Monday, April 25, 2016

Blog 22: Independent Component 2


IC 2 is complete! :D

LITERAL
(a) I, Kimberly Ramos, affirm that I completed my independent component which represents 44 hours of work.


(b) The teacher I had been working with, Bonnie, helped me a lot throughout my IC, along with articles 
"Gross Motor Development"  and "Fine Motor Development" by Renee Ambrovitz. These articles helped me expand by knowledge on motor development by providing specific details and examples. 

(c) IC 2 hours log updated. 


(d) For my IC 2, I volunteered in a transitional kindergarten classroom. This new, implemented grade is meant to help prepare kids with the proper skills needed for kindergarten, which is perfect in regards to my EQ. In the time I spent volunteering, a big part was mainly office work, so copying, laminating, cutting, etc. That was mainly after class was dismissed. After school I would also help clean and organize the classroom. When class was in session, I would mainly observe, hand out materials, and talk to/help students around the classroom. 

  
(e) My component demonstrates 30 hours of work because I volunteered for that amount of time and more. In the time that I volunteered, I got a taste of what it's like to play teacher and see how students are learning throughout the year. I found my component to be extremely significant, more than the first component. For my first, I worked in a preschool classroom, which only gave me background information. For this one, I worked in a TK classroom, which helps me figure out the most important skills needed for kindergarten. I was able to talk to other teachers and visit their classrooms to get a feel of different teaching/learning styles. Due to liability issues, for my evidence, I was not able to get any photos of the students, so I did what I could. I got a picture of the classroom, an activity the students did, and some work they completed. 




The classroom after a long time of cleaning. Kids are really messy.



We read Green Eggs and Ham during reading time and followed up with a writing assignment of the book.



Another writing assignment the kids worked on 


This is a sight word concentration game that Bonnie had the students play.


(f) My EQ is what is the most important skill a preschool teacher can teach her students to best prepare them for kindergarten. For my IC 2, that's exactly what the teacher's focused on. Preparing their students for kindergarten. Watching what they teach and how kids respond to it, it's kind of difficult to see what exactly their teaching. From the outside, it doesn't seem like they're teaching anything. It looks like they are just handing kids some art materials and seeing what they do from there or singing a song with them to enjoy themselves. I had to ask the teacher what exactly they were learning in order to see more into it. When I was answered with motor skills, I could see how handing them that crayon or paint brush helped with their grip and helped move and control the small muscles in their hand. When I was answered with number skills I could see how that game of bingo helped them with recognizing numbers and understanding their significance. There was a lot I couldn't see from just observing, so I did what I had to do and reflect from there. 

Thursday, April 14, 2016

Blog 21 - Interview 4 Reflection


1. What is the most important thing I learned from the interview?

The stress of social skills. I knew they were important to a child's kindergarten education, but I never realized how important it actually is. It's a teacher's number one priority skill to teach. Because of the recent emphasis on group work, children need this skill for not only kindergarten, but future grades too.
   
2. How will what I learned affect my final lesson?


I'll have a lot more to talk about that will help me in regards to my EQ. I would say I learned the most from this interview. Even with things I thought I knew about, there was so much more about them. Because of the greater knowledge I now have, I think it will help me on my final presentation with not only my time, but sounding like more of an expert in my topic. 

Transcript: https://docs.google.com/document/d/14Cp1MQ-kQXrt5-TTDyR3qqKJSZCICYt8DUZD1rFVcaw/edit?usp=sharing

Sound: https://soundcloud.com/kimramos56/interview-4