School Wide Event Reflections

Dr. Seuss Day:

Dr. Seuss Day was a wonderful experience for both the students
and me! I love how there is a day dedicated to focusing on reading and
celebrating one of the greatest authors of all time. The students loved
the hall decorations that focused on the different books. We worked
very hard on those decorations, so I am very glad that the students
enjoyed them. Lauren and I painstakingly hung all the streamers from
the ceiling and the middle circle, and made sure that they were color
coordinated. I also helped to hang the different characters that Lindsey
did such a great job of drawing. One of my favorite parts of the hallway
was the student work that was displayed among the different
characters. Not only does the work remind the students of the books,
but also it gives them something to be proud of. I really enjoyed
helping prepare for the day and week. The hall was so organized, and I
loved the way it went through each famous Dr. Seuss story. Because
we as Samford students put so much time and effort into the process,
it was a very special day for the students!
I also really, really enjoyed Dr. Seuss Day. The parade was one of
the funniest and most lively events I have ever seen. It was so full of
joy, and the joy radiated to everyone around the students. During the
ceremony, one of my students read his passage that he had written

about trees. He did an incredible job, as did all the other students. I
was very impressed with each student that read his or her piece. My
most favorite part however was the production of Seussical the
Musical. When I was in 8th grade, my class performed Seussical, and
watching this rendition brought back such lovely memories. The
musical also does a good job of portraying the Dr. Seuss books, so it
was an engaging way for the students to be exposed to more Dr. Seuss
tales. This day was a huge success.

Space Day:
Space Day was by far my favorite activity that we have done this
semester with the students. I absolutely loved every second of it. I was
a group leader, and I had my students from my fourth grade class. We
were the green group, or the Rocket Stars. From the very first second,
when the students got off the bus, I was in the zone and loving it! They
were all so excited that they were in my group, and I was so happy to
be their leader. It made me realize how much I really loved them, and
how proud of them I was, especially when we were walking around
campus and I would see some of my Samford friends. I was beaming
with pride and joy.
I was also impressed with all the different rooms that we
experienced. The room leaders did a spectacular job, and my students
were entertained in each room. I loved how the Mission Control room

had the rocks that the students could look at, as well as the picture
frame. My students loved the picture frame, and that is something that
they can look back on and remember forever. I was also in charge of
making the Boarding Passes for each of the students, and I hope that
they liked that they were customized and personal. The Moon Room
was my personal favorite. I had just taught a lesson on the phases of
the moon, so it was rewarding to see how the students already knew
the topic. There were also lots of fun songs and the Oreo activity that
kept them captivated and intrigued. The rockets were also a great
success. The students loved the activity, and it was fun for them to use
something that they had created. My students also mentioned how
they liked the Planet Room because they liked making presentations
and discovering which planet would be best to live on. That was a
wonderful activity for the students and an excellent teaching tool.
Finally, the Constellation Room was also a success. Even though some
of my students struggled with working with others during the
marshmallow activity, I think that was a great way to teach them about
the constellations. Overall, today was an absolutely wonderful today. I
learned that it is very difficult to be in charge of a group of students,
but it is a great feeling to be in charge. I learned that a leader must be
confident and command respect. You must also expect proper behavior
from the very beginning; otherwise, it will get out of hand. I also
learned that I am very proud of my students and have formed an

attachment that could never be broken. Having my students on

Samfords campus was such a treat, and I hope that they enjoyed it as
much as I did!

Young Authors Conference:

Going in to this day, I had no idea what to expect. I had never experienced a
Young Authors Conference before, so I was a little apprehension. Abby and I were the
only two students assigned to our room, and I was unsure of how that was going to go. As
Abby and I prepared the door ahead of time and found a short video clip to introduce the
book, I wondered how this day would unfold. However, at the end of the day today, I had
no reason to be worried at all. Our first group came in right at 9:00, and it was a
whirlwind from that moment on. In each group, we would first ask them if they had read
Rules. Most of them had not. That was an inspiring moment for me, because I was then
serving as an advocate for a book to these children. Because of me, a student might now
read this book and fall in love with reading. How amazing would that be? That could be a
life-changing event for a child, and it should not be taken lightly. After we watched the
video clip, we asked the students if they knew what autism was. That was another
teachable moment, because Abby and I got to share with these students what we have
been learning in our Special Education classes: That students with learning disabilities
are not different or weird. They just learn differently than we do, and we have the
opportunity to work with them and find a way to help them understand in a way that
make sense to them. After those two pieces, we introduced the door hangers and how the
students could make up rules for their own rooms. Reading the students rules was

absolutely hilarious. Some of them were normal rules, like knock before you enter or
clean up your mess. Other more creative rules included Only Auburn fans allowed,
No talking about Auburn unless it is how bad they are, The only dance move allowed
is the whip and nae nae, and hit the quan before you enter the room. The students were
lively and engaged, and they loved making rules for their bedroom. After our last session,
we then went to hear the guest speaker. He was very animated and kept the attention of
the students. His session on adding to writing and making it more interesting and creative
was a lesson that I think we all need to hear. Especially as developing writers, though,
this was a good thing for the 3rd graders to hear and hopefully they will use what they
learned in the future. Overall, I believe that today was a huge success. I think it is
wonderful for Elementary students to come to a college campus and see what it is like. I
also think that having a conference for the students where they can experience reading in
a new way is an excellent idea. By doing this activities and showing the students how
reading can be fun, you never know the impact you can have. A student might decide to
read one of the books we discussed today, and become a fan of reading for life. What we
did today has the potential to impact so many lives, both of the students and the lives that
the students will impact. It is an incredible experience for the students, and I am so
thankful that I got to be a part of that experience.

Maker Week:
This year, Maker Week was joined with Dr. Seuss Day. The
students were celebrating both Dr. Seuss and STEAM. One of the
activities that the students were participating in was constructing

boats to send down the boat launcher. The goal for the boats was to
float and remain sturdy. I helped various grades and students construct
these boats. The bases for the boats were milk cartons that we cut in
half and hot glued together. Then, the students could use any other
materials straws, paper plates, sticks, etc. - to support their boat so
that it would not sink and would float the farthest. The students got
very into this activity, and were very enthusiastic about their boat
building. I helped the students glue different materials onto their boats,
as well as cut milk cartons and glued them in place.
I also helped with data and logistics part of Maker Week. The
students needed a way to record their data for the boat launch, so
Abby Johnson, Rebecca Hastings, Mary Gates, and I all brainstormed
ways for the students to do this. We decided that a bar graph would be
the best way for 3rd and 4th way, and a Venn diagram would be the best
way for K-2nd. For the chart, the students related time to how far their
boat got. It was also broken up into grade level. This was written on a
very large sheet of graph paper, and hung on the wall of the resource
room. For the Venn diagram, Mary Gates and I created it out of red,
yellow, and orange paper. The headings were hard to come up with for
this part, because it was difficult for us to think of two options that
shared an outcome. However, we finally decided on if your boat
floated, if it got to the middle of the pool, and if floated and got to the
middle. The Venn diagram is also hanging next to the bar graph in the

Resource Room. I was very glad to help with this week, and to see how
what I did helped the students learn.