Amanda and Halloween concerns

As Halloween approaches, I believe that it is important to remain sensitive to all students. Halloween is an exciting time in elementary school for a lot of students, however, some students may not celebrate that particular holiday for religious or personal reasons. I am very curious to hear what you all think about this topic because it is an issue about which I have little experience. I  personally do not know what I would do if confronted with the situation in which a child is not allowed to celebrate Halloween, for religious reasons.  

Have you ever observed a situation in which a child was unable to participate in Halloween or in any other class celebration, for religious reasons? Have you talked to your cooperating teacher about how they would approach (or have approached) such a situation? For example, would you allow other students to continue Christmas activities and give the student who doesn't celebrate Christmas a seasonal activity?  On the other hand, would you refrain from giving specific holiday activities at so as to avoid any uncomfortable situations? Would you still decorate your classroom for the various holidays, despite the fact that one or two students in your classroom may not take part in those holidays? What are your thoughts?   The article listed below may be of some help to you.     


https://www.notsowimpyteacher.com/2017/12/when-you-have-students-who-dont.html

Aimee asks a technology question

The use of technology in classrooms has always been a topic of great debate. As we take our education courses we have learned the advantages of the use of technology in the classroom in different subject areas. Although teachers agree that technology is a great tool in the classrooms to enhance learning many do not have the technological resources to make that type of learning happen. During my observations throughout the various semesters I have not seen teachers take advantage of the iPads that are offered in their classrooms in order to teach a whole class. The only time that I have observed them use the iPads were during centers when students were allowed to go onto the program  "razkids."  What type of technology infusion have you seen in classrooms during your observations?   How can we implement the use of technology during a lesson? How rigorous do you plan to make technology-based work/projects for your students when you have your own class?  

Molly shares a new type of elementary school teaching structure

Something unique about the 5th-grade classes at my elementary school is that the students rotate between teachers. They are the only classes do rotate, all the others are self-contained classrooms. The 5th-grade teacher team consists of two smaller groups: a triad and diad. (I am only going to write about the triad team as this is the only rotation I am able to see this year).

The triad consists of three teachers: Teacher A (my coop teacher), Teacher B, and Teachers C/D (co-teachers). The schedule is as follows:

8:05-8:25

All students are in their homerooms with Teachers A-D

8:25-9:49

Teacher A: Homeroom students for ELA and Writing

Teacher B: Teaches math for students in class C/D

Teachers C/D: Teaches ELA/Writing for students in class B 

9:49-10:31

Teacher A: Teaches science/social studies for students in class C/D

Teacher B: Teaches math in class A from 9:49-11:13

Teacher C/D: Teaches ELA/Writing for students in class B

10:31-11:13

Teacher A: Teaches science/social studies for students in class B

Teacher B: Still teaching math to students in class A

Teacher C/D: Teaching ELA/Writing to their homeroom students C/D

11:13-3:00

All students return to their homeroom teachers for vocabulary/spelling, math, social studies/science, lunch, and specials.

The reasoning behind this rotation schedule is that it is an  introduction to the middle school schedule that they will follow next year.   Additionally, the 5th-grade is departmentalized in that one teacher is the only teacher to teach math to all students due to her academic credentials. The students have adjusted incredibly well to this rotation. They enjoy changing classes and are adapting to the different styles of teaching they are experiencing. This is also the fourth year that this rotation has been in place. 

My questions to you are the following: 

1. What is your opinion of this kind of a schedule at the elementary level? 

2. Do you think this kind of rotation can be beneficial for students, and why? 

3. Is there anything about this structure that you would change? 

4. Have you seen anything like this in any of the schools in which you have observed?

Abby asks a question about assessment procedures

Through the many semesters in which I have been observing, I have always been curious to see how teachers share assessments of student work with parents. I have seen teachers hand back the graded assessments and require students to get that work signed and brought back to school. I believe this can be difficult because parents can lose track of the many tests their child has taken throughout the week. This year in my 1st-grade class, I have taken note of the fact that my cooperating teacher keeps all the assessments from the week together and every Monday the students are given their red assessment folders in which the students will find their graded assessments taken the previous week. These assessments consist of: math, comprehension, and spelling tests. The teacher will attach notes for the parents to the folders.   These notes let the parent know whether a child struggled more than usual on a test, or how they behaved while the test was being administered. The students are to show the red folder to their parents and get each test signed.   This enables the parents to view their child’s performance over the past week and to receive teacher input as well. My cooperating teacher will then take all the tests back and file them in the student’s individual folders in order to see their growth over the school year. 

What are the different ways you have seen teachers hand back assessments in order for parents to see their child’s performance? Does the teacher just give the tests back after they are graded? How does your teacher grade the assessments? For example, my cooperating teacher does everything out of 100%? 

What types of assessments have you seen so far in your observations this semester? How you do feel about every assessment being shown to the parents? What do you prefer, all tests for the week shown at once or one test at a time?