Centaurus P2T 2019-2020

I don't really know much about my students. One of my students always talks about her older sister who is in college and that's pretty much all I know about them. That same student sounds like she has a pretty good relationship with her older sister. The students are really sweet, so I assume that they all have a good and stable home. They always have a smile on their face and upbeat.

What do you know of the background lives of the students you work with? Do you know this directly? Or is it something you infer from other details you notice? You can speak about several students. I dont really know anything about most of them other than what their favorite books are, favorite food and animals. I really want to know more about there home life. I know some students directly because I was a coached some of the Lafayette Bobcats and also because my brother is in the same grade as the students that I am helping.There are several students that have a lot of energy and sometimes cant stop from being social and talking with others.

I haven't had the opportunity to get to know the kids I'm working with too well as we usually just play games with them outside the classroom. They got to ask us questions once but they didn't really learn anything about us since they asked pointless questions. Although I learned that most of the kid's oldest siblings are in middle school just like one of my siblings was when I was their age. I found this cool I guess because I was literally them not too long ago. Other than this I honestly don't remember anything else they told me, I tend to not like children but I can manage. When I go out to work with a child I can usually tell if they're going to be shy or outgoing by their body language. Though since I was once (kind of still am) shy I know how it feels to be uncomfortable around older people. Knowing this I try my best to make them as comfortable as I can and try to break the ice with our given amount of time. This can be hard because I get nervous to ta...

I don’t have a strong bond or personal connection with really any of the students in my class, because the fourth graders seem to be shy and a bit nervous around us. However, during the holidays, Jasmine and Gloria and I thought it would be a good idea to ask each student we worked with what their favorite thanksgiving food was. One student responded by saying they didn’t celebrate thanksgiving. Backgrounds are personalized and vary from kid to kid, but you can easily find out more information about a child just by asking them questions about themselves.

The atmosphere in my classroom is very welcoming. I work with a small group of students so I have got to know them pretty well as the year has gone on. I think the student actually really enjoy their teacher. They always come in excited to see her and when she isn't there, they do get pretty upset. They are very respectful to our teacher. They always reply with please and thank you when asked a question. They always greet each other with warm smiles and talk about what they have done in their class. Our teacher always asks what everyone has been up to and what they're excited about over the weekend. The kids seem to always enjoy walking through the doors to see us and our teacher. I'm actually really happy I was put with these 4 students. They really are good kids and I wouldn't want to be with any other students than them.

During this classroom session, there was a debacle involving a fourth grader and a stuffed toy spider, and a faculty member was sent from the office down to Ms. Montoya's classroom. He lectured the kids in an approachable and friendly way, telling them that they didn't have to snitch if they had any information about the toy, but instead, everyone will be given the chance to anonymously write down any known information by giving everyone a pencil and paper and a couple minutes. This gave Jasmine, Gloria and I a good look at how to address a situation that is out of our hands.

Describe the atmosphere of your classroom. What do the students think of the teacher? Do they show respect? Describe. (at least 100 words and a picture). You can/should answer this prompt even in you missed going to Ryan on Thursday. The atmosphere in my classroom(Ms.Villecos) was really cool we were doing a lot of activities having to do with Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. It was really interesting how amazed and open the students were to different topics. All of them were showing respect to Gabe and I but they weren’t really the same way to each other, maybe it’s because they are of the same age and don’t view one another as an authority figure.(I couldn’t get a picture because we can’t have phones in the classroom)

The atmosphere of Mrs. Montoya's 4th-grade class is positive, from what I've seen the students seem to like their teacher. I always see them raising their hands and paying attention to what she has to say. I haven't got the chance to see her actually teach because the time we come in on Thursday is their study time. During this, they're respectful and finish their work in silence with occasional side conversations. Though these students are good to their teacher they're not always as respectful with their peers. Today we had an administrator come into the classroom to talk about a stolen stuffed spider. They were asked to write down anything they knew about the incident, in order to find the thief. Hopefully by next week when we come to visit again the stuffed spider is returned to its original owner.

Today was Halloween and at Ryan, they had class parties and everyone dressed up but at Centaurus, only some students dressed up and there were no class parties or anything fun like that at Centaurus. At Ryan they have their kids playing games to learn and at Centaurus, it's learn learn learn. The goal for the students at Ryan is for them to be able to interact and be able to have connections with their peers, at CHS it is more about the learning how to graph equations then it is about how to be a good person and make connections with people.

From what I see in my kindergarten class it is not as diverse as the 4th-grade class I was in before. There is still some diversity but they are still very young and don't have as much exposer to people of color. I also think that they are younger and don't quite understand the meaning of diversity and what it means to be racist. They will learn as they grow up that not all people are the same and they will learn that through exposer, as of right now they are still not able to understand what it means to be of a different race. I think that the teachers at the school that teach the older grades expose their kids to more of what race is but in the younger grades I feel like it isn't something they talk about. As the kids grow older it should be a topic they talk about in class as a group.

The thing that I am most thankful for in school is the teachers that never give up on me and push me to do my best no matter what. Teachers are really motivated and encouraging to their students. I really need teachers that never give up on me and that pushes me to be my best. If I didn't have teachers like that I wouldn't be where I am today. I am really glad I have teachers who care about me in real life and in school. I am very thankful for the people I have in my life.

The opportunity gap is a big thing that has affected a lot of kids. It is something that many kids have to deal with even if they don't want to. It is not a fair thing that these kids have to go through this kind of stuff when all they want is an education. Kids do not get a choice in this kind of life they just want to be able to get the same education as kids with privileges.