1. Good Morning! Overall I enjoyed my time in Miami Heights Elementary. It was full of wonderful surprises and the children were awesome! The staff were very friendly and helpful as well. I met several kindergarten teachers and I asked them about what their days are like, what is the hardest part about teaching etc. School is very open with a lot of landscaping with small gardens and trees. There are two separate buildings with the younger ones in one building and the 3rd, 4th and 5th graders in the other. The school seemed fairly populated and not over populated. The classroom I volunteered in had 18 children and one teacher.

2. I worked with Mrs. Ortiz, Kindergarten class. The room was filled with decorations, letters, words, and cartoons. Boards all around the room were decorated by categories. For example: there was a reading/letter board, science board, Spanish board, math board, concept and time/calendar board. There was a cozy area and the rug area where the children gather around to have a book read to them or during free choice/work time they would build blocks, work with science related games/toys and legos. There was an easel and a table set for arts and crafts. In a corner was a half circle table that was used for free writing and mini white boards for children to practice writing. Finally, there was the computer center.

3. I honestly did not have any great expectations because I have never been to an elementary classroom. Then after a few minutes of being in the classroom I absolutely loved it. I love how fun the classroom looked and how packed it was with materials for the children to play and use. Watching the teacher sing every morning with the kids Good morning by Greg and Steve. Also, getting to see them do their little choreography and being able to join was really fun. I realized that teaching does not have to be a very boring stressful job but you are able to have fun with the children and always do your best to make it a memorable experience.

4. No I do not like green eggs and ham said Sam I Am. The day after reading Green Eggs and Ham with the children and doing several activities, the teacher brought a surprise. She brought in eggs and ham with an electric frying pan. I actually helped her cook the eggs and the ham and color it with green food coloring. The children were amazed and were so excited watching the eggs and ham change color. I really enjoyed this experience because seeing the children get so excited over the simplest things was very rewarding. It made me think about how much my teacher goes the extra mile for these children all the time. I thought about all the times I would like to do the same for all the children I will come in contact with in the future.

5. There were times when we danced and laughed but there were also times where the children opened up and would discuss their thoughts and feelings with one another during sharing time. This is when a child that wants to share something (it can be a dream, wish, experience, thought etc.) raises their hand and speaks. Afterwards, the other children are open to discuss it with them and ask them questions. This one moment that I remember most was when a child opened up and told the story of a friend of her moms that got into a motorcycle accident. The teacher simply asked how the child felt and the child responded saying she was sad. So the other children asked her questions about it and asked if they could help her feel better. I felt that it was very interesting for me to see how comfortable the child felt to express why she was sad and what happened. When I become a teacher I would like for the children in my classroom to feel comfortable enough to just express themselves and be themselves.

6. On this day, all the children including the teachers dressed up as farmers. Everyone had strawhats, plaid shirts, bandanas, braids and some even had freckles drawn on their cheeks. This was an eventfor the kindergarten classes.All the parents walked in and gave their breakfast item of choice. One parent actually stayed and helpedcooked some of the food items and the teacher cooked scrambled eggs with cheese. The children weredoing their journal entry and when the food was ready and they finished, we started to serve them. Thechildren absolutely loved it and were so happy to eat it.After that we put on some country related sing a long songs for them to dance to in the rug area. Theyjumped, dance, sang, and laughed. The chicken dance was played and they loved it! At one point onechild started a conga line and I was able to join in and so did the teacher.The school put on Barnyard the movie after recess for the children to watch and it was really nice. Towards the end of this exciting day, they call the teacher over the intercom to inform herthat they were ready for her class to go get some free snow cones by the cafeteria. The children allstarted to jump up and down and scream YAY! out of excitement. The teacher and I started to laughand we went to take them to get their snow cones. I actually helped to make some of the snow conesfor the children.

7. 1. Communication: This experience has helped me a lot tobetter improve my speaking, listening, writing and readingskills. Many of the children were having difficulty with theassignments and I need to be prepared to assist themaccurately in whatever they needed. Listening skills were usedin situations where children were expressing themselves and Ineeded to do my best to listen carefully. I needed my handwriting to be excellent when grading papers or helpingchildren with assignments. When speaking to children Ineeded to use very proper language. I needed to refrain fromslang or mispronunciations.5. Global, Cultural, & Historical Perspectives: Since I was in apublic school environment, my global, cultural, and historicalperspective skills were improved. Even though I was mostly ina classroom full of children from Latin culture, there was stilldifferences in language and religion. Also, outside of theclassroom when I came in contact with other children therewere many different cultures represented. As a teacher in apublic school, these skills are of very high importance.6. Personal, Civic, & Social Responsibility: This skill was highlyused in the classroom. As a teacher you are set as a role modeland it is true for assistant teachers or helpers as well. 8. Computer & Technology Usage: I found myself many timeshaving to use technology. I needed to have an understandingon how to use technology when the teacher was showing mehow she puts in grades as well as helping the children whenthey would have trouble with the computer they were using.9. Aesthetic Appreciation: I really love creative arts and crafts.So volunteering with this teacher and being able to decoratethe room and help with creative assignments was ideal for me.I really gained a higher appreciation for arts and crafts.