Introduction to 3rd Grade

   

South West Elementary School is located in Grand Rapids Minnesota. It is centrally located in the north woods of Minnesota. There are many lakes and woods in the area for many people in the community to enjoy. Hunting and fishing are a major outdoor recreational sports that is very popular in the area. Blandin Paper company is a major paper mill that employs several hundred men and women in the area. South West School is also located less than a mile to the Grand Rapids Hospital which also is a big employer of many families from our district. I am very fortunate to be doing my student teaching at a high achieving school. This year, South West Elementary School was chosen as a Blue Ribbon School for there achievement in education. This is also the first year that South West has Title I in their classrooms.

There are two third grades at South West but all other grades have three sections of each. In the classroom I am doing my student teaching we have 28 students, 14 boys and 14 girls. This is the first time my cooperating teacher has ever had an equal number of both boys and girls. The majority race in my classroom is Caucasian with an exception to a couple of African Americans.


We have a few different facilities in our classroom. One in which we use every day, the Smart board. We do our lesson plans, morning message, Math, Reading, and Writing from it. I think this technology is one of the best ideas to have in a classroom. We also have two student computers stationed in the classroom for students to do math facts and take AR tests. In the back of the room we have a sink and a drinking fountain which is really nice for when the kids come in from recess.

Goals

• I want to be open minded to the ideas from my students, my classroom teacher, and other professionals in the building.
• I want to learn more about the different steps you need to take in getting help for students who need extra attention.
• I want to attend a professional development meeting with other teachers from the district.
• I want to make a personal relationship with the staff and teachers in my school by getting to know them and learn from them.

At this point my primary concerns are not being able to have enough time to get things done I need to have done.
At this point, I am looking forward to getting to know the learning styles and personalities of my students. I am also looking forward to gaining as much experience and knowledge as my classroom teacher can give me.

    A view of the classroom from my desk        Our class motto