Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Introduction
My ideal grade to teach would be kindergarten, first, or second grade. I want to teach the
lower elementary grades because I think that is when students need the most guidance in school.
Students are still very new to school, and this is when a positive teacher and classroom
experience can be beneficial for students. They are still at the point in their school careers where
they do not like or dislike school yet because they do not have enough experience yet to judge.
Making a positive impact during the first few years of school is important for students. In most
kindergarten and first grade classrooms you teach all content areas, but if I teach higher than that
I would teach language arts and social studies. Social studies is my favorite subject so I would
probably aim in that direction, and I think reading is really important for students as they move
Philosophical Statement
I believe any student can learn and should be given the opportunity to learn. No matter
teaching is that I think teachers should keep the classroom interesting and engaging. I want to
use a lot of interactive activities that allow students to be involved in their learning so they can
understand it better and realize the importance of what they are learning. I also think it is really
important that students feel comfortable in the classroom and trust the teacher and the other
students around them. The teacher should build a community in the classroom and make sure
First Day(s)
Kelli Gilbert
April 27, 2016
A teachers first impression starts before the first day of school for the child and their
parents and family members. Teachers are judged from the minute they are assigned to that
student until the last day of school. Once a parent finds out who their childs teacher is for the
new school year they start searching, gossiping, and figuring out exactly what that teacher is like.
I think it is important to keep a good impression throughout the school year and before class
even starts.
Kelli Gilbert
April 27, 2016
An important day for parents is Meet the Teacher at the elementary schools especially for
younger students whose parents are nervous about entering school. Some teachers do not even
show up to meet the teacher because they may not think it is important or necessary, but it is
really important. During Meet the Teacher I want students to feel welcome when they walk in
the door. I will wait by the door for all the students and parents and introduce myself to them. I
will let students find their desk with their nametag that they get to decorate while the parents fill
out any information the school requires like bus tags, information sheets, etc. Students can also
meet and greet with other students as they walk in and out so they get to know their classmates.
They will also have a photo booth set up so students can take their picture if they want, which
will hang up with any classwork they do. I think it is also important to have a parent guide sheet
that parents can fill out with their information like phone number and email that can be handed
out to other parents. I want my class to feel like a community and I think parental involvement
and understanding is important to establish that. I will also tell parents the way that I will
communicate with them is through a monthly newsletter that contains all the important
school has put in place that students need to know. I want students to also participate in a get to
know you activity that ask students questions about them like favorite color, food, sport, etc. As
the teacher I want to know all my students and what they like and dislike so I can use it in the
classroom.
Classroom Environment
Whenever a student walks in my classroom I want them to feel warm, invited, and
comfortable in the classroom. I want them to be able to be themselves in the classroom and want
students to work harder and lets them get to know one another. Having the classroom feel like a
community also allows students to have someone there for them when
Layout I
they are having a rough day. For made some students this is their first kind
of interaction in this type of setting because they may not have gone to Pre-School. Students
want to feel wanted and want to have friends and talk to everyone so being in a different setting
could make students feel nervous, which is not what I want. My students will sit at tables in
groups of 3-4 depending on the number of students in the classroom. This will be their
communities and tablemates that they will do projects, tubs, and centers with. There will be a rug
at the front/center of the room, where we will have whole-group instruction and other class
important instruction. There will be a one-on-one desk next to my desk for students that need
one-on-one help or for visitors in the classroom. The teacher-directed small group instruction
area will be next to that and right by the door because I think I will be there majority of the class
I think it encourages and inspires students in the classroom. Students want to feel more involved
during class and activities and are excited about the theme. Some students even try and
library/reading area, where I want to implement my reading program called Reading with
Dexter that encourages students to read. Students will have reading buddies which will be
stuffed frogs that students can read to. In kindergarten-second grade, most students cannot read
silently because they do not know how to or cannot read as well so the buddy will be someone
they can always read with or to. When students have free time they can always go over to the
library/reading area and pick out a book from the collection. Students can check out books to
Classroom Policies
I will have basic classroom rules that students will follow. These would be looking eyes,
listening ears, quiet mouths, helping hands, walking feet, and staying seated on their bottoms.
These would just be the basic policies students will follow for the other rules, the class will come
up with a social contract that then students will sign. To keep students from coming up with
Kelli Gilbert
April 27, 2016
crazy answers that may not go with the class I will have some prewritten out as a model for them
encouraged to tell their parent about the promise they have made to the class. Administration will
see the rules/promises when they walk by the classroom and see the contract hanging on the
wall.
Classroom Procedures
In my kindergarten class I am in now, all the students walk in with breakfast and get
organized in the morning. All the students that do not have breakfast or finish before she starts
teaching play with tubs. These tubs promote hand-eye coordination and motor skills in general. I
really like this concept because students really enjoy getting to play with these tubs while they
wait for school to start and it gives the teacher time to get settled and collect notes from parents
and other classroom duties. My students would walk in and play with tubs that would be filled
with play dough, blocks, building sticks, etc. This would allow an easy transition into the day. I
Kelli Gilbert
April 27, 2016
would end my class with exit tickets, but since they are younger and may not be able to read as
well, they would be emoji exit tickets that ask how they thought the day went. Once they have
completed the ticket they can grab their backpack and lined up for busses on the floor ready to
go.
I will have pre-set transitions in the classroom that I will teach the first few weeks of
school. One of my favorite transitions I have seen is using music to go from one activity to
and then use our attention getter to get students back to focus and move on.
I will address the distribution and collection of work and materials through classroom
managers. I think students really like having jobs in the classroom and that it promotes students
responsibility and independence. I will have table managers that take care of picking up stuff for
their table, from their table, and bringing and putting away tubs for their table. There will be
lunch bucket managers that will be in charge of taking the lunch kits to and from the cafeteria. I
will also have a student materials distributor that is in charge of people getting materials when I
need something to be passed out. These managers will change every nine weeks to a new person
Kelli Gilbert
April 27, 2016
or if the student that has the position does not do what they are suppose to multiple times they
will be changed.
question can be ignored unless it continues on and becomes disruptive. Disruptive behaviors
would be screaming during class, talking out of turn, wandering the classroom with no purpose,
talking loudly to another student for no reason, throwing paper and other objects, or teasing other
students. To address these misbehaviors the first time students will be pulled aside and we will
problem solve as to why they were doing what they were doing, why
it was wrong, and how they can fix it the next time. If the
behavior continues and just pulling the student aside to talk to them
does not work then they will start to lose rewards or time at
recess. When the behavior is at the point that it is really bad and I have
tried several times then the parents will be contacted. I will keep a
My observation teacher right now uses this strategy while teaching and it is very effective; it gets
students attention and they usually stop what they are doing. The students know she is watching
Student Motivation
Kelli Gilbert
April 27, 2016
I want my students to be motivated, engaged, and want to learn when they walk in my
classroom. I will use interactive activities that involve students using their hands and really
getting into the activity going on. I also want to let the students have a choice, which will be
difficult for some activities because of the content, but for the majority of the activities I want
students to be able to have some say in what we do. If there is not a lot of opportunity for student
choice then I want students interest to play a key factor and for them to be able to include things
that they like to do in their everyday life. I will also have a variety of leveled activities so all
students can learn and will have the same success as the next. I want my students to feel like any
of them can succeed in what they are doing or put their mind to. One of my biggest slogans that I
hope motivates all of my students is anyone can learn. I truly believe this and I think a lot of
students get labeled before they even step into the classroom as a bad kid or the disruptive
child or the not so smart kid or even the way too smart kid. Labeling a student before they
even walk into the classroom just creates increased drama and nonsense because the teacher will
always look at that student differently than their peer. So in my classroom I want to promote
students to learn and know that they can learn no matter who they are, where they came from, or
strategies that I want to use. These ideas are the teacher mailbox, the brain breaks box, and
sharing time for students. In order for students to feel motivated to learn they have to feel some
kind of relationship and trust in the classroom. I want to have a teacher mailbox where students
can write notes to me or tell me stories about something that they might have done. I will check
the box every few days then write the students back so they can take it home and read it like
mail. Students also love an excuse to get up and move around and take a break from learning
Kelli Gilbert
April 27, 2016
because they may be frustrated or just really tired. So I want to implement brain breaks in my
classroom. There will be a box full of different quick activities that involve moving around and http://w
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taking a break from what they are doing. The activities could be the cupid shuffle, Simon says, ogress.c
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stretching, Macarena, jumping jacks, crab walking around the room, and more. This will help 5/11/5-
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motivate students because they can get up take a break and then connect-
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refocus on the important stuff and they will not feel as stressed out. students
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Another activity that my teacher used in college to help us get to
know everyone in our class was sharing story time. At the beginning
of class two students get to share a story but they have to involve a
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topic of my choosing, so it could be a time you went swimming or pyteacher.co/2012
/08/brain-
breaks.html?m=1
a time you went to the zoo, etc. Younger students will really love
this because they already love talking about themselves and sharing their stories so now it will
Conclusion
build my students up and make them feel like they can succeed
scaring a student into doing the right thing but rather guiding them and letting them make
decisions on their own. In the book Teach Like Your Hairs on Fire he talks a lot about building
trust and community in the classroom and I want that same sense of trust and community in my
classroom. The teacher should not be a potential nemesis but a trusted teacher and friend
(Esquith, 2007, P.12). If students are scared to talk to the teacher then they may never come to
Kelli Gilbert
April 27, 2016
the teacher with a problem or for help. They will always think the teacher is going to yell at them
if they bring something up or need to talk to them. It also discourages students from learning
because the teacher yelled at them for getting a bad grade or doing something wrong.
References:
Esquith, R. (2007). Teach Like Your Hair's on Fire: The Methods and Madness Inside Room 56.