'Showcase Student Work to the World'

I am going to share with you a descriptive poem that was written about myself by a third grade student in the class I am in for Block B. During the first week we visited my cooperating teachers room the reading for success class was working on descriptive writing. My name was drawn out of a hat by this student and so he had to write a brief description of myself. I did not recieve his piece of work until we came back to the classroom in November. I think he did a great job and I wanted to share his work with you:

My Friend Mrs. Reinhardt

My friend Mrs. Reinhardt is a very unique person. She has dirty blond hair in a pony tail. She has gray pants with some black in them and they are fancy. She is a very new teacher to Lincoln Elementary. She is a nice teacher. She is a girl a nice girl to kids. She has black shoes with some gray in the black. She has a necklace with a diamond in it. My friend Mrs. Reinhardt is one-of-a-kind.

Resume

Tara Ann Reinhardt
6352-1 Hampton Place
Fort Riley, KS 66442

__________________________________

Objective: To become a member of the teaching community with an emphasis in grades K-6
and to inspire students to learn.


Education :

Kansas State Universtiy, Manhattan, KS
Bachelor of Science in Education, Elementary

- Emphasis: Science
- GPA 3.7
- Anticipated Graduation Date May 2009


Northeast Iowa Community College Calmar, IA
Assoicates in Arts - Elementary Education

- GPA 3.2
- Graduated May 2004


Relevant
Experience:

Practicum Experience
Lincoln Elementary School, Junction City, KS September 2008- Present

- Co-created and taught a 10 lesson unit in economics to a class of third
grade students
- Extended economic lessons with children's literature and real-life situations
for students to be able to apply prior knowledge
- Developed adaptations for a child with autism
- Used a variety of assessment techniques to evaluate students understanding


Clinical Experience
Marlatt Elementary School, Manhattan, KS January - May 2008

- Co-produced and taught 3 lessons in Science focusing on food and nutrition in a sixth grade classroom
- Co-produced and taught 3 lessons in Mathematics on one-step equations
- Provided students with multiple connections to technology for lesson activities
- Made adaptations for students with attention deficit disorder


Early Field Experience
Marlatt Elementary School, Manhattan, KS January - May 2007

- Made copies and cut-outs for bulletin boards
- Created classroom bulletin boards exhibiting students work
- Assisted in helping kindergarten students with art projects
- Prepared booklets displaying students handiwork


Kansas Association of Teacher of Science (KATS Camp)
Rock Springs Ranch, Junction City, KS April 28, 2008

- Presenter on Discovering the Presence of DNA
- Demonstrated a fun way to engage children in learning Science
- Explained relevance in teaching this type of lesson


Read and Eat After School Program
Amanda Arnold Elementary School, Manhattan, KS February, 2008

- Assisted in helping children complete activities
- Aided in the transition from one activity to another


Extracurricular
Activities:

Member of Pinnacle Honor Society April 2008 - Present

Member of Kansas National Education Association (KNEA)
January 2008 - Present


References: Available upon request

'Learning Journal'

This past week I taught two lessons; one with my partner on 'taxes' and the only independently on 'scarcity.' I feel like the lessons went well, but I am always a little concerned with how I performed. I get a lot of good feedback from my cooperating teacher, my partner, and my school supervisor, but now I want to hear your opinons on how I can improve my lessons.

Now I know you can't see me give a lesson but can anyone tell me how to realize when you are presented with those 'teachable moments?' I have a hard time identifing those times when I can take a students question or idea and run with it. When I get my feedback after the lesson I see where I could have done better, but how do you get your mind to seek out those moments and take advantage of them?

Also can anyone give me any good ideas of what to do when you have those students who just don't seem to get engaged. When you try using cooperative groups, interactive use of the SMART board, and whole-group instruction and you still can't get those two student engaged, what other aspects can I use to get everyone excited about learning?

Another area I struggle in is with assessment. When you give students an assessment and you have one or two students who just don't get it, what else can you do besides taking the student recess time away from them. You have to cover so much in one day, but yet your students need that time to release their energy. So what can you do so they get the information they need to understand the concepts from the lesson the day before?

One last thing I would like anyones suggestions on is what types of adaptations can you make for a classroom that has students who are very well developed for their grade level but with a few students who have minimal issues with ADD and autism? Both students seem to do well in the regular classroom without adaptations but I still need to find some way to show how I could or am making exceptions for them.

Links in my life

Here are some links that I use on a regular basis:

www.k-state.edu Kansas State University

http://lincolnelementary.usd475.org/ Lincoln Elementary School

http://custerhill.usd475.org/ Custer Hill Elementary School

www.us.army.mil Army AKO website

www.armyfrg.org An informative website to find out news about my husbands unit

Good Economic Websites for Teachers

Here are some good economic websites to get some information that would be useful for both teachers and students. They are easy to understand and have some great activities and lessons to use in your future classrooms.


http://www.kidseconposters.com/

http://bensguide.ghttp://www.kidseconposters.com

http://ecedweb.unomaha.edu/lessons/lessons.cfm

http://www.econedlink.org/lessons/index.php?lesson=EM454

Voicethread on Helen Keller

A very interesting voicethread from a young girl named Sarah. She decribes a book she enjoyed reading about Helen Keller. Sarah does a very good job of describing her book and there is also some great feedback to Sarah from others.

http://voicethread.com/#q+Books.b6071.i45526

TT#3 Life Story

Learning To Drive

The long dirt path,

Surrounded by a hay field on each side,

The old yellow Chevy pickup,

My dad at my side.

Learning to shift gears and go,

Takes practice and time,

Finally get the truck moving,

Then it suddenly stops.

Over and over again until I understand,

Release one pedal as another gets pressed,

Dad using every bit of patience he has,

Until he realizes I'm finally there.

Up and down the bumpy dirt path,

Feeling the wind in my hair,

Both from the open windows and the hole in the floorboard,

Loving every minute of it.

The smell of the farm around us,

The sound of the engine roar,

Feeling so proud and grown up,

Can't wait to take it to the road.

Star Form Introduction

Dear Cooperating Teacher,

Hello my name is Tara Reinhardt. I currently live on Fort Riley, but I am originally from a little town in Northeast Iowa. I grew up on a dairy farm with my parents, two sisters, and one brother. I graduated from Waukon Senior High School in 2001, with a graduating class of 125 students. I enjoy playing softball and going for walks with my family. I married my husband in May of 2003 and we have two children, a five year old boy and a two year old little girl. After having my first child I realized how much the teaching field interested me. My children have shown me how rewarding the teaching experience can be, and I realized that going into the field would be an exciting career. When I first taught my son the alphabet and his colors it was so exciting to see how he developed over time. My daughter has been quite the workout, but seeing her grow from having so many ear infections to talking so much now, it makes my job as a parent very exciting.
We moved to Kansas in October of 2006 and I started my schooling at Kansas State in January 2007. I have enjoyed my time in Kansas and going back to college has been very fulfilling for me. My emphasis in elementary education is science. This is partly due to the fact that I had several science classes prior to starting the teaching program, and it is also a subject that I find very interesting. In your classroom this spring I would be interested in teaching a unit in social studies or science. My future plans as a teacher are to teach for a couple of years before going back to school to get my masters degree in administration. I would like to one day become a principal or vice-principal in an elementary school. I look forward to working with you in your classroom in the upcoming semester.

Sincerely,
Tara Reinhardt

Rushed

Feeling the pressures of the semester piling on as we go further into October. How in the world am I going to get this all done? Lots and Lots of late nights. This is an exciting time, but it is also very challenging and making me consider my field of choice. Am I nuts for doing this? Most times those thoughts just pass by, but so far they seem to be sticking with me daily. I am sure once I get through October I will feel differently, at least I hope so. Good luck to the rest of you, keep your chin up. We'll all feel better come May, RIGHT?

Here

Starting my first blog. Don't really have a lot to say.