blog 8

       Over the last few months I have learned a lot about teaching, classrooms, and the philosophy behind teaching. But one of the best things that I have had the opportunity to learn is how a teacher can engage a class. The more I learned about this topic and the more I thought about it I began to realize that some of the most memorable lessons that I ever had were engaging and hands on. I recall making stucco mountains in first grade, growing corn in second grade, drawing from stories in third grade, making candles in fourth grade, making Mayan food in fifth grade and insulating jars in sixth grade. these lessons were the ones that truly taught me in a memorable way, they applied topics to my life and made me care in a way that would otherwise not be possible. 

       As I watched different teachers interact with their classes I was reminded of this importance, I was  taught the different ways that engaging a class could be accomplished. In the fifth grade class I spent the majority of my time in I saw the teacher engage the class by having them teach one another and explain their answers to the class. I also witnessed a mom come and make applesauce with the class in a first grade classroom. from little things to big things there were many ways to accomplish this goal. As I looked through my blogs I was able to see how my feelings about topics have changed and see how my thinking has progressed. In the past I thought that engaging students could only be done through big things like field trips or big projects but because of my service learning I was able to see the many small ways that teachers incorporate these things in classes everyday. Because of these blogs I was more focused in the classrooms and was better able to see these little things and engage with the teachers on these topics and hear what they had to say. I am so glad to of had this opportunity to use my service learning to engage with this class and know that this will be one of those lessons that I will be able to recall many years from now. 

Blog 7

This week I had the opportunity to talk to a fifth grade teacher about the core standards, how she feels about them and how they affect her classroom. One of the ways that she mentioned is that because of the amount of information needed to be taught in certain subjects they naturally get the most attention. My teacher specifically said that math is like this for her she stated that she puts a lot of focus on it not particularly by choice but that the sheer volume of information that needs to be taught makes it that way. She also stated that because of this there are certain subjects that don’t get much time. One example of this was art. She tries to incorporate it into different subjects and has the kids draw parts of the story when she reads aloud but there is very little time for her to spend explicitly on art. Despite this though she has found certain things that she feels passionate about. She has emphasized these things because she feels that they are important, one of these is reading. She feels that reading and learning to have a passion for reading is so important. She feels that if a child has a passion for reading it gives them the ability to learn on their own as well as help them look at and comprehend the world around them. There isn’t enough time to go in depth on all that is asked of them, but thankfully the teachers do still have a bit of power and a small amount of extra time that they can focus on what they believe matters. It gives the class variety and makes each class just a bit different from the next, it really made me wish that there were more free time for the teachers to work with. I think that having that extra time would allow the teachers to get more passionate and personal with the topics that they feel are important.

Getting the opportunity to get deeper into conversation I got to talk to her about standardized testing and her opinion on it . As I talked to her it seemed clear that she did not particularly have a strong opinion one way or another. She thought that it was a good way to see where kids were at but she also did not agree with how it was done. One thing that she said that struck me was that she didn’t like it because she felt that it affected her teaching, she felt that it drove her to teach the students to do well on the test rather than teaching them to be passionate about the information they were learning.  Despite this opinion on standardized testing though she seemed very complimentary on the core standards. She felt that it was important and a good way for teachers to all be on the same page. She thought that it was good that the standards were the same no matter where you were because it gave teachers a good idea on where kids moving into a new grade were and also when a kid moves they are still learning the same concepts and were generally on the same level. She also felt that it helped the teachers by giving them good lesson plans and helping the teachers see where their teaching should be headed.

There is a lot that still needs to be accomplished in the education system but there is also a lot of good being done. The opinions on these topics vary from teacher to teacher but I think that what matters is that we are still learning along the way and that we have teachers who care and are passionate enough to make things happen.

Blog4

This week I got an amazing and crazy opportunity to observe in a first grade classroom. Everything there was so small and I felt as though i had walked into a mini world. The kids, the desks, everything was six year old sized. While observing in the classroom this week I noticed that there were little things that the teacher was doing to engage the students with each other and with their community. This seemed to nourish a feeling of excitement and gratitude with the students and allowed them to see the world through a more giving and appreciative lense while also teaching them how to show excitement and selflessness for another student. One of the things that she did to encourage a classroom community was seat the students together in tables. This allowed the tables to talk amongst themselves. The teacher would often have the tables talk over problems together and in the morning she would have them all share what they thought about their morning warm up. This gave the children an opportunity to interact with one another and build bonds and relationships with their other table members. The children really liked to share stories of what had happened the day before and would even pull out papers of things that they were proud of to show off to their table mates. One of the girls presented a drawing of herself and her dog which her table mats ogled at. It made me happy to see that each kid there seemed to interact with the other students and i thought that this was a good way to encourage a community in the class without it seeming too overwhelming and making sure that each and every student would have the opportunity to share and react to their peers.

Another thing that the teacher did was with celebrating one of the students birthdays. During rug time they all sat down and wrote down a sentence together. The sentence read “happy birthday _________” they all wished him a happy birthday and the birthday boy got to come up and chose three friends to say something about him. He chose three of his friends and they all got to say something cool about him like “he can run fast” and “his favorite color is red”. After this all the students were given a piece of paper where they were supposed to write “happy birthday ______” and then got to write a sentence of their own or choose from one of the ones provided, and then they got to draw a picture for him. All of this was then stapled together for the boy to take home. This was a good way to allow the students to work as a team to make a classmate feel happy. They were all so excited for his birthday and they really put a lot of thought and energy into their pages. It also let the boy know that he was cared for and appreciated in the classroom.

The day before I came to observe the class had made applesauce. One of the students mothers came in and prepared and cooked the apples with the students. I thought that this an amazing opportunity because it engaged the children with an adult with a hands on project. At the end of it they were able to eat the apple sauce that they made. The day I was there the children all wrote a thank you letter to this parent, thanking them for their time and willingness. I liked this because not only was it letting the students interact with her but it also was a good way to show the kids how to express appreciation to those who had gone out of their way to help them.

All of the things that I saw in the class that day may be seen an mundane, but not only was it fun for the kids but it encouraged a feeling of unity and care in the classroom. Each student knew that they were cared about and that they could be open with their peers without scrutiny. It makes me happy to see that teachers are going out of their way to open these opportunities up to their students and that attention has been brought to this subject to encourage other teachers to do the same.

blog 3

This week as I observed the class I was doing my service learning for, I looked for how the teacher involved the students in the learning process and how she encouraged a community in the classroom. One of the ways that she was able to get them involved was by giving the kids a choice in how they wrote their answers for their homework. Some of the kids preferred to draw the answer where others did well with the numbers and at the end they would share and explain their answers for each way, giving the students a opportunity to observe how it could be approached differently. 

In the morning she had a routine that I thought was interesting, she would have a set of questions on the board that the kids were to answer in their morning exercise booklet. On the day I went there there was a review math question, and quick writing prompt as well as a personal question such as “what makes a good friend” once the kids were done they were encouraged to share their answers with their neighbor. I really liked this because it seemed to get the kids in a learning attitude and it brought them closer to their classmates leading to a calmer and more respectful place which I believe is really important for kids to experience in the classroom. 

After morning exercises we jumped into the math lesson for the day. To start she would introduce the topic and then give the kids some questions to go over on their own. While the kids were working on the questions she could walk around and see who was struggling and who was doing well.  She would then have kids come up and teach the class how they got the answer that they did. I liked this because it gave the kids who knew the topic an opportunity to show off their skills and receive praise while also giving those who may not be getting the topic different insight that they may be able to understand better. When a student came up that had gotten the question wrong the teacher did not call the student out on it, but rather went over the subject again in the class. She praised the student for their willingness to share which she said was a special skill in and of itself. 

This specific classroom was organized into tables and I noticed that rather than speaking about what she didn’t like, the teacher would rather refer to a table to encourage good behavior. She would say things like “the baseball table is being so good and quiet” the other kids would then strive to be more quiet seeking that approval. The whole time I was there she said nothing negative to a specific student or even to the class as a whole but rather really tried to point out the good that they were doing to encourage them to continue with it.

As I was observing this classroom it became very obvious that the teacher cared about her class and how they were doing. She worked on encouraging them and making sure that school was a positive experience for them. It was obvious through the students actions that they felt the same way and knew that the teacher cared for them and how they did. It was because of the combination of all of these factors that the class was formed into a positive and relatively stress free environment of learning and experimentation.

Blog 1

Orchard hills is a retro looking school placed in santaquin Utah and nestled in the foothills of Nebo mountain. There are many beautiful orchards in the surrounding area framing the town and adding the the feeling of serenity and old fashioned hospitality. The narrow brick halls and wood detailing give off and interesting old but good vibe, despite the building being quite new, which matches much of the rest of the town.

 Santaquin has a rather interesting demographic due to the fact there is a lot of variation of income in the area. They all used to depend on this school to educate and prepare their children, but this year there is a new elementary school in the area. Because of that this year is different than the years previous leaving the school with more students from higher economic status than the years before.

I am excited to be spending my time here helping the teacher and volunteering my services. I am happy that I will be able to observe the class as well as get to witness the relationships with students and the teacher. I hope that I will be able to help the teacher with her planning, lessons and perhaps even get the chance to interact with the class as well.