Laws Affecting My Service Learning Classroom:
One thing that is a very common things to see in our school is English learners. We have many different children from many different backgrounds whose parents don't speak English at home. We provide special programs like National Geographic and ELL programs from our instructional assistants to students who are still picking it up. They start getting pulled as early as preschool. I know this not only because of observing in Mrs. Wilcox's classroom but also because I work there and help to provide some of the intervention programs. This help that we provide is made mandatory by the civil rights act of 1964. We cannot discriminate against, and let these children fall behind because they are from a different place or were raised in a different environment and/or culture. Lau vs. Nichols also helped to affirm that students needed to be assisted so that they could participate meaningfully in school programs.
I am seeing children of different race all in the same classroom because of Brown vs. Board. For instance one of the children I work with, Jamarri is black and I never would have gotten the chance to help him with his reading and math if he wasn't able to attend the same school as the other children in our school. Sputnick has influenced even Mrs. Wilcox's kindergarteners in the way that they have even started learning very basic levels of science to start building their interest in it now. For example: they have learned about the sunflower and how it grows, they have learned about nutrition and what is good and bad for their tummies and bodies, and they have learned about different places and their climates and ecosystems. Because we don't want to fall behind as a result of the launching of Sputnick in 1957, beginners to education are learning the ropes of science to give them a head start. Maybe one of these kids will be the future of our space programs because we are getting them excited about these concepts now.
Monday, October 23, 2017
Monday, October 2, 2017
Blog Entry #4
Examples of engaging learners:
First example: Mrs. Wilcox engages her students through art activities. For instance, when they were learning about the number 0 she named it zero the hero and had each of them make their own hero based around a 0. Then she had each student fly their zero and tell about its super powers. She does similar activities with other letters and numbers by giving the kids creative license to draw around the numbers based on what they think it looks like. She described how she thought the number 5 looked like a butler with a big belly and drew on it to make it look like that. Not only did the kids get practice writing the numbers but then by creating their own pictures around it they also created memory devices unique to themselves.
Second example: Mrs. Wilcox also engages her students through dancing and singing. She has many choreographed songs for numbers and letters. This makes it fun for the kids to do actions to a song when they are learning the sounds the letters make. For example, slithering like a snake and wiggling their bodies while they make the s sound.
Last example: Mrs. Wilcox engages her students through prompting them to use their 5 senses. First she did and activity where she gave them many different things to smell, touch, taste, hear, and see. Next, she read a book to them about many different flowers and how to grow them. She also let them tell her how we know what flowers are like using our 5 senses. Then she had them describe a sunflower that she has growing in her windowsill and make it out of random materials on her back table. Each student's flower was unique and walking around to each student to have them tell you how their flower is like a real sunflower was very fun.
One lesson I thought could have been more engaging was today's lesson about different parts of the world. She told them about the different places and showed them pictures on the smart board but I noticed many kids becoming disinterested. One way it could have been more engaging was maybe to have them try simple moves from cultural dances in the areas she was talking about. Or she could have had them draw themselves but as if they lived in the pictures she was showing. This would get them moving or demonstrate what they learned about the different places by how they draw their pictures, which engages their creative side.
First example: Mrs. Wilcox engages her students through art activities. For instance, when they were learning about the number 0 she named it zero the hero and had each of them make their own hero based around a 0. Then she had each student fly their zero and tell about its super powers. She does similar activities with other letters and numbers by giving the kids creative license to draw around the numbers based on what they think it looks like. She described how she thought the number 5 looked like a butler with a big belly and drew on it to make it look like that. Not only did the kids get practice writing the numbers but then by creating their own pictures around it they also created memory devices unique to themselves.
Second example: Mrs. Wilcox also engages her students through dancing and singing. She has many choreographed songs for numbers and letters. This makes it fun for the kids to do actions to a song when they are learning the sounds the letters make. For example, slithering like a snake and wiggling their bodies while they make the s sound.
Last example: Mrs. Wilcox engages her students through prompting them to use their 5 senses. First she did and activity where she gave them many different things to smell, touch, taste, hear, and see. Next, she read a book to them about many different flowers and how to grow them. She also let them tell her how we know what flowers are like using our 5 senses. Then she had them describe a sunflower that she has growing in her windowsill and make it out of random materials on her back table. Each student's flower was unique and walking around to each student to have them tell you how their flower is like a real sunflower was very fun.
One lesson I thought could have been more engaging was today's lesson about different parts of the world. She told them about the different places and showed them pictures on the smart board but I noticed many kids becoming disinterested. One way it could have been more engaging was maybe to have them try simple moves from cultural dances in the areas she was talking about. Or she could have had them draw themselves but as if they lived in the pictures she was showing. This would get them moving or demonstrate what they learned about the different places by how they draw their pictures, which engages their creative side.
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