Molly Brown

October 21, 2014

Read for Record Reflection
Read for the Record is a national campaign to mobilize children in America to celebrate
reading. This campaign promotes early childhood literacy by allowing students to participate in a
shared reading experience. The Read for the Record book for this year was Bunny Cakes by
Rosemary Wells.
Read for the Record was a great event for the Kindergarten and first grade students at
Trace Crossings. The teachers and administrators worked hard to create a fun, entertaining, and
educational event for the students. The students learned songs to go along with Bunny Cakes in
music class. They were so excited to sing along and participate during the story. The students in
my first grade class were all familiar with the book, and they enjoyed watching the wonderful
Samford students act out the story. They loved dancing, singing, and eating dirt cake with their
classmates.
This event taught an important lesson to the students: reading is fun! They enjoyed the
birthday party and the dirt cakes, but more importantly, they enjoyed the book. The rest of the
day they talked about how much fun they had at Grandmas birthday party. I think any event,
activity, or program that gets students excited about reading is worth doing. Some of the students
in my first grade class do not like reading because they have a more difficult time when
compared to some of the other students in the class. I think it is extremely important for those
students to change how they view reading from a negative view to a positive view. Read for the
Record shows students how fun reading can be which encourages and inspires the more reluctant
readers to enjoy reading.

Molly Brown
November 15, 2014

Centennial Day Reflection

In honor of OBBs 100th birthday, we invited the second graders at Trace Crossings
Elementary School to come celebrate with us. Before the students time traveled around the
building, Dr. Carter spoke to us and the second graders. She shared many interesting stories
about her life as a teacher in the 1950s.
The students went to five different stations: 1915 classroom, 1955 classroom, future
classroom, 1955 school dance, and playground games. In the classroom from 1915, the students
recited the Pledge of Allegiance and wrote on slates. They learned about hiding under their desks
during a bomb drill in 1955. In the classroom of the future, they helped make an alternative type
of fuel to help a scientist who was stranded on the moon. The students bunny hopped and danced
the twist at a 1950s sock hop. Finally, the students played hopscotch and monkey in the middle
outside. Before the students left, they all had ice cream to celebrate the 100th birthday.
I think this was an awesome event for the second graders at Trace. They all had an
amazing time and they learned so much in the short time they were here. We all worked so hard
to put this event together for the students. Working with the other members of the leadership
team to organize this event was difficult. We all worked together to figure out who should lead
the groups and be the station leaders. We also completed individual tasks and made decorations.
I learned a lot about delegations and time management through this experience. It is hard to
balance life, schoolwork, and leadership team responsibilities. Even though it was a lot of hard
work, it was all worth it because of the great experience that the students were able to have.

Molly Brown
November 18, 2014
PTO Meeting Reflection
I attended the Parent Teacher Organization meeting at Trace Crossings. The meeting
started with a welcome from Principal Barber. She welcomed all the parents and thanked them
for coming. The PTO president discussed the business covered at the last meeting. After the
recap, she began talking about new business such as purchasing Trace is the Place tshirts for
every student and the upcoming library renovation. She reported that they had raised over $900
for the fourth graders trip to Space Camp. This money will be used to offset the cost for each
student.
After the business was covered, fourth grade students performed their songs from the
Veterans Day program. They sang songs, danced, read poetry, and led the crowd in the Pledge of
Allegiance and the National Anthem. The tinikling team performed a patriotic dance as well.
I was surprised at the number of parents who were in attendance. It was great to see so
many parents involved in their childrens education. The PTO relies on parent volunteers to
accomplish most of their tasks. It is so important for parents to be involved and aware of the
things that are happening at school. The PTO meeting was a great opportunity to have a
fundraiser for Space Camp. The parents were happy to pay $5 for a quick dinner. They also were
also able to see the student art show and participate in a silent auction fundraiser.