First day in Ms. Martins 1st Grade Class

First of all I need to say how much I enjoyed my first field experience at Drayton Hall Elementary! I absolutely loved my 1st grade class. When I arrived this morning, the students were quietly working at their desks on a phonics worksheet. They were concentrating n distinguishing words that contained long /u/ vowel sounds verses short /u/ vowel sounds. I was very impressed with the students ability to quickly grasp this concept on their own and without the teachers help. During the math exercise, the focus was on adding and subtracting by using what they called a "function" unit. The students worked with the teacher for a long time trying to figure out what the different patterns were that made each addition or subtraction problem have certain outcome. This was difficult for some to grasp, but the teacher assured them that they would get it. I think it is important for teachers to continue to encourage kids, especially those who are having a hard time, to help to motivate them to try to understand concepts that they may be struggling with.

Blog Entry #2

The Delpit text discusses the probems that students of other cutlures can have in school when teachers try to enfrce the use of Standard English, and they neglect to focus on how the culture from which these students came can have an affect on how they speak and write. I strongly believe that as teachers, it is our responsibility to instill within our students the rules of proper English and Grammer. However, we must not ignore and try to get rid of the students culture or heritage. Effective teaching will occur by being sensative to the different cultures from which each student comes from.

Blog entry 1 for EDEE 636 :Why do I want to be a Teacher?

I have always enjoyed working with kids. Throughout the summers of my high school and college days, I worked as a camp councelor and on staff at a summer camp. This camp was ccalled Camp St. Christoher, and it is located on Seabrook Island. It was here at camp that I grew to love working with children. I majored in Christian Education in hopes of becoming either the camp director, or a youth minister. However, I was never certain that either of these careers were what I relly wanted to do. After having worked at the Sanctuary on Kiawah Island for several years after graduating, I realized that I missed working with children, and I knew I wanted to become a teacher.
I have really enjoyed the MAT program so far and am excited about enhancing my knowledge and teaching skills. I love working with little kids which is why I wanted to be an Early Childhood teacher. Last semester, I observed the third grade class at the Charleston Developmental Academy on Line Street. Prior to this experience, I had thought that I wanted o teacher younger age students, but after working with the third graders, I fell in love with them! So now I am not sure which grade I would like to teach. I definitly know though that I want to stick with Early Childhood. I am excited about what this year will bring. I am a little nervous about teaching on my own for the first time, however I am confident in my ablity to do so.