May 19, 2011

My last day at Westwood was one of the saddest day of my life. The students tried to beg me to stay with them longer or come back the following week but that's impossible. Over this year, I really didn't think I would have gotten attached to the children but I did and I think as a teacher, that's what you would have to deal with every year.
IPET helped me discover that I have a love for little kids. I love to work with them, I love to talk to them, and I really love to teach them. Although I do love teaching fourth graders, I would still rather be a pediatrician until I'm a bit older and I think I'll be a fourth grade math teacher later in my life. This did help me choose my career because I love little kids.

Engligh AP test

The AP Exam was very tough but I understand that it should be a difficult test since you college board wants to test if you should get a college credit for taking an AP course in high school. The only thing that I have a problem with is the timing. I really just hate timed test and the fact that I am a slow reader doesn't help at all. We also had to write three essays in 2 hours and I completed them before time was called. Last year, by the time I finished my second essay, I was brain dead but I guess I've gotten better with the AP exams.

April 21, 2011

They played jeopardy that day (I guess it can be considered an alternative assessment also) and sadly I had to leave at nine so I couldn't really watch them finish off the game. What that was really funny was that there was an answer that was wrong on the game and the teacher and I didn't even catch it until the students pointed it out to us. I guess we all learn lessons. What was really cute was that they got excited, just to play a game which is the easiest way to learn- through having fun.

An alternative assessment is something else that the students can do besides taking a test. Like, a poster, a project, a word search. Anything that is basically hands on,  like lab, etc. it just shows that they understand what they just learned and that they could demonstrate it to us.

April 14, 2011

Yesterday, the teacher checked the students homework.  I again pulled Erika out to help her with her values (one, thousands, millions) and oh my gosh, what a 360 from last week. She's been going to tutorials and praticing at home and she's really smart.I then took her back into class and checked the rest of the students homework. They've gotten very comfortable to me to tell me almost everything. They were asking me about my birthday and what was I getting.... Super cute kids. But that made me want to be a teacher all over again.

Assesments measures the achievement of their objective, what needs to be improved, and measures the effectiveness of my teaching. To asses how well your student are learning, you would have to write a test and/or do experiments to show that they understand what they are learning. The students can evaluate each other to see how much they've learned. In the test, they can answer true/false questions, mutiple choice, mathcing, fill in the blank, and labeling.

April 7, 2011

Today, I again worked with the little girl Erica to help her with her values. I couldn't seem to find a method to help her understand it. I honestly think it's because her math shills aren't that great but I'm pretty positive she'll get there. They then learned how to multiply a different way and learned how to do TREE DIAGRAMS. Of course, some students understood it after one example and some just takes a little bit more time and effort for it to process. But soon after, they all seem to really like tree diagrams. Afterwards, it was time to go to specials and this week I went to music class. Some students have an obvious short attention span, some students talked while the teacher spoke, some students couldn't sit on their buns quietly, and I don't know how the teacher deals with it. But afterwards, they learn that they were doing a 6 week project and some students were very excited and some were like "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" So possibly, they may enjoy it or they may not.

April Fool's Day!

Yesterday, I got a chance to have a one on one time with this girl named Erica that had a problem with rounding and figuring her values(tenths, ones, hundredths). Mrs. Rojas taught the students about reflection and rotation. And every student were active. We the went to specials at 9:30 and I went to P.E. There were some students that actually did the warm-up while others stood there and did nothing. I never realized how much fun children have from playing tag (brings back elementary memories).

There have been some accommodations at Westwood for bilingual students. The teacher would speak in English but then if they didn't understand it, she would repeat it in Spanish. Also she would put the students that are short or students with short attention span in the front so she could keep them on track. 

March 24, 2011

Yesterday, I actually got to help teach students how to round. Although I kind of forgot how, I somehow miraculously remembered. There are some students that look at word problems and thinks that it's a multiplication problem but it is actually division. It just takes some time and skill to distinguish which is which. They were really nice to me and I think they've become accustomed to me and I've learned to love their cuteness. This just makes me wanna be a teacher even more when I grow up.

Feb 24, 2011

I watched my kids take the TAKS today. Not very entertaining but I just read my Teen Vogue magazine and wrote my essay for english. I never knew how boring it was to watch a student take the TAKS. Sigh.

Feb 17, 2010

My students took the taks test in spanish... There's not much I can say about that expect that the seats were spread out and teachers were making sure that they weren't cheating. (Gave me a flashback of TAKS and I wanted to cry). I also went to the dance and was wowed at how greatly the kids can dance. They are so cute and tiny. I forgot to mention, their dance was better than our homecoming!

February 10, 2011

In class yesterday, the teacher lets me help and interact with her students more. They are learning how to solve simple problems and I didn't know what they've already learned to show them how to do it. The only way I knew how to answer the questions was with long division but theres another that they can do it but I've never seen in my life before. Thursday was a fun day.

The tardy policy is an effective way to keep the students going to class on time. Although things can happen to good people like getting in a car wreck or something, the tardy policy should only apply to those that are tardty for no reason. But mostly, the students that have been in ISS really does not care if their tardy or not because they can't exempt no matter what. They would rather miss a day of school and just be in ISS rather then going to class.

February 3, 2010

Procedures, procedures.
The teacher would give out worksheets and give the students a certain amount of time to finish it up. She would give them a countdown from 5 to 0 so they can turn their worksheets in on her desk. Also, while they were playing a game, the teacher makes sure that the students were in their seats and that they raise their hands before they answer a question. If a student had to go to the restroom, she would have them raise their hand, get the pass, and put this notecard on her desk that shows her that their at the restroom. Before going to Specials, they would have to stand in a single filed line and the first person in line would have to open the door and the last person in line would have to turn off the lights. While going into the fourth grade wing, the students line up by classes and split into A or B groups for the day. The have the students walk in a single filed line, soundless towards P.E. or Music class. From there on, the students would have to sit in their spot whichever class they have to go to and stay quiet until there's any other instructions.

Jan 27, 2011

Yesterday, I help organized some worksheets for the teacher and help grade some papers for her. I also saw this new dice with a dice inside of another dice, very neat. One student drew a picture for me but honestly it was the cutest drawing ever. It was spongebob with hair and we went to specials and some students learned ballet.

Sterotypes

Welcome to Spring Woods, not Northbrook, but Spring Woods. When I was younger, I thought our school would be like what we saw on t.v's. With cliques, status, and diversity. But you don't really know how it's like until you actually step foot into a school/organization. Sterotyping is not really a big issue, or as bad as how it seems on tv. For instance, on tv, all the cheerleaders look snobby, rude, and think they're on top of the world. As in Sping Woods, it makes no difference if you're a cheerleader and only like 3 people on the team tries to act like we're in that fantasy world. The football players are suppose to be "jocks" and on top on the food chain but really, it's not that big of a deal if you're dating one. I mean, it's not like we're the best team in this state. I feel like everyone at school gets along, doesn't matter if you're wealthy or poor. This is just, the enviroment of our school. But if we were to go to another school, like Memorial, I definitely would not fit it. There's actually something like a pyramid there and that you have to be a jock or something super important to make it there. At our school, anyone can fit in. :)

January 20, 2011

Part 1
If I was in the autotorium, I would have tried to keep my class together and make sure they follow me around so we wouldn't get seperated. And if we were to get seperated, I would try to make sure they meet at a certain place. I would've tried to keep them calm and have them walk to a certain location.

Part 2
Yesterday was also a great day. The moment I walked in the class their faced lit up and most likely, I'll never get tired of it.They were a bit upset when I left class early because they wanted me to go to specials with them. Also, they were talking about seeing  me at a basketball game on Wednesday and they were excited that they saw me. I have no regrets for choosing to spend my second sememster to the same class. Also, that one student that I told you about earlier is starting to count his numbers out, in english! Yay.

January 14, 2011

Yesterday, was a great first day. The moment I walked into the classroom, the students had a flashing white smile and a face of excitement. That was honestly the greatest feeling ever. They had taken their benchmarks the day before and needed my help to show them what the did wrong. The teacher also told me that the students got really excited when they learned that I was coming in on Thursday. Overall, yesterday was a very great day. Also we got a new studfent that does not speak English and I bet it's hard to adapt to new things and environment.