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.