My takeaway from this week's class was our observation in an elementary school. I had the privilege of being able to observe a kindergarten class and it was reassuring to me that I was supposed to be teaching. I felt so comfortable in the room and I couldn't wait until I was the teacher.
Some things that I took away from it was that when you have kindergartners, like I plan to have, it's important to have them focused at all times. During my observation, the students were doing literacy centers and I noticed the one center where the students were supposed to be working on puzzles, was actually being used as a lot of down time for the kids where they were losing their focus. The teacher was busy leading another center, so her attention couldn't be on the puzzle group the whole time. This was understandable, but I feel that it could be prevented by providing the students with an activity that wouldn't cause them to lose interest so quickly.
Also, I want to make sure that in my future classroom that I over plan for the day. I have noticed in past experiences and in the kindergarten class that it's better to have more planned for students to do and not get to that than have not enough planned and the students have a lot of down time where they are doing whatever they want.
I feel like these experiences have a lot of relation to NCTCS because it gives us real life situations that we will be faced with on a daily basis. It helps us see how we can teach certain material and ideas on how we can run our classroom.
I read an article that touched on many questions about literacy centers in kindergarten and how the centers can be successful and keep the students engaged and willing to learn. I thought this was a great website and would be helpful to others who are looking into teaching at the elementary level. I listed the website below.
http://www.kindergartenworks.com/kindergarten-teaching-ideas/back-to-school/smart-literacy-centers/
Hey Amber!
ReplyDeleteI really agree to your point about overplaying for the day. It is way better to be over planned than not planned enough! Especially with young students, because their attention spans do not really last long.
I love that you are so passionate about Kindergarten and felt right at home! That is such an amazing thing and will make you a stronger teacher!
I definitely agree about feeling like I was meant to be in the classroom! I also had a kindergarten class and while the students got distracted during centers, I truly think that with the appropriate lessons and planning teaching a class of kindergartners is exactly what I want! Personally, I'm not so sure how I feel about centers for the age group. I love the idea for older children but I noticed the children were exceptional until the teacher split the students into centers. Regardless, I really appreciate the link you included and I will certainly consider it!
ReplyDeleteAmber, I am glad the observation was impactful to you. I am also glad to see that you are already seeing yourself as the teacher and planning appropriately so you can be best prepared for your future classroom.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your blog, I also agree that the actual school visit has been the most impactful experience this week. I also agree with that the center where the kids were doing puzzles could have been utilized better. I really enjoyed the link that you added because I enjoy reading the different things that other people find about education.
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