LRS 100
Table of Contents
Introduction
Artifact 1
Artifact 2
Artifact 3
Artifact 4
Artifact 5
Introduction / Welcome to my portfolio. I have put together five pieces of my work that recognize these questions the best. My portfolio contains my lab reflection, my case study, lab notes, a protocol, my forced corners reflection, my philosophy of teaching paper, and my funds of knowledge paper. I hope you enjoy my portfolio.
Reflection 1: I chose to put my lab reflection in for artifact one because it best explains who children are as developmental learners. It explained how children learned by experiencing on their own and with the guidance of an adult.
Reflection 2a: I chose to put my field work case study paper in for artifact number 2a because this paper explains some of the ways in which children learn. One example of the way children learn was by guided activity from the teacher. Another way in which children learn was through hands on experience in the activities they were participating in.
Reflection 2b: I chose to put my lab notes and one of my protocol sheets in for artifact 2b because they are two examples of ways to record and analyze student learning. One example of that would be to keep a double entry journal which allows the observer to write down their observations and then analysis of those observations.
Reflection 3: I chose to put my forced corners reflection in for artifact number three because it explained some of the things that influenced my learning and my learning styles. The forced corners activity allowed for me to see the many things like family and beliefs that influence me. I also learned that my styles of learning are kinesthetic and visual.
Reflection 4: I chose to put my philosophy of teaching paper in for artifact number four because this paper explains how my observations, ideas, and class readings have influenced my philosophies about teaching. This paper also explains how many of my beliefs were affirmed through my observations and how many were challenged through both the observations and the class readings.
Reflection 5: I chose to put my funds of knowledge paper in for my free choice of artifact number five because I thought it was a good piece of work. I work hard on it and I thought it should be put in my portfolio and be noticed. My funds of knowledge piece explains a cultural difference between a friend and I. It also explains ways in which students face problems because of their cultural difference like school issues and home differences.
Artifact 1
Who are children as developmental learners?
Artifact 2a:
What are the many ways in which children learn?
Artifact 2b:
How do I record and analyze student learning?
Artifact 3
What are the things that influence my learning?
What are my learning styles?
Artifact 4
How havemy observations and ideas about learning influences my theoretical and philosophies about teaching and learning?
Artifact5
What are cultural differences and how are culturally different students affected in everyday life?
Jade Martinez
LR S 100 2 PM
Lab Reflection
I thought that this entire experience was very useful. I was somewhat questionable about it in the beginning because I didn’t know what or how I would be observing. I really enjoyed being able to observe the children without being present in the same room as them. I feel that I took a lot out of this experience and that it has been helpful to me in dealing with children.
As I observed the classroom I was really impressed with the children’s thinking. One little girl sneezed a couple of times during the morning circle and she immediately got up to get a tissue and respectfully blew her nose away from the class. I was really impressed to see that at a kindergarten level she didn’t just wipe her nose on her sleeve. I was also impressed with the way the teachers guided the children’s thinking. The head teacher read a book to the class without reading the words. She just flipped through the pictures which guided the children to think imaginatively about the story. I think that the teachers guide the children’s thinking because they eventually want the children to think and do on their own without the guidance. They want them to be able to act independently. One example of that is when the little girl got up to blow her nose. I am sure that she had been previously taught to use a tissue instead of her sleeve.
I can make several connections between this observation experience and my child development course. The first connection I made was how story time was an example if Piaget's theory. Piaget believed that children should be given a challenging task that they do on their own and that is what was done with story time. The teacher flipped through the book without reading the words forcing the children to think on their own. They were not guided through the story or told what was going on. Instead they had to figure out what was happening through pictures. Another connection I made was between group time and Vygotsky’s theory. Vygotsky believed that children should be given difficult tasks and guided through them by an adult or perhaps a peer. When the children broke up into groups they were guided through three different activities by the teacher and her aids. The last connection I made was during the teacher meeting. One of the aids had mentioned a child that insisted he needed more playdoh to make his project. The boy had asks another boy if he would give him some but the boy refused because he thought he had enough to play with. The teacher then told the boy to start his project and maybe the other child would give him some of his playdoh when he seen that he didn’t have enough. However, the child didn’t see it that way he only seen it his way which is an example of egocentrism.
I think that this observation can be helpful to me as I consider teaching children because it provided a lot of information. Being able to observe a classroom showed me how things are done and how we process the information we learn in the classroom and put it to use as we become teachers. This observation also cleared up a lot of the uneasiness that I had when I first pictured myself in a classroom.
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Jade Martinez
LR S 100 2PM
December 9th, 2005
Case Study
My observations were conducted at CalahanMiddle School in Mrs. Ruston’s kindergarten classroom. The classroom size was perfect for seventeen kindergarten children. There were two groups of table desks put together for the children to sit at. In front of the desks was a colored rug in which the children spent most of their mornings before their work was assigned. There was also a back area for painting and a separate table for group work with the teacher. Throughout the days I observed the teacher conducted the same routine of activities. The children would go over their alphabet in the morning and then they would have to draw the letter of the day on their worksheet. They would be required to know both their upper and lower case letters. The children also learned their numbers and would write a new one each day. Aside from their numbers they also learned their geometric shapes.
Other than the basic everyday activities the children also got the chance to do some fun ones. Since I observed around the time of thanksgiving the children all got to make their own Indian vests and headbands. In order for the children to learn
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about shadows the teacher took them outside to see their own shadow and how it was made. The teacher didn’t really have many management problems because she had an assistant. However, when it got to loud or when some of the children weren’t working she had very affective ways of dealing with it. One example was when she had too many children trying to ask her questions at once. The teacher simply looked up and asked them to be polite in her classroom and respect that she was working with someone else and that they needed to wait their turn. The teacher would also ignore the students and keep quiet when the children got to loud or hyper.
I found that the most effective activities that engaged the children in learning were activities that involved them doing and seeing something. The children seemed to catch on and learn things faster when they were learning through hands on experiences. I observed this when the children learned about shadows. The teacher took the students outside to see how the sun made a shadow on the floor. This helped the children learn that they needed light, a floor, and an object in order to make a shadow. There weren’t very many activities that encouraged student interaction. Most of the main work in the classroom was individual work other than rug time. During rug time the teacher would talk to the entire class and sometimes ask for a group answer.
I was observing in a kindergarten class and the way these children learned was by the teacher keeping her wording at the children’s level. The teacher spoke to the children simply and slowly being sure that the children were on the same page she was. The children also learned through observation. The teacher would first
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explain to the children the correct way to do the assignment and then she would show them an example of what she meant. Aside from observing the children would also learn when the teacher made the activities fun for them. The teacher I observed would speak in funny ways and talk to objects even though they don’t talk back. This helps to engage the students in that particular activity and also helped them learn because it interested them.
I knew when there was real learning taking place because the children would present what they learned. If they learned something about shadows one day, the teacher would question them on it the next day to make sure her expectations are being met. I also knew that there was learning taking place because once the activity was finished the children would be repeating new things they learned. It didn’t take much for the teacher to engage the students in social interaction. The children pretty much socialized with each other throughout most of the day on their own. When the teacher would break them apart to do group work the children would start talking and helping each other before she got a chance to help them out.
The setting that allowed for the physical development of the students was the outdoor playground. The children were allowed to play on the apparatus and the little bicycles. The classroom setting was pretty basic with a rug, desks, and a painting area that allowed for some sensory development. I think that the most effective classroom management strategy was that the teacher had an assistant. Her assistant really helped her out a lot in keeping the classroom under control. Aside from the teachers aid the teacher also stuck to a strict schedule. She had the
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children on the carpet during the morning and then to their desks to do their work. When the children came in from snack and lunch the children would go directly to the carpet and wait for further instruction. I think that the teacher’s class rules really helped her manage the classroom.
Some teaching practices that I observed that compliment my beliefs and ideas about teaching are little things that the teacher did to help her students. In order for the teacher to help the children remember she would have them crank up their brains using their hands. She would say “tummy table” to get the children to sit correctly at their desks and would use the saying “crisscross apple sauce” so that the children would sit with their legs crossed on the rug. I also liked that the teacher would speak to the children in a fun and inviting way to get them interested in the activity she was presenting. I would most definitely use Mrs. Ruston’s teaching strategies in my classroom. I think that I could use her ideas and further develop some of them to better format my classroom guidelines or adjust them to the way my students may learn. I don’t really thing that my beliefs about the way students learn were challenged. I had thought that children would most effectively learn if they were engaged in activities through hands on experiences so many of my beliefs were affirmed.
Lab Notes
Observation- / Reflection-Morning circle time – sharing about their weekend / -The children were eager to share their news about the weekend. One student shared how he was cold and his mother made him macaroni and cheese. Two other children shared that they saw movies; one was flipper and the other about a tiger. Another little girl who was very excited about her story took the two previous children’s ideas and created a movie of her own. She talks of a movie with a tiger and a dolphin. When asked the name of the dolphin she said it was her teacher’s name. After being confronted about the name she changed it to “sprinkle rainbow dolphin” which shows the level of her imagination. When the children talk about their weekends they communicate with each other and get involved in their stories.
-during this time a little girl sneezed and she got up took a tissue out of the box and then proceeded to blow her nose.
Morning circle time - calendar / -A young boy changes the date on the calendar and then counts the days on his own in front of the class to tell everyone the date. She then asks him what numbers are in the number 24. The boy says a 1 and a 4 but when she tells him to try again he quickly changes it to a 4 and a 1. He simply just flips the numbers around.
-After the date change the teacher recognizes that a Childs birthday is coming up and all the children then say that it is theirs that is coming.
-They are also asked to come up with words to describe the weather. They use simple words like cold and rainy which are physical features
Story time - silent / The teacher pulls out a story about dinosaurs for the children to interpret on their own. The teacher only flips through the book and doesn’t read the words. The children are forced to use their imagination to figure out what is going on in the story. As I watched the children look at the pictures they made chewing and roaring sounds to go along with each picture. At the end of the book the children are asked to describe what they think the story is about. One child says it’s about opposites. Here they are forced to use their cognitive skills. This is an example of Piaget’s theory of thinking on their own.
Process of breaking children up into groups – Vygotsky’s theory of thinking / -The children are going to be broken up into 3 groups. One group will start on a project, the second group will make jack-o-lanterns as an art project, and the third group will work with opposites. As the children are broken up into groups they show a sense of disappointment by saying “aww” when heir not placed where they wanted to be.
First group – jack -o- lanterns / -At the art table the children automatically begin cutting out their jack-o-lanterns. They get to choose the colors they want to work with which allows for them to be creative. The children at this table are proud of what they are making. They use the different shapes and sizes provided for them and make their pumpkins unique. They also learned about emotions because the kids made different kinds of pumpkins: creepy, sad, happy, and sad.
Second group – playdoh project / -At this table the children learn about the ingredients that are going to be included in the playdoh. They then each get to add and mix ingredients. As the ingredients form a solid the children get to feel it. They learn that the water thickens the flour. As the groups change the children learn about what the previous children did. They also learn that the oil is lighter then water and that it floats to the top and don’t mix.
Third group - opposites / -The children at this table seemed to be bored and looking around at what the other groups are doing. They are quiet while they work unlike the other groups who mingle amongst each other and the teacher leading the exercise. One child seems to be out of it and not working. Another kid gets up to show his teacher at another table that he finished his assignment. That same child wanted to know if he was going to get to make playdoh too after the teacher had already said that they were all going to get a chance to do everything.
Conversation between two boys / -One boy tells his friend that he woke up before his parents in the morning and he didn’t know what to do. The other boy told him that when he wakes up before his parents he jumps on their bed and says “wake up mom.”
Dominoes / -A few children from the first table are finished making their jack-o-lanterns and they are allowed to go and play dominoes on the rug. One child builds with his dominoes instead of playing the game and matching the numbers with the other children.
Clean up time / -Some of the children are upset because its time for them to clean up. After they clean up they then have to sit on their green spot on the rug. This is where they are going to get ready for choice time. Choice time is when they get to do anything they want. Even if it is finishing a previous project that day.
PROTOCOL: Social Organization of Learning