Rewards in the Classroom

In the classroom I observed the teacher provided many different "rewards" for the kids. Whenever a student did a good job the teacher made sure to offer a verbal reward, such as "great job" or "good try." The students can also earn "smart cookies." They earn these any time they display exceptional behavior. Students get to write their names on a little cookie and put them on a bulletin board. As a class the students are rewarded with pom poms. If they get a certain number of pom poms they get an ice cream party. Also above each section of desks is a laminated filmstrip. The students can earn clips to attach to their filmstrips if their section is being quiet or if they have followed the rules. That reminds me of another verbal reward the teacher gives the students, and that is acknowledgement. She will point out a specific student and say, "Maggie I am very impressed with the way that you put your journal away like I asked." I like that she focuses on that one student. You can really see a child light up when the teacher points them out for doing something positive. It's great!

An interesting student

During one of my observations the students were given the task to label the different parts of a plant (flower, stem, leaf, and roots). Most of the students in the class were able to complete the task by themselves. One student, however, had much difficulty with the task. What was interesting to me though was that his difficulty was not caused because of a lack of knowledge, but simply a lack of interest. The student just sat in his chair for a little while looking around the room. Eventually the student changed his piece of paper into a telescope and started looking through it at his different classmates. Once the teacher noticed this she quickly moved him to a table away from his fellow classmates. I watched as she flattened out his "telescope," the paper still showed no sign of work. After the teacher walked away the student quickly stated the four parts of the plant out loud, but then he started to label them wrong. The student also got up from his chair and started copying other students work. Eventually he came back to his spot and erased everything he had written. I believe that this child was perfectly capable of doing this task correctly, I think he was just bored and didn't feel like doing it.

It brought a smile to my face

When I was doing one of my observations the class was having free time inside. All the kids were doing various things, some were playing games, others were doing art, and one student decided to befriend me. She came up to the table I was sitting at with a tub of little bears. At first she was just playing with the bears and keeping to her self. Every now and then she would look up at me. After a while she asked me what my name was, and I said Meg, she took a second to process it and then said, "You're pretty Meg." It was the sweetest thing ever!! So after the student knew my name she was much more comfortable, she decided to include me in her game with the bears. Her game was simply throwing the bears towards my side of the table, but she seemed to be having a good time. I made a couple of the bears stand up right, the student noticed me do that and then she started placing the bears in front of me rather then throwing them. The student also started organizing the bears by shape and color. She was a very sweet little girl and helped me to keep a smile on my face the entire day!

Case Study 25

This was a very interesting case study to me. I just really liked that Aiyana, the principle, was so kind to Ms. Remington. Aiyana took Ms. Remingtons wet raincoat from her and gave her a cup of hot cider. I also really like that Aiyana has a round table in her office for meetings. I think that is more comfortable.

When I first read this study and saw that the mom let a 1st grader (Luke) have "mental health" days I was absolutely shocked. It is a child and they are not always going to like school. I feel like this could be staring a very bad habit for Luke. This could lead him to think that every time he doesn't like something or something is too difficult he can just run away from it.

Also I do not believe that Aiyana should be worried about Luke's progress. Some kids are just slower at learning things then others. Luke may not memorize the alphabet as quickly as his sister, but he will get it. He will also learn how to read. It is wonderful that he has a passion for stories! That is a great start!

When I was in the first grade my teacher told my mom I was going to be held back. I was not learning my reading and writing as quickly as the other kids in my class. When I came back to the school after Christmas break something had changed and I was writing and reading as much as I pleased. Obviously, I don't remember this, but I am just a slow learner, but I will eventually get it... just give me time.

First Observation

I am observing a first grade class with about 14 to 17 students. When I first arrived the students were coloring and/or reading a story. The students who finished reading the story took a quiz on one of the computers in the classroom. At 8:30 all the students stopped what they were doing and gathered for circle time. The teacher covered a lot while the students were at circle time. They did months, days of the week, counting coins, numbers (counting by five's, counting by 2's), time, weather (checked a thermometer outside). The teacher just kept everything going. After circle time was done the students had word time, this was followed by small group time.

I really enjoyed observing the first grade class. The teacher was awesome! She pulled songs into almost everything. She also really pushed for the students to encourage one another. I think my favorite thing was their "Fantastic" cheer.... the students would move their hands like they were spraying a cleaning bottle and make the sound with their mouths (chu chu chu), then then pretended they were wiping something clean and they all would say "Fantastic!" It was great! I look forward to observing this class more.

Saying Goodbye

Recently I left my job with the Children’s Center, I am now working for the Girl Scouts as a Program Specialist. I did not realize how attached I had gotten to the kids in my class, at the Children’s Center, until my last few days at the school. It was an amazing experience watching how much the kids grew since August.

Two of my students were not able to walk when they first started the class. One quickly picked up on walking after about a week of being in the classroom. The other student learned a few weeks after that. He was gone for a long weekend and when he came back that Monday he was practically running everywhere.

One of my students would freak out when we put her in a chair to eat, or tried to put a big on her, or put her in the buggy. So we had to ease her into things. We would put her in a chair to eat, but we would not push her to the table right away. We let her get used to sitting in the chair. Once the food was ready we would push her to the table, then we would put her bib on her. We would tell her “You have to wear your bib” of “all your friends are wearing bibs.” She eventually grew comfortable with both the chair and the bib. She also warmed up to the buggy after she realized she kind of liked buggy rides.

Other kids in my class have started talking so much more since August, not all of it makes sense but they are at least trying! Three of our kids were able to “graduate” from our class and move up to the next age group. It was a wonderful experience working with those kids! They brought joy to my life each day… never a dull moment!

Wow

I had a student in my class who was absolutely AMAZING. He was only 16 months old, but he was an extremely intelligent little boy! He would remember peoples names after meeting them just once. He could name a lot of the teachers at school. He also knew the names of all his fellow classmates. He knew the name of one of our little girls older sister too! He really surprised me one time at lunch, we were having sandwiches with honey mustard for them to dip their sandwiches in. He had run out of dip so he said, “Can I have more dip please?” I was shocked! All the other kids around him were saying either, “dip” or “dip please.” None of them were using full sentences, except for this one student. He was always surprising me! Such an amazing student!