Welcome to my MITTEN
page!
About Me!
Hello! I'm Joanne Gilbert and this semester I'm student
teaching 5th grade at Allen
Elementary in Plymouth, MI. My cooperating teacher is Gail Maloney.
I'm very excited to have finally made it to student teaching, and so far
it has been fun and rewarding. I attend the University
of Michigan Dearborn, and even though I'm student teaching now, I
won't graduate until after next semester because I will go back and take
classes for another semester to take my minor of social studies up to
another major. My major that I have already completed is in math.
I have worked with children for many years. It started
my sophomore year in high school when I took preschool. Since then I have
worked in three child-care centers. The last center I worked in was Tutor
Time in Plymouth, where I first was lead teacher in the 2 1/2 year old
room for 2 1/2 years, and then this last summer I "graduated" to
be the lead in the 3 year old room.
About Allen Elementary: It is a great place! It houses
K-5 and about 400 children. The fifth grade has 4 classes, and in the
afternoons we rotate classes, so I am getting to know all the fifth
graders. It's in the afternoon we teach social studies, so I will be
teaching economics to the whole 5th grade. Because of time restrictions
with the computer lab, I have to have two plans for some lessons since
there is no way that I can get the computer lab each afternoon for about 3
weeks. That just isn't going to happen. Therefore, on top of the lessons
is the extension that I will do with my homeroom when we do go to computer
lab.
We have 2 computers and a printer in the classroom (but
the printer is only connected to one computer). We have a TV monitor in
the room which is also connected to the computer. Digital cameras are
available too. There is a computer lab,
with a rotating schedule-one week you have a scheduled 45 minute time
spot, the next week it's open and you can sign up for when and how long
you want. Students are familiar with the technology for the most part, and
enjoy our time in the computer lab. Since I will be teaching to the whole
5th grade, I have a complete range of abilities, from special education
student to the whiz kids to ELL students. This school was rated at the Mid-Tech
level according to the school technology & Readiness (STaR) Chart
for the K-12 community developed by the CEO
Forum on Education and Technology.
