A Project Reflection

            In the blog that I have created for my A project I have learned the different types of writing that a kindergarten teacher will do. Some of the different types of writing include the lesson pans, conferences, and different projects for the writing in the classroom. The writing in the classroom has very different than writing that you are used to in the real world. My types of writing will include teacher dictated writing, that meaning that I will help the students write what they want to say and write. Since most of the children in my classroom are just now learning what it is they want to write, it is very important that I help them write out the words for them. The other types of writings that I will be doing is that for the parents so that I have notes written down for the children and I have the conferences. There is need to have the right wording for the information for the conference so I can accurately grade and make sure I am doing my job. While writing in the kindergarten classroom will be very different than most jobs I will still be writing in ways that will help the children and me as a teacher keep a track for all the students.

Name Game! Name Game!

At the end of the year I have each one of my students write their name in the big letters. We first have to complete the name game worksheet. At the top of the worksheet I have written out their name. Then below it I have each of their letters written out with one of the dotted letters for them to trace before I make them write each letter three times. I know this may seem babyish for the end of the year, but I have found that children often times will become very lazy when they are writing their names. They are moving at a fast pace and just simply do not care what it is they are writing. By making them slow down and trace out each letter I am making them understand and know what it is that they need to write each time they write the letter. I explain to them that practice makes perfect and when they are moving on to first grade the teacher is not going to put up with children who are not writing their name correctly.

Below the place for them to write down their name I have them writes out their whole name five times. Each time they should get better and better. The improvements may be small but nonetheless there needs to be some sort of improvements for the kids to follow. Once each child has written out their name five times I then have them pick one person at their table and then try to write out their name. This person that they have picked will then pick another person to write their name down. Most kids usually just exchange their names on paper and call it a day. Try to encourage them to pick different people so that they are not just copying names and not caring but actually picking a name that they are not good at writing. For example if you have a child who is not very good at writing “s” then you need to have them find someone with a name with lots of ‘s’ so that they are to be sure they will become pros at writing the letter s.

Once they have their friends name written down I then have them drawl what their friend looks like at the bottom of the sheet. This is important because most kids will not like the patience that they have to put into writing their name so diligently and they will want an outlet to color or drawl. While this does not seem as an expression of writing it is for my kindergarteners. Most kids will express what they are trying to say through picture. For example if the friend is tall they will drawl long legs. Although it is not written out because they do not know how to write it out the reader is aware that the friend is tall because they have been drawn with long legs.

The name game is fun and a good project to bring home and put up on the fridge! 

Conferences!

The time of the year has come when writing is terrible and I have to meet with the parents. This is when I will do the most writing for the children. When I write up my conference reports I need to have the understand of how far the child has progressed or digressed through out the year. The simple notes that I have taken on the child in the classroom will account for the need of proof to judge what it is the child needs to do to make a certain grade. Each child needs to have a certain point in the grade and when they meet the grade they need to achieve the grade in order to secede.

In the writing that I will be conducting for this part of the conference will be any short hand notes that are to remind me of what the parents have made comments on the different grades or things that I need to specifically remember to mention to them. This may not seem important to many people to write down what the parents say, but in reality if I have a parent saying that their child comes home every night and reads six books yet in school the child cries every time they are in reading corner I know something is not matching up. Although my notes may not be in complete sentences while I am in the conference, but after the conference is over I am going to rewrite all the notes in a conference evaluation sheet. In this sheet I will type up what was discussed, such as if there were questionable grades or if a parent does not think that their child is moving a pace that they should be. There is a place for me to make any comments I feel that are necessarily important for me to better understand each child’s home life. Some kids do not go home to a household where education is important but then there are others that go home to the house that homework must be the first thing you do once you arrive home. Since there are such varying home life styles it is very important for me to take notes and be able to understand what each child is facing when they leave me at the end of the school day.

Once I have written up both the conference sheet and the post conference sheet I make copies of both and then I place them in the child’s file folder. This folder also contains a copy of their report card and a copy of their behavior log. This behavior log is very crucial in kindergarten. Since the children are still learning in ways that they should and should not act with socializing with other students I have to use my behavior log to evaluate their social growth. This folder then is turned into the principle so that she can evaluate if there are any problems or if there is a need for another conference because the principle feels that she needs to personally talk to the parents. Usually the principle will only see the conference folders of the children who I know are having an issue.

If the principle is having a conference with the parents then I will write up another evaluation report and have this as the principle evaluation report. Again I will write down what was discussed and what they plan to achieve in the future. If there were major problems then I will also make note of that.

Conferences are a long and boring process. Each parent that walks into the classroom has so much to say and will be willing to sit all day to discuss how wonderful their child is, this is great in all but I am on a schedule. That is why it is vey important for me to have the conference reports completed and ready to go at the time that the parents walk into the door. I need to be prepared and ready to go!

Field Trip TIme!

My kindergarten class just returned from the Georgia Aquarium. At the Georgia Aquarium the children got to walk around and explore the different types of fish and see the bigger fish such as the Whale Sharks. The children just loved the fish and learned so much from the Aquarium. The field trip was a good success with children all tired at the end of the day!

The real writing came the next day when we returned to the classroom and the children were able to discuss what was their favorite fish they saw in the Aquarium. For this project I would have the shape of an Aquarium in the main sheet and have the children drawl a fish inside the Aquarium. First I would have them drawl the fish with one color, one size and one feature. The one feature could include the glitter that I would help them put them on at the end. J At the bottom of the Aquarium picture I would have the template of the sentence that the children would need to fill in for the fish that they say at the Aquarium. The template would be I saw a ____________, ______________ and _____________ fish! The three words that we would put into the blanks would be adjectives. I would write on the board come different color words that would be the first blank. Then the next blank will be the size of the fish. The children should decide if the fish they saw was small, medium, or a large fish. This will help the children understand the comparison of the size of the fish compared to the other fish in the tank. This will also vary from the memory of the child from one to the next. Not every one has the need to understand the need for the fish to be one size compared to the other. We all remember things differently and especially with children there is no right or wrong for this project. This will be important thing to understand when talking to the children. There will be some children who are not going to remember and other are going to claim they saw every fish in the Aquarium. The last blank that the children will need to fill in will be the last descriptive word for the blank. This word will be a word for the appearance of the fish. The appearance will be clear, shiny, or slimy. This will have the children use their memory and use the need to understand the details to describe the fish that they saw on the field trip!

Lesson Plans Lesson Plans!

The most important writing that a teacher will do for writing wise is lesson plans. Lesson plans are the map to the classroom. Different teachers will write different types and layouts of the lesson plans. Each lesson plan will have major points that will allow for the teacher to know what it is that they will need to accomplish in the classroom.

The main points that I will include in each lesson plan will be the title witch will have what subject I will be teaching, then the objective- this will mainly be what it says; what do I need the kids to be able to walk out the door and be able to understand. The next part of the lesson which will be the action plan- in this part I will include all the page numbers of the books that I am teaching out of, the notes that I need to keep for myself and the order in which I need to teach the information to the children. The last part of the lesson plan will be the part that will hold the activity and the homework for what needs to understand at home for reinforcement.

I will most likely have the format on a full page of paper and then pull it up each week and put it in my big binder of knowledge!!! This binder will have all my lesson plans from all the year and I will just be able to change things around if needed from year after next. I will also put copies of the main worksheets that I will still be able to make copies of the worksheet and different activities. This big binder will be my bible while in the classroom. The map that will be the need to keep me on track so that I make sure as a teacher that I am keeping my children on track to help them succeed.

There will be another factor to my lesson plans and that will be the special accommodations that I will need to understand to each child will need in order to succeed. I want all my children to make it on to first grade to understand what it is that they will need to focus the basis of their lessons on. While it is uncommon for some children to have IEP evaluations done, if that is the case I will need to have the accommodations put into place so that I ensure those students with different disabilities are able to learn the same way that the other students are. Other accommodations that I will need to write into my lesson plans are those about the need for the material longer. This will come into place when some of the children are not grasping the main concepts and I need to reinforce the material in the classroom. That’s when I will need to go back to the main binder and drawl up a new lesson plan and have the next lesson incorporate the old lesson before adding new material on top.