Yesterday I was in a kindergarten class, and had the best experience! It was interesting to see how she taught them how to read, and sight words.  I was shocked by how many knew how to already read, and were reading chapter books. She let me read two books to them which was a real treat! There math lesson was really cool, because she did a lesson on the smart board. Going to music with them was fun, many have great voices. It was overall a great day!!

Today I was in a first grade classroom! We started off the day with a word of the day, which was on the board when the students walked in. They had to make a sentence with the word, and then draw a picture below. The teacher even talked about and showed the students what sounds this insect made. Then she moved on to a lesson on OW and OU words. All students took out their dry erase markers and dry erase boards and copied the words from the board. Then they were placed into groups where they repeated the words and then made a sentence together. Then she moved onto a math lesson about fractions and they completed a worksheet about halves, and drew different examples of the halves. After lunch they had story time, and then read a story on their own and had to identify all the OW and OU words. Overall another great day!!

Today I was in a different Third Grade classroom, and it was another really great experience. They started off the day with a language arts lesson, and read a story which was really cool. The teacher read the story with such enthusiasm it was really great. Then they moved onto a lesson with comparing and contrasting the characters with a vendiagram. The kids were really excited all day for the Teddy bear Fashion Show, where they had to decorate a bear any way they wanted and then write six to eight sentences about the bear and it had to include a simile and a wish they had for the bear. Then they got a partner and read each other's while the one walked down the runway. Seeing the whole thing today it was SO CUTE! And so great to see how creative they can be!

Friday I was in a special ed. pre-school class and it was great to see what it was all about. The students first did an activity where they traced their name, and filled out the date. Then once they traced their name they went to the rug to have a few minutes of playtime. Then once they played for awhile they did their morning routine of weather and the date, and what month we are in. Then they danced and clapped their hands to a month song and clapped whenever MAY was sung. They read with a buddy and talked about the details on each page. Then went to occupational therapy which was very interesting to observe to see how it benefited the students. Later on, they did more reading and some painting. Overall it was another great experience!!

Today I was in a different Kindergarten class, and it was such an amazing experience. The classroom was set up by different tables and each table had a different color. She set up everything by centers, there as a painting center, a reading center, a game center, a smart-board center, and a center with the computers. They went to the centers on their free time, or she assigned time. They worked well in groups, which surprised me, and it also shocked me how bright some are. They were adding and subtracting and read actually books. I don't remember doing any of that in kindergarten which is amazing how things have really transformed. I walked around and helped some of the students spell some words and I had them sound out the words. They walked into the room today with a word on the board, and they had to make a sentence with it. This got them thinking and forced them to be creative. When they finished they drew a picture above, and colored it. Then the teacher played a video on the smart-board about Memorial Day, which really helped the students understand what Memorial Day was really about. Then to follow up they completed a worksheet where they cut out sentences and pasted them under the picture which they then colored..nicely. The math lesson today was on shapes, and they differentiated between circles, triangles, and squares. The book even used the word vertices, which I thought was way over their level, but they grasped the concept. The students were filled with energy, but the teacher made them focus, but reminded them the right way to behave. They had gym last period, which gave them a chance to get out their energy. Overall it was a really great day, and I absolutely love observing these great educators!!

Today I was in another Third Grade class and it was another amazing experience! Today was the Third Grade field day, so in the afternoon I helped out a lot, handed out stuff, and helped the students participate in the events. In the morning, I observed a wonderful teacher teach a history lesson about the Oregon Trail, and really made it come to life. She checked for understanding by asking questions that made them analyze the text. I thought this was a great way to check for understanding on the spot. Then the teacher taught a geometry lesson, and the students seemed to grasp that right away. It was overall a great day, and I am so blessed to be able to do what I'm doing. I observing some of THE best educators.

The sunflowers that we made today!

Today I was in a Kindergarten class, and it was a lot of fun! It was a lot different than a third grade class, the chairs were smaller, the tables, and there was even a bathroom in the room. When they all first walked in they all waved to me. They all wanted to know who I was and what I was doing and where I am from. They were so curious, and it took me back to when I was there age. They went over a story that they already had read, and then read a new story. It amazed how well they could read! Their vocabulary was so good! I was so impressed! They went around the room and read, which I thought was an excellent idea because then everyone got a chance. Then the teacher would call on them to go to the board to spell a new word which i also thought was an excellent idea. Then we made sunflowers, and i helped them glue all the pieces together. They even could cut out on straight lines, I was really amazed with their work. We did some math after that, and did worksheets on different shapes and even sang songs for circles so they did not get confused with how they had no edges. They had to identify the different shapes. Some struggled with the difference between squares and rectangles, but in the end got the hang of it. The students were filled with energy the whole day, but after lunch they did another reading assignment which I checked for them and then they got to go outside and play on the playground for alittle while because it was such a beautiful day! It was such an amazing day!! 

I was so excited to meet all the students today. Today I was in a Third Grade classroom, and it was a great experience. To start off the day, the students did a typing exercise, and many students became frustrated because they had to type in a timely manner. It upset many when they could not type enough words, or they accidentally hit the wrong button. Then they did a spelling pre-test, and walking around I realized how much the students already knew. They will have to go home and study the words they got wrong, for a potential test on Friday. It was interesting how the teacher did spelling, I originally thought spelling was you study the words and get tested on the material. Instead she gave a pre-test which actually makes it more concrete for the students because they can visualize what words they do not know how to spell. Then the teacher reviewed a math test that many did not do well on. It was amazing to see how the students did after the teacher went over new strategies and they tried them. They had science, but instead went to a wax museum which was sponsored by the seventh and eighth grade. It was they had to research a particular person and memorize a speech and the student would go up and touch their shoulder and they would turn around and say their speech. It was very informative and I actually learned a ton. There was an unexpected fire drill at lunch and it was really hectic to get all the kids in order and to be quiet for so long. Many students wanted to sit and be loud and talk to people in different grades, but we had to keep them in order. In the afternoon, the teacher taught reading and the story seemed very interesting. I helped the kids come up with creative ideas for their teddy bear fashion show. Overall such a great first day!!