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Rachael Schupak
Dr. Perkins
10 October 2014
Week of 10/7
Reflective Journal #2
During my fourth week at the Grenloch elementary school, I have continued picking up
techniques that Mrs. O uses in her classroom. I love watching her teach because I feel like in
such a short amount of time, I have learned so much from her. Each week that I go, I feel like I
will never stop learning. Mrs. O. always has something new to offer me as an observer. These
observations I make will help me learn how to become a professional teacher.
Every week, the children start off their morning by going to the carpet and get ready for
circle time. During this time, they sing the days of the week, count to what day it is on the
calendar and pledge to the flag. This week, Mrs. O has introduced a website to the children
where they can dance along or exercise to popular, kid friendly songs. One of the songs Mrs. O
played was Happy, an uplifting song with a joyful beat. All the children stood up and danced
to the whole song. This helps the children get their energy out, but it also promotes an element
of safety and a warm environment. Her classroom makes the kids feel joyful and Mrs. O knows
that the children need to get up and release some energy. Plus, the exercise is also good for the
childrens health. This supports the first standard of professionalism which is promoting
childhood development and learning.
Recently, Mrs. O has decided that everyday, a different child will have show and tell for
the month of October. Last week, I observed a child present her stuffed dog to the class. Mrs. O
has the child present and then Mrs. O calls on three students to ask a question, and then calls on

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another three students to make a comment. Through this hidden lesson, Mrs. O is trying to teach
the children how to ask questions. She explains to her class that asking questions with Why,
How, or What are good starting words for question sentences. I thought this lesson was very
interesting because the teacher always knows how to incorporate a lesson into everything she
does in the classroom. Here, she is demonstrating using developmentally effective approaches to
connect with children and families, the fourth standard of professionalism. She was capitalizing
an incidental teaching moment and teaching through social interactions.
I know how important it is for children to learn through play. Mrs. O gives her children
so many opportunities to interact and move around. The children really love getting up and
dancing. So many children love to show me their dance moves, which I love seeing because I
believe it builds their character. This week has also taught me that you can make a lesson out of
almost any activity. It makes me think that as a future teacher, I would like to be as quick on my
feet as Mrs. O. Next week, I hope to see more of the children practicing writing sentences. I
helped the children to write short sentences this week, such as I jump or I sit. It was
interesting to see which children were able to write the sentence themselves or if the child had no
idea how to write certain letters or how to spell a word. As always, I look forward to my field
experiences next week and what I will learn.

Source:

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Morrison,GeorgeS.FundamentalsofEarlyChildhood
Education.7thed.N.p.:PearsonEducation,

2014.Print.