Kolb EDUC 461 Fall 2014

Journal Entry for September 17, 2014

Today was the day that I was going to observe a first grade classroom doing the subject
of Math. The class I was going to observe had students that I previously taught in 329 so it was
great to see most of them again and they remembered me! I observed Mrs. Smith and she asked
them if any her students had me last year. The students I had previously said yes! I was so
excited to be with them and see how far they had come since I have been with them. They were
reviewing subtraction or take away. What I liked the most about the lesson was that she went
back over the three methods of subtraction by using whole/part, comparison words in the word
problems, and using a basic number sentence. I like how she was teaching them to underline
things you need to know in the word problems because I know word problems are not my thing
at all. It is always good to start them early to understand what you need out of the word problem
rather than having all of the words scare you.
After she reviewed with them, she had paired off in partners. My only thing I would have
done differently is have them paired by ability so the high student is not doing all the work. She
had a low student and a high student paired together but I noticed the higher one was doing all
the work and the lower one was just sitting there. I liked how they used their unifex cubes and
their white boards to represent the word problem visually and using the manipulatives to their
advantage. She hit the learning styles of the students who learn better that way which I enjoyed
to see. At the end of each problem, the way they checked was using their fingers which is fine
because it works for the students to physically take away fingers when they subtract.
It was great to see my former students come so far and that they are doing so well. It
showed me that the short time I was with them, I made a difference somehow. It was probably
more so Ms. South and Ms. Bolden but I hoped I still made a difference for them.