Week Of September 24th

Read Aloud
This week was the first week of the read aloud activity. Tyler Wilton chose the book, "The Foot" written by Dr. Seuss. I thought this book was a good choice because it had  lot of things you could link into for many different lesson plans. I would use this book, to teach either about rhyming, opposites, counting, or diversity. I think this book would be best read to a kindergarten or first grade class because that is the age when the kids can get into the story and understand the meanings fully after being taught it.

Learning Experience
This week in the tomorrows teachers class Tyler read his current event aloud. He discussed how a nine year old boy was so smart that he is actually in college already. We discussed the pros and cons of this situation. For example, being so young and in college, he is surrounded by people who were alive over a decade longer than him. They are older and more mature. College kids normally do different activities then a nine year old would do. Also, this boy is missing out on being a kid. As a nine year old kid I enjoyed playing hide and seek with my friends and playing with toys. However, this boy is unable to do anything related to these activities because college has a lot more work and tests than an elementary student gets. I think this kid should have went through the grades normally so that he could grow up properly and have a normal childhood, even though he is extremely intelligent.

Current Event 
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2012/09/nj_education_system_must_focus.html 
This article deals with the education Commissioner Christopher Cerf and his plan to improve test scores for the year 2013. By third grade only a little more than half of the percentage of students are able to read efficiently. His plan is to ensure that each student is able to read by the time they are in third grade. In doing this, it helps the kids learn better and impacts the rest of their lives positively. It also may help improve test scores. I chose this article because the education commissioner saw a problem, came up with a hypothesis on how to solve the problem, and now set up a plan to help carry out the actions needed to improve the test scores for this upcoming year. I think that it is important when you come across a problem to analyze the situation and then think of a well thought out plan to positively change the issue.

Quote of the Week
"Teacher: The child's third parent." -Hyma
This quote is full of important meanings. For example, this quote recognizes how a child looks up to their teacher almost as much as they look up to their own parents. Being a teacher, especially for younger kids, means that your are an important role model in their lives. The teacher helps to mold the child as they grow up because a majority of the day children are in school. Teachers make the rules and guidelines the kids must follow just like their parents do. This quote is meaningful to me because my dream is to become a teacher and a positive role model the kids can look up to and strive to be.

Observations
 This week as I observed my teachers, fellow classmates, and students, I saw many things I can learn from as being a teacher in training. For instance, In one of my AP classes, my teacher was going over a model of something in the chapter. He went over each part of the model explaining what they did and their purposes. Then he picked on people to repeat the functions of the model. When he picked on me I froze up forgetting the names of each part! So instead of him standing there making me feel bad for forgetting a name, he asked the class to help out which took the pressure off of me, but still helping me learn the subject. Also after, he asked specifically if I had any extra questions about anything or was confused. I was very grateful for the way he handled this situation. Some teachers make the student feel bad about the situations, however when I become a teacher I want to be like him.

Reflections 
 At the start of the week I was overwhelmed by the amount of projects, essays, and overall work I had for all of my classes. However as the week progressed, I sorted out when to complete each assignment to ensure everything got done on time, but made it so that I wasn't stressing about all the work. This week helped me realize that I need to have schedule of when to do each subject so that I am able to manage my time efficiently. I will be sure to use what I learned this week in the future!