This past Monday, November 3rd, was a very special day at J. H. House Elementary School! The Georgia State University preservice teachers (who are participating in the Literature Circles EduBlog group) made a field trip to this dynamic elementary school. They had a day full of learning. They visited classrooms and some of the special teacher classrooms like art, music, and technology. The goal was to let these students see the importance of these classes to the regular curriculum. They also learned about the "At-Risk Committee that oversees every child. You see every child at J. H. House is considered at-risk in that the staff doesn't want any child overlooked from those with specific learning needs, to the average child, to the gifted child. The needs of the growing ESL population are also addressed through this committee. The committee is composed of administration and classroom teachers and believe me, no child falls between the cracks at this school!
The highlight of the visit for my Wrinkles group was that they came to the cafeteria near the close of the day to meet and interview the GSU students. They had lots of questions to ask. Not every student could answer every question but they sure gave it a valiant effort. During class today my Wrinkles students wrote stories and published the compiled results of the interview. The title of the story will be the question asked. You will enjoy reading these stories. This was a golden opportunity for the younger weblogging students (JHH) to interview the older webloggging students (GSU) and I had a great time taking lots of pictures!
The interview questions follow. I have to complement Derrick and Jerry as they finished our first assignment first today and they compiled not just one, but three interview questions each! Hats off to them and the entire group. All of you webloggers out there know how much fun it is to meet other webloggers face-to-face! The GSU students are going to comment on the stories this coming Monday. Now that's something my kids are looking forward to. Of course, as always, we welcome your comments, too!
What did you learn in your music class?
What did you learn in your technology class?
What did you learn in your art class?
What did you learn about the At-Risk Committee and the ESL population?
What was the most awesome thing you saw today?
What was your favorite part of the day?
What were the three most important things you learned today?
What do you think about the children in this school?
If you had to write one paragraph about this school, what would it be?
What impressed you the most at this school?
Do you have any suggestions for this school?
What are your reactions to this type of field trip?
If you could ask the educators in this school some questions now, what would they be?
Do you think you would like to teach at this school?
Is there anything that you would like to say about this school?
What did you think about the Wrinkles weblog that these children are doing?
Wow! The interviews really make clear to me all the benefits of our visit to J.H.House Elementary School. Our day was wonderful, thanks to the efforts of Ms. Davis, Ms. Hooper, Ms. Barajas, and all the teachers and students in the school.
Thank you for a wonderful day. I will attach a copy of my thank you letter to Ms. Hooper. I think this copy of my letter is too long for a comment but I am new to weblogging!
Ms. Lynne Jordan, Instructor at Georgia State University
Ms. Joyce Hooper
J. H. House Elementary School
2930 Highway 20 North
Conyers, GA 30012
November 7, 2003
Dear Joyce,
This letter is to officially express our appreciation for the warm welcome shown to the Georgia State University visitors to J. H. House Elementary School on Monday, November 3. Because Anne Davis and I have worked on several projects together, I was somewhat familiar with the work she has done with your students. Patterning after her work, she and I designed a weblog project for the preservice teachers in my class in the Department of Early Childhood at Georgia State University. Anne continually talked about how well her fifth graders work with weblogs and about how much she wished the university students could see the program in action. A second connection is the ESOL component that is so vital to your teaching and learning at J. H. House. A third connection is our emphasis on using Blooms Taxonomy as a framework for challenging young learners to use critical thinking skills. This emphasis is clearly a part of your work at J. H. House with CNN News and other activities. A fourth connection is the strong belief that teachers must build on childrens strengths and needs to plan effective instruction on the childs instructional level. Your work in this area, as exemplified by the creative At Risk Committee, is a perfect example of the kinds of habits of mind we strive to build with our preservice teachers. With all these common elements in place, we decided to take a field trip to J. H. House. Although I clearly expected my students to benefit from observing the aforementioned activities in place at your school, what I did not expect was the royal treatment we received. When I realized that you, Ms. Poole, and Ms. Barajas would take most of your day to serve as guides for the three groups you so cleverly formed and that the day was structured to give us the most opportunity in one day, I was overwhelmed. We could not have had a more productive day! Please express my sincere appreciation to your faculty and staff.
There are many wonderful things about the day I could list, but a real treat was talking with Ms. Mateling, recently named Rockdale County Teacher of the Year, and with Dr. Mike ONeal. Another plus was seeing former GSU students now working in your school. All in all, our day was a good example of the kinds of partnerships we need between universities and schools. I encourage you to visit the childrens weblog to see for yourself how the day was viewed by J. H. House students as well as GSU students. http://itc.blogs.com/wrinkles/
I look forward to working with you again in the future.
Yours truly,
Lynne Q. Jordan, Instructor
CC: Mr. Ruel M. Parker, Superintendent
Mr. Charles B. Price, Assistant Superintendent of Administration
Ms. Sue Husted, Director of the GSU Instructional Technology Center
Ms. Anne Davis, Instructional Technology Specialist
Dr. Edith Guyton, Chairperson of the Department of Early Childhood Education
Posted by: Lynne Jordan | November 09, 2003 at 05:14 PM
I loved reading the postings on our responses to the student interviews. I especially loved the posting where the student said that all of us from GSU looked scarey at first, but then we turned nice. We felt the same way about you guys-we were nervous in giving you the best answer to you questions. We loved visiting with you guys and would love to do it again. All of the students at J.H. House should take this time to pat themselves on the back because they are the most well-behaved students I have ever seen. (The staff deserves a pat on the back as well.)
Posted by: Pamela Allen-Thornton | November 10, 2003 at 11:28 AM
Wow! You guys did a great job of compiling all of that information. That was a lot of stuff! I just wanted to thank you again for welcoming us into your school. You guys are great and we really enjoyed spending the day with you. You taught and showed us a lot of really great stuff. Thanks again!
Posted by: Amy Keirnan | November 10, 2003 at 11:32 AM
I liked the interview comments from Yoceline about the many wonderful things that take place in art class. Ms. Anthos is a wonderful teacher and the students at J.H. House learn not only about drawing and painting, but about history of art, and celebrations that take place. Great job Joceline on your interviews!
Posted by: Brenda Wheeler | November 10, 2003 at 11:35 AM
Wow! I absolutely loved reading the responses to the student interviews. Some of the answers were funny that we said. I just want to thank you for opening you school to GSU and making us feel comfortable. J.H. House really is above the rest. I would be lucky to teach in a school that is half as successful as yours. Thank you for such a valuable experience!
Posted by: Brooke Hamilton | November 10, 2003 at 11:36 AM
Hey Everyone! I was so excited to read what you all wrote about the interviews. We had a wonderful time visiting your school. I really enjoyed reading the information about our interviews. I am so glad we could be a part of that experience. I hope to read more about what you all are doing with these cool weblogs! Good luck and have a wonderful school year.
Posted by: Joan Bartlett | November 10, 2003 at 11:40 AM
You guys did an incredible job with making us feel welcome! Thank you Luz and Jennifer (who were our group's interviewers) for allowing us to share our insight with you. This school displayed that all the students are learning and are having fun while doing it! Thank you again for sharing your day with us! Keep up the marvelous work you are doing with these EduBlogs! Now I want to know... Can I come teach there?
Posted by: Frances Wiley | November 10, 2003 at 11:44 AM
Thank you House Elementary students and staff for such a great experience! It was so wonderful to see everyone so enthusiastic about school... you really have raised the bar on how I think an ideal school should look. As for the interview, you guys came up with some wonderful, thought-provoking questions! I truly enjoyed meeting Emily and Juana, two sweet young ladies that did an excellent job interviewing us. I know it probably wasn't easy but I think you guys did a super job! You are ready for middle school! ;) Good luck with the rest of the school year and keep up all your hard work. Thanks again!
Posted by: Rebecca Harris | November 10, 2003 at 01:31 PM
Thank you so much for having us at your fabulous school. I really enjoyed my time there. I learned a lot about how a great school runs. The students and teachers made it a very worthwhile experience. The students that interviewed us asked some great questions and I can see they did a great job of remembering how everyone responded. Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Julie Fordham | November 10, 2003 at 01:33 PM
It was such a pleasure to have the chance to come and visit this fantastic school! Everyone at J.H. House Elementary made the GSU interns feel extremely welcome and we can't thank you enough for having us. I would just to tell the administration, teachers, and students at this school that everyone is doing a wonderful job. This experience has truly inspired me and I look forward to working in a school like J.H. Elementary. Again, thank you for the opportunity and keep up the excellent work!!
Posted by: Jamie Casey | November 10, 2003 at 01:40 PM
Words cannot express how impressed I am with the students at J. H. House Elementary! I have never seen such well-behaved and bright students! You guys were so welcoming, friendly, and polite. I truly look forward to visiting again. Thank you so much for such a wonderful experience!
Posted by: Drew Nichols | November 10, 2003 at 01:40 PM
Thank you so much for a wonderful experience! Your school is a great example of how an elementary school should be. One of the questions that the students asked was, What was your favorite part of the day? and I could not answer that question. The whole day was a really great experience and I hope that I will have the opportunity to teach in a school like J.H. House.
Posted by: Peggy Wesley | November 10, 2003 at 01:45 PM
Hello J.H. House! Thanks so much for providing us with a wonderful experience. We all learned something new, and really enjoyed the opportunity to experience your amazing school! Your postings on our interviews were interesting to read. I can tell many of us had the same reactions to our experience. Thanks again for your hospitality!
Posted by: Stormy Tucker | November 10, 2003 at 01:48 PM
I truly enjoyed the students at J.H. House. They were friendly and helpful while we were on the visit. It was a great joy to see everyone so engaged in all the classrooms. I could tell that the students were used to visitors, because everyone stayed on task throughout the day.
**I really enjoyed being in the computer lab at the school... looking at all the big names in American politics and life in general... that was a learning experience for me!**
Posted by: Nina A. Clem | November 10, 2003 at 01:48 PM
After reading all that the "Wrinkles" group posted about our interviews together, I see that the rest of the GSU students were as impressed as I was. You guys did a wonderful job putting all of our information together. Luz, I have to agree with you when you said, "Have you ever wondered how many girls want to be teachers?" I have to say that I agree with you. I know that all of us at Georgia State would be very lucky to teach such a fine group of students. Luz, I also think it's very neat that you want to be a music teacher when you grow up. I know that Mrs. Goode's music class is a wonderful example for you to model one day in your music class. I had so much fun in there! You guys keep up the great work at this Weblogging! Thanks again for having us!
Posted by: Erica Williams | November 10, 2003 at 03:59 PM
Hello J.H. House! Thank you so much for the opportunity to visit your school! It was such a wonderful experience! Great job Jerry, on posting our responses from the interviews! Each of you is doing a fantastic job with your weblog! Keep up the good work!
Posted by: Karen hay | November 10, 2003 at 04:14 PM
A much deserved thank-you to you all. The experience we had in your warm school is one that will not soon be forgotten. We each learned so much and look forward to working at schools like yours here in the near future. Now that's what I call Southern Hospitality! The postings from your wrinkles group are fantastic! It looks like weve got some great writers on our hands over there at J.H.!
Posted by: Shanna B. Cox | November 10, 2003 at 04:15 PM
I was unable to attend that day due to a prior commitment. I am very sorry I missed it. I read all the interviews and they were incredible. I can tell I missed something special and some very impressive students.
Posted by: Michelle Carr | November 10, 2003 at 04:46 PM
Great Job! I can really tell that you guys put a lot of hard work into transferring all of our responses on to the internet. I am amazed at how many of the GSU students had similar answers to your questions. Thank you for allowing us to come into your school and learn. I hope you learned as much as we did!
Posted by: Kora Wesley | November 10, 2003 at 06:02 PM
I hope you will tell your teachers how impressed we are with the students and teachers at J.H. House. You may not know how special your school really is. As students at Georgia State we have a chance to visit several schools before we actually begin student teaching. We have seen a lot of different school buildings, different styles of teaching, and many different communities of students. Having had all of these experiences, you'd think we would be hard to impress. The truth is that had never seen anything like your school before! It was like Disney World for student teachers!! We know the way your school works is the result of hard work by the administration, the faculty, and a very special group of students. We were honored to visit you. Cyndee Thomas
Posted by: Cyndee Thomas | November 10, 2003 at 08:42 PM
I just wanted to thank all of you for welcoming us into your school! I was very impressed with all of the students at JH House, everyone was so considerate. I loved reading your postings too. It is obvious that all of you work very hard to make your school fun, and exciting. Keep up the good work!!
Regina
Posted by: Regina Wentzel | November 10, 2003 at 11:27 PM
Thank you for a wonderful field trip to J.H. House elementary! My favorite part of the day was when all the students watched CNN and had an open forum discussion. What made it even better was when I got to go to the computer lab and work on an Inspiration project about the CNN topics with a fifth grade buddy. Your students knew such interesting facts, it made me go home and watch the evening news. What has been the most interesting fact that you have learned about from your daily CNN viewings?
Good luck with your Weblogs. If you ever feel like checking out mine covering the Newberry Award winning book titled The Witch of Blackbird Pond, go here: http://anvil.gsu.edu/witch.
Have a happy fall break and I hope to come back and visit again someday.
Posted by: mary beth | November 10, 2003 at 11:38 PM
Thank you for a wonderful field trip to J.H. House elementary! My favorite part of the day was when all the students watched CNN and had an open forum discussion. What made it even better was when I got to go to the computer lab and work on an Inspiration project about the CNN topics with a fifth grade buddy. Your students knew such interesting facts, it made me go home and watch the evening news. What has been the most interesting fact that you have learned about from your daily CNN viewings?
Good luck with your Weblogs. If you ever feel like checking out mine covering the Newberry Award winning book titled The Witch of Blackbird Pond, go here: http://anvil.gsu.edu/witch.
Have a happy fall break and I hope to come back and visit again someday.
Posted by: mary beth | November 10, 2003 at 11:38 PM
Thank you for a wonderful field trip to J.H. House elementary! My favorite part of the day was when all the students watched CNN and had an open forum discussion. What made it even better was when I got to go to the computer lab and work on an Inspiration project about the CNN topics with a fifth grade buddy. Your students knew such interesting facts, it made me go home and watch the evening news. What has been the most interesting fact that you have learned about from your daily CNN viewings?
Good luck with your Weblogs. If you ever feel like checking out mine covering the Newberry Award winning book titled The Witch of Blackbird Pond, go here: http://anvil.gsu.edu/witch.
Have a happy fall break and I hope to come back and visit again someday.
Posted by: mary beth | November 10, 2003 at 11:38 PM
I am so sorry. I am obviously not good at this Weblog thing and triple posted. Please forgive me. You guys are better at this than I am! Wanna give me lessons?
Posted by: mary beth | November 10, 2003 at 11:39 PM