Mouret,Jessica

My name is Jessica Mouret and I teach fourth grade at the American International School, AIS. This is my sixth year of teaching. My first four years were in second grade and the last two have been in fourth.

This is my fifth masters course. What I've enjoyed about these courses is all the practical stuff I've gotten from them that I have applied to the classroom.

I love a good adventure! :)

Kohlburg assignment

**__ Classroom Management for Differentiation __** Safe, motivational, cooperative environment where learning and teaching take place. // Safe: // · risk takers able to share ideas · mutual trust/respect/tolerance // Motivational: // · extrinsically motivated in order to ultimately create intrinsic value/meaning · excite students to become inquirers; · teaching with the end in mind // ooperative: // · socially connected;invested in each others’ success, mutual respect · physically and emotionally present; ready and willing to teach and learn from each other.

**__ Hopes and Dreams __**

1. **Dream:** I want my students to become better critical thinkers.
 * Goal: ** Today I introduced my kids to what a moral dilemma is. I told them a whole story that I had made up about two friends, where in the end one friend would catch the other cheating. I left them with the question of whether or not the friend who witnessed the cheating should tell on his friend or not. Finally, I told them their homework for the night was to retell the story to their parents, have a discussion and come back with an answer in the morning.

I will pose one moral dilemma a week to my students so they know when they come across one in their own lives they can begin to understand that there is not always a right or wrong answer. They have to take into account all of the information and then make a decision one way or the other.

2. **Dream:** I want to teach my math lessons using more real life problems.
 * Goal: ** as my professional goal at school I got together with four teachers from my grade four team at the end of December to collaborate and share ideas. We decided to create a Google page to so that we can post our real life math problems that we come up with weekly (or that students come up with). This process is great because we are all held accountable towards coming up with a good set of problems. Administration will meet with the four of us at the end of February to see what we have done so that also holds us accountable.

3. **Dream**: for my students to think before they speak
 * Goal ** : teach one mini lesson a week for a month (4mini lessons) with strategies that my students can use to practice this skill. These mini lessons will include real life stories about kids being affected negatively because a friend or peer didn't think before they spoke. The strategies that are taught will be posted around the room and referred to when needed.

=
** Providing an environment (intellectual, physical, and social/emotional) that contributes to formulation of a self regulated community of learners and to the self actualization of each of the learners ** =====

To actualize these hopes and dreams I will create positive learning environments for my students by doing these things:
>  **__Routine: Thursday Morning Entry__** > > ** Problem Child  ** This boy, Faisal in grade four is not always very nice student to two specific students in the classroom. There are a couple of students who he picks on in small but noticeable ways. I am thinking of two students in particular. He will do things like poke them, walk in front of them or on their heals, not let them borrow something, make it obvious with comments that he doesn’t agree with something they have said or that they are not welcome to work in a group with them. He’s a nice kid overall, but not to these two students. > > > > ** Reading Response/Summary: Start the Day with Community ** > ** By: Roxann Kriete ** > > Roxann writes about the importance of having morning meetings with your class to create a caring environment and to build a strong community where students share greetings, news, and events with each other and go over the daily schedule. The most important thing that I took from this article was that having morning meetings gives students the chance to feel significant. The last few paragraphs were also impactful because I was looking for a way for my student Faisal to stop picking on a couple of students in the classroom and although we have a good community within our classroom, maybe having a classroom meeting every morning would allow my students the opportunity to learn a lot more about each other in a way that would get Faisal to think twice on his own before bothering the two students, or anyone else for that matter because he would know them better. If it was successful, it would be a success story like Pete in the article. >
 * 1) ===== Bell rings at 7:40 and students walk from the tennis courts to the grade 1/2 outdoor area. =====
 * 2) Students line up in front of the grade two classrooms to sing the Kuwait National Anthem.
 * 3) After the Kuwait National Anthem the principal says a word or two and students enter the school behind Ms Emily's class.
 * 4) Students proceed to walk up the right side of the staircase and head to their cubbies that are located outside of the classroom.
 * 5) Students open their bags and get their water bottles, agenda folders, Arabic and Religion folders, homework, apple, ipad and any other supplies they may have.
 * 6) Students proceed into the classroom with their things. Folders go into their tables, homework goes into the homework bins, forms go into the forms box, all other things get put away in or on their desks.
 * 7) When the students have organized their things they join me on the carpet.
 * 8) On the carpet I say a big good morning, and receive one back
 * 9) I go over the schedule for the day
 * 10) I begin the morning mini lesson, usually on the carpet
 * 11) Any students who are late, come in quietly and respectfully, organize their things and join the lesson