Editor's Note: Rachel Mountz just completed her freshman year at Penn State University Park, studying elementary education. This summer, she is one of roughly four dozen Penn State students taking Curriculum and Instruction 295 A, Philadelphia Urban Seminar, with Dan Thompson, assistant professor of education in the College of Education. Thompson's students have joined hundreds of students from universities throughout Pennsylvania at LaSalle University in north Philadelphia for a two-week, intensive experience observing and teaching in urban schools. Mountz is chronicling her experiences for Penn State Live and the Newswires.
Wednesday, Day Three in the schools
By our third day in the schools I felt like I was really getting into the swing of things. I had learned most of the kids' names and had gotten to know them a little better. They all greeted me, "Hi Miss!" or, "Good morning Ms. M!"
Their day started with some journal writing. They had to compare and contrast winter and summer. I was trying to help some of the kids who didn't seem as motivated to write. Urban Seminar Tip #7: Get the kids to talk to you. They would love to tell you about their lives or what they do for fun. Once they talk to you for a minute, tell them to write down what they just told you. It's sometimes easier to have a conversation first than it is to just start writing.
I worked on more Scholastic News stuff with the kids I worked with yesterday and also got started planning a poetry unit. There is going to be a poetry contest in the district with the theme "Celebrating Me," so we picked 10 kids to work on writing poems. I am working with Ms. Morris' co-teacher on this, Ms. Stevens. We started by just asking the kids questions about themselves, like what they like about themselves or what they do that is special or important at school and home. Then we started doing name poems with them. My example was:
M aybe I can teach you how to write a poem
S ome of you will write wonderful poems
M ay I take you to lunch one day?
Tomorrow I am going to finish up working with the class on probability math problems.
All the urban seminar students had to leave the schools at 2 p.m. today to go on field trips. Half the students went to the Philadelphia Art Museum and half went to the Constitution Center. My group went to the art museum, and next Wednesday we will be switching. I thought the art museum was really cool. I liked looking at the really old paintings, the silver and gold dishes and the sculptures. I met a girl named Jenna from Kutztown and we walked around the museum together. Urban Seminar Tip #8: Meet as many people as you can from different universities. It's really cool to talk about the different classes you take and to just get to know them. We had about an hour and a half to explore the museum and then we all went into the auditorium to listen to a speaker who talked about how art and education are connected and how art can compliment education.
There were no group meetings tonight, so we were done early for the day. Everyone was very tired, and I even dozed off for a few minutes in the dorm while I was waiting for my roommate to get back. But since we had the afternoon free we decided to go for a run around the track. Other people ordered food for dinner and we were all going to watch a movie together … before we all decided to call it an early night. So, movie night is reserved for another night. Everyone is trying to get more sleep tonight because we all know that early mornings are hard for college students.
For the full series, visit http://live.psu.edu/story/30949 online. For photos, visit http://live.psu.edu/stilllife/1707 online.