Reflection on my Reflection (Paper)

It was hard to go all the way back to my May 30th frame of mind- so much has happened since then! I started out that reflection by discussing classroom communities, how that was a novel idea for me, and how inclusion was such a central aspect to building a good classroom community.
Since May 30th, I've actually seen a classroom community in-the-works. From the very first days of school, until the end of September, I've been there while 24 kindergarteners (some who haven't been to school before) learn what it means to be a part of that classroom community and really grow together as learners. Inclusion was an important idea for me in May, and it still resonates with me today.
Another thing I wrote about in my past reflection was Sir Ken Robinson's "Changing Paradigms". I'm so intrigued by all of the divergent thinkers in my kindergarten placement. They are still so imaginative, and willing to try, and so creative. The first piece of art I received from one of them appeared to be different shades of pink scribbles made into the shape of an arch- and I had absolutely no idea what it was but didn't want to ask. I thanked them for it and said it was wonderful and I like the color pink, etc. The student told me it was "an all pink rainbow!" and I still think that was such a cool thing. Rainbows, in her mind, don't yet have to be ROYGBIV. In my reflection, I also wrote a little about Greene's ideas about the importance of imagination. I hope I can foster an environment where my students can be imaginative, and one where they can apply those ideas to build up their creative genius.
I'm still seeking for a balance between what I wish I could do and be in a classroom, and the reality of the situation. I will be working with a set curriculum, and there is very little wiggle room. I'm so focused on the light at the end of the tunnel (finding a job!), and upcoming challenges (TPA! Affording this! Finishing homework with what time?) that, sadly, there isn't much else that is getting attention. Lately I've been wondering more about classroom management, and how to capture the attention of 24 kindergarteners, than much else.

Food Journal Reflection

The Food/Activity Journal was really beneficial for me to take an analytical look at what I was eating, drinking, and how much exercise I was getting. I think one of the most important things I did in my Food/Activity Journal was to look at how much sleep I was getting each night. Not enough! I noticed that my eating habits were sporadic. If I would have put a time next to each time I eat, it would have shown that I go long periods without eating anything. And usually during those times, when I do eat something, it isn't a well planned, nutritious snack or meal. My work schedule during the weekend has a lot to do with that- I'm a barista and usually work long shifts without a break.

My job also helps contribute to what I'm now referring to as my coffee addiction, which is one of the things I wanted to change as my goal for the last week of my journal. The other thing I noticed was that I have terrible sleeping habits. Almost every night, I would fall asleep on my couch instead of my bed. I usually wake up about half way through the night and then sleep a few more hours in my bed. The poor sleep quality and far less than eight hours per night of sleep were a bad combination, and something that I wanted to change as part of my goal.

I feel like I've made baby steps towards my goal. The easiest goal for me to change was to alter my sleeping patterns. I've actually fallen asleep in my own bed for the last week, and slept at least (and sometimes longer than!) eight hours a night, with a few exceptions. At work, I've learned to drink water instead of making myself coffee drinks (with the exception of my cup of drip coffee when I get there, which is completely necessary for me in order to wake up and actually be nice to customers, I've found). I have another goal for myself, and that is to do more planning for what I'm going to consume during the day. If I stock up my apartment with healthy snacks and meals for the upcoming day, I will be less likely to eat what is around and available, and not necessarily nutritious.

This activity helps reinforce that what we put in our bodies have a paramount effect on us. It goes back to that old saying- you are what you eat. On the last day of class, the point was brought up that there are certain, crucial nutrients that our bodies need that we can only get from certain foods. Antioxidants found in lots of fruits and vegetables play a vital role in keeping our whole bodies healthy. In a class, we could investigate the effects of antioxidants on different systems in the body. Something I was thinking about doing with a project like the Food/Activity Journal is to have students look at what kinds of foods they are eating, and then further delve into where those foods come from, how they're processed (if they are), and look at what affect that food might have on the human body. For a math project, students could calculate the distance and gas mileage that was required to transport the food (i.e. an eggo waffle would probably start in a corn/wheat field somewhere, be transported to a processing plant, to another factory, to stores, and so on). If we had time for a project, they could even visually represent their work via a map. This was just one broad idea, and I think that there are just so many applications that a food journal could have. It makes it personal to the student, and brings up bigger ideas about where food comes from, what is done to processed food before we consume it, and what effects that may have on them.

Last day!?

How could it be the last day already??

Today had a great "the brain is amaaazing!" theme. I was also so excited/terrified to see real, human organs. It was the highlight of my day. It's not every day you get to hold a human brain... and once I willed myself to actually hold it, I was so surprised by how dense (and how big) it is. The cerebellum was ridiculously interesting looking... Right now, I'm enjoying some antioxidant rich food, and appreciating my brain a little more than before.

I think this really speaks to how we ought to be role models for our students, and how being excited about something can make others excited about that thing too. The day started off on that note of being excited to explore more about the brain, and throughout the class it was actually very exciting! That's saying a lot for the morning of post fourth of July celebrations.

I wish we had more time to reflect and wrap up the last eight days (the running theme of this quarter). They went by too quickly.

Sexual Health and Reproduction Day! Yay!

I can't believe that this class is nearly over!

Today was so interesting. The microteaching lesson regarding the differences between healthy and unhealthy relationships was really useful- I can't remember ever covering that in middle school (or even school in general) and it is such a paramount topic. Especially considering what relationships are portrayed in the media.... I mean, twilight? Talk about your unhealthy relationships...
I had so much fun doing the creative activity from the second microteaching group as well. I think students would take away the importance of using protection (if they decide to engage in sexual activity- I liked that abstinence was often brought up as the only 100% safe method). Accurate knowledge could be a very empowering thing for students of that age, especially considering some of the misguided things I've heard 6th graders say...

Also! I really enjoyed the reading for today. It gave me a good example of something I could go to as a reference for a "how to" talk to certain age groups when they ask one of those (dreaded) questions. Like the "what is sex?" question. I think the reading gave a very appropriate, accurate response to that question. Something I'm continuing to think about is how much teachers are obligated to share with students when students have questions like this that come up. I would need to be sensitive to a diversity of cultures and what would be appropriate to disclose depending on varying beliefs of different families, etc. Just something I'm still wondering about.

TPA and Dove

This morning really ended on a TPA note, and when I think back to this morning's class, that is the main thing on my mind. Probably because it is overwhelming to think about the very end result (and the cost involved), but it's also very nice to have an idea of what the end result is so we can start building the foundation we need to be successful right now. I'm also just curious about pearson's role in this and in other assessments of teacher candidates. It seems like they have a monopoly on the whole thing. I wonder how much money they make doing what they do?
Though, to be fair, I do think the TPA (much more so than any West B/E) will be a much better assessment of what we know and if we will be successful at helping students learn. I also think it will give me a push to think critically about everything I do as a teacher... seeing as I'll be writing a mini novel by the end of it (50 pages? Whew!).
Other take-aways I had from today were thinking about the importance of covering issues of body image. It's a shame we only had a moment to cover such an important topic. But that's kind of the theme in a class where you only get to meet 8 times! I really like Dove's Real Beauty Campaign (awesome message)- however, I just want to throw this out there, I think it's interesting that the same parent company who owns Dove also owns AXE brand body spray. Anyone recall the AXE commercials of hypersexualized women chasing down men after they spray themselves with AXE? Amazing that one company could own such polar opposite brands!

Mr. Yuk Box & Assessments

Phew! Today was a full day. It's good to have a few minutes to reflect on class this morning, even if it feels like it was days ago already.
We had our presentation and I feel like I took away a lot from it. One thing I wasn't expecting to experience were those "teaching moments" that come up. I think our class did such a good job of putting themselves in 1st grader mode that they actually had some very realistic questions that, in a real life context, would have been very important to answer. For example, in my small group, I think it would have been helpful to go over what to do in an emergency if the emergency is still happening. If you're drowning, your house is on fire, etc, you clearly don't want to call 911 first- you want to make sure you're safe, and then call 911. I wasn't anticipating a lot of that, and it honestly just threw me for a loop. It definitely kept me on my toes! Overall I had a good experience with the micro teaching lesson and I appreciated all of the constructive feedback.
Another thing that really stretched my thinking today was going over all the different ways to assess students. Originally, I mostly thought of assessments being at the end of the lesson- i.e. how much did this student take away from this lesson or what did they learn. Then, I thought about assessments from a two-pronged approach, where students ought to be assessed before a lesson to see what knowledge they already have about the subject, and then later determine what they learned. Now, I'm thinking about assessments as a constant, integral part of lessons, which really makes sense to me. Especially when you think about those teaching moments that I wrote about above, it's important to gauge what information students are understanding and what is still unclear so that you can use that moment to help clarify what students will need to know to be successful.

So many good ideas

Looking back on this morning's class, there are so many fun activities that get kids up and running about! The activity where the foam noodles were germs was probably my favorite. I think being able to incorporate lessons about germs to an activity like that was genius! Fun and we learned something. I'm sad that I didn't catch the whole day's lessons due to re injuring my knee injury. I did catch the beginning of the lesson about creating a jump rope rhyme, and I can't wait to hear the winning rhyme tomorrow!