Engaged Learning

Some of the activities that I have observed in the classroom that were particularly engaging include the use of technology in the classroom, group projects, and some kinesthetic learning.  During the reading centers, the students are allowed to use the chromebooks to  play reading games.  They love this center and always seem to be excited to have their turn there.  The teacher did a collaborative group art project for science.  All of the kids were put into groups and had to work together to make a poster that taught about the different seasons of the year.  Each student had to make a contribution.  It was really fun to see the creativity that the students came up with.  Another thing that I have observed is seeing the kids use their spelling words while in PE as they did jump rope.  They had to spell the words as they jumped.

The time that lacks the most engagement seems to be the transition times.  They can be sitting there for quite a while in between lessons waiting for the next assignment or activity.  I think that the teacher could be more aware of transitions and if something comes up that needs to be taken care of, that she should have something for the students to do so that they are not just sitting there.

Creating Productive Learning Environments

The cooperative teacher that I have been working with establish a positive relationship with each student by getting to know them personally and making sure that they know that she sees them and knows them.  In the mornings, she is in charge of the outside duty by the entrance to the school.  She makes it a point to greet every student when they come to school, but you can definitely tell when one of her students come in.  She has a beaming smile and greets the student with their name and asks them how they are and what great things the student plans on accomplishing that day.  you can tell that she really knows what is going on in the children's lives and that she really cares.

The routines are very clearly established in her classroom.  Each day run through the same schedule.  If there happens to be an assembly or anything going on that might alter the schedule, she makes sure to write the information on the board and discusses the changes so that none of the children are caught unaware.  Her reading groups are timed exactly to the minute and the students know that as soon as the chimes ring that they are to move to their new center.  She rarely needs to interfere and it goes very smoothly.

The teacher recognizes students skills by allowing the students who are excelling in a certain area be able to help the students around them.  She also highlights a student each week and encourages them to share their talents with the class during this time.

Learning Theory

I have observed the teacher that I am working with really use the learning theory of behaviorism in her classroom.  There are a few different things that she has in place that supports this theory.   The students each strive to earn a fun Friday each week by being on task throughout the week and by getting all of their work done on time.  Another thing that she uses is handing out praise notes.  The school has a school wide program of praise notes that they give out to all the students as they are caught going out of their way to do good things while at school.  This teacher uses these notes to give to the best behaved boy and girl at the end of each day.

Another thing that is in place in this classroom is the use of think time.  Think time is an equivalent to a time out, but is geared to being a more positive  experience.  The students have 3 strikes before they are issued a think time.  If a child is given a think time, they simply go to a designated place in another teacher's classroom to fill out a form that makes the student think about why they are in trouble and how to remedy it.  After the student fills out the form, the other teacher then goes through the form with the student.  After they have discuss what has happened and how the student can avoid this situation in the future, the student is then allowed to go back to their classroom and discuss the problem with his teacher.  It is a great teaching tool to use because it allows the student to do some self reflection and figure out how to avoid the problem behavior.

For my service learning experience,  I am going to volunteer at Rees Elementary school in Spanish Fork. This is a Title 1 school.  Although, the houses directly surrounding the school are nicer homes, the school boundaries include quite a bit of lower income homes. The student body has a great diversity because of this. Rees has received a 5 star rating on the website GreatSchools.   

My understanding of service is learning is that it is an opportunity for me to learn about being a teacher in a hands on approach. I will be able to observe and also be able to give a helping hand where I can.  During my service hours, I am hoping to be able to spend some time in the Kindergarten classrooms. I believe that service learning will be beneficial to me and help me to understand the ins and outs of what actually goes on in the classroom.  I look forward to helping the teachers and to be able to see how they manage their classrooms and go about their day.