April 15 5th Observation

On Friday, April 15 I came to Davis for my last observation.  Mrs. Johnston was out that day so I went to Ms. Sneed's class who is another 5th grade teacher.  Ms. Sneed isn't an iPad classroom but she does have a smartboard and 4 DELL computers in the back.  First a spelling test was given and then the class finished work in their math journals.  I got to grade the spelling test and then there was a read aloud.  I also got to finish reading a book aloud about Easter.  Before lunch we watched "It's the Easter Beagle, Charlie Brown" on the smartboard.  Being that this was the day before Spring Break the students were a little wild.  I went to lunch with the class and they were given a special ice-cream treat.  Ms. Sneed was so nice to have me observe in her room.  My overall experience at Davis was great.  The teachers were welcoming and I learned and got to see some new things regarding technology. 

April 14 4th Observation at Davis

My 4th observation was on April 14.  I am always here during math and this time they were going to use the iPads for their lesson.  Everyone got on IXL which is a 5th grade math website set up by state standards.  The teacher can log in to see how many problems they got correct, how many were wrong, and how long it took to solve them.  All the iPads in the room are synced together so they have the same apps.  Mrs. Johnston handed me an iPad so I could learn and experience one for myself.  This was one of my first times using them.  There were 11 pages of apps on the iPad, all educational.  Some apps that I used and explored were Analogy, BrainPop, Geoplay, iBooks, MathNinja, Lifecycles, Capital, DinoRush, PocketFrog, IQGym, and Geometry.  I continued to use the iPad while a language arts quiz was given on the smartboard and some students left for small group tutoring.  Mrs. Johnston said they use the grammar and 5th grade Vocab Prep apps everyday.  They also use StoryKit to do projects similar to powerpoint.  The other apps are used when they correlate with the lessons that are being taught. 

April 13 3rd Observation at Davis

On April 13 I returned to Davis Elementary for my 3rd observation.  I arrived while the class was doing math problems on the smartboard.  The guidance counselor came in to help prepare for PASS testing which they have after Spring Break.  Soon enough is was time for the class to go to lunch followed by recess and I joined them.  I am enjoying my time at Davis but I still haven't seen Mrs. Johnston use the iPads.  I hope next time I will get to see them.

April 7th 2nd Observation at Davis

On April 7 I came to Davis Elementary for my second time.  This time I got to meet Mrs. Johnston and actually observe her class.  We decided that arriving at 10:40 would be good because that is when the class is getting out of special areas.  When I walked in her room I noticed it was very colorful with lots of posters and wall decorations.  She had an area in the back with couches where the students could read.  There was a smartboard in the front and 3 Apple computers in the back of the room.  She was also one of the few iPad classrooms at Davis so I was very excited!  Each student had a personal iPad for their use.  I was curious to see some of the educational apps and how much they actually used them versus doing other activities on paper or in the textbook.  At 10:40 they are doing math so there were math problems and converstions on the smartboard.  They were learning about the "gallon man" and doing conversions of gallons, quarts, pints, and cups.  After this was over Mrs. Johnston handed out a worksheet to test what they had just learned.  I was in the back observing and 2 students were sent to me so I could work with them on the problems.  I was glad Mrs. Johnston got me involved on my first day. 

March 24 1st Observation at Davis

On March 24 we had our orientation at Davis Elementary.  We met in the library and the principal was very welcoming and glad to have us.  I eagerly signed up to observe 5th grade because that is one of the grades I am interested in teaching.  I got assigned to Mrs. Johnston's 5th grade class and we started communicating through e-mail.  She was very prompt and helpful which made me more comfortable to go on my first day.