Science 6, Last Day at Brigham

I taught my last lesson at Brigham last Tuesday. I taught this lesson with three other teachers. We taught it to a group of four kindergarteners, so there was one teacher per student. We taught these students an engineering lesson. Our goal was for the students to grasp the concept that when they are building tall buildings, they need to have a wide, sturdy base in order for the tower to stand tall.

The standard this lesson was focused around was NGSS Standard K-2-ETS 1-2. Develop a simple, sketch, drawing, or physical model to illustrate how the shape of an object helps it function as needed to solve a given problem. To meet this standard, we had the students build towers using straws and pipe cleaners. We started off by showing the students pictures of large towers and asking them what the towers had in common. It took some prompting from us teachers, but eventually the students recognized that all the towers had a wider bottom than top. Then the students were able to make their own towers. We gave each student 15 pipe cleaners and 10 straws. Some of the pipe cleaners were cut in half so they could be used as supports. Then each teacher paired with a student since there were equal amounts of teachers and students.

While the students were building, they often forgot that the goal was to make sure that the tower stood on its own. For example, I was holding up my student’s tower for her as she was building it, but when I let go, it fell down. Then we worked together to strategize how to make it stand up on its own. We looked at the pictures again to see what those towers had that our tower was missing. Eventually the student I was working with recognized that she needed to give her tower a stronger base. She added supports to the base to help the tower stand. One boy did not understand the idea of the supports. It appeared that he was trying to make his tower as long as he could, but it did not stand at all. This could be due to the fact that he is an ELL student, so he might not have completely understood what the word tall meant verses the word long. When we noticed him making a long tower, one of the teachers should have explained the word tall again to him.

We made the tower building activity into a competition for the students.  At the end, they were all excited to compare each other’s towers. The girl who I was working with won the competition because her tower had the best base. I did not move much towards my original goal during this lesson, but I was able to ask some students about what language they spoke at home. I asked a girl and a boy what language they spoke at home. Both said they spoke Spanish with their parents. This made me happy that they are continuing to learn English while still practicing their native language at home and in school.  Overall, working with these students at Brigham has been a great experience for me. I wish I could have moved closer towards meeting my goals, but I definitely have made some progress. I look forward to having more experience with English language learners in the future. 

EXCEEDS: I included the NGSS standard that we used in our lesson. I also included a picture of a tower that is similar to one that the students in my group created. 

Science 5, Back in the Preschool Room

This past Thursday, I finally had a chance to go back into the preschool room. I had been in this room the first day we were at Brigham, but I had not been back since. This time when I was in the room, I was not doing any of the teaching, so I had more opportunities to observe the classroom environment. While Brittany and Laine were teaching the preschoolers about sight, I spent time looking around the classroom. One thing I noticed was that there was a poster with all of the letters of the alphabet towards the ceiling at the front of the room, but when I looked at the poster, I was confused by the pictures that corresponded with the letters. For example, under the letter “E” was a star, and under the letter “P” was a fish. At first, I had no idea why this was so backwards because clearly star starts with “s,” not “e,” but then I began to think that maybe the Spanish word for star starts with “e.” When I got home, I looked up the Spanish word for star and found that it is estrella. I also looked up the Spanish word for fish, which is pescado. Now this alphabet poster makes much more sense to me! Along with the alphabet poster, the teacher also had a big book story displayed on an easel that was in Spanish. Another thing I noticed was that there was a calendar and color words in Spanish displayed in the classroom.

 I think this is great that the teacher is incorporating so much of the students’ native language in the room. According to our module for this week (Module 7) including native language makes the teacher more culturally responsive. Being a culturally responsive teacher is important because it shows that the teacher is interested in getting to know each child individually by learning more about his or her culture. It is clear that the preschool teacher does this by how much Spanish she incorporates into the classroom. While I was looking around, I also noticed “About Me” posters. Many of these were written in Spanish as well. This is a way to involve families in the classroom because the student can learn more about his or her family and culture by completing this assignment with his or her parents. The only thing I am still wondering about after being in the preschool classroom is how much Spanish does the teacher speak with the students? Does she do any large group instruction in Spanish? I am wondering this because it appears that there are some students in the room who are not native Spanish speakers. It would have been beneficial for me to ask the preschool teacher about this. This is different than the kindergarten room because all of those students are ELL students who speak Spanish as their first language.

After these past few weeks at Brigham, I am definitely advancing towards my goals of learning how to incorporate Spanish into the classroom. The kindergarten teacher and the preschool teacher both show evidence that they incorporate the students’ native language into their daily instruction. I am also progressing towards my goal of learning more about ELL students’ backgrounds. When I am in the classrooms at Brigham, I enjoy asking the students about different Spanish words, and they love to teach me new words. In addition to learning about ELL students’ back grounds at Brigham, I am also learning more about my students at my PDS placement. I have two students in my classroom who are Indian. One of them celebrates Diwali, which is a holiday I have never heard of. I loved learning more about it from him and other people at my PDS site. Another student is leaving this week to go to India for her brother’s wedding. I am excited to ask her about her trip when she gets back! Learning about the students’ backgrounds shows them that  you really care about who they are as a person. 

EXCEEDS: I went over the word limit. I related my goals to my PDS site. I looked up some Spanish words. 

Science 4, Clinical Lesson Implementation

Today I taught my science lesson in my clinical classroom. When I discussed with my CT what lesson I should teach, she allowed me to pick any lesson from the next two weeks. The science unit for these two weeks focuses on animal and plant parts. I decided to do my lesson on the parts of plants. My CT usually teaches directly from SmartBoard slides. She also includes a video and then has the students do an activity based on the lesson. In my lesson, I taught about a plant’s roots, stem, leaves, and flowers. I accessed the students’ prior knowledge about asking what they already knew about plants. Many of them could name the plant parts we were going to discuss. For this reason, I asked the students what the job of each plant part was before I explained it to see how much they already knew. We also talked about how plant parts are different for plants that live in different habitats. For example, cacti have spine leaves to store water for longer amounts of time. The students have already learned about habitats, so they were able to brainstorm why it was important for plants to have special parts in different habitats. After teaching about the plant parts, we watched a BrainPop Jr. video on these parts. When Annie asked questions about plant parts in the video, I paused the video so the students could turn to their partner and discuss the answer since we had previously went over each part as a whole group. After the students discussed with each other, I used popsicle sticks to call on a pair to share their answer. When the video was over, the students went back to their desk to make a flip book that contained each plant part. Some of their flip books are pictured below.

After reviewing my CT’s feedback with her, she said that I had many activities to promote engagement with the students. I used popsicle sticks to call on them, had them turn and talk to a partner, built on their background knowledge, incorporated drawing into an activity, included a video, and had visuals on my SmartBoard slides. She also said that I had paced the lesson well, although that is something that I could have done better. She said that I used an appropriate volume and watched for students who were misbehaving while I was teaching. Multiple students were talking on the carpet while I was talking, so I gave them reminders of how to act on the carpet when the teacher is talking. In addition, I clapped to gain the students’ attention after their turn and talk during the video. I also made sure to send my CT a copy of my lesson ahead of time and I had all of my materials ready to go, so I was well prepared for the lesson. I had discussed the content of the lesson last week with my CT so she was able to answer any questions I had had. Although majority of the information I taught was stated on the SmartBoard slides, I also was prepared to answer questions about content that I was not planning on teaching for the day. For example, one boy said “I thought all plants were supposed to be pretty.” In this case, I had to explain to him that not all plants are pretty ones with bright colored flowers. I then went on to discuss how a tree is a plant and so is a bush. We talked about how the tree trunk is actually considered to be the tree’s stem. I was happy that I had this background knowledge about the topic so I could confidently answer this student’s question. Multiple times throughout the lesson, I had the students put their thumb up if they agreed or disagreed with a statement. One time I did this was after a pair shared what plant part they discussed during turn and talk. To engage the rest of the class, I had them put their thumb up if they talked about the same things with their partner.

Although there were many strengths to this lesson, there are always improvements that can be made. While I tried my best to manage the students’ behavior on the carpet, I could have done a better job. My CT kept track of how many times I had to remind one student to focus, and she marked down a total of six times! I had no idea I told her this many times while I was teaching. My CT told me that if this happens again when a student is continuously talking, I can tell him or her to clip down on the chart. My CT has told me this before, but I have only had a student clip down once. This student that I continued to remind how to listen during my lesson had already clipped down once for the day, so I did not want to make her clip down again However, I understand that my verbal reminders were not helping her, so clipping down was the next step. Another thing that I would like to work on is the timing of my lesson. My CT said that the timing was good, but I think I had the students spend too much time making their flip books. By the time I told them to clean up, almost everyone was done. I was happy to see that many students had completed it, but now the students were talking because they were done early. When I talked to my CT about this, she said she usually waits until about 90% of the class is finished, and then moves on to the next activity. She also always has an extension activity planned, which usually involves drawing or writing something on the back. I tried to incorporate the same thing into my lesson by telling the students to draw their favorite type of plant on the back of their paper, but that did not take them very much time either. Another thing for me to improve on is making sure that the students are respecting me when I am teaching. I should not have to talk over them, so I need to make sure that they are all focused when I am speaking. My CT pointed out to me that one time while I was clapping to gain the students’ attention, another student was clapping while I was. The students in my class know that they are not supposed to clap until after I clap, so this is something I need to pay more attention to. The final thing I would change about my lesson is actually something one of my students brought to my attention. When the kids were making their flap books, I demonstrated for them to be horizontal, but one student did his vertically. I liked his idea a lot because he was able to show the roots at the bottom of the book, and then progressed to the flower at the top. If I teach this lesson again, I will do it his way instead!

Overall, my CT and I agree that the lesson ran smoothly. The students appeared to be engaged, they participated, and they all completed the activity correctly. They also showed me that they understood the content at the end of the lesson when we reviewed as a class. Almost every student’s hand was raised when I asked questions about each plant part. This made me very happy to see that they understood what I taught! I need to practice some classroom management things this semester because I want to make sure they are respecting and listening to me when I become the full time teacher.

EXCEEDS: I went over the word limit and I included pictures of two of my students' flip books that they made in class today. The top picture is what I demonstrated to the students in class, and the bottom picture is they way that I plan on changing my activity to if I do the lesson again because it creates a better visual for the students. 

Science 3, Recycling Lesson

Last Thursday was my second time in the kindergarten classroom at Brigham. I was an extra teacher in the classroom while Lisa and Amanda gave their lesson on recycling. I took notes on one particular child while they were teaching. This child participated often during the lesson. He went back and forth between shouting out answers and raising his hand. He always gave answers in English, and he was easy to understand. All of the other students gave answers in English as well. When Amanda and Lisa brought up the words recycle, paper, plastic, glass, and aluminum, the students acted as if they had heard majority of these words before, but Lisa and Amanda still explained each one of them. I think the word aluminum was the word that many students were not as familiar with. I like how Lisa and Amanda brought in visuals to show each type of recyclable material. This helped the students understand what the material was if they had not heard of it before. Having the actual materials also helped when the students completed the picture sort because if they did not know what the object was in the picture, I could show them one of the items that were brought in to compare both objects. Having a picture sort instead of a word sort was not only beneficial to the students because they are English language learners, but also because they are in kindergarten. It may have been helpful to have the word that goes along with the picture to expose these students to the English word for the object. In class on Thursday, we discussed how many accommodations we make for ELL students or students with disabilities are things we should be doing anyway in our class, such as pairing a word with a picture or using visuals to help explain concepts.

My original goal was to see how the teacher incorporates Spanish into the classroom. I wish I knew what the lesson would be about ahead of time because I would have liked to learn to say the words plastic, paper, glass, and aluminum in Spanish to help the students with their worksheet. I am still curious on how to translate these words into Spanish, so I decided to look them up. According to Google, the Spanish word for “glass” is “vidrio,” “plastic” is “plastic,” “paper” is “papel,” and “aluminum” is “aluminio.” Now if I ever have to teach a lesson about recycling to ELL students, I will know these words! If I could speak Spanish to the students, it would show that I am trying to learn more about them so I can relate to them. I did not personally talk to the teacher this time in the classroom, but I asked Katie if the teacher is fluent in Spanish. Katie’s PDS placement is at Brigham, so she was able to tell me that the teacher is fluent in Spanish, and she speaks Spanish with the students sometimes. Katie also told me that the teacher reads a lot of books to the students in Spanish. I think this is a good way to introduce new topics to ELL students. If they are first exposed to it in their native language, then hopefully it will make more sense to them when they learn more about it in English.

Next time I am in the kindergarten classroom, I will try to get to know these students better by asking if they speak English or Spanish at home. I also want to talk to the teacher to see if she does anything else to incorporate the students’ native language into her lessons. I am looking forward to being with the preschoolers again. From my past observations, there were students who did not appear to speak much English, so it will be a good experience to work with these students to see what I need to work on to help them better understand what is being taught. 

EXCEEDS: I went over the word limit, and I looked up the Spanish word for vocabulary words that were used in the lesson. 

Science 2, Living and Nonliving Lesson Implementation

This past Thursday, Katie and I gave our lesson about living and nonliving things to the kindergarten class at Brigham. Overall, I think the lesson went well. The kids appeared to be engaged, and by the end of the lesson, they were able to tell us the difference between living and nonliving things. However, it was hard to implement this lesson in this classroom because I had never been in the class before, and I have never met any of the students. I was not able to call on them by using their names, so I just had to point to them to answer questions. I also did not know the attention-getter that the teacher used in the classroom, so I was unsure of how to get the kids' attention. I tried to use an attention-getter while we were outside that I heard the teacher use earlier (1, 2, 3, eyes on me), but the students did not respond well to me when I said it because they did not know me at all. When we divided the class up into groups, I was able to learn my students’ names, but it would have been helpful to know all of the students’ names when we were doing large group activities. I believe that if I had the opportunity to be in the classroom one or two times before giving the lesson, it would have gone much smoother because I would know the students better and I would have a greater understanding of the classroom routines.

Although there are many ways that the lesson could have ran smoother, there were still some strengths to the lesson. When we first introduced the topic of living and nonliving things, many students could not state the difference between the two. After watching the YouTube video, the students were able to recall that living things eat, grow, and breathe. When we took the students outside to look for living and nonliving things, some of them made correct predictions based off of what they learned from the video, but some students made incorrect predictions. This showed us that we needed to go over the characteristics of living things again once we were back in the classroom.

When we got back inside, we went over each of the items that the students found outside. The nonliving things were easy to explain why they were not alive, but it was hard to explain that plants were actually living. This is something we were prepared for, but it was harder to explain than I thought it was going to be. To explain that plants eat, I told the students that plants make their own food, and they get nutrients from the ground. I told them that plants do not eat with a mouth like we do, but they still eat like we do. It was more difficult to explain that plants move.  I often used the example that they grow over time to help explain to the students that they are alive. Overall, it is a difficult concept for the students to grasp that plants are living because they cannot see them eating, taking in air, or moving. If I were to do this lesson again, I would use a squirrel or bird first as an object to determine if it is living or nonliving before trying to explain that plants are living things. To show that an animal is living is simpler for the kids to understand than showing a plant is living. While it was difficult to explain, I think the kids started to understand that plants are living by the end of the lesson because they started to answer “yes” when we asked if grass needs air, food, water, etc. I think our visual chart helped the kids determine if something was living or nonliving after seeing “yes” or “no” written across each row. I also think it was helpful to use objects that the students picked because they were more engaged when we investigated the object they chose. For example, when we determined if the play ground equipment was living or nonliving, one boy shouted out “that’s mine!” to tell us that he picked that object. To assess the students throughout the lesson, we often used “thumbs up if you agree.”

As I was implementing this lesson, I also tried to make more progress towards reaching my goal for this semester. I think actually being the teacher in the classroom helped with this a lot because I was interacting with many of the students. I was able to get a better understanding of things I need to work on when I am teaching English language learners. When I first walked into the classroom, I observed that everything was written in English as well as Spanish. I think this is very beneficial for the ELL students because it allows them to interpret the word in their native language as well as see the English word. It also appeared that most of the students in the class speak Spanish. Some of them said things in Spanish while I was there. For example, one student said something in Spanish, and another boy interpreted it for me because he assumed that I did not know Spanish. Although majority of the students in the kindergarten room speak Spanish, it appeared from our lesson that they speak English as well. I did not notice anyone who appeared clueless when we were explaining directions. Everyone in my group spoke clear English. However, there was one girl in Lisa’s group who did not speak at all. I do not know if this is because she cannot speak English or if she was just shy. From class we have learned how important parent communication is, so I would like to ask the teacher how she communicates with parents. I am sure that she probably sends home notes in English as well as Spanish. I would also like to know if the teacher speaks any Spanish with the students or how much Spanish she incorporates into her lessons. I think it will be easier to ask the teacher about these things when I am not the one who is teaching a lesson. I am looking forward to being in the kindergarten classroom more often so I can get to know these students better. I hope to know all of their names within one or two more times being in the classroom so I can communicate with them more effectively.

Living and Nonliving Online Games for Kids:

http://www.sciencekids.co.nz/gamesactivities/plantsanimals.html

http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/scienceclips/ages/5_6/ourselves.shtml

EXCEEDS: I went over the word limit, I included a picture of an anchor chart that is very similar to the one we used, and I included some interactive online games for kids about living and nonliving things. 

Science 1, First Day at Brigham

The goals that I want to accomplish this semester in the Brigham classrooms are to learn how to incorporate English language learners' native languages into the classroom as well as learn about these students' backgrounds and how they are different from mine. My first day in the preschool room was not what I was expecting it to be. I was surprised to see that some students could not communicate at all in English. From my observations, it appears that there are two students who do not speak any English, and one or two other students who may speak Spanish as their native language. When we played our get to know you game, one boy had to translate for another boy who did not speak any English. Some of the students who did not speak English had a hard time following directions because I do not think they understood everything we were saying. I did not know how to go about this situation because I do not know how to effectively communicate with these students. I do not want to change the goals that I have already set, but after being in the classroom for one day, I realized that I also need to learn how to better communicate with these students who do not speak English at all. Kira has taught us a lot about using sign language, so I plan on incorporating ASL into my future classroom to help communication barriers. When the teacher in the classroom saw that the student did not understand our instructions, she told him “listen” in English, and he started to listen to us again. This made me wonder if was not listening because he could not understand us or if he just did not want to pay attention to us.  

As for the goals that I originally set, I did not see any examples of the teacher incorporating the students’ native languages into the classroom. This could be because we were the only ones teaching at the time. Next time I am in the preschool room, I want to look around the room to see if the teacher has labeled objects in the classroom in more than just English. This is something I plan on doing in my future classroom. We have learned through the modules that there are many other languages spoken in our country than just English and Spanish, so I want to send out a survey to the parents at the beginning of the year to ask if their child speaks another language and what that language is. This way I can incorporate these languages into the classroom. In addition to just observing the classroom environment, I also want to ask the teachers in both the kindergarten and preschool rooms if they do anything to incorporate their student’s native languages. I was not able to learn much about these students’ backgrounds while I was in the classroom for the first time. I could not understand some of the preschoolers when I talked to them, and some of them did not talk at all or were very quiet. An example of this was when we asked each student to explain his or her scientist. Many of the students shared about their scientists, but it was hard to understand what they were talking about. I hope that I will be able to learn more about the kindergartener’s backgrounds from having conversations with them. I would love to find out if these students speak English at home or just their native language. I would also like to find out if their parents can speak English. This information will be especially helpful when I have my own classroom so I can effectively communicate with my students’ parents. For example, if a student’s parents only spoke Spanish at home, I would have to translate all of the papers that got sent home with the student into Spanish so the student’s parents could read it.

In my clinical classroom, we have two students that get pulled out of the classroom for ELL services. To me, both of these students speak clear English. I can understand them very well, and I believe they will not be getting pulled out much longer. From what I have seen, my CT does not do much to incorporate their languages into the classroom. I had the opportunity to meet both students’ parents on Curriculum Night at the school, so I know that they do speak English. However, I am not sure what language they speak at home. I would like to talk to my CT about this to see if she does anything to differentiate instruction for her ELL students. I am excited to learn more about the English language learners in my clinical classroom as well as at Brigham!

Exceeds: I went over the word limit and I included information about the ELL students in my clinical classroom. 

My Science Autobiography

My name is Kristeen Ann Peo, but I go by Kristie. I was born in Chicago Heights IL, and I lived there until I was in 6^th grade. After 6^th grade, I moved to Beecher, which is about 25 minutes south of Chicago Heights. It was a huge change in my life because Beecher is very small compared to Chicago Heights. I absolutely hated it at first because there are not any stores close to Beecher other than a grocery store and a couple gas stations, and I missed all of my friends. However, I really like the small town feel of Beecher now. During elementary school in Chicago Heights, I do not remember much of what we did in science. All I can remember is that we had a really big textbook for it, and we took field multiple trips to the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

Once I got to Beecher in 7^th grade, I had a very negative experience with science. Everyone in 7^th grade had to participate in the science fair. This was always an option at my elementary school, but I never chose to participate because science was not a subject I liked very much. When I was assigned this project in 7^th grade, I had no idea what type of experiment to do. I eventually chose to see if bread molded faster in a plastic bag or in the open air. I figured this would be something simple that I could observe and gather information on, but I was wrong. My experiment did not go well at all. The bread that was left out in the air just got hard with no mold on it, and no mold appeared on the bread in the bag either. After doing this experiment for almost a month, it was almost time to present our experiments. My bread still had no mold on it, so I had to draw on the bread with a green marker. I was so afraid of getting a bad grade on this assignment. I think I ended up getting a C on my experiment from my teacher, but I did get a 1^st place in the fair. All of my results were made up, so looking back, I should have been happy with the grade I received. I was very thankful when that project was over.

Although I did not enjoy science in middle school, I started to appreciate it more once I got to high school. Many of my high school science classes were activity and lab based, which made it more interesting to learn. I took biology, chemistry, physics, and physiology in high school. I ended up enjoying physiology much more than I thought I would. I liked learning about the human body because everything we learned in that class related to me. The only part I did not enjoy about my science classes in high school was dissecting different animals and animal parts. I almost did not take physiology because I knew I was going to have to dissect a cat. I also enjoyed my chemistry class because there was a lot of math involved in it, which was always one of my strengths.  Once I got to college, I took chemistry and biology because two science classes were required for general education courses. I have not been in a science course since my sophomore year of college so I am looking forward to taking this course and learning how to apply science to early childhood education.

I decided to major in education because obviously, I love children, but I also believe that my role in society is to help others, and what better way to do that than to help children learn, grow, and succeed? I chose early childhood because, to me, these are the kids that love learning the most. They come to school every day ready to learn new things. I believe that teachers of early childhood students are the most important teachers in a child’s life because they are the ones who set up the beginning foundations of their students’ education. My early childhood teachers are also the teachers I remember the most from elementary school. I want to be a teacher who my students can look up to and learn from. As I stated earlier, science was not a subject that I remember from my early childhood years. Therefore, in my future classroom, I want to make science hands on and fun for my students. There are so many opportunities to make science fun and engaging, so I want my students to look back and remember those activities. I also plan on having my students work in small groups during most science activities. I think that students will learn better if they can work and communicate with each other on experiments. I know that when I was put in a group for a science experiment in the lab, I would often try to sit back and let others figure out what we were supposed to do, so I plan on assigning each person in the group a job so that I know each person is participating in the experiment. Along with doing hands on experiments, I also want to bring my students on field trips related to the topic we are studying. Showing students real life examples of what we are learning in class will help them learn even more about the concepts we are learning.

Based on my cultural upbringing, I have realized that anyone can be a scientist. During many of the labs, girls were afraid to touch certain things, but I always wanted to prove I was not scared like the rest of the girls. As a teacher, I want to show my students that everyone can be successful at science. There is always science all around us no matter where you live, what your physical capabilities are, if you are a boy or a girl, etc. I plan on doing the “draw a scientist” activity with my students to explain to them that anyone can be a scientist, and there are many different kinds of scientists than just one who works in a lab. Although Beecher was not a very diverse town, I have been fortunate to experience diversity here at Illinois State. I am involved in a program called College Mentors for Kids on campus. This program serves low income students, and it allows these kids to come to ISU to see what college is all about. We take them to different places on campus to teach them about all the different majors that are available here. The kids absolutely love going to the science lab because they know that they will be doing something fun there. One of my favorite memories from College Mentors was watching the kids’ faces light up when they created slime out of a few different chemicals. I love mentoring these students and encouraging them to do well in school because majority of them will be the first in their family to graduate from high school.  

         This is my friend and I dissecting a pig heart during our physiology class in high school .

This is a picture of some of the kids from College Mentors doing a science lab experiment.