October 7-15 was spent working on our pots for our teachers and our barriers to educations books for Mrs. Vaughn's Kindergarten class! 

For our pots we had to pick 6-7 teachers to adopt for the school year! We spent class time decorating the pots and making them special for our teachers! We also had class time to work on our barrier books, we each picked a topic, and we had to make a life size book to share with Mrs. Vaughn's class! 

On October 16th we met at Mauldin Elementary to read our stories to the Kindergartners! The books contained puppets, sensory objects and activities for the children so they could interact throughout the story! 

Tiffany hanging out with sweet Elizabeth! 

Students showing us how awesome sharing is! 

Teacher Cadets and Mrs. Vaughn's kindergarten class! 

On Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of this week everyone in the class signed up to go visit different special needs education classes.

On Monday I went to Hope Academy and visited with the 5k/1st grade class. I could immediately tell who the two children with autism were because they both had shadows and one of them kept lashing out. It was really neat to see how the other students reacted to both of those boys like it was no big deal they were in there and they didn't treat them any differently.

On Tuesday I went to Mauldin Middle School and visited Mr. Finch's class. The kids in there had different special needs from autism to downs syndrome. I really enjoyed vising his class because I could tell he really had a heart for what he was doing. Some of the kids in there really struggled to stay on task and follow directions for even the simplest tasks and I know it takes a lot of patience to have a job like that.

On Wednesday I went to Mauldin Elementary School to observe Mrs. Rainey's neurological class of 5k/1st graders. Some of them had autism, downs or just a speech impediment. They were all so cute and Audrey and I got to read books to them for the first part of the observation. In the morning they were integrated with regular students to do morning work and then came back to their class.

Senior Pink Day!

On Thursday and Friday in class we worked on our flower pots which we made to hang up on teachers doors so that throughout the year we can write encouraging notes to put in their pots. We each selected 6-7 teachers to sponsor and we are responsible for making their pots and giving them notes throughout the year.

September 27th

Mrs. Susan Sachs from Hope Academy came to tell us more about the wonderful school.  She went into more depth about Autism, and explained the types of classrooms that Hope Academy offers.  You can tell that she absolutely loves her job, and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.  Raising a son with Autism, she knows first hand what it is like to take care of someone with special needs.  She is a very patient woman, and she is very good at what she does.

September 26th

Today, we watched a video about Autism.  It was made by Hope Academy.  We learned that people with Autism struggle in three main areas:  Communication, Social Interaction, and Behavior.  Also, there is a spectrum for Autism.  Severe cases are referred to as "Classic Autism" and mild cases are classified as Asperger's. One in 50 children have Autism.  The number of children diagnosed with Autism is increasing quickly.  People with Autism may require more help, but they are some of the most fun and loving people.

September 25th

Today was Disability Day.  It had such an impact on everyone in the class.  We had different stations that helped us understand what it was like to have certain disabilities.  The stations were dyslexia, blindness, speech impediment, no use of arms, and webbed fingers.  All of the stations were difficult to complete.  It made us have a new respect for people with disabilities.

September 24th

Mrs. Poole from Anderson University came to visit our class!  She shared information with us about our autobiography, mid-term brochure, newsletters, and teacher interviews.  She was a great representative of Anderson.

September 23rd

Today, we read Mrs. Spitzer's Garden.  The book was about a teacher who was about to start the school year.  Instead of teaching children, she planted seeds.  Throughout the year, she watered the garden to ensure that every plant was growing.  Also, it mentioned that every plant was different and special in its own way.  This is a wonderful example for how teachers should view their students.

In addition to reading the book, we all picked teachers that we would like to encourage each month.  Doing nice things for the teachers is a great way to thank them for everything they do.

September 16th-20th

  On Monday, we played two games that allowed us to understand how children with certain learning barriers feel about things in school that come easy to us. One game was played when Polly the penguin wanted to go on a picnic and she wanted to being pizza. Polly asked everyone in the room if they wanted to go and what they wanted to bring. The object of the game was that if you wanted to go, you could only bring something that started with the first letter of your first name; so Audrey could bring apples, but Whitney couldn't bring tomatoes. This game continued for a while, and you began to hear classmates say they gave up. Hearing so many people say they were confused and couldn't understand so they were just going to quit was exactly like how many children facing barriers feel daily! The second game dealt with numbers and trying to make sense of a jumbled  mess. While this compilation was intended, for children with disabilities things that look clear to us look jumbled to them. This was a great way to understand what learning barriers actually feel like and how discouraging they can be!

  On Tuesday, we did a craft called "Paper Plates of Prejudice". In this craft, we had to draw a picture of ourselves on a paper plate and then write 2-3 words on the front describing how we think people see us. On the back we had to draw a heart, and write in the heart 2-3 words describing how we actually are. This was a great way for us to understand how so many kids can put on a front, and hide how they actually feel. It reminded us that we should never judge anyone because we never know what they are hiding behind their paper plate. It was a really good way for us to get to know our classmates too, and find out how many people felt the same exact way we do!

  On Wednesday and Thursday, we split up into pairs and read articles about the barriers of learning: abuse/neglect, substance abuse, teen pregnancy, bullying, esl, poverty, sleep deprivation, death/grief, eating disorders, ADD/ADHD, and depression/suicide. When everyone had finished reading their assigned topic and picking out the highlights, we presented our topics and gave the most important parts. It was a really great way to just cut to the chase and understand challenges many kids face! Mrs. Vaughn also stopped in to let us know approximately when we will start coming to her kindergarten class, and to give us advice on things to do and bring. She also brought her precious new baby Cooper! They were great to have in class!

  On Friday, Mrs. Charlton came in and explained to us exactly what a 504 plan and an IEP plan was, and the requirements for both. Both are great ways for helping kids overcome their barriers to learning, and Mrs. Charlton really made it clear what the difference was, and how it would be our responsibilities as teachers to accommodate follow each plan, in order to provide the child with the best experience possible! All in all we had a great week and learned a lot about problems we never really think too much about!

"Live as if you die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever."

                                                -Mahatma Gandhi

 

September 9th - September 13th

This week we learned about gangs and gang activity.

Officer K talked to us on Monday about his history in a gang and why he decided to leave and become a "new person." On Tuesday we learned about the signs of gang members and how to deal with them if they are students in your class some day. On Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday we watched Gridiron Gang which was a true story about boys in the juvenile delinquent center who start a football team. This inspiring movie relates to Maslow's hierarchy of needs.

Monday September 9th, 2013

Tuesday through Wednesday- September 3-4th

Today we read and discussed the "pot" article. Different people's
pots are filled with either positive or negative things. We also l
earned that people should fill each
others pots with positive things. After reading the "pot" a
rticle we started to craft our
 own buckets, relating to the pot article. On each
of our buckets we created them to
reflect our personality or special qualities.




Morgan crafting her Gamecock bucket 



Other creative buckets

Thursday- September 5th

Today we read two different pieces of writing that
relating to our bucket crafts. The first was
Have You Filled a Bucket Today? This was an
8 time awards winning children's book. This book
 is a cute way of teaching little kids how to
"fill someones bucket". This was a great book
to read in our class today for many reasons.
It taught us today that the little things in life
that you do for a person can fill someones
bucket. We also received our own buckets
filler slips to put in each others buckets to
give to each other anonymously.

 

Bucket fillers



Also we read another article called the

Self Esteem Fraud. This article was a real

eye opener to me. Many kids earn praise that

is undeserved. This is bad in many ways for

kids, because they will always believe that they

are right no matter what. We also had to choose

 one quote from the article that made us angry

or mad.

 

Friday- September 6th

 

Today we had a guest visitor, Greshan
Charlton, come to
speak to us about the
scholarships offered for teachers.
The Teaching Fellowship is
worth up to $24,000
(up to $6,000 per year) and
is forgiven by teaching in
a South Carolina public school
for each year funding is awarded.
We greatly appreciated her for
helping us learn about this great Fellowship
scholarship. Also we learned about
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs.

Mrs. Charlton

 “Education is the most powerful weapon

 which you can use to change the world.”
― Nelson Mandela

 

 









August the 21st through the 23rd
During the first week of school, we did icebreakers to find out more about each other. The ice breakers were the six word poems, the inside outside circle, and the activity where we had to line up in a certain order based on shoe size, birthday etc. without talking. The six word poem was where we could only use six words to describe ourselves and we had to guess who's was who's. The activity where we had to line up without talking, showed us how it would be if we were deaf and had to use "sign language" or communicate to others that didn't know sign language.

My six word poem

Monday the 26th
We assigned our name tags that we decorated above the six word  poem they completed. The person that guessed the most correctly got a prize. We also did an activity where we were assigned a crayon, but we couldn't share the crayon or use another person's. The thing we had to draw was our vision of a teacher with some words that describe it. We presented our teachers to the front of the class and then we read The Crayon Box That Talked.


My group making our teacher



Tuesday the 27th
We played a game called Human Bingo where we had to go around and ask questions without asking the same person twice. Also we did an activity where we had to change 5 things about our appearance and our partner had to guess what we changed. Then Mrs. Turner, told us to change five more things and finally ten things. This showed us how difficult change is and how overwhelming it can be. Then we read the book Wings of change that deals with children having to go through change.

My Human Bingo card

The book Wings of change

'























Wednesday through Friday the 28th-30th
On these days we did a craft in response to the book  Wings of Change. We made our own butterflies and got to decorate them however we wanted to. On our butterflies, there were certain questions the we answered and glued onto the wings of our butterfly. The questions were "If I were guaranteed success I would...", "I strongly believe that...", "I _______ very well", and "My source of strength is..." We worked on these until Friday and then presented our butterflies to the class and read our answers to the questions.

My butterfly

"Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid."

Albert Einstein

Field Experience Continues

This week, I had the privilege of visiting the Early Childhood Classrooms (and one fifth grade class!)

  These girls continue to AMAZE me!  Love them all!

Madi teaching time to Miss Foster's first grade class at Bethel

Rebecca reading to her second graders in Mrs. Hamm's class at MES.

Alex consoling one of her 1st graders in Mrs. Lichoulas' class at MES

Jessie helping one of her 2nd graders with math in Mrs. Bryson's class at MES

Delaney and her sweet second grade class with Mrs Campbell at MES

Sydney is working on the letter of the week with her pre-schoolers at Pocketful of Miracles.

Amy is helping her fifth graders with math in Mrs. King's class at Bethel.

 

March 15 - St Patty's Day Celebration

My sweet girls working with our kindergarten buddies on St. Patrick's Day!

Field Experience 2013

Well, all my wonderful ladies are out in the field, and I couldn't be more proud!  So far, I have visited the youngest classes! I miss them in the mornings, but it is so nice to visit their schools and to see them so happy.  They represent Mauldin so well, and they are really going to be FABULOUS teachers one day!

Heloisa with Mrs. Vaughn's K5 class - Mauldin Elementary

Anna with K5 - Mrs. Rainey at Mauldin Elementary

Catherine with Mrs. Puckett's K5 class at Mauldin Elementary

Ashley with Mrs. Anderson's Pre-K class at Mauldin Elementary

Olivia with Mrs Hull and her kindergarteners at Mauldin Elementary.

Manuela and her little ones at Hope Academy

Frannie with Mrs. Rainey's K5 class at Mauldin Elementary