November 3, 2012- November 8, 2012

Monday
Today we discussed our middle school activity of doing burger books. The assignment was to read a middle school grade level book and do "hamburger" book report on it. Every piece to the hamburger book had to have a specific description. The top bun had to be the title and the authors name. The tomato characters and description, the meat needed to have the plot summary. The cheese in the center of the burger had to be your favorite part of the book. The last two would be the tomato which is your opinion or recommendation and the last bun would be your name. Today we also discussed our "cereal chats" that we will have on Thursday with teachers at Mauldin High School. We also discussed our experiences observing middle schools on Thursday and Friday. While being in Hillcrest Middle School, I noticed in each classroom there were the crazy, loud, immature students but there were also the very calm and studious students. This showed me that the middle school experience is different to everyone.


Tuesday
So today, Mrs. Turner had us take some pictures. The thing about taking pictures with Mrs. Turner is that she doesn't say what it is for. The most we know is that we will know sometime before Christmas because we had to take pictures with a Santa Clause hat.
We had a wonderful guest speaker today! Mr. Bufis came in and shared with us his whole college experience working to become a teacher. Mr. Bufis was actually one of Mrs. Turner's students in teacher cadets, six years ago. He gave us all a sharpie as a gift, because just like a sharpie leaves a permanent mark when you write with it; he encourages us to always leave a permanent mark on our students when we become teachers. He attached a poem with it that went:

  S: Supportive

  H: Humorous 
A: Attentive

    R: Resourceful

P: Patience

   I: Intelligence

 E: Energetic

Mr. Bufis also explained to us all the tests and certifications we had to take and pass to be able to be a teacher. He showed us this website, http://www.ets.org/praxis that explains to use in more detail the many tests we will need to take.


Wednesday
Today, Mrs. Turner taught us a wonderful activity that will definitely be in my lesson plans! Since tomorrow we have our cereal chats, we came up with questions by doing activity that categorizes them by subject. Mrs. Turner put headings on a big piece of paper and we went around with post-it notes and asks some questions we may have about that specific heading. This is a wonderful activity for any teacher to do because it allows every student to ask any question they have, instead of sometimes not raising their hands in class.

Thursday
Today, we had our "Cereal Chats" with teachers at Mauldin High School. I sat down with Mrs. Powell which is a U.S History teacher. She had many wonderful things to share with us. It was a great experience for me because I had her as a teacher junior year and it was great being able to talk to her about everything else and not just U.S History. I would have never known how she thinks she is as a teacher if I wouldn't have had this opportunity. "Cereal Chats" are a wonderful idea!

Friday
We finally finished all of our teacher crayon boxes! Now every teacher has their own and can be thanked and encouraged to continue to do all the wonderful things they do for MHS. Earlier in the morning, we took our Teacher Cadets year book picture, which we all came out wonderful! Well, we hope we did.

Saturday
Today was a great day with Teacher Cadets! A few of us, went to help a Christmas event that Chiefs was sponsoring that gave families with special need kids to take pictures with Santa, make picture frames, candy cane animals, and enjoy some breakfast together! Most of us were there from 7:30 in the morning to around 10:00. Spanish National Honor Society of Mauldin High School was also helping with the event. It was a wonderful experience because we were working with kids, helping the community and most importantly, we were together outside of school. This shows how much of a family we can still be outside of Mauldin High School.

Teaching is the profession that teaches all other professions!

-unknown

November 26th - November 30th

Monday

Today, Mrs. Turner introduced us to the middle school unit. She read us the poem "What Is a Middle Schooler?" I thought the poem was very interesting, and agreed with what it had to say. I agreed with it because middle school is the time in a child's life when they are just starting out who they are, and it's that in between stage. Then, we discussed Erikson's eight stages of development. Mrs. Turner also introduced our Burger Books. We are to pick a book of upper elementary/middle school level and reread it. We needed to pick a book by Wednesday. Then, we are going to create the books on Monday. The top bun will have the author and title. The tomato will have the characters and brief descriptions. The lettuce will have a summary. The cheese will have our favorite part of the book. The meat will have our opinion of the book and a recommendation. The last part is the bottom bun, which will have our name. Towards the end of class, we watch a video on Langston Charter Middle School. 

Tuesday

Today, Mrs. Kirby was supposed to come and talk to us from Hillcrest Middle School, but instead, Mrs. Acton came. She teaches 8th grade math at Hillcrest. She shared with us about the education she got, and how she got into teaching. She told us that she subbed for a while before she became a teacher at Hillcrest. She shared with us why she loves teaching 8th grade so much, and about different kinds of activities she does with her kids. She said it's very important that in middle school, you keep the attention of your kids. She also told us about her interview experience. She said that it is very important to dress nice and make a good impression when you go for an interview. Lastly, she told us about a journal she does with her kids at the end of the year. She lets her kids write whatever they want to in it. She shared some of the things that the kids wrote, and told us that the reason she loves being a teacher is because of the things her kids write.

Wednesday

Today, Mrs. Ambrose came to talk to us about teaching middle school. She is a teacher at Ralph Chandler Middle School, and is the South Carolina History Teacher of the Year. She started of with asking us how we had changed since middle school, and talked to us about how middle school kids are unfinished. She told us that middle school kids are socially active, inquisitive, impulsive, emotional, and hopeful. She talked with us about the Star Tracker that she has in her room, and how the kids get stars when they do good things. It helps to boost their self-esteem. Then, she went around the room and asked some people why they wanted to be teachers, and it was great to hear what people said. She told us that if you are going to be a teacher, you need to be passionate about what you do, flexible, compassionate, creative, and have a good sense of humor. Then, she talked to us about how her middle school has teams, and all the teachers work with the same kids. Lastly, she shared with us about what she has learned being a teacher. She told us lesson plans are never done, persistence is as important as talent, be consistent, forgiveness is vital, and relationships are vital to success.

Thursday

Today was the first day of middle school observations. I was supposed to go and visit Mrs. LaColla's 7th grade Social Studies class, but she didn't have a first period. I ended up observing Mrs. Carswell's 8th grade Social Studies class. They were studying the American Revolution. They had just finished studying the French and Indian War. She had the vocabulary on the board. The kids were to pick some of the terms, and write the definitions in their own words. The kids did a good job with remembering the definitions of the words. Then, the kids took a few notes and it was time to go.

Friday

Today was the second day of middle school observations. I visited Mrs. Adam's English class. Homeroom ran late today because of careers. Career Day is in December at Hillcrest, and the kids had to sign up for what careers they wanted to go and see. They had a whole list of careers to pick from like entrepreneurs, vets, aviation, marines, police officer, and much more. After homeroom, her English I Honors kids came in, and it was test day. She gave the kids a few minutes to study, and then it was time to take the stems test. 

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

13th and 14th week as Teacher Cadets!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Today we heard from 2011 South Carolina Teacher of the Year, Kelly Nalley. Catherine and I had a wonderful time sitting at the green apple table and chatting with Mrs. Nalley. Amy's pumpkin muffins were also spectacular! Mrs. Nalley gave a wonderful presentation on her beginning teacher years with photos of her and her prior students. She has taught Montessori, Elementary and 6th grade and now teaches Spanish at the Elementary Level at Fork Shoals Elementary.

She was so full of joy when she spoke to us, too!

Tuesday, November 13, 2012

We went to our separate observation sites. I was at Five Oaks Academy with Catherine. We started in Lower Elementary with Mrs. Karalee. The children were having their classic book day for the week. A teacher dressed up as Cinderella and read them the book! Mrs. Karalee showed us some activities around the classroom, showed us the coat and portfolio room along with their state of the art computer lab. Their portfolio has everything they need to learn for all three years they are in their class. When the teachers sees that they have completed the work to a satisfactory point, the work is checked off and the student can choose to preserve it in their portfolio. We then moved to be with Upper Elementary to see the kids in action. We were able to ask the kids what they were learning and go to different 'centers' of learning. I learned what a gerund was from a fifth grader. It was a truly humbling experience.

Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, November 14-16, 2012

We watched The Ron Clark Story about the genius mind of Ron Clark. He leaves his safe and warm teaching job in North Carolina and finds a position at Lower Harlem Elementary teaching 7th grade. He learns to teach through rap and dance. He hurts himself for their benefit and encourages his kids to reach beyond their expectations and to find their potential.

Monday, November 19, 2012

We went to Mauldin Elementary to spend quality time with Mrs. Vaugn's class. Olivia read us two Thanksgiving books and then we made Turkey Table Toppers. The eyes and feet were super hard to keep together but in the end they looked, fabulous and the kids loved them! When we were done we did phonetic spelling with our buddies. The word, 'turkey' would most likely be spelled, 'trke'. I can't wait to see how they grow!

Olivia read The Night Before Thanksgiving

Alex and her buddy's little turkey

Frannie and her two friends

Mrs Vaughn's Kindergarten Class

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

We had our Pilgrim Hat inservice today. We certainly cranked out just enough for every teacher and staff member. It was a great way to kick off Thanksgiving break!

"Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught."         -Oscar Wilde 

November 5-11, 2012

November 5:
Today we got our articles about elementary school.  One was about good parenting skills and the other one was about children growing up too fast.  Then we talked about what we liked and disliked about the Montessori school we visited last week.  Then we got the supplies for our balloon letters to our kindergarten buddies.  Don't forget those are due next Monday! :)

 - Dream Big!  Soar Higher!

November 6:
NO SCHOOL!  Go vote!


November 7:
Today we talked about the articles we read Monday.  We got into small groups and discussed the top 5 things that parents shoud do with elementary aged children and the worst 2 things a parent could do with an elementary aged child.  Then we signed up for which classroom we would go to Thursday at Mauldin Elementary School.


November 8:
We all went to Mauldin Elementary School and split up.  I was with Mrs. Hutto in K5.  It was great to observe another class.

November 9:
Today we went to Anderson University in our super spiffy t-shirts.  It was a really informative trip and the pizza was really good.  The day ended with a panel of students and...TEACHING FELLOWS! Hey! Yeah, you!  The application for Teaching Fellows is due DEC. 1st!

Our lovely group at Anderson University!

"Minds are like parachutes. They only function when they are open."
-Anonymous

October 29 to November 2, 2012 :)

October 29
      Today, we talked about our day with preschoolers.  We all shared our thoughts on the schools; we said what we liked about the school and what we didn't.  After that, we made witch hat treats for the staff at Maudlin   We started off with a chocolaty stripped cookie.  Then, we put a dot of orange icing in the center of the cookie.  We added a unwrapped Hersey Kiss in the middle of the orange dot.  It made the perfect witch hat cookie!

October 30
      Today, Mrs. Vaughn came into class to tell us about her kinder-gardeners.  She started off telling us about herself, and we got to see pictures of her beautiful wedding.  Then, she went through each one of her "kids" and told us about their personalities and what they needed help with. We had to think about which child would fit our personality and would get along with us best.  We got to chose our buddy for the rest of the year.  Some people wanted the same child, so, we had to talk it out and figure out who would be best with the child.  All the kids are cute and seem really sweet.

October 31
       Today is Halloween!  We got to visit Mrs. Vaughn's class today.  When we got to the class, the kids were working on a classwork.  After they finished, we got to make spider bags with them.  We had to use two halves of a black paper plate, eight pipe cleaners, two eyes, a mouth, and a string.  First, we had to staple the two halves of the black paper plate together.  The kids got to chose where they wanted the legs (pipe cleaners) to go, and we had to staple them in.  The kids then got to glue down the eyes and stick the mouth on the front of the spider.  After the kids did that, we took the hole punched the two ends and put string through it to make it a bag.  When we finished making the spiders the kids went trick or treating around the classroom.  They got to fill their bags with all different types of candy!

"Trick or Treat"

                                                         

November 1
        Today, we started off by making the teacher crayon boxes for their doors.  While we were doing that Alex presented her blog from last week.  After that we got to look a the t-shirt design.  Everyone loved the back of the shirt, but we decided to change the front to make it more detailed.  Then, we had to finish picking our buddies for the rest of the year.  Everyone got to pick a buddy, and everyone seemed happy with who they got.  The last thing we did was watch a video about Montessori education.  Montessori education is when you learn how to do things through hands on activities and learn how to be independent.  Montessori education has five different sections: science practical life, sensory, culture, mathematics  and language.  They learn all of these sections through several different activities.  Each child gets to chose what they want to do each day, and they work on it until they are finished.

                                                

November 2
       Today, we went to Five Oaks Academy and got a tour of the school.  We got to go into a couple of the classrooms to see how they were set up and how the kids acted.  We learned that they use activities to learn something.  If they don't get it the first time, they are able to try to learn in through a different activity.  Whenever two people get into a fight, an adult takes them to a separate area to talk out their problems.  This school works with kids to help them work with others and to be calm about things.  The school was really pretty and calm

                                 .


 “The hands are the instruments of man’s intelligence.” 
- Maria Montessori 

October 22-26, 2012

Today Mrs. Turner taught us about the Four Stages of CognitiveDevelopment. The first stage is the Sensory Motor Stage (Age Birth-2), this stage is mastering concrete objects. In this stage children are learning through their senses. The second stage is the Pre-Operational Stage (ages2-6), in this stage language is being developed and the enhancement of symbolic thought. The child is relying on intution and what seems right. The third stage is the Concrete Operational Stage (Ages7-11), At this stage childre can reason deductively and deal with the world in the way they see it. The final stage is the Formal Operational Stage (Ages 12 and older), at this stage abstract reasoning is developed.

 

On Tuesday we took a field trip to Walmart to go Toy Shopping!!!! We enjoyed the experience. I love being able to work together as a class. When we got to Walmart Mrs. Turner gave us sheets to write down different toys that would be suitable for the four different cognitive stages. We had to look around and see which toys would be good for the different stages. I really enjoyed this experience and it gave me ideas on what toys would be great to have in my future classroom.

 



On Wednesday we had a summer because Mrs. Turner was in Mrytle Beach for a Teacher Cadet conference we missed her very much. Today we finally got to know why Mrs. Turner had us have our picture taken making it look like we were on a mountain, we were in Hot Air Balloons. I loved this craft, this has probably been one of my favorites. everyone did such a wonderful job creating them.

 

 

 

Today we got to visit different pre schools and observe how they do things. Sydney, Frannie, Jessica and I went Kids R Kids. I found that pre-schools today are way cooler than when I was in one. I learned that in the room with the new borns and early infants they use sign language. I found that very interesting. I also found out they are a no shoes enviroment when they're in that room. We also got a chance to observe a kindergarten class and watched them dance to a jumping up and down song. I really enjoyed my time at the pre-school!!!

On Friday we had to make a poster about our pre school. We had to tell about what we had seen and learned about pre school. On our poster we had to tell about the pre school, the cost, the times, and child to adult ratio. We wont present these until Mrs. Turner comes back. We really missed her and we hope she had a great time!! We love you Mrs. Turner!!!

 

 

" The child is both a Hope and a Promise for mankind."

-Maria Montessori-

 

 





 

 



October 15-17: Short Week

October 15, 2012
Today we had a shortened day because of the jostens meeting.  We didn't have much time to work on our big books. 

October 17, 2012
We had much more time today to work on our big books.  Most of us had most of it done but still had a lot to do.  We were really excited about the next day because we were going to present the big books to Mrs. Vaughn's class.

October 18, 2012
Finally today we finished our big books during our three hour period since the PSAT was that day.  Today we are going to present our big books to the little kids and our faculty meeting together. 

Amy coloring with her little friend!

All of us at the IHOP!

Delaney and Ashley!

 

Hope everyone had a great fall break but I sure am happy we are back together again next week for a another great week with all of y'all.  Also hope y'all had a great time at Mauldin Elementary and your big books and at IHOP with everyone!

 

 



Eighth Week as Teacher Cadets!

October 8, 2012
On Monday we were all at different sites observing special ed classrooms.  I went to Sara Collins Elementary and observed Mrs. Lewandowski.  At the beginning of class she had a few activities for the kids to do on the promethean board.  It was interesting to see different disabilities at a younger age since the week before I observed Mrs. Smith's class.  There was this one activity that they did, they had to choose the right shape on the board that she was looking for.  If the student chose the right shape it would be a good sound but if not, it would be like a burp or something.  It was funny to watch the kids laugh at the different sounds.  After they were done with the activities on the promethean board, it was math time.  It was great observing her classroom and really was a new experience for me. 

October 9, 2012
Today we were seperated again sadly but I went to Hope Academy and observed Ms. Claires class.  Laura, Olivia, Frazier and I were in her class in the fourth and fifth grade class.  All of the students in her class were working on math but each one was doing something different for math.  For example like decimals, rounding, adding or multiplication.  The students were talkative with us and telling us their favorite interests and what they liked to do.  Ms. Claire was so positive and supportive of her students and helping each one individually.  I enjoyed observing her classroom and being able to interact with her students.  Hope Academy has such a great system going for all of their students and I am happy that we were able to see just a little bit of all their programs that they offer.





October 10, 2012

On Wednesday we are finally back together at school!  We shared with each other about how our observations went!  After we shared our experiences at the different places we went to, Mrs. Turner told us about finishing our journals by October 16 and also telling us about our next BIG project, literally.  Our project is our big book project which some of us will present to the little kids in Mrs. Vaughn's classroom.  We chose our topic, either it being on death of a family member, or a topic that kids could relate to. We also went over the book The Acorn People and dicussed it with each other, on what we thought of the book. 

October 11, 2012

On Thursday we worked on our big books some more.  Coming up with a story, editing the story and then thinking of ideas to decorate our books.  Thursday we spent the class period working on our books!

October 12, 2012

Friday it was pep rally day so we had a shortened period :( We worked on our big books again while we had observers from Eastside High look at our Teacher Cadet class.  Since we had a shortened period we had to work fast and get our ideas together!  Can't wait to see all of our finished books next Wednesday!

"If a window of opportunity appears, don't pull down the shade."

-Tom Peters 

 

Seventh Week of Teacher Cadets


Monday October 1, 2012

Today we had quest speaker, Susan Sachs, from HOPE Academy come and tell us about their program.  HOPE is an acronym for Help Our Potential Emerge.  The HOPE Project is located in Advent Methodist Church on Woodruff Road and has four main programs.  The first program is HOPE Link.  This program contacts the families of kids with autism and helps them get past the despair that they feel after their children are diagnosed.  The second program is HOPE Academy.  The Academy was started because many day cares don’t want to accept children with autism.  This program provides a place for the children to apply what they learn in ABA (applied behavior analysis).  The third program, HOPE Reach, contains the ABA therapists that work with the kids, and the fourth program, Virtual HOPE, is for academically capable students who have had a rough time in school.  The fourth program gives them a safe place to learn.  Mrs. Sachs taught us so much about Project HOPE!

 

Tuesday October 2, 2012

Today was a day for tying up loose ends and planning new projects.  J  Mrs. Turner told us we would have opportunities to visit different special needs classrooms on October 5, 8, and 9.  On one of three of these days we will go to visit HOPE Academy.  On one or two of the other days we will visit another site of our choosing.  It was a pretty hectic event trying to sign up for visiting days all at once, but it worked out in the end!  After we signed up for our days, we all walked down to the library to pick up the book we are going to read.  It’s called The Acorn People, and it’s about a man who signs up to be a camp counselor and expectantly gets to work to with special needs children.  As the story progresses, the group grows closer.  This book highlights what happened that summer, and promises to be an excellent recount of personal growth.  I hope you all like the book as much as I did!

                                            

Wednesday October 3, 2012

We made more crayon boxes for the teachers today.  Our goal is to have a crayon box for every teacher as soon as possible, and with a productive class like ours, that shouldn’t be a problem! J When we finished we had free time to read The Acorn People.  Before we could leave class though, some of our wonderful volunteers had to make sure that the classroom was nice, neat, and clean.  Our volunteers did a wonderful job and left the room spotless!

                                                         

Thursday October 4, 2012

We made sure to complete any unfinished crayon boxes today and started a few new ones as well.  We made sure to laminate the newly prepared gifts and post them on the teachers’ doors as quiet as mice.  Quite a few cadets took this time to catch up on their reading of The Acorn People, while a few others broke out their artistic talent and went to work on the cafeteria bulletin board.  One of the cadets in particular was nice enough to trace out a moon and a cute little bat for the board.  The catch phrase on the board is adorable and captures the Halloween spirit.  “What is a witch’s favorite subject,” it asks, “Spelling!”  It looks wonderful!  Just a reminder to everyone,  we get to spend time with our kindergartner buddies celebrating Halloween.   We will be picking out our little friends shortly!  J

                                                  

Friday October 5, 2012

For many of us, today was our first observance day!  A group of about eight cadets went to visit HOPE Academy this morning and most likely fell in love with the kids there.  A few of us went to visit Mrs. Smith’s class at Mauldin, while others visited Sarah Collins Elementary or Mauldin Middle.  I’m sure we all had a blast visiting and learning about the kids.  The cadets that went to HOPE Academy got to learn more about the program and visit a class.  The other cadets had similar experiences in their host classes as well.  The kids were such sweethearts, and we all had fun spending time with them.  Just so we all know, there are two more visiting days.  Have a fun time visiting your classes everyone!

 

"We cannot hold a torch to another's path, without brightening our own"-Ben Sweetland

Sixth Week as Teacher Cadets

Monday, September 24, 2012

Today Mrs. Turner picked random people to partner up, and read an article together.  She chose people from popsicle sticks, and got us to interact with people that we haven't worked before. This was a good way for us to meet some classmates, and for us to work together.  We had to read the article with our partner for a few minutes, and find facts that would be important to share with the class.  This was a good exercise because we got to learn how to teach in front of a class, and give facts to our audience. The first group that went up to teach the class was Sydney and Rebecca. The topic they had was "Abuse and Neglect."  A fact that stood out to several people were that kids who are abuse are more mad at the people who didn't help, than the person who actually hurt them.
   

Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Today more groups went up to present to the class. Each time someone went up, Mrs. Turner us advice on how to be a better teacher, by not reading to fast so people can right down facts.  This helped us in several ways because people were learning how to teach verbally to a class.  We learned about very interesting topics such as  sleep deprivation, substance abuse, eating disorders, teen pregnancy, death, bullying, etc. A very shocking fact that we learned was that we need 9.2 HOURS of sleep to help us through our whole day.  We know that not even half of us sleep that much especially in high school, with all the work that teachers give us!!

  

Wednesday, September 26,2012
Today, in the first 20 minutes of class, we took a "field trip" outside to take pictures for a special project Mrs. Turner is making for us! This is was really fun because of all of the different faces and positions people were doing, pretending we were looking down at people.  After we got back from out trip outside, we finish up our presentations.  Today the presentations were about ADD/ADHD,  ESOL, depression and suicidal, poverty, etc. Some of the presentations were very heart touching on people, but we connected closer together by sharing these stories to each other. It is shocking how everyone in our class and relate to one of the topics that we have learned through out the week.

Maddi as Miss "Future Homecoming Queen"

Thursday,  September 27, 2012
Today is our FUN DAY! We recreated several disabilities that people have, so that each of us could feel how people go through this everyday.  For speech impairment, we stuck marshmallows in our mouth. For visual impairment, we covered goggles and braille reading. For Dyslexia, we had to write while looking in a mirror.  For physical impairment, we had to paint with no arms. This was a very amazing activity because it makes us so grateful for how health we are, and there are so many people out there in the world who can't do half of the things that we do everyday.

Using their MOUTHS to paint.

Saige was really good at talking with marshmallows in her mouth.

Friday, September 28, 2012

Today we turned our very first BIG assignment to Anderson University about ourselves.  Remember that our next one is due November 27, and it is the newsletter article.  Mrs. Turner told us that we're are going to have a special guest coming to talk to us about Autism from Project Hope.  To prepare for this, she showed us a video about Autism.  Autism is a development disorder, and it affects the brain's normal development social and communication skills.  We can not wait to work with the Hope Academy again, since we already worked with them during Spirit Week 2011.

MHS ♥ Project Hope!

“Disability is a matter of perception. If you can do just one thing well, you're needed by someone.” - Martina Navratilova