Talahi Elementary- Day 8

My final day at Talahi was sad and exciting all at once. I didn't really realize it was my last day until my teacher started explaining to the class that we were going to be teachers someday just like her! It was pretty fun. We did more of the math counting card game which the kids really enjoyed.

The class was celebrating Dr. Seuss so they got to eat green eggs for a snack made by the 5th graders. When my teacher asked how the eggs turned green one child insisted it was from green Kool aid and another thought they colored the eggs with markers. It was probably the highlight of my day.

I am sad Talahi is over but it was an amazing experience and I am glad I got the opportunity to experience a Kindergarten classroom.

Talahi Elementary- Day 7

Only one day left at Talahi Elementary! It has been quite the experience but I must say I am looking forward to sleeping in past 6:30 for one day. It has taken quite a toll on me and I think I could use a few naps to makeup for all my lost sleep.

Today we did a lot of the same routine things that we have been doing every other day. It gets to be hard to write about 3 hours that are quickly becoming routine. One of the highlights about today was when Ms. Atkinson pulled out the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. This has always been one of my very favorite books and my mom has read it to me since I was a young girl. I love how imaginative the book is. The class is studying weather so it fits quite well with the curriculum. The children were laughing through the whole book. She had them write the title in their reading journal and draw pictures from the books and label them. It was a great way to keep the kids engaged and able to look back and reflect on the book later.

We also had a universal breakfast in which all the children went to eat together. It was pretty weird and I still don't know what to think of it so let me know what the rest of you think.

Stations was fun today. We did more flashcards and math counters. The children are really learning from having so much help in the classroom. There was also more snow in the sensory table which the children get pretty crazy with but it makes for some outside fun to come inside!

We learned a new card game and as we were leaving the students started to play with partners! That's my day and it was quite uneventful but there is more to come as I cry tomorrow leaving good ole Talahi!

Talahi Elementary- Day 6

Today at Talahi there were a lot of hand-on activities. The students have been studying the weather so all week they have had snow in the sensory table for them to play in. They love it. It amazes me all the different things they come up with.

The class worked on stories for writers workshop. This is a really cool part of the day. The students have the opportunity to sit alone in a part of the room, listen to music and write about whatever they wish. I was working with a boy named Harrison who was making a story about star wars. It was an amazing story that had a ton of misspelled words yet I could still read everything and see it in the pictures.

Fifth graders also came into our class to read us their homemade stories as well. That was quite fun because the stories were twists of traditionally told stories like the Three Little Pigs. This caught the children's attention and made them listen to find out what would happen next.

This was an awesome day with the Kindergartner's and I am beginning to realize how much I will miss them once I am gone. 2 more days....

Talahi Elementary- Day 5

I am beginning to love the kids in my classroom. I think the hardest part of teaching will be letting go of the students at the end of each school year.

I had a blast this morning with the kids. They got to play in the snow and do a bunch of different stations. It seems like we do 10 times as much as we ever did the 1st few days.

I have been working with a young boy lately who is a bit behind the rest of the students. It was a challenge at first but I think I finally am beginning to understand him. For example he has no idea how to write his own name. He will pick up the pencil and pull away if you try to help him. However he will just sit there because he doesn't know how to do it. If you ask him if he needs help he will look at you and shake his head. I have never seen him smile as much as we did today. He is really good at using the scissors but holds them backwards and it his left hand. It looks quite uncomfortable but he gets the job done. He didn't know how to glue to that was my job. The rest of the day he was patting my back whenever I was by him.

We did a big art project creating a snowman out of strips of paper. I was laughing just about every 5 minutes because there was a young boy named Armani (My favorite shh don't tell) who made his so big there was no room for the rest of the snowman's body. He kept blaming it on me and saying, "Ms. S, I can't do it, if you do it for me I won't tell anybody." It was pretty funny because he would look up at me with a huge grin like it would actually work. We had to about double the size of his snowman to make the head and top hat fit. He then looked up at me and said, "Now look what you did, how's this suppose to fit in my backpack." It was pretty darn cute.

That's all for today! Wish me luck getting up and out of my room by 7am tomorrow again. It feels like it only gets harder and harder as we are nearing the end of our immersion!

Talahi Elementary- Day 4

Today at Talahi we pretty fun. I have been getting to know the students a lot better. Ms. Atkinson herself is beginning to open up more than normal which has been fun.

I think I have become pretty good friends with the copy machine in the school office. Today I made about 50 copies of different sheets and even learned how to enlarge. She always has some tasks for Emily and I to do right away in the morning. The kids are definitely warming up to Ms. H (Emily) and Ms. S (Me). They have finally learned our names so that in the morning when we greet one another during the meeting they no longer give us just a blank stare.

It is quite interesting to see how the students come into the classroom in the morning. The announcements come on the TV and there are about 3 students in the room if we are lucky. That gives Emily, Ms. Atkinson and I some solos during the pledge of allegiance. The kindergarteners are slow to get moving in the morning. Their tasks a lot of the time don't get finished. It seems like if she had a list everyday of their jobs it would go a lot smoother.

I still don't know what to make of this "take a break" deal. I feel like no one can use it effectively but I can also see how it has potential.

Talahi Elementary- Day 3

Talahi was a lot of fun today. We learned about colors and the way they fit into the rainbow. The kids created their own super size book! It was a really cute idea and it seemed like the kids really had fun creating it.

We also got into groups like usual and read books. The girls all sat around me and just looked and me while I read the book. It was sorta funny. Like they had never seen or heard someone read to them before. I felt like there was a lot of learning going on in the classroom today which was a nice change from the first few days.

Right now we are learning about wood and what objects that are made out of wood look like. The kids were super interactive during this lesson and when it came time to label things that are made of wood they came up with some really good objects!

The only instance I had today that I was unsure about was when a young boy told me to look at the scratches on is hand. He said they were from his dad. He also told me that his dad gives him wine every night. He said that it is so gross and he doesn't even like it and that wine is suppose to be for adults and not kids. Later on one of the teachers found a scratch on his back that was bleeding. She took him to the nurse's office and I mentioned it before they left. This reminded me of how close to home these sitations happen.

The last comment I have is that for the first time at Talahi, the teacher made a reference to a different language or culture. She handed out half the worksheets in spanish for labeling wooden objects around the room. This was very different from my other school where every project, game, activity and lesson related to different cultures and languages.

Talahi Elementary- Day 2

Things seemed to be a lot more structured in the Kindergarten class today. I think it all depends on the day and the mood of the classroom and what is going on. It still seemed very weird to me that there are always about six teachers in the classroom. I have never been in a classroom like this. I feel as though it is just more chaotic with the more adults.

I am still getting used to the names of the children. I am having a hard time only going for three hours every morning. I feel like we only see a part of the day and its the same part everyday. It's hard to grasp the full atmosphere of the day and how everything runs.

I did notice how unorganized the teacher was. In small group she has papers scattered all over the floor around her teaching chair and morning meeting board. She also has about three tables with just piles of her stuff on them. I remember working in my daycare at home and we had to keep everything in the closet unless it was accessible for the children as well. Having twenty some 5 year olds in a classroom there is no reason why the teacher should act as though she lives in the classroom. I decided the only areas students could go was their table, the group rug and the book area. This seemed to frustrate me quite a bit. If she was more organized then she wouldn't have such a chaotic classroom and teaching would be a lot easier.