EDTE 255 - My New Obsession
Pinterest - my new time waster/obsession. Pinterest is a site loaded with pictures relating to various things: education, weddings, fashion, fitness, etc…. You create different boards and then you “pin” pictures relating to that board. I have one board dedicated to Education, and i’m becoming addicted to making that board bigger. The pictures you find are attached to other peoples boards, where you can find more pictures related to that subject. I have now become obsessed with new ideas regarding how to organize and decorate classrooms, cute classroom projects, behavior management ideas, etc…from these, I have been directed to different blogs of various teachers posting ideas from their classrooms. This has all made me realize how important networking within the educational field is. All these blogs have a wealth of information that I absolutely intend on bringing into my classroom. Plus, this is all making me even more excited to set up my own classroom.
http://pinterest.com/christieallen92/
EDTE 255 - Portfolio
For our e-portfolio, i’ve been looking through pictures of me working with my kids from this summer, and thinking of all my past experiences with children. This has made me realize how fortunate I am to have had all the opportunities I have. Between volunteering, babysitting, CAVE, and Camp Adventures, i’ve had so many chances to learn and grow within the field of education/working with kids. I’m excited to see where this all takes me as I move forward in my career.
EDTE 255 - Kinesiology Teaching Experience
As I look back over my Tumblr posts, i’ve realized how many opportunities i’ve had to work with students throughout my time at Chico State. Each student in Kinesiology had to teach a group of either kindergarteners or 1st graders some sort of PE lesson. I was set to teach one of the first lessons, so I was really nervous about it. I had a group of eight 1st graders and my lesson was on how to properly kick a ball. I was nervous about the fact that I would have a bunch of little people running around distracted with equipment. I had the students start off by practicing kicking a ball against the wall, before trying to kick the ball to each other. Then I had stations set up for them, one had hoops set up so the kids could kick the ball through the hoop, and the other station had pins set up for them to play a different version of bowling. It was definitely a challenge, but I enjoyed working with the students in a new type of setting. The kids seemed to have fun, and I felt as though it went well. Teaching PE was something I wasn’t really thinking about in joining the world of education, but this class helped me realize it’s not something to be worried about.
EDTE 255 - NSCI Teaching Experience
In NSCI 342, we had to learn a lesson on the phases of the moon to teach to a group of either 3rd or 6th graders. We were set to teach on two different class periods, but sadly a class backed out so we only had one opportunity to teach. I walked into class nervous, not really sure what to expect or whether I would be prepared, and it ended up being one of my absolute favorite experiences working with kids. I was set to work with two other wonderful girls in my class, and we were supposed to work with kids in a group anywhere from three to six kids. It ended up working that we split off with our own kids, so I worked with two little third graders on my own. The girls were adorable, smart, and extremely engaged. They loved asking me questions, and they were so interested in learning, it was amazing. All throughout the lesson, I really felt like I was teaching them something new. In the extra time they had to talk to me, they were extremely inquisitive about my life, they’d ask things like “why do you want to teach? what grade do you want to teach? what’s your favorite subject”? One of the girls turned to me and said “you’re so lucky your in college already!” I was confused and asked why and she said “You’re almost done already!” I was so shocked that a 3rd grader was looking that far into the future. At the end of the lesson, the girls both said thank you and as they were walking away one girl says “You’re going to be a great teacher!” and that absolutely made my day. I am so pleased with how that lesson went, and I cant wait for more experiences like that one.
EDTE 255 Last Day at Placement.
My last day at placement was an interesting day. I knew walking in that i’d have to tell my pal that it was my last day, but every time I would start to tell him I would chicken out and continue with what we were working on. Every time I thought about the fact that it was my last time there, I would bounce back and forth from being super grateful for all that I have learned and how I wouldn’t give up that experience, to how sad I was that it was over. Towards the end of my last day, my placement teacher asks “are you coming next week?” and when I shook my head no she said “oh no what am I going to do without you here!?” and thats when I looked at my pal. All day he had been overly affectionate, giving me hugs and holding my hand like crazy (maybe he secretly knew I was leaving?) and at this point he looks up at my with a sad pouty look on his face before giving me a big hug and shaking his head. I told him it was my last time being there and he just kept shaking his head. He gave me a halfhearted goodbye, I think its because he didn’t really believe that it was my last time. I’m going to miss my pal, and I hope that he has a great rest of his year!
EDTE 255
As exciting as it is that this semester is almost over, seeing my Special Pal and realizing I have hardly any time left to see him is sad. I haven’t told him yet that this is my last week of going to work with him. I’m not entirely sure how he’s going to react, but I don’t think he’s going to be very understanding of me leaving and not coming back again. I love the idea of this program, but I think it would be better suited for a spring semester, so that way it’s the end of the school year and they aren’t cut off at the halfway point. On that note, I’m sad for Wednesday and not entirely sure how to break it to my student that that will be my last day, but I’m still really glad that I got to experience watching him grow this semester.
EDTE 255 - Great day at McManus
I forgot to update about the cute thing my teacher did for me and another CAVE Special Pal in my 5th grade classroom. Kelsey (other Chico Student) and I walked into the class to see all the chairs arranged weirdly in the back and a camera set up on a camera stand in front of them. When the kids came in after recess the teacher set them up in the back and had Kelsey and I join them because she wants to give us a picture of the class. Then she had us take individual pictures with our pals, and my pal was feeling goofy and kept trying to do silly poses. Super sweet day at my placement!
EDTE 255 - my pal
These last few weeks at placement have been great, but today was especially fun. My pal is starting to like me more and more, and he’s a big goof so it’s really fun getting to go work with him. Today my placement teacher had an activity for the students on healthy lifestyles, and had the kids go to different stations and come up with ideas for different ways to be healthy. It was so cute working with my pal, and two of the other 5th grade boys. I was like “so what do you think is healthy?” and they were SO excited to tell me all about how they knew to be healthy. They started talking over each other trying to tell me how healthy they were. They were like “we eat veggies!” and “we work out!” and then I explained to them that exercising helps make their heart stronger and they were completely intrigued. Then one boy said “your like the same size as my aunt and she’s 26!” and then another little boy said “then you must be 26!” and I shook my head and then about 10 of the students started spewing out random numbers of how old they think I am. For some reason this seems to be a common theme in working with kids, that they want to know your age, and my favorite thing to do is to not tell them. I told them I’ll tell them at the end of the semester. Today was just super fun, and my pal gave me TONS of hugs and held my hand pretty much all day.
