Sunday, April 1, 2012
SL Project Review 3
My last post is an overview of classroom behaviors. I don't want this to come off at all as judgmental or mean, this is just my opinion and observation. I noticed that the kids are pretty well-behaved, although I was a little surprised at the strictness of the teachers. I understand that you need to be firm with a large group of preschoolers, but I noticed that some kids were put in time out without a warning or a reason why. When the kids were asked if they knew what they did wrong, they said no, I personally feel that to remedy behavior, you need to give kids a warning about their naughty behavior to give them a chance to make it right on their own. Overall, the teachers and staff out there are wonderful, and the kids seem to have a great time when they are there. Being at the YWCA was a great experience and a wonderful opportunity to observe and interact with kids in my community.
SL Project Review 2
Today I did my "activity". It was not with the full 9 kids, however, I did have about 3 or 4 at any given time. We were painting pictures and we were given yellow, red, blue and purple paint. However, part way through painting the kids noticed that my picture had green on it and they wondered where I got green from. I then taught them how to mix primary colors to make different colors. I showed them that yellow and blue make green, they asked me a few times how to make green so I repeated it a few times then when they asked again, I asked them how they thought we made green and they told me add yellow and blue together. It was a great experience to see that I had actually taught them something they didn't know before. Before too long they were figuring out that all the colors together make black and just a little bit of each color makes brown. It was really neat to see.
SL Project Review 1
I ended up working in the preschool room. It was great! The kids are so much fun and they get so excited to see us when we come in and that makes being there more enjoyable. I was pleasantly surprised to see how well-behaved the kids were! They take instructions very well for being 4 and 5 years old. I loved spending time with them and the two hours I was there flew by!
Monday, February 27, 2012
Response to S-L Project
Hannah Bontrager
Prof. Schurman
27 February 2012
I am really excited to start this project. Although timing will be tight with my demanding schedule, I am excited to observe and work with these kids. My initial reaction to our visit was what I expected, honestly. Being a teen mom I participated in classes at the Pregnancy Center in Kankakee, and now volunteering there, I have seen all different types of people with all different kinds of backgrounds. Also, being a teen mom I am on government aid- WIC- for my daughter so going to the Health Department I see people from all different walks of life come in there. So hearing what the YWCA does, as far as child care, I can't say I was altogether surprised at the "types" of kids that were there; kids from, typically, lower-income, possibly single parent (some high school moms) homes. Although I am a teen mom also, I was fortunate enough to have tons of amazing support from my family and church family, and a lot of teen moms, especially in the Kankakee area, don't have this help. I want to be able to observe their children and kind of see how, or if, they are different from my daughter in mannerisms and behavior. That being said, even though I am a Secondary Education major, I think it would be interesting to work with a child of a high school mother, maybe in the preschool area.
I hope this doesn't come off as sounding like "My situation is better than theirs, or that I am better than them" because I do not feel that way at all. My main goal as a secondary teacher is to provide hope for my students, especially those who may be pregnant, that there is life for them after high school. I want my students to be able to come to me with their problems or their questions and be able to see that I graduated college with having a baby young and so can they, all I want to do is help my students to not give up on themselves because I believe that they can do anything- even if I don't know who they are yet.
I think this would be a great opportunity for me to work with a child of a teen mother to maybe gain a perspective on what their lives are like, since, honestly, they probably are a little different from mine. Maybe gaining this perspective will allow me to maybe give suggestions to my students one day, or give them advice on how to maybe make their home life more conducive for education. Maybe I will be able to give them ways to create a schedule for them and their baby that allows the baby to get what they need, but also allows mom the time to do her school work and still have time for friends and herself. All I want is to be able to show my students that I care about them and believe in them, and that I haven't given up on them, so they shouldn't give up on themselves.
Prof. Schurman
27 February 2012
I am really excited to start this project. Although timing will be tight with my demanding schedule, I am excited to observe and work with these kids. My initial reaction to our visit was what I expected, honestly. Being a teen mom I participated in classes at the Pregnancy Center in Kankakee, and now volunteering there, I have seen all different types of people with all different kinds of backgrounds. Also, being a teen mom I am on government aid- WIC- for my daughter so going to the Health Department I see people from all different walks of life come in there. So hearing what the YWCA does, as far as child care, I can't say I was altogether surprised at the "types" of kids that were there; kids from, typically, lower-income, possibly single parent (some high school moms) homes. Although I am a teen mom also, I was fortunate enough to have tons of amazing support from my family and church family, and a lot of teen moms, especially in the Kankakee area, don't have this help. I want to be able to observe their children and kind of see how, or if, they are different from my daughter in mannerisms and behavior. That being said, even though I am a Secondary Education major, I think it would be interesting to work with a child of a high school mother, maybe in the preschool area.
I hope this doesn't come off as sounding like "My situation is better than theirs, or that I am better than them" because I do not feel that way at all. My main goal as a secondary teacher is to provide hope for my students, especially those who may be pregnant, that there is life for them after high school. I want my students to be able to come to me with their problems or their questions and be able to see that I graduated college with having a baby young and so can they, all I want to do is help my students to not give up on themselves because I believe that they can do anything- even if I don't know who they are yet.
I think this would be a great opportunity for me to work with a child of a teen mother to maybe gain a perspective on what their lives are like, since, honestly, they probably are a little different from mine. Maybe gaining this perspective will allow me to maybe give suggestions to my students one day, or give them advice on how to maybe make their home life more conducive for education. Maybe I will be able to give them ways to create a schedule for them and their baby that allows the baby to get what they need, but also allows mom the time to do her school work and still have time for friends and herself. All I want is to be able to show my students that I care about them and believe in them, and that I haven't given up on them, so they shouldn't give up on themselves.
Tuesday, February 14, 2012
Chapter 5 Blog 10
Hannah Bontrager
Prof. Schurman
14 February 2012
Blog 10
While reading these pages I found myself thinking, I didn't know that there was so much work involved in creating a conversation! I knew teaching would be hard work, but I guess I didn't realize that I would have to prompt my students to participate in class discussion. Then again, I do see you having to prompt us sometimes. I like the idea of having students work in groups and ask each other questions to help prompt thoughts. I really like the idea of forced free writing. Having students just continue to write without stopping after reading them a piece of literature is an awesome way to spark thoughts that they may not have been thinking before. My brother is in a creative writing class in high school and they free write at the beginning of every class period. He has mentioned several times that he was just blabbering to keep his fingers moving but then thoughts came up with thoughts he never knew he had in his head to begin with. Creating conversations may be difficult at times, but conversation and language skills are some of the most basic skills that, no matter how much technology is invented, will always be needed, and they are worth teaching and learning.
Prof. Schurman
14 February 2012
Blog 10
While reading these pages I found myself thinking, I didn't know that there was so much work involved in creating a conversation! I knew teaching would be hard work, but I guess I didn't realize that I would have to prompt my students to participate in class discussion. Then again, I do see you having to prompt us sometimes. I like the idea of having students work in groups and ask each other questions to help prompt thoughts. I really like the idea of forced free writing. Having students just continue to write without stopping after reading them a piece of literature is an awesome way to spark thoughts that they may not have been thinking before. My brother is in a creative writing class in high school and they free write at the beginning of every class period. He has mentioned several times that he was just blabbering to keep his fingers moving but then thoughts came up with thoughts he never knew he had in his head to begin with. Creating conversations may be difficult at times, but conversation and language skills are some of the most basic skills that, no matter how much technology is invented, will always be needed, and they are worth teaching and learning.
Saturday, February 11, 2012
Blog 9
Hannah Bontrager
Prof. Schurman
11 February 2012
Blog 9
You were right, these readings did take longer! I enjoyed them all the same, however. I was amazed at the stories where teachers allowed students to fail. How as an educator can you sit by and have 99% of your class succeed and allow one or two of your students to lag behind and fail? That will only make further learning harder and more frustrating for them! Not to mention that, most likely they will "hate" learning because of the poor foundation that was laid for them. Another astonishing fact that I read about was how students who are raised in low-income households are not really "learning" about reading and writing. Students in middle-class homes at lease come in with concepts and understandings about reading and writing whereas poor students do not. This was heartbreaking to me, just because of their social standing, students should not be deprived of learning. That should be a wake up call to teachers to make sure that ever student in their class is given the same opportunity, if not in the world, at least in your classroom to learn. No matter where a student comes from, they will thrive when pushed and be more excited to succeed when they think someone believes in them. And as their teacher, you may be the only person they have that truly cares and believes in them. That should be the reason you love what you do. You became a teacher for a reason, to help students, no matter what their background, to succeed and learn. So teach.
Prof. Schurman
11 February 2012
Blog 9
You were right, these readings did take longer! I enjoyed them all the same, however. I was amazed at the stories where teachers allowed students to fail. How as an educator can you sit by and have 99% of your class succeed and allow one or two of your students to lag behind and fail? That will only make further learning harder and more frustrating for them! Not to mention that, most likely they will "hate" learning because of the poor foundation that was laid for them. Another astonishing fact that I read about was how students who are raised in low-income households are not really "learning" about reading and writing. Students in middle-class homes at lease come in with concepts and understandings about reading and writing whereas poor students do not. This was heartbreaking to me, just because of their social standing, students should not be deprived of learning. That should be a wake up call to teachers to make sure that ever student in their class is given the same opportunity, if not in the world, at least in your classroom to learn. No matter where a student comes from, they will thrive when pushed and be more excited to succeed when they think someone believes in them. And as their teacher, you may be the only person they have that truly cares and believes in them. That should be the reason you love what you do. You became a teacher for a reason, to help students, no matter what their background, to succeed and learn. So teach.
Tuesday, February 7, 2012
Chapter 14 Blog 8
Hannah Bontrager
Prof. Schurman
7 Febryary 2012
Blog 8
As I may have expressed in previous blogs, I'm a firm believer in technology in the classroom. I believe that using technology, especially in the English classroom, is a great way to keep students engaged and excited about what they are learning. I like the idea of using blogs, podcasts, book trailers and wikibooks, I think it will really keep the students engaged in what is going on in the classroom while allowing students to comment on each other's opinions and thoughts. Other ideas instead of just the internet or laptops, would be to inquire with a technology company such as Apple or Barnes & Noble and see about a possible grant or educational program that they take part in to grant your school with Kindles or Nooks to put books on. Using this more recent development in technology will really get the kids excited about reading. What kid wouldn't be more excited to read off of a kindle than a 300 page textbook? Using modern technology that is a part of our student's every day lives will keep students engaged and excited about reading and learning.
Prof. Schurman
7 Febryary 2012
Blog 8
As I may have expressed in previous blogs, I'm a firm believer in technology in the classroom. I believe that using technology, especially in the English classroom, is a great way to keep students engaged and excited about what they are learning. I like the idea of using blogs, podcasts, book trailers and wikibooks, I think it will really keep the students engaged in what is going on in the classroom while allowing students to comment on each other's opinions and thoughts. Other ideas instead of just the internet or laptops, would be to inquire with a technology company such as Apple or Barnes & Noble and see about a possible grant or educational program that they take part in to grant your school with Kindles or Nooks to put books on. Using this more recent development in technology will really get the kids excited about reading. What kid wouldn't be more excited to read off of a kindle than a 300 page textbook? Using modern technology that is a part of our student's every day lives will keep students engaged and excited about reading and learning.
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