Week 3 All blogs

I know this is my first time blogging this week. And now its going to kick me in the butt because not only do I have to write two hundred and fifty words but this time I have to write seven hundred and fifty words. Its not like I have been blowing this off all week I just have not found the time to blog with everything that has been going on inside the classroom and outside the classroom. Not only am I going to SCORE five days a week for eight hours I am also working a steady job almost every day after SCORE so it is slowly becoming very stressful. This week in school has been fairly busy because the math MCAS are next week, on Monday and Tuesday. On Monday we started off studying the reviewing the basic steps on finding the perimeter of an object. One of the examples they had to work on was that they were to find the perimeter of a square that add different number values as its sides. I know finding perimeter is pretty self-explanatory but for some of the students it was hard for them. I noticed that a few kids had been struggling with their work so I did my best helping them without giving away the answer because they are to learn this on their own so when it is time to take the MCAS they will know how to do it. Perimeter was not the only thing we went over on Monday we also covered Area of Squares and Rectangles, which they were to find the area of a simple rectangle and measure each side in centimeters so that when they got their final answer it would come out measured in square centimeters (cm^2). Next they learned the Surface Area Formula. Knowing that we covered all of this just in one day shows that the kids should be ready for MCAS. Several of the students were clearly confused with all the new formulas and concepts on how to find Area and Perimeter but I know that they are all confident enough.

Tuesday the students had a science test which I made them a study guide to study off of. It seemed to me that most of the kids knew the information but again I noticed the same kids were struggling on getting their thoughts out onto paper.

Wednesday was a half-day so that was nice to be able to get out extra early then normal. During the kids recess the first and second graders had won a raffle where police cars, fire trucks and ambulances came to school and the first and second graders were able to go inside them and touch the trucks and what not.

Thursday was also another busy day because they had a math test on everything we had reviewed this entire week. Also they started a new science lab, in which they are responsible to build a multimeter voltage. The tools they had to use to build this was all given to them in the their lab packets but not only do they have to build a successful circuit they have to observe what they noticed during the lab and they also have to compare currents in series and in parallel circuits. 

Week 2 Blog 2

I was wonder if the teacher gets tired repeating her self all the time. It feels like just yesterday when I was learning the same math that the fifth graders are learning right now. Since I have been here we have covered two units, and as I speak we are working with finding the area or a triangles and rectangles. Today, Thursday and tomorrow Friday, Mrs. Field is going to be out and she has scheduled a substitute teacher. When she told me yesterday that she was planning on leavening me with a substitute my heart kind of dropped and I was nervous that I would have to run the whole class on my own considering I know what we have been doing and the substitute does not. But that was not the case. Luckily Mrs. Field left with me a day-to-day plan on what we would be doing while she was out. Transitioning from vacation to school was definitely hard for some of the students. Getting back on track with a normal school day is just starting to pick up. 

Now since the weather is getting nice and the kids only time to spend outside is when they have recess they are all so eager to get outside and they all have so much energy. Now coming to the end of the week I have covered so much information from complex machines to finding the area of a triangle and explaining that formula to the students. Yesterday I was able to make a study guide for the kids for their complex machines test, which is next week. I really enjoyed doing this for them because I felt very involved and helpful. 

Week 2 Blog 1

 Right now I am sitting at my desk in the classroom writing this blog while the kids are independtly reading. So far Score is going very well for me. This is only my second week and I already feel natural at what we are doing with in the classroom.

I have noticed that there are several kids in the classroom that has disabilities and struggle with working in a loud and crazy environment. On a day-to-day basis the kids are to be in their seat with their homework passed in by eight fifteen because that is the start of the school day. By now the students are naturally just coming to me and giving me their homework from the night before because I am in charge of correcting homework and other papers they pass in.  If any of the students miss homework and don’t pass it in I am to write them a homework slip which has to go home with them and get signed by their parents so they know that their child did not complete the homework. I feel so bad doing that but its something that I have to do.

I have noticed that there are a select few kids who are not consistent with their homework, that may be because they have at home problems that they deal with daily or they just get no support from their loved ones. Every day around twelve thirty the students go off to their W.I.N (What I Need) group and every group do something different. There are reading groups that work with special teachers to improve their reading and there are also groups where the students are independent. I play a math game with at least two students a day. We play multiplication war so they are able to practice their multiplication facts. 

Day 3 Week 1

Today is my third day working with the fifth graders at Essex Elementary school. Like any other day that I’ve been here, the morning routine is no different from the other days. They are to say the pledge of allegiance and after that they all go their separate ways to exploratory. Today’s schedule was a little different from the past two days. The other fifth grade class and our class switched rooms so the other class was able to come into Mrs. Fields class room and learn about science. What they are learning about is very interesting for this age level. They are working on a lab that has to do with Engineering Complex Machines. They were to solve several tasks and one of them was to construct a prototype crane that can life ten marbles going thirty centimeters vertically and thirty centimeters horizontally. Before doing so they received a bag full of tools and parts they had to use to build the crane. Being able to experience what a typical day is like in a fifth grade classroom is something that is mind blowing. I have noticed that when the students are told to complete a work sheet or complete a quiz/test, most of the boys are the ones who are done first. Its almost as if school is one big race. Watching the students think and process their thoughts very fascinating because there was one little girl who was so worked up she ended up not being able to finish her test because of the anxiety she was facing. I didn’t realize until that point that kids at such a young age get so stressed to the point where they are in tears and worried they aren’t going to do well. Having this be my third day working with them, I am still happy about my SCORE decision. 

Day 2- Week 1

Today is my second day working with fifth graders at the Essex elementary school. Still most of the students are a little shy because there is an older high school girl in their class but they are slowly getting used to me being in their class and helping them with their work. Just like yesterday morning the kids started off their day with the “5-1, 5-2, 5-3” schedule. Some of them went to art, some went to computer class and the rest of the kids went to project adventure. Besides running around making photo copies for Mrs. Field and helping her organize her room and correcting papers, I was still able to interact with the kids and help them work on their math board game project. Thinking that this project would be easy it took a lot of time and patience to help the kids complete a good-looking final project. I am very lucky to be doing this as my SCORE project because not only is it literally right down the street from my house, but I am doing what I really love. Working with kids makes you realize how accepting they can be. Even though this is only my second day being here, I have already noticed that completing class work or homework is always a competition amongst most of them. Every day Mrs. Field teaches a new unit in math, today the kids are learning about Unit Fractions and how they work. Tomorrow they will be having a test on everything they have reviewed from last week and this week. 

Day One

Today is my first day of Score. Coming into the elementary school I wasn’t sure what to expect and what type of work I would be doing.  I am working with Kim Field at the Essex Elementary School in the fifth grade classroom. There are 23 kids in this one class. It is a bit overwhelming but it is definitely going to grow onto me. On a typical day I will come in around eight in the morning and will leave around three in the afternoon, that way I will be working six hours a day and thirty hours a week. To make sure everything runs smoothly in Ms. Fields classroom I am going to be helping her correct papers and help the kids that need help with the classroom activities. Today I have already corrected the math homework that was due today and the homework that was due yesterday. There are several kids in our classroom that struggle with math that need extra help and I will be aware of those kids who need help and make sure I help them with any questions they don’t understand. I am really looking forward to this experience because not only is it interesting to see how fifth graders learn but it is also fun to work with these fifth graders because I know most of them from out of school programs. I chose to work with fifth graders for my score project because it will allow me to interact with the kids and be a role model to them. I am really looking forward to the next couple weeks!

Tyler Coggeshall Outline

Tyler Coggeshall

Score Outline and Thesis

Introduction:

For my SCORE project I will be working in a 5^th grade classroom, in Essex. I plan on focusing on the theory that girls and boys both learn differently. I will also be observing the classroom and how the students interact with each other.

• ·      Gain a trusting relationship with students and faculty at Essex Elementary
• ·      Observe students in the classroom. 
• ·      Interact with the students.
• ·      Is technology a factor in teaching and is it getting in the way of how the students are being taught

Thesis: Several of us believe that boys and girls don’t learn the same way or even at the same rate. Today, the question is how do we improve the children’s school performance. The difference between how boys and girls learn may be the key to advancing true educational reform.  By interacting with the students and teachers and analyzing their activities I hope to gain insight on all of these topics.

Paragraph 1: How the brain learns and processes information

• ·      How the brain is developed and the differences it has between boys and girls
• ·      How the brain processes emotion and what chemical imbalances there are
• ·      How hormones will affect how the child is thinking and what the differences are

Paragraph 2: How the children learn in different types of areas and styles

• ·      How does the use of language differ from boys and girls
• ·      How working in groups can be more difficult for girls rather than boys
• ·      How our brains focus on the importance of space and the 2 forms of intelligence in the space/place category

Paragraph 3: The advantages and disadvantages between boys and girls

Paragraph 4: How the class size and school size can affect the children’s way of learning

Citations:

The Digital Divide. By: Hudson, Hannah Trierweiler, Instructor, 15320200, Fall2011, Vol. 121, Issue 2

COMPETING FOR THE VIRTUAL STUDENT. By: Waters, John K., T H E Journal, 0192592X, Aug2011, Vol. 38, Issue 7

Gurian, Michael. Boys and Girls Learn Differently: A Guide for Teachers and Parents. New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc. 2001. Print

2 interviews with students from class (to be determined later)

New Labels

New Labels