Diversity Week 4: Traditions

Week four was all about traditions in Mexico and China and how they are different from our traditions in the United States.

For China, we discussed how one of the popular holidays there is the Chinese New Year. The Chinese people celebrate with parades in the streets. They wear bright colors and listen to traditional Chinese music. The Chinese tradition that we pinpointed most was the Chinese Dragon. For Halloween the students actually made a Chinese Dragon as a class and wore it for the school parade. This week they constructed their own individual dragons using paper plates, markers, streamers. glitter, and pompoms.

When learning about Spanish traditions, we discussed how they celebrate Cinco de Mayo with street fairs. They dress in extravagant, bright colored dresses and dance around the streets listening to Mexican tunes. They eat delicious Mexican foods and use pinatas. The aspect that we focused on was maracas. The students made maracas out of paper plates. they decorated using buttons, beads, and paint. After the maracas were finished we danced and shook them around the classroom while listening to Mexican music.

I found this week learning about traditions to be successful since the children learned that not everybody celebrates our holidays (Christmas, Thanksgiving, Halloween, etc.). One more thing they can add to the list of differences among cultures around the world!

Diversity Week 3: People

This week the focues was one people around the world. How are they different? How are they the same? I used the book "Wherever You Are" as a read aloud a couple of times throughout the week. The book gives several similarities and differences among people around the world, wherever they may live.

As a project, I read the book "The Colors of Us." This book explains that all each and every person has their own unique skin color. It gave a list of wonderful adjectives that helped the young students envision more skin tones than just black and white. After reading and discussing the book, the students each created a self-portrait. Coloring in a skin color was a requirement. The children labeled their self-portrait with a descriptive word or phrase that represented their skin tone and the teacher wrote it down for them. This fun projects was beneficial for all of the students and helping them realize that they are all unique and special.

I think this week was expecially important. One of my goals from this research projects is helping the students realize that all people are different from one another. I believe that they should grow up accepting the differences among their peers and not judging based on appearances.

Diversity Week 2: Language

Week two introduced new languages to my Preschool classroom: Chinsese and Spanish!

At circle time I taught the students how to say a few words in each language, including "hello" and "thank you." Suprisingly enough, they retained the Chinese words much better than the Spanish ones.

For a activity diving depper into the Chinese language, the students attempted to write their names in Chinese symbols. Using an online translater, we were able to write down each child's name in Chinese. The students used black paint to recreate their Chinese name as best they could. They also write their name in English and discussed the differences. Though most of the students could not perfectly replicate their name in symbols, I was happy to see that they all used swift lines when writing it.

When learning more in-depth about Spanish terms, the students drew pictures to represent a Spanish word. They were able to choose one of the following words to illustrate: hello, goodbye, thank you, school, cat, book. The students also were to describe their picture. Many of the children did a wonderful job creating a descriptive picture.  The low group struggled and did not draw pictures that represented their Spanish word, but rather scribbled or drew something else.

Overall, I think the students gained cultural insight from learning about the different languages around the world. They now know that not everybody speaks the same language.

Diversity Week 1: Environment

The first week of teaching about cultural diversity focused on the different environments in various countries. which in this case were China and Mexico. This was a transition into diversity from a study we did on trees.

In circle time we discussed how trees are different throughout the world. For instance, Bonsai trees are popular in China, while palm trees can be found at the beach in Mexico. We talked about how there are many mountains in West Virginia, but some places have no mountains at all.

For my center in week one, I showed the groups of students a globe and pointed out China and Mexico. I explained the North Pole, South Pole, and Equator and the weather at each place. I told the students to look at where West Virginia is located in relation to the North Pole and the Equator and discussed the weather here. Then they predicted how the weather is in Mexico since it is much closer to the Equator. After a discussion on winter weather in the United States versus Mexico, the students drew a picture of winter in each country. All of the students that participated in this activity drew aspects of winter. They included snow and snowflakes in West Virgnia, and had birds, palm trees, and the ocean in Mexico. I think this activity worked really well for all of the ability levels.

My first week as a full-time teacher

Last week marked the beginning of my full-time student teaching. I anxiously spent a full day preparing for my first week to make sure everything was ready to go. I was most nervous of running out of activities and standing in front of the classroom with a blank expression. Since I didn't want that to happen, I filled my lesson plans with a multitude of extra activities.

As I have mentioned before, my research is about teaching diversity in an early childhood setting. My goal is for my preschool students to become informed and more well-rounded with a grasp on the world as a whole. At the beginning of my study, my students couldn't even point out the difference in skin color among people, which is why I chose this research topic in the first place.

I am focusing specifically on two countries, Mexico and China, and how they compare to our life here in the United States. We have previously done a West Virginia unit so the students have something to compare to. On my first week of teaching I taught about the environment of different countries. I wanted to teach about types of trees found in Mexico and China since we just completed a tree study and the units have to tie together. In my center, I showed the students a globe and explained the North pole, South pole, and Equator. I showed them where we were in comparison to the poles and equator and asked them to about the weather and our seasons. I then showed them China and Mexico and asked them to predict what the weather is like there using the poles and equator. The students responded really well to the globe and were able to document their learning by illustrating "winter in America" to 'winter in Mexico."

I took the students on virtual tours of China and Mexico using a smartboard. I made a webquest of China and an interactive power point of Mexico. The students loved these and learned many things about the countries including a few words in Chinese and Spanish, clothing, food, and traditions.

Overall, I feel like my first week went really well and I am excited to continue my research!

Over the past month and a half...

So, I was having technical difficulty locating my blog after MIX switched over to Gmail, but the good news is that I finally found it.

I have not yet started my six-week research period, but I have fallen into a great routine with my host teacher. I lead circle time almost every day which includes calendar, weather, read alouds, and finger plays that correlate with songs. Depending on the current unit, we do a corresponding activity. For instance, right now we are working on a tree unit. Every day we focus on a new question: What are the parts of trees? Who lives in trees? What can you make out of trees? Who takes care of trees?

After circle time I teach a center with about 6 students. We group our students according to ability level. The centers last for about 15 to 20 minutes before the students are alloted a half hour for free play.

I have learned to appreciate my host teacher and teacher's aid. They are so welcoming to me and genuinely treat me like a colleague. Listening to other interns' stories about their horrific experiences in their PDSs make me feel extremely happy to be where I'm at! My host teacher and teacher's aid have wonderful ideas that help me when I need assistance for a center idea or something of the sort. They also always take my ideas with an open mind.

The semester is sailing smoothly thus far, and I am looking forward to beginning my research next week!

First glimpse of students...

Last week we held "phase-in" days for my students. On Monday about half the kids came in the morning with their parents to attend the Boo-hoo Breakfast and see what the classroom routine entails. The second half of the students came in on Tuesday.

Wednesday was our first full day with all of the students. I think it's safe to say I was exhausted by the end of the day. It is hard to remember at times that these kids need to be taught the basics: how to stand in a line, move through centers, walk quietly in the halls, listen quietly when someone else is talking, etc. The classroom could have been described as hectic on the first day. However, I see light at the end of the tunnel! The kids are so sweet and surprisingly eager to be at school (for the most part) and are learning to follow their new rules.

Just within my first few days with the students, I have seen reprimands of the poverty in this area. For one, some of the clothing worn by the children and blankets brought in for nap time smell as if they have not been washed for weeks. A few of the students have complained of their heads itching and needed their scalps examined for lice. Also, I have already had to escort a small 4-year-old girl to a meeting with CPS. I am wondering if these types of things will affect my teaching in any way.

Small group activity

Ask an abundance of questions to always better enhance education and your own teaching skills. Show passion in what you do.

Internship: Week 1

Last week was my first week as an intern at Mylan Park Elementary. This semester I was placed in a pre-k classroom. Although my students have not yet begun, I have already learned so much from them.

Since I am to take the role of the teacher, I accompanied my mentor teacher and aid on my very first home visits.  Before visiting my students, I felt that I had to mentally prepare myself. Mylan Park is one of the highest poverty schools in the county. Approximately 75% of the students receive free and reduced lunch. Even after knowing this information, I was still shocked at some of the living situations of my students.

Since I am not sure of the confidentiality regulations of what I am allowed to share about my visits, I will just say that I now realize that many students live in an environment that would make it hard to excel at school. However, I am glad I participated in the home visits so that I can better accommodate the individual needs of my students. Now I will know that if a child is not thriving in the classroom, it could be due to lack of sleep, food, or other necessary resource. I also learned that to make the classroom as welcoming and student-friendly as possible since it may be the only positive, warming, or clean environment they know.

Inquiry Celebration 2012

Last week I attended the 2012 Inquiry Celebration where the interns presented their action research projects. Last year as a tutor, I attended the celebration simply just to check it off of my list of things-to-do. This year the presentations were much more meaningful. I think this is due to the fact that I am beginning to think about topics for my own action research.

The first set of presentations I viewed focused on language arts. The presentation that stuck out to me most out of all three was a study conducted on word walls. Though I have never been placed in a classroom that utilized an actual word wall, I find them to be a great strategy to implement new words and spellings.

The second collection of presentations I watched pinpointed diversity. I thoroughly enjoyed these presentations because I believe educating children on cultural diversity at a young age is extremely important. Students need to be exposed to different cultures so they are used to seeing differences and unique qualities among their peers. Next semester I am interning in a preschool classroom and this is a topic I could implement with the young children. For my action research I would like to expose the students to a variety of cultures around the country and around the world. It would be excellent if I could find a class from another part of the United States to participate as our pen pals. We could write letters as a class describing our culture in West Virginia and discus how it differs from theirs.

Overall, the Inquiry Celebration was a success for me. I found a topic on which I could possibly conduct my action research. It was enlightening to witness all of the research being presented because it shows the inquiry that is currently being conducted in just one college. Imagine the amount of action research going on around the world! It is great to know education is constantly improving.

Characteristics of the Novice Teacher: Part 2.

One characteristic that I chose to focus on for this post is characteristic number 2: "We believe that the novice teacher should be an effective communicator." I believe that all teachers should develop effective communication skills with colleagues in order to properly collaborate, with students in order to successfully teach, and with parents to keep them informed on happenings with their child's education.

An ideal team of teachers should be able to collaborate about the content of their lessons and when they teach it. I have found this to be especially important in older grades when the students switch classrooms for different content areas. Having all of the students switch and take math, science, and social studies all at different times is difficult, but can be done with effective communication! When the teachers collaborate to stay on the same page, transitioning through the classes becomes much more organized.

I personally find communication between teachers and parents to be extremely crucial in order to effectively educate children. Parents need to be involved! Parents should be kept updated in order to know exactly what their child is learning in school at any given time. This can prove to be beneficial for many reasons, the most important being that parents can help their children with content and provide extra practice. Many students simply need an extra push at home, but they first need to know the content their child is learning. Another reason teachers should develop good communication skills with parents is so they can discuss student behavior if it becomes a problem or even recognize good behavior when a students does something notable.

The artifact I chose to display my understanding of characteristic number 2 is my Parent Communication Project from Education 401. This project is a website I constructed that parents of my classroom could access in order to see a calendar of important dates, reminders, notices, spelling lists, learning goals for the classroom, what the students are learning, contact information, and more. This type of website is easy to make and serves as a great communication tool. As a bonus, a teacher can use it to communicate with all parents at once, rather than having all of the parents call or email at different times. I even chose to add a "word of the week" that students will practice in class. Little things like this show parents that a teacher is passionate about his/her job.


The second characteristic I chose to focus on is characteristic number 3: "We believe that the novice teacher should recognize that teaching is a professional, moral, and ethical enterprise, should understand moral issues and ethical practices in educational environments, and should have developed ethical frameworks which facilitate effective teaching." This characteristic is important because every teacher should have a profound understanding for moral and ethical issues in the classroom. A successful teacher should not only have a strong grasp on his/her own morals, but he/she should also try to spread good and appropriate morals and ethics onto the students.

I believe that a good teacher must have a respectable moralistic background. If a teacher does not have good morals, what is that to say about how that teacher communicates and forms relationships with students? Teachers are major role models in children's lives. Students should be able to look up to their teachers and take away new values to hold onto for life. Sadly enough, some students pick up poor morals at home depending on the type of family they have. School should always be a place of positive values!

Not only should teachers have respectable morals, but they should be trying to pass them onto their students. Like I said before, teachers are role models, but there is more to it than that. As a novice teacher in a high poverty school, I find it crucial to teach lessons that send a message to students about good morals and values. Some students come from rough families in which the parents have unethical morals that the children are picking up. As a teacher, it is a major responsibility to teach students the difference between right and wrong: the right way to treat people, the right way to act, to right way to treat property, etc. That is why I chose my character education lesson as an artifact for this characteristic.

The character education lesson teaches the students about the importance and necessity of responsibility. For this lesson, the students are working collaboratively to choose the best class pet for out classroom. Before the lesson there is a class discussion about what pets need in order to survive. Once the lesson begins, the students are told to write about their ideal class pet, including all of its needs! The students are then broken up into small group in which they will each have the opportunity to explain their ideal class pet. The small group will then vote on which pet they think would work best for the classroom. Each group will then choose a representative to share their chosen pet with the whole class. After each group had a chance to present, the class will vote on their new class pet. After the lesson, there will be a class discussion about the benefits of the voting system used to determine a new class pet. The class will also discuss everything they will need for the new class pet and the necessity and importance of all of these things.

Characteristics of the Novice Teacher.

One lesson that I am quite proud of is a diversity lesson I taught to a first grade class. The lesson was focused around the book "The Colors of Us" by Karen Katz. The story is about a little girl that describes her friends and family by the colors of their skin. The little girl used creative, food-related adjectives, like creamy peanut butter and hazelnut, to describe different colors of skin to show how every individual is unique. This story helps students distinguish more skin differences than just white and black. Everybody has a unique skin color. I started the lesson by asking the following questions:

a. Does anyone know what ancestors are?
b. Does anyone know if their ancestors came from a different country?
c. Where did they come from?

Then I would introduce the book to the class and ask the students what they know about skin colors all over the world. Next I would ask the students what they want to learn about skin colors. I would then read the book aloud to the class. After a class discussion about the message of the book, the students create a self-portrait with crayons, colored pencils, or the utensil of their choice. After they draw and color their self-portraits, the students will be instructed to think of a word or two to describe their unique skin color, just as the narrator described the children in the book. Finally, the students will discuss what they have learned from the lesson. I associate this lesson to the ninth characteristic of a novice teacher: beware of and have respect for human diversity.

The second artifact I would like to relate to one of the ten characteristics is a portfolio I made in Music 182. The portfolio contains ten principles of how music can be incorporated into the curriculum. Along with each characteristic is an artifact from the class. I am extremely proud of this portfolio because it is a tool that can be used as a resource later on in my career. I was able to create my own ten principles at the end of the semester, so my portfolio is filled with principles that I find most important in music education. For instance, my favorite principle is "Music is the best icebreaker." The artifact I included was a song called "Hello There," which the students sing to introduce themselves. This is a really great activity for the first day of school or when a new student comes into the classroom. This music portfolio can be associated to the tenth principle of a novice teacher: be liberally educated.