Day 1: September 29, 2016 ~ Meet The Students & Mentor Teacher

I am at Buchanan School in the NW this semester in a grade 1 classroom.

Immediately upon entering the classroom I was warmly greeted by my mentor teacher.
She asked me a few questions and then asked if I had any of my own. She told me a
little about the students and that there were three particular students she wanted me to
look out for as one has ODD (oppositional defiant disorder), another is highly emotional
and has a tendency to have severe outbursts when an adult he does not know tells him
what to do, and lastly a child with global delay disorder.
Before the bell rang I was able to wander the classroom and observe. There were
several visual aids on the walls for the students, including the alphabet, numbers,
colours and sight words. I also noticed a huge selection of books which were all from
my mentor teachers personal library. These books were all organized into topics (ex.
Birds, bugs, places, trains...or by author or book series). This is a great idea especially
for younger students to find the book they want without getting overwhelmed looking
through stacks of books.
Once the students came in I immediately noticed that there is a routine in place. They
put their coats and backpacks on their hooks and bring their agendas to a bin at the
front. Then they read silently to themselves. In the mornings my mentor teacher focuses
on reading and writing skills. Before recess she worked on reading and after recess was
writing. She has large flashcards with the letters of the alphabet and as a class they go
through each letters sound. What I thought was interesting though was that each sound
had a hand gesture. After going through the individual sounds she gave cards to
students who came to the front of the class. These students then made words the
teacher gave them by moving their bodies to spell the words using the letter cards they
had. The students seemed to love this activity and those students sitting on the floor
were actively involved sending their fellow classmates every which way to spell the
words. This was an active and engaging activity that the students love and I definitely
saw how positive of an outcome it had. They are very proficient spellers.
Another event that really stood out was during the writing portion of the morning was
noticing my mentor teacher spelling words the way they sound as opposed to correctly.
(ex. eat was spelled et because those are the sounds). I thought this was interesting,
she is teaching them the sounds and then will later approach the way to correctly spell
words.

Analysis: There were numerous connections to literacy and language in this class. We
spend the entire morning reading and writing. I loved the activity she has the students
do with the hand gestures associated with the letter sounds as well as the word jigsaw
she had them do with the cue cards. This got the students up and physically involved.
The hand gestures help them remember the sounds as well. The addition of an action
really made the sounds real to the students. For the writing aspect though I found this
more confusing. I am just wondering if this will be hard to correct later on when it
becomes important to spell words correctly. They may have developed the muscle
memory or habit to spell eat as et and this could prove to be difficult to break.
However, I also see the advantages of spelling as it sounds until they learn all the
sounds of the the letters and the combinations. Trying to explain the a in eat would be
difficult at this stage and could lead to confusion and frustration.

Day 2: October 6, 2016 ~ Day 1 of Wee Reads

This week I started my Wee Reads with students. My mentor teacher is the Wee
Reads coordinator for the school and she suggested I take more than 2 students each
week. I work with two girls first who are a little ahead of the class and get less attention
due to lack of support. My mentor teacher wants me to spend this time with them so
they continue excelling and get some one on one time with a reading buddy. Next I take
a boy by himself. This is the student who has ODD in the class and my mentor teacher
thinks it would be beneficial for me to work one on one with him. He gets that positive
interaction with an adult. I had time to read two stories to each of my groups and for the
activity afterwards I had them search for sight words. I wrote a word on a little white
board, had them sound out the word with me and then have them search for the word in
the book. After they found the word I read them the sentence to show the words in
different contexts. I think this was beneficial to their learning as well as a fun and
interactive activity.
When I joined the class again they were just finishing up their reading lesson. My
mentor teacher ends each lesson reading aloud to them. Today she read a fiction and
nonfiction book, both about parades. Afterwards she had them tell her the differences
they noticed between the two books. I liked observing this lesson, the students came up
with some really intuitive answers and by the end I believe they truly knew the
difference between fiction and nonfiction. After recess they had their writing lesson, for
today she put up an image depicting a little boy sleeping with the tooth fairy on his
shoulder. She had them come up with descriptive sentences as a class and then go
back to their desks to write a short story about the image and draw a picture. I helped a
specific student who had the idea, but was having difficulty putting it on paper. I helped
him sound out the words, but in the end he did the work and got his story on paper. He
was so proud of himself and I could see that he had a little more confidence in his
writing skills.

Analysis: I noticed a difference in the classroom this week, my mentor teacher has
started a reward/punishment system where each student has a cup of pom poms on
their desk. If you do something good, you get a pom pom, if you do something bad you
have one taken away. If you fill your bucket you get a prize. It seemed to be working on
most of the students so itll be interesting to see how well it works for the remainder of
my time in this classroom.

Day 3 October 13, 2016~ Working in Groups

This week I had a chance to work with groups of students in order to help them
get more of a personal experience. The day started with me doing my first group of Wee
Reads, this week I tried something different and used the magnetic letters to help them
with their spelling. I asked them to find sight words in the book and then to spell them
using the magnets. The students seemed to really like it. After recess, I helped a group
of students complete an assignment that was based off the book Brown Bear. First they
read the story as a group, the kids knowing it by heart basically. The teacher was
basically there to prompt the students. Next, the students were tasked to complete a
sheet that was their own page from the book. They wrote their names and what they
saw and then drew a picture. (Ex. Brie, Brie What do you see? I see a green hippo,
thats what I see.) I was given two students to work with, as they needed added support
to complete this assignment. I started by getting them to write their names twice, and
then asked them what they each saw. After that I just prompted them with the sounds
and they came up with the letters. I was just there for support and guidance. After this
activity I took my second group for Wee Reads. This was much the same, I used the
magnetic letters again. Since this is the student with ODD, I was worried he would be
resistant. At first he was, but after using the letters and me giving him positive feedback
because he is a skilled speller, he asked me if we could use the magnets next week as
well. I see this as a success, because he is resistant to most things, so this was a
positive and beneficial way in which to engage his attention.
In regards to the Pom Pom experiment, my mentor teacher informed me that it is very
effective. The students are dismayed when they lose their pom poms and encouraged
when they gain them. At the end of the day they all empty their buckets to start fresh the
next day and cheer each other on.

Analysis: I liked working with select students this week. I feel like I was able to help
more with these select students more than if I was just wandering around helping
students with specific questions they had. I am also really happy I was able to engage
my Wee Reads student to the point he was sad to go back to class, and made me
promise we would do that again next week. I think now, he is comfortable with me and
able to really apply himself to spelling and reading. He enjoys this time and I am glad he
is getting something out of these sessions.

Day 4 October 20, 2016~ Rhyming Words

This week was along the same lines for routine, the morning being full of reading
and writing lessons and me taking my two groups for their Wee Reads sessions. I was
pleasantly surprised when my one group for Wee Reads came up to me and asked if
they got to read with me today. They are clearly enjoying the time I read to them and I
think they are truly appreciating the one on one attention that the teacher thinks is
beneficial for them. As I said last week as well, my second Wee Read student really
liked the magnetic letters we were using, so I used them again this week and received
positive engagement from the student.
What was different this week in the literacy lessons was my mentor teacher introduced
rhyming words into the lessons. She started off with her lively letters flash cards, but
then turned it in the direction of rhyming sounds. I was really impressed with the
students abilities to create words that rhyme. We then read a book together as a class
and the students were encouraged to say the rhyming sentences aloud together. This
got them to really get the feel of saying and hearing words that rhyme. After the lesson I
took my Wee Reads groups, in the first group I thought it fitting to read the Dr.Seuss
Green Eggs and Ham. Afterward, I gave them each a whiteboard and a marker and had
them come up with silly rhyming sentences.

Analysis: I have noticed in the past that learning about words that rhyme can prove to
be challenging to some students. In todays class I was impressed with the students
abilities to create accurate rhyming words as a group. They worked together, and at the
age of six it was inspiring to see the amount of collaboration they were already using
when it came to learning and literacy. Through the use of flashcards, story books and
verbal communication the students were given a diversified approach to rhyming words.

Day 5 October 27th, 2016 ~ Running Record

Today I was able to conduct my running record on a student that is clearly

excelling in his reading abilities. My mentor teacher asked me to start him off with an A
level book more for me to practice and feel comfortable with the process. The student
Zack* had 100% accuracy and reading comprehension. So then I had him read a B
level book, which is where he was two weeks ago when my teacher assessed him. He
had clearly improved because he had 99% reading accuracy and 100% comprehension.
When I told this to my mentor teacher she was shocked and said to try him at a C level.
This is where I was able to see his true abilities. He ended up getting a 91% reading
accuracy, however, his comprehension was limited. He could retell the main points of
the story but he was unable to go deeper in his discoveries. I noticed some interesting
things while Zack was reading. He tracked each word with his finger and used the
pictures when he got stuck. However, he always looked back at the words after he
looked at the pictures to see if the letter sounds matched. I found this very interesting
and impressive. There was a pattern with the words he read wrong, all the of the words
he read wrong started with the correct letter sound. For an example if the word was
chair he said couch, he looked at the picture and then saw that the beginning sound
was a c. At this level I was really impressed he was able to make these connections
between pictures and letter sounds and not just one or the other.

Analysis: From what I was able to do with the running record, I feel much more
comfortable conducting them and analysing the results. In Zacks case, he is clearly
proficient at reading, however his comprehension was limited. The story was about a
sleepy cat who slept all over the house and only woke up at the end for food. Zack was
able to tell me that the cat was sleeping for the whole story but failed to specify that
Socks was all over the house on different pieces of furniture or that he only wakes up
for food without prompting.

*name of the student has been changed

Day 6 November 3, 2016 ~ Running Record #2

Today I conducted my two sessions for Wee Reads, my students seem to really
enjoy the time with me because every morning I get asked by them when I am going to
read to them. I have such a sense of accomplishment because for one of the students I
read to it was a slight challenge to get him engaged. This week however, he showed
true excitement and interest in when we were going to go read. I was also able to assist
my mentor teacher, as she has troubles with trying to keep this student on task, I told
her that he really liked magnetic letters. He is very good with spelling, however he lacks
interest in just simply writing. She was very appreciative of my suggestion.
I was also able to conduct another running record today. My mentor teacher wants to
give me as many opportunities to learn and practice so she has offered to let me assess
all the students in the class over the next couple weeks. I am starting to get a lot more
comfortable with this process already. The running record I conducted showed
interesting results, he read me an A level book and was not able to read it and his
comprehension was limited. My mentor teacher told me after she was not surprised, but
now she is looking into alternatives to help him succeed at reading at an A level. English
is his second language and he rarely speaks it outside of school, so it is understandable
his literacy capabilities are behind for his age. I look forward to be able to continue with
my practice and be able to see just how diverse the linguistic capabilities are in the
students.

Analysis: upon completion of my running record with Cody* I came to the realization
that there is the possibility of students not having the ability to read at an A level in
grade 1. Not all students move to grade 1 with the basic knowledge on how to read.
From there it is the teachers job to design a plan in which they are able to help the
student grow their capabilities and advance their linguistic knowledge. Since there are
no books lower than an A to assess them, creativity is key.

Day 7 November 10 ~ Read Aloud

Today I planned a lesson and read a story based on Remembrance Day. I

wanted to teach the students why people wear poppies and the story behind this day.
As war is not a grade 1 topic, I found it challenging to find a story which would be
educational as well as age appropriate. I found a book called Proud as a Peacock
Brave As A Lion. It was a story told by a little boy watching his grandfather get ready for
a Remembrance Day parade. He talks about how his grandpa was a hero and was a
brave as a lion and he struts around proud as a peacock with his metal. The book was a
great way to teach the students about why we remember the soldiers on this day every
year because it was from the perspective of a little boy about their age.
After I read the story I asked them questions like, why is it important to
remember and why do we wear poppies. I also asked them if they had people in their
families who were in the military. This sparked a great conversation. The activity I had
planned for the students afterwards was for the students to then make a poster to a
soldier. They could draw anything they wanted to thank a soldier. I told them that I would
be giving these posters to soldiers the next day on Remembrance Day. Before letting
them return to their desks we as a group came up with words that they wanted to put on
their posters and we spelled them together on the board. I made a kind of
Remembrance Day sight word board. After that the students created their posters, all
were so enthusiastic and the posters turned out amazing. The next day, as promised I
gave them to the Calgary Highlanders at Mewata Armouries after their ceremony. They
were all very appreciative of the posters and they are hanging in their mess hall now.

Analysis: by teaching the students about the significance of Remembrance Day they
now have a deeper appreciation for soldiers who have lost their lives and for those still
serving. They were all very engaged in the poster activity and I am really excited to
bring the students the picture of the soldiers holding up their posters. This activity had a
real life connection for the students and I am happy I was able to be a part of it.
Day 8: November 17, 2016 ~ Assembly Day

Today was a short lesson day because there was an assembly where the whole
school was invited to watch a play put on by a travelling theater production about Emily
Carr. It was a two person show depicting the early years of Emily Carr before she went
on to San Francisco to art school. The students were really engaged in the play and
asked a lot of question afterwards. I think this was a great way to teach students about
art and culture in a fun and engaging manner.
For the rest of the morning I was able to take my Wee Read students out and read them
two books each. Afterwards, I gave them white boards and asked them to draw me
comic strips about the books we read. This I think was a great activity that worked with
the theme of the day, art.
Lastly, the other student teacher that is in my placement class taught a really great
lesson. She read them a story, in which the images were really neat. The background
pictures were black and white photos of everyday place such as the street, in the
grocery store, in a house...however, the characters were hand drawn stick figures. It
was a merge of real life and cartoon. For the activity, she handed out black and white
images of various places around the school. Then the students drew themselves as
stick figures and glued them on the pictures. They then had to write a sentence about
where they were and what they were doing. I walked around and helped students with
spelling and grammar. I think this was a great activity, the students seemed really
engaged and they all seemed to have done well with their sentence structures.

Analysis: I have learned that when teaching literacy, there needs to be a tiered
approach to the lesson. Obviously there is a book, but then the activity afterwards cant
always be letter practice in their journals. By having the students create a picture that
resembled the artwork in the book and then create a personal sentence really drew the
students in.

Day 9: November 24, 2016~ Map Making

This week in my placement I was able to watch and help with a lesson the third
year MR student teacher created and taught. This was a lesson that merged English
and Social. On Wednesday they had read a book about maps and then they were
asked to create a map of their hearts. They drew hearts on a sheet of paper and then
had to draw and label things in their lives that were important to them. Today, they were
finishing up this activity and moving on to another map activity. The 3rd year read the
map book to them again and then together on the SMART Board they drew her room
from a birds eye view. She had them as a group sound out and spell words like bed,
chair, desk, carpet This got the students engaged and interested in the
assignment. She then sent them to their desks to draw their own rooms. I worked one
on one with a student. I helped him sound out words but I also helped him with his
writing. He tends to write words vertically, so I was just there to remind him of how to
write words properly from left to right.
Analysis: I noticed that this was an authentic and engaging activity. By asking them to
draw their rooms it created a very personal activity for the students. Bedrooms are
personal, safe zones for everyone. This created a truly authentic experience while still
teaching them about birds eye view and direction as well as letters/word formation due
to them needing to label their furniture. Since I was working with only the one student
one on one I was only able to see how his literary abilities showed through on this
assignment. He is a strong student but he tends to be easily distracted and has not
learned how to properly form his letters. He forgets to leave enough space to write a
whole word and will write letters wherever they fit, even if at the end they are not even
remotely close enough to resemble a word. By helping him one on one I was able to
keep him on track and make him aware of where his letters were going and his spacing.

Day 10: December 1, 2016~ Last Day

Today was my last day at Buchanan School. I was able to say goodbye to the
students and have some last conversations with my mentor teacher. She gave me more
tips and strategies to use in my future as a teacher. We also discussed the child study
and decided it would be helpful to do a running record on the student. Adam* is at a B
level so I took out of class and asked him to read my a B leveled story. He reads well
but, as per my child study, the issue of his self confidence came through. He repeatedly
attempted to sound out a word with me sitting quietly beside him. However, he quickly
became discouraged and pleaded to me for help. What I found upsetting was that he
was on the right track, he was correctly sounding out the letters, but he was not
understanding and he doubted himself. I concluded that Adam would be reading at a C
level if he would just believe in his abilities. His comprehension was good as well, but
again his self doubt did come through. He answered a question and then asked is that
right? I shared my observations with my mentor teacher, and she found them
interesting and concerning. She agreed that it was important to build up Adams self
confidence in order to help his literacy skills.
I was also able to finish my Wee Reads sessions, they were all very sad that I would not
be reading to them anymore. It was nice to learn that they really did enjoy our sessions
together.

Analysis: after completing my running record with Adam and connecting it to my

observations throughout the semester, I came to realize just how important it is to
believe in yourself. If a student doubts their abilities to learn, then no matter how much
the the teacher believes in them, they will not succeed. Developing Adams self esteem
is vital in the pursuit of his knowledge He needs to start believing that he is a smart
students and he will be able to show us the potential he really has.