This week has been exciting and challenging. It was a short week for us with the holiday, teacher work day, and three hour delay. I really enjoyed participating in the teacher workday professional development opportunities. I learned a lot of useful and helpful information during this time to use in the classroom I am in now and in my future classroom. The week was short and I found it challenging to squeeze in all of the material we needed to teach the students, especially during the three hour delay day. I am realizing just how valuable every minute of the day is to teach the students all they need to know. I would rate this week as a four. The week went well overall, we are still working on some behavior obstacles with a few of the students. I am also working on improving my classroom management skills. I am seeing how some techniques work well one day but do not work well the next day. I am learning how to adapt and change classroom management techniques to meet the needs of my students. I plan on researching more ways to manage behavior in the classroom this weekend. I would say my pleasant surprise and accomplishment for the week would be how most of the students in the class were able to count, identify, and write their numbers 10-15 after taking part in two lessons with these numbers. I was able to determine this outcome through formative assessments of each student. The students already knew how to write and identify their numbers 0-10 and now I am building on their prior knowledge and teaching them the next set of numbers. The students will be able to identify and write their numbers 0-20 by the end of the year. My work experience this week taught me to be patient and slow down when explaining directions to the students. I realize I have not explained every step to the students during activities at certain points of the week. I know now not to assume they know to do certain steps until I have explained each step to them. I will build upon this next week and really take time to explain each activity and step to the students before they participate. I would say my short-term efforts for next week and the remaining of student teaching is to really focus on the blooms taxonomy and asking the higher level questions to students. This is one of my weaknesses when I am teaching. I have been able to add more of these questions into my lessons this week, but I would like to add more. I want to build more off of students responses and help them to dig deeper into their understandings. This short-term goal aligns to my long-term goal of being successful in my student teaching and as a future teacher. By including the blooms taxonomy in my teaching I will be able to push my students to take their understandings even further with the content.
I could of spent less time correcting behavior during activities if I would have taken the time to explain the activity and steps to the students before hand. This would have kept students from fighting over materials, becoming upset, or not participating in the activity. My apprehension came into play today when a student refused to walk back to class after enhancements. I was apprehensive on what to do and I believe the student could sense this, which made things worse. I was finally able to talk him into coming into the hallway with his class, but then he would not go any further. The music teacher was able to get him to walk back to the class with her. Although, the next time it happened today when coming in from recess I was able to get down on his level, hear him out, and encourage him that we could go fix the line order and help him to get back in his spot. I am proud of myself for sticking with my gut instinct the second time and successfully getting this student back to the classroom. The first logical step for next week is to prepare all of my materials for morning work, lessons, and group work for the whole week. This way I can work on my portfolio and touching up my edTPA tasks next week. I also would like to go ahead and get ahead on my lesson plans for the next week so I can fully focus on being in the classroom and strengthening my classroom management techniques. This will require a full nights rest each night, so I am recharged for the next day. The data I was able to review this week was the data from my observation. I was able to see exactly which areas I need to strengthen and improve on and which areas I was strong in. I will use this feedback to help me improve and grow in my areas of weakness. This will help me to be the best teacher I can be! I really appreciate the feedback I was given from my university supervisor and ce. I agree 100% with their comments. One piece of advice I can share with other student teachers is everyday is different. Try to be as flexible as possible and always be patient with your students. Take time to understand what is truly bothering your students who are a little more difficult then the other students. These students really need you, your attention, and a positive relationship with you.
NC Teacher Candidate Standard
Standard 1a- Teachers lead in their classrooms. This week I officially took over so I was the main leader in the classroom. I lead the students through all lessons, to/ from enhancements and lunch, and to their dismissal areas.
Standard 2a- Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. This week I was able to build closer positive relationships with some of the students who have behavior issues and with the new student in our class.
Standard 3a- Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. I made sure my lessons were aligned to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study and to the correct parts of the standard for each quarter according to the curriculum guide.
Standard 4f- Teachers help students work in teams and develop leadership qualities. I was able to have the students work in teams this week for math in groups of three. The students seemed to enjoy the activity. I just need to work on clarifying and really explaining each step and giving roles to the students in their groups before starting the activity.
Standard 5a- Teachers analyze student learning. I was able to analyze the students understanding/learning of their sight words and their numbers 10-15. This data will help me know which students need more practice with either of these concepts and which students have mastered these concepts.
Other
I am continuing to work on the website for my portfolio. This week I will work on my PDP as well. My CE and I do not need any support at this time. I appreciate the time my university supervisor has taken to observe me and his feedback.
Friday, January 25, 2019
Friday, January 18, 2019
Weekly Reflections: January 18th
This week I was able to have more time with just the students and I. My CE had to be out a lot this week for TRC testing and assessing math task. My TA and I worked well together this week in the classroom. All in all this week has been good in the classroom. All of my lessons went well and the students seemed to really enjoy them. I could tell the students enjoyed the lessons because they were all engaged in their learning by answering questions and asking questions about the content. As far as the students behavior it was better at the beginning of the week then toward the end of the week. We had a student who had been out for awhile come back this week and this made some of the other students act out. We are working on checking ourselves and making sure we are making good choices because the students know they are in charge of their own actions. I rate my experience this week as a level three. I would say a level three because of the behavior back tracking that took place this week for some of the students. My accomplishment this week would be taking over the roles of the teacher while she was out of the room. I was able to teach all subjects this week successfully, I was able to keep all of the students in their routine, and I was able to get every student where they needed to be for dismissal. The lesson my work experience taught me this week is the importance of time management during the day in the classroom. Being in the classroom all day with the students I have seen how every minute counts and is valuable learning time for the students. I have also seen how there is not enough time in the day. Any minute I can use reviewing important concepts/skills with the students will benefit their learning in a positive way. I will build upon this realization next week by making sure I have mini activities to do with the students during the transition times throughout the day. I will also make sure to have extra educational activities for the students to do if they finish their work early that will benefit them and help the specific student with what they are struggling with. I would say my short-term efforts for next week and the remaining of student teaching is to really focus on the blooms taxonomy and asking the higher level questions to students. This is one of my weaknesses when I am teaching. I forget to incorporate the higher level questions and build off of students responses. This comes from not being taught in this way when I was in school. Sometimes I am nervous when teaching in front of adults in the room and will forget to include the higher level questions I had planned to include while I am teaching. This short-term goal aligns to my long-term goal of being successful in my student teaching and as a future teacher. By including the blooms taxonomy in my teaching I will be able to push my students to take their understandings even further with the content.
I could of spent more time with my edTPA task and my portfolio if I had been ahead with my lesson planning this week. I am spending too much time working on my lesson plans and gathering the materials needed for the next day each afternoon. I will focus my efforts this week on completing my lesson plans early and gathering all the materials needed for each day at the beginning of the week. This way I will have more time to spend on my edTPA task and my portfolio. I would say I was apprehensive this week with some of the letterland and phonics strategies. I was scared I would not do them right. I ended up doing well with them, I just had to get over my apprehension about them. I went through exactly what I would say and do with my CE before I taught this aspect to the students. This was a big help to ease my apprehension. The first step for next week will be to have all of my materials ready for the whole week. Also, I will begin on my lesson plans for the following week so I can get those done early. This way I will be able to spend more time fixing my edTPA task and working on my portfolio during the week. The data I was able to review this week was the middle of the year mclass data on each of our students. This includes their dibles and TRC scores. We also looked at the students understandings on the book and print concepts. We reviewed all of the mclass data for kindegarten during our data analysis day. We were able to take the data and determine which students need to be pulled for intervention strategies throughout our class and all of the kindegarten classes. I was also able to see how each student in our class has grown or not grown from the beginning of the year data to the middle of the year data. This data helped us determine our guided reading groups and helped us identify the specific needs some of our students have individually that we can work on with them. One piece of advice I would give other student teachers is to take part in any meetings, goal teams, data analysis discussion, etc. that you can. I have really been able to learn so much more about many aspects in teaching such as data and teaching stratgies by taking part in these meetings. I will use all of the information and wisdom I have learned in these meetings to help guide me in my teaching as a future educator.
NC Teacher Candidate Standard
Standard 1d- Teachers advocate for schools and students. I was able to see during the data analysis how the teachers advocated for their students and their school. The teachers stood up for their students and explained how far they had came from the beginning of the year with the concepts they had been focusing on. The teachers then explained how they had not spent as much time on other concepts so the students would not have known how to do any better in those specific areas. The teachers advocated for their school by expressing how much the school had grown in percentages each year and how they will this year as well.
Standard 2c- Teachers treat students as individuals. I was able to observe this aspect during the data analysis meeting the teachers went through each child to determine what each child individually needed to be successful with the content and the standards.
Standard 3c- Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines. I have been able to incorporate and connect all of the subjects together when teaching a lesson. I have been able to help students to see the relevance of the content and help strengthen their global awareness. We were able to use google earth, maps, and experience the live of a snowflake through the lens of a snowflake, etc. The students really respond well and stay more engaged in the lesson when global awareness is involved.
Standard 4d- Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction. I was able to use technology in my lessons this week. Our technology is fixed as of this week! The technology aspect I really liked the most this week was the life of a snowflake through the eyes of a snowflake in a video. I was also able to use the smart board for some of my lessons this week, this allows the students to be hands on with the material. The students really enjoy any type of technology aspect in the classroom.
Standard 5a- Teachers analyze student learning. I was able to analyze the students learning by reviewing their data from their middle of the year mclass testing for my class and the whole grade level. This was completed during the kindergarten data analysis day, I was able to attend.
Other
I was able to complete my educational philosophy this week. I am working on the global awareness aspect this week and the website. We do not need any support at this time from my university supervisor.
I could of spent more time with my edTPA task and my portfolio if I had been ahead with my lesson planning this week. I am spending too much time working on my lesson plans and gathering the materials needed for the next day each afternoon. I will focus my efforts this week on completing my lesson plans early and gathering all the materials needed for each day at the beginning of the week. This way I will have more time to spend on my edTPA task and my portfolio. I would say I was apprehensive this week with some of the letterland and phonics strategies. I was scared I would not do them right. I ended up doing well with them, I just had to get over my apprehension about them. I went through exactly what I would say and do with my CE before I taught this aspect to the students. This was a big help to ease my apprehension. The first step for next week will be to have all of my materials ready for the whole week. Also, I will begin on my lesson plans for the following week so I can get those done early. This way I will be able to spend more time fixing my edTPA task and working on my portfolio during the week. The data I was able to review this week was the middle of the year mclass data on each of our students. This includes their dibles and TRC scores. We also looked at the students understandings on the book and print concepts. We reviewed all of the mclass data for kindegarten during our data analysis day. We were able to take the data and determine which students need to be pulled for intervention strategies throughout our class and all of the kindegarten classes. I was also able to see how each student in our class has grown or not grown from the beginning of the year data to the middle of the year data. This data helped us determine our guided reading groups and helped us identify the specific needs some of our students have individually that we can work on with them. One piece of advice I would give other student teachers is to take part in any meetings, goal teams, data analysis discussion, etc. that you can. I have really been able to learn so much more about many aspects in teaching such as data and teaching stratgies by taking part in these meetings. I will use all of the information and wisdom I have learned in these meetings to help guide me in my teaching as a future educator.
NC Teacher Candidate Standard
Standard 1d- Teachers advocate for schools and students. I was able to see during the data analysis how the teachers advocated for their students and their school. The teachers stood up for their students and explained how far they had came from the beginning of the year with the concepts they had been focusing on. The teachers then explained how they had not spent as much time on other concepts so the students would not have known how to do any better in those specific areas. The teachers advocated for their school by expressing how much the school had grown in percentages each year and how they will this year as well.
Standard 2c- Teachers treat students as individuals. I was able to observe this aspect during the data analysis meeting the teachers went through each child to determine what each child individually needed to be successful with the content and the standards.
Standard 3c- Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines. I have been able to incorporate and connect all of the subjects together when teaching a lesson. I have been able to help students to see the relevance of the content and help strengthen their global awareness. We were able to use google earth, maps, and experience the live of a snowflake through the lens of a snowflake, etc. The students really respond well and stay more engaged in the lesson when global awareness is involved.
Standard 4d- Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction. I was able to use technology in my lessons this week. Our technology is fixed as of this week! The technology aspect I really liked the most this week was the life of a snowflake through the eyes of a snowflake in a video. I was also able to use the smart board for some of my lessons this week, this allows the students to be hands on with the material. The students really enjoy any type of technology aspect in the classroom.
Standard 5a- Teachers analyze student learning. I was able to analyze the students learning by reviewing their data from their middle of the year mclass testing for my class and the whole grade level. This was completed during the kindergarten data analysis day, I was able to attend.
Other
I was able to complete my educational philosophy this week. I am working on the global awareness aspect this week and the website. We do not need any support at this time from my university supervisor.
Friday, January 11, 2019
Weekly Reflections: January 11th
I have had a great first full week in the classroom with the students! I have learned the importance of getting adequate rest the night before, so I am recharged for the next day. Teaching is not only physically demanding but also mentally. I worked really hard on improving my classroom management techniques this week. I am remaining strong with the students and using the rewards and consequences appropriately. I have to gain the students respect and trust again since they have been out on break. I would rate my week this week as a four. I would say a four because I am learning my place in the classroom and trying not to step on any toes. In the past, when I came to work with my CE the TA was out. Therefore, I have not been able to work with the TA very much until this week. My CE had to be out of the room to assess students, so the TA and I worked together to teach the class. Also, our technology was down so I had to come up with other aspects to use for my lessons. Lastly, the students were very energetic and were testing me to see what they could get by with. My accomplishment this week would be successfully teaching a full week of reading lessons to the students. A pleasant surprise from the week would be that most of the students were fully engaged in the lessons I taught, despite not having technology incorporated. This week taught me the students and the classroom environment is continuously changing. For instance, kindergarten has had at least six new students transfer to the school since the students have been back from Christmas break. Our classroom received two new students since we have been back from break. The students grow/progress in their understandings or some students regress in their understandings of the standards. Also, students become friends with other students and form groups, this causes some students to become sad and act out. Next week, I will build on the fact that change occurs continuously and will plan accordingly to meet the needs of our students. In my future classroom, I will be prepared for changes to occur continuously in the knowledge of my students, the friendships made between students, and in the amount of students I may have. I will assess as much as possible to keep track/data of the students changes in understandings of the standards. I would say my short-term efforts for next week and the remaining of student teaching is to really focus on the blooms taxonomy and asking the higher level questions to students. This is one of my weakness when I am teaching. I forget to incorporate the higher level questions and build off of students responses. This comes from not being taught in this manner when I was in school. Also, I let my nerves take the best of me sometimes and forget to include the higher level questions I have planned on including when I actually teach the lesson. This short-term goal aligns to my long-term goal of being successful in my student teaching and as a future teacher. By including the blooms taxonomy in my teaching I will be able to push my students to take their understandings even further with the content. This week I could of spent more time teaching my lessons then trying to figure out how to fix the technology aspects. I could of spent less time messing with the technology for each lesson trying to get it to work. I would say for the courage aspect, I was apprehensive about being more animated during some of my reading lessons. Therefore, I held back being more animated and silly during some of the reading lessons. I believe if I am more animated during some lessons, I will be able to hold the studentes interest longer and they will be more engaged.
The steps for next week are to create the higher level questions from blooms taxonomy to match the lessons I am teaching. I will print these off and have them with me while I teach so I do not forget to include them. I will also practice being more animated with the stories this weekend so I feel more comfortable when I am in front of the students. The mental clutter I can clear would be getting the next weeks lesson plans done so I do not have to worry about it during next week. I was able to review the mclass dibles data with my CE and this helped me to plan the standards to focus on during letterland. The students are sturggling with identifying the plain letter. We were also able to determine a group of students to start remediating with certain standards. I will use this information to guide me in my teaching next week. I also was able to review the updated math task data. I was able to determine the math standards we need to focus on this week to help the students grow in their understandings with some of their math standards. One piece of advice I would share with other student teachers is that the students understandings change on a daily basis. Therefore, you should assess the students understandings as much as possible. (individually).
NC Teacher Candidate Standards
Standard 1b: Teachers demonstrate leadership in the school.
I was able to observe the school improvement plan group meeting this week. I was able to determine steps I can take to help them reach their goals. I was also able to observe a meeting for mentors and see how they are able to contribute to the success of a new teacher in the school.
Standard 2e: Teachers work collaboratively with the families and significant adults in the lives of their students.
I was able to observe my CE working collaboratively with the family of a student to determine strategies we can use to help him focus at school. I also was able to see my CE communicate with a parent about giving their student some shoes that were donated to the classroom, before just sending the shoes home. I feel like this is a great way to give the parents a voice and create a positive relationship with the parents between the teacher. Having a positive relationship with the parents will help the student to be successful.
Standard 3d: Teachers make instruction relevant to students.
I have observed and been able to include leadership ethics into our lessons for the students. We relate the content to the seven habits the students school-wide learn and focus on. The seven habits relate to the leader in me. I have found the seven habits to be very helpful to refer to when teaching the students about leadership ethics and global awareness.
Standard 4f: Teachers help students work in teams and develop leadership qualities. I was able to observe and have students to work in pairs and teams for some of the lessons this week. I feel like the students are able to learn a lot about the content when they are able to work with their peers.
Standard 5a: Teachers analyze student learning. I was able to sit in with a MTSS meeting where the team discusses the students who are on the tier plan. I was able to see how they analyze data of student learning and determine what strategies they need or if the strategies are working to continue. This was a very interesting and helpful meeting to attend. This meeting helped me to understand the tier process even more.
Other
I am working on updating my philosophy of education for my portfolio. My CE and I had the pleasure of meeting my university supervisor this week. We do not need any support at this time from my university supervisor. I was able to receive some very helpful feedback thus far and look forward to receiving more feedback as the semester progresses!
The steps for next week are to create the higher level questions from blooms taxonomy to match the lessons I am teaching. I will print these off and have them with me while I teach so I do not forget to include them. I will also practice being more animated with the stories this weekend so I feel more comfortable when I am in front of the students. The mental clutter I can clear would be getting the next weeks lesson plans done so I do not have to worry about it during next week. I was able to review the mclass dibles data with my CE and this helped me to plan the standards to focus on during letterland. The students are sturggling with identifying the plain letter. We were also able to determine a group of students to start remediating with certain standards. I will use this information to guide me in my teaching next week. I also was able to review the updated math task data. I was able to determine the math standards we need to focus on this week to help the students grow in their understandings with some of their math standards. One piece of advice I would share with other student teachers is that the students understandings change on a daily basis. Therefore, you should assess the students understandings as much as possible. (individually).
NC Teacher Candidate Standards
Standard 1b: Teachers demonstrate leadership in the school.
I was able to observe the school improvement plan group meeting this week. I was able to determine steps I can take to help them reach their goals. I was also able to observe a meeting for mentors and see how they are able to contribute to the success of a new teacher in the school.
Standard 2e: Teachers work collaboratively with the families and significant adults in the lives of their students.
I was able to observe my CE working collaboratively with the family of a student to determine strategies we can use to help him focus at school. I also was able to see my CE communicate with a parent about giving their student some shoes that were donated to the classroom, before just sending the shoes home. I feel like this is a great way to give the parents a voice and create a positive relationship with the parents between the teacher. Having a positive relationship with the parents will help the student to be successful.
Standard 3d: Teachers make instruction relevant to students.
I have observed and been able to include leadership ethics into our lessons for the students. We relate the content to the seven habits the students school-wide learn and focus on. The seven habits relate to the leader in me. I have found the seven habits to be very helpful to refer to when teaching the students about leadership ethics and global awareness.
Standard 4f: Teachers help students work in teams and develop leadership qualities. I was able to observe and have students to work in pairs and teams for some of the lessons this week. I feel like the students are able to learn a lot about the content when they are able to work with their peers.
Standard 5a: Teachers analyze student learning. I was able to sit in with a MTSS meeting where the team discusses the students who are on the tier plan. I was able to see how they analyze data of student learning and determine what strategies they need or if the strategies are working to continue. This was a very interesting and helpful meeting to attend. This meeting helped me to understand the tier process even more.
Other
I am working on updating my philosophy of education for my portfolio. My CE and I had the pleasure of meeting my university supervisor this week. We do not need any support at this time from my university supervisor. I was able to receive some very helpful feedback thus far and look forward to receiving more feedback as the semester progresses!
Friday, January 4, 2019
Weekly Reflections: January 4th
Overall Reflection
My first half week back in the classroom was exciting and the students were on their best behaviors, a great way to start off the semester! I have really missed the students and I am glad to be back in the classroom and full-time. I can now focus solely on the students and what needs to be done in and out of the classroom. I was able to experience my first full teacher workday on Wednesday of this week. I worked for a daycare the past semester and was not able to spend many whole days in the classroom except on Wednesdays. I am so grateful to be able to not have to worry about my responsibilities at my job and have time to really focus on being the best teacher I can be. I have worked very hard to be at this point in my life and I am not going to jeopardize this opportunity in anyway. Therefore, my full time and focus will be on student teaching and absorbing all knowledge and experiences possible. Wednesday we cleaned the room and planned as a team for the next week. The students came back to school Thursday and Friday. The students were very quiet and sleepy Thursday, they were having a hard time adjusting to their schedules changing back to school time. Thursday we begin our unit on the arctic. The students seem to really enjoy this topic and are excited to learn more about this part of the world. On Friday the students were very energetic and restless, this came from not being able to go outside because of the weather. I would rate my overall experience for this week as a 5. I observed and assisted this week, the students were well behaved, this is why I rated my week as a 5. A pleasant surprise for me this week would be observing how well our two new students are doing with the content, social emotional, and behavioral aspects of the class. The accomplishments I am most proud of this week would be my creation of my lesson plans for the next week. I was excited to hear my CE and University Supervisor approved them! I am a perfectionist so I stress over every detail in my lesson plans, so this was an accomplishment for me. The lesson I was taught during my experience in the class this week taught me the importance of classroom management and staying consistent. I will build upon my classroom management skills next week. I am seeing a positive response from the students by staying consistent with the classroom rules, expectations, rewards, consequences, etc. My short-term efforts are to stay ahead on my lesson planning and school work. This will help me to have the materials and content prepared for my students and will also help me to take care of myself so that I am 100% for my students each day. This aligns with my long-term goals of being successful in my student teaching and as a future teacher. I need to have all lesson plans and assignments done and turned in on time. I also need to be prepared for my students by having lesson plans done early and getting enough rest to give them a 100% each day, this will help me to be a successful teacher. I could have spent more time on my other assignments for this class and getting ahead if I had worked ahead before the semester started. I could spend less time on the assignments due now if I already had them done. I second guessed myself when planning certain activities for the students in my lesson plans. I put the activities in there anyway and was pleasantly surprised my CE liked them. I second guessed myself a few times this week on calling students to clip down. I ended up not calling them down. I will go with my gut next time. My first steps for next week is to have my lesson plans printed, activities printed and ready, and to be started on the lesson plans for the next week. I can mentally clear some clutter by getting ahead on assignments this weekend. I was able to review the data my CE had completed recently on the students book and print concepts understandings. I used the data to guide the standards and parts to review on book and print concepts for next week. One piece of advice I would share with other student teachers is to take time to plan your lessons. Break down your lessons into sections and complete over a few days.
NC Teacher Candidate Standards
Standard 1a: Teachers lead in their classroom. I was able to observe my CE and kindergarten team use their data to organize, plan, and set goals for their students. (math task, book and print concepts, shapes, etc. )
Standard 2a: Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. I was able to observe my CE grow in her relationships with each student. I was also able to grow in my relationships with each student. We were able to make the two new students feel welcomed, loved, respected and gain their trust in our classroom. The students accept each other and we allow each student to have a voice and feel safe to use their voice in the classroom.
Standard 3a: Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. I was able to see the kindergarten team align their instructions they planned during planning to the North Carolina Course of Study. I also was able to align my lessons for next week to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.
Standard 4d: Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction. I was able to observe my CE using youtube educational kid songs to help the students become excited and engaged in the content at hand. My CE also had the students use iPads to learn more about the arctic in the marcopolo app. I was also able to integrate technology into my lessons for next week.
Standard 5a: Teachers analyze student learning. I was able to see my CE analyze student learning to determine the lessons for next week during planning with the kindergarten team. I also was able to analyze the student data to determine the lessons for next week to plan as well.
Other
I have begun to review the rubric for the portfolio project. I have started a list on what needs to be included in the portfolio this week. No support needed at this point and time for my CE or me from my university supervisor.
My first half week back in the classroom was exciting and the students were on their best behaviors, a great way to start off the semester! I have really missed the students and I am glad to be back in the classroom and full-time. I can now focus solely on the students and what needs to be done in and out of the classroom. I was able to experience my first full teacher workday on Wednesday of this week. I worked for a daycare the past semester and was not able to spend many whole days in the classroom except on Wednesdays. I am so grateful to be able to not have to worry about my responsibilities at my job and have time to really focus on being the best teacher I can be. I have worked very hard to be at this point in my life and I am not going to jeopardize this opportunity in anyway. Therefore, my full time and focus will be on student teaching and absorbing all knowledge and experiences possible. Wednesday we cleaned the room and planned as a team for the next week. The students came back to school Thursday and Friday. The students were very quiet and sleepy Thursday, they were having a hard time adjusting to their schedules changing back to school time. Thursday we begin our unit on the arctic. The students seem to really enjoy this topic and are excited to learn more about this part of the world. On Friday the students were very energetic and restless, this came from not being able to go outside because of the weather. I would rate my overall experience for this week as a 5. I observed and assisted this week, the students were well behaved, this is why I rated my week as a 5. A pleasant surprise for me this week would be observing how well our two new students are doing with the content, social emotional, and behavioral aspects of the class. The accomplishments I am most proud of this week would be my creation of my lesson plans for the next week. I was excited to hear my CE and University Supervisor approved them! I am a perfectionist so I stress over every detail in my lesson plans, so this was an accomplishment for me. The lesson I was taught during my experience in the class this week taught me the importance of classroom management and staying consistent. I will build upon my classroom management skills next week. I am seeing a positive response from the students by staying consistent with the classroom rules, expectations, rewards, consequences, etc. My short-term efforts are to stay ahead on my lesson planning and school work. This will help me to have the materials and content prepared for my students and will also help me to take care of myself so that I am 100% for my students each day. This aligns with my long-term goals of being successful in my student teaching and as a future teacher. I need to have all lesson plans and assignments done and turned in on time. I also need to be prepared for my students by having lesson plans done early and getting enough rest to give them a 100% each day, this will help me to be a successful teacher. I could have spent more time on my other assignments for this class and getting ahead if I had worked ahead before the semester started. I could spend less time on the assignments due now if I already had them done. I second guessed myself when planning certain activities for the students in my lesson plans. I put the activities in there anyway and was pleasantly surprised my CE liked them. I second guessed myself a few times this week on calling students to clip down. I ended up not calling them down. I will go with my gut next time. My first steps for next week is to have my lesson plans printed, activities printed and ready, and to be started on the lesson plans for the next week. I can mentally clear some clutter by getting ahead on assignments this weekend. I was able to review the data my CE had completed recently on the students book and print concepts understandings. I used the data to guide the standards and parts to review on book and print concepts for next week. One piece of advice I would share with other student teachers is to take time to plan your lessons. Break down your lessons into sections and complete over a few days.
NC Teacher Candidate Standards
Standard 1a: Teachers lead in their classroom. I was able to observe my CE and kindergarten team use their data to organize, plan, and set goals for their students. (math task, book and print concepts, shapes, etc. )
Standard 2a: Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. I was able to observe my CE grow in her relationships with each student. I was also able to grow in my relationships with each student. We were able to make the two new students feel welcomed, loved, respected and gain their trust in our classroom. The students accept each other and we allow each student to have a voice and feel safe to use their voice in the classroom.
Standard 3a: Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. I was able to see the kindergarten team align their instructions they planned during planning to the North Carolina Course of Study. I also was able to align my lessons for next week to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.
Standard 4d: Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction. I was able to observe my CE using youtube educational kid songs to help the students become excited and engaged in the content at hand. My CE also had the students use iPads to learn more about the arctic in the marcopolo app. I was also able to integrate technology into my lessons for next week.
Standard 5a: Teachers analyze student learning. I was able to see my CE analyze student learning to determine the lessons for next week during planning with the kindergarten team. I also was able to analyze the student data to determine the lessons for next week to plan as well.
Other
I have begun to review the rubric for the portfolio project. I have started a list on what needs to be included in the portfolio this week. No support needed at this point and time for my CE or me from my university supervisor.
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