Blog Post 8

I would describe this past week as pleasantly routine, as in a way that by week 5 of this placement, I’m starting to fit in to the way classroom runs. Although this class is still a major challenge in my multi-tasking skills, I feel like I’m beginning to handle it better and prioritize more efficiently. I am also learning the routine in this class, which is that things don’t always go as expected, schedules change, and sometimes you have to switch it up.  Being flexible to these changes is the key to making it through the disorder. I am enjoying the challenge and hope to make the most of my last two weeks with this awesome class.

As I come to the end of my student teaching experience, after the initial shock of  first few weeks, I feel I fell into it quite naturally.  Being an adult with experience in dealing with kids, that part came easily for me. What I didn’t know was that the harder part was trying to fit into what I felt the cooperating teachers were expecting from me. It was quite awkward at times because I wanted to be an asset to their classroom while I was there, but also try some of my own ideas.  I feel lucky to have been placed with great cooperating teachers from whom I have learned so much. I also feel less intimidated about having my own classroom because I found that even they use trial and error to see what works for their students each year and that its okay to try something else if it is not working. 

Another thing I was super nervous about, that I ended up having such a great experience with, is the special ed classroom placement. I had never worked with or even known any students with low incidence disabilities before, so I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. I quickly learned that they were just as fun to work with and actually have such a more laid back schedule and classroom. There are certain expectations for the work they must complete each day, but there is also time for breaks and experiencing other life skills, such as socializing, cooking, and manners. I have even formed relationships with the students I was most intimidated by and am grateful for getting to know them better.

I have completed most of my students teaching requirements. I still need to update my online portfolio and collect some recommendation letters, but I have kept up with my requirements despite the intensive schedule. I hope to work on my applications for some jobs and also plan to finish my General Science middle grades endorsement early this summer.  I am looking forward to what’s next in this journey.

I had my last visit from my college supervisor this week and am so grateful for her input and advice. It was nice to touch base with her about my classroom placements and discuss the classroom experience I was having objectively. I couldn’t have asked for a better supporter. Thanks again Prof. Royster!

Blog Post 7

Since having Spring Break this past week and preparing to return to the classroom for four more weeks of student teaching, I’ve planned some short social studies and science units for the class. Next week we are going to discuss the life cycle of a butterfly and grow a live butterfly garden. The following week we are going to explore the regions of the United States and the students are going to write an essay about the state of their choice. I also asked the students about what they’d be interested in studying and a few of the mentioned Mythology. So I’m planning on teaching a short unit on some mythological characters as well.  I’m also hoping to spend more attention on what the other students in the class are working on with their aides and not just the older kids in front. Managing this classroom is a huge exercise in multi-tasking that is challenging to try to undertake in a short 7 weeks. 

I have grown in many ways while student teaching, but my greatest progress has been made personally. Transitioning from an adult student to an everyday classroom teaching situation was very daunting to me. Despite the changes and challenges it has brought to my family life, I have enjoyed and learned so much through both placement experiences. I’ve met some great educators in both placements that are great examples of dedication to their students and their achievement. Plus, it has been a lot of fun. I definitely am looking forward to what a career in teaching will bring to my future. 

I am excited to meet with the alumni panel in the upcoming weeks. Most of my questions are regarding their job search post student teaching. I would also like to know if they felt prepared for their first job experience and what were some of their challenges along the way. My biggest support through student teaching has been talking with my classmates through our anxiety, and our ups and downs. To be honest, I mostly hope to hear some success stories from the alumni panel about coming out on the other side of going back to college as an adult and finding out that all the time, energy, and money spend on going back was all worth it. 

The students I’ve met have been my favorite part of student teaching. I love that whatever home or life situation a student is coming from, that they can come to school and be treated with respect and care as they grow and learn. I also appreciate that the students are so welcoming to a student teacher in their classroom. Although I am sure as a teacher I will get to experience student excitement again, I will miss their enthusiasm for trying new interactive activities in class. For example, in my last placement, when we played jeopardy or other games, the students were so engaged and motivated. I hope I am able to remember to always try to create these types of moments for students in between all the expectations and requirements that we must accomplish.

I am excited for these last few weeks of student teaching. Now that I have pretty much completed my edTPA project and passed my APT test, I look forward to concentrating on planning some fun lessons and getting the most out of this placement experience. My cooperating teacher has planned a few activities for the students, including going to see a play at the high school, as well as an IEP meeting, so I am looking forward to those things. I also need to focus some time on job searching, so any advice I can obtain on that would be beneficial. 

Blog Post 6

Learning about the technology available in the classrooms I’ve been in and how my cooperating teachers incorporate it into instruction has been a very interesting part of my student teaching. At my first placement, they had access to a projector with a computer attached. I used it to show short videos and Brain Pop cartoons, as well as for the district required curriculum learning bridge animations for math.  Students seemed to enjoy the short videos as an engage and connect segment or even as a segway in addition to the main lesson.  I also created a few power point presentations for lessons so students could practice taking notes.  This also provided a fun forum for guided practice. For example, when we were identifying elements of poetry, I could project a poem on the screen and the students we able to identify the element I asked for by writing and holding up their answers on whiteboards. Another fun activity we did was play games, such as Generalization Jeopardy. This was definitely a student favorite.  At my second placement in a Special ed multi-needs room, I haven’t designed many lessons yet, but technology is a valuable resource.  For reading, the classroom uses an interactive Smartboard program called Kurzweil that highlights the words of the story while it reads to the class.  This is a different way for the students to hear the story, as well as follow along as it is read to them.  I plan to try to incorporate other Smartboard activities and games into the lessons I create for this classroom as well as show a few short videos that relate to my lessons, since the students seem quite responsive to it. 

One of the aspects of the teaching process that I am still quite curious about is where teachers find good resource materials. I know some school districts provide required curriculum materials for many subjects, but where do you go to find quality supplemental materials?  I know there are websites such as teacherspayteachers.com and edhelper.com and also many books at the teacher stores.  I assume teachers must collect things over the years and weed out the junk to find and develop meaningful activities for students. 

I’m looking forward to planning some fun science and social studies units for my new classroom.  We will be studying the life cycle of a butterfly and grow our own butterflies after Spring Break. I am also going to plan a unit about the United States. I asked the students what else they were interested in learning about while I was there and they chose mythology and said that they also wanted to read a play, so I plan to find some enjoyable activities to do with that as well.  I found that being in a Special ed classroom opens up the opportunity for some freedom in planning, which will be a great opportunity to try some new and fun learning experiences.

I think Prof. Royster will find I have transitioned rather quickly and nicely to my new classroom placement. This is partially because my cooperating teacher has had to start Kite testing the students individually this week, which has kept her busy most days, and me in front of the students assisting them with their work. Since the students are at different grade levels and move in and out of the classroom at different times for lunch and specials, the atmosphere in this classroom is a bit more hectic than my last placement, but in a good and fun way.  I am enjoying working with students in a more one-on–one environment and participating in their extra-curricular activities such as playing checkers, coloring, and cooking.  

Blog Post 5

One word to describe my past week was fulfilling. I finished up my first 10-week placement with Miss. Glass’s fourth grade class. It was sort of a slow week since the students had 2 hours of PARCC testing every day. After everything else they had to do, we only had time each day for writing and math in the afternoon. On my last day Friday, I had lunch with the students in the classroom and then went to recess with them. Even after only being in the classroom for 10 weeks, it was hard to say good-bye. The students were so sweet and wrote me letters telling me I was a great student teacher, which I will treasure. I promised to visit them again before the end of the year. I had such a great experience there and feel very blessed and lucky for the opportunity to be in such a great classroom.

I feel fortunate to have learned so much about classroom management at my first placement. My cooperating teacher has high expectations set in place for behavior in the classroom, which were a great example for me. I plan to be much more confident and assertive in my own classroom. I realized that by having high classroom management expectations for students you are not being unkind or a “mean” teacher, but you are creating an environment for students that facilitates learning. Students cannot learn in an environment that is not conducive to respectful behaviors. Listening, taking turns speaking, and being considerate of others are the basis for what make meaningful learning possible.

My greatest growth experience has been my confidence. I was SO nervous teaching my first lesson. I’m so glad to be in a place where I am not nervous about what I am teaching. This enables me to be in a position where I can really listen to students and accommodate their learning needs.  This confidence also puts me in a place where I can change gears if I have to mid lesson or think of another example if I think the students need a bit more guidance. It definitely makes teaching more fun and a lot less stressful. I hope to continue with this comfort level at my next placement, which is in a special ed classroom. I really hope I can find ways to help the students and really make a positive difference for them.

Testing student understanding is an important part of teaching. Making sure we are testing students on the objectives and what they know is the fundamental goal of assessment. Learning should not be a competition.  It should be a teacher’s goal for every student to master the objectives, not for a select few smart ones. It is a teacher’s job to find the best ways to accomplish this goal.  Achievement ranking of students is not educating students, it puts them in a category that suppresses them. Perhaps ranking information and standardized testing is useful in some capacity for education, but I feel it has no place in an everyday classroom.

I enjoyed my final classroom observation with Prof. Royster. I totally credit the students in my classroom for being so awesome and making my student teaching experience go so smoothly. I definitely was starting to feel very comfortable and finding my groove with the class and in the school in general. I’m not sure what my role will be at my next placement, since the dynamic will be very different in a contained sped classroom, but I’m excited to see what challenges it will bring and look forward to feedback at my next observation in a couple of weeks. 

Blog Post 4

For the past two weeks, my goals were to take over every classroom subject and to continue working on classroom management by keeping the easily distracted students on task. I did officially begin teaching every subject over two weeks ago. Since it was approaching the end of third quarter for the students, my cooperating teacher helped me outline the standards we needed to cover before the end of the quarter and also other things we should review before assessments. Taking over went pretty smoothly since I gradually eased into it over my student teaching experience. I was able to come up with, what I felt were a great variety of learning activities that were fun to teach and kept students engaged. One of their favorites was Generalization Jeopardy. They keep on asking if we can play it again. This leads into my second goal last week, which was to continue classroom management by keeping students engaged and on task. We have a handful of students who have trouble staying on task and like to socialize with their neighbors. This week I paid special attention to make sure they were either engaged in the lesson while I was teaching or on task with what they should be doing. I also am getting better at walking around the room to ensure students are taking good notes or working well with their partners.  Every week it seems a little more easy and natural, which feels good. 

I would say the word to describe last week was perseverance. I came down with a cold last week and partially lost my voice. I was able to carry on despite my not feeling well. I was glad I had most of my lessons planned out and was prepared. It made not feeling well a lot easier. I know weeks like this will always come up when I begin teaching. It just proved how important being prepared is, that and drinking a lot of hot tea! 

A lesson I taught last week that went really well was a review lesson in math.  Normally for review, I’ve been pulling a small group of students aside for some extra help, while giving the others an enrichment sheet to work on with a partner. This usually works out fine except I don’t always feel like I can circulate enough to help the others while working with the small group. This week I decide to mix it up and pull out the whiteboards and do a whole class review together. Since this fraction unit has been challenging for everyone, we did some review problems as a class, on the white boards. I felt it was great for the higher-level students to review the content as a whole, while the lower-level learners were able to receive the extra help they needed from their peers and myself. We were able to go back over all the steps for each type of problem and discuss common mistakes. I enjoyed it because it was a different approach than we had done before, I could easily see their work on their whiteboards, and the best part, everyone was engaged!  From this experience, I learned to try different things. My last review session was too chaotic for me to handle with me not feeling well. Using this method for review, I was able to pay attention to everyone and see their work. I think changing plans up was good for the students too. I am sure as I become more experienced, I will be able to handle small groups within the whole class more efficiently, but for this day and lesson, the change seemed to work out better for everyone.

While reading the “First Days of School” this week, I liked learning about the importance of creating effective assignments that focus on what the students need to accomplish in a lesson vs. what needs to be “covered”. This includes having specific objectives to share with the students and creating assignments based on these standards that are evidence of these objectives. I feel like students are more invested in their learning when they know exactly what they need to do to be successful. I also liked revisiting Bloom’s Taxonomy and considering how this reflects in my teaching. Now that I have some real teaching experience, I’d like to start considering ways to elevate my lessons to higher level thinking and give my students more enriching experiences.  I will definitely start considering this more as I move forward with my student teaching.

Academic language is important because it promotes academic success.  It provides a clear structure for learning and a guideline for achieving learning targets.  By modeling academic language for our students and scaffolding this support for learners, we give our students more responsibility for their own achievement and teach them to build their own independence. The vocabulary of academic language, along with the discourse in which we use to connect it, provides students a meaningful framework to build understanding and learn within. 

In one of my recent math lessons, I not only had students solve math problems, I also had some of them come up front to the whiteboard and describe how they solved it to the class. Describing their process not only helped them, but it helped their classmates see a their peer’s process for problem solving and provided them a different perspective on the practice. One of my favorite activities for students is having them work with assigned peer partners. When we can place a higher-level student with a lower level student, this places both students in a situation that benefits and enriches both learners. Lower-level students are provided a different perspective on learning the content, and by using their academic language to describe their thought process; higher-level students are reinforcing and deepening their understanding.

Professor Royster is scheduled for a visit sometime this coming week. Since it is the end of the quarter, my students have a few assessments coming at the end of this week before starting their first PARCC testing the following week, so I will be doing a lot of reviewing and other preparations for their tests before I move on to my next placement. I am excited that I am feeling a bit more comfortable with classroom management and am also eager to start my next placement, though I can’t help but feel a bit sad to leave this classroom. I have learned SO much from my cooperating teacher and these students. It will be hard to say goodbye.

Blog Post 3

For the previous two weeks, my goals were to improve my classroom instruction by slowing down my pace and expressing my instruction more descriptively to the students and to write and teach my edTPA lessons. As far as improving my instruction, I did feel an increase in my confidence this week. I prepared carefully for my lessons and was able to slow down my pace. I practiced walking around the classroom as I was teaching, partially to slow myself down, but mostly to assure that students were on task, which has been a problem recently in our classroom. I will continue this next week as I begin my first week of taking over every subject. I also wrote, taught, and video taped my edTPA lessons this week and plan to give the students my post assessment early next week. I feel the lessons went very well and the students did a great job. I look forward to getting this project pulled together in the upcoming weeks. 

My first goal for the next two weeks is to successfully take over every subject. I acquired a lesson plan book and have begun to write my lesson plans similar to my cooperating teacher. I have also developed some of my own lessons based on the district required learning standards, which have turned out to be quite fun.  My goal is to try to stay ahead of the game and do my homework on what we are learning, so I am prepared and feel confident. My other goal is this week is to continue to improve classroom management by keeping students engaged and on task. I’ve realized as we head into week 7 of our placements that the students have realized that I am, unfortunately, a bit of a push over. I have enjoyed getting to know them but this has slightly impaired my ability to keep some of them quiet and on task. Many of the students seem to like having my attention and continually ask me questions. I realize that this is not the best situation and have started in the past week to become more strict with my expectations by walking around the classroom more often and calling out those who are being disruptive. 

I would describe this past week as challenging. Preparing to take over every subject in the classroom, along with trying to work on my edTPA has been difficult. I am fortunate my cooperating teacher is supportive and helpful when I ask for her advice. I am working hard to find a balance between the required curriculum and my lesson plans so that I can feel good about what I am teaching the students. I am hopeful that the upcoming couple of weeks will find me less frazzled and that I find a comfort level as I finish up my first placement.

As I continue to work on my classroom management skills, I plan to continue the effective procedures and routines that my cooperating teacher employs. I feel fortunate that my cooperating teacher has an effective, proactive classroom management plan in place that does not require discipline. The behavior expectation was set on day one and the students are clear on what is required of them daily. I also believe that consistency is best for students, especially when a student teacher joins the class halfway through the school year. Although, I must admit, my implementation the expectation is not quite good as my cooperating teacher’s and definitely not exactly what I would like it to be, I do feel I have made progress in managing the class and will continue to strive for improvement through the last four weeks of my placement.

In reading this weeks assignment in “The First days of School”, I have been thinking a lot about classroom management and the importance of routines and procedures. Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, I appreciate student teaching in an effectively run classroom.  Much of what I read this week applies to my experience. In a way, I wish I could have been there to see how these class rules and procedures were taught at the beginning of the year. I definitely plan on discussing this further with my cooperating teacher. Some of the things that have stuck with me from the reading are how having procedures in place before school even starts offers efficiency, security, reduced disruptions, less confusion, and organization to the classroom. By putting in the work on routines and procedures at the beginning of the year, you are setting yourself up for less stress and problems throughout the year. I also liked reading about how procedures are the classroom expectation and that they should not require a penalty or reward, they are in place so that achievement can happen. I definitely plan to work hard to accomplish this type of environment in my classroom.

The Principal Panel this week was very interesting. My biggest take away from it was to remember that when you are on an interview, not only are you being interviewed but that you also want to do your homework and ask your own questions. I believe the principals said to make sure that you are being set up for success at a job. It is a priority for me to find a mentor when I get my first job, as well as have the support of the administration in the school I work, so I do plan to “interview” my interviewer. I do not feel that I need to take a job that I will not be able to be successful at.

I did enjoy a visit from Prof. Royster this week. I was glad that she was able to come for a lesson I had planned that I was excited about. I only wish that we had a bit more time for the lesson, as we were not able to finish talking about what the students discussed about context clues with their partners. I had a bit of time to talk with her afterward about the students in class who require more guidance and attention and how the time constraints make helping them difficult. She mentioned that this is where my special education training will be most constructive. The frustrating part is that many of these struggling students do not qualify for special education services. I hope that eventually I am able to find a teaching environment where I can spend more time helping those students who need just a little more guidance than they can receive in a regular classroom.

Blog Post 2

As I reflect upon last week’s goals of improving my classroom management style and beginning to teach writing, I believe both were progressively successful in different ways. Managing the classroom is definitely not something you can master overnight. I learned it is an ongoing process where you need to decide what works best for you and the organization of your classroom. My cooperating teacher is very strict with her students, which I respect. My personal style may be a little different than that. I suppose that I still need to figure out what works best for me, but I do appreciate the experience I am having. As for starting to teach writing, this goal was met as well, but also is something I will continue to work on.  I am currently teaching the students about persuasive writing. They are working on writing their own persuasive essays. From what I’ve seen of their work so far, I must be doing something right because they are doing some great writing. 

My goals for the next two weeks, along with continuing to work on my classroom management skills, are improving my instruction by slowing down my pace and and being more descriptive, and to write and teach my edTPA lessons. Since my comfort level with the class has greatly improved over the past two weeks, I can now work on making my teaching more effective. Despite our short time frame we have to work with in our student teaching experience, I would like to hopefully feel a bit more confident that I am teaching a lesson in a way that is best for my students understanding of the material. As for the edTPA, I intend to spend a lot of my planning time on it during the next two weeks. I’m hoping by the time I write my next blog post, that will I feel less anxious about it.

One word to describe my feelings this week about my experience would be lucky.  Many of my classmates are having some difficult experiences with their placements for various reasons. Although I am having challenges too, I feel grateful that I like my placement and cooperating teacher and that I am learning the things I want to learn without the drama of extraneous problems.

These past two weeks, I’ve learned a lot about creating a learning environment that encourages social interaction, active engagement in learning, and self-motivation.  My cooperating teacher has set a great example in her classroom where the students are often instructed to work with a partner or group and discuss their thoughts about what they are learning, as well as teach each other.  I try to model this in all the lessons I write. I also noticed how they are always held accountable for what they are expected to complete and that if they choose not to use their time wisely that they know they will have to complete it for homework. This in itself is very motivating for the students. In fact, an example of this occurred today, after we completed a social studies lesson as a class. The students had about 10 minutes to complete a question sheet independently, which many did quickly since they did not want it as homework over the weekend. I look forward to continuing to discover ways to actively and socially engage students, while motivating them to be accountable for their own results.

My cooperating teacher has many great positive expectations for her students. The students in her classroom are responsible for everything, including checking themselves in in the morning, choosing their lunch, turning homework in, and starting their morning work. They are also responsible for all of the chores in the classroom, as well as their class work. Most importantly, they are responsible for themselves. One thing I like that she doesn’t do, that the other teachers on her 4^th grade team do, is “detention”. I’ve noticed that she manages her class so that she doesn’t have to punish them. By having high behavior expectations, they do not need to be disciplined or humiliated in front of their classmates. I like this style of classroom management. Holding our students accountable to this high expectation is a great lesson to teach them, especially when they may not have this expectation at home. I will definitely continue this practice with my students.

This week the reading focused on the importance of classroom management and how it determines how well your students will learn. I like the idea of having clear, predictable, and consistent expectations for our students. This reading really resonated with my student teaching experience in that my cooperating teacher is an effective teacher. Our classroom does not have many behavior problems because the students are clear on what is expected of them. I also liked how the book stressed that the key to this success is preparation. Not only preparation of the lessons, but preparation of the classroom organization, desks, books, and materials, and even your own positive attitude. These are all things that we can have control over.

I appreciated Prof. Royster’s first visit last week and have worked on a few of the things she suggested when we spoke after her visit. I think she will find me much more comfortable next time she visits and I look forward to having her give me more feedback. I think she will be surprised that I smiled and gave a lot more positive feedback this week while teaching. J