Final Posting

I definitly am feeling more prepared to be a teacher now, than I was when I began this semester. I remember looking over the syllabus for each class I took this semester and I thought, how in the world am I gong to be able to do some of these things that these professers are asking me to do?! I was very nervous about getting into a classroom with live children and teaching them lessons. However, I feel that the my classes have provided me with the information and resources that I needed to carry out these tasks. I definitly feel better prepared to become a teacher.
Some of the goals that I have set for next semester include:Having better controle of the classroom environment by coming u with good tehniques to used to get students engaged in the lessons that I teach them. Another goal I have is to continue to develop strategies that I can use in my lesson plans, that will apppeal to th many different learning styles that I will find within the students I teach. I will do this by listening to what other teachers have done in their own teaching experiences.
I am excited about continuing in this program and am so happy that I have finally found a career that I love!

A student I observed

There was another student in the thrid grade class, besides the one I did my case study analysis on, whom I also observed over my time at CDC. This student seemed to need constant attention from the teachers. He was very active and had tons of energy. During every excercise that the class did, the teachers seemed to rotate taking turns sitting by this student to help him stay focused on the activity the class was doing. This child was very bright, and was very capable of doing his work correctly. However, he never could sit still. He would talk aloud in class as if he was in his own world. I thought the teachers did a great job with helping him stay on task as they used diffferent strategies to motivate him to do his work. I over heard one teacher talking to him and trying to work with him on setting goals throughout the day, for him to reach to get his work done. I think that these are great strategies to use with students who seem to have a hard time focusing and staying on task during the day. The teachers had obviously observed his behavior in the past, and had come up with solutions on how to direct him in such a way that would help him pay attention and complete his assignments. As teachers, it is so important for them to know their students and to create lesson plans and strategies that are approprite for each type of learner.

Final 3rd grade observation

I trully will ahve to say tht I will miss the third grade class at CDC. They were such a bright group of students, who were eager to learn. I thought that my favorite grade to teach would be the 3's and 4's. However, from this experience, I found that I loved the third grade! I really enjoyed interacting with this group of students. I found tht the more I am ble to ealte to them, the more they tend to respond to what I am teaching them.
Something that I will take away from this experience and try to use in my own classroom is taking very opportunity to teach the students the importance of being espectful to others and resecting themselves. I believe that the teachers at CDC did a great job instilling these values within their students. There are too many kids these day who do not learn these lessons and it gets them in trouble. I want to be the teacher who shows them the importance in maintaining these velues in their own lives.
I really enjoyed working with these wondeful children!