Andi+Sharp

I'm Doing What?!?!

Teaching PreK at the Jewish Community Center South Hills from September 4 through October 26, 2012.

Why? Because I thought this was a good idea at the time! No really...I love it.

Week 4 - Sept 24-28 2012 Week 4 could not start out any better than having Keystone Stars come in for their review of your center! What an interesting experience I got to have while student teaching. Yesterday they picked one of the toddler rooms to evaluate and today, by sheer luck, our room was picked. My supervising teacher is really good about incorporating rules and regulations into her classroom routine so we were well prepared for the review. But it was very interesting to see what things Keystone Stars looks for in an early childhood classroom. The representative looked in all of the cabinets and shelves at the materials, the quality of the materials, and also what was made available to the children at all times. She also paid close attention to all of our routines, like handwashing, table cleaning, and naptime. The JCC is a very well quipped and well prepared center. They have earned four stars for their center in the past...let's hope this review went well and they can keep their stars!

Week 3 - Sept 17-21 2012 This was a very short week at the JCC because of the Rosh Hashanah holiday. We were only in school for three days and Fridays we always bake challah and go to Shabbat so that leaves two days for small group activities. We kept the letter F for this week and started talking about Friends. The activiies were a little more simple and less involved.One of my lessons centered around the book Down by the Cool of the Pool. It helped us talk about having friends and the fun things you get to do together. The kids also enjoyed getting to play the different roles in the book. On Thursday we did Apple Tasting and an Apple Graph. I really liked this activity because it incorporated a lot of different lessons into one activity. My favorite part was using the kid's choices to make a graph of what the class liked the best. It was a great way to intoduce graphs and charts.



Week 2 - Sept 10-14 2012

Family Puppets - This was one of my lessons for small groups in Week 2. Each child picked a family member and made a puppet of that person.

In Week 2 the letter of the week was F. For my small group lesson we played "Letter F Detective." Each child got a turn to look around the foom and find something that started with the letter F. Then we sad in a small group and they had to think of another word that started with F. We recorded all of our words on a board and kept it up all week. I just wanted you all to know that we made some pretty rad 3D glasses in PreK this week. And unicorns. My little girls ask me to make them unicorns every day. They color them and cut them out and glue them to sticks. Did I mention we do this everyday.

This week was pretty exciting because I got to do some small group projects with the PreK'ers. At the JCC there is a part of the cu rriculum where you have to incorporate Jewish Ethics. They have a Rabbi there who comes in once a week and does a group lesson with the class and the teachers are supposed to incorporate the lessons into their daily planning. For the month of September, the ethical teaching is from Mishna #6, "Make a teacher for yourself, and acquire a friend for yourself; judge everyone favorably." Based on that theme, the theme of September is All about Me, My Family, and My Friends. There is also a letter of the week. This week was F. My lessons were focused on Family and the letter F.

So the excitement for the week was that Keystone Stars was coming to review the EC Center at the JCC. I got a lesson on the fly for what the expectations were. Thankfully my supervising teacher is really good at incorporating rules and guidelines into her classroom ahead of time. Really the only thing we had to practice all week was hand washing while singing Row Row Row Your Boat.

Week 1 - Sept 4-7 2012

I created this number line in Week 1 for the kids to line up on when its time to wash hands and leave the room. It works really well.



Marble Painting - we did this in Week 1 when the letter was M. Very cool technique I learned from my supervising teacher. I'm excited to use it for future lessons. I think it would be a good lesson even up through the higher grades because its all about controlling the marble inside of the pan.

Here is what I thought after week one of student teaching..."‍‍‍What the hell have I done?!" ‍‍‍There are no other words to describe how completely and totally culture shocked I was stepping into my first PreK class. Here's what I remember from the first week... My feet hurt really really bad. Something they should warn you about. Four year olds are needy. 14 four year olds are even needier. I couldn't remember everyone's name. I was slightly embarassed the first time I had to sing "Good Morning Friends." A teacher's classroom is like her "den." And you are an alien foreign visitor. It is harder to correct someone else's child's behavior. Even if they do say there are no bad kids, only bad choices. Some parents will make you blow dry their child's hair after swimming, even though NO ONE else does this! Suddenly falling asleep by 9pm doesn't seem so lame. Circle time is NOT my favorite time of the day. Having a special needs child, two behavioral issue children, one ELL and a few gifted children in one classroom is EYE OPENING. I love making art with children. Really, I could do it all day. Finding out that you have 6 Jewish holidays off in the next month is A W E S O M E. And last but not least... I came back for week 2.

But...

I completely and totally forgot about the Wiki! No wonder I had no clue about our seminar being cancelled. I didn't even know I had a page. So I have a little catching up to do. Just wanted to inform everyone that I have come back to planet Earth after my first week of ST at the JCC. I think I had shell shock the first few days.

Hi Andi...very nice to see you the other day. I can tell that you are already having a positive experience! Please let me know if you have any questions...see you Thursday...Pam

Welcome Andi!

Andi, I am sorry i missed meeting you today. I will be supervising you the second eight weeks, however if you have any questions or need help do not hesitate to contact me. Denise Yates