Weekly Reflections: March 29th

     I can't believe this was my last full week of teaching!!!  It has been an awesome journey this semester!!  I have really enjoyed my placement and my students!!  I have learned more than I could of ever imagined this semester.  I will use what I have learned in my future classroom and in life.  I will begin to hand the class over gradually to my teacher over the next couple of weeks.  I believe she is excited and has missed teaching.  I believe teaching is a second nature and when your. in the classroom and not teaching, it feels weird for teachers.  My pleasant surprise this week would be how  well my students were able to learn and absorb all the information we learned about frogs.  The students were interested, engaged, and were able to remember the information we had learned the previous day.  The lesson I learned this week was to incorporate some sequencing pictures for the students to follow when they are in their groups.  Even though you take time to explain what they should be doing the students still become confused, some don't pay attention, this keeps them from knowing what to do next.  The students who become confused end up finding activities they want to do causing disruptive behavior to erupt.  I believe if I was able to have picture cards for each activity they were supposed to do next, this would help.  The students would have a visual representation to guide them.  For example, I would have a picture of group work, name on paper, a picture of sight words, and lastly I would have a picture to grab the extra work.  I will try these next week.   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 in my lesson this week, but I would like for them to come more as second nature at some point.  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 to the next level.  I could of spent more time on my portfolio, if I would of had my copies and material ready for each day.  I had courage this week to try a more challenging book to read for one of my reading groups.  I was pleasantly surprised at how well they were able to read this book choice and really enjoyed the story.  I have found if I am able to find interesting stories about topics the students are interested in, they are more excited to read and really enjoy the whole experience.  The first step for next week is to finalize the schedule on how my CE and I would like to transition the content.  This way I know what lessons I need to plan for and teach.  I was able to analyze my students counting data and their performance with subtraction.  This data will help me determine which students need interventions and one on one help with counting.  This data will also help me determine which students need extra support or even a re-engagement lesson on subtraction.  One piece of advice I would share with student teachers is to enjoy the experience of student teaching, take in all the information you can, and decide what aspects you would like to use in your future classroom and which ones you might not want to use in your future classroom.  Every classroom is different and ran differently even in the same grade level.

NC Teacher Candidate Standards 
 Standard 1a- Teachers lead in their classrooms.  I was able to be a leader in the classroom by leading the students through their day, no matter what came up or erupted.
Standard 2a- Teachers treat students as individuals.  I was able to treat students as individuals by building on the relationships with each student.  I created a stronger relationship with a few of the students by discussing how the outcome of their day is their choice.  If they want to have a good day, they need to make the choice and choose to do the right actions throughout the day. 
Standard 3d- Teachers make instruction relevant to students. I was able to make the theme of frogs relevant to students by bringing in real frogs, eggs, and tadpoles for the students to observe.  
Standard 4d- Teachers utilize technology in the classroom.  I was able to use the smart board activity games for subtraction.  
Standard 5b- Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.  I was able to see where my students are and I am able to see how I need to change my goals and teaching to help the students be successful in all subject areas.      
I am working on my portfolio stuff.  No support needed at this time.  

Weekly Reflections: March 22nd

What a beautiful week it has been!  We were able to go outside and play everyday this week.  I feel like being able to go outside, really helps the students to burn their energy off and focus better in class.  Who doesn't benefit from beautiful sunshine and warm weather?  I know my students are getting so excited for spring break!  I would say my pleasant surprise this week would be how well my guided reading groups went each day.  The students were all excited to read their books and to participate in the guided reading time with me.  I also love how I am able to help students individually as soon as I hear or see them struggling with a word or letter sound.  I feel like this is so beneficial for the students and prevents frustration with reading from erupting.  The lessons my work experience taught me this week is to be patient and try as many techniques as I can to help the students who continually struggle to behave in the classroom.  I will build upon this next week by continuing the techniques that worked with the student or trying new techniques if it did not work with the student.  I also have come to realize what works with one student will sometimes not work with another student and what worked one day may not work another day for a student.  Our students need support, love, and patience in order to prosper and be the best they can be.  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 in my lesson this week, but I would like for them to come more as second nature at some point.  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 to the next level.  I could of spent more time on my portfolio items and less time on preparing items for the next day at the end of each day.  I plan on making sure all copies and materials are ready and organized for each day before next week.  I would say I had courage this week as I participated in family night at my school.  I was able to interact with the parents and students in a very welcoming way.  I did not let my shyness keep me from being involved and talkative during family night.  The mental clutter I can clear is to make sure all copies and materials are ready for next week and organized.  This week I was able to analyze the assessment data I took on the students understanding of subtraction word problems.  I was able to use the data to determine who needs more help with subtraction and who is understanding subtraction well.  This helps me know how to plan my next lessons and remediation groups.  One piece of advice I would share with other student teachers is to realize how impactful you can be in your students lives.  I want my students to be encouraged, feel loved, and learn how to treat others.
NC Teacher Candidate Standards 
 Standard 1a- Teachers lead in their classrooms.  I was able to be a leader in the classroom by leading the students through their day, no matter what came up or erupted.
Standard 2a- Teachers treat students as individuals.  I was able to treat students as individuals by building on the relationships with each student.  I created a stronger relationship with a few of the students who felt comfortable discussing their situations at home.  These students opened up to me more this week and felt comfortable to talk with me about why they were sad and what they were feeling.  
Standard 3d- Teachers make instruction relevant to students. I was able to make the signs of spring relevant to students by having them look outside and see what is going on in the word around them.  Also, I related it to their own experiences in the spring. 
Standard 4d- Teachers utilize technology in the classroom.  I was able to use the smart board activity games for subtraction.  
Standard 5b- Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.  I was able to see where my students are and I am able to see how I need to change my goals and teaching to help the students be successful in all subject areas.      
I am working on my portfolio stuff.  No support needed at this time.  

Weekly Reflections: March 15

Wow!  What a week it has been this week!  I had a teacher workday Monday where we were actually able to just work in our classrooms.  It was so nice to have this time to get ahead with my week.  I also took the time to clean as much as I could to help kill some of the germs going around.  I would say overall this week I would rate my experience as a three.  My students did well this week with their lessons and activities.  We had a new student join our group this week.  I have been a little stressed over how to help this particular student.  He has some behavior challenges that we are trying to help him with.  It is also stressful waiting to get information on your new students and not knowing more about them when they first start your class.  My pleasant surprise from this week would be how well my students are able to do with their academics when they are at school.  Many of my students go through a lot when they are at home and probably more than I will ever know about.  It is comforting to know and observe how safe and comfortable they feel in our classroom.  This allows these students to excel in their academics and perform to their best potential.  The lesson my work experience taught me this week is the importance of continuous assessments on the students understandings.  You also need to recheck their understandings from previous assessments to make sure they still understand.  I will build upon this next week by continuing to assess students and making sure each student is receiving the support they need.   I would say my short-term efforts this week are to continue to focus more on giving very clear and specific instructions for activities.  I even want to take time to have students model the correct way to act during the activity and how not to act during the activity.  This way students will have a visual on how they are supposed to act and what they are supposed to be doing during the activity.  This short-term goal aligns with my long-term goal of being successful in my student teaching and as a future teacher.  I could of spent more time preparing my lessons then cleaning.  This week I wanted to clean and get the germs out of the classroom.  My first steps for next week are to collect all of my materials I will need for next week.  I will also make sure to fix all of my centers to match the students needs.  The data I was able to analyze this week was our students phoneme segmentation data.  I will use this data to help me plan which students need more interventions.  I also reviewed the students sight word data.  I will use this data to guide the intervention groups I plan for sight words.  One piece of advice I would give other student teachers is to keep your head up and just keep swimming and swimming, we are almost there!  
NC Teacher Candidate Standards  
 Standard 1a- Teachers lead in their classrooms.  I was able to be a leader in the classroom by leading the students through their day, no matter what came up or erupted.
Standard 2a- Teachers treat students as individuals.  I was able to treat students as individuals by building on the relationships with each student.  I created a stronger relationship with a few of the students who felt comfortable discussing their situations at home.  These students opened up to me more this week and felt comfortable to talk with me about why they were sad and what they were feeling.  
Standard 3d- Teachers make instruction relevant to students. This week we talked about physical properties.  We were able to relate to the objects and examples discussed to our everyday lives.
Standard 4d- Teachers utilize technology in the classroom.  I was able to use the smart board activity games for subtraction.  
Standard 5b- Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.  I was able to see where my students are and I am able to see how I need to change my goals and teaching to help the students be successful in all subject areas.      
I am double checking my edTPA task.  No support needed at this time.  

Weekly Reflections: March 8th

     This week felt very long for some reason.  I feel like my students are becoming very antsy.  The students are ready for spring break and warmer weather.  I know it will do the students some good when the weather is warm enough for them to be able to go outside and play.  I would rate this week as a three.  I was able to have two more students meet their goal of counting to 100, who had been struggling with this concept!  I was pleasantly surprised by this and excited for them.  I would say the lesson I learned this week is everyday is going to be different, you win some and you lose some.  I learned that when nothing seems to go right one day, its okay.  You just have to breathe and remember tomorrow is another day.  I will build upon this next week by pushing through and continuing to believe in myself and my capabilities.  I will know not everyday is going to go smoothly as we plan and that is okay, tomorrow is a new day.  I would say my short-term efforts this week would be to continue really spending time on making my directions/instructions clearer to the students before giving them a task or activity.  I also will make sure the expectations during any activities are explained to the students, so they know how they are supposed to act.  This will allow the students to know exactly what they are supposed to be doing, so they are not confused during the activity.  This short-term goal aligns to my long-term goal of being successful in student teaching and as a future teacher.  I could of spent more time teaching and less time correcting behaviors this week. We had one student who was not getting his medicine and we had a new student join the class this week.  This added some chaos to the room and the behavior this week.  By the end of the week, the students were adjusting and doing much better with their behaviors.  My apprehension of the worry of not being able to do everything perfectly as a teacher impacted me this week.  I was able to see and be reassured that I was doing what I was supposed to and I do have a good control on the class, its just the fact that everyone and every class has its days.  I do believe in myself and I know that I can do everything I need to as a teacher to the best of my ability.  I feel like I am right where I am supposed to be at this time in my career and will learn more each and everyday as a teacher.  The first steps for next week is to use my teacher workday to get ahead.  I will use this day to change groups around, review data, finalize group work, differentiate, and clean.  I am looking forward to having this day to be in the classroom and to work.  The data I was able to review this week would be the students writing.  I was able to use the data to determine who needs writing interventions and who is strong in writing.  This will help me to differentiate the writing activities for the students.  One piece of advice I would share with other student teachers is to always believe in yourself and to never doubt yourself.  God put you here for a reason, this is your gift, and you are doing great!
NC Teacher Candidate Standards 
 Standard 1a- Teachers lead in their classrooms. I was able to lead the students through their lessons, activities, and each part of their day.  I was able to show my control of the classroom and change the behavior around by the end of the week.Standard 2a- Teachers treat students as individuals. I was able to build closer relationships with the students by making sure I am available to talk to them and get on their level when they are upset or have questions.  I also allowed students to have time throughout the day to tell me anything they wanted to.  
Standard 3d- Teachers make instruction relevant to students. I was able to help students see how we can relate to Dr. Seuss books. Especially, with "Green Eggs and Ham," helping students to see the importance of trying new foods or activities because they might end up enjoying them.  
Standard 4d- Teachers utilize technology in the classroom.  I was able to use the digital read aloud book for students so they could play the rhyming words game.  
Standard 5b- Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.  I was able to see where my students are and I am able to see how I need to change my goals and teaching to help the students be successful in all subject areas.      

 No support needed at this time.    

Weekly Reflections: March 1st

       This has been a very interesting week.  My CE was out for the first two days of the week with her children because they were sick.  My TA was also out for the week.  I was able to carry on both days with the students normal routines and lessons.  This was Dr. Seuss week and read across America at my school.  The students were able to have guest readers come to the class and read to them Dr. Seuss books.  The students have enjoyed the festivities this week and learning about Dr. Seuss.  I believe having the volunteers from the community come in to read with our students, helps us build a strong bond with our community.  This act results in positive influences being available for our students.  I would rate this week as a three because the students were very wild from excitement and I did not feel well all week.  I have two pleasant surprises this week.  The first pleasant surprise would be how well the students responded to just me being in the room.  The students behaved and responded to my instructions.  I was so proud of myself for being able to handle any situations that transpired with the students both days.  My second pleasant surprise would be how well the students took to the chief of police and how well the chief of police interacted with the students.  The lessons my work experience taught me this week would be to find time to cut up and have fun with the students.  The students need to see this side of their teacher just as much as his or her serious side.  The students need to see that you are real and like to have fun too.  I have seen how much this has helped me to build closer relationships with my students.  I hope to build on this next week and incorporate mini session times throughout the week where the students and I can act silly and give our brains a break for a minute.  I would say my short-term efforts this week would be to focus more on giving very clear and specific instructions for activities.  I even want to take time to have students model the correct way to act during the activity and how not to act during the activity.  This way students will have a visual on how they are supposed to act and what they are supposed to be doing during the activity.  This short-term goal aligns with my long-term goal of being successful in my student teaching and as a future teacher.  The students need clear instructions so they know what they are supposed to be doing, helping them to learn all they are supposed to be during the activity.  I could of spent more time on my portfolio if I would have had more of my copies done and my edTPA task done.  I would say I was courageous this week and was able to go with my gut while I was on my own with the students this week.  The first steps for next week is to double check over my edTPA task 1-4 and make sure they are 100% ready to submit by Sunday night.  I was able to review the students assessments on the standards included in their progress reports.  This data collected and reviewed helps me know what each student needs to focus on and have more practice with, so they can master the standard.  The one piece of advice I would give other student teachers is to keep pushing on.  You can do this!
NC Teacher Candidate Standards  
 Standard 1a- Teachers lead in their classrooms.  I was able to be a leader in the classroom by leading the students through their day, no matter what came up or erupted.
Standard 2a- Teachers treat students as individuals.  I was able to treat students as individuals by building on the relationships with each student.  I created a stronger relationship with students by showing them I can have fun too. 
Standard 3d- Teachers make instruction relevant to students. I was able to help students see how we can relate to Dr. Seuss books. Especially, with "The Lorax," helping students to see the importance of trees and taking care of the environment.
Standard 4d- Teachers utilize technology in the classroom.  I was able to use the digital read aloud book for students so they could find different items and wacky things in the Dr. Seuss books.  
Standard 5b- Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.  I was able to see where my students are and I am able to see how I need to change my goals and teaching to help the students be successful in all subject areas.      
I am double checking my edTPA task.  No support needed at this time.