ELE300-Blog Post #4(revised)

Describe different ways (strategies) the teacher presents material to the students.

At this point in the school, the kindergartners are very familiar with their tasks. A lot of the lessons that students are learning fall in line with previous lessons. With that, Mrs. Simala is able to activate prior knowledge to introduce most of her new subjects. For children this young it is very important that an idea does not seem too far fetched for them to grasp.
The students will have some subjects that they have no prior knowledge of. In this instance, Mrs. Simala will put the activity up on the calendar just as she would with any other schedule. She will also tell the students that they will be doing something new later in the day. This will give the students a chance to grasp the idea of a change in their schedule.
The students are learning new things everyday; it is just the format of how they are learning that tends to stay very similar. It seems that with children this young, the more of a routine you can have means the more time for learning you can have. The students take a long time to transition from one activity to the next. When the children know what they are getting themselves into they are less hesitant and therefore get themselves ready sooner.

What type of student groupings does the teacher use? (one-on-one, pairs, small groups, whole class?)

Mrs. Simala uses all types of groups in her class. There are times when students are working with two or three other children, times when students will work on their own, and times when the whole class will be involved in a lesson.
The most common size group is about four. During team reading and writing this is the usual size of a group. This is also the size of groups for the activity called centers which I have talked about in previous posts.
While the students are given opportunities to work on their own, it is almost always encouraged that they ask their neighbors for help if needed. Some students are able to finish most of their work on their own while others will most often be found working with their neighbors.
The day usually has at least one all-class activity. Sometimes this is math, reading, or even the science lesson that I led.

What techniques are used to assess and evaluate learning? Describe any assessment technique you have observed.

There are a few main techniques that I have seen Mrs. Simala use to assess her students. There have been a lot of recent assessments going on in the class to track progress. Children take tests on just about everything they have learned so the school and parents know where they stand. There have been oral tests of word recognition, writing numbers 1-100, and many others that will show where a child’s skill set may be. These are summative assessments of the children’s knowledge.

What are you learning about this age group?

I have been working with young children for a long time, but I have still learned a lot about kindergartners in my short time at Everett School. I have learned that there is such a large gap between the students who are excelling and those who still are not getting the concepts. These children are five and six years old so there is still so much development ahead of them. I have learned that kindergarten involves so much more than kids learning their ABC’s. These children are really pushing the envelope with the types of learning they are doing. The advanced children in Mrs. Simala’s class have truly impressed me with their skills. It is crazy when you hear some of these children read aloud and talk to you because they sound so much older than their age. While the oral component will always impress me, the written components will always remind you of how young they really are.

What do students enjoy and dislike most?

It is kind of hard to answer this question because of the age group that I deal with. The students are not very open about disliking anything because they still have so much respect for their teacher. To be honest, the majority of the group seems genuinely enthusiastic about most of the activities that Mrs. Simala leads.

Do you see technology being used in the classroom?

I do not see a large amount of technology use in the classroom. There is a document camera which I actually used in my lesson. It is pretty simple but it projects anything that is out under the camera onto the projector screen. It is really convenient because no copies are needed to be made and no transparency sheets are involved.
The children do some work on computers in the library once a week where they will do activities to practice their word wall words.

In relation to the text…

I feel that these questions relate to chapters six and seven the most. When Mrs. Simala is presenting material to her students she is trying to engage them in the activities and lessons. She is often bringing up past lesson trying to get the children to remember what they have learned in the past. This is activating prior knowledge which is a very good tool for getting children engaged in a current lesson. She also has groups split into different sizes for different activities because she knows where her students learning zones are at this point. She knows that some topics will make the children a little uneasy and they will not give it their best effort. That is why they are put into groups sometimes, so they can support each other. The students are also split by ability for a few of the lesson because the students will have similar skill sets and learning zones. This maximizes potential learning and makes differentiated learning, which we have talked about in class, a little easier.

ELE300-Journal #3

How is the day planned? What is the teacher’s daily schedule? How does it relate to the age level of the group?

The schedule is jam packed in a kindergarten class. From the moment these children enter the classroom to the time when they are walking to the bus, these students are constantly engaged. In a half day kindergarten class, there is no time to waste.
The children have memorized the general schedule of each day. On different days the students go to different specialized classes. Depending on what day of the week it may be, the students will go to wellness, music, or the library. These are gaps in the day that Mrs. Simala plans her curriculum around. There are also daily activities that involve other faculty or even parents. Team reading and writing are done with the ladies from the reading center. Every kindergarten class has time allotted for team reading with the reading center faculty. There are also days when parents will come in to focus on a certain subject with a small group of students. The activity is called “centers.” In centers the students will have a half hour at one of four subjects: math, language, art, or building. In one day each student spends a half hour at two centers. Centers occur twice a week. Mrs. Simala has to plan her other curriculum around the special events and classes. What is nice for her is that these other activities and classes are always at the same time so the schedule is always very similar. This is a very important element for a classroom of six year olds.

How is classroom time used?

Almost all of the classroom time is used for learning. The only time in the classroom where the children are not focused on learning is during snack time. The rest of the classroom time is filled with learning activities. There are usually activities that will keep the students busy enough that the ones who need a little extra assistance can get that from Mrs. Simala or the teacher’s assistant.

What preparations were made to start and conclude various activities?

At this point in the year the students are very familiar with what they need to do in every activity. They know that different subjects require different materials, and most of the students are prepared in a very timely matter for the activities. Other children may require a gentle reminder of what they are supposed to be doing at a given time. So as far as getting the students prepared, it is as simple as asking them to get ready.
Mrs. Simala puts in the time before hand so her activities do not involve stalling and searching for missing materials. It helps that she has been teaching kindergarten for seven years, but she seems to be prepared for all of her activities. There are always options for differentiated instruction. All of her in class activities has extended work for those who are excelling, and she always has ways for those who are not getting the concepts to complete the work to their ability. This is a direct result of the preparation Mrs. Simala has put into the assignments and activities. I know from discussing lesson plans with her, her preparation involves a lot of assessment of her current class on past assignments, and past classes on a particular assignment.

Can you identify the purpose or objective of each activity?

All of the activities in Mrs. Simala’s class seem to have specific purpose. They all fall pretty well in line with the standards of the district which all fall in line with the state standards. The students are given a good amount of games to play, but I have not seen one game that was not teaching them something important. Usually games are used to cement a new technique or lesson into the class.

How are cultural differences considered and needs met?

This question does not really pertain to either the morning, or afternoon class. There are not enough cultural differences in this class that would cause for anything out of the ordinary to occur. Every student is from an English speaking home.

In Relation to the text…

I believe that Mrs. Simala’s use of classroom time goes very well with the goals of our text. It seems that the last few chapters have focused on getting the most out of your students. That includes budgeting your time so as to not be flustered in front of the class. Other factors are finding where your students excel, and catering to those areas of learning. One aspect of Mrs. Simala’s curriculum is that the students are always engaged in the lessons. Whether that is during centers, or during one of her lessons, the students are never without an activity. This is especially important in Kindergarten but as the book shows us, it is very important at all levels.