I can't believe I haven't posted for an entire week. I've certainly had lots of ideas during that time but keep putting homework ahead of this. So I'm just going to ramble for a few minutes before I head to bed.
Today I made Mexican donuts with the girls. Bunuelos, they were called. J&A had read a story in their reader last week about a Mexican birthday party. Bunuelos were mentioned. None of us had heard of them and I figured most of the other kids hadn't either. Jordan's snack day is tomorrow so we made some for her to take. They're not bad. Very much like fry bread, just with sugar and cinnamon on top. Okay, so kind of like sopapillas. But they were so much like fry bread - and I had a lot of leftover oil - that I decided to make Indian tacos for supper. I called and got mom's recipe, of course. They were so easy. I don't know why I haven't made them more often. Ashley and Jordan really liked them too, although they just ate the bread and then the toppings as separate piles on their plates. Hailey said, "Yum!" when she took her first bite and exclaimed about how much she liked them. Yet, she threw most of it away. Oh well, two out of three is good enough for it to be made again in this family!
I've had a few teaching experiences that I really wanted to write about, but again, didn't have time. A few weeks ago I had to do a shared reading experience with a preschool or kindergarten classroom. I chose Hailey's and asked the teacher if I could just hang out all day. It was Valentine's Day and I would already be coming for the party anyway. It ended up that Mrs. Bradshaw had to be gone that day and I hung out with a substitute. But she was a licensed substitute and knew what she was doing. I really enjoyed that day but came home so tired! I also came home with the realization that there is little time to do any teaching in school! We were constantly lining up to go somewhere or waiting on everyone to get back from the bathroom. Here was our schedule:
8:15 - school starts and they have a coloring sheet they're working on.
8:30 - line up for gym. The teachers have to do PE themselves at Fletcher as a cost saving measure. However, I couldn't believe it when we got there and a few minutes later the other pre-K arrived -without the teacher. The substitute was in charge of PE! She has substituted multiple times and is there almost every day so she jumped right in and knew where everything was. Would they have done that do a new substitute though? I could have improvised, but still. I was a little in shock on that one.
9:15 - line up to return to class. Lining up close to 40 pre-K children and getting coats all matched up is not easy. Then they all have to go to the bathroom once you get in the main building.
9:30ish - Finishing up coloring sheet and shown an S sheet. I think we might have got to read a book about S sounds here. Within minutes, half the class leaves to go to computing class. The other half gets to do centers once they are done with their coloring sheet. Some work on the S sheet but they don't have to. The centers were all just playing. At some point, the rest of the class returned and had a few minutes of play too. Within minutes, it's time to line up again. We spend a good fifteen minutes as they are told to go by table and wash their hands before we head to the lunchroom.
10:30 - head to eat lunch. They have about 20 minutes to go through the line and eat.
10:50 - Line up for recess while the first and second graders begin coming into the lunchroom.
11:10 - Back in line and everyone heads to the restroom, again.Oh, and more matching up of coats.
11:30 - 12:30 - This is basically the only real time of instruction! This is where I did my shared reading program with them and then the substitute did a science experiment with jello. One child is still finishing up her S worksheet during these activities.
12:30pm - Bathroom break again and lay down for nap.
1:30 pm - Up from nap (and yes, quite a few of them actually slept and the others were actually quiet during this entire time. It was amazing!) She had them draw on their butcher paper tablecloths for a little bit and/or play in centers as she and I started getting ready for the Valentine's Party.
1:45 pm - Valentine's Party where me, a grandparent, and possibly one other parent were the only ones who came.
2:10 pm - Clean up and out for second recess. I left for Jordan and Ashley's party at this time, but I know that they spend a little while outside and then they would have spent time lining up and getting ready to go since they're out at 2:50.
So there was maybe a total of about two hours of actual teaching time! I don't know how they learn anything in school! It made me realize that the preschool that has only 2 1/2 hours of time, is really getting the same amount as full day pre-K. When I observed in Lawton, I felt that she had so much more concentrated time of learning. They had one bathroom break and it was only for those who needed to go. They still did centers - but most of those were designed to reinforce what they were learning, and they also did snack and one recess which was right before they left. They had their backpacks all ready to go so after recess they walked in, picked up their backpack and lined up.
In my primary reading class this morning, the instructor mentioned that only 50% of your time in school is actually spent teaching so you have to learn tricks that maximize time. Her example was using cafeteria trays for letter sorting activities. They stack quickly and are up quickly when the activity is done. Her emphasis was on the cleaning up quickly aspect of it. I knew exactly what she was talking about!
So, I ended up not rambling so much on all of the topics I wanted to cover, but I did get out that one about time and teaching. That's been bottled up for two weeks now. Whew! I feel cleansed having finally written about that. I can go to bed now!
Today I made Mexican donuts with the girls. Bunuelos, they were called. J&A had read a story in their reader last week about a Mexican birthday party. Bunuelos were mentioned. None of us had heard of them and I figured most of the other kids hadn't either. Jordan's snack day is tomorrow so we made some for her to take. They're not bad. Very much like fry bread, just with sugar and cinnamon on top. Okay, so kind of like sopapillas. But they were so much like fry bread - and I had a lot of leftover oil - that I decided to make Indian tacos for supper. I called and got mom's recipe, of course. They were so easy. I don't know why I haven't made them more often. Ashley and Jordan really liked them too, although they just ate the bread and then the toppings as separate piles on their plates. Hailey said, "Yum!" when she took her first bite and exclaimed about how much she liked them. Yet, she threw most of it away. Oh well, two out of three is good enough for it to be made again in this family!
I've had a few teaching experiences that I really wanted to write about, but again, didn't have time. A few weeks ago I had to do a shared reading experience with a preschool or kindergarten classroom. I chose Hailey's and asked the teacher if I could just hang out all day. It was Valentine's Day and I would already be coming for the party anyway. It ended up that Mrs. Bradshaw had to be gone that day and I hung out with a substitute. But she was a licensed substitute and knew what she was doing. I really enjoyed that day but came home so tired! I also came home with the realization that there is little time to do any teaching in school! We were constantly lining up to go somewhere or waiting on everyone to get back from the bathroom. Here was our schedule:
8:15 - school starts and they have a coloring sheet they're working on.
8:30 - line up for gym. The teachers have to do PE themselves at Fletcher as a cost saving measure. However, I couldn't believe it when we got there and a few minutes later the other pre-K arrived -without the teacher. The substitute was in charge of PE! She has substituted multiple times and is there almost every day so she jumped right in and knew where everything was. Would they have done that do a new substitute though? I could have improvised, but still. I was a little in shock on that one.
9:15 - line up to return to class. Lining up close to 40 pre-K children and getting coats all matched up is not easy. Then they all have to go to the bathroom once you get in the main building.
9:30ish - Finishing up coloring sheet and shown an S sheet. I think we might have got to read a book about S sounds here. Within minutes, half the class leaves to go to computing class. The other half gets to do centers once they are done with their coloring sheet. Some work on the S sheet but they don't have to. The centers were all just playing. At some point, the rest of the class returned and had a few minutes of play too. Within minutes, it's time to line up again. We spend a good fifteen minutes as they are told to go by table and wash their hands before we head to the lunchroom.
10:30 - head to eat lunch. They have about 20 minutes to go through the line and eat.
10:50 - Line up for recess while the first and second graders begin coming into the lunchroom.
11:10 - Back in line and everyone heads to the restroom, again.Oh, and more matching up of coats.
11:30 - 12:30 - This is basically the only real time of instruction! This is where I did my shared reading program with them and then the substitute did a science experiment with jello. One child is still finishing up her S worksheet during these activities.
12:30pm - Bathroom break again and lay down for nap.
1:30 pm - Up from nap (and yes, quite a few of them actually slept and the others were actually quiet during this entire time. It was amazing!) She had them draw on their butcher paper tablecloths for a little bit and/or play in centers as she and I started getting ready for the Valentine's Party.
1:45 pm - Valentine's Party where me, a grandparent, and possibly one other parent were the only ones who came.
2:10 pm - Clean up and out for second recess. I left for Jordan and Ashley's party at this time, but I know that they spend a little while outside and then they would have spent time lining up and getting ready to go since they're out at 2:50.
So there was maybe a total of about two hours of actual teaching time! I don't know how they learn anything in school! It made me realize that the preschool that has only 2 1/2 hours of time, is really getting the same amount as full day pre-K. When I observed in Lawton, I felt that she had so much more concentrated time of learning. They had one bathroom break and it was only for those who needed to go. They still did centers - but most of those were designed to reinforce what they were learning, and they also did snack and one recess which was right before they left. They had their backpacks all ready to go so after recess they walked in, picked up their backpack and lined up.
In my primary reading class this morning, the instructor mentioned that only 50% of your time in school is actually spent teaching so you have to learn tricks that maximize time. Her example was using cafeteria trays for letter sorting activities. They stack quickly and are up quickly when the activity is done. Her emphasis was on the cleaning up quickly aspect of it. I knew exactly what she was talking about!
So, I ended up not rambling so much on all of the topics I wanted to cover, but I did get out that one about time and teaching. That's been bottled up for two weeks now. Whew! I feel cleansed having finally written about that. I can go to bed now!