Reflective Statement: Instructional strategies are the way in which a teacher directs his or her class. There are many different ways to go about teaching in the classroom, and each teacher develops their own unique way of doing it. As future teachers, we are exposed to many different ways to teach a class. It is important to know some different teaching techniques in order to avoid teaching the same exact way everyday. A change or variety in instructional strategies will make teachers better prepared to teach in all types of situations. A lecture may be good for high school or college students, but you cannot lecture in a kindergarten classroom. By knowing a variety of teaching methods, a teacher will be able to find the best one suitable for themselves and their students in order to create a positive and fun learning environment.
The fifth section of my portfolio is called Instructional Strategies. The contents include three briefs on instructional strategies I have observed, demonstrated, and read about during the spring 2000 semester. There is also a letter of recommendation from a cooperating teacher included in this section.
Jamie Pieh
February 28, 2000
Every teacher has a different style of teaching his or her class. At Kent State we are observing many different ways in which a teacher goes about getting through to their students. We were put into groups to take observations in a public school setting. My group was assigned to go to a kindergarten classroom at Central Elementary in Brimfield, Ohio. The teacher of the class was Mrs. Halloway, and she gave our group a quick tour of the classroom before the students arrived. Teaching kindergarten is very different from all the other grades because the children are just starting school, and are only five or six years old. To nobody’s surprise, the children were a little rambunctious when they first arrived off the bus. Mrs. Halloway allows the students to talk with each other while sitting at their desks for the first ten minutes of the day.
After the teacher takes attendance, the first lesson of the day is reading exercises. One student is picked to come up to the front and be the leader. The student has a giant crayon as a pointer and tells the class, “Please read with me”. All at once with help from the teacher, they read the items on the board. “Today is Wednesday, February Twenty-Third, Two-Thousand.” They also read numbers and say the Pledge of Allegiance. After reading exercises is sharing time. The students are separated into groups of three and they take turns telling the group what toy they have. “This is a yo-yo that my Grandma gave me for my birthday,” one of the students said.
After sharing time is over, the students do station work. There are many different stations set up around the room and the students work in different groups of three at the stations for about a half-hour. Some of the stations were computer learning games, painting, making designs with blocks on an overhead projector, reading books, and of course the toy station. The purpose of having all the activities is to give the students hands on experience. Five year olds have a lot of energy, and they need to be active throughout the day to release all that energy. All the activities are designed as a way for the students to interact with each other and socialize with each other. Mrs. Halloway’s method of teaching allows her to get the lessons across to the students in a way five year olds can understand, and it allows the students to learn the skills and stay physically active.
Jamie Pieh
April 12, 2000
This past semester at Kent State University, we were required to get some field experience in the public schools. We were assigned to groups, and visited nearby public schools a total of three times. On our third visit we had to put together a lesson for the class we were visiting. My group was assigned to a kindergarten class at Central Elementary in Brimfield, Ohio. We had a group of five people with four different majors. There were two people who are majoring in art, one in physical education, one was an English major, and another person was early childhood education. We had to put together a lesson that would incorporate all of our respective fields into one topic. We decided to read the children the book Where the Wild Things Are, by Maurice Sendak.
My major is physical education, so I decided to play “Simon Says” with the students, but since the main character in the book was Max, the game was “Max says”. I shouted out commands such as, “Max says touch your ear”, and the children followed along very well. If a student was eliminated from the game, they had to sit down until it was over. The last child standing was the winner, and they got to be Max, and lead the class in one more game. This lesson went very well because our group devised a lesson that would incorporate all of our fields. The children got some English skills by reading the book with the teacher. They got to do some physical activity, and they created some art and science projects. Through one simple book, the children received knowledge from all the main aspects of a kindergarten education. They were allowed to socialize with each other in a fun and entertaining learning environment.
Jamie Pieh
April 12, 2000
One of the most interesting teaching strategies I have read about during my first semester in inquiry was about project Head Start. Head Start is a preschool program in the United States, which helps children who are less fortunate. Children who come from low-income families, or who have certain disabilities are eligible to enroll in the Head Start program. The goal of Head Start is to prepare disadvantaged children for school. The program prepares the children for school on an academic and social basis. The way the classes are taught is threw basic hands on experience. The children are taught the alphabet so they will be ready to learn to read and write. They learn numbers so they will be prepared for mathematics. Through indoor and outdoor play, the children will learn coordination and social skills.
The Head Start program has two unique features, which make it one of the top preschool programs in the nation. Those two features are health care services and parental involvement. The children are screened for vision and hearing problems, and given physical and dental check-ups. Head Start’s goal is to find early on any health problems that will affect a child’s ability to learn. Specialist will then work with the child to overcome these problems. If any health problems due occur, Head Start has funding to provide the children with proper medical attention. Parents are a very important part to the success of the program. Parents make up 20% of the work force for the program. They are encouraged to help at the centers by reading to the children, supervising the children at play, or work with the staff on serving meals and preparing projects. Research has shown that if parents become involved early on in their children’s education, the child is more likely to have a successful educational career. In conclusion, Head Start is a very positive program, which prepares children for their future.
Encarta Online Deluxe: Head Start Article <http://encarta.msn.com/encarta/print.asp?&pg=8&ti=26586000&sc=0&pt=1
4-16-00
To Whom It May Concern,
Gillian Moore, Nancy Martin, Chad Lukens, Jamie Pieh,
and Jillian Fecich have just ended their preservice
teaching in the “Technology Focused Field Experience,
Inquiry 1” program with me.
They came to my all day, every day public school
kindergarten classroom on February 23, April 5th, and
April 12th, 2000 as prescheduled in a letter send by
the Kent State University College of Education. They
came at 8:45 to 10:45 am.
The program was set up for these students to observe
activities in a school classroom and then participate
as directed by me, as the professional educator, for
two visits. These KSU students took notes, as required
by their program, to report back to their KSU
instructor.
The first visit included these preservice teachers
interacting with my kindergarten students. The
kindergarten. students were in teams of three, during
our regular station time. The experiences included ten
areas which were math, science, reading/writing, fine
motor, large motor, art, dramatics, music and a logic
-challenge area.
On the second visit, each preservice teacher took five
kindergarten students, to stay with, as they rotated
to special stations that I set up especially for this
day. This included a visit to our science area to
study the worm farm and plant seeds. Another project
approach activity was located at one of our computers
that was hooked to the classroom TV. The Kent State
Student used the “Study Buddy” WebQuest, that I had
just completed with two peer K teachers, to use the
reference sites to read electronic books to their
kindergarten children. A Spring booklet was read and
colored by my five and six year olds in our library
center. Hard copy books about gardens and planting was
in another area of the room to be read by the KSU
student to the younger students. Playdough was used at
the student desks to make models of what real flowers
look like was the last station.
During the second visit, a lesson play was presented
to me that detailed the Field Experience students’
final visit. They choose to spilt their last time by
each person presenting a segment of the total focus
using the book “Where The Wild Things Are”.
The KSU students came promptly and prepared the
materials they needed before my kindergarten students
came. Chad Lukens read the story to the whole class.
Jillian Fecich and Nancy Martin directed the class to
make paper plate monster masks. Jamie Pieh led the
class in a “Simon Says” game that had the name changed
to “Max” who was the main character of the book.
Gillian Moore had “monster goo” pre made and bagged
for each student to play with. She let the
kindergarten children take their goo home with a
recipe for parents.
I brought a digital still shot camera in as well as a
video camera that day to record their presentation. I
suggested that they might want to consider making a
HyperStudio and or PowerPoint presentation with the
technology artifacts that were captured that day.
Yours In Education,
Mrs. Lynn Holloway
Educator
Central Building
Field Local Schools
1473 Saxe Road
Mogardore, Ohio 44260
Phone: 330-673-4514
e-mail: lholwayk@yahoo.com
=====
Education
should be a journey not a race.