Blog # 2

1. So far in my classroom, I have observed many things. Number one being the diverse group of students we have. I absoluetly LOVE how the children interact with one another. They are all so friendly with one another and I have not seen any HATE from one studnet to another. They are like a little family to each other. I love how they all get along and how they do not seem to notice things that we adults in the "adult world" pay too much attention too. For instance the black studnets interact with the white studnets, the girls are friends with the boys, the smartest child plays with the lowest level child. I love how innocent the children are and how they have not learned the prejeducies that happen in the real world. I know they will eventually fall victim to harsher judgements of people but I love the little community or family I should say in the classroom.

2. I have to say that the teaching stlye is similar in many ways. I feel that my supervising teacher has a good understanding of how she wants her classroom and she is very frim about trying to achieve that. I feel that she doesn't let any student take advantage of her and I feel that she is very concrete in her directions to the class. These are qualities that I have always admired in my past teachers, and they are qualities that I hope to attain. One thing that I think we may differ in slightly is the behavior management. I feel that my supervising teachers style is more negative. I beleive that in order to help students succeed, then we need to set them up for success. In order to do so, I would have a postivie behavior management plan in place in my classroom.

3. The elements of my supervising teacher's teaching style that I will most likely incorporate into my own are the fact that she is firm with the students. Consistency is also an important aspect that I feel I can incorporate. Utilizing the entire classroom, such as writing on the borad, the elmo, and simply talking to the students. Her versatility for teaching the lessons for example, just standing in the front of the class or splitting the students up into groups for the lesson.

4. I haven't spent any time in a Kindergarten class before to be able to really notice any curriculum elements that are different because I don't have anything to compare this Kindergarten class to, but I have notcied somethings that I did myself in Kindergarten that have seemed to be abandoned. For example, nap time. I was wondering why my class doesn't have nap time. Is this a Forest Hills policy not to have nap time, a Hillsborough county policy or simply a teacher policy. I know when I was in Kindergarten we had a mat and we took a nap everyday, now the students just have quiet time. Another thing I have noticed is that we are not teaching the alaphabet. Again, when I was in Kindergarten we learned a new letter each week and spent the whole week working on learning that letter. To me it seems that they are expecting these Kindergarteners to come in already knowing how to read!

5. The one thing that is familiar and comfortable to me is the reading time on the carpet. I'm glad to see that this hasn't been taken out of the Kindergarten classroom yet. Reading is a strong suit of mine and I enjoy very much reading stories to the class. I think that I am good at fluctuating my voice to go along with the story. I think that a good reader has the ability to capture the attention of the students or vice versa, if you are reading in a boring monotone voice, the students will lose intertest.

6. I plan to work with an ESOL studnet and see first hand how lessons actually get modified for these students. I want to see if it is obvious that they are not cognitively delayed, just not able to understand the language, or if it something that I will have a hard time with in my own classroom.