Kid Quote

"When fire ants bite it feels like lava"

Gold Rush

Today I began working at Gold Rush Elementary School. Gold Rush has a 4% free and reduced lunch rate. It is located in Douglas County, the wealthiest county in Colorado. Gold Rush open just last year. I will be spending my time in a half day kindergarten classroom. Students have class from 9 am to noon, with recess and a special thrown in there.

Total Students (2008 - 2009): 508
Fulltime teachers: 24.2
Student/Teacher Ratio: 21.0
Eligible for discounted/free lunch: 18 ( 4 %)

Kid Quote

"When I'm in third grade and can use the swings, I'm gonna swing so high and land on the monkey bars!"

Importance of Play

The simple act of playing is important to a child's development. Kids need to engage in creative stimulating play that pushes their imagination and helps to develop both fine and gross motor skills. For example weaving helps kids develop fine motor skills, while painting and playing with blocks develops gross motor skills.

At Harrington students participate in a program titled playworks. Play works is a nation wide program that is most active in lower income areas. It teaches kids basic outdoor games and encourages fair and respectful play. At the beginning of the year none of the students knew how to play a game as simple as kickball. They would kick the ball and just run away not knowing they needed to run to first base. Play works was instituted at Harrington to shift the playground dynamic. Before it started there would be bullying on the playground, now near the end of it's first year in use, students no longer fight and push one another around at recess.

Kid Quote

"You smell good Tarelle!"

"My Dad gives me perfume before school."

"Everyone should wear perfume."

New Student!

A few days back the class got another new student. The day before he began Mrs. Kempton was sure to tell the rest of the students that a new kid would be joining them the following day. The next day, all kids kept asking about him. By giving the kids notice to his coming before hand, and doing so a day early, built the excitement. Rather than him appearing and having everyone ask who he was, he was greeted by excited kids eager to get to know him.

He first came in while the rest of the class was in specials, this was done so that he would be tested and meet his teacher without kids surrounding him. The first assessment had the child pointing to pictures that ended with the same sound.

For example in the image above, both glue and two end with an "oo" sound. After this assessment he was tested on letters and numbers. In the end he showed to have known 12 uppercase letters and 11 lowercase. He didn't know they called letters though. He couldn't read his name, when his name was written he knew what all the letters were, but he didn't recognize it spelling his name. He new what numbers were as well as some rhyming words. Did couldn't quite print match, which is following the words being read with his finger on the page.

He was also begin to understand the concept of beginning and ending - first and last. This is important for new readers and writers to understand. Without knowing that the FIRST thing they hear when "Kite" is said is "Kuh" they can't begin to write the word even if they know that the letter K sounds like "Kuh". Identifying the first and last sound is a necessary tool when writing and reading at a young age.

Quote

“If a child is to keep alive his inborn sense of wonder...he needs the companionship of at least one adult who can share it, rediscovering with him the joy, excitement and mystery of the world we live in”

Rachel Carson

Why?

Why? Why does one do what they do? If they don't know why, they shouldn't be doing it. Or at least need to take the time to sit down and think about it.

Why does Mrs. Kempton not have any chairs in her classroom? Because kids regularly decide to use them as a jungle gym. They clutter the room and kids are constantly falling out of them and distracting themselves.

Why have I chosen to study kindergarten for my SLE? Because I love the way kids at this age are so eager to learn. I love the excitement on their faces when they discover something new. I enjoy seeing the amazing progress that is made in such a short time. I enjoy the student's insightful and intelligent comments that most will disregard because of their age.

Why am I interested in knowing what makes a good teacher? Because I hope to be one someday. I want to be the type of teacher that kids will remember. The kind that inspires kids to keep learning and inspires them to retain their sense of wonder.

Quote

"Kindergarteners wear their hearts on their sleeves, there is no doubt about what they are feeling."

Discipline

The past few days a kid or two has had to be disciplined. At Harrington Elementary school the "time to teach" method of discipline is used. If a student is disrupting class they are asked to leave the group and go, "refocus." Two spots are designated for refocusing. Here the students a meant to think about their behavior and what it is they were doing that lead them to needing this time. Recess will also be taken away if a student fails to refocus.

When disciplining it is important that the student recognizes for themselves what it is they were doing wrong. If a student doesn't find anything wrong with the way they are acting they are never going to change. It is also important for them to own up to their actions and realizes that their choices have consequences.

The other day a boy named Jared was messing around during all of writing time, so when recess rolled around he was asked to stay inside. He began crying and defending himself saying he didn't do anything wrong. The first few times Mrs. Kempton asked him if he knew why he was inside he said no. After she explained that he made a choice earlier he began thinking about what he did during class. He them admitted to not writing during writing time and instead spending his time roaming the class. Amidst the tears, it was important that teachers remain consistent, the same standard needs to be upheld for all students.

Even when students knowingly disregard rules and push the boundaries it is important to stay consistent. Today a girl named Kristal got up in the middle of a lesson and went to the back of the room for ten minutes to get a coat. She then returned and began insistently signaling to go to the bathroom. In the past this girl has been notorious for leaving to the bathroom just so she can leave class. Because of this she wasn't allowed to go. When she was asked why she had to stay in during recess she knew exactly why she was inside. She told her teacher that she was inside because she wasn't sitting with her class learning, but was instead off in the back of the room messing around and trying to leave.

Setting clear expectations that are consistently reviewed and upheld allow children to develop personal responsibility.

Kid Quote

"How do you show someone respect?"

"Give them hugs!"

Spiders

Today after recess two students brought in a piece of bark they tore off a tree. Another student proceeded to remind them that bark is like skin for a tree and that it protects the tree. She also continued to remind them that they learned that while reading Wild Horse Winter,

The inside of the bark was covered in silk. Immediately the kids made the connection that spiders make silk. Suddenly the silk started to move and two little yellow spiders crawled out. Both dropped to the ground dragging a line of silk behind them. After a minute of mild chaos, both spiders were released outside.

At this point Mrs. Kempton began asking the kids what they know about spiders.

"What is a baby spider called"

"A spiderling! Like a duckling!"

"How do you know these are baby spiders?"

"Because spiderlings are yellow."

She then informed them that spiders wrap their eggs in silk to protect them, and that is why the spiderlings were nestled in a cocoon of silk. They went on to talk about the drag line trailing behind the spiders as they dropped to the floor.

In moments such as these teachers have two options. They can either disregard whatever it is students bring into class. Or they can listen to the student's natural inquiries and build the class around them. Mrs. Kempton could have asked the kids to put the bark away in their backpacks. When the spiders crawled out she could have squashed them and reprimanded the students for bringing bugs into class. Instead a beautiful lesson unfurled before everyone's eyes. Who could have planned a better lesson out on spiders?

Learning is messy. It cannot be organized into little boxes and perfect lesson plans. A good teacher supports students in their own natural inquiries and doesn't shut them down for the sake of a schedule. The kids in Mrs. Kempton's class knew that if they brought something they thought was exciting into class, that Mrs. Kempton would support them and help them learn more about their finding. Builing that trust and relationship with students is important, especially in their younger years when they are learning to take risks and discover new things. Students need to remain interested and curious about the world around them. Supporting them and helping them solve these mysteries helps keep that wonder alive.

Kid Quote

"Would you like to lead the line Nia?"

"Oh I would LOVE to, Mrs. Parker!"

Literacy and Writing

Language is crucial to both reading and writing so it is important to develop background knowledge and language skills. There are three factors in what Sue Kempton describes as the language wheel, Talking, Writing, and Reading. These three steps should be used at all times in building comprehension. They can be used in any order.

Today a boy read a book about wolves during free read. He got so excited and then shared everything he learned about wolves and their territories during the circle. At first he was calling them spaces, each wolf pack had it's own space. But another boy raised his hand and told him about tigers and how their space is called a territory. After he divulged to the class all he learned about wolves, their territory, alpha males, and quite a bit more, it was time for writing. This student went and proceeded to write a fiction story about a pack of wolves using the knowledge he developed just earlier that day. This is a prime example of a student first reading about something, followed by talking about it, and ending by writing about it.

When kindergarteners are writing I've learned that it is also important to NOT worry about spelling at all. Is it better for a student to express everything they want to say with imperfect spelling? Or is it better for the student to stick with simple words and phrases that they already know? Would you rather read,

"I love my mom. We go to the park. It is fun."

Or would you rather see, "I DurldoD (discovered) at h (that) a Polar ber (bear) Sim (swims) in the wodr (water) to cach (catch) fish with his shorp (sharp) clos(claws)!"

In this phrase the student spelled all sight words correctly but still took risks in writing words she did not know, such as discover. It is important to teach kids how to communicate and think and put their thinking down on paper. When thinking is captured and written down it becomes permanent. This is the ground work for further building and developing. Grammar can be taught when students know how to express themselves. Encourage students to finish their thoughts and sentences. Add depth by asking questions to pull out their thinking.

In order to learn from past mistakes it is important to see and remember where mistakes were made. In the classroom I am in currently, there are no erasers on pencils, instead students put a single straight line through it.

"The dintis pulld for four teeth"

This makes the teacher and the student able to see the mistakes that were made as well as how they were fixed. Over time it shows the progress wrought in the students writing.

So what it comes down to is using the language wheel, talking, writing, and reading, to build understanding and language skills in students. Remember that it is more important that a student expresses themselves and there understanding rather than convey things perfectly. Building the confidence of students and their abilities is vital.

Kid Quote

"These waterfalls are here so that the wolves can jump over them."

Harrington Elementary School

Harrington Elementary school is located in north Denver. The school has a 98% free and reduced lunch rate. The racial breakdown is shown in the following graph.

Many kindergarten students began the year not recognizing any letters and numbers. Many couldn't even point to there name written on the board. Very few of them had had preschool experience. Students are constantly coming and going, always entering with little school experience, and always leaving without notice. The school provides snacks for the kids both during and after school. During breaks the kids don't go on vacations to the beach, they sit at home and stare at the television. There was even a boy who wrote a story the first day back about visiting his uncle in jail over break and how it made him sad.

The kids at this school live a very different life than my own. Visiting this school has definitely shown me a new perspective on schools, teachers, and the difference they can make in the life of a child.

Kid Quote

‎"We care for other people's feelings around here. That's what we do. Even teachers have feelings you know."

Week One - Yale Elementary School

Alright since this post is a little delayed some initial thoughts and thinking has been lost in the mines. So this here will just be an over view of my first week, which was pretty much just me being an observer.

I spent the week at Yale elementary school. Yale has a 58% free and reduced lunch rate for students. The student population is as follows,

Hispanic:	46.57%	(2009)
White, non-Hispanic:	26.40%	(2009)
Black, non-Hispanic:	21.83%	(2009)
Asian/Pacific Islander:	3.33%	(2009)
American Indian/Alaskan Native:	1.87%	(2009)
Multiracial:	0.00%	(2009)

While some of the students begin kindergarten with preschool experience most of them do not. Here I noticed a large gap in the students abilities. Those with parental involvement at home preformed much higher than those who did not.

General observations of the classroom were that students had a set routine, the schedule was posted and the students knew where to be and when to be there. The day was filled with many short activities that allowed the kids to stay focused. Both large group, small group, and independent work time was implemented. The kids would read aloud while the teacher was reading a book. They would start the day in circle and share something that they were looking forward to that day and the things they needed from the rest of the class in order to have a productive day.

The kids had an amazing sense of community and always supported one another. Whenever a student was struggling, another would come over and help them out in any manner they could. At one point there was a girl who was just really having an awful day. She didn't feel like she was cared for and thereby acted out and distracted other students. The teacher pointed this out to the class by saying, "Katie's bucket looks a little low today, does anyone have any ideas on how we can help her fill her bucket?" Immediately five or six students came over and gave Katie a great big hug. The rest of the day, Katie was focused and happy.

This is just a rough outline of some things I noticed. I will follow up later with a few videos from the kids. Luckily I have another week in this class room to gather my thoughts a little better.