Kristen's+Practicum+Blog

Kristen's Practicum Blog



"Free the child's potential, and you will transform him into the world” **- Maria Montessori**
 * October 4th, 2011**

I had to switch to another center because of a confliction of scheduling with the teacher at the Montessori school. To make life easier for myself I have been placed at my workplace. The childcare center that I work at is a NAEYC accredited and is held in high regards in the city of Pittsburgh. I work with the young toddlers at the center so I am excited to experience what it is like working with the older children at my center.

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 * October 9th, 2011**
 * Practicum Blog 1**

I have been observing at my center since the 23rd of September. I go every Friday from eight to twelve o'clock. The first week I was there I was very impressed as soon as I walked into the "Leap Frogs" classroom. Every student and teacher in the classroom was wearing green. I greeted the lead teacher, Debbie, and she informed me that today was green day. Their entire day was planned around learning more about the color green.The first part of the curriculum for the day was free play. While the children were playing one teacher was preparing the mats for nap time and the lead teacher was playing with the children. When it was time to clean up the lead teacher played the clean up song and all the children began to joyfully sing along and clean. After clean up the teacher announced that it was circle time.

During circle time the teacher went over who the helped of the day was and placed the frog with their name on it on the poster.The first story that they read was a story about a "green" frog. The story had some rhyming in it and while the teacher read she asked questions about what was going on in the story and what the children predicted would happen next. The students picked up on the rhyming and they would raise their hands and tell the teacher what else rhymed with a certain word. Next the teacher read a story that a student brought in, //Green Eggs and Ham by// Dr. Seuss. Perfect for green week. T‍he teacher read the story with great enthusiasm and expressions which got the children very involved ‍. After the teacher was finished with the story she informed the students that they too would be eating green eggs for breakfast. So the teacher began to call the students one at a time to go wash their hands and find a seat at the table. The other teacher in the classroom then went around and gave the students bagels with either butter or cream cheese on them. Then in the middle of the table was bowls of pear slices for the taking. While they were eating their bagels and pears the teacher got out the skillet and started to cook the eggs. First she cracked the egg and showed the students what it looked like and asked them questions about the egg. Then she cooked it and asked them if the eggs were green yet. ‍They all replied no and then she asked them if she needed to say the magic words and if that would work. So she said a few magic words (and applied some green food coloring) and began to cook the eggs. Once she was done she brought it around to show the students and asked them if they would like to try them. S ‍he reminded them that Sam did not like the green eggs before he tried them. Most of the students tried the eggs and liked them. The teacher went around and individually asked them if they liked them or not. While she was asking them she would write their name on the chart either under liked or disliked. I thought that this was a wonderful activity based on the story and it got the students very involved and excited.

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After the students were done with breakfast they took half of the class to the restroom while the other half enjoyed some free play and the other teacher cleaned up breakfast. After they all used the restroom the third teacher had shown up. A teacher then set up three different "green" activities at the three different tables. While she was setting those up the teacher called the students back to circle time for another activity. This time the teacher was sitting on the carpet with the students and had a paper bag in her hand. She told the students that it was something green then passed the bag around and told them not to look inside but to feel it and shake it and try to guess what it was. While they were passing it around the teacher encouraged the students to use their adjectives in describing what it was they were feeling. I thought this was a great way to get their minds going and have them thinking about what could be inside. Once the the bag got back to the teacher the teacher had them guess a couple more times then began to pull it out and then they all guess correctly, jump rope. Then the teacher had several activities planned around the jump rope. She put on music and had them limbo under it, hop over it, and try not to let it touch them when it was a snake. After they finished with these three activities they called the students one by one to find a table to do an activity at. There was a table with coloring. Another with bins of rice with frogs hidden inside and different tools to dig with. At the last table there was the game frogs on a log.After they finished with these activities they cleaned up, used the restroom, then put their coats on to get ready to go outside.

Once outside the teachers got out several different toys to play with. All of the teachers stood at opposite ends of the playground to supervise the students. At the same time they made sure they were still playing and interacting with the children. Then shortly after it was noon and time for me to leave. I was very impressed with all the different activities the teachers had planned all around the color green and I was excited to see more from the classroom.

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 * October 12th, 2011**
 * Practicum 2**

The next time i observed was on September 30th, 2011. I observed for the same amount of time, from 8:00-12:00. This week was a little different because the lead teacher had just left for vacation. This meant that there was another teacher filling in for her from the classroom across the hall. She worked nicely with the other teachers. This week wasn't quite as eventful due to the fact that the lead teacher wasn't there. That didn't stop the other teachers from carrying out the theme for the week, apples.

Earlier in the week the students had taste-tested the apples and even painted with apples. I didn't get to observe much of this week's theme because today they had a special activity planned. Today the library lady was visiting. So the children had their breakfast and then enjoyed some free play until the library lady came. The library lady comes to the center frequently to read new books that the local library just got in, to the children. So the library lady had the children sit in circle time and then she began be singing the song "Put you finger in the Air". She then went on to sing a song about two blackbirds. Then she read one of Mo Willems's books about Piggie and Elephant. The children laughed along with the book you could tell that they really enjoyed it. The library ended with singing a few more songs. After she was done they had the children line up one by one to go to the bathroom and get ready to go outside. It was beautiful out and they spent most of the afternoon outside that day. ‍While they were outside my time was up. ‍

While we are on the subject of literacy I thought that I would discuss the literacy environment in the classroom. According to the scale the classroom is doing quite well. The only recommendations I would make to the teacher would be to introduce the concept of fluency to the students. Also I would talk more about key words. At this age the students are just beginning to learn the basics of reading. By introducing key words (high frequency) you are helping these students develop these basic skills. This classroom does overall help encourage literacy development. There is an alphabet on display and each week the teacher introduces a new letter to the class. There is also a comfy corner complete with a variety of book for the children. This area is subcluded and welcoming to the children, encouraging them to want to read more.

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Mo Willems describes the characters in his books.

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 * October 23rd, 2011**
 * Practicum #3**

The third week that I observed at my center was on October 7th. This weeks curriculum was based off of the theme of shapes. When I first entered the classroom it was free play as usual. The only difference was that there was only one teacher in the classroom. This was becasue the lead teacher, Debbie, was still on vacation she would return the following Monday. The teacher was worried that so many students were coming and that they would be out of ratio, luckily the second teacher came just in time. After free play the teacher called them into circle time and read a book and talked about the theme for the week. Then one at a time the children were called to wash their hands and then find a seat at the tables for breakfast. Then the teacher went around and asked the students if they would like more. There was fruit in the middle of the table for all the students to help themselves too. After a child was finished eating they would throw away their plates and cups and then wash their hands if needed. After breakfast was quiet time where the students would either read a book or get out a magna-doodle. Each week seems to have a consistent schedule and routine that they follow everyday. This helps the students know what is expected of them. Routine is good for their age and will prepare them for kindergarten in the future.

After breakfast one of the teacher was on the floor with the children while the second teacher cleaned up and got ready for their shaped themed activities. At one table they had stop lights that they had to glue together. At the the second table they had puzzles and at the third table they were coloring different shapes. They sat in circle again and then each student was called one at a time to go to one of the tables and complete an activity. I thought it was funny that while I was taking notes one of the students decided to play along and imitate me. She got out a note pad and was walking around the classroom and "writing". After this time of activities and free play the children them go to use the restroom then get their coats on and line up to go outside.

To get to know the students I always talk with them during free play in the morning. I sit right by the tables and talk to them about what they are doing and how their day is going. I also sit and listen with them during circle time just as if I was part of the class. When outside I interact by resolving any issues they are having with other classmates and I play along with whatever game I somehow joined. I know some of the students already because I work at the center so it makes it easier to interact and play with them which I do as often as I can.






 * Practicum #4**
 * October 25th, 2011**

The next observation I had was on October 14th. When I entered the classroom it was free play. This was the first week that Debbie, the lead teacher, was back from her vacation. What was special about this week was that it was the classrooms' downstairs, open house. So Debbie spent the morning down the hall in the empty classroom conducting an open house with two other lead teachers on that floor. The open house was an opportunity for the parents to get a real feel in what was going on in their child's classroom. This also presents an opportunity for the teachers to get to know the parents more and receive feedback on what their child is learning.

After free play it was time for circle time and Debbie was back in the classroom for circle time. While in circle she read a story about squirrels and a story about leaves falling down. While Debbie was reading the story about squirrels she would stop and explain different aspects of the book and allow the children to ask questions. While reading about the squirrels she was teaching them about hibernation and how the squirrels are preparing for the next season now that it is fall. Debbie did a wonderful job involving the student in the story and making it interactive. After they were done with circle time it was time for breakfast. So she called them one at a time to come and wash their hands then find a seat at the table. After breakfast was manga-doodle time and silent reading.While the children were doing this one teacher was on the floor with them and they other was cleaning up breakfast.

When breakfast was cleaned up the teachers then set up different activities at the three different tables for the students. The first table had four bins that were filled with rice. The students had to dig threw the rice, using the tools provided, to find the squirrels. At the second table the teacher laid out newspaper and had different shaped leaves for the students to paint the leaves with dobbers. At the third table there was three different color leaves all mixed in a pile. The students had to separate and group those leaves according to color on the correct sheet. All of these activities were interactive and fall themed. During this activity time the students were also permitted to have free play. After awhile it was time for clean up. The students got their coats on and prepared to go outside. While outside it was nice enough that the teacher was able to rake the leaves into a pile and the students were able to jump, kick, toss, and collect the leaves as they pleased.

My goal for this practicum was to become more familiar with working with older children. I currently work with young toddlers and I've never really had the opportunity to work with the preschoolers. I believe that I am on my way to achieving my goal. I really have a feel for the routine in the classroom and what it is like to work with preschoolers. They definitely have more energy than my young toddlers. It's also different because you have to address the social problems that may arise. At this age the children are really starting to interact and play with others. There is much less independent play and much more cooperative and group play observed at this age. The children also have more personality and 9ndependence starting to show. Right now I think I'm just fine working with young toddlers. They require more one-on-one attention and assistance compared to the older children but they are much more calm and cooperative now. I like not having to deal with children being wild, talking back, and not playing well with others. This may be a bit of a generalization in some cases but it just happens to be my personal opinion based on observations.





Practicum #5 November 6th, 2011

The next time that I observed was October 21st. I was only able to observe for for two hours because I had a doctors appointment. So when I entered the classroom during morning free play I hurried up and got ready to read a story that I had chosen for the class. This week's theme was science so I chose the book //Parts// by Tedd Arnold. The book //Parts// is about a young boy and learning about how his parts work. He is afraid that there is something wrong with him the whole time only to find out that what is going on with his body is only natural. I thought that this related to their theme of science.The students were very excited for me to read the story. They were very involved in my reading and excited. Once I figure out how to post the video you will be able to see for yourself.

After I was done with my story the lead teacher had a few things to show the children. They gathered in circle time and she went over the different items the children could find in their science activity center in the classroom. She showed them magnets, scales, calculators,thermometers, and several other different scientific items. She showed the children what the items were, how they were used, and how to use them. Then she put them out for the students to use.