Last Week Yay!

I can not believe that we are done with class for the semester. It went by so fast. For class this week we had a guest speaker and she was very fun to listen to. She was very peppy and talked to us about being great teachers, ones that will get hired. She kind of scared me when she said that when she used to interview candidates for the job she would have them give a 5 minute mini lesson in front of the board. Right then I thought about changing my major. I have since thought about the reality of it not being so bad. It would be something that I have to do, so I might as well make the most of it.
I am relieved that we do not have any serious big finals, that takes a lot of weight off my shoulders. I have learned a lot this semester and feel like I have made an impact on the kind of teacher I will be some day.

Learning Journal

This weeks discussion to be honest kind of annoyed me. I felt like the questions presented about having a small class size were very repetitive. Over and over we talked about the same things. My conclusion on having a small class size is, I don't have control over it so I will work with what I have. If I am ever asked to give my opinion I think that smaller classes are a good thing, however lets be realistic in the funding. With the rest of the week I felt like it went by like a blur. So much for us to be doing, and so I know at least I am antsy sitting in class thinking about all I need to get done. One week left and then finals! YAY!

Yay for only two days of school!

This week was awesome, mainly for the fact that we only had two days of classes. (and out second class on Monday got canceled, can't complain about that!) This week when we were discussing the articles I kept thinking how important it is to be consistent as a teacher. It takes children a long time to adapt to a routine/schedule of how to do things. So, when you just throw in something huge, or you change how they turn in their homework it can get them all out of sorts.
In our Tuesday classes I loved hearing about every one's field experience. Learning what they did for their science experiments and what didn't. I know that mine was a little foggy when we had to discuss fire safety the students kind of forgot what we were originally doing.
Until next week, here is to two more weeks of school!!

Learning Journal #8

This week was my groups week to facilitate. We read articles about violence in schools. The different kinds of violence there are, and how we can prevent it/deal with it. It kind of bothers me when we talk hypothetically about our future students/classrooms. I hate talking about what we are going to do because I feel as though I will not do half of the things I say I am going to do, I just say it to get the points. Our conversation went really well and went quite smoothly. We got a good message out if nothing out, to be aware of violence in schools. The rest of the week was filled with preparation for field, I am so excited to start working with my little first graders.

Learning Journal #6

WOW, what a week! From case studies, to creating lesson plans/ideas for field I feel like my head is spinning in a thousand different directions! In our bi-lingual class I presented this week along with Alayne and Angie. I think that we presented a strong message fairly well. I think it is hard to find a certain amount of balance between all of our classes. It is never equal throughout the week on which one I spend more time on. It depends on the week and what is due in each class, oh well so goes it since the beginning of my college experience.I found a good article to write my case study on, and still need to look for one for the Research Journal assignment.
Lately I feel as though our cohort has taken on a new sense of helping each other out. With questions we may have as well as issues that arise. Overall this week was great cause it was short!

Learning Journal #5

This week in review summed up into one word, WOW. I definantly feel like the pressure is beginning to accumulate from all of our classes as field is coming much faster then I thought it would. I also feel like the most useful/practical knowledge that we learned in our classes this week was when we has two guest speakers in foundations. I felt like they informed us with good information to be aware of. Although we are over a year out from actually being teachers ourselves it is nice to know what is out there and available when we do start to teach. I find it a bit overwhelming all of the different things our professors are asking us to do, however there is one new idea that we got today from Dr. P. She asked us to write down a list wherever we wanted about ideas that we could use in our class. I feel as though that this will be an effective way to remember simple things that otherwise I would have forgotten. It has been interesting to note the team attitude that three of our teachers have begun to develop collaborating ideas for assignments for field. Watching them has been a good example to me to take into consideration that you do not always get to work with people you especially enjoy, but you still need to try and work your hardest. I think that will prove to be very handy in the future.

Learing Journal #4

Now that I have a better understanding of what this reflection should be in its entirety I feel like this will be a better resource to look back on in the future. This last week I feel as if school is just continuing to drudge on, in some classes I am really enjoying myself while in others I feel as if I will never be a competant teacher in those areas because of the lack of knowledge we are getting from professors. Mainly this is just one class and I know many other students feel the same way. It scares me to think that we will soon be in the classroom actually teaching. For instance in our Literacy Methods class, I know how to technically do running records, but have never practiced using them in the classroom or how I actually use them with each student. I feel overwhelmed with the ideas that there is so much to do in every class we take that I will soon forget what we learned. Learning just for the sake of taking a test and then forgetting the information. I know in the past I have done and used this method, proved inaffective none the less but still used. I need to do better in remembering things from specifics classes and recording them on my blog.

Learning Journal #3

Alright so this week I thought our facilitation topic was very interesting. Interesting enough that I in fact read all of both articles, which is surprising that I did not do the usual skim, get enough out of it that I will sound like I know what I am talking about. I found myself thinking back and forth almost siding with the US one second and Germany the next. I kept jumping the fence and I am still doing it when I begin to think about the pros and cons. However, I feel like there is no such thing as a perfect education system. In my mind a perfect education system is one that is cared about. I feel like for instance NCLB is a program designed to get the nation on an equal level, however they all want us to end up in the same place when it is all said and done. But, at the beginning we were not all on the same level and a big factor was the economic level of each of the schools. I think it is an unfair thing that it is doing to schools and teachers. I feel like Germany's school system is set up and works great for them, and ours is set up and is working for us. I think it would not go over well if we were to introduce an education system like Germany's in the US. It might sound like a nice thing, but people are always going to have their two cents to put into everything.

Learning Journal Entry #2

I thought this last week in class our discussion was very interesting. I found it interesting not only because of what was being said, but how my thinking was racing all over the place. Places like, past memories, what should I believe as a teacher, what do I want to change in my thinking, or do I even what to change my thinking? I felt a little foolish after I made a comment about being terrified when I was younger of my teachers and how that has carried over throughout my schooling of the fact that I very rarely will go talk to a teacher and discuss why I received a certain grade. After a few weird looks from fellow students and a gaping look from the instructor, I kind of felt like a turtle retracting back into my shell. I thought about my comment more as the conversation went and came to a realization that because I feel that way is almost a direct cause of why I want to be a teacher. I want to provide an environment in my classroom that will allow children to form bonds with peers as well as the teacher. I always want to have good communication with each one of my students and try to get to know them well enough to pick up on bad vibes they may have towards me and their learning. Because of the fact that I was scared of talking to my teachers like Doc Waters pointed out I missed out on learning opportunities and probably still do to this day just because I can not muster up the courage/guts/want of wanting to discuss my grade or see why it was graded in such a way. I call it anxiety, but now that I sit back and look at why I have been accustomed to being like this it is a habit that I am too afraid to break.