I went to class during reading study/reading period. It was
perfect because I had a chance to work both in a small group and with most of
the students one on one. So first I worked with a small group. Mrs. M divided
the students up by reading level and we work with them to see what they do and
do not understand. I first had them read a little book (Extreme USA) by
themselves and then I asked them questions about it. They were able to answer
some of the questions. Then we went through and read it together. Once we were
finished, they were able to answer all of the questions that I had for them. It
was interesting to see that most of the students in this group did better after
reading it out loud then they did just seeing the words in their head.
Next I worked with the students one
on one with reading. They were all at really different levels. I came in half
way through Ammon’s book, and I asked him to summarize what he read (in his
head) and he did a great job. When he started reading out loud, he did great as
well, but he seemed to retain information either way. There were other kids
that you could tell liked to hear it out loud. One of the boys in the class was
whispering words during quiet reading time, he definitely knew how he learned
best! When I went and read with him, he even told me he likes to read out loud
better because it helps him understand! All these different learning styles are
true!!
Mrs. Mazeika has a lot of duties
that she needs to do. There are the obvious duties that most elementary
teachers have, and then she has one that is just for her. There are some meetings
for all the teachers that they attend to make sure that they are doing all that
they are supposed to as a school and give some ideas about teaching. There are
also parent teacher meetings that they have to prepare for, knowing what to say
about each child. She also has to grade papers, put grades in the computer, prepare
lesson plans for everyday, there is endless things to do! Mrs. Mazeika is also
in charge of the new honor school system. She will meet with the children in
fourth grade that want to participate. She has to monitor their progress and
make sure that they are on track with what they want to accomplish.
