Those kids say the darndest things

Today my supervising teacher sent me a link an article for which the students in her second grade class were interviewed. For the most part I found myself giggling at their silly remarks as I have seen this behavior from them before. I thought I would share it with you because it not only highlights the sheer genius of these students, but also sheds some light on what it means to be an adult (to find the story click on the title of this post).

Creative use of Graphic Organizers

Here are some pictures of the various types of Graphic organizers Allie uses in her first grade classroom. The 'Apple Dictionary' was great! They keep it up for the week or month and fill it in over time. The 'Aquarium/Zoo' organizer arose from a teachable moment when one of Allie's students shared that she had been to the aquarium that weekend. Allie felt it would benefit the group to talk about, and visualize the similarities and differences of animals at a zoo and an aquarium. Allie really takes advantage, and is not afraid of teachable moments. This is a skill that I think comes with time because as I am now, my lesson plans are my best friend. (Allie teaches 1st grade and is my elem methods teacher as well)

Practicum Experience

This year is almost over! I cannot believe how fast it has gone by and how close I am to having a masters in teaching. I wanted to share an update about my current progress because I think I am learning a lot right now about who I want to be as a teacher and who I want to be as an individual. As I begin the process of learning how to structure lesson plans I realize that it is so much more than one might think. Embedded within my struggle to construct well thought out lesson plans, is a sincere and tireless desire to create a fascinating and exciting learning environment. This is much easier said than done! I am told again and again that as you grow as a teacher, this process becomes much easier. I imagine it is much like driving a manual car or riding a bike. However, the time in between being good at your job and being a beginner seems endless.

For my practicum I will be teaching a 2nd grade some in depth mapping skills. I will keep my site updated as the experience progresses.