Observing the Smart-board

When walking in on this day the students focused on the subject of science. The topic they were focusing on was the growth of a seed. The instructor downloaded a video from streamline for the students to watch. The students and myself got very tired with the video shortly after it was put on. If I could change this I would have chosen a video that was more interesting for the children to understand. I felt the instructor didn't look through all the possible videos out there. After the video was done the students made a booklet of the steps to the growth of a plant. I was very pleased with the fact that the instructor at this school is using the technology to the fullest potential. 

"The Great Room"

On this particular visit I was sent to the "Great Room".The "Great Room" is a room where part of the class is sent to work further on their reading skills.When I walked in I saw three teachers sitting at three different tables with their own group of student The table I observed were looking at a pile of different books. The instructor discussed the stories with the students, did story walks, and did popcorn reading. Each table worked on different  reading strategies. This particular day I didn't observe any technology, but I did notice this was a great way for the students to advance in their reading skills.

Day One at the Elementary School

I was very excited after visiting the new elementary school. It is such a beautiful school with  lots of smiling faces, and not to mention tons of technology to observe! I have been assigned to observe a first grade classroom. When I walked in on my first day the class was broken up into groups and sent to different classrooms to work further on their reading skills. I stuck around the classroom where my teacher had about four students at her table. The book they focused on was called Baseball Fun. Looking around the room I noticed that  it is very organized and clean. The room contained a smart board,camera projector, and computers. During the group time the students took turns reading the book aloud. Each student had a notebook and after reading they wrote sentences and words that they found in the book. If a student needed help with a word, there was a word wall for each letter alphabet. The instructor was also very helpful to the students if they were having trouble. Soon after the whole class had returned to the classroom, the instructor did hand on activities and used the camera projector to show directions.This particular activity was a science activity based on how the sun rotates around the Earth. It was a great first day!

Last middle school observation

On my last day at the middle school I went back to where I had my first observation which was a 7th grade language arts class. When I walked in the students were starting silent reading. I noticed that the instructor let some of the students read magazines, just to get them to actually read something. During this time she also passed out book fair handouts, and asked the students for any requests for their classroom library. Although this middle school lacked the technology I would of like, I really enjoyed this experience.

The Smart Lab

The class I visited during this day was a 7th grade science class. The students on this day met in the computer lab, that contained about 28 computers. At the begging of the period the students were assigned to do bell work, which was put up on a overhead projector. After that all  the students participated in assignment on a science software that was installed on the computers. The students all seemed to be familiar with the technology around them, and if they weren't their instructor was there to help them when needed.

Language Arts Observation

The class I visited on this day was a 7th grade advanced Language Arts class. When I walked in the bell work was up on the smart board. There were about four questions for the students to attempt. The classroom was very clean and organized. I loved the way everything was set up in this classroom. After the bell work the students were assigned silent reading. In this classroom there were computers located in the back of the room were students would take tests based on the books they had read. I was very impressed with these particular group of students, and the classroom as well.

2nd Observation

The 2nd class I observed was a 7th grade advanced social studies class. When walking in the students were in the middle of presenting their World War II power-points. The students were very quiet and respectful while their classmates were presenting. Some of the power-points included, Rosie Rivers, The Navajo Talkers, Hiroshima, and D-Day. I was very impressed on how well the students presented their projects. The students included  many pictures, music clips, and effects into their power-points. The instructor explained to me that the students could save their projects to a zip drive, or to a shared folder that can be accessed on any computer in the school. Volunteers were asked to present their presentations first, and to my surprise many students raised their hands to present. The power-points were shown onto the smart board, and from there the students would use the pen to go onto the next slide. After the power-points were presented, the instructor had a lesson based on  the  Holocaust. A printed handout was given to all of the students, which happened to be fill the blank notes. The instructor used the light projector, to show the notes. At the end of the class period, the students got to watch a short clip of The Boy in The Striped Pajamas, which is a movie based during the Holocaust. I really enjoyed observing this classroom, because of all the technology it held.

My First Middle School experience

When I arrived to the middle school for the first time on Wednesday I was very nervous. I wasn't sure what to expect or how the students were going to behave. I was taken down to the classroom by the front office secretary, who showed a lot of compassion for the students and the school itself. The classroom I observed was a 7th grade language arts class. I observed this classroom for two hours. The Teacher in the class was very young, but I learned quickly that she knew exactly how to handle these very rambunctious group of 7th graders. When I first sat down the class was in the middle of their bell work, which was silent reading for 20 minutes. Looking around the class room there was very little technology. They had about 7 computers in the back, which were very outdated. The clock did not work, and I noticed that their way of keeping time was their TV.When the teacher began her lesson for the day I observed that a lot of the students in this class had very little respect for her. She was constantly having to stop instruction because the students were constantly speaking out of turn. I also noticed how many of the students tried to tell each other what to do, this also caused many disruptions as well. After getting the class settled down the teacher asked the students questions about an article they had read the day before. It was a controversial article, so the the teacher explained the use of pro's and con's using  the overhead projector. The students were very interested in this article, and they gave many of their own opinions of what they felt were pros and cons. After the class made their pro/con chart, the teacher offered the class to start a debate.Unfortunately this class was not able to participate in a debate because their behavior was too out of hand. Instead they wrote on paper why or why not they agree or disagreed with the article. Many of the students had trouble figuring out what they wanted to write, but their teacher was very helpful by giving them ideas. After the students wrote their paragraphs their teacher asked if any volunteers wanted to share, and I was surprised to see that majority of the class raised their hands. While the students were sharing their papers, I noticed on the classroom walls their were many posters encouraging writing. In one corner of the room their was a board dedicated just for to the students work. The last 7 minutes of class the students were assigned as a group to make a poster advertising the pros and cons of the article. The students all made very interesting posters. When the class was over, the students were dismissed by their teacher. There were no bells which I felt was very strange. Overall my first day went very well, and I am looking forward to seeing what the next couple of weeks hold!