Over Spring Break, I was able to visit the preschool in the morning, when actual lessons were being taught, as opposed to the afternoon classes that I normally visit. This was beneficial to me for several reasons. Firstly, I was able to see the students awake and fully ready to learn, which is so different from the sleepy preschoolers I am used to working with. Secondly, I was able to observe their classroom teacher through circle time and daily lessons. In addition to daily lessons by the classroom teacher, the M-W-F class had gym, music, and group speech each once a week. The T-Th class also had group speech once a week. I think that being able to witness this allowed me to think about planning in the classroom more than I ever had before. Most of the classrooms that I have been in during my field experiences at The College of Wooster have not had “specials” while I was visiting their rooms. This was a new and valuable experience for me not only in the planning aspect, but also in seeing how the students react to different teachers in the building.
During the time I was in field for the mornings, I was able to teach two lessons. The first was about Easter Eggs and the letter E, while the second was a lesson on graphing where we we graphed the classes favorite colors of the rainbow. I have attached both lesson plans to this entry in order to further explain these lessons. Below are two pictures in order to offer a visual representation of the work that I completed with my students.
Easter Egg Lesson Plan
Graphing Our Favorite Colors Lesson Plan
Through both of these lessons, I was able to use some sign language with the students that I had learned through watching my cooperating teacher. The signs we used were for the letter “E” and for the colors of the rainbow: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, and purple. This is something I have never done before and I think added greatly to my lesson. Some children in the class are entirely non-verbal and while they usually do not use signs to communicate, they are being taught them in hopes that they will develop these skills.
Since we have been back from break, I have had one additional week in the field classroom. Things are back to the usual schedule now, where I visit the class during nap time, I help the students with puzzles and any unfinished morning work, prepare supplies for my cooperating teacher, and help the students get ready to go home. This week, we had a substitute in the class, because our classroom teacher was away for the week. Again, this was a new experience for me. It was interesting to see how the students reacted to a new teacher in the room. Although I had met this substitute before, I could tell that the students were trying to get away with more than is normally permissible. The teacher did not seem phased by this behavior, and kept the children in line, but because of the relaxed nature of our afternoons, they were still clearly acting out. I think that it is a valuable experience in that I have seen how students act with substitutes, in case I ever find myself in that situation.
On a different note, I’ll be teaching lessons again next week, I’m excited. 
Field Hours: 25
Support Hours: 3
