PRACTICUM DAY BLOG:

2/12/15 (1 hour)
Today I visited Hidden Valley Elementary School to get a tour of the school as well as the
classroom I will be in. At first glance, Hidden Valley seems like a school that is low budgeted
just because of the location and the way it looks. There did not seem to be a playground for
recess other than a little patch in the front. However, I like that the only way to get into the
school is to buzz the front office and then they will let you in to sign in. This makes me feel
reassured that the school is safe. When I first met Ms. Kelly I had a million questions in my
mind; what is my kids name? Teachers name? What else do I need to know about volunteering?
I found out that my kids name is Malachi, a 2nd grader in Ms. McAdams class. She said that he
was a sweet boy with a country accent, which made me excited to meet him. We then discussed
the times I would be volunteering which was Fridays from 12:30 to 1:30pm. During this meeting
Ms. Kelly was greeted by a numerous amount of kids who just wanted to say hi and give her a
hug. This showed me that she truly makes an impact on the children through A Childs Place
(ACP). She also mentioned that if I ever wanted to I could have lunch with him. At this point I
am extremely excited because I feel like its going to be a big sister little brother relationship.
After all this chatting about what is going to happen and what is to be expected we went and saw
Malachi. When we got to the classroom Ms. McAdams was out sick so Ms. Kelly brought out
Malachi. In the first seconds of seeing him he was just as sweet as Ms. Kelly explained. Just
seeing him I was eager to begin helping Ms. McAdams and getting to know Malachi.

2/20/15 (1 hour)

Today is the first day of my volunteering and one word could not explain how I feel at
this point. Eager, nervous, content, prepared, unprepared, so many mixed emotions. I was just
ready to start! When I first walked in I looked around at the various posters and pictures on the
walls. It felt like I was in the 2nd grade all over again except we didnt have a smart board just a
regular white erase board. I noticed all of the books they have, the smart board, and how her
class was quiet and doing their work. This surprised me because I expected at least one student to
be off task but that was not the case. After observing the classroom for a quick second I
introduced myself to Ms. McAdams and she just beamed with enthusiasm. At this point any
negative fears or emotions were gone because Ms. McAdams made me feel welcomed. I then
went over to Malachi to begin helping and found out that they were working on reading through
books and finding a particular word that a character felt. Malachis word was excited and he had
to show proof of where the character was acting excited in the book. On a sticky note he wrote
down why he thought the character was acting excited at that particular part. I may not remember
everything from when I was in 2nd grade but I dont remember doing anything like this. This is a
good thing however because that means the new generation is going to be ahead of the game
compared to my generation at their age. Once everyone finished this portion of reading, their
book clubs came together to talk about their books and what word they thought the character felt
or was acting like. I enjoyed watching this because they were learning how to explain their
thinking to others. The book club went well and at the start Malachi asked who wanted to go first
and then they all decided who would talk next. Lastly, they went over how to edit a story they
were working on. Again this took me by surprise because I do not think I learned how to write a
paper until middle school. For the last fifteen to thirty minutes, I helped Malachi go through his

story with the steps Ms. McAdams used to edit his paper and make it better. Today was a great
first day of volunteering!!!
2/27/15 (1 hour)
Woooooooo second day of volunteering and I am so ready to start since last Friday was
such a good day. I checked in and went to the classroom for what I hope is going to be another
great day at Hidden Valley. Another observation I saw as I walked to the classroom was that this
school was filled with mainly minorities, either African Americans or Hispanics. Once I got to
the class Malachi and I jumped right into reading, the first book was called Building a House.
In this book they discussed the process of building a house obviously. As we began reading it
anytime he did not know a word I would cover the last half of the word and tell him to say the
first half and then go to the last half and at the end have him put it all together. After just doing it
once he began doing it on his own which made me feel like I was already making an impact. If
my technique did not work for some words he would attempt to sound it out and then would ask
me what the word is. Another good habit is that after I tell him the word he was not sure how to
sound out he would reread the sentence and say the word correctly. This is such a good habit
because it means he is actually trying to comprehend what he is reading and trying to remember
the word he missed before. The next few books we read were, All about Beagles, Biscuits
Christmas, and The Kissing Hand. The book I personally enjoyed the most was Biscuits
Christmas because it was a scratch and sniff book so some parts smelled like popcorn or
cinnamon. As I helped Malachi read and comprehend his reading I observed Ms. McAdams. She
was going around child by child making sure they were on task and if they needed any help. The
kids seemed to love her and I do not blame them she just seems so animated and eager to be
there and help these children. Again another great day at Hidden Valley Elementary School.

3/6/15 (1 hour)
Another day as an ACP volunteer!! Up to now my practicum experience has been ideal. The plan
for today was to go through a few books and write on a sticky note what the main idea of the
whole story was. Ms. McAdams went through how to do so once by herself and then again as a
class. So again we read a few books and he wrote what he thought the main idea of the story was.
He definitely had a hang of this. After practicing that for a while, Ms. McAdams gave everyone a
sheet with a small passage to explain what they thought was the main idea. Once this was
complete they all went to the carpet to discuss the life cycle of a frog. They watched a short
video and every now and then she would stop and ask what stage the frog was in and what
happens at that stage. This was another assignment I do not remember doing in 2nd grade so I
dont know if I just have bad memory or if they are way ahead of where I was in 2nd grade. As
they went through this cycle I looked on attentively and was prepared to help at any moment.
Once this was done they had a quiz coming up for the words they have so they partnered up and
practiced their words by having one partner read the word and the other write and then vice
versa. I found this to be interesting and a positive thing because they are learning to work with
others and they would congratulate one another if they spelt a word correctly. Different groups
had different words and the words were tricky because majority of them had other words that
sounded just like it, such as tail and tale. Just being here and observing as well as helping made
me realize that these kids really are the future of America. If they do not get good education now
and at an early age what is America going to be like in twenty or thirty years. Yet another
successful day.

3/13/15 (2 hours)
More volunteering YAY!! Today I decided that from this point on I will go to Hidden
Valley for two hours instead of one so that I can make sure I get all of my hours in by the date
needed. Again I went inside Hidden Valley, signed in and went to Ms. McAdams class ready to
start this day of volunteering. When I got in there Malachi was not there because he stepped out
with someone else so until he got back I read with two other people. I read a Fly Guy book with
one of the other students. What surprised me was the difference in Malachi and the other students
reading. Malachi to me seems like he is either at an average reading level or above but this other
student struggled a bit. I know that in most classes there is a variety of skill levels but the vast
difference just took me by surprised. I also noticed that with this particular student he would
either ask if he did not know a word or he would substitute it with another word he does know.
So he would sometimes say fly guy did this when really it said another word that was not fly guy.
While we were reading I tried to get him to make connections between the book and his life. So
if it said Fly Guy ate in the cafeteria I would be like you know you go in the cafeteria for lunch
dont you, does your cafeteria look like this, do you eat how Fly Guy eats, simple questions like
that. Then I went and read with another little boy who was super enthusiastic about me reading
with him. He seemed to be at an average reading level as well. Another thing I noticed was that
the books they had in the classroom looked worn and seemed to probably have been donated.
This gives me an idea of what the school has funding for which is probably just keeping the
school from falling apart and not the books for students in their classrooms.

3/20/15 (2 hours)
Hours, Hours, Hours!!! Same routine: buzz in, check in, and go to classroom. I read with
Malachi and Elijah today. Another difference between them was that Malachi goes through
books and stops periodically to comment on either the pictures in the book or what is going on.
Compared to Elijah who just goes through the book like he is in a rush to finish it. I noticed that
Malachi has some scratches, I wonder what they are. How did he get them? I hope nothing awful
happened but one of my roles is to wait until he is comfortable to tell me what happened so I did
not question him. Again with Elijah we read another Fly Guy book as for Malachi we read about
a little tiger who did not want to go to bed. After reading for a while they met on the carpet and
Ms. McAdams went over mammals. I still just love how she approaches subjects with passion
and has her students engaged. With thirty minutes left Ms. McAdams stated that they were
having terrific kids, so I decided to stay because I remember terrific kids in my elementary
school. They had their terrific kids in the cafeteria with the rest of the 2nd grade classes. In the
end when it came down to Ms. McAdams she called Malachis name.
WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!
This made me feel so proud because I feel like I really am making an impact in this young boys
life. I wanted to tear up a little because I was that proud. That was the best way to end my day of
service at Hidden Valley Elementary School.

3/26/15 (1 hour)
Today is Thursday and although it is not my normal day to go to Hidden Valley, I decided
to go have lunch with Malachi because he made terrific kids for the month. Side note: I
remember when I was in elementary school we had terrific kids once every quarter so four times
a year but here they have it every month. I actually like this idea because it gives each student a
chance to make terrific kids at least once if not multiple times. Also, another reason I decided to
come was because Malachi and I had the same birthday which was March 23rd. So I decided to
pop in with him for lunch and bring him a mini present. During lunch they had the choice
between grilled chicken with mashed potatoes and grapes or a hamburger with mashed potatoes
and grapes. I may have just been hungry that day but the food smelt so good. So throughout this
quick hour lunch we just talked about his day and how he liked the food. Ms. McAdams was out
sick this day so I had to wait to bring my little presents that I brought for the whole class.
Malachi told me that he had a good birthday and that he got a water gun as a birthday present. As
we were sitting there I found it interesting that the lunch lady that I guess has a specific table to
watch made sure they drank their milk. Also, after a table got up they would throw the food away
and recycle the trays and one person would clean up the table. Even through this they are
instilling good values into these students; showing them how to recycle and clean up after their
selves. I also noticed that some kids had salads and that they eat them every lunch, I wonder if
this was asked for by the parents or if the school took it into their own hands to make sure the
students keep a healthy lifestyle and will not become an obese child.

3/27/15 (2 hours)
At this point including today I have eleven hours for my practicum and will not be going
to Hidden Valley these next two Fridays because their spring break begins. So for the last time
until two weeks from now I went to Ms. McAdams classroom. The plan for today was to look
through a book and pick a few topics in the book that they would like to learn more about by
researching it on the internet. I was fascinated that after they do this they actually get to get on
the computers in the classroom and google what they want to learn more about. Malachi chose a
book about how they made tunnels. Once this was complete for everyone in class they
congregated on the carpet and went over cause and effect. After doing a few examples together
as a class she gave each of them a passage to explain what caused a certain effect and what was
the effect of a certain cause. Malachi struggled with this however and I could start seeing him
becoming frustrated so I explained to him exactly what words he is looking for and to underline
that and then find either the cause or effect. Many students rushed this assignment and Ms.
McAdams was getting irritated because they didnt underline where they found the information
and most of what they wrote was made up. Again they went over life cycle and this time it was
of a plant.

4/17/15 (2 hours)

Today marks my last day at Hidden Valley Elementary School as an ACP volunteer, at
this point I have thirteen hours for UWRT. Today when I walked in they were talking about
different clouds and the characteristics of each. This subject is somewhat a favorite just because I
was fascinated that there was various types of clouds. My favorite has to be cirrus clouds
because of the wispiness of them. Next Malachi and I read a book about weather. Now when I
tell you this book was pretty cool it was cool. It talked about thunderstorms, hurricanes,
tornadoes, hail storms, and a few other types of weather. My favorite part about this book was
that he had to turn the book vertical when it came to tornadoes and water spouts so that he could
see a somewhat realistic view of how they each look. The pictures in this book were awesome as
well because it would vary from showing just the storm to showing the damage it can cause. One
of the ideas for today was the concept of reading, pausing, explaining to self, and jotting it down.
So we took a topic and read about it, paused, talked about it, and he would write down what we
discussed to later discuss with his book club members. Ms. McAdams had them working on
chunking as well, this is when they take a word they dont know cover up the last half and sound
out the first half and do the same with the last half. After the first hour and a half, they then went
to their Terrific Kids and I said my goodbyes to Malachi and Ms. McAdams. It was a sad
goodbye and hopefully I will see both Malachi and Ms. McAdams again if our paths cross. This
was such a fantastic experience at A Childs Place and I plan to continue volunteering throughout
the years.

THE END