Don't Blink, Or The Week Will Be Over 1/23/16

Rate
I would rate this week a 3 out of 5 because this week I have been adjusting to full time instruction and started my first full week of my ten weeks!  I was super anxious about this week's instruction, but my lessons seemed to go well for the most part!  However, with this being another short week, my students have been a little hard to handle.  They have not seemed as motivated to get back into the routine of things, which has made getting their best effort on their assignments quite challenging.   

Observe: What pleasant surprises/ accomplishments did I achieve this week? 
This week I took over my last subject, reading, and since it was a shorter week, we read the nonfiction narrative "Balto, the name that saved Nome".  I was nervous at first because I knew that I wanted to make this story as engaging as possible, but felt a little overwhelmed with how to go about actually teaching it.  We had two days to teach it and one to assess.  I wanted to do an activity to have the students recreate their own Balto and then had them summarize the story using the "Somebody, Wanted, But, So, Then" format and attach it to the bottom of their Balto.  I didn't know how my students would handle this activity because they are used to reading the story and answering the questions.  They LOVED it and my CE loved it!  My CE complimented my lesson and said we needed to hang them in the hallway because they turned out so well!  This was a good confidence booster for me!  

Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week?
I have been getting somewhat frustrated with planning for my W.I.N. time instruction.  I plan lessons and never seem to have the opportunity or time to teach them all.  I am going to start leaving one or two days, where I dedicate a certain amount of time to just pull students when needed for test corrections, math homework corrections, or other assignment interventions based on the lessons I am teaching that week.  I have come to accept that W.I.N. time is a time to meet the students NEEDS, so depending on their performance that week, will determine what gets accomplished during that time.      

Focus: How are my short term efforts and long term goals still aligned?
My short term goals are to become more and more familiar with the content and curriculum.  I need to boost my confidence in order to have some of the best lessons when I takeover next week.  My long term goal is to make that transition seamless and to not only have the students respect me as a teacher, but also the staff look to me for ideas when it comes to teaching the content.
  
Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do?
I have been apprehensive about asking my CE about new center ideas and when to switch up activities for the students.  I have noticed that the students often times get bored with the activities and start to disturb other students because they are talking.  


Be Productive
I am continuing to build my Portfolio and Classroom website!!! I have revised my Philosophy of Education, but still need to send it in for approval.  Also, I need to create my resume and schedule an appointment with Career Development soon!!! 


Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear?
This week was my first full week of student teaching and I have one week under my belt.  My students are going to respect me as their main teacher and I am going to try my best to teach the curriculum in a fun, engaging, and effective way!  I also am taking the Math General Curriculum test on Saturday, so after that is over, I will have that off my plate as well!  Wish me luck!! (:


Data
This week has been TRC testing and I have been looking over the data from those tests, as well as ORF scores with my CE.  It is so exciting and encouraging to see students grow and achieve the goals that they set for themselves!  However, we have also had discussions about those students who we are concerned about and what interventions we could do to help these students get back on track.  

Advice
You are your biggest cheerleader or your worst enemy and I have had to learn that through experience.  If you don't believe in yourself, who else will?  Be confident and that is when your best teaching will occur.  If you are confident in yourself, your teacher will be confident in you as well.  

NCTCS
1a. Teachers lead in their classrooms - Now that I have taken over the classroom, the students are slowly but surely starting to realize that I am their teacher the majority of the time and will be for the remainder of the semester.
2b. Teachers treat students as individuals- I try to seek out every student and ask questions like "how was your weekend?", or state to them "I am excited I get to see you again tomorrow" as they are leaving for dismissal.  I want them to know I care about each and every one of them outside of their performance in my classroom.
3a Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.- I am becoming more and more familiar with where to find certain concepts within the Common Core and Essential Standards. 
4b. Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students.- Differentiation is becoming more and more clear to me as I am gaining tips from my CE and learning how the students best learn in my classroom based on their specific needs and learning styles.
5a. Teachers analyze student learning.- Everything that the students are turning in, I am not just looking at their grades, I am looking to see what particular questions the students are missing and see if I see a trend in the class as a whole.  This is a way for me to assess how I should address the situation.  

Support from Supervisor- N/A

Shorter Weeks Seem Longer 1/20/17

Rate
I would rate this week a 3 out of 5 because this week seemed to drag on longer than a normal 5 day week.  This week has been full of TRC testing and it seems to rush our instruction time.  Even though it is not necessarily true, having students pulled throughout W.I.N. time and every student working on different assignments at different paces makes for a chaotic mid morning. 

Observe
This week my students would struggle to pay attention during Reading block (9:00-10:00), which my CE taught, but were attentive during my math instruction (10:00-11:00).  I was impressed and encouraged by this because I thought it would be the complete opposite.  I hope they continue to give me that respect during that time because math instruction is crucial for students to understand.  

Reflect
This week I have been working and bouncing ideas off of my CE for when I take over full time next week!!! I have realized we all have different teaching styles and I am hoping to bring some new teaching techniques and learning strategies to the classroom throughout this semester!  My CE has provided me with some materials, but has been very clear that I teach the content however I feel comfortable.  

Focus
My short term goals are to become more and more familiar with the content and curriculum.  I need to boost my confidence in order to have some of the best lessons when I takeover next week.  My long term goal is to make that transition seamless and to not only have the students respect me as a teacher, but also the staff look to me for ideas when it comes to teaching the content.  

Be Productive
I am continuing to build my Portfolio and Classroom website!!! I have revised my Philosophy of Education, but still need to send it in for approval.  Also, I need to create my resume and schedule an appointment with Career Development soon!!! 


Begin Anew
As I begin my full 10 weeks next week, I want my students to accept me well and for me to be completely comfortable and confident in my capabilities.  I want to have better time management to organize my lessons in order to try to submit those mid week.  

Data
This week has been TRC testing and I have been looking over the data from those tests, as well as ORF scores with my CE.  It is so exciting and encouraging to see students grow and achieve the goals that they set for themselves!  However, we have also had discussions about those students who we are concerned about and what interventions we could do to help these students get back on track.  

Advice
Another short and crazy week makes me realize that sometimes lessons get switched around or even scrapped until days later.  I am still working on pacing of lessons and for the most part have done fairly well, however, always watch the clock and know how to judge and prioritize what you want your students to complete and understand to guide your decisions and schedule throughout the day.  

NCTCS
1a. Teachers lead in their classrooms - I am still in the process of taking over subject areas in the classroom and students are starting to realize that I am their teacher the majority of the time and will be for the remainder of the semester.
2b. Teachers treat students as individuals- I try to seek out every student and ask questions like "how was your weekend?", or state to them "I am excited I get to see you again tomorrow" as they are leaving for dismissal.  I want them to know I care about each and every one of them outside of their performance in my classroom.
3a Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.- I am becoming more and more familiar with where to find certain concepts within the Common Core and Essential Standards.
4b. Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students.- Differentiation is becoming more and more clear to me as I am gaining tips from my CE and learning how the students best learn in my classroom based on their specific needs and learning styles.
5a. Teachers analyze student learning.- I make sure to see how well my students are performing in math because that is the subject I have right now and I check the students math homework, corrections, and tests to see how well they are grasping the concepts.  This will sometimes replace my centers groups to reteach the content in small group settings.

Support from Supervisor- N/A

Let It Snow! 1/9/2016

This week has been a crazy week because of snow days!  I found out how important it is to be flexible with planning in the education field.  During the optional work days, I met with my CE and we decided to shift every lesson back two days.  We thought it would be best to pick up where the class left off, so that the curriculum would flow better.  This week I also ended up picking up math.  I had the students from 10:00am to dismissal, which is 2:45pm.  The beginning of the week, I was super anxious to start the week and to begin teaching math, but my CE did me an awesome favor.  While I taught my first math lesson, she decided to sit in and observe me.  I had told her that I was nervous about the lesson.  After I went back to my seat, after I had taught my lesson, I found two sticky notes full of encouraging notes and praise for how well I had taught my lesson.  This was so encouraging to me, and it was just what I needed to boost my confidence for the rest of the week!

The one piece of advice I would give to other student teachers is to be confident even when you do not feel the best about your lesson.  If you are confident when you are teaching, the students become more confident when they are learning.  Confidence is contagious! 

NCPTS.I.a - Teachers lead in their classrooms.- I was anxious about taking on math instruction this week, but I learned that leadership in the classroom is vital!  Students constantly look up to you and turn to you for your guidance all throughout the day.  I cannot count the amount of times I hear "Ms. Shortt! Ms. Shortt! Ms. Shortt" because my students know to come to me when they have a question or concern.  

NCPTS.II.d - Teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs. - I am learning about one of my students who is undergoing the process of being identified as EC.  I read aloud a math test to the student to fulfill their modification requirements.  My CE and I are still trying to determine ways of trying to reach him academically. 

NCPTS.III.a - Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. - This week, I have had to sit and study the textbooks, materials, and activities that I am teaching in order to be prepared and confident for the lessons I am teaching.  I am getting better with this, but am still having to carve out time to refresh my memory.  I am also learning the catchy sayings that my CE uses when she usually teaches these subjects, in order to help make it stick with the kids.  

NCPTS.IV.a - Teachers know the ways in which learning takes place, and they know the appropriate levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of their students. - I am still working on how to differentiate for each lesson for the students who have trouble comprehending the concepts, as well as the students who are mastering the concepts and need more challenge. 

NCPTS.V.c - Teachers function effectively in a complex, dynamic environment. - I learned this week that there are many situations, such as snow days that happen and are out of your control.  You just have to learn to roll with it and be flexible when planning and teaching instruction.

I have started on my classroom website and revised my philosophy of education.
Clinical Educator Support:N/A Support from Supervisor: I never heard back about my announced observation.. Did you get my email? 

Begin Again (1/6/2017)

This week was my first week back since I left for Christmas break and I absolutely loved seeing all of my kids' smiling faces walk through that door again!  I missed them terribly over break.  I was kind of nervous again walking into that classroom, knowing that soon it will be all mine!  This week, my CE and I decided that it would be best for me to resume my small groups during W.I.N. time and take over science towards the end of the week.  I wanted to set up my first week like this, so I could refresh my memory on some of the procedures that are implemented in her classroom and build my confidence back up to where it was at the end of last semester.  I would rate this week a 4 out of 5.  The students have not been motivated to get back to work after break and with the excitement of the snow possibility this weekend, it has not made things better.  I have struggled with getting a new routine down and trying to manage all of the new responsibilities of the semester.   However, I personally did not have any issues in the classroom and thought my select lessons went really well.

I think I accomplished being prepared and confident for every single lesson I taught this week.  Every morning, I got out of bed right when my alarm clock went off and was able to arrive to school early each morning.  One thing my CE and I discussed after my first science lesson was not to allow students to have down time during my lesson.  I needed to prepare and plan more activities for the time allotted.  My CE was very encouraging though and told me this will come with time.  I have added more to my future lessons to keep the students engaged and attentive, which will help achieve my long term goal of strengthening my classroom management skills. My CE gave me advice and said if you keep the students busy, there will not be as many behavior issues in the class.  I will spend more time modeling and having the students follow what I am doing on the board.  Due to my schedule last semester, I was unable to observe a science lesson and was indecisive on how to go about teaching from the textbook. I thought my activities would take longer than they did because during planning today, we took the time to fold their foldables and glue their pages in to avoid confusion.  I wanted to bring a hands on approach and that is why the flower foldables correlated really well with this lesson. As I get the feel for how the science lesson schedule runs, I will know how much the students will be able to complete during this time period and will be able to plan accordingly.   I should have added in a science article that aligned with plants to fill extra time.  I had them copied, but instead just reviewed what we had just learned.

The one piece of advice I would give to other student teachers is to plan for more than you expect to teach!  Do not necessarily assign busy work, bit keep the students engaged at all times!

NCPTS.I.a - Teachers lead in their classrooms.- This week was a little weird coming back because I feel like I am supposed to take authority, but yet my CE still has authority and some subjects overlap with others.  For instance, during W.I.N. time, she asked me to review math test corrections with students and I did not get to teach my full lesson that I had planned during tat time.  She needed to use that intervention time to address math, but I had planned for literacy.

NCPTS.II.d - Teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs. - I am learning about one of my students who is undergoing the process of being identified as EC.  I read aloud a math test to the student to fulfill their modification requirements.  My CE and I are still trying to determine ways of trying to reach him academically.

NCPTS.III.a - Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. - This week, I have had to sit and study the textbooks, materials, and activities that I am teaching in order to be prepared and confident for the lessons I am teaching.

NCPTS.IV.a - Teachers know the ways in which learning takes place, and they know the appropriate levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of their students. - I am still working on how to differentiate for each lesson for the students who have trouble comprehending the concepts, as well as the students who are mastering the concepts and need more challenge.

NCPTS.V.b - Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals. - As I am beginning this semester I have reflected on how much I have grown to get to this point, yet still have many goals and milestones that I would like to accomplish.

I have started on my classroom website.
Clinical Educator Support:N/A
Support from Supervisor: N/A