping them to complete research on World War II.

Meanwhile, over at Oakview Elementary, Casey is working with a kindergarten class. I found her putting bags of jelly beans together for an Easter activity.

Down the hall, Katy is working with Mrs. Szymanska's first grade class. They were studying science, and sang a wonderful song for us. "The sun is a mass of incandescent gas......" Very impressive!!!! I saw Katy lead the kids through Calendar Math. Great job!

Aliyah is working with Mrs. Peay's class. She also has a student teacher. What a great opportunity for all.

Over on the third grade all, I found Miss Meghan and her precious class. We took a class picture, and played the "smile if you love Miss Meghan" game. These students absolutely adore her!

Later in the week, I traveled over to Sara Collins to watch Andrea teach Spanish to Mrs Wilkes class. WOW!!!! I am so impressed with what is going on in that classroom. KUDOS to all of you!

Click on "Comments" below and share your BEST and worst experiences this past week. Enjoy your break. I'll see you when you return! - Mrs T.

Field Experience Week 3

Hi Everyone!

We have now finished three weeks of field experience, and I'm seeing lots of WONDERFUL things! Don't forget to turn in your service hours and educational articles for the quarter. ALSO - you should be interviewing teachers for your final paper for Anderson University. Don't forget that it is due on April 12th - when you return from Spring Break! You will come to Mauldin High that day!!!

This week, I visited Bethel and Mauldin Elementary School!! Over at Bethel, Chelsea E works in the coolest room! She is in a first grade class with Ms McKee. Those kids adore her!

I also watched Kayla teach Mrs. Betsil's kindergarten class. She did a GREAT job with calendar math and the morning routine...a natural teacher!

Over at Mauldin Elementary, I saw Miss Nisha working with Mrs. Rainey's students and Lisa was hard at work cutting out materials for Mrs. Puckett's kindergarten class.

Megan is teaching away in Mrs. Lichoulas's room while Shay and Lorena are hard at work in Miss Quinn's class.

Click on comments below to read about each others' best and worst experiences!