Student Teaching: An Inside Perspective An Honors Thesis (HONRS 499) by Lynda R. Taylor Thesis Advisor Dr. Virginia White Ball State University Muncie, Indiana (May, 1993) Expected date of graduation May 8, 1993 Purpose of Thesis The purpose of the thesis is to review and expand the journal I kept while student teaching in kindergarten and grade one during the Fall Semester, 1992. Toward that end I have included the necessarily brief original journal entries, expanded versions of the more noteworthy entries to include additional details, comments on my feelings and reactions to the events of the day, and insights I gained from my experiences with the children. To illustrate and elaborate on journal entries I have included samples of the children's writing, worksheets, and letters to parents. The thesis concludes with a section that contrasts my teaching experiences in kindergarten with my experiences in first grade. Appended is a list of children's books I read to the first graders. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Thanks to the 18 first grade students and 60 kindergarten students without whom I would not have any memories for this thesis. They all helped make my student teaching experience a lot of fun. Thanks also to Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Sherer, and Mrs. Fletcher for their wonderful advice and support while I was doing my student teaching in their classes, and for giving me the freedom to explore ideas and teaching styles on my own. Finally, thanks to Dr. Virginia White for her advice and suggestions as I was writing my thesis and for her help in editing my work. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1. Introduction page II. Original Journal Entries page 8 III. Expanded Journal Entries page ~5 IV. page 1~5 page \95 (starred entries have been expanded) - Kindergarten: A Different World (contrast: kindergaren and first grade) V. Favorite Books Introduction ,'-'" I - - - - - -"-'_._,---------' I began my student teaching in first grade and I spent ten weeks there. During that time, I got to know the teacher and each of the eighteen students individually. There was a wide range of maturity levels in the class. Probably the most mature student was a girl named Ashley. She was very neat and capable and completed the majority of her schoolwork with ease. Mrs. Jones often joked that she could teach the class for us. Ashley was also very well-behaved and attentive during class. In contrast to Ashley's maturity was a girl named Linda. She was very immature. Linda's vocabulary appeared limited, and she often failed to comprehend directions or the content of stories. Linda often seemed unaware that she had not understood an assignment; she showed no motivation to understand why she had made mistakes. The rest of the students fell somewhere in between Ashley and Linda in maturity, and each one of them had his/her own, unique personality. The other students in the class were: Hilary, Mark, Matt, Erin, Brandon, Ryan G., Ryan N., Joseph, Justin, Adam, Lauren, Laiyan, Diana, Evan, Julie, and Jeff. Mark was very shy, had a poor attitude about school, and was extremely bright. intelligent, quiet, and well-behaved. learn and very positive. Brandon was Joseph was eager to Diana was very determined, talkative, and not very sure of herself. Evan was high strung, the tallest student in the class, and precocious. Erin became very emotionally attached to others, could be 2 Julie easily upset, and was cheerful and fun-loving too. was very cheerful, liked to point out my mistakes, and was overly helpful at times. Adam was very bright and his drawings were very advanced for someone his age. His mind also wandered frequently during class and he was slow to begin assignments. We used to say that the bell to end school woke Adam up because he became very animated after class was over for the day. of attention. Lauren liked to be the center Ryan G. was easily intimidated and reluctant to ask for help. Jeff was very helpful, conscientious, and aware of others' emotions and feelings. Laiyan was a new student from China, spoke little English, and was extremely bright, especially in math. Matt was helpful, sweet, and tried hard even though some assignments were difficult for him. Justin was cheerful and bright. Ryan N. was very neat, a perfectionist, and always tried to do his best. Hilary was talkative, friendly, usually cheerful, and could be moody at times. Once I became aware of the students' personalities, I could predict, to some extent, how the students would react to situations and activities. I also knew whether each student would, on the average, be able to accomplish assignments with ease or would struggle with them. Of course, there were always exceptions to the rule. Mrs. Jones, and eventually I, had the job of meeting ,- each individual's needs during the day. very effective teacher. Mrs. Jones was a She was always prepared and very 3 organized. She kept order in the classroom and rarely, if ever, raised her voice. Mrs. Jones also had a sense of humor about life in general. She cared about the welfare of each and everyone of her students and always put the needs She was never too busy to listen and of the students first. always seemed to know how to respond to comments the students made. I feel I learned a lot from Mrs. Jones. She made me feel right at horne from the very first day I was in her classroom and she made sure that the students saw me as an authority figure too. She never questioned any decisions I made in front of the students. without being intrusive. Mrs. Jones was supportive She made me feel capable as a teacher, and I felt at ease being in her classroom. I really admired the way that she was always so well-organized. Many a late night, I wished I had planned as far ahead as Mrs. Jones always did. She also included me in other teaching-related activities such as teacher meetings, conferences, curriculum planning meetings, and going out for lunch with the other first grade teachers. Our classroom was on the east side of our wing of the building. We had the classroom closest to the bathrooms, and I think it took our students just as long to get to the bathroom and back as it did all the other students in our wing. - Most of the available space in the classroom was used to its best advantage (see insert, page ~). Mrs. Jones did not like the desks to be in conventional rows, so the desks 4 were usually in a square shape facing the front of the room. I did try to manipulate the desks into other configurations, but none seemed to work in the space we had. The daily schedule pretty much remained the same from week to week (see insert, page 1). Specials such as music, art, and physical education, were taught at set times each week. The rest of the daily schedule was then worked out around specials, lunch, and recesses. The order of the subjects was usually consistent, but the allotted times often varied. We were rarely "on schedule." Lessons sometimes took longer than expected, and we would then have to decide whether to stop the lesson and save the finish for later or to continue the lesson and cut something else out of the day. I think I usually preferred to continue with the lesson until it was finished. While I was student teaching in first grade, I was required to keep a daily journal of my experiences. included my original entries (see insert, pages I have ~-~~ in order to document what material I began with, and also to provide a more complete picture of my teaching experience in first grade. As with any job, there were some days that stood out more than others for one reason or another, ranging from good to bad and happy to frustrating. I took the journal entries for these particular days and expanded them. I added details, my feelings, and insights I gained along the way. I also added whenever possible some examples of writing done by the students in my class. Expanding on 5 the more noteworthy days in my journal gave me a chance to reflect on what I had learned during my student teaching experiencE~, and to "relive" a lot of really special moments with a really neat bunch of kids. - - bu.lle t ~ r> J bon('C><- -c c..h ~ lie be CLrct..S +- _________________ _ -to.-b le. / .- cJose.t 1-c,,- Cj rc ~p ~t·tV .ti.es l10 rt Thu.rsda.yl Frc. e-Ja..y Tuesda. L.a. /f92 - '9, 3"~5 O,.oen.i.r1-!j (Ev .Na.. t.h., 7Mb- Way NLC.(JS .s~o"'Y CA?~c14 Co 9:/0 <!.'C-d.Ci. vc. Wri.~i Co ss;.) ..ecc..r.sa '-~,u", <!C" ~ ./Y",sic:. If!.c c..d.4. 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