Karina Cabrera

EDR 317
December 7, 2017
Field Journals 2

Week of October 24 - October 26

Today in field I was also able to spend time with Mrs.McCrory to talk about any
questions and my upcoming observations. I really like how she took the time to answer my
questions and to focus on what I need help with since lately she had many meetings to attend in
the mornings. She told me what she would like me to do during the observations. I also discussed
with her my curiosity for attending a conference. She said it would be great for me to observe
and that she just needed to see what permission she would need for me to attend one. I was also
able to share with her some apps that could be of benefit for her class. She was SO excited to
hear about the amazing applications. She even had me do an application with an ELL student that
day.
I had the opportunity to read out loud to the class. I got a bit nervous because I had no
idea I was going to read and I hadnt read it beforehand. This made me realize the importance of,
as a future teacher, being prepared especially with books. I had a lot of fun reading and the
students were very respectful of me reading. This week was heritage week at Sugartown. I
noticed how Mrs.McCrory is integrating heritage studies into her lessons. The class had read the
Mexican, Caribbean, and English versions of Cinderella. They compared and contrasted the
different stories and learned about how different cultures value different foods and objects. I will
definitely be using this idea as a future teacher. It is great to expose students to different cultural
heritages.
This week I started seeing the reading specialists coming into the classroom to work with
students who are struggling in reading. There were 2 students who seemed to be at a lower
independent reading level. Mrs.McCrory later explained that they were in Tier 2. This meant that
they are being helped and taken out of the classroom every day for about an hour. When they
came back from reading support, Mrs. McCrory asked me to have the students read aloud to me.
I then assisted them in completing the reading activities that they were asked to do.
On Thursday morning, Mrs.McCrory and I discussed some more about Apps that could
benefit her class. I am glad I have been of some help with sharing apps. She even spoke to the
Tech person about adding in an App that I had suggested which I think is fantastic. We had some
special guests come in because of heritage week so we were able to learn a lot about Greece and
India. The students seemed very fascinated about learning different cultures and customs. I
learned a lot as well. It was a great experience and I hope to see it some more later on in the
semester. In between the guest speakers, I was able to work on reading groups with the students
and to continue my observations with my SLO student. I would say that this week I was very
involved and learned a lot.
Week of October 31- November 2
Tuesday I did not attend field because I had made it up previously due to an appointment.
But Thursday, a lot of great things happened. While we were in the meeting with our professor,
she explained that we would be able to have more time with our SLO Case Study. Since I have
the data already, I think I need to sit down and type it out. I had the advantage of observing my
student being benchmarked so I was able to remember a few details about her. During morning
work, the students completed a worksheet that was called Reading Detective. I like seeing how
even in the morning work papers, Mrs.McCrory differentiates by giving the students that struggle
another type of worksheet. I worked with the ELL students to cut out some words and formed
them into sentences. I noticed that one of the ELL students was very engaged and ready to learn
so I complimented her effort in completing the work. Not only was she excited about finishing
her morning work fast, she even attempted to do the worksheet that the rest of the class was
working on. It makes me happy to see when students are enthusiastic about learning.
Thursday was also the day of my observation. As I had explained to my professor and
Mrs.McCrory I was nervous about my observation. But, it turned out to be better than I thought!
I enjoyed it very much. Time went by very fast and I didnt rush to get it done like I thought I
would. I also liked the way the students were very respectful towards me and they stayed
engaged throughout the whole lesson. I was also able to set a goal for myself to use kid-friendly
terms next time. I really liked that we were able to receive feedback about our observations to be
able to improve as future teachers. I also realized the importance once again of being prepared
and to think ahead to what could possibly be the students responses. Being prepared led be to be
less nervous. Overall it was a great experience!

Week of November 7- November 9

On Tuesday in field we had a substitute for class. I think this was the first time I
witnessed a substitute in Mrs.McCrorys class. The substitute, Ms.Clark, asked me what the
morning routine was like and I gladly explained to her what tasks are completed in the morning.
I told her I worked with the ELL students in the back of the classroom during morning work and
she asked if I could continue doing it.
It was a little difficult to watch how some students acted so different when Mrs.McCrory
wasnt there. For morning work I was able to work with the students on the iPad as well. There
was an application that they really liked. We then played Taboo which I think is a great way for
students to learn their words. It is like the game Hedbanz where you show up the picture and the
partner gives hints and the person has to guess what the word is. Ms. Clark had students
complete a reading from their anthology books and then take a comprehension test.
On Thursday I was observed during a small group time doing word operation. It was not
the best environment for the observation simply because another activity was planned last minute
and the students were very excited about it. I really like the fact that we are able to reflect with
our professor to get feedback and to analyze how we did and to set new goals. I continued having
the same goal of using more teacher talk in order for students to understand more. I think the
observations have helped me become more confident in speaking and teaching.
After my observation, Mrs.McCrory explained that the class was preparing for a Readers
Theatre. I love the idea of incorporating Social Studies and Literacy into one lesson. I also like
that it pertains to the story of the first Thanksgiving which comes in perfect timing! I believe
there are two classes involved and they practiced making the Thanksgiving food props and
costumes. I enjoyed watching how excited the students got when they were told that they
themselves were going to be making the props. This is a great use of collaboration between the
teachers and the students.
After completing both of my observations, I realized that I have become more confident
than what I was at the beginning of the semester. As explained in my Reading Autobiography, I
am a very shy person and I set myself a goal to do a whole-group lesson and I did. I learned that
I need to be very prepared and not simply go for it. Being prepared led me to being more
comfortable and less nervous.
Week of November 14-November 16
On Tuesday in field, I was able to help Mrs.McCrory with grading some spelling tests
that the students took on Friday. I could see in the spelling tests that she emphasizes neat
handwriting as well as keeping the letters lowercased. I think it is great how she differentiates for
each student and reminds each students about a specific goal they are working on during their
test with short notes such as, Remember to write neatly or Use lowercase letters.
I was also able to help her prepare some short tests with students. I had the opportunity to
tests students on context clues. Mrs.McCrory asked me if I could test students one by one and
have each student individually read 8 sentences out loud to me. I would then jot down whether or
not the student read the bolded word correctly. I enjoyed doing this because I was able to see the
drastic reading levels that the students were on based on how they read the story. I also felt at one
point like I was completing a running record which was great practice for me.
I had the opportunity to work with my SLO student while she worked on the game Taboo
with a partner. I also had her read a few short passages for me to help her with her fluency. I am
glad I have opportunities to get involved inside of a classroom instead of simply observing. I
have done a lot of hands-on learning with students and like that I am able to work with different
students from all different reading levels.
On Thursday in class we were able to attend a small Thanksgiving show led by the
Kindergartners. After the show, Mrs.McCrory asked students what they learned from those
students throughout their performance since they present on Friday. I like how she teaches her
students that they can always learn even from younger students. During readers workshop,
students have been learning about non-fiction texts. Mrs.McCrory gave students packets with a
reading about Thanksgiving along with questions and activities. I noticed that the text wording
was difficult but the students did not give up. They used context clues to figure out unknown
words. I went around to different groups and guided them into using background knowledge,
parts of the word, and re-reading the sentences to help them with the difficult words. I like how
the group work allowed for interactions and strategies to decipher these words.

Serafini Reflection Chapter 8

In the Serafini reading titled: Facilitating Childrens Development as Readers, I was able
to learn that reading out loud and reading to yourself also forms part of the reading instruction. I
found this fascinating because I never thought of it like that. I believe that Mrs.McCrory
incorporates facilitated reading instruction during Readers Workshop continuously. When
someone has a question while she reads aloud or when she notices a student struggling or using a
strategy, she stops to let the class acknowledge it and uses it as a teaching moment. During her
read alouds as well, she incorporates strategies that students have used in the past to re-teach it.
Something else I learned from this chapter is how phonic books cant always teach a strategy or a
process as much as an ordinary book can. I was very happy when I read that the author used a
similar lesson that I used when I taught in field. I never thought that this lesson can help teachers
acknowledge what strategies students already know. Not only that, but it can help teachers
evaluate which strategies work best for different students. An interesting idea I found was
grouping students according to their strategy needs, not only on their reading level. Finally, I
agree that it is crucial to not always focus on sound-symbol relationships but to focus on reading
strategies as well.

Week of November 28-November 30

After being back from Thanksgiving break, I noticed that students looked a little more
refreshed and renewed. I cannot believe how fast time has passed! Next week will be my last
week in field and I will miss my teacher very much. I have learned so much from her and hope
that I have been of some help for her as well. Her guidance is very much appreciated.
On Tuesday in class Mrs.McCrory did a great lesson that had the students very
enthusiastic. Because the students are still working on non-fiction texts, she did a small activity
with coins. She gave each student a coin and ask them to carefully look at the coin and to notice
any details they found like words or symbols. She used this analogy to explain to students the
importance of looking closely to details in their readings so that they can further on make
connections. Mrs. McCrory also allowed me to work on an iPad app with an ELL student and to
also help her with her narrative piece.
It is great to see how the students have grown throughout these months with their reading
and writing. I also worked with a group to complete a book peak and to talk about a reading. The
students were really engaged and asked great questions. I really enjoy doing these small group
readings because it gives me the opportunity to ask more one-on-one questions and there I can
practice teaching students how to decode difficult words.
On Thursday I worked with the ELL students with sorting and alphabetizing words. All
other students were asked to do the same and many had difficulty with this so I went around to
help. I like how this activity allows students to think because they have two goals. They have to
sort them either by long or short vowels, or endings. They also have to put them in ABC order as
well. I like how Mrs.McCrory allows students to reflect a lot throughout their readings. Students
are asked to write questions and while they read, they must find the answer. I think this strategy
allows the reader to become more curious and find a purpose for their readings. As a teacher, I
want to incorporate post-its to allow for more talking to the text.

Week of December 5- December 7

In field, we were quite busy on Tuesday. Mrs.McCrory mentioned that there were many
students who were out a few days because they had the stomach bug. Students caught up on math
tests and reading tests that were given. I assisted with anthology book readings that came with a
set of vocabulary and comprehension questions.
I enjoyed time to reflect with Mrs.McCrory about my stay during field. She asked me if
there was anything she could improve as a teacher. It was difficult for me to come up with ideas
because she has done an awesome job. I told her I like how she challenges her students and uses
every opportunity possible to teach students many strategies. We also had the opportunity to talk
about how I could never see myself teaching literacy because it was my struggle throughout my
school years. She reminded me that the ones that struggle the most become the best teachers
because they see themselves through the students. This is going to be something that I am always
going to remind myself going into student teaching.
On my last day of field, I worked with a group of students who were completing a poster
project. They had been studying different non-fiction texts according to their reading levels and
were going to create a poster. I love the creativity that Mrs.McCrory allows in her classroom. I
like the idea of making posters in groups because it allowed for collaboration and group
discussions.
I am very thankful that I got to be a part of this reading experience in the School District
that I attended as a student. I learned so much from Mrs.McCrory and all of her wonderful
students. She has a wonderful group and is working well to build a community with the students.
While leaving I felt very nostalgic knowing that it was the end of field and I am thankful because
those students were my teachers. They taught me so many things that I never thought to learn.
The journey in my reading practicum is one that I will never forget.