![]() Due to family concerns, I was unable to come in last week and was welcomed back with open arms from the students as well as my CT. There were a lot of hugs and questions about my whereabouts which made me feel very good but also a little sad that I missed a day to be around the students. It hadn't registered in my mind how much my presence meant to them and vice versa. I arrived a few minutes earlier than usual so I was allotted time to ask about Halloween and what they decided to dress up as. Throughout the day my CT and I caught up on everything that went on last week; something that we do every Tuesday which has helped us form a great bond. I feel comfortable enough to talk to her about anything that concerns me or even about personal things and ask any questions that I may have. I appreciate how she communicates with me as though I was an actual colleague rather than someone simply helping her around the classroom. She never fails to thank me for helping her at the end of each day. Aside from working with small groups during Mathematics and Language Arts, which has become a routine, I was able to engage in a Read-Aloud with the students. With the talk and hype of the current presidential election, the book that I read was entitled, "Duck For President." Before I began reading, my CT informed the class that there will be a school wide mock voting day that will allow all of the students to vote for the candidate of their choice. Although their votes will not count toward the actual election, it is a great learning activity that exposes them to one of their rights that they will be able to exercise once they become of age. I believe that the school system should not only prepare our students for college but also how to function in the real world. I was so amazed to hear first graders tell me about who they would or would not vote for. I'm pretty sure I was not concerned about who would be in charge of the United States when I was their age; better yet aware of who was running against one another for the presidential position. Times are definitely changing and the educational system is in dire need of adapting to this new generation of children. I would have to admit that reading aloud to children allows me to practice my speaking skills as a future teacher since I am required to read at a much slower pace than I am accustomed to as a college student. I have improved in my execution of reading aloud as I find myself asking more questions that allow the students to apply the story to their personal lives; change the tone of my voice; and ensure that I am not rushing through the story and showing the pictures. My CT also provided me with typed notes of my first formal observation. She and I both acknowledged that teaching a science lesson to the entire class was a huge task that was very challenging but I handled it better than expected. I could admit that I was every overwhelmed by the students' excitement, excessive talking and numerous questions but that comes with the territory. The science lesson focused on identifying the forces of push and pull. I began the lesson by having the students sit on the carpet and review the definitions and motions of a push and pull. The students were then asked to return to their seats for the activity portion of the lesson. The activity included cutting out pictures showing a variety of depictions of push and pull and folding a large piece of yellow construction paper into a trifold. Students were then chosen to stand in front of the class, act out the picture for their classmates and then add it to their trifold when their peers guessed the action correctly. The activity did take up a lot of time and we were not able to get through everything. In our Creating & Differentiating course, we created a visual using play-doh that served as a representation of our classroom management approach. I related closely to assertive discipline, a philosophical approach to management developed by Lee and Marlene Canter. Without a doubt, teachers should be in charge of their classrooms and establish the rules and expectations so students will know what is acceptable and what is not. Students should definitely feel free to communicate with the teacher and express themselves but it is imperative that they understand that the teacher is the authority figure. It is important that they are disciplined when they display undesirable behavior and are provided with positive feedback when they are doing their jobs as students. I also will practice cooperative discipline in my classroom so students will understand that I have their best interest at heart and only want the best for them. We can create a nurturing, positive and enriching environment together.
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