Ali Wilcox

January 26, 2017

Teacher/Learning Context

Rules/Expectations
Mrs. Gee has high expectations for her students. She told me right off
the bat that she expected a lot from her students and that she has
trained them well to listen to her and obey her rules. Mrs. Gee has a
big rule not to talk when she is talking. If they are talking while she is,
then she tells them eyes and that means that they need to look at her.
If they are still talk, she says it a second time. If they are still talking
after that, she tells the class to put their head down.
She has rules in her classroom that are based off of a little Iguana.
There are pictures of the iguana for each rule. The rules are:
1. Just once follow the directions the first time.
2. Raise your hand to get the teachers attention
3. Where your eyes go, you brain follows
4. I have my space, you have your space
5. Our brain is our filter. Just because you think it, doesnt mean you
should say it.
6. When we do the right thing, we have happy hearts.
7. Always tell the truth! No whoppers!
8. You get what you need, but you dont always get what you want!
9. The more you practice, the better you get.
10. I have my own brain; I can make my own choices!
Every day she reads a story that has to do with one of the rules and
goes over the lesson from the book and how it relates to the rules.

Procedures
Lining up: When the children line up, the two line leaders line up first
and then the door holders. She calls quiet tables up to go in line. When
everyone is in line she goes to the front of the line and puts 1 finger up
which means close your mouths. When she puts 2 fingers up that
means eyes on her and when she puts 3 fingers up that means eyes on
the person in front of you.
Bathroom: She lets one boy and one girl go to the bathroom at a time.
The children just go up to her and ask and she will say yes or no. The
school procedure for bathrooms is that there can be only 5 children in
the bathroom at a time. They take a pin when they are in the bathroom
and there are only 5 pins.
Caring for supplies:
Sharpening pencils: When the childrens pencils need to be sharpened,
Mrs. Gee calls the children up by table and has them stand in line and
hand them their pencil while she sharpens them.
Based on Letters: In other classes a lot of children are assigned
numbers, In Mrs. Gees class the children are assigned letters instead.
They have little cubbies with their letter on them and that is where
they put their homework folder, pencil box, and glue.
Folders: When the children get to class they put their folder in their
cubbies. At the end of the day, the children get their folders and put
their papers that they worked on that day in either the return or take
home side.
End of the day: At the end of the day, the students get their folders and
put their papers in them. They throw away trash and one person from
each table collects the nametags. When they are all cleaned up Mrs.
Gee has them line up at the door to go get their backpacks and coats.
Morning time: In the morning the children can play outside or inside
the classroom until the bell rings. When the bell rings children need to
clean up and sit at the kiva. They wait for Mrs. Gee to come read their
story to them.
Snack: During snack the children grab their milk and walk to me or the
teacher to grab their straws. They then sit on their seats and wait for
the snacks to be passed out. After they are done they throw their trash
and milks away and go outside to play for recess.
Class helpers: Every day there are new class helpers. She rotates them
daily. She goes over the class helpers in the beginning of the day after
the story. The jobs the children can have include pledge person, line
leaders, door holders, paper passer, calendar person, library person,
and math helper.
Move milk: When the children come in the classroom they move their
letter to the column that has a picture of chocolate milk, regular milk,
or water. This lets the person in charge of coming and getting milk
know how much to get for snack time.

Schedule
-The schedule includes the following:
-Gather students on the Kiva and read the book that deals with one of
the rules. Talk about the book.
-Have the children go to their seats while you go over the morning
routine.
-Morning Routine
Tell the children who the helpers for the day are.
Have the flag person come up and do the Pledge of
Allegiance.
Go over the Calendar
-Handwriting
-Read a story aloud
-Go over Phonemic Awareness
-Go over Sight Words
-Math time
-Snack time and then recess
-Centers
-Pack homework folder, put supplies away, line up, and get coats and
backpacks.

Classroom Management
From being in Mrs. Gees classroom, I can tell that she has been
working on classroom management since the beginning of the year.
The children always listen to her when she is talking and usually do not
need more than one warning from her. When a child is being disruptive
she says that students name and says warning. She gives them two
warnings if they need it and the third time, she tells them to put their
heads down. She also talks to them individually if she has time. If the
children are not listening they also get consequences such as not being
able to do a go noodle. She makes them go back and try doing the
activity again quietly and then giving them another chance. When the
children are being noisy she sometimes talks a little quieter and says
something like, If you can hear me, touch your nose. She keeps
doing actions like that till the children are quiet and listening. Mrs. Gee
has told me that the children are so well behaved right now because
she has been working with them since the beginning of the year and
she made sure to be strict with them so that they knew she meant
business.

Climate
The classroom climate is very positive and creates an environment that
learning is fun. Mrs. Gee emphasizes to her students that it is okay for
them to make mistakes and that is how they learn best. This creates a
place where children are not afraid to answer questions and
participate. They are all very friendly and respect each other an
especially Mrs. Gee. She also makes sure to really listen to her
students. You can tell that she really loves to teach and she knows
each and every one of her students and their needs. They were very
welcoming to me and respected me as a teacher when I came into the
classroom. I felt very welcome and love the atmosphere that Mrs. Gee
created. She is so personal and just wants the children to learn and
grow in the best way possible for them. She also does not just teach
them but she makes it fun. She plans activities that will interest the
children and she understands their needs and attention span. She
expects the very best in them and they seem to radiate confidence
because of that.

Students
Braxton: Braxton loves to be very helpful. He has a little lisp and gets
pulled out for speech sometimes.
Janaye: Janaye gets distracted easily and has a hard time listening and
paying attention in class.
Logan: He is quite but has a little mischievous side to him and talks to
the people next to him a lot of times.
Gracelin: She is a very smart little girl and a friend to everyone in the
class.
Jax: Jax is very quite and usually will not use his words as much. He
participates in class, but does not talk that much.
Charlotte: She loves a lot of attention and does not really listen to the
teacher. She likes to do her own thing and has to be reminded of what
she is supposed to do.
Kayson: Kayson has a disability. He has a hard time walking and is
cognitively behind. He has an aide and always has a smile on his face.
Jace: He has a mind of his own and gets distracted a lot. He likes
talking to the children next to him. It is hard for him to sit still.
Autumn: Cousins with Saige. Pays attention in class and participates a
lot. Sticks to her cousin a lot.
Bentley: He has a lot of energy and rather talks to others than do his
own work. He needs to be reminded to listen and do his work
frequently.
Brigham: Very quite and shy but also very smart. He is scared to have
the wrong answer so many times we try and work on giving him the
confidence of how smart he is as letting him know that it is okay to
make a mistake.
Calin: Calin is a little behind and goes to an after school program. He is
also very motivated and loves to learn.
Allison: She is very advanced and loves to follow instructions and listen
to the teacher.
Dax B.: He seems to loves school. He listens to the teacher and helps
others around him when they do not get what they are supposed to be
doing.
Hayden: Hayden is a troublemaker and very social, but he also is smart
and knows when to listen.
Brielle: She is a very good student. She talks to the people around her
but also knows when she should be quite and listen to the teacher.
Jarek: He is very smart but also very social and loves to talk with his
friends a lot.
Tyrol: He participates a lot and gets a lot of his work done. He is very
smart.
Dax: He has a hard time paying attention but does not like to get in
trouble.
Saige: She is very quite unless she is sitting next to her cousin or one
of her friends. She takes her time and is her own little person.
Jaycee: He is a little behind but never hesitates to ask questions when
he does not understand how to do something.
Kendall: She loves to participate and get her work done. She is a very
good student.

School
The school is called Central Elementary School and is located in Sugar
City. When I walk into the school I feel a safe and positive environment.
The principal is Mr. Potter and you can tell that he has a lot of love for
his students. He is very fun and plans a lot of assemblies and activities
that would interest the children. The staff is very friendly and inviting.
The person at the front desk always welcomes you with a smile and
greeting. The school seems to be very parent oriented. They get to
volunteer and visit as much as they want. The school is very clean and
organized and creates a fun atmosphere for the children. Outside they
can play with sleds and there is a big snow hill that Mr. Potter had
made so that the children can sled down it. The children also have
shovels then can play with as well as the other play equipment outside.
When students have birthdays, Mr. Potter announces them over the
speaker. The children all seem to know and love Mr. Potter and I think
that is one sign of a good principal. Even the workers that come into
the classrooms are welcomed and very nice. All the teachers are very
friendly and talk to me like I have known them for longer than a month.
It is a very good school that I would not mind working at in the future.