If I could work anywhere I'd work...

I'm placed in a Montessori school in Okemos and I'm not totally sure if Montessori is right for me but I would definitely say I'd want to work in a similar community and environment. The parents often volunteer to come in and help with big projects, the teachers are all friends and exchange ideas with each other, they promote peace and having a peaceful environment, and there's no worry that the students are going to be safe and being taken care of. Plus, they never give up hope on their students. If someone is below reading level, they will do everything in their power to change that.

This course will hopefully help me find multiple ways to present literature in my classroom. Hopefully it will show me various ways as to how to make language arts, especially reading and writing, a fun and enjoyable experience to each individual student. This class will show me that each student is different and we must assess them and find what our approach will be so they can learn to the best of their ability.

In my placement, we have a range of gifted students to students that are being considered for special education. One student in particular comes to mind. I'm not totally sure what is going on with him but he's...distracted easily. I wouldn't call it ADHD though. Anyway, his strength is that when he gets on task, there's no stopping him. It's surprising how one day it'll take him an hour to finish a worksheet and the next it takes me 15 minutes. He is also eager to learn especially when it comes to science. He is, however, extremely below reading level. In order to improve his scores (and everyone else's in the class) my CT has them practicing everyday. No exceptions. They read all day long and every day. I think I've said before, our entire mornings are spend on reading mostly. With each reading comes questions about analyzing the story, summarizing, difficult vocabulary, critical thinking, author's purpose, drawing conclusions, etc. After giving them a semester of practice, the students had improved immensely (even the ones below grade level).