Brittani Justice

Activity #1: Orientation to the school

February 6 was my first day at Rincon Elementary. When I first got there, I couldn’t

figure out how to get into the building but I finally found my way in. I went to the front office to

sign in and the secretary told me to go into the conference room across the hall where the other

PPB students were getting their orientation from Mrs. Hodge. I joined the group and after the

orientation, she gave us a tour of the school.

I met with my teacher, Mrs. Allen, only briefly because all of the first grade classes were

going on field trips that day. The school walls are covered in murals of the solar system, children

playing, etc. I loved the paintings; I think it will give students a comfortable feeling at school,

that school is a fun place to be, a place where you can be creative with learning, not somewhere

that is like a jail sentence.

After the tour, we went back to Mrs. Hodge’s classroom and she printed out a schedule

for each of us to follow as a group. We first visited with Cherry Harden, the media specialist. She

gave us a tour of the library and explained the Accelerated Reader program to us. She also

showed us the room where they run their closed circuit television. The school does their morning

announcements through the closed circuit system rather than over the intercoms.

We then went and visited with Karen Durkin who is the Assistant Principal. She was very

friendly and explained to us all of her job duties. She told us that she is going to be the principal

of the new elementary school that is being built in Effingham County. She said that the new

school is being built because Rincon Elementary is extremely overpopulated. It is only meant to

hold 500 students and right now, they currently have 850 students.
 After our interview with her, she took us to meet with the counselor, Mrs. Lena Waltz. We

sat down at a half circle table and she gave each of us a packet describing the guidance program.

We talked with her for 30 minutes, even though our interview was only supposed to be 15

minutes. Mrs. Waltz walked us to the lead teacher’s office, and on the way, I saw Mr. Heller, a

guidance counselor I had in high school.

The lead teacher had plenty of time to talk to us, so she told us to go see the principal,

Mrs. Arnsdorff, who was a little more pinched for time. Mrs. Arnsdorff took us to a conference

room and asked us what we all were hoping to gain from this experience. I told her that I wanted

to just get a feel for what it is like to be a teacher. I wanted to see how the classroom operates

and how the teachers and students respond to each other. This way I can know what to do and

what not to do when I become a teacher. I can also get ideas for ways I would like to teach and

things that I can do in my classroom that work effectively at getting the students to perform their

best.. After our visit with her, we went to see the nurse right down the hall.

When we visited with Mrs. Laura Wood, she had 4 students with her. She told us all

about all the responsibilities she has and how students are constantly with her. She is only

allowed to give students their prescription medicine; she isn’t allowed to give them any over the

counter medicines like Tums and Tylenol. We didn’t talk to her very long because she was very

busy. After our meeting with the nurse, we went to our last visit, which was with the Lead

Teacher, Mrs. Ramona Kessler.

Mrs. Kessler was very excited about her job. She was very busy also because there were

seven new students being enrolled that day. She showed us a program where standardized test

scores can be shared between schools; she was so interested in and excited about this program.
 After our meeting with her ended, we went back to Mrs. Hodge’s room. When we got

there, her kindergartener’s were at music, so we just sat there and chatted with her and her

paraprofessional. We only talked for a minute before her students were done with music and we

went to lunch. We all sat at the same lunch table, where Mrs. Hodge had a plastic cup turned

upside down in front of her. When the cup is down that means the students cannot talk. About

half way through lunch, she turned the cup over and all the students were able to start talking.

Close to the end of lunch Mrs. Hodge told us that we could leave because it was 11:00. So we

went back to the room, got our things, went to the front office, and signed out. I feel good about

the first day and look forward to getting to spend more time in a classroom.
Activity #2: Bathroom Duty

On March 1, Mrs. Allen asked me to take the students to the restroom. T.J. was the helper

for the day and she asked T.J. to go line up first. She told him to pick either the boys or the girls

to line up next. T.J. picked the girls and the boys simultaneously grunted. I think this is a good

technique. It keeps chaos from erupting when the entire classroom makes a mad dash for the line

all at once. This is a good control method, and it’s good for the students. It gives them incentive

to be good, so that they can be the helper, and it gives them a sense of control, even if it is only

temporary. I asked Alayja to go grab the hand sanitizer and hand it to me so I could dispense

some to the students after they finished using the restroom.

As we began walking to the bathrooms, I noticed there was a lot of talking and horseplay

going on in the line. I stopped and looked at the students and asked, “Is this how Mrs. Allen’s

class walks in a good line?” They all said no, quieted down, and got back into line. Sometimes I

feel like they don’t take me seriously, they think of me more as someone who can be their friend. I

have to give them little reminders sometimes, like this one that I am supposed to be an authority

figure to them.

While the students were in the bathroom, they seemed to be quiet and well behaved. As

they began to shuffle out of the bathroom, I put sanitizer on everyone’s hands. I let them all get a

drink of water and then go line up again. When everyone was ready to go back the class made a

good, quiet line.

As we were walking, a girl threw her arms around me and squeezed me tightly. This

started a chain reaction and about four other girls gave me hugs at the same time. I patted their

backs, thanked them for their hugs, and asked them to get back in line. I don’t mind a hug every

now and then, because these younger children are so affectionate that it is just something that
they do. However, I can’t have five students hanging all over me in school. Mrs. Allen wouldn’t

let them do that, so neither could I. Plus, I feel that if another teacher had come around the

corner and seen that, it would have looked very unprofessional, as if I had no control over the

students. I tried my hardest to not hurt the girls’ feelings and to let them know that their actions

were appreciated, but that they did not need to be doing that.
Activity #3: Observation

February 8 was my first day in the classroom with Mrs. Allen and her first graders. I

arrived a little early. I wanted her to see me as ready and willing to help. When I came in the

room, there weren’t any students yet. Mrs. Allen immediately began to show me how things are

done in her classroom. She showed me how the students take their Accelerated Reader (AR) tests

on the computers everyday and she immediately gave me a task to do. She handed me sheets of

stickers, asked me cut them up into individual stickers, and place them near the computers in a

bowl. When the students make 100% on their AR tests, they get a sticker to place on a 5 X 5

grid. When every square on the grid has a sticker in it, the student gets to pick a prize out of the

treasure chest. I knew immediately that I was going to be doing more than observing in her class.

I knew that I was going to be put to work.

As the students came into the classroom, they looked at me warily. I just smiled at them

and told them good morning. I was surprised to see a little girl that I already knew from my

church, but she acted as if she didn’t know me, probably just because she was confused as to why

I was there. After about half of the class arrived, she began to send certain ones to the computer

lab to take their AR tests. She kept some of the students in the class and let them test on the two

computers that were already in the classroom.

At about 8:45, all the students from the lab had returned and all of the students in Mrs.

Allen’s class had arrived. There was a bell at 8:45 signaling the beginning of the day. There is

one minute of moment of silent reflection for the students and faculty to be quiet and still to

reflect on the day ahead. After this, the TV turned on and the students stood for the Pledge of

Allegiance. After the Pledge, Mrs. Allen turned off the TV and introduced me to the class. She

told them my name, Ms. Brittani, and told them that I would be helping in the class for a while.
 I went with them to the library to pick out new AR books. I learned about how the color

of the dots on the books corresponded with the reading level that each student is on. When we

got back from the library, it was time for the students to go to music. It bothers me a little that

they only go once a week. I feel that it is important for students to have a creative outlet. I feel

that music and art help students. I think it is important to work other parts of their brains that

don’t focus solely on core related content.

When they came back from music, Mrs. Allen had them sit at their desks and quietly

work on worksheets. She allowed me to walk around the room while they were working and

watch them. Once they finished their worksheets, she had them all come to the carpet at the end

of the room and sit down. She sat in the rocking chair and began their reading lesson. They

practiced word pronunciation, number words, nouns, and adjectives.

After they were done with the literature lesson, she divided them into three groups and

had them sit at their desks for math groups. Each group had a different math activity to complete.

Two of the groups were teacher led; one by Mrs. Allen and one by the paraprofessional, Mrs.

Kelley, and the last one was independent. I monitored the independent group. I noticed that the

first group was very intelligent and fast, they finished their work early. The second group took a

little bit longer and the third didn’t even complete their work and were not as well behaved as the

other two groups. Mrs. Allen told me that she did that on purpose to see if I could notice the

difference between the students. I think that I would probably do this too as an example if I ever

have a student observing in my class. I think it is a good idea.

Activity #4: Interaction with small group

On February 15 I read with 2 different groups. Mrs. Allen had the boys and I go sit on the

floor near the board and read a story out of their textbooks. We sat in a circle and went clockwise

taking turns reading. The boys were very demanding, even with me. They tried to tell me how I

was supposed to be doing the reading and dividing it between them. They were determined to tell

me what to do. After a short while of no reading and just arguing (none of them could agree on

how it should be done), I told them to stop arguing, that we were going to do it the way that I

was told to do it, not how they thought it should be done. When we actually started reading, the

boys were constantly correcting each other and not giving anyone a chance to pronounce the

word. Instead of giving another boy a chance to pronounce the word and figure it out for himself,

someone else would just blurt it out. I had to tell them a few times not to do that, just to let the

other boys try. I was so relieved when the boys were done reading.

After the boys left, Mrs. Allen sent the girls over to do the same thing. The girls were like

a breath of fresh air. They were very well behaved and considerate of each other. They were fair

and gave everyone a chance to pronounce the word before they intervened. It is crazy how

different boys and girls are. I wonder why that is. I wonder why the girls were so good and the

boys were not. I wonder if girls are just people pleasers and don’t want to cause any trouble,

whereas that is what boys are made of.

I did this same thing again on February 20. But, this time the boys were better behaved

and didn’t try to argue with me. I guess this time they knew that I knew how it was supposed to

be done and that they didn’t need to tell me how they wanted it to be done. Also on February 20, I

interacted with 3 different groups of students. Mrs. Allen had separated the students into groups

for math problems. The group that I was in charge of was doing geo blocks. Geo blocks are a
game where there is a plastic square with 36 pegs on it. The students use place rubber bands on

the plastic board and use the pegs to stretch out the rubber band to make different shapes. My job

was to give tell them which shapes to make and regulate their behavior (make sure they were

doing the task.) Some of the students were a little bit more difficult than others. In each group

there were one or two students who needed help on how to make the shapes, they just couldn’t

do it without help.

On the back of the board was a circle with 12 pegs and 1 peg in the middle (meant

to represent a clock.) When we did the clock, I gave each student a chance to pick a time that

everyone in the group had to make on their clock. The students really enjoyed this activity and I

enjoyed watching and helping them. Every now and then, a student would pick a “tough” time,

such as 12 o’clock, they would be so proud of themselves because they thought that they were

tricking the other students a little bit.

Activity #5: One-on-one interaction

I had one-on-one interaction with several students during my field experience at Rincon

Elementary, but I will discuss the interaction I had with a boy named Justin on February 15. Mrs.

Allen asked me to help Justin read his books before he tested on them. Justin is a pretty good

reader, so I was confused when Mrs. Allen asked me to read with him. He doesn’t usually need

help. Justin and I went to a quiet corner of the room and sat down. I sat in the rocking chair that

Mrs. Allen sits in when she is reading to the class and Justin sat in a small chair next to me. He

picked up the first book and sat it on his lap. Since I knew Justin was a good reader, I planned on

having him read the book to me and I just help him with the problem areas and words. I told

Justin that he could go ahead and start reading. After the first couple of pages, I figured out why

he was having so much trouble with the book. Instead of the book being set up in the normal

reading pattern, sentences in line and paragraph form reading left to right, it was completely

different. The sentences in this book went all over the page and in strange directions, such as

upside down and in circles. So instead, I asked Justin if he wanted me to read it for him and he

could follow along. He said yes and handed me the book. When I was reading, I took my time

and read slowly. I dragged my finger under the words as I read them so that he could see and

hear each word as I was saying it. When the words went upside down, I turned the book upside

down so that he could follow along with me. I always turned the book in the direction of the

words so that Justin could see the words and not just be listening to me reading the story to him.

I wanted Justin to be reading with me so that he will be able to do it on his own one day.

I also read another book with him that day. Sometimes Mrs. Allen lets the students read

two books if they feel like they can handle it. I was a little worried that Justin had two books, but

I was hoping that the other book he had checked out was a little bit easier to understand. The
book was about and monkey and his friends. Justin did very rather well with this book. I was

surprised, however, to see that he could read the word ‘chimpanzee’ perfectly, but had trouble

reading the word ‘bro.’ Every time we came to ‘bro’ he needed help.

After we were done reading Justin went over to a computer in the classroom to take his

AR test. I watched him as he took the test. He didn’t do very well on the test over the first book,

he only made a 60%. I even had some trouble reading this book. I don’t think that this is an

appropriate book for beginning readers; it is more suitable for the upper grades who can

understand how to read the book better. I don’t think that it should be available in the easy

reading section of the library, which is where Justin got the book. On the test over the second

book he did very well and scored 100%.

Activity #6: Interaction with special needs child

There are a few students in Mrs. Allen’s class that go to a special education teacher at

least once a week. The one that I interacted with the most was Hannah. On February 20, Mrs.

Allen asked me to read a Dr. Seuss book with Hannah. I knew Hannah had a lot of trouble

reading, so I was prepared to do a lot of helping her. I read the book to her a couple of times and

then let her try. When it was her turn to read, she went very slowly. Hannah had to pronounce

almost every word. I think Hannah may have a problem that goes deeper than just being a slow

reader. I think that she may have dyslexia because she often mixes up her words. For example,

words that started with n-o, such as no, nothing, nobody, etc., she would always start the word

with o-n. I am not a professional, so I obviously can’t say what Hannah’s problems are or are

not, but I think that she definitely needs more than just my help. However, there is a man that

comes in and observes her sometimes. I am not sure whether he is part of the SST or not, but I

think he is trying to figure out what Hannah’s problem is and how he can help. It took us a very

long time to read the book and when it was time to take her AR test I watched her and helped her

read the questions and answer choices. Even though I read the questions and the answer choices

to her, she still made an 80% on her test. I saw her choosing the wrong answer, but I couldn’t tell

her the correct one. The 80% was better than what she made on her last AR test; on her last AR

test, she made a 20%. I think that Hannah doesn’t totally read her questions before answering.

On another day, Mrs. Allen was practicing for the CRCT test. She gave each student a

packet of worksheets to do as a large group. She separated the boys from the girls and chose to

practice with the girls first. They all came and sat on the carpet in the circle. Hannah sat next to

me, and Mrs. Allen asked me to watch her and to keep her on the right page. Mrs. Allen read the

questions aloud, repeated herself with each question and gave the girls plenty of time to answer
the questions. As I watched Hannah to make sure that she wasn’t working ahead of the group, I

noticed that she wasn’t even reading the questions, she was just randomly circling whatever

option she wanted to. I told Hannah to slow down and read the answers before choosing one. She

looked at me like she understood and said, “Okay.” As they kept working, I noticed that she was

still not reading it. After the group finished answering, Mrs. Allen read the answers to them.

Hannah only got two out of the 23 questions correct. Mrs. Allen is very concerned about how

well she will do on the CRCT test and so am I. I know that Hannah knows the answers; she just

doesn’t take the time to think about it first. If Hannah doesn’t take her time and really try, I don’t

think that she will make a very good score on the CRCT. However, I know that if she takes her

time, she will get the answers right. I think that Hannah needs to be put in a separate room than

the rest of her class or with a small group of students who have the same problem as Hannah,

where Hannah can be given more time or have the question read aloud to her.
Activity #7: Teacher interviews

I first interviewed Mrs. Allen on the first day I was in her classroom while the students

were in music. I asked her how long she had been a teacher. She told me, “I haven’t been

teaching as long as you probably think I have.” Mrs. Allen is an older woman so I would assume

that she has been teaching for more than twenty years, but I was so wrong. She told me that she

had been teaching for only 11 years. She told me that she had worked at the Health Department

for many years and worked many other jobs before deciding that she wanted to teach. She told

me that she originally wanted to be an art teacher, but there was no need for one of those, so she

decided to be an elementary school teacher.

She said that she graduated from Georgia Southern University. She also told me that she

had originally taught at Springfield Elementary. She then moved to Guyton Elementary. It wasn’t

until her granddaughter started kindergarten at Rincon Elementary, that she decided to come

here. She wanted to be near her grandkids and is so happy that she switched schools because she

gets to see them all the time, especially her grandson, Brett, who is in the first grade. I asked her

if the reason he wasn’t in her class was because she was his grandmother and she said yes. She

said, “If he were in her class I would love on him all the time!” In addition, because he is in first

grade, he goes to lunch at the same time as her everyday. Instead of sitting with his class, he gets

to go and sit with his grandmother. On the days I have gone to lunch with the class, I have

noticed that Mrs. Allen talks to Brett a lot and there is a considerable amount of conversation

between the two of them. This wouldn’t bother me except for the fact that none of the other

students in the cafeteria are allowed to talk during the first half of lunch, but Brett does. It

doesn’t seem fair and I see why they wouldn’t let her have him in her classroom. If her were in
her class, she would be showing an immense amount of favoritism toward Brett, and that

wouldn’t be fair to the other students.

During another interview I had with her I asked her how does she know what to teach the

students? I asked her because I had been thinking about it and got a little overwhelmed at the

thought of knowing what the students need to know and when they need to know it by. She told

me that the Georgia Performance Standards dictate what needs to be taught to the students and

when it needs to be taught. She went and got a big notebook she had full of the GPS that tell her

specifically what needs to be taught. There was a blank space next to each of the topics. Every

time she teaches the topics she writes what day she taught it in the blank. She showed me a

couple of notebooks like this that she has kept over the years to give her ideas and to keep up

with what has worked in the past. I was very relieved to find out all of this information I was

worried for a little while about how I was going to know what to do when I have my own

classroom. But, after talking to Mrs. Allen and finding out this information, I feel much more

relaxed. Mrs. Allen also told me that when I was ready to start doing my student teaching, just to

call her up and let her know and that she would be more than happy to have me in her

classroom. This made me very happy. This offer lets me know that Mrs. Allen thinks enough of

me that she thinks that I will be a good teacher, because she told me that she had previously said

that she would never take another student teacher again because of a bad experience she had in

the past. So I know that she thinks that I will do a good job and I would love to be able to be

under her supervision like that and have her be a mentor to me and guide me.
Activity #8: Observation in special education

On March 22, I observed in a special education classroom. The school is so overcrowded

that the special education classroom is in one of the trailers behind the school. This classroom is

set up like an average classroom; there were no special accommodations in the room. There were

only about eight or nine kids in the room at a time. The special education teacher, Mrs. Donna,

said that they only have a few students in the room at a time and they all come for 45 minutes a

day and as soon as one student leaves, another comes in. Each student is doing different work

than the other students in the class; this can cause a hectic environment sometimes. There is a

new schedule every day, meaning that the students come in at a different time each day.

There was a sentence on the board for the students to copy when they came in the

classroom. It took some of the students a long time to write the sentence on the board. One boy,

in particular, took at least half of his time writing the sentence. He didn’t sit at the table with the

other students. He sat in a desk by himself and had constant help from the paraprofessional, who

seemed to be giving one-on-one attention to him. I don’t really know why she focused on him.

Maybe he has more severe problems than the other students and needs continuous help from her.

I worry, though, about how he functions and how his grades are in his general education

classroom without the constant help.

Mrs. Donna sat down on one side at the kidney shaped table in the back of the room

while six other students sat on the other side. She did this so that she could easily access each of

the students when they needed help. She was constantly working with a student the entire time I

was in the room. I think that it takes a lot of heart and determination to do this. I respect her

very much for being able to do this job. She has been teaching special education for over 15

years and still loves it. I don’t think that I could do this job; I feel that I would get burned out
quickly. I would like to, maybe, be able to do this one day. I would like to get some more

experience and interaction in this type of setting eventually to see if this is something I would be

able to do and do well.

A little girl named Brianne came and sat next to me at the table I was at. She tried to talk

to me every now and then about ballet and other things that she didn’t need to be talking about;

she needed to be concentrating on her school work. I tried to be polite to her and stop talking to

her without hurting her feelings, but she didn’t really pick up on the subtlety and continued to try

to make conversation with me about every ten minutes for the duration of her time in the room.

One boy finished with his work and Mrs. Donna took it up and over to her photocopier.

She said that she makes photocopies of work that the children did that is neat and ‘looks pretty’

and sends it home with the students to their parents. I think that this is a wonderful thing. This

not only lets the parents know that their child is doing good work in school, but it also gives the

student confidence that they are doing good work. It gives them a sense of pride when they have

done work that the teacher is so proud of that he/he feels the need to show off. This will also

encourage the students to continue doing quality work.

Activity #9: Observation in different grade level

On March 27, I observed a kindergarten class. When I came in, the class came down to

the carpet in the front of the room and sat down. Ms. West, the teacher, told them to think of a

sentence. She picked a student to give her a sentence and she wrote it on the board. She asked

them how they knew it was a sentence. A boy raised his hand and said, “Because it starts with a

capital letter and ends with a punctuation mark.” Ms. West also had them study a cardboard clock

and the calendar. She also had them do some math with the money she brought to class and count

how many quarters make a dollar, etc.

Ms. West played a game with the students involving their favorite foods. She went

around and picked out students, one by one, and had each of them tell her their favorite foods.

She wrote each student’s favorite food on an index card and handed it to the student. Once

everyone told her their favorite food, she divided the students up into four groups. Each student

had to put their index card in a pile in the middle of the table with the other index cards from that

group. Ms. West then said, “Go” and the students had to alphabetize their favorite foods. I think

this game was so neat. It is the type of thing I want to do with my students. They really enjoyed it

and were very good at because they have apparently done this often. They liked it so much

because it was something that they can relate to and feel involved in. They feel that their food

choice is important in the situation. It was very competitive and one boy got extremely upset

when his group lost and began to cry. Ms. West got on to him and told him to stop crying. She

told him, “You should feel embarrassed for crying like that in front of everyone. You do not need

to be crying over this. Now wipe your face off and stop crying. You have ten seconds to stop

crying.” She began the countdown and the boy didn’t stop crying, it only got worse, especially

when she told him to go move his marker. Moving their markers is equivalent to getting a
straight or sad face. Even though I think that the boy was crying for a silly reason, I still don’t

think that she should have handled it that way. I think that her counting was a good idea, but I

don’t like the fact that she told him that he should be embarrassed in front of the whole class. I

don’t think that she should have done that in front of all the other students the way she did.

Overall, I really liked Ms. West’s teaching method. Her students were very well behaved,

polite, and considerate of each other. There was a lot of structure to her classroom. I want to

have structure in my classroom when I teach. Ms. West sets the bar high for her student. She sets

the bar higher, I feel, than many other kindergarten teachers. She gets them to try hard and

because of this, they will leave kindergarten better equipped to handle first grade. Mrs. Allen

told me that both of her grandchildren had Ms. West and that she has had students before that

were in Ms. West’s class. Mrs. Allen said that the students she had that had Ms. West were

wonderful and very smart, also, her granddaughter is in GT. I think that maybe because Ms.

West gets her students to work so hard, this is an example of nurture in the nature v. nurture

model. She brings out their intelligence and really gets them to use it to learn and academically

perform to the best of their abilities. She doesn’t settle for mediocre, and I really admire that. It’s

also not all strict. She does give them a little bit of time to play and relax. After they had been

working so hard all day, she gave them a break and let them listen and dance to three songs. She

sang and danced with them. I think that I would most like to be like Ms. West when I teach, she is

mostly all about structure and academics, but also lets her students know that she wants them to

enjoy themselves.
Activity #10: Student Support Team

On April 3, I met with Mrs. Waltz, the counselor, in order to better understand the Student

Support Team. She said that the SST consists of an administrator, a counselor, the student, and

the parent(s). She said that this year alone, she has close to 100 students in the SST. She told me

that the SST wasn’t for the special education students; it is a preliminary to special education. It

is for students who have some type of handicap that is hindering their academic achievement,

physical or mental. She told me about one girl who has a speech problem, which in turn affects

how she reads, and a boy whose forefinger and middle finger on his right hand are webbed

together, making it difficult for him to write. Mrs. Waltz says that how it works is that the teacher

makes a referral and the Student Support Team develops a plain for that child to improve their

ability to perform academically.

First, the SST will make modifications to the way the student is being taught in the

classroom. For instance, the girl with the speech problem was given more time to answer the

questions, to do her work and to write the answers. The boy with webbed fingers was being

taught to write with his left hand. The SST will monitor these modifications to determine any

improvement for 20 days.

The girl with the speech problem showed no improvement and will be reviewed by a

psychologist. There will be a psychiatrist provided by the school but the parents of the student

have the option of hiring a private psychiatrist. A doctor will then possibly diagnose the student.

The boy with the webbed fingers showed significant improvement. If there is no improvement,

the students can be referred to special education. Once they are placed in special education, they

are no longer a part of the Student Support Team. No one can be placed in special education

without first being a member of the SST.

 I feel this program is a good one; it seems to be very thorough and well thought out.

Through this program, the student’s needs can be addressed and dealt with appropriately. The

necessary steps will be taken to improve the student’s academic achievement. This also keeps

teachers from just placing a student in special education because they don’t want to deal with the

student that may need more help or that they don’t know how to handle. This way the student’s

are thoroughly evaluated before just being dropped in special education wrongfully.
Assignment #11: Observation of technology

I observed the use of technology on several occasions while doing my field experience.

The first time was on February 13. Once some students started arriving at school that day Mrs.

Allen asked me to go to the computer lab with them to take their Accelerated Reader tests. I

walked down the hall with the students to the lab and they took their seats. There were only a

few students in the lab with me, not the entire class. They each had their seats that they normally

sat in. I had to separate Justin and Alec because they were talking and playing instead of taking

their tests. I doubt Mrs. Allen lets them sit together. They were probably just seeing if they could

get away with it while I was in there instead of Mrs. Allen. I had to help some of the students

with some words that they didn’t understand or some answer options that they didn’t know what

they meant. It didn’t take them long to take their tests and as soon as some students started to go

back to the room, some more from the classroom started to come in. At about 7:45 all of the

students were done and we went back to the classroom.

This came to be kind of a designated job for me. If I wasn’t in the lab with the students

helping them with their AR tests, I was in the classroom helping them on the two computers in

there. Mrs. Allen has never told me, but, I have realized that the kids that go to the lab are

usually the ones who are the “better” readers. There are two computers in the classroom, and

Mrs. Allen usually keeps the “not so good” readers in the classroom. I suppose she does this so

the ones in the room can get more help and more time to take the quizzes. I think this is a good

idea. Also, Mrs. Allen will sometimes send a “not so good” reader to the lab, probably so the

student doesn’t feel like he/she is being held back by being kept in the room and not being

allowed to go to the lab. I think this too is good because it prevents the children from feeling

excluded but they still get the help they need when it is needed. I would like to do something like
this when I am a teacher. Still give the children who need extra help the attention they needed

but also let them be included with what the other children are doing.

I was amazed at how well the students navigated themselves through the Accelerated

Reader computer program. I know that I wasn’t able to do half of the stuff that they can do when

I was their age. A girl named Alayja actually showed me how to do something in the AR program

one day. I am just astonished at their computer skills so early in life.

Activity #12: Review of non-print items

On April 3, I went to the library to ask Mrs. Harden what types of non-print items were

available to students on the subject of gravity. I chose gravity because that is the GPS topic I am

focusing on in my ITEC class. When I met with Mrs. Harden, she was getting ready to go eat her

lunch. Because she was about to eat, I feel like she was a little short with her answers and not

very willing to elaborate. She told me that there are videos available for check out by the

teachers in the library, but probably not very many. She said that videos were probably all that

they had. She showed me a room at the front of the library where they keep all of their

audiovisual equipment. She told me if they had any, they would be in this room, and I was more

than welcome to go look in there anytime I felt like it. I thanked her for her time and she went off

to eat.

I, however, went to the audiovisual room and began my search for any videos with

information about gravity. The room was very small and there weren’t as many videos as I would

have expected. I took me a while to find anything even somewhat relevant.

I finally found three videos with gravity included on them; none of them were completely

devoted to the topic. One of the videos was made in 1987; the others were made in 1989. So, for

the most part, the information on gravity at Rincon Elementary is both in inadequate and

outdated.

I feel that even though gravity isn’t a primary focus in the curriculum, but it is a very

important phenomenon that affects our everyday lives and when a teacher wants to teach her

students about it, he/she should have plenty of resources available to them. I think that there

needs to be more than just three resources available in the entire school. I also feel that the

information should be more current, because even though I’m sure the rules of gravity haven’t
changed dramatically in 17 years that some new research has come out that could better help

society understand gravity and how it works.

Activity #13: Research resources available

On April 3, I interviewed Mrs. Harden, the media specialist, to find out what types of

research resources are available to the first grade students. She said, unlike the non-print items,

there are plenty of research resources available for the student’s use. First, there are books that

the students can check out of the library. There are biographies and non-fiction books available.

These books are very helpful, easy for the students to use and find the information that they

need.

Mrs. Harden also said that there are encyclopedias available with more than plenty

information. The only problem with the encyclopedias is that they are sometimes difficult for the

first graders to navigate. They can’t do it by themselves, to use an encyclopedia they must seek

help from other people who know how to use it, but, with help, will be able to find what they are

looking for. In addition, the students might need help deciphering the way the content is worded.

Sometimes, certain words or sentences confuse a first grader.

Mrs. Harden also said that all of the computers in the school are networked together and

they all access the school’s P drive. The P drive has all kinds of interactive programs for the

students to use in their research. She also said that probably the most comprehensive tool for

research is obviously the internet. The students are not allowed to just go search the internet by

themselves, an adult must supervise the students while using the internet. There are also

limitations to what the students can view due to the blocking of internet sites containing

inappropriate materials on the internet. Because of certain words being used, certain sites will not

come up. Mrs. Harden said that the students would probably not be able to research websites for

breast cancer at the school because of the program that runs on the computers. Because the word

breast is used, they would not be able to access any sites at the school. At first, I thought that it
may be a little much that they can’t research breast cancer at school. After a little while of

thinking about it, I think it is better to be safe than sorry. It is better that they just try to research

that type of material at home. I would rather the school filters be that meticulous, than to let

some inappropriate internet material be viewed by a child.

I am very happy to hear that there are plenty of research resources available. I was very

disappointed when I found out that there were very few non-print items available to the students,

so when I sat down with Mrs. Harden to talk to her about research resources, I wasn’t expecting

too much. I was pleasantly surprised to hear about all of the things that are available to them.
Activity #14: Observation in gifted classroom

On March 20, I observed Mrs. Kandler’s class, the GT classroom (gifted and talented.)

There was a fifth grade class in there that day. Mrs. Kandler told me that every day she teaches a

different grade level and that they stay in the class with her all day, unlike in special education.

The room that GT is held in is extremely small and hot. It’s very cramped and there’s hardly

room to move around in the class. I stood in a corner because there was nowhere else for me to

be without being in the way of someone else. Even though there were only ten students in the

room, I feel that there should be a better facility for these students and Mrs. Kandler. I find it

very unfair that they are shoved in, what I would call, a glorified closet, for seven hours a day.

There should also be better air conditioning in the room. I think that these conditions are

unacceptable for any classroom environment. I don’t feel that the class has to be in a huge room,

just one that is comfortable enough for learning. There was a very laid back feeling to the room,

one which promoted creative and collaborative thinking.

Mrs. Kandler told me that the things they do in this classroom aren’t subject driven and

they aren’t necessarily learning new things; they just expand on things that they already know.

She says that they are just enhancing things that they have already learned elsewhere. She tries to

get them to expand their mind and really use it. She challenges them and makes their brains

really get in to gear. She says that the class is based on strategies. They play games, such as chess

and sudoku. Mrs. Kandler gave me a copy of a sudoku puzzle to solve and I couldn’t even do it. I

tried three or four times, got frustrated, and stopped.

There was a riddle and four analogies on the board which the students spent the first

twenty minutes or so solving before getting started on other things. Mrs. Kandler said that every

day she writes new analogies and a new riddle on the board for them to solve. They were going
to start reading Macbeth today after lunch, they have already read Romeo and Juliet and Hamlet.

For much of the time I was in there they were preparing for a math game they were going to

play. They had to cut up hundreds of pieces of paper with numbers on it for the game. When they

finally finished, they had to sort out the pieces and Mrs. Kandler told them the point of the game

was to set up their numbers on the grid to match up with others numbers already on the grid. The

game was confusing to me, but they seemed to understand it pretty well and did the game

effortlessly.

Before they went to lunch, they went to the computer lab to work on their media projects.

Every grade of GT is making a media project. The media projects are projects the students do to

advertise a service in the community. They also played a math game on the internet called

tessellations.

I think my day in GT was interesting and full. It feels like they do so much. I think to be a

GT teacher you yourself must be gifted, because I couldn’t keep up with these fifth graders. I

couldn’t believe that they were reading Macbeth. I still haven’t read that and didn’t read Romeo

and Juliet until I was in high school. I am amazed at how intelligent these students already are at

such a young age. I think that I was a little overwhelmed and embarrassed that these students

know more than I did at that age, and probably are more knowledgeable in some areas than I

am. I think this a good environment for the students, because I am sure that in a general

education classroom all day they are not getting challenged enough. I think that the GT program

is both wonderful and vital for these students.

Activity #15: Teacher assigned activity #1: grading papers

On March 29, I helped Mrs. Allen grade some papers. I helped her grade practice tests

she had given the students in preparation for the CRCT. The practice tests were packets of

worksheets filled with typical CRCT type questions. Most of the students did well, but there

were a few that were consistently missed by most of the students. Mrs. Allen felt that she needed

to reiterate these things to the students when they returned from music. There was one student in

particular who did very badly on her CRCT practice quiz. In a previous journal, I mentioned a

girl named Hannah who was just flying through her practice quiz without even reading the

question. This particular practice quiz was different from the one I had observed Hannah doing.

In this practice quiz, Hannah only got four answers correct. This just proves that it wasn’t just

that Hannah was having an off day where she just didn’t feel like paying attention, she is just flat

out not reading. I am very worried about how well Hannah will do on the real CRCT and I can

only hope that she slows down on it and really reads the questions and makes an honest attempt

at understanding the questions.

On April 3 I helped Mrs. Kelley grade some papers. She was a little overwhelmed with

all of the work she had to do (this was the first day of CRCT testing in the Effingham County

school system.) I sat down and she handed me half of her stack to grade with a pink marker. The

work I was grading was the seatwork that they did after they finished their CRCT testing for the

day. The worksheet was math problems on the front and back. I also graded a few different

worksheets that they had done the week before this. Most of the students did very well on the

worksheets. The only students I noticed that had problems with them were Heather and Banshri.

I was surprised that Banshri did so poorly. Usually she does so well at math. Maybe it was just

the particular content and Mrs. Allen should look at what she is doing wrong. If she finds the
problem, maybe she will be able to fix it. Both of them consistently made poor grades on the

work. They were not the only ones that did poorly, but they were the only ones who did poorly

on each worksheet. Mrs. Kelley said that for each student that made a 70% or below, I needed to

stamp the top of their papers with bright purple ink telling the parents that they need to sign and

return the work. I think that this I a good idea. It makes sure that Mrs. Allen has notified the

parents of their child’s performance and that the parents are aware of their child’s performance

in school. I feel this because if the parents don’t know that anything is wrong in school, they

won’t know that they need to help or how to help.

Activity #16: Teacher-Assigned Activity #2: Participating in CRCT preparation

April 3 was the first day of CRCT testing. Mrs. Allen told me the past Wednesday to try

to come early because I was going to be needed. When I got to school, Mrs. Allen was frantic.

She was so nervous and going on about how she couldn’t sleep. I imagine that I will be the same

way too. Because the students’ grades reflect on you as a teacher you have to worry about the

possibility that the students may decide that they are tired of testing and give up. When the

grades come in, it looks like the teacher hasn’t been doing his/her job. I would be a nervous

wreck during CRCT. I think that Mrs. Allen is mainly worried about Hannah, but she has faith

that if Hannah takes her time, she will do well.

Mrs. Allen told me that once the students started coming in that I needed to tell them to

put their book bags down, go ahead, and go use the restroom. Slowly students arrived and I did

as I was told. Mrs. Allen asked me to help her distribute the breakfast she had planned. Mrs.

Allen said that she always serves her students a little breakfast, even if they already ate some, to

get their stomachs filled with something. She says that they will get bored with the test and start

thinking about how hungry they are and not concentrate on test. So, that is why she feeds them

first. I put a small plastic cup on each desk and poured orange juice into them. Mrs. Allen had

already put cheerios into some small cups, so all I had to do was help her pass those out. She also

gave out about four or five grapes to each student. Once it looked like some of the students were

running out of food, she asked if anyone wanted seconds of anything. Most of the students said

yes and we gave them refills.

During the breakfast time, Hannah showed up and Mrs. Allen told her to go use the

bathroom. Hannah constantly has to go to the bathroom. Every day that I am there, Hannah is

saying that she has to go use the bathroom at least once every 15 minutes. Hannah returned
shortly and Mrs. Allen asked me to take Hannah to the nurse, she had had an accident. So I

walked Hannah to the nurse and talked to her about the CRCT along the way. I asked her if she

was nervous and she said yes. I told her to not be nervous, just to take her time, and make sure

she was reading the question before answering. She smiled and said okay.

When I got back to the room, everyone was pretty much done eating and we started to

clean up. While we were cleaning up, Mrs. Allen took the entire class to the bathroom again, just

to be sure. When they got back, Mrs. Allen asked me to go around and give them each a sucker.

She says that if they are eating a sucker during the test, it keeps them from thinking about how

hungry they are, because they have some food that they are already eating. Mrs. Allen began to

hand out the tests and explain them to the students. An administrator walked by and asked Mrs.

Allen if everything was alright and told her that it was time to start. Since it was time for them to

start, I had to leave the room. I wasn’t allowed in the room for the testing because I wasn’t going

to be able to be there for everyday of CRCT. So instead, I went back to Ms. West’s room and

spent a few hours in her class again, which I was very happy about.

I think that Mrs. Allen’s students will do just fine. I also think that she was very well

prepared to fulfill her student’s needs. I am glad that I had this experience because I will know

how to handle situations similar to this one and how to do things to accommodate my students

when I am a teacher.