Nicole's Blog

student recognition

In the classroom that I work in students get recognized for several things:

• In the morning the kids work on their morning journals and have to write about what they draw. After about 30 min. I go around and pick a student's journal that has both written about what they had drawn and had been working quietly throughout their journal time. When the student gets picked, they get to present their journal to the rest of the class during morning circle. They also receive a sticker to put on their sticker chart.
• Every morning I choose a student to be special helper. This child gets to do "special" tasks in the classroom. When he/ she gets chosen they get to be the line leader, help with the morning message, etc. No student gets chosen twice unless everyone has already been the special helper.
• Also, when a student is following the rules or being productive, I tell them they are doing a good job and give them a sticker. This reinforces the idea of being on good behavior, when the teacher or I are not looking, to the other children.

Future Teaching

With the internship I am currently doing, I work with Kindergartners. The classroom and overall vibe of working with kindergartners is great! I love the "warm fuzzy" feeling of being in such a caring environment. I can see myself working with Kindergartners in the future because I am a very artistic, caring, fun person. All these qualities could help me be a great Kindergartner teacher in the future. If I don't become a kindergartner teacher I would love to see myself teaching a "hands-on" science or math class.

In the Classroom...

The last two weeks I have been working in an elementary school with Kindergartners. On Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays of every week I work in the morning with this one Kindergarten class. In the class I work with the students on their daily journals. Their journals consist of drawing any picture/s that they would like, but they have to write about what they had drawn on the lines provided. Last week I learned that one of the students that I am working with is on a 3rd grade reading level. I could see this through his journal one day. He had written Madagascar on his paper and then had drawn all the characters from the movie. He is a very bright boy, and during their morning circle he has trouble keeping quiet and staying seated. I think this is because he becomes bored with the class.  A lot of the students have surprised me with their journals. At a kindergarten level, some of the kids are writing complete sentences on their own. There is a wide rang of skills in the class. Some students are still learning to write their letters, and some of the students are writing full sentences. All of the kids I am working with are all very different, but they are very enjoyable. Having to work with this class at the beginning of the day starts my Tues, Wed, and Thurs. very well.

Mrs. Mateling

I am a Junior in high school and have had many teachers through my life. The one teacher that has imacted my life the most is Ms. Mateling, my 5th grade teacher. She is not your ordinary everyday teacher, she's fun, outgoing, and always has a joke or two up her sleeve. Her motivation shows through in her teachings. I remember when I was in her class when we were learning how to do long division or some other new math concept(I can't really remember), and when I tried to learn the process of this method, I ended up teaching myself how to do it differently, a way that I could understand. When Ms. Mateling saw this the next day, when she checked our homework, she asked me to put a problem on the board. When I did this she noticed that the method I was using to get my answer was very different, but yet I was getting the answer right. When I was at the board, she asked me to explain the method that I was using, so i did. At first it seemed like she wasn't understanding, so I explained it again. By this time my friend Cassie had recognized how I was working this problem out. So she tried explaining it to Mrs. Mateling. For some reason,because she was not understanding what I was doing, I started crying. I was so glad that she took the time that day to understand what I was thinking when I was working out this problem. In the end, she understood how I was working the problem out and never stooped me from doing it that way. I appreciated her so much because she helped me think outside of the box and become more open with others.(I think this is why I am so outgoing today.) She is a wonderful teacher, and I still see her to this day.

Look what I found!

I found an article on why teachers teach. This article's title was "The Students Are the Best Part of the Job". This article talks about different teacher's views of their life in the classroom. One comment that really hit me was the school teacher's are like role models to kids and gets them away from sex, drugs, and violence that happens outside of school. As a student, teachers do set good morals for their students and it helps their future in great ways. Teacher are like parents just not related. They care for you and want the best out of life for you. I think students are the best part about teaching.

This Week

This week has been very long. We had a FGE, Future Georgia Educators, club meeting on Monday. We discussed service projects that we will be doing every month. This month the apprentices are working with their students in the classrooms on a Thanksgiving play. The students will dress in brown for indians or black and white for pilgrims. They will make hats, and will be told an interactive Thanksgiving story. Then they will share what they are thankful for to the class. We will be doing this in the next week, and some classes will even be video taping what they did in the classroom.

Today we reviewed a powerepoint that explained how to post on blogs. These students suggested how to write on a blog and how to make it interesting.

My 1st Blog!

My name is Nicole and I am currently enrolled in a teacher cadette program at my high school. In this class we are learning to become teachers in areas of college, high school, middle school, elementary, and special education. I wanted to become involved in this class because I am wanting to become an elementary education teacher. I really love working with younger children. At church I work with the kindergarden sunday school class. At home I babysit many young children. In our spring semester we will be working with a class at a local elementary school. I hope to work with kindegarden or 1st grade classes. I really enjoy making an impact on children and at this age I feel that these children need to know the basics to expand on their knowledge in the future.