Visitation Log

September 9, 2019: 11:40am - 1: 40pm (Meriwether Lewis – Kindergarten)

Math and Closing Meeting
In Math, I was an informal participant. We did rotations, and I lead a math game
regarding number recognition. The groups were 3-4 students, who would then pick a card and if
they said the number correctly, they could roll the dice and move their pawn until one of them
reached the finish line. No group finished the game, which was good, because the rotations
were long enough to be engaging and not boring for the students. I really like this game and
would use it in my own teaching. The only thing I would have changed would be to take out the
teens, twenties and one thirty because the students have not learned these numbers yet. While
some knew them, most did not. I also liked how the students knew to transition. They would
begin to clean up when they heard the cleanup song and then they would move to the next
group when the bell rang after the cleanup song was over. After math, they had a break and
were able to play a little bit before moving on to the closing meeting. I was observing the
children play and interacting a little bit in order to begin to get to know the students. I also
noticed the teacher bring up the rules of the classroom, mainly safety, when the students were
not playing safely in the classroom.
During closing meeting, I was an observer. Each of the students knew to find their spot
on a duck. Then closing meeting began by students raising their hands and giving each other
compliments. This is to end the day on a positive note. After compliments, students are then
reminded about the letter of the day. They are asked what is the letter, what sound that letter
makes, and then are asked for pictures (things that start with the letter) that the teacher then
draws. Ex. Cc for cat, cut, cowboy, etc. Once the teacher draws the pictures, the class votes
and chooses one picture to go on their alphabet chart. The students then go through the letters
they have learned so far. They say the letter, name of the picture chosen, the letter sounds, and
they make the sign language letter. While talking about the letter, the teacher also made
corrections when letter sounds were said incorrectly. I really liked closing meeting because it
gathers the class together and end the day on a positive note for the whole class. It also
reinforces the letter of the day and activities because the students are also asked what activities
they did that started with C (i.e. counting). I really liked the sign language component as well,
because it starts promoting inclusivity at a young age.