Mrs. B’s Corner

On Wednesday, I was able to go to a new school and a new grade level. Erin Leckington, a 2nd grade teacher at Verde Valley Christian School, allowed me to observe her and her students. It was the hour before lunchtime called “workshop.” Some students were with Ms. Leckington in a small-group reading time and the others were doing a math worksheet and working in their language books. She went over all of the directions before setting the kids to work. Sometimes they read the directions together in different silly voices. When deciding who to pick to answer a question, she would draw craft sticks from a bucket or let a student choose another student. (I saw the latter technique used in Mrs. Yeager’s classroom too). Ms. Leckington also had assignments up on the board including page numbers and extra activities for those who finished quickly. Students were allowed to help their neighbors, but if it got too loud a few different disciplinary techniques were used. There was a dedicated place to turn in work, but if it didn’t get done during workshop, it got done at recess.

Before I get into her different techniques, I just want to record some of my other observations. Her students were seated at 3 tables with room for 4-6 students. Each table had a name that varies from week to week and were sometimes judged as a whole. Her small reading groups also had names. Before setting the kids to work, Ms. Leckington had the kids make a promise. She had obviously tried to instill in them the importance of making a promise and the kids did in fact keep their promises. I also noticed that there was water at the desks and kids would clap to count out syllables in words.

Around the room I saw a lot of different things. On the marker board was a list of all the kids’ names and a section titled “What the big idea?” with subjects listed underneath. She had a bulletin board with the daily schedule, monthly calendar, and the classroom code of conduct. There was a tray with the letters N, O, I, S, and E on it as well as other posters.

Now, when it came to switching between activities or calling for quiet, Ms. Leckington would count. She started with 5 going down to 0 and would start to count up again. For each number above 0 (she only got to 1), it’s a minute that the students owe her. It’s taken either out of lunch or recess but sometimes after school as well. I like this idea because (as long as it’s explained) it teaches kids that other people’s time is important. The table names were also on the board with tally marks next to them. A mark was given for exemplary behavior but taken away if the table was misbehaving. The student names were treated similarly but stars were good and checks were bad. If you had a B next to your name, you were in the bathroom but you owed Ms. Leckington two minutes. I like the use of stars and checks because even though you’ve done something bad enough to record, it’s a check and not an x. The NOISE tray was to judge noise level. If the kids got too loud, a letter was taken away (only the E while I was there). If the tray spells out “NO,” then there was no talking or helping. Lastly, she had a jar of what appeared to be M&Ms and gave out 1 or 2 for correct answers.

She has a lot of different ways to maintain classroom discipline but nothing about moral development. It seemed to be a classroom full of level 1 and 2 thinkers. They’re 2nd graders! I understand. To me there was an overuse of punishment/reward systems. I’m sure when I get my own classroom, I’ll need to find my own balance.

I love it when the things we’re learning in class or reading about line up with things that occur in my service learning. I just read chapter 6 of Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire which is all about testing, specifically standardized tests. Today Mrs. Yeager’s 4th graders got to work on a Reading Skills Practice Test from Scholastic. There are instructions on the front with some helpful hints.

• Make sure to understand the question fully by underlining the key words and restating it in your own words.
• Always refer to the text to find answers. It’s a good idea to go back and reread.
• When you finish, check all of your answers. You may find and easily correctable mistake.
• Most important, relax! Just do your best.

First of all, these are pretty good tips. Making sure you understand the question is key. When the author of the book, Rafe Esquith, talks about creating multiple choice answers, he encourages the kids to give answers that might seem probable. On an addition question, a good answer would be the one where the student accidentally subtracted or forgot to carry a number. It’s a great idea, and I love how he says it turns the students into little detectives.

At this level, the answers are definitely in the text and may not even be reworded on the question. I refer back to my textbook all the time for my different reading quizzes. I find the right section and reread or skim until I’ve confirmed my answer.

Step 3 is so important and luckily something that I still do. No matter what type of work–writing, math, history, science–it can be double checked. Maybe you switched 2 numbers (or letters). Maybe the formula got copied wrong. There are so many simple mistakes that can be fixed by reviewing your work.

Relax! A bad grade on the test is not the end of the world. It doesn’t even mean that you will fail at life. It simply means that the material needs to be gone over again. There’s a section of Rafe’s book that talks about consequences. A bad grade on a test shows that you either don’t know that particular skill or maybe made correctable mistakes by not checking your work. The great thing is (at least on regular assessments) the skill can be taught again.

Although Mrs. Yeager went over the test as a class since there was a new skill on it, all other conditions of the test were there. It was quiet. The students were sitting at their desks, and the test was in the same format the real test will be in. It helps that the practice test was from a standardized test-maker, but it’s still a great example.

The boy with ADD from my previous post was very fidgety and had a hard time focusing. He was playing with his mechanical pencil a lot- taking it apart and putting it together. I wonder if there’s something I could find that would keep his hands and maybe body busy while not taking too much concentration or making too much noise.

There was a teacher I had who used something like this with a girl who stuttered. She had her focus on something else with her hands (a rubber band? a paper clip?) so she could give her oral presentation. It helped her stutter a lot less.

is totally what I got today at Abia Judd. I was with 3 different 4th graders going over vocabulary including context clues. The one side of the worksheet was straightforward (choose the correct word from the list given) using definitions and sentences. The other side was a brief passage that included the vocabulary and asked what context clues were given.

I had a few different challenges to face. First and foremost was a kid with ADD who hadn’t taken his medication. I knew a boy like that when I was younger, and I had really forgotten what it can look like. He wasn’t loud or anything but constantly fidgety. Another challenge was looking over the material for the first time myself. While the kids were finishing their worksheets, I did the work as well.

There were a few different things I tried to achieve: not only getting the right answer but to make sure they actually understood what they were doing. All of the definitions were given in the questions so substitution came in handy, especially when more than one definition was a choice. For example, does it make sense to say, “Just beneath the to rise up of the water, he saw…?” No, but “Just beneath the top of the water” does.

There were three examples where the context clue was the definition itself as a single word. I had the kids find the word that meant enchanted (delightful), flexible (bending), and absorb (learn).

I found that I repeated myself a lot. The students liked the individual attention so I pretty much asked every question three times. Some even multiple times, and I tried to guide them to the correct answer. Even the kid with ADD was excited when he figured it out.

I’m not sure how helpful I was to them, but it was helpful to me.

By sending students out into the hall with me, it’s one way that Mrs. Yeager is able to deal with diversity. In this instance and others that I’ve faced it’s been because of learning disabilities. Those who are slower or prone to distraction, get special focused attention. If it were my classroom, and I didn’t have the option to separate students, I’m not really sure what I would do. I’d probably have the fidgety boy standing or pacing. Maybe even working on something at the board. It’s a tricky situation that takes time to analyze and assess what will work.

“If students do not learn the way we teach, then let us teach the way they learn.” – Kenneth Dunn (expert on learning styles, copied from Those Who Can, Teach)

4 Modalities for Learning: Visual, Auditory, Kinesthetic, and Tactile. These focus more on the process of learning whereas Multiple Intelligences focuses on the content and products of learning.

I love the quote above! It’s exactly how I want to teach in the classroom. I know that I’m a visual learner. I learned a whole language as a kid just watching my mom (and others) interpret church services (thanks, Mom). I learn while teaching or working with others, and I almost always want to know “why?” As a teacher, I hope to keep all these learning styles in mind and create flexible lesson plans with lots of variety.

Chapter 2 of the book Teach Like Your Hair’s on Fire is titled “Searching for Level VI” wherein the author talks about the six levels of moral development. He says that he teaches these on day one. As part of the assignment for my education class, we were asked to list personal examples of each level. For this post though, I’m going to take one example- cooking dinner- and apply it to all six levels.

Level 1: I don’t want to get in trouble.

I cook dinner because I don’t want to get in trouble with my spouse, parents, roommate, significant other, etc.

Level 2: I want a reward.

I cook dinner because I want to hear the praise, get dessert, or receive flowers from aforementioned person.

Level 3: I want to please somebody.

I cook dinner to make somebody happy that is not me. It’s catered to that person’s likes or dislikes.

Level 4: I follow the rules.

I use a recipe exactly when I cook dinner because I am not a chef and this person knows what’s best for this dish.

Level 5: I am considerate of other people.

I cook dinner and invite lots of people over or cook for a soup kitchen so that everyone can have a home-cooked meal.

Level 6: I have a personal code of behavior, and I follow it.

I cook dinner because it’s what I do. People need to eat. I can cook. Easy. Done.

This particular example may not be best for younger kids, but it could instill level 5 thinking by making them think about it from their mom or dad’s perspective. It also might gage at which level a child’s thinking is.

So, why would you cook dinner?

Today at Abia Judd I was reminded that not all teacher work (or volunteer work in my case) takes place in the classroom. I spent the majority of my time die-cutting hearts for Mrs. Yeager. Maybe next week I’ll see what they’re for.

Multiple intelligence basically means that different people learn in different ways. As you can see from the graphic, there are 8 different intelligences. Some people are very logical and learn through solving problems, sometimes mathematically. Others are very verbal and can easily learn key terms and other vocabulary. The naturalist applies whatever lesson needs to be learned to nature whereas the intrapersonal learner might apply those lessons to his/herself. Visual or spacial intelligence involves a lot of pictures and charts. Group learning is more attractive to the intrapersonal learner. You seek advice, work in teams, and sometimes enjoy taking the lead. If you’re a runner and find yourself figuring things out while you run, you may be a kinesthetic learner. You like to be on the move or outside while processing information. Finally, some people learn musically. According to a quiz I took from the Academy for Leadership and Development, I learn musically/rhythmically. This means that music is very important to me and either by listening to music while I study or turning a lesson into a song, I’ll learn the information much more easily. If you’d like to know how you learn, check out the Birmingham Grid for Learning Multiple Intelligences Quiz. I like this one because you choose levels of similarity. I took it and my results were very similar to the paper yes or no one referenced earlier.

Today was the first time in a long time that I was back in an elementary classroom. I went to Abia Judd Elementary in Prescott to help out in a 4th grade classroom. I spent only an hour there, but I can’t wait to get back. It was their reading time. I spent about the first half hour in the classroom following along and observing the teacher as they finished a story about Martin Luther King, Jr. When it was time to take their test, I went into the hallway with one of the kids and read about Amelia Earhart.

The young boy I was reading to was obviously smart- he was able to answer a bunch of my questions- but seemed to have a little trouble reading. I’m not 100% clear on why he didn’t have to take the test, but I definitely think he needed the one-on-one. I look forward to watching him and getting to know the class as a whole.

The brief amount of time I was able to observe was beneficial. It was obvious that the teacher had set up procedures and that they were effective. They walked through the halls quietly after lining up single file and quickly returned to their seats once we were at the classroom. The teacher would call “high 5,” and the students would raise their hands and stop talking. This was particularly effective after they had been talking in small groups or pairs.

I was really impressed by some of these kids. They’re 8-10 years old and already including the question they were asked in their responses as well as phrases like I’d like to add to what he said. I was also reminded about how much kids like to mimic, especially after another student receives a compliment for doing something right. Most kids also want their moment to read or speak even if they’re just repeating what someone else just said. I liked that (for the most part) the teacher let them.

I’ll be spending an hour in this classroom on most Thursday afternoons, and I am really looking forward to it.

1. Are you really and truly using all the resources available to you to help you make a conscious and clearly thought-out decision about your future career? What can you do to enhance your chances of making a good career decision?
2. Have you acquired the mental habit of reflecting on your experiences?

There are quite a few resources available to those interested in teaching. What may seem like the most difficult is one I believe to be most useful- real encounters. This just means spending time in a classroom or around school children. For me, it’s been a mixture of student-teaching, babysitting, coaching jobs, and volunteering. I had a blast in each of those experiences. Another resource is vicarious experiences or really learning from others. Find other teachers and listen to their stories. Learn from their mistakes and successes. Other options are to observe fictional classrooms in movies or read about them. There are plenty of movies I’ve seen that depict classrooms and teachers, but I look forward to watching them again from a different perspective and with a more critical eye. Seeking guidance from friends and family is another good resource no matter what you want to do for a career. From those who know me best, I’ve gotten plenty of encouragement to pursue teaching. All of these different resources are virtually useless if you don’t take the time to reflect upon what you’ve learned. I’m working on making this a habit, and I’m sure writing about it will help. I’m already thinking about my previous “real encounters” in a brand new way.