This class was taken with Coila King.  Coila was filled with so much wonderful information.  I wished that I had recorded her classes.  We learned about part/whole relationships.  We learned how to do group work in several different ways.  I learned about different ways to do centers.  Some of the centers were so simple yet powerful for a student.  We did literacy profiles on a student we worked with during our practicum work.  Coila taught us about workshops and how to set them up so that they flow well.  Everyday was always filled with so much great information.  She also gave us great resources and taught us how to create our own resource file.

Practicum

For our practicum work we were fortunate enough to have a class arranged for us to work in at Ladera Elementary.  I worked in Caroline Velasquez's Kindergarten class.  Mrs. Velasquez had great classroom management.  I observed her while doing centers.  Her system worked well for her students.  Once a month we had to teach a lesson in the classroom. 

Sample Piece of Work

Lesson Plan Title: Listening Lesson

Objectives: The purpose for this lesson is to teach the children how to follow directions by listening. The students will learn that by listening to specific directions they will be able to make a sandwich in the order given, and complete a worksheet with "happy face" results. Learning to listen to directions not only helps the children complete their work properly but it is a good life skill for them to learn. Children will want to learn to listen to directions to friend’s houses, how to follow a recipe, how to build things, and so much more. For this lesson the children will need to know their colors and shapes. The skills that the children will need to learn to master are following directions in order and listening to what the directions are asking. The students will realize the importance of following directions in order by the outcome of their completed projects. Some students may not grasp the importance of following directions in order or by what is being asked. If this should occur a small group will be formed to review and make other connections to the importance of following directions.

Materials: Let’s Make a Sandwich by Mary Hill; Cooking with the Cat by Dr. Seuss; Bread, turkey, mayonaisse, lettuce, cheese and plastic knives (only to be used by teachers); crayons

Procedures: We will start off with a game of "Simon Says." This will get the children warmed up for some good listening. This should take about 10 to 15 minutes. We will then have a discussion about the game and ask the children questions about what we did in the game. After our discussion about the game we will read the book Let’s Make a Sandwich by Mary Hill. We will make connections to food, helping their parents in the kitchen, and many other connections. We then plan on asking the children to remember what order the sandwich was made in. We will write the order on the board and ask for a volunteer of two to demonstrate by making the sandwich in the order that the children said. We will then compare their way to the book’s way. Next, we will break the children into small groups of four or five to allow them to make their own sandwich at their tables. We will walk around the room to see if anyone needs help. Once the sandwich is completed we will check the order and if it is correct we will slice the sandwich for the students to share. For those students who did not complete the sandwich in proper order one of us will work with those students to review the sandwich order. After the students have enjoyed their sandwiches we will provide them with a fun coloring activity in which they must follow directions to find a hidden picture (a happy face). This will be an individual project.

Assessment: We will assess the children to see if they followed directions. The first assessment will be after we read the story Let’s Make a Sandwich, when we write down the order of the sandwich that was made in the book. This will be done as a whole group. Our next assessment will be when the children split into small groups and make their sandwich at their table. The students will learn that by following these directions they will get a wonderful outcome. Our last assessment will be the coloring activity which will be done individually. With that activity the students will learn that if they followed directions they will get a happy face in the end. We will document our successes and fall backs in a short reflection at the end of our lesson. If time permits we will read another story Cooking with the Cat by Dr. Suess. This is a funny and crazy story in which the cat tries to cook.