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Blog #6

 My service learning classroom is in a very very small town. There is not very much diversity in the classroom I have been helping and observing in. There are a few little things that I can tell about the students and I have seen my cooperating teacher help them with many of the students specific needs that need to be met.  Some of the students are very behind in their reading. They are at very low reading levels for their age. My cooperating teacher had me pull students aside one by one and have them read their certain list (depending on their reading level) of 100 words that they have to read in 60 seconds. She had me do this so the kids could keep working on their reading skills. It was a fun activity for the kids to do because they tried so hard to read all the words with no mistakes in 60 seconds. If they completed that then they got to move on to the next level. My teacher said the kids did not get graded on this, this was just to help them with their reading skills, and some kid
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Blog #5

In the United States historically there has been discrimination against non-white students. The Latino students, while technically classified as white, have actually fallen into this discrimination, not only based on skin tone but also based on bilingual needs and abilities. According to the 2010 US Census, the Latino population of Utah was about 14.2%. While the elementary school I am at has a predominately white demographic, and is in a town of less than 500 people, there are students that attend the school that fall into other demographics.  The Latino students in the class that I have been helping in have no language barriers and are treated the same as all the students, but if we were in the past, this might not be the case. In an article titled "The Impact of Brown on the Education of Latinos" by A. Reynaldo Contreras and Leonard A. Valverde it says "Prior to Brown v. the board of Education, the education conditions and treatments of Latinos and African Americans w
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Blog #4

There were many ways my teacher used activities that were engaging for students.  The first example of an engaging activity my cooperating teacher did was coloring and cutting. She had the students choose a crown with one of the word that they were learning. Once the students chose their word they took it back to their desk and drew on it and colored it however they wanted. Once it was all colored they cut out the crown shape and the teacher stapled it to a band to make crowns for the students.  This was very engaging for the students because they got to physically draw on something as well as cut it out. They were also seeing the word the whole time they were coloring and cutting. Making something that the students can wear and keep is engaging because it is something that is cool to them that they want to do. Every student loves taking things home with them.  The second example I saw was that she had the students read to each other. She had them choose out a book the week before and
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Blog #3 - Importance of Classroom Aspects

 There were lots of things the teachers did to establish a positive classroom community. The first thing I saw was in the morning when the students had just sat down on the rug she had the students turn to each other and tell them a fun thing they are going to do this weekend. This helps to create friendships and helps classmates learn to listen to each other. This teacher also encouraged service and helping others. The other teacher I observed had the students do quizlet live, which made them talk to each other and work with each other to find the right answers. Doing things like this and making the students work together creates a positive classroom community.  There were many ways the teachers showed how they establish a positive relationship with their students. The very first thing I noticed when I got there in the morning was when the teacher was showing me around the school and the kids were playing outside waiting for the morning bell to ring, she would say hi to every kid that
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Teacher Education Experience

As I begin my journey into elementary education I will be volunteering time at a local elementary school. I have chosen to split my time between two different third grade classes. I have chosen third grade as it has always been my desire to teach third grade. The first school I plan to do hours at will be at Lakeview Elementary in Provo, Utah. This is the school that I went to and it is near to my heart. The teacher I will be assisting is Shane Rowley. He is by far the favorite teacher I have ever had, and he has been a big inspiration in my desire to become a teacher myself.  Lakeview is located on the west side of Provo and is in the adjoining neighborhood to the new Provo High School. This neighborhood is a mixture of older homes and new subdivisions. Most of the homes in this area are single family homes. This is a Portuguese immersion school, so students do come from other areas in the Alpine School District as part of the student population. The classes are larger in size and the
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