Tawnia's Classes

First Grade Assistant: Each morning between nine and ten, I help in the first grade classroom. There are 18 first graders and when you want to read individually with each child, it takes more than one adult to cover all 18. We have some kids who are just barely reading and a few that read on a third or fourth grade level... so individual reading is important. I go in and read one-on-one or with small groups. I enjoy it a lot. I really like this group of kids and it has been fun to be able to listen to them read and help them move forward in that area of their lives.

One day as I was helping a little girl turned to me and asked if she could go to the bathroom. I paused to think about it and before I could even respond she looked at me and said, "I just went a little in my pants." I told her to quickly go to the bathroom and finish... but it was to late. Unfortunately the room we were in was carpeted... and we don't have custodians... so guess who had the joy of cleaning up that mess! Yeah, ME! So at lunch that day she came up and asked if I'd ever had pink ice cream. I said yes and then she asked if I'd ever had blue ice cream and I said no. And then she told me that once she had had pink ice cream and it made her throw up. Oh, the conversations I have with first graders! They are so funny.

Fifth Grade Math: I teach the fifth graders math while the fifth grade teacher teaches the sixth grade math class and the sixth grade teacher does either administrative stuff or teaches a public speaking classes at UVU. There are 12 fifth graders and we work well together. I enjoy them most days. They can be really chatty but then again, sometimes they will work really hard for me... usually when recess or a lack of homework is being held over their heads. Most of the students understand math pretty well but a couple of them really struggle. So far we've covered basic arithmetic, measurements including converting measurements... something I don't remember ever learning, and now we are starting into fractions. We also learned a really cool way for checking multiplication, division, and addition. It's called casting out 9's. I'll have to show it to you sometime. It's baffling at first, but it works and I really like it.

Kindergarten Science: My kindergarten science class consists of nine rambunctious five year olds. They are an interesting group. I originally had ten. Two of those tens were twin boys and those boys were nearly impossible to get anything done with. They hated taking any directions and were basically out of control constantly. I knew it wasn't just my problem, because I work very closely with the kindergarten teacher. Eventually it was decided that they were not ready for kindergarten yet. (It was only two weeks until the decision was made but that was a LONG two weeks!) So that dropped us down to eight and then a couple weeks ago we got a new little girl... so now there are nine. Last year there were 14 kindergarteners and they were EASY compared to this group of nine. They are getting better though. We are working on following directions and taking turns. I think we actually made it through an entire class where I didn't have someone throw a tantrum once so far. (And that was yesterday!) I am coming to love the kids though. It's hard to resist when they come up and hug you around the waist (or knees). Also when they see you and get a huge grin and yell, "HI, Miss Palmer!" even though they are supposed to be being quiet.

In Kindergarten the topics we learn about in science coincide with what they are doing in their class.... and that changes each week. Lately we have been learning about Pets and Fall and we had a little safety and health mixed in there. Next week we are going to start on the senses. We will learn about the sense of sight next week. The week after that is the sense of taste, and we are also learning about pumpkins... yeah, so science is a bit sporadic and spontaneous. The activity can change from moment to moment and sometimes I will just pull something out to keep them entertained, but that's how it is in kindergarten.

A cute kindergarten story: The other day one of my kindergarteners fell asleep during my class. This little boy's dad is in Iraq so his mom is trying to raise her three kids (him being the oldest) and run a restaurant on her own. So I just let him sleep and we continued on in our activity. A few days later the little boy didn't want to leave the kindergarten classroom at the end of the day and the Kindergarten teacher (Sherry) teasingly suggested that he would be sleeping in the classroom. He thought about it and said, "No, sleep in Miss Palmer's!" Sherry had to come and find me afterwards and tell me about it.

First Grade Science: Eighteen first graders in my tiny little classroom is always an adventure. They are pretty good kids though. I just have to make sure that certain ones don't sit together.
In science this year we started out learning about our different Body Systems. The kids were really interested in learning about bones and muscles and the circulatory system, digestive system, and nervous system. Then for October we have been learning about the three states of matter (ie Solid, Liquid, and Gas). I made up a song to the tune of "Follow the Yellow Brick Road" and we sing it each time they come. We made examples of solids out of play-dough one day and this last time I used a solid and liquid to make a gas. (I put vinegar in an empty water bottle, baking soda in a balloon, and then put the balloon on top of the water bottle, and dumped the baking soda from the balloon into the vinegar. They reacted and caused a gas to fill up the balloon... the first graders were very impressed.

Funny story: One of the first things I did was have the first graders tell me what they knew about their bodies and what they wanted to learn. One little boy wanted to know how a cord could connect a baby and a mommy.

Second Grade Science: I have ten second graders and they are one of my favorite classes. Three of them are new this year and the others were all here last year. I love this group of kids because they are pretty well behaved. They also get really excited about whatever we are learning about. We spent September learning about the Digestive System. At the end we talked about eating healthy. Currently two of the little boys have become my "lunchroom monitors." They always come up and see what I'm eating. If it isn't healthy they say, "Miss Palmer, you is that healthy? You shouldn't eat that!" When they see me eating an apple or carrots they always tell me good job. Lately they have been asking if I am exercising each day. Sometimes I shake my head and think, "What did I do to myself!" but they are good kids and they are watching out for me.

We are now learning about rocks. They have become really interested and have started bringing me the "cool" rocks that they find outside. I even teach them the rock cycle, so that when they get into fourth grade they'll already have a basic understanding of it.

Funny Story: In the first week of school the entire Lower School (Pre-K through 6th) goes on a hike. This year we went to Cascade Springs which is beautiful and a pretty easy hike. I went and while I was there one of the boys (who happens to be one of those "lunchroom monitors" now) turned to me and told me that I was his favorite teacher. I smiled and said, "You say that to all the teachers don't you." In all seriousness he stopped and looked at me and said, "No, I don't!"

Third Grade Science: There are 12 third graders and most of them are pretty good. I'm not sure what happens at this age but the "I think it's cool to be snotty" starts coming out in some of the kids. Fortunately I know the parents of the ones that do this most often and can talk to them about their child's behavior. In third grade we are learning about sound and the anatomy of the ear. It has been pretty fun. I played my guitar for them and we discussed that. I have had them do some different experiments with hearing. And the nice thing for me is that I already have the anatomy of the ear pretty much down since it's been covered in at least four of my college courses so far. We'll be talking about Alexander Graham Bell this next week and then after that we'll finish up this unit and move on to learning about magnets.

I can't really think of a funny story to go with this class right now. I'm sure they have done something to make me laugh, or at least smile, but I can't think of anything at this point.

Fourth Grade Science: I have sixteen fourth graders. They have been learning about the rock cycle, soil, and fossils. They work best when I do something "boring" in order to earn a fun activity. This next week we will be making fossils. It should be fun.... and messy.

Fifth Grade Science: Again, there are 12 fifth graders. I talked about them above in fifth grade math. They have been learning some basic Geology and now are learning about Cells. They will be doing a "cell project" soon which I'm excited about. They have to make a representation of both an animal cell and a plant cell. It should be interesting to see what they come up with.

Sixth Grade Science: I have ten sixth graders and they are like a gift sent from above. Eight girls and two boys, and they take school seriously and want to do well. We have been learning about microorganisms and then I realized that they didn't have the background about cells that they needed. So we are learning about cells right now (just like the fifth graders.)

We grew mold on bread and bacteria on potatoes. It took awhile and was pretty gross, but I enjoyed it. I had the kids rub their dirty hands on the bread or rub the bread on the bottom of their shoes, or spit on it. Amazingly the bread with the worst mold was just from some water. I guess that the spray bottle was not clean because the other bread that had been sprayed with water didn't get any kind of mold on it.

I also had the sixth graders each do a report on a different microorganism. It was interesting to learn about e. coli and anthrax and some of the other things out there.

After school I go out and supervise the playground for ten minutes and then I tutor one of my fifth graders in math for thirty minutes and then I come home. My life is very busy as you can tell. I teach each science class twice a week, which means that I have three classes each day except Friday when I have only two and then get some time to prepare for the next week.