Observation Hours: Class 1

The school that I completed my observation hours at was Wickliffe Elementary School. This was the first time I was going back to my old elementary school for the first time in a long time. I was a bit nervous, but I was also excited to see what teachers were still there and what things have changed in the past ten years. I noticed immediately that many of the teachers were still there, but also a few teachers had retired. I had the honor to sit in on Mrs. Lytle's class for my ten hours. It was an amazing experience and I got to witness a lot of awesome things. Mrs. Lytle was a kindergarten teacher when I attended the school, but now she teaches first grade. On my first day the students welcomed me with smiles, and hello's which made me feel comfortable instantly. The class just got back from their "special" class of the day which happened to be music. When they arrived back to their regular classroom the class did a lesson about how "or" is used in certain words. They only did this for a short period of time because they had a special presentation about fire safety. The class had a chance to watch a video about getting out of their house if there was a fire. Also, the students had a chance to look at fire trucks, and ambulances. Next, they had the chance to look at all the equipment and tools fire fighters use in case of an emergency. When the students arrived back to their regular classroom they started to read short stories which were called "decodables." There was a couple of interesting ways that students received an award or prize. The first was coupons, and the second way was a chart that measured behavior. It had a stoplight format so, if you were good you put your piece on the green spot, but if you acted up your piece was put on the red sport. I found these both to be interesting and helpful techniques. One final thing I noticed before leaving the class on my first day was how passionate the teacher was about her job. You can definitely tell how much she cares for each student and it was something that was amazing to see. My first experience back at my old school was great, and I am looking forward to the final four trips back there.