Final Day

My final day in my classroom was exciting, but really quite sad. I didn't realize how much of a close relationship/bond that I had formed with these kids. I almost welled up with tears when Mrs. Martin gave Liza and I a card and gift! They had a party for us even with a cake! It was nice to be able to just relax and enjoy their company.  I really learned a lot from my experience and came up with quite a few ideas for when I have my own classroom. I still am convinced that I will keep the Montessori behavior management style, but realize that it may not be effective for traditionally schooled children. I am grateful for all of Mrs. Martin's time and energy, I know she is a very busy lady!

Almost done!

So the second to last day of the field went well. Liza taught a lesson on earth day and the kids really came up with some great ideas on how to keep our environment clean. I was impressed! Her lesson really got them thinking. The kids knew it was our second to last day and even asked, "where are you going?" We were showered with hugs when we left and I will be sad to go after creating a bond with them (some more than others of course). I look forward to next week when we can relax and have fun with the kids for our "going away party" they are having. Sorry it's so short...I'm kinda blogged out!

Ch. 4 Stop and Think Question

What are your earliest memories about how your family and your teacher related? Did anyone in your family visit your school? Who? Why? What was that like for you? 
As long as I can remember my mom was very active at my schools. She was the PTA president of my school throughout elementary school at James B. Edwards and Belle Hall (I went here when it opened as a new school), so she was always around the school and everyone knew her. I can even remember her telling me not to worry about what teacher I got every year because she picked each teacher I had. My teachers always had a friend-like relationship with my mom. This made me feel like school was my extended family because everyone was friends with my mom and, therefore, all the teachers and office staff knew me. When it came time for me to go to middle school, my mother got a job as a secretary at Moultrie Middle and was always there for me and, once again, everyone knew me and I got to pick my teachers. My mom stayed at Moultrie long enough for my little sister to pass through and then followed me to Wando where she became the PTA president once again. My mother was along side of me all throughout my schooling which was very comforting because if I ever needed anything she or a friend of hers was always there.

Final Lesson and Assessment

This was a busy non-stop day. I taught my final lesson. It was on different types of jobs and  included reading a book to the class, brainstorming different jobs they know about, a short Notebook presentation showing jobs and workplaces, a really fun website called Jobs in Pawland (check out this site!), and finally a handout with two mirrors where they can draw pictures of what they might want to  be when they grow up. For the early finishers, I printed on the back of the handout the sentence I want to be a _______ because:.  I think they kids really enjoyed the lesson and I think it was a perfect thing to teach and discuss with spring break right around the corner because they are pretty wound up to not have school for a week. After my lesson, I performed my assessment with two children. This involved having them each write a thank you note to Bee City, where they had recently visited on a field trip. It was a fun assessment and they realized that they would be writing representing the entire class. One of them even included a couple drawings on the card. As sad as it is to have taught my last lesson, it is also a relief to be able catch up on my work and just be able to relax and enjoy spending a couple more days with the kids without the stress of running the class.

Ch. 2 Stop and Think: Learning about differences (#3)

When you were a child, how might you have describes on "ordinary" person? What family structure would the person have? What skin color? What home language? What would be their work and economic class? Where and how would they have lived?
When I was a young child (early childhood) I would have described an ordinary person as someone just like me. They would have the same family structure, married parents and a close extended family. I did not experience divorce and was caught off guard in middle school when my first friend went through a divorce. The ordinary family would look like mine, not necessarily white, but having a close family unit. I had friends in school with different color skin and didn't recognize it as unordinary. However, I would have found a family that spoke a different language other then English strange. Even if the English being spoken was with an accent, it would have been weird to me. I grew up in a middle to upper class family and found that to be commonplace. I recognized that some families appeared to have nicer cars or houses compared to others. I think this is how I realized that families are not all the same. I would have classified anyone who lived in Charleston, specifically Mount Pleasant, as an ordinary family. I think that for most all children, their family sets their sense of normalcy and ordinary. I think the exception would be for children who experience traumatic childhood experiences. They might realize that they are different from most of their peers. As children grow older, have more interactions with other children, and slowly gain independence, they begin to compare themselves to other and realize differences among individuals and families.

Field #7 (Lesson #4 Science)

For my science lesson, we planted carrot seeds in the garden! I began by reading the book, "Tops and Bottoms" and then reviewed the basic needs of plants using a powerpoint. I brought in carrots, baby and full size with the stems. They loved seeing the whole carrot with the green stem still attached. I wanted to show them what our carrot seeds would become. I also wanted to differentiate between the two carrots because I have know children to think that the baby carrots in a bag is how carrots grow. Finally, we went outside to remove the old plants, turn the soil, put down fresh, fertilized soil, made holes, placed seeds in hole, and then watered the garden. Some of the kids couldn't stand getting dirty, but some enjoyed it a little too much!  I didn't realize that there were only going to be three small shovels and I wish that each child could have had one. I had the student rotate every couple minutes so everyone got turn. After we finished outside, we washed up and reviewed that basic needs that our carrot seed would need, wrote about our favorite part of planing our seeds (and shared with the class), and drew a picture of what our carrots would look like while I gave each student a snack of baby carrots. The kids loved eating the carrots and wanted more, with the exception of one student who refused the carrots because I didn't have ranch dip! The lesson lasted almost two hour in all, but the kids were engaged the entire time. Mrs. Martin gave me such high praise for my lesson and kept telling me how much they loved it. It was such a rewarding feeling!

Spring Break vent about overly uptight teachers

At work I have the opportunity to be around other teachers and their students. I am quick to notice different teachers teaching styles, mannerisms, and attitudes towards their students. Of course everyone has their own way of running their classroom, but something that has really driven me crazy over the last couple of months at work are overly uptight teachers. For instance, teachers who demand silence or freak out over normal volume levels in the classroom. While on the bus for a field trip this week, we had three classrooms, 63 students and 6 teachers. It was raining outside and we were headed downtown. The children were excited to get out of the classroom, excited to be on a bus, and naturally a little wound up because of the rain outside. There was a teacher on the bus who was a complete control freak about the noise on the bus. I found the volume normal, but she insisted on raising her voice and "shhh-ing" the students. Relax lady! I have encountered teacher who behave like this all the time and it makes me think: they are children, they aren't quiet and perfect all the time. Let them be kids! I'm not saying let they run wild, be as loud as they wish, and run wild, but I don't think teacher should let their blood pressure go through the roof unnecessarily. I hope that I don't ever become one of those uptight teachers who seem miserable with their job, children, and life in general EVER!!!! Life's too short. Relax and enjoy. Whew, I fell better getting that off of my chest!

Field #6

Liza taught her literacy lesson today using the Trophies reading books as I did. I thought her story was MUCH more interesting and fun than the story I was instructed to teach. I thought Liza did a great job. I really liked how she had early finishers open their handout and illustrate and write a story about a robot. I was surprised by the reading ability of some students after observing her teach. Those students that I believed to be "low" learners overall had good reading skills. Also, the students seem to be fully acclimated to us being in their classroom. 

Field 5

I taught my second lesson, which Dr. White observed. I taught a lesson out of the Trophies reading book using the story "Tell Me a Story." Personally I found the story somewhat uninteresting, but I did my best to get the students to connect with it. I presented a Powerpoint presentation to begin the lesson, introducing the kids to the vocabulary words they would be reading in the story. They loved the presentation, but I grew tired of tapping the screen and felt like I had my side turned to them a lot. I wonder if they have a remote control for the smartboard. After the presentation, we read the story. I found it difficult to maintain several of the childrens attention. Their schedule was flipped around and they had snack before langauge arts instead of after, so I think this attributed to their restlessness. I think the lesson went well overall and I am constantly becoming more comfortable working with these children.

Field #4

I was nice to not have the stress of teaching a lesson on this day. I was able to just relax and observe everything that was going on in the classroom. Our teacher had just received an updated Smartboard and the everyone was excited. The kids in the back of the room and to the side could actually see the board! Liza taught her lesson introducing the kids to their Everyday Math "My Reference Book." What seemed like a somewhat boring lesson when she told me what our teacher told her to teach really turned out to be a great lesson. The way Liza made it almost like a scavenger hunt really held the children's interest. During her lesson, I observed my case study student more and noticed a bit more of his personality. He didn't seem to enjoy working in a small group with this one student in particular, who seems to be one of the disruptive kids in the class. My case study was very vocal and disturbed by this boys neglect to follow Ms. Liza's instructions and not work as a group to get an answer. I thought it was so cute how he stood up for his group. I am looking forward to seeing his various skill levels in different subjects.

Field #3 (Lesson 1)

This week I taught a math lesson to my first graders. I was given a page in the Everyday Math book to teach. I could have just followed the lesson guide in the book, but I chose to change it up and come up with my own idea. The kids had recently had a lesson on function machines and this lesson was a refresher and also touch on the "What's my rule?" concept using function machines. To refresh the students previous knowledge I put a spin on the function machine by covering a desk with a blanket, labeling it a function machine, and allowing children to act as numbers being entered into the function machine with the final product coming out of the machine. They loved the lesson. The teacher was concerned about classroom management, but I think the kids behaved perfectly with my clear explanations and reminders of my expectations. I felt very comfortable teaching my lesson and I think the only reason for my nerves is knowing that I am being evaluated by the teacher with an ADEPT form. The teacher did offer some constructive criticism, reminding me to always have every student in my sight at all times. A couple times when I bent down to help children I believe my back was to several students. Teaching this lesson I also have a better grasp on the mathematical abilities of the students in this class. I think it was relatively easy for some kids, but specifically challenging for one student in particular.
On this day I also got a chance to interview the mother of my case study child. She is a professor at the College and her son previously attended ECDC. I am eager to learn more about this child through observation (this day was the first day I was assigned to him).

Field #2

My teacher put me to work! I loved it! First thing in the morning when the children come in they have a phonics worksheet and a daily oral language sentence to correct. Liza and I went around and helped the students who needed assistance with their work while Mrs. Martin did morning housekeeping. It was nice to feel needed in the room versus just sitting there watching. Having been a teacher assistant for several years, while I am sitting there observing I am restless and see lots of things that I could be doing. I also helped the teacher check their Everyday Math workbooks and help the kids who struggled. Time flew by! I love interacting with the kids and can't wait to get to know them. This day there was another parent volunteer who pulled pairs of kids to read in small groups with them out in the hall during reading time. It seemed that she was pulling some of the low readers to give them extra help. What an asset! I discussed my lesson for next week with the teacher and also was able to conduct the assessment interview. I was surprised by how much of her assessment was just informal observations. I look forward to teaching my math lesson next week, but am also nervous to work with a totally new group kids. Wish me luck!

1st day in field

My first day in the field was great! I am in a 1st grade classroom with 21 students. The teacher, Mrs. Martin, said she has had student teachers before and seems willing to help. The classroom looked like a typical traditional 1st grade classroom. A parent volunteer was in the room all morning helping Mrs. Martin with things that needed to be done in the classroom. I think that the parents involvement and willingness to help is fantastic. She wanted us to just observe a typical morning and is going to put Liza and I to work next Wednesday helping the kids. The morning flew by! The kids hardly seemed to notice we were in the classroom. They started their day with an independent phonics sheet and a daily oral language sentence while Mrs. Martin took roll and lunch count. Then the entire class participated in "morning meeting," including calendar, day count, and the weather. Next they did some Everyday Math using the smartboard and a handout from their Everyday math workbook. They did the work together and then independently. The teacher called on different student for answers. After math, they did reading from their reading textbook aloud by taking turns around the room. After each section they discussed what was going on and help a question/answer period and she allowed children to share experiences that related to what they just read. After reading each child had snack they brought from home and a restroom break. During this time, Mrs. Martin a literally only a few minutes to talk to us about her expectations. We exchanged emails in hopes of being to communicate that way since her morning is full with the students. I look forward to seeing Mrs. Martin's teaching style and learn as much as possible from her this semester, as well as, getting the opportunity to work with her students.

Blog 2 Goals

This semester I would like to learn more about creative ways to implement curriculum in classroom lessons. It takes a lot of work and planning to run a classroom and it feels somewhat overwhelming to think about the amount of time that must be devoted to planning and addressing state standards to meet the needs of students. I wish to build my confidence level when it comes to effectively planning my days as a teacher. I am also eager to observe different classroom management techniques. The classroom management techniques implemented in the Montessori classroom I work in are very effective, but I question if they will be as effective in a non-Montessori environment. I love to discuss with different teachers their personal teaching philosophy. Some teachers have a laid back way to their teaching, while others are more rigid. I hope to more closely hone in on my own personal teaching style before being a student teacher next spring.

636 Field Experience II, First Post

I believe it all dates back to the birth of my little sister. As soon as she came along, I saw myself as her caregiver. I can recall being told by my mother that I am not the mother. I always loved young children. I then began babysitting at a very early age and even took the Red Cross babysitter certification course and had my own "business cards" made. I was booked from middle school through high school with babysitting jobs. In high school I was never really sure what I wanted to be when I grew up and still had trouble figuring it out through college. After college I planned on going into social work, but was really put off by my internships and realized that's not where I wanted to be. Becoming a teacher had crossed my mind, but I don't think I ever seriously considered it. I have no idea why. My guess is that I needed to let some time pass, maybe grow up a little more and get to know myself first. During this time I worked in a restaurant, worked on a cruise ship in Hawaii, became a certified personal trainer. When the gym I was managing suddenly closed I was at a turning point in my life. I need to seriously figure out what I wanted to do for the rest of my life. What was to follow was by chance and occurred almost as if it were meant to be. My best friend's mom is a principal so basically just for money I became a substitute teacher at her school. After a month, the district hired me as a teacher assistant in a special education TMP classroom. I loved working so closely with kids on a daily basis. So with this job I realized that I wanted to become a teacher. Special education was not exactaly what I had in mind, so I began working as a lower elementary (6-9 years old) Montessori teacher assistant 2 years ago. I found the ages I wanted to teach! I was not one of those people who always felt destined to be a teacher, but one who found out through the process of elimination and experience.
Over the past couple months, my desire to be an early childhood teacher has only grown. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and anticipate having my own classroom. At work I want to have more control in position and do things "my way," but realize that I am an assistant and I am not working in my own classroom. This is super frustrating to me and I feel like I'm in the passenger seat when I am ready to drive!
I have many friends who are teachers and there are a couple things that worry me about teaching in general. They are as follows: that I will not be able to get a job with all the district cutbacks, that I will not enjoy the grade level that I teach, that I will become burned out writing lesson plans, that my patience will wear down, and that I will not do a a good job. These are my ultimate fears related to the teaching profession.
The things that excite me are as follows: being a role model to students, having my own classroom that I can run as I wish, watching my students grow and learn because of me, having summers off, the feeling of accomplishment and self-worth that I will acquire, the feeling that I am bettering society one child at a time, and the feeling that I am improving a child's life and their chance at a bright future.

Blog Posting Totals

I have submitted 12 original posts and 11 responses to my peer's blogs as of 12/6/09.

Final Posting Response

Am I feeling more prepared to be a teacher? My answer would be absolutely! I feel more prepared than at the beginning of the semester, but I am still overwhelmed with the thought of how much more I need to learn. This semester really opened up my eyes to things that I took advantage of on a daily basis working in the classroom. I now analyze the student's lessons, abilities, interactions, and their questions more critically. I feel as if I am more aware of effective learning strategies. I also feel more confident in my abilities to eventually run a classroom of my own.
Next semester I plan to focus on curriculum, instruction, and assessment. I loved learning how to perform a spelling assessment in literacy and look forward to learning how to perform assessments throughout all subject areas. I think that the scary part of becoming a teacher is wondering what will I be teaching and how will I teach it. That is where my phobia lies. How will I get there? The only honest answer I can give is that I will attend my courses, ask questions when they arise, and hope that everything will fall into place!

"I can't read"

While at work last week, I was allowing a couple of my first graders test out one of my activities I had made for my Math and Science learning center. I gave the two girls the printed directions and the folder containing the materials. Immediately student A replies, speaking of the directions, "I can't read" and passing them to student B. Next student A says, "Well I can't read very good." I was shocked. Student A is a struggling reader and writer, but I had no clue that she would ever say those words! I immediately told that what she said is absolutely not true and that she can read. She gave me a hesitant look. I then place the directions in front of her and told her that she can read this and told her that we would read it together. I was really caught off guard by her words and cannot stand that a child feels this way. I work one-on-one with this student on a daily basis and with this experience, I am even more motivated to help this student build her reading skills.

Go with the flow lesson plan

While teaching my spelling lesson plan to one of my students, it made me realize that just because you prepare step by step procedures they are not set in stone. I was prepared. The child joined me at a table. The step by step procedures immediately went out the window. The student saw the pictures and words I had piled up for a sh and ch digraph word sort and immediately grabbed them and began her sort! I prompted her to say the words and what the picture was of while she sorted, but she took matter into her own hand. I let her guide the lesson! She was doing everything correctly and made no mistakes so I feel this allowed me to " go with the flow." This proves that no matter how much planning is prepared for any lesson or activity, it is highly likely that there will be modifications made by you, the teacher, or the student them self.

Time Managment

I would like to share one of my experiences from this past Friday (the day before Halloween). The teacher I work with was out on this day and I was alone (without a sub). For those of you who are used to traditional classroom, this would seem to not be an issue, but in a Montessori classroom there is a constant flow of children asking questions (more explanation will have to wait for another blog entry!). Since it was the Friday before Halloween, I had a fun day planned with word searches, word scrambles, color by number, crossword puzzles, pumpkin activities, and, finally, a activity involving corn starch and water. Those of you who are in Math and Science know exactly what I am talking about. At the end of the day, after building this super fun activity up all day, I had everything all set up. I stated the rules, grouped the kids, poured a pile of corn starch on the table, and lastly gradually added water to the pile of corn starch. Wow! The kids loved it! I knew this would be messy, but had no idea it would be THIS MESSY! What proved to be the main challenge was my time management for this activity. I allowed the last 40 minutes of the day for this. After allowing them to play and get their hands dirty (literally) it was near impossible to get them to clean up because they were having so much fun. After providing each table with a trashcan and paper towels, I realized that I needed to implement another form of motivation if we were going to get cleaned up and packed up before the bus pulled out of the parking lot. Luckily one of my parent sent in some organic cookies for Halloween. I told the table who cleaned their table and area first would be the first to receive a cookie. Thank goodness for the cookies! I know it was wrong to offer this type of motivation to the children, but if I had not, the kids would have run out of the room white, covered in starch and leaving me with an hours worth of cleaning. Point being, sometimes when you think you have enough time to complete an activity, you don't. Always give yourself extra time. Also, always have a backup activity or plan in case a lesson or activity is completed early.

Teaching a Reading Lesson

I am using the classroom that I work in for my observations. Today I taught a reading lesson to my five first graders and I want to reflect on some of my strengths and weakness that I noticed. A strength that I noticed was how great the brainstorming idea that involved the students discussing things that make them feel happy and sad. The kids were very willing to share and came up with some really great ideas and examples of why someone would feel happy or sad. I believe it really put them in the proper mindset because the book discussed why children were having a bad day and what made them feel better. A second strength I noted was illustrated by the student’s interest in the book itself. They liked the topic and really fought over who got to read first and who got to read for a second time. They illustrated cooperation in the small group and were willing to help the classmates who struggled with reading words.
A weakness I saw is somewhat linked to my second strength. Not all students were able to read more than one page each, which caused some disagreement. I actually allowed the entire group to read the last page simultaneously. They all wanted to read more. Next time I would choose a longer book and a book that is at a higher reading level. Hugs was a bit too easy for all the students involved in this particular lesson. Another weakness I noticed was that while I was teaching my lesson I wish I had placed more emphasis on the cause and the effect. I would have liked to go deeper into explanation of causal relationships and I would have liked to use real life examples, not just examples from the book we had just read. I will certainly take all of these considerations in effect when using this lesson plan in the future.

Case Study 7, Question #3

There are several ways Dalia involves families in the new Library construction project. One of the is by merely sparking the children's interest in the project. This caused the children to reflect and express their interests in the project at home by telling their parents. Another way the families were involved is by sending home permission slips for the field trip and asking for parent volunteers to help her assist her to keep the children safe during the trip. Dalia also sent home a letter to parents letting them know about the new Library construction project. In this letter she explained how she plans to approach the project, she indicates how the study of digging equipment has emerges, and, also, asks for input of their children's interests about construction. Many of the parent talk to Dalia about their child's excitement about the topic and some bring books to share in class. Dalia actively involved the parents in their child's learning and even asked for their input, allowing them to feel included in their child's learning. One parent felt open enough to ask her how they can continue their child's interest at home and provided feedback telling her that their child has shown interest in her brother's trucks at home, when previously did not. Finally, Dalia encouraged parent involvement by inviting them to the library open house on afternoon.

Toddler Observation #2

The other 4 hours of my toddler observation was conducted at The Montessori Community School of Charleston. I observed a primary classroom, which is composed of 3, 4, and 5 year olds. I am quite familiar with the Montessori method, but mostly by working with 1st, 2nd, and 3rd graders. It was really great to be able to see where the children in my classroom are coming from. What fascinated my the most was how the children naturally were drawn to doing their choice of work. With all of the young children, I was under the impression that they would need persistent guidance and supervision, but they all went from doing one work to doing another with minimal delay. They were not distracted by the other students presence, even when some were noisily socializing. They reminded and corrected their classmates in what they needed to be doing. It is so cool to see how the classroom seems to run itself with children so young!

Toddler Observation #1

For 4 of my 8 hours of toddler observations I visited ECDC. I thought that the observation rooms were fantastic! It was great to watch without disturbing/distracting the children. What I found interesting among all of the age groups that I watched was the sense of child independence. The work that they did in their classroom was chosen by each individual student. I am sure that there are group work and activities, but I neglected to witness them. The children seemed very self-sufficient in choosing the things they wanted to do and were very independent. I was some children were reading, while some painted, others were playing instruments, while some were doing puzzles. They each had their little "cliques" of students who followed each other around and worked together. I suppose I was expecting more of a structured, teacher-centered environment.

Case 17, Question 5 Response

First Question 5: Why do you think Cassandra decided to move Cory rather then Brent to another classroom?I think that Cassandra decided to move Cory to another classroom instead of moving his twin brother, Brent, because Brent is the physically aggressive brother. Cassandra is already familiar with Brent's behavior and has been taking notes on the occurrences. I think that she is well-equipped and has a plan of action for how to deal with his behavior problems. If she sent Brent to another class, he may last out even more violently because of the move as well. The classroom that Brent is currently in is most likely already used to his behavior and if he were moved into another classroom he may cause a massive disruption in the already established, new classroom.
Second Question 5: Considering the later outcome for the twins, do you believe the decision to move Brent out of Cassandra's classroom was best for him in the long-run or not? I do not think that it made a difference that Brent was moved out of Cassandra's classroom after all. I think that when the early intervention specialist observed the boys, whose ever class they were in, they would have noticed a need for intervention with both of them. The end result benefited both boys regardless of whose classroom they were in before they were taken to the school for children with special needs.

Case 5, Question 2 Response

This case study discusses how the classroom intern, Helen, goes about getting 2 year olds to put rain boots on their feet. Question 2: What strategies did Helen use to gain cooperation from the children? Were they effective? Why or why not? Helen goes down to the child's level by sitting on the floor to gain cooperation. She also engages each child by singing a song with each one while she puts the boots on their feet. The children seem to love it because Helen has made a game out of putting their boots on. I think that Helen's tactics were effective. The only glitch was when Aubrey was initially asked to come put her boots on. She ignored Helen and Helen responded to her lack of response by telling her to "put the baby where she is safe and warm." Aubry lost her turn to put boots on which caused her to not get the color boots she wanted, resulting in a temper tantrum. I think that Aubry's tantrum will help her realize that next time she chooses to ignore the intern, she may not get the boots that she wants and come with initially asked.

CFDC Observation

Today I observed 3 year olds at CFDC. When I first arrived the students were very happy to see me and wanted to know my name. They finished eating their snack, then went to circle for story time. It was interesting to watch the teacher try to keep them each on their name (piece of tape on the floor) while trying to read the book. The students kept blurting out of turn while she was reading and moving all over the carpet. At times they seemed more interested in me than the story. When they watched me act out the story they were reading along with the teacher, they became more involved. They were so tiny (I'm used to working with 1st through 3rd graders). After reading a story in circle, we went outside for recess where they joined the 4th grade class. They wanted to interact with "the new lady" and kept asking to show me things or wanted to follow me around. There were a couple kids in particular that were fascinated with my presence, asking my name, asking if I was a teacher, etc... All of the students were very friendly.
The biggest challenges that I saw were trying to keep them still, in line, walking in a line, and to keep them from speaking out of turn. It was a bit chaotic, even with only 13 students present today (there are 16 total). The teacher tried to keep them engaged and kept reminding them of the rules: sit ready, mouth quiet, take turns, etc... The hard part seemed to not become overwhelmed with all of the students wanting to talk, run around, the lack of sharing, the fighting, and all needing to use the restroom at the same time. I think that it would take several weeks to just become accustomed to all of the movement and noise with such a young age group. I was worn out just from watching the teacher and assistant keep up with them and remain calm and collected. After they came inside, they went back to circle, washed their hands, and got ready for lunch, which they served family style. It was neat to watch the kids serve themselves with minimal assistance. They were all sad when I said my goodbyes and I felt bad for leaving! Overall it was a great observation experience, especially I have never had an experience with 3 year olds in a classroom setting. I don't know if teaching 3 year olds is for me, but I am glad to have the experience in order for me to know this.

Why I chose early childhood education...

I chose early childhood education because my experiences with children throughout my life has been very full-filling and rewarding. It began while babysitting as a young teenager. I knew for certain after becoming a teacher assistant for Charleston County several years ago that I wanted to teach the "little ones." I am hoping to gain an overall understanding of what life will be like and what to expect when running my own classroom one day. I am eager to learn different teaching techniques, as well as, classroom management techniques.