First Field Trip

              Today, I went on my first field trip as a teacher. I went and saw Robin Hood at the Children's Theater with my 2nd grade class. It was wonderful! I had three students in my group and of course one of those students was M and he really enjoyed himself. He was on task and enjoyed talking about the play and his life with me. It was so sweet because even though I was not sure what he was talking about half of time he was just really happy that I was listening and paying attention to what he had to say. I realized today that sometimes it is not about what story students are telling but it is about reaffirming that what they are saying is important and that we care about what they are saying. It was such a wonderful experience talking with him and for someone who came from Mexico three years ago, his speech is so great! He is progressing so much and I can see such a difference in his behavior and his willingness to learn since when I first started working in the classroom 6 weeks ago.
             On the bus back I had a notebook in my purse and I decided to play hangman with the students because I thought it would be fun for the students and keep them occupied as well as have them work on spelling. They really enjoyed coming up with the words and it was awesome to see M coming up with words to have his fellow classmates guess. After hangman we started to work on math facts and they had so much fun coming up with math facts for one another to figure out. I am glad that I was able to come up with a fun way for the students to learn that kept them occupied on a long bus ride. It really helped me to see that learning can be fun but it just takes creativity and a simple game like hangman can me all the world to some students and their learning.

Halloween Stories

              The students were asked to create Halloween stories last week and after they were finished they would have Author's Chair which means they would read their story to the class and show their picture that went with their story. M did not write a story the first time the students were asked to write a story about their favorite place, so I was determined to help him write a Halloween story that he could share with the class. When I came in today my cooperating teacher told me that  M was having a rough couple of days and just was not focused or on task. She asked if I would immediately start working with him and get him on track for the day. I love that I have this connection with M and when we work together he does accomplish a lot. We started out reading with one another and then I asked him if he wanted to write a Halloween story that he could share with the rest of the class. At first he was hesitant and didn't want to create a story because all he kept talking about was pizza because that is what was for lunch today, so I decided to try and relate the pizza to a Halloween story and he seemed interested.

              Above is the story that he wrote about a ghost who loves pizza and has other ghosts over for a big party on Halloween. He was so proud of himself and I was very proud of him. After we wrote the story I could tell he needed a break, so we went outside for a walk for 5 minutes and then when we came back he was ready to learn. I have noticed that in order for him to succeed and finish his work he needs to take breaks from the academic aspect and just get some fresh air or just move around. After lunch today he was very focused in math because it is one of his favorite subjects and he does it very well, and when it was time for computers he was very helpful and always made sure his classmates knew what was going on. I think that today he had a better day and I am glad that I am able to help him succeed and feel proud of himself. 

Wonderful Progress!

Here is a piece of spelling work from M. He did this all on his own this week without any prompting or help. He is so proud of himself and is making great progress. Today he made connections from our read aloud to his geography assignment. He also did wonderfully when it came to his math. I am so proud of him and I love seeing all of the progress he is making over the past few weeks.

My Favorite Teaching Moment So Far!

This week was probably one of my favorite weeks in the classroom so far and really made me feel important and that what I was doing was making a difference. This week was the reason I wanted to become a teacher in the first place. In my second grade we have a couple of ELL students, one student in particular came to Washington in Kindergarten and didn't know any English but over the past few years his English has really developed and he is speaking very well. Both of his parents speak Spanish and at home that is all that is spoken, so school is one of the few places he gets interaction with native English speakers. This boy has won a place in my heart and my cooperating teacher has told me that this week has been his best week since starting school in September.

When I got there are Wednesday, the students were going to start work on spelling words, I was told that M has not written one sentence with his spelling words this year, so I was determined to help him write sentences to practice his spelling words. I sat with him and another student with the same word list and we worked on developing sentences. M had a hard time focusing at first and the other student really wanted to just continue and not stop. So I allowed that student to go ahead while I worked with  M on his spelling sentences. I started out covering the words and only showing him one at a time which seemed to be a great strategy for him because he wanted to see what the next word was. He started to write his first sentence with his spelling word, I helped him sound out a few words but over all he wrote the sentence by himself with correct punctuation and everything. After the first sentence he wanted to go onto the next, this continue for 7 more words. He ended up writing 8 sentences from his spelling list of 10 words. I was so proud of him and more importantly he was extremely proud of himself!

Today, the students got to write stories in their journals, and I again sat with M to help him start his story. After looking in his journal I noticed every page was blank, so I realized that he had not even written any kind of story this year, I was determined to help him start one today. We sat down and I asked him about his day yesterday and what he wanted to write about. He told me he wanted to write about his day at his cousin's house playing games. We wrote this story together and again he was so very proud of himself! He also worked really hard at his math problems and really enjoyed it. I know that he wants to learn I just think he needs a little extra help which is hard for one teacher to give him that help but I am so glad that I am there to support him the next few weeks. He is the sweetest boy and I am looking forward to getting to know him even more. It will be extremely hard to leave him and the other students.

I also helped my cooperating teacher develop a homework procedure sheet for M in Spanish so that his parents could read it and support him in making sure he did his homework because he has not turned in any homework this year. It was really easy to take her original and put it in a Spanish translator to help support M and his family in his education. I am very much looking forward to his progress and growth this year.