Blog Post 2- Literacy in my Clinical Placement

     Although this is my second week at my clinical placement, I feel as if I still have not gotten a real feel for the way things go in the room.  I was placed with a substitute teacher again, as my cooperating teacher was gone.  The first day I was there, we did literacy for about thirty minutes.  This was a worksheet booklet that worked on students' color words through Valentines Day worksheets.  The substitute on that day also read aloud four books.  The students seemed as if that was pretty normal to their day to day routine.  Today, I showed the substitute how to work the SMART board and we were able to go more in depth with the lessons.  The students took turns coming up to the SMART board and choosing words that began with D.  They also played a sight word matching game.  We also read aloud four books before the students started to get really restless.  Afterwards, they went back to their seats and did worksheets for an hour.  Both times, literacy has occurred in the morning starting at 9:30.  The substitutes mostly just walked around the room demanding the students be silent during this time. The students seemed to be very restless and not enjoying the worksheets.  They also seemed bored with the worksheets on their sight words that included "for" today and reviewing past ones.  I thought this was totally not developmentally appropriate.  Just watching the students complete this busy work made me cringe.  I could not imagine having my students sit in desks most of the morning until lunch doing worksheets.  I understand that there were substitutes both days and she wanted to give them something easy to do, but I thought this was a more difficult route than just giving the teachers the lessons to actually do them.  I saw so many behavioral issues and the students had to keep getting up and moving their clip down both days ( which made me cringe as well).  I now see how that is not an appropriate method for correcting behavior because the students do not get it.  Both times I have been there the same students were on that level.  I will be curious to see if that is different with my regular CT is there. Even though my  clinical placement in second grade last semester was totally different, I see how this site could be different.  We focused a lot on guided reading last semester, and it seems as if my CT this semester uses Daily 5. (I have not had the chance to really speak to her so I am not one hundred percent sure.)  I see both methods as great ideas for the classroom.  The students get a change to differentiate their reading in Daily 5, and in guided reading they acquire new skills and are leveled.  After my experience the past two weeks, I realize that I will not use worksheets as the main activity.  Frankly, it makes the day drag and a lot tougher.  The kids were pretty out of control, they were bored, and they all complained of how easy it was.  I saw no collaboration and sharing of ideas.  I saw not paired reading.  I mostly saw "literacy overkill".  They did not really gain new skills, just practice over and over old skills.   Since seeing this, I know that I need to be very diligent in making substitute plans.  I will not underestimate the ability of the sub.  I will make sure my students are still learning when I must be gone, and that it is not just a free day. After seeing all of the worksheets, I saw some ideas on Pinterest that my CT could have used and the students could have played instead of the worksheets.  (Pictures below.)