10th day- March 4, 2014

Yesterday, I had flashcards for the students to practice their letter sounds, but first we said the alphabet and the sound it makes as a group. The flashcards had a letter on each card and a picture. I had the students say the letter, the letter sound and the name of the picture. We did about 5 rounds. The kids had fun with the flash cards but a little too much fun. They were off task because they were playing with cards or making funny sounds with the letter sounds. After 5 rounds, I pointed to objects around the classroom and asked what it was, the sound it makes, and the letter it starts with. 

Time logged in for session: 1 hour

Total time logged in: 10.5 hours 

9th Day- March 3, 2014

On March 3, 2014, I had a sentence starter that was "We can go _____." My example was "We can go to the beach." I asked the students if "we" meant for only one person or two or more people. Their answer was two or more. It's crazy how smart these kindergartners are. Anyways, I had the students think what they wanted to complete their sentence with. After they figured it out, they shared it aloud and began to write it on their paper. They wanted help on how to spell the places, but I had them sound it out, so they are familiar with letter sounds. A lot of them were close on the spelling! After they completed the sentence, they drew a picture corresponding with it. The students are very artistic. I've learned that I need to give the students more time on sounding out the word because I get impaitent and feel tempted to tell them how to spell the word. 

Time logged in for session: 1 hour

Total time logged in: 9.5 hours 

8th Day- February 25, 2014

On Tuesday, February 25, 2014, I shawdowed on another kindergarden teacher who was teaching addition. We watched several videos on YouTube about addition. They were catchy rap songs that kept the students engaged. We watched each video 3-4x so the students understood the concept. When the video said "and they're group together", the students made their hands into a "plus sign". And when the video would say numbers, the students would put up their fingers corresponding to the number. After, I passed out whiteboards to the students, so we can do problems together. For example, the teacher said lets do 4+2=__. Under the numbers, the students would put circles corresponding to the number. And when they want to figure out the answer, they circle the little circles with a big one. Then they counted the little circles. It was cute seeing the students do mathematics because it's a bit difficult than learning letters. I'm glad I learned how to teach them addition, I can't wait to teach an addition lesson. 

Time logged in for session: 1.5 hours 

Total time logged in: 8.5 hours 

7th Day- February 19, 2014

On Thursday, February 19, 2014, I thought I'd do something different with the children instead of using flash cards and asking them what the letter is. I had the students each choose a book, so a total of 5 books. I read each book aloud but ask questions between each page. For example, I'd ask them to make predictions, tell me their favorite type of food( it corresponded with the book), or I had them try to sound out some words on the page, it was a little difficult, but nice to know where they were.  I felt like the students enjoyed this because I played several characters as I read and they got to do a new activity. I really enjoy working with the students. It's an amazing opportunity. 

Time logged in for session: 1hr

Total time logged in: 7hrs 

6th Day- February 18, 2014

Yesterday, on February 18, 2014, I worked with the children on their letter sounds. First, I got a pointer stick and began to point at the alphabet on the walls. I had the students say the letter and the sound the letter makes. Some of the children participated but others fooled around with each other which made me mad because I'm trying to help the students know their letter sounds. After that, I got 26 bean bags that had a letter on each on them. I spreaded out the bags, faced down on the carpet. The children sat in a "U" shape around the bag. Each one of chose a bean bag and said the letter, the sound it makes and a word that starts with the letter. A lot of them were clueless on the letter sound of "Q", "U", "E", "W", and "X". So I gave them a couple of tries and helped them out. Also, I had the students help as well. The students did excellent today, but I wished they were more focused in the beginning. 

Time logged in for session: 1hr

Total time logged in: 6hrs 

5th day- February 6, 2014

Today on February 6, 2014, I worked with the children that needed help with letter recognition. I used 26 bean bags that had a letter on each bean bag. I flipped the bags over so they looked like plain bags and separated them into rows, sort of like a deck of cards. I went around in a circle and had the student choose a bag, say the letter, the sound of the letter and if they can, name an object with that letter. It was really fun. We went around 5 times. Only one girl got all 5 points! After playing the game, I had the students tell me the alphabet. Then we said the alphabet backwards. I've noticed improvements within the students. They are doing very well and I'm so proud of them. 

Time logged in for session: 1hr

Total time logged in: 5hrs 

4th Day

On Friday January 31, 2014, I worked with the higher level skilled children. I had the 6 students pick 3 words from the word wall: I, see, we, can, like, me. There were more words, but I don't remember them off the top of my head. The students wrote the 3 words on the back of their paper then I had them choose two words from their choice to use in a sentence. After, I had them brainstorm on the back of their paper then had them share it aloud. When they knew what they were going to write, they turned their paper over and began to write. For example, I chose "I" and "see" and my sentence was "I see the students play." and drew a picture of me watching the students play. The students did very well on this assignment. Each of their sentences were different. If they didn't know how to spell a word, I had them sound out the word so they get familiar with the letter sounds. I had them draw a picture that represents their sentence. Their pictures had a lot of colors and details:) I enjoy working with children and watching them improve.

Time logged in for this session: 1 hr

Total Time logged: 4 hr