Weekly Reflections: January 25th

     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.