Transitions

The transitions in our classroom generally go quite smoothly. From the first day, the children overall eased from one activity to another without too much redirection or reminders. Now that we've been in school for 23 days, the group is now more aware of the daily routine and therefore knows what to expect next. When we do change things up, there are only a couple of students who might have difficulty with the switch, but nothing extreme.
I think that the transitions have moved so smoothly, because we have created a sense of community and patience, rather than demands. We respect that each child is different and give them just enough time to join the group or activity and if they are slow to join, then they face the natural consequences of missing all or part of the activity. Jean also will sing to them as a way to catch their attention to what's happening next.

Week of 9/13

This week has been going swell! I have been leading calendar time during the afternoons that I am there, as well as reading stories during story time, and today Jean has put me in charge of choosing a book to read that contains math in it. She has a large tub full of a variety books, so I will be taking some time to sift through them and choose one or two for the days that I am present. So exciting! I really like how she integrates the subjects together and appreciates the fact that all of the subjects are intertwined and children do learn best when we work with this reality rather than against it.
Our new author study is on Rosemary Wells, whom I am not familiar with, so I am looking forward to reading/listening to her stories. In some ways, I am just like the kindergartners in the classroom who are experiencing a variety of new activities. :) We baked bread last Friday, which we will do every Friday that is not an early release day, which is something else I have never done before either.
Tomorrow is the last day for collecting family photos and stories and we have received all but two photos, which is an amazing turn out! The children have been spending this first month of school getting to know each other and we them, as well as getting to know the families. Half of the families are returning to the school and the other half is new, so there's a nice balance. For my part, I spend time mingling with the parents when possible and feel comfortable chatting with all of them, although I will admit there are a few parents I don't see often whose names I am a little rusty on. I need to review my list....
Friday is an early release day, so I will be heading in during the morning, so that I can be there when the children are there and also be able to stay a bit and team plan with Jean and Caycee. I am moving into an apartment with my husband tomorrow, so I have been on cloud 9 about that and both ladies have been very supportive of this transition time in my life which I greatly appreciate. It's been a fantastic week!!!

Professionalism

Professionalism consists of several qualities: honesty, punctuality, flexibility, a willingness to work with others, problem solving skills, a positive attitude, patience, open communication, being aware of one's personality, morals, and such, and the list could continue on and on. As an educator, we are bound by a code of professional ethics, but I think more importantly are the ethics that we as each individual bring into the educational field. After all, it doesn't matter if a piece of paper declares teachers to have a certain disposition, because it is the individual person who will join the field and decide how to interpret the code and what it means to him/her. In addition, by being aware of our own habits, morals, ethics, and such, we can learn that not everyone we meet nor the families we work with will all agree with our own personal values and we need to be open to them even if our opinions differ. Overall, there are many qualities that can consider one a professional in his/her field and despite a universal code, there will always be those who vary from the 'norm', but that doesn't mean they are any more or less a professional. I suppose what I am trying to say is that being a professional is a human definition and therefore isn't easily defined nor described as the spectrum covers a wide area.

This past week has been quite a whirlwind of activity, both in my internship and my personal life. My afternoons with Jean in the classroom have been going great, although I will say sometimes I question my sanity as I try to work and attend internship, but then the bills arrive and suddenly my sanity takes a backseat. LOL Anyway, it's definitely taking some time to adjust the varying schedule, but I am making it through and my afternoons spent at Chugach have all been enjoyable and I learn more and more each day about the children, families, and Jean's teaching strategies. One of the major highlights of the week, was on Thursday, because Jean took the afternoon off in order to attend a science course and so it was myself and a visiting teacher, whose children attend the school AND was a teacher aide in Jean's class a few years ago, and together we moved the class through the normal afternoon routine and overall they did quite well. :) Lately, I have been taking over the calendar time portion of the day with Jean adding activities as needed to the regular routine that I've been leading. The days of the week song has already begun to keep me up at night. hahaha. :) Overall, it was a good week and I am curious to see how the children will respond next week, when we have a full five days of school, because this Friday is an early release which means they have yet to experience a full, five day week of school.

Apple Picking Half Day

Apple picking on Friday, September 3rd was awesome!!! I have never picked fruit from a tree before and the experience was one that I will always remember. When Jean first mentioned that we would pick apples in Alaska, all I could think of was: how do the trees survive in this harsh climate and short growing season? Well, it turns out that they DO survive and produce delicious apples. My favorite is the transparent yellow apples, although they look more green to me, who knew!? I described it to some of the parents as 'candy from a tree' which aroused a few chuckles. Clearly I was a child who ate my fruits and veggies. ;) Speaking of which, there were several students who munched happily away on several pieces of fruit and then we had more back at school along with a honey dipping sauce.
Looking back on the day, I remember only smiles and cheerfulness as we went through the field trip process and the timing was just long enough for the children to participate and picking and not become bored or distracted by other items in the yard. I should probably mention now that the apples were picked at a private home (with their permission), so Alaska has yet to obtain an apple orchard. I am grateful that I was able to experience the first field trip of the year with the children, Jean, Sheila, and the wonderful parent drivers who were so helpful with the entire process. One mother helped out with the trip even though her child wasn't even at the school that day. Talk about family support! : ) It was a great adventure for all of us and I think many of us went home that day wondering how we could obtain our own apple tree.

Read Aloud

Today I read Chester's Way by Kevin Henkes out loud to the group during story time after calendar, which I also now assist with. :) It went very well I thought as the children sat and listened for the entire story. This story was chosen by Jean, because we are currently doing an author study Kevin and have been reading a title by him each day. I highly enjoyed the experience and after I finished Jean and I talked about the purpose of reading the stories. In the beginning, the purpose is to familiarize the children with an author's work, as well as have them practice their listening skills for the length of a book, as well as see how the stories by the same author have connections both in picture and in text. She also described how the books she chooses during the theme units for science and such are used in a way that help the children practice the above skills as well as increasing their observation and 'making connections' skills by asking them more questions during the read alouds that encourage this higher level thinking process. Thus, story time is not just a book read out loud only for pleasure or to simply have some 'group time', rather it should be a teachable moment as well as intertwine itself into the overarching theme (right now it's building awareness and communities) and enhance or challenge their current understandings of the world around them.