Week 6

Read Aloud
This week Jenna presented the book Today I Feel Silly written by Jamie Lee Curtis. I really liked this book and would defiantly use it when teaching a class. The book focused on emotions and how everyday things can change the way you feel. It helps kids understand that having different feelings is okay. This book would probably be most helpful to read to fourth grade students because the vocabulary in the book was a little big, and also the emotion concept would be most appreciated by kids in that age group.

Learning Experience
This week we didn't have a lot of class time due to the school schedule, however i still managed to learn somethings. For example, in class my group worked on our puppet show that we are going to present to the pre-k children. I am very excited about this. I feel that my group is very prepared because we learned to not wait until the last second to complete everything. My group met outside of school and wrote the script, made sure we had the puppets, and typed up what needed to be typed. In school all my group had to do was highlight everyone's part on their scripts, and then practice! I cant wait to actually present the puppet show because my group is very prepared!

Current Event
http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2012/10/17/08bratek.h32.html?tkn=RNUFmntX7HNTxxLsUxAU3T5IJPL5xnq0wkiI&cmp=clp-edweek
This article has to do with students and cheating. It is becoming a huge problem especially because technology is making it easier to copy and paste or just simply look answers up while taking a test. Teachers are worried because grades are such competition between students that they feel the only way they can succeed is to copy or cheat. Students were asked why they do this and many responded saying that grades are unfair. They thing grades depend on standardized testing and busy work more heavier, then on actually knowing the material in depth which is the way it should be. They think that since its unfair, why not just cheat. Teachers are trying their best to help kids achieve good grades without feeling that they should cheat.

Quote of the Week
This weeks quote is "The biggest enemy to learning is the talking teacher" by John Holt. This is a very important quote because it is extremely true. It is basically saying that no matter how much a kid wants to learn, a teacher who is boring and talks nonstop about one specific subject is not helping the kids learn anything. Kids don't have long attention spans so talking for forever is dong them no good. Kids need interaction and fun learning activities and projects. This way they learn the material in a way they actually want to. Kids get more out of a topic from doing hands on and interactive things, rather then sitting and listening to a lecture.

Observations
This week I went to South to observe a special ed class. I enjoyed watching this class because it wasn't how I expected it to be. It wasn't bad or good from what I thought, just different. We observed the lower functioning students. It amazed me how when the student was lacking one thing, they used something else in different ways then we do. For instance, there was a girl who was legally blind. She was able to use a calculator and give change back to another student. Also, since she cannot use her eyes her hearing is extra keen. If you drop a quarter, the girl would know exactly what you dropped without being told just from the sound of it. In the classroom I observed the modifications that were made for each individual. I learned from this and it helped me get ideas for when I become a teacher!

Reflections
This week I presented my current event. Finally I felt comfortable talking in front of the class. I get more used to it as the time goes on! This week also made me realize that every student is different and some  may need modifications for the way they learn. Observing the special ed class gave me good examples of how to help kids with different disabilities learn without becoming frustrated or angry.