Week 11

Read Aloud
This weeks read aloud was Telling Time with Big Mama Cat by Dan Harper. This book was interactive with kids. It helped them learn about time and routines. The grade it would best be taught to is first. The second read aloud was The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. The are any lessons one could tie in with this book. One is to appreciate what you have. This book demonstrated repetition, emotion, love, and relationships. It would most likely be taught to either a first or second grade class.

Learning Experience
This week there were presentations. Jamie and Julie presented on poverty. I learned a lot about kids struggling with money issues and their home and school life. I learned how a teacher is able to help even if it is in small ways. Then Jenna and Becky presented on eating disorders, and i learned about these diseases and how to help people suffering from this illness.

Current Event
http://blogs.edweek.org/edweek/college_bound/2012/12/by_listening_to_alumni_about.html
This current event is about how kids who graduated high school were observed. It was then decided to incorporate more life skills into senior year in this particular high school. For example one thing they added was a pilot program to help seniors learn about time- and money-management skill. These programs are hoped to help kids in their future.

Observations
This week I had the opportunity to go to Leonardo Elementary School to observe a fifth grade class. This was my favorite observation so far. The teacher was so nice! She taught me the most out of all the observations that I went on. The kids in the class were learning division and they were excited to continue the lesson. I was so happy to get to observe how she taught because she made learning fun! All the kids knew the topic and wanted to do the activities with it. She did both group and individual work and she was always there to help the kids. She defiantly is a good teacher to observe because she was nice and her learning method was fun and effective.

Reflections
This week we had a guest speaker from Rider University come in. She didn't only talk about Rider, she talked about her own experiences as a teacher. She was very interesting. She also talked about a fun camp that is free and kids can go their to learn more about subjects. I think it would be a fun and effective camp for people if they have to time for it.