Journal Entry #5

My first two weeks transitioning to a different school district has definitely been a
change. I am currently at Thurgood Marshall Elementary School with Ms. Catherine Garrett’s
first grade class. The first week of my placement I spent my time, for the most part, observing
how Ms. Garrett manages and instructs her classroom. I definitely noticed a difference with the
daily schedule. Instead of a daily morning meeting, her class starts the day with a daily power up.
This consists of students starting their day with either computer time, building with geometry
blocks, building puzzles, or creating words with letter stamps. I usually spend time with students
at each station so be able to connect with them before they start their day. On Mondays there is
also a PBIS mini lesson with the entire class to encourage positive behavior. On Fridays, a small
group pulled to work on a specific math skill. A similarity I saw with the classroom is having
designated math and reading stations that included technology, hands-on activities, and practice
worksheets.
The second week of working with Ms. Garrett’s class, I took on more responsibility. I
held small groups for reading, math, and word study. I was able to work with a variety of
different levels in the classroom, and was able to practice differentiating my small groups for
what to what they are academically capable of. For word study, I had students practice the
different “-ng” sounds, long and short “a” sounds, and the long and short “u” sounds. For math,
we focused on equality and making sure that both sides of an equation are equal. To represent
this, we used balance scales and number blocks.
For reading, the students focused on making predictions. In our small groups, I worked
with a level “I” group on reading a version of “Jack and the Beanstalk” and had them make
predictions based on their previous knowledge of the story, and the information given throughout
the text. The level “K” group focused on independent reading and reflection on their predictions
after reading multiple short stories. I am very thankful to be able to practice more with my small
reading groups, as I am improving on improving my time management. Another part of my
responsibilities this week included awarding dojo points, recording student goals for the week,
helping with transitions, and writing plans for morning work, homework, small groups, and
creating the weekly newsletter.
Working with these students has exposed me to different cultural aspects such as using
different educational tools and resources, different behaviors present throughout the classroom,
and many different home environments of the children. In Ms. Garrett’s classroom, there are a
few students with consistent behavior problems that I have been working with these past two
weeks. I’ve realized that in order to reach these students, I need to be able to show a firmer hand
while still implementing PBIS in the classroom, as Thurgood Marshall Elementary School is a
strong proponent of the PBIS behavior system.
Ms. Garrett and I have also worked out many incentives for students to achieve. Three
days a week, five students have the opportunity to be a part of my “lunch bunch” a term Miss
Garrett uses to incentivise students who are behaving the best to sit with me at lunch. Students
also have the opportunity to be my “buddy” for either Thursday or Friday, an incentive I came
up with to award the student I think is showing outstanding behavior and work ethic. This
student may sit at my desk with me, help me award points to those doing the right thing, walk
with me in the hallway, and help me choose the four others for “lunch bunch” for the day.
Students also have the opportunity to reach their weekly Class Dojo goal, and if they reach their
points by the end of the week, they are awarded a prize.
 The verse that best reflects my past two weeks with Ms. Garrett’s class is Ephesians 4:2
(NIV) “Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love.”
Although I genuinely love the class I have been assigned to, at times it can become difficult to
stay patient and approach students in a loving manner when handling different behaviors in the
classroom. However, this verse strengthens me to persevere through these behaviors and not be
quick to anger. Instead I must continue to model positive behavior and show compassion and
patience to students who have difficulty with self control.