Week 8 and Ready For a Break!
Hey guys!
Well this week certainly zoomed by!! Most of us just finished week 8 of full-time teaching and gosh, that is so crazy. I am positive I'm not alone in this, but I am beyond ready for Spring Break! The four-day week next week is going to be beautiful. However, Student Teaching is nearing to an end and that thought does make me sad. I am getting more and more ready to have my own classroom, but I am not ready to leave my students. They have touched my life more than imaginable and leaving them is going to be incredibly tough.
Week 7 was filled with lots of experience and overall was a pretty great week. So, I'd rate it as 4 out of 5. The students are getting restless, as is expected. Also, we are all ready for Spring weather to stay and the rainy days to diminish. Though I am beyond ready for a break, I tried not to let this emotion show during the week so that students wouldn't follow the same attitude. By doing so I felt I led in the classroom and put my own thoughts aside for the betterment of the students (Standard I.a).
Throughout this week (and next), I have been learning about the 'report card' process. Whenever I've had spare time, I've been pulling students to do common assessments or watched my CE complete the TRC process. This has been stressful! Especially since there isn't much time during the day to get these tasks in. While doing this, I have been so PROUD of the progress the students have made. I can't help but give them a high five or hug every time they master a new 'Sight Word' list or math concept. Seeing growth is very fulfilling and analyzing student learning follows right along with Standard V.a!
On Monday, I had my fifth and final observation (whoop whoop!). I felt pretty well about this lesson, but definitely not perfect - and that's okay. We'll never be perfect teachers, but what's important is always striving to become better. For this lesson, I taught the students about the three main types of clouds and then they built their own version of each type using cotton balls. My students love to do hands-on activities. Before I had even announces what we were doing they were going crazy over cotton balls being placed on their tables...just plain, old cotton balls. I could definitely tell they were engaged throughout the activity. The instruction was relevant to the students and thus followed Standard III.d.
Wednesday was a little rough. I had to crack down on two boys in the classroom. This was especially hard because 1) I hate sounding mean and 2) I love this kids and their parents. However, this was great experience and parent communication. Both parents were understanding and helpful. This is an area in which I need to improve. Positive notes are MUCH easier to write than negative, so up until now, I've avoided it. Parents greatly intimidate me, and especially ones who work at the school. It is necessary for the betterment of the child and that is what I need to keep telling myself. Working with parents and brainstorming ways to improve their behavior addresses Standard II.e.
Finally, Standard IV.d was addressed throughout this week. Every morning, students came in, grabbed an iPad and searched for the specific forecast of that day's weather. Then, they drew a picture to represent their findings and wrote a descriptive word to follow. At the beginning of the week, I had to walk students through these steps multiple time. But, by the end they were able to do the whole process themselves. In my future classroom, I want to integrate technology as much as possible. It is becoming more apparent how necessary these skills are for students. If they aren't taught in school, then they might never be taught which will hinder their success in life.
For my portfolio, I have completed my philosophy of education! Finishing this really helped me reflect on what I actually believe in and what I want my classroom to look like. Next week, my goal is to document PDP my progress. I've been working on this throughout the semester, but the documentation process has been lacking. Additionally, my goal for next week is to communicate with one parent every day - whether it's about something positive or negative.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Gabrielle :)
Well this week certainly zoomed by!! Most of us just finished week 8 of full-time teaching and gosh, that is so crazy. I am positive I'm not alone in this, but I am beyond ready for Spring Break! The four-day week next week is going to be beautiful. However, Student Teaching is nearing to an end and that thought does make me sad. I am getting more and more ready to have my own classroom, but I am not ready to leave my students. They have touched my life more than imaginable and leaving them is going to be incredibly tough.
Week 7 was filled with lots of experience and overall was a pretty great week. So, I'd rate it as 4 out of 5. The students are getting restless, as is expected. Also, we are all ready for Spring weather to stay and the rainy days to diminish. Though I am beyond ready for a break, I tried not to let this emotion show during the week so that students wouldn't follow the same attitude. By doing so I felt I led in the classroom and put my own thoughts aside for the betterment of the students (Standard I.a).
Throughout this week (and next), I have been learning about the 'report card' process. Whenever I've had spare time, I've been pulling students to do common assessments or watched my CE complete the TRC process. This has been stressful! Especially since there isn't much time during the day to get these tasks in. While doing this, I have been so PROUD of the progress the students have made. I can't help but give them a high five or hug every time they master a new 'Sight Word' list or math concept. Seeing growth is very fulfilling and analyzing student learning follows right along with Standard V.a!
On Monday, I had my fifth and final observation (whoop whoop!). I felt pretty well about this lesson, but definitely not perfect - and that's okay. We'll never be perfect teachers, but what's important is always striving to become better. For this lesson, I taught the students about the three main types of clouds and then they built their own version of each type using cotton balls. My students love to do hands-on activities. Before I had even announces what we were doing they were going crazy over cotton balls being placed on their tables...just plain, old cotton balls. I could definitely tell they were engaged throughout the activity. The instruction was relevant to the students and thus followed Standard III.d.
Wednesday was a little rough. I had to crack down on two boys in the classroom. This was especially hard because 1) I hate sounding mean and 2) I love this kids and their parents. However, this was great experience and parent communication. Both parents were understanding and helpful. This is an area in which I need to improve. Positive notes are MUCH easier to write than negative, so up until now, I've avoided it. Parents greatly intimidate me, and especially ones who work at the school. It is necessary for the betterment of the child and that is what I need to keep telling myself. Working with parents and brainstorming ways to improve their behavior addresses Standard II.e.
Finally, Standard IV.d was addressed throughout this week. Every morning, students came in, grabbed an iPad and searched for the specific forecast of that day's weather. Then, they drew a picture to represent their findings and wrote a descriptive word to follow. At the beginning of the week, I had to walk students through these steps multiple time. But, by the end they were able to do the whole process themselves. In my future classroom, I want to integrate technology as much as possible. It is becoming more apparent how necessary these skills are for students. If they aren't taught in school, then they might never be taught which will hinder their success in life.
For my portfolio, I have completed my philosophy of education! Finishing this really helped me reflect on what I actually believe in and what I want my classroom to look like. Next week, my goal is to document PDP my progress. I've been working on this throughout the semester, but the documentation process has been lacking. Additionally, my goal for next week is to communicate with one parent every day - whether it's about something positive or negative.
Have a great weekend everyone!
Gabrielle :)
Gabrielle, Congratulations on your last observation that should take some pressure off. I fully understand how you feel with your students it's so hard to. Be stern with the little ones sometimes. I think it's wonderful that you finished your philosophy of education. Mine is still a work in progress. Congratulations on a great semester.
ReplyDeleteFirst, CONGRATULATIONS on your great edTPA scores!
ReplyDeleteI am so proud of you and your peers! Your hard work definitely paid off!
I know we talked a lot about ways to display confidence when talking with parents at our post-conference last week, and it seems you had to put some of these strategies in action with parents after we talked. I am sure you did a good job handling the situation.
Enjoy next week and continue to engage your students as you have been doing everyday!
Gabrielle, Congrats on passing edTPA and having your final observation under your belt! I know that is a huge relief! We are so close to finishing student teaching and that is crazy. Having to crack down is never fun but in order to maintain management it's unfortunately necessary. It sounds like you had great week with some engaging lessons. Best of luck on the final week before break!
ReplyDelete