Day 3: Field Experience

Each day had been going about the same way. Today I was able to go into the office and catch up with some of my old friend's mothers who work there. It was very nice to see them and be familiar with the people at Ramsey Elementary. Also a mother came in from Adventures Plus where I used to work, which was nice to be able to catch up on how the kids were doing! The children were very excited to see my like usual when I came in. Friday we did exploration activities for math. The children were asked to practice making estimates. Also they used polygon blocks to explore fractions with shapes. The math they are teaching is a lot different than when I grew up and I like the new way. They also worked on problems from their math books, and I had the chance to work one on one with one of the little boys who was a little slower and needed some extra help. I felt bad for this child because he was slower I noticed that he never really finishes his math problems. He is smart, it just takes him a little more time than the other students. This student is going through a very hard time so I know that this time we spent on his math problems made him happy, even though it was only a few minutes. Kari spent a little time explaining to me the lesson plans and how they work. It is pretty much all laid out for her, and I feel as if that leaves her with no room to be creative or to expand the learning. It is do the lesson, worksheets, a game or two then you test them. There is a lot of teaching for tests for math, this is talked about in the book we are reading Global Achievement Gap and I have been able to see that first hand. It is sad that it is that way.