October 1, 2013
Week One
Tuesday
I noticed that Manny had specific routines or ready-checks to keep the students on task. They have the star position: eyes are watching, ears are listening, lips are closed, hands are still, feet are quiet. They even include little tasks at times. They cup their ears to show they are listening, make circles around their eyes to show they are looking, and fold their hands on their desk to show they are not playing with objects.
I also noticed that he shows a lot of support for the students when they got a question wrong or when they could think or remember what the answer was, Manny would tell the other students to quiet down and listen to whoever it was that raised their hand. If they got the question wrong or never answered the question, he said that he was glad that they tried and thought really hard.
Seeing the way Manny treated the kids made me think of the Reggio way, where children were seen as little adults. He treated them with respect but also expected a lot out of them. At times he would get upset, yet he holds high expectations for his students and when he would give out those reminders, they acted the way they were suppose to, so he had the right get upset.
I also noticed that he shows a lot of support for the students when they got a question wrong or when they could think or remember what the answer was, Manny would tell the other students to quiet down and listen to whoever it was that raised their hand. If they got the question wrong or never answered the question, he said that he was glad that they tried and thought really hard.
Seeing the way Manny treated the kids made me think of the Reggio way, where children were seen as little adults. He treated them with respect but also expected a lot out of them. At times he would get upset, yet he holds high expectations for his students and when he would give out those reminders, they acted the way they were suppose to, so he had the right get upset.
Thursday
The students seem to focus on math and writing towards the end of the day when I visit. Manny starts off the lessons by writing down different objectives on the board. He first asks the students what they are going to learn and they reply. He then asks them how they know, and they read the objective together. In the written objective, he underlines or circles specific vocabulary words, allowing the students to look back at the board for guidance. This is something I will definitely do when I teach my lesson.
During writing, I was asked to help a student with her writing journal. Looking at what she had written in past entries, it looked like she was making up different looking letters. She had many circular symbols that resembled lowercase e’s, and all of her lines were not filled to the end. There were some lines that only had 5 or 6 letters, and most of them were not letters. It seemed as though she lost interest in writing and just started doodling on her page because when I asked her what she had wrote the last time, she hesitated and then it looked like she was just making up a story on the spot. Manny had me write down what she had written down in her journal to see the difference in her writing and what it is suppose to look like. As she told me the story, I had to remind her to look at her paper several times, which led me to believe that she had no idea what she had been writing.
At one point during class, one of the students was explaining something they were doing in the lesson, and they were having trouble with it but ended up getting it. When he got it, Manny said 1, 2, 3, and all the students shouted, “Whoop! Whoop!” This was something students did when another student succeeded or made a breakthrough, which I thought was cool. It means a lot when a student finally understands something and for Manny to understand that and acknowledge it says a lot about his teaching style and his values as an educator.
During writing, I was asked to help a student with her writing journal. Looking at what she had written in past entries, it looked like she was making up different looking letters. She had many circular symbols that resembled lowercase e’s, and all of her lines were not filled to the end. There were some lines that only had 5 or 6 letters, and most of them were not letters. It seemed as though she lost interest in writing and just started doodling on her page because when I asked her what she had wrote the last time, she hesitated and then it looked like she was just making up a story on the spot. Manny had me write down what she had written down in her journal to see the difference in her writing and what it is suppose to look like. As she told me the story, I had to remind her to look at her paper several times, which led me to believe that she had no idea what she had been writing.
At one point during class, one of the students was explaining something they were doing in the lesson, and they were having trouble with it but ended up getting it. When he got it, Manny said 1, 2, 3, and all the students shouted, “Whoop! Whoop!” This was something students did when another student succeeded or made a breakthrough, which I thought was cool. It means a lot when a student finally understands something and for Manny to understand that and acknowledge it says a lot about his teaching style and his values as an educator.