I am in a kindergarten classroom.
These past two weeks of field experience have been enriching, education, and engaging to say the least. They have been tests of patience, knowledge, and various skills to say the least. Although we aren't supposed to be worried about speaking of week one, I feel that it was such a time for learning that it is important.
So, the first two days of experience, there was a substitute teacher. It was a little frustrating to me because it seemed as though the sub was more worried about time and getting everything in than the students understanding what they were doing and being able to learn. I was also frustrated because the classroom has a lot of diversity and the sub seemed to pass over those students as if they didn't know any of the answers even if their hands were raised. The second day with the substitute the classroom got a new student who did not acclimate well. The third day my actual cooperating teacher returned from vacation and it was seen how the classroom is supposed to function. The students really respect and listen to the teacher. This teacher also uses a lot of great transitions between subjects and really focuses on student learning and understanding rather than time and getting everything in.
As for this past week, week two, there was everything from students having accidents, to getting sick, and everything in between. The new student in the classroom is showing signs of being incredibly behind where they should be when it comes to the learning curve and where a kindergartner should be. This is alarming to both me as well as my cooperating teacher. It will be interesting to see how the cooperating teacher and staff deal with this.
On a technology note, a really useful and clever tip that I saw was students using a tennis ball to guide objects on the board instead of fingers. This was super simple and easy for students and no one had to worry about using too much or too little pressure. It also made using the interactive white board fun for students to use.
In my classroom we also use a tennis ball when guiding the interactive whiteboard! It makes the students want to engage more and it does make it easier to navigate on the board because when a student doesn't use it, the interactive whiteboard won't work for some reason. I'm interested on following how things will go with that student who is struggling. I have an english learner in my classroom who also is falling a little below average, but me and my CT are working really hard with him, along with some para's to get him up to date. I cannot wait to see where things go from here.
ReplyDeleteOh! I love all the tips the teachers have! I will remember the tennis ball tip for my future classroom! It's hard to see students get so far behind. I'm glad you get to witness how they handle communication about the student's level and that you get to see some of their solutions to work on it with that student!
ReplyDelete