Journal #3 Domain #3 Teaching and the Curriculum

Carefully planning the day is key to every successful classroom. Ms. Clarke, my cooperating teacher, has every moment of the day planned. She told me that there is always more she would like to do with the children but time is always limited.
When I asked Ms. Clarke about how she plans the schedule she shared her planner with me. She told me that certain things on the schedule are out of her control. For example P.E. is at 8:30, Art is at 1:25 and lunch is at 11:30 these are fixed times she has to work around. Then there is math at 10:30 and reading at 9:00 these times are determined by the fourth grade team of teachers as the children go to different teachers according to ability. That leaves four time slots for that day for the teacher to fill with other subjects such as spelling, independent reading, science or social studies. Ms. Clarke generally looks at the week as a whole knowing some subjects are daily like reading and math and some are weekly or a few times a week like music or P.E. In the classroom I am observing in there is a clear schedule of the day displayed in the front of the room where everyone can see, this makes transitions easier as the children know what is next on the schedule. What Ms. Clarke teaches is state or district curriculum so; she tries to keep it interesting and age appropriate for the class of fourth graders. For example for Valentines Day she had the children write a poem about their favorite chocolate. Then they cut out a piece of cardboard in the shape of a Hershey Kiss, covered it with foil which worked as a frame for their poem that was typed and printed from the computer.
The teacher must prepare and plan for each lesson. She must ask herself “what do I need to follow through on this particular lesson”. Some lessons require copies to be made for each student, other lessons may require that she brings in a roll of foil and still other lessons may require the students to bring in something. The class I am observing in did a project where each child had to bring in a photo of themselves as babies. Each lesson is different and may require a different type of planning. When planning a lesson the teacher also decides what the desired outcome is going to be. What was the purpose of the lesson? Ms. Clarke is good at making the objective clear, for example in math she tells the students what they will learn on that particular day before they start the lesson.
Ms. Clarke arrives prior to the students each morning; there is also a rotating schedule for the teachers to cover before the bell outside supervision. In addition the teachers rotate bus duty at the end of the day when the teachers supervise students lining up and boarding the busses. During the regular day she follows the same schedule as the students, however when they go to their specials classes this gives her the opportunity to meet with other staff, respond to email, make copies, grade papers, plan or perform one of the other tasks she needs to do; this time goes fast.
I have learned that the curriculum dictates what is to be taught. It is up to the teacher to come up with creative and interesting ways to present the curriculum. The teacher should also use assessments to find out what the student know prior the start of a lesson. This allows the teacher to have a better understanding of where to begin or what to emphasize in the lesson. Assessments are needed during the lesson, so the teacher knows if the students are grasping the lesson. And following the lesson assessments are needed to find out if the lesson was effective or if their needs to be additional time spent on that particular lesson. How lessons flow through the day is also important; that is why when I begin teaching I will have a schedule displayed in the front of the room. I believe this eases anxiety and helps children transition from one activity to the next.