Max Crimp

EDUC 302-303
Prof. Terpstra

Aiding Journal 2

This week in my teaching aiding has been a busy one. I am slowly but surely
morphing into a teacher rather than an observer. It is still a weird feeling be
called Mr. Crimp on a routine basis. This week, I have been able to be a lot more
hands on and I have taken on more and more responsibility in the classroom. I am
trusted with more materials, and also trusted with being responsibility for more
students at a time.
During this week I have been involved in more of the students specials,
which are classes such as computers, Spanish, or Art. I walk with the students to
these classes and then I observe, watch out for any misbehaving, and help the
teacher if they need me to. Helping the teacher in the specials classes usually
means answering students questions if the teacher is busy or simply helping to
contain the students behavior. In computer class, the students are learning to type
and are going through a computer program in which they partake in a series of
computer games that all are related to typing. I noticed that in our Chapter 5 reading
of the Oakes, Litpon, Anderson, and Stillman that computer class was not one of the
subjects mentioned. Even though the chapter was titled The Subject Matters:
Constructing Knowledge Across the Content Areas, there was no mention of a
computer class to improve childrens ability to use a computer. I wonder why this
was left out of the book. I believe that computers and technology are becoming an
ever-present force in todays society, and I think we have a duty as educators to
educate the youth of today about how to use computers and other technology
properly.
I also have been able to sit in the Spanish special. I immediately noticed a
difference in the students behavior. The students were all of a sudden more
rambunctious and had trouble focusing and staying quiet. However, the teacher did
not firmly implement her authority, so the students did not respond very well. In
their regular classroom, the teacher is much more authoritative and the students
respect her authority much more. I talked about this with Mrs. Jones (pseudonym
for regular classroom teacher). She knew that I was going to see a different side of
the students, and this was the reason that she told me to observe the students in the
Spanish special. This reminded me of Chapter 3 from Froyen and Iverson. Children
can easily undermine the authority of the teacher, and this must have been the case
in the Spanish class (Froyen and Iverson, 1999, p. 74,). However, in Mrs. Jones class,
this has not happened (and I do not see it happening for a long time!). This is
something that I need to make sure I control in my classroom someday. I need to
make sure my authority is not undermined, otherwise the classroom does not
become an effective environment for learning.
Other than observing, I have also been able to do a lot of one-on-one work
with students. For instance, when the students work on their math assignment, my
job is to go around and answer any questions that the students may have. This
allows to me to get to know each student a bit better and also see where the class is
mentally with the topic. I also have been interviewing students in front of the class
dressed up as people from the biographies they have been reading. For example,
today I interviewed a student dressed as Neil Armstrong and a student dressed as
Teddy Roosevelt. This is another way that I am getting to know the class while also
helping them expand their knowledge on the famous people in their biographies.
This is something that I want to someday do in my own classroom. This activity puts
a fun spin on learning and requires a lot of student participation. I have learned a lot
of good techniques so far, and I am excited to see what else I can learn this year.

Froyen, L. A., & Iverson, A. M. (1999). Schoolwide And Classroom Management: The
Reflective Educator-Leader (3rdrd ed., pp. 49-56). Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Merill Publishing.