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Classroom Environment

When I first started my student teaching this semester, I walked into this second grade classroom at this beautiful new school and was amazed at how clean and new everything looked and felt.  The school was built five years ago and still has that brand new feeling which I love.  The school that I substitute at regularly is a lot older and isn't equipped with all the brand new bells and whistles that this school has.  It felt nice to be somewhere that was new and clean and I was excited that these children had such a wonderful opportunity to learn in this beautiful environment. At first I thought the classroom was clean but very bare.  There wasn't much on the walls or around the classroom.  There are 5 tables formed as group pods that seat four kids each facing each other at a rectangular table and one large table that seats eight.  The group pods promote collaborative learning and still give enough space at the tables for children to work independently when they have to.  Th
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Post Observation Self - Reflection Last week I had the opportunity to lead a whole group lesson in the second grade classroom that I am currently doing my pre-student teaching.  I had not had many opportunities to get up in front of this class before so I have to admit that I was fairly nervous.  There was a moment when I was walking around and chatting with children during their independent work that I realized that these children were actually enjoying a lesson that I had put together myself.  To see my lesson come to fruition and to watch these wonderful kids and their enthusiasm was beautiful and surreal to me. (As I reflect on the lesson, activity or interaction to what extent were the students actively engaged?  How do I know?) As I reflect on the lesson with the students I was happy to see that the children were very much engaged.  Sitting on the rug their faces looking up at me so bright with wide open eyes, they were involved in the lesson. It seemed that ju

A Responsive Classroom

The school that I am currently student teaching at uses the Responsive Classroom strategy.  "A Responsive Classroom is an evidenced based approach to teaching that focuses on engaging academics, positive community, effective management, and developmental awareness." Before coming to this school, I had never heard of this approach and had only had experience working in one other school. My first impression was that it was so quiet.  Quiet, everyone said was good, but to me it was a little eerie.  Even a loud whisper would be told that they needed to quiet down.  This is something that I wasn't used to seeing in a public school setting. The day starts with a morning routine where the children are in the meeting area and greet each other.  I have been there for a couple of different kinds of greetings.  During one activity the children line up and shake hands, the first person in one of the lines goes to the back, everyone moves down and they shake hands and greet t
Student Teaching 101 As I embark on this journey to become an engaging, compassionate, and driven Early Education Teacher I am wondering what will I get out of my experience as a student teacher.  Since I have not met my student teacher, I hope that she is someone that I can absorb meaningful and useful experiences from that I can then bring into my own classroom.  I hope that she is an intentional teacher that cares about her students and making every second count.  Along with this I hope to learn from her a wide variety of strategies that can be used in the classroom, especially when an unplanned situation arises and she is able to use it as a teachable moment.  To witness this will allow me to grow as an educator and as a person. As I walk into the classroom on Friday, I hope that the children and the teacher will be welcoming.  I want to learn from them as much as they can learn from me.  I know that I am there to observe the teacher, learn from her, take what works and note