Wow! One more week left of student teaching, but first...Spring Break. I am so exhausted, Spring Break is coming at the perfect time.
I would rate this past week a 4 out of 5. The kids were good, but a little unfocused in anticipation of Spring Break and because they knew we only had 2 days of class time this week. Other than that, the week was great and brought new experiences to add to my belt.
For standard 1 (NCPTS) this week, I had an all new way to demonstrate leadership. We had a field trip planned for Monday and Sunday night my CE texted me to tell me that she had a virus and would not be at work on Monday. You can imagine my panic when I realized that would leave me by myself with our class on our field trip. Monday morning was a tad stressful as I had to search the room for my class' waiver forms, field trip permission forms, and emergency contact information while making sure all of the students had what they needed, used the bathroom, and made it on to the bus. My team mates were great though and made me feel comfortable and provided me with as much help as they could. Even though I was alone with my class for majority of the trip, it ended up being a great day and I learned all kinds of new things. However, because we didn't get back to the school until 6:00pm, I was absolutely wore out and sore from all the walking.
The field trip also provided me with a new way to demonstrate standard 2, to establish a respectful environment for all students. Our trip was to the White Water Center in Charlotte and some of the students were uncomfortable participating in the rock climbing, ropes courses, and zip lining. While I was watching the other students jump off of 100 feet platforms and swing through the trees, I also had opportunity to talk with and connect with some of my students about things other than math. It helped me learn more about them and appreciate them as more than just my students.
For standard 3 this week, I had an awesome opportunity to attend a workshop for all middle school math teachers in Lincoln County. The workshop focused on unpacking the new math standards that are rolling out next school year. I was able to study the new standards with veteran math teachers and take note of important changes. I also received great resources and documents that will help me greatly when implementing these new standards in my own classroom.
For standard 4 this week, I had to plan some activities that would keep the students engaged and focused on learning even though they were excited about Spring Break. On Wednesday, the day before Spring Break (for students), I planned an Easter egg hunt with a math twist. We went outside (a treat for the students) where the students hunted for Easter eggs. Each egg had a math problem inside and an answer on the outside. They had to solve the problem on the inside and then find that answer on another egg. Eventually they would end up back at the egg they started with. This was a great way to build on their excitement for Spring Break while still allowing for learning.
For standard 5, I spent some time reflecting back over the past nine weeks. I can't believe that after break I will have only 1 week of student teaching left. This had truly been the scariest, but most exciting...most difficult, but most rewarding experience. I can honestly say I have learned more during student teaching than I have in all of my education classes combined. Looking back, I am very proud of how far I have grown and looking forward, I am so excited to see what the future will bring.
Wednesday, April 4, 2018
Friday, March 23, 2018
Week 8 of 10
What a great week! I definitely rate this week 5 out of 5. It's Friday and I'm not exhausted, I passed edTPA, and I got a job offer! I really can't believe I only have 2 weeks of student teaching left and then I will be starting a tutoring position at the same school to finish out the year.
As the end draws near, I made plans this week to start putting my portfolio together and have that completed by April 9. I plan to get most of this work done over Spring break so I can focus on my tutoring position once my 10 weeks are complete. Then, all I will have to worry about is making it to graduation on time.
This week, for standard 1 (NCPTS), I had the opportunity to sit in on a parent-teacher conference. This conference was for a student who is smart and capable, he just doesn't seem to want to do his work. The meeting was called with all of his teachers, the principal, his mother, and himself to discuss next year and what/how changes could be made. While I did not actively participate in the meeting, just observed, it was a great opportunity to see how a teacher leads in a meeting like this.
For standard 2 this week, we came together as a team, with the counselor and the principal, to discuss a student who is struggling emotionally. She is a new student and has been having a difficult time adjusting. She is dealing with other things as well and often becomes overwhelmed. She is timid to ask to speak to the counselor, so this week we came up with a plan that she can write a note to the teacher to ask to speak to the counselor should she need to. She often spends majority of the day in the guidance office, so I have started keeping alternate assignments on hand for her to complete when she is out of class.
For standard 3, I started planning ahead to next year and took a glimpse at the new math standards that will take effect in the fall. I have an opportunity to attend a workshop next week where these standards will be unpacked, so I went ahead and looked at what standards are changing so I would be prepared for the workshop.
For standard 4, I used data from formative assessments to adjust my plans for the week. My students were not picking up surface area and volume as well as I had hoped. So, I adjusted my plans and slowed down the amount of content that was being introduced each day to allow students more time to process new information. I also made sure to model more problems and even had students come to the board to model problems themselves.
For standard 5, I took some time to reflect over the past 8 weeks and take note of my highest growth areas, and areas that I still need to improve on. The areas that I really want to focus on the next 2 weeks are integrating technology tools and supporting my students in team work skills.
I have had a great week, and as I sit here reflecting over it, I am starting to get a little sad because I know it is coming to a fast end. The students have been wonderful and I couldn't have asked for a better first class(es). I've said it in previous blogs, and I'll say it again, this has been one of the most rewarding experiences and I have learned so much.
I hope everyone has a restful weekend and a great week next week. One week till spring break! Hang in there!
As the end draws near, I made plans this week to start putting my portfolio together and have that completed by April 9. I plan to get most of this work done over Spring break so I can focus on my tutoring position once my 10 weeks are complete. Then, all I will have to worry about is making it to graduation on time.
This week, for standard 1 (NCPTS), I had the opportunity to sit in on a parent-teacher conference. This conference was for a student who is smart and capable, he just doesn't seem to want to do his work. The meeting was called with all of his teachers, the principal, his mother, and himself to discuss next year and what/how changes could be made. While I did not actively participate in the meeting, just observed, it was a great opportunity to see how a teacher leads in a meeting like this.
For standard 2 this week, we came together as a team, with the counselor and the principal, to discuss a student who is struggling emotionally. She is a new student and has been having a difficult time adjusting. She is dealing with other things as well and often becomes overwhelmed. She is timid to ask to speak to the counselor, so this week we came up with a plan that she can write a note to the teacher to ask to speak to the counselor should she need to. She often spends majority of the day in the guidance office, so I have started keeping alternate assignments on hand for her to complete when she is out of class.
For standard 3, I started planning ahead to next year and took a glimpse at the new math standards that will take effect in the fall. I have an opportunity to attend a workshop next week where these standards will be unpacked, so I went ahead and looked at what standards are changing so I would be prepared for the workshop.
For standard 4, I used data from formative assessments to adjust my plans for the week. My students were not picking up surface area and volume as well as I had hoped. So, I adjusted my plans and slowed down the amount of content that was being introduced each day to allow students more time to process new information. I also made sure to model more problems and even had students come to the board to model problems themselves.
For standard 5, I took some time to reflect over the past 8 weeks and take note of my highest growth areas, and areas that I still need to improve on. The areas that I really want to focus on the next 2 weeks are integrating technology tools and supporting my students in team work skills.
I have had a great week, and as I sit here reflecting over it, I am starting to get a little sad because I know it is coming to a fast end. The students have been wonderful and I couldn't have asked for a better first class(es). I've said it in previous blogs, and I'll say it again, this has been one of the most rewarding experiences and I have learned so much.
I hope everyone has a restful weekend and a great week next week. One week till spring break! Hang in there!
Friday, March 16, 2018
Week 7 of 10
Wow, I can't believe I have completed my 7th week of student teaching. I know that the last 3 weeks will fly by. I can already say that this has been the toughest, most stressful, most exausting, but most rewarding experience I have ever had. I have learned and grown more in the past 7 weeks than I have in all of my classes combined.
I would rate this week a 4 out of 5. The lessons moved a little slow as the students did not pick up the content as fast as I would have liked, but it was still ok. The main reason I took off that extra point is because I am just so exhausted. I keep hoping this is something I will get used to but it hasn't happened yet. I am really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.
This week, I was able to demonstrate standard 1 (NCPTS) in a variety of ways. On Wednesday, I was able to sit in on a school improvement team meeting. This was the 3rd SIT meeting I've been able to observe during my time student teaching. It has been very beneficial for me see how these types of meetings go and how the different stakeholders work together to make the school the best it can be. On Thursday, during my content meeting with the other 7th grade math teacher, I was able to share some of my resources with him while planning out our lessons and activities for next week.
For standard 2 and 5, I had my students complete a "reflection on my teaching thus far." I had each student write down something they like that I do, something they don't like, and something that they wish I would do differently or change. I took the time to read each one and reflect on how they were responding to my teaching. My goal is to take these reflections and use them to adapt my teaching to meet the needs and types of learning styles for all of my students.
For standard 3, I spent some time researching ways I can extend my lessons and make them more challenging for my honors class. This class tends to get bored with the same lessons and activities I give the other classes. They clearly need more challenging instructional activities. I have discovered that they really enjoy group projects that allow them to take their knowledge of a topic and apply it to real-world situations. For example, this week, I had them work in groups and use their knowledge of surface area to "design a room." They also had to rely on other content knowledge, such as unit rates, to calculate the cost of paint and carpet. They love these types of assignments, so I made plans to allow for them more often.
For standard 4, I facilitated learning in a different way this week by planning a "Pi Day celebration." On Wednesday, my classes celebrated Pi Day by reading about the history of pi, calculating the circumference of moon pies (and then eating them), and creating a pi chain over 200 loops long. In their eyes, it was a party day. However, they also learned all about pi and the history behind the never ending number, while practicing math concepts (circumference).
My week was long, slammed packed, and exhausting...but I am still loving every minute of student teaching. I can definitely add this experience to the top of my list.
I hope everyone has a great, restful weekend. I know I will.
I would rate this week a 4 out of 5. The lessons moved a little slow as the students did not pick up the content as fast as I would have liked, but it was still ok. The main reason I took off that extra point is because I am just so exhausted. I keep hoping this is something I will get used to but it hasn't happened yet. I am really looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow.
This week, I was able to demonstrate standard 1 (NCPTS) in a variety of ways. On Wednesday, I was able to sit in on a school improvement team meeting. This was the 3rd SIT meeting I've been able to observe during my time student teaching. It has been very beneficial for me see how these types of meetings go and how the different stakeholders work together to make the school the best it can be. On Thursday, during my content meeting with the other 7th grade math teacher, I was able to share some of my resources with him while planning out our lessons and activities for next week.
For standard 2 and 5, I had my students complete a "reflection on my teaching thus far." I had each student write down something they like that I do, something they don't like, and something that they wish I would do differently or change. I took the time to read each one and reflect on how they were responding to my teaching. My goal is to take these reflections and use them to adapt my teaching to meet the needs and types of learning styles for all of my students.
For standard 3, I spent some time researching ways I can extend my lessons and make them more challenging for my honors class. This class tends to get bored with the same lessons and activities I give the other classes. They clearly need more challenging instructional activities. I have discovered that they really enjoy group projects that allow them to take their knowledge of a topic and apply it to real-world situations. For example, this week, I had them work in groups and use their knowledge of surface area to "design a room." They also had to rely on other content knowledge, such as unit rates, to calculate the cost of paint and carpet. They love these types of assignments, so I made plans to allow for them more often.
For standard 4, I facilitated learning in a different way this week by planning a "Pi Day celebration." On Wednesday, my classes celebrated Pi Day by reading about the history of pi, calculating the circumference of moon pies (and then eating them), and creating a pi chain over 200 loops long. In their eyes, it was a party day. However, they also learned all about pi and the history behind the never ending number, while practicing math concepts (circumference).
My week was long, slammed packed, and exhausting...but I am still loving every minute of student teaching. I can definitely add this experience to the top of my list.
I hope everyone has a great, restful weekend. I know I will.
Saturday, March 10, 2018
Teacher Tired
If I could sum up this week in one word it would be EXHAUSTED. I think it's hilarious that I ever thought that teaching was an "8-3" job, or that I would get everything I needed to get done during my hour and a half planning period every day. My day starts about 5:30 am. I arrive at school by 7:30, and I usually don't leave until 4:30 or 5:00. As much as I look forward to the weekends, I have learned that I will spend at least part of the weekend grading papers or creating resources and assignments. However, with all that being said and being as tired as I am, I still 100% love this experience.
I would rate this week a 3. It was a good week, especially without the stress of edTPA, but there were little hiccups here and there. I started out the week by getting another new student. This makes my fifth new student in the past couple of weeks. It really is stressful getting a new student. Trying to get them settled in the classroom and caught up to where you are is a daunting task especially when you consider that I only see them for an hour each day. On top of that, I learned of two heart breaking situations with two of my other students, and dealt with a threat that was made to the school by another student. Also, at the end of the week, 3 out of 4 of my classes did not pick up the new material as I had hoped so I had to change my lesson plans for next week at the last minute.
For standard 1 (NCPTS) this week, I was able to demonstrate leadership in the school by attending an MTSS meeting. While I did not actively participate in this meeting, my observation of the meeting allowed me a great opportunity to see MTSS in process. It was also very beneficial for me to listen in on the discussions about my particular students who had been brought to MTSS. I was able to hear first hand where they are in their interventions and/or testing process, and what I need to be doing to ensure that they are receiving the support they need until they are approved for resource math. This also allowed me to demonstrate standard 2.
Also for standard 2 this week, I found myself thinking about how I treat each one of my students. I learned of some very unfortunate and sad situations for a few of my students this week. After hearing these stories, I began thinking about how I get frustrated with these particular students because they don't turn in work, or have their materials, or give me their best effort everyday. I realize now that I don't always know what is going on in their lives and that I need to keep that in mind when creating an environment for my classroom. While I do think that middle schoolers need to be developing a sense of responsibility, sometimes it is better to just give them a pencil or paper because the parents can't or won't buy it for them. Sometimes less than 100% effort is all they can give me because of what went on at home last night. Sometimes they can't focus because they can only focus on the hunger in their stomach. Sometimes they act standoffish towards me because of the way all the other adults in their lives treat them. This has been one of the biggest and hardest lessons I have learned throughout my student teaching experience. I am over emotional even as I sit here typing this because I just want to hug these kids after learning about what has happened to them.
For standard 3 this week, I spent a lot of time looking at ways I can integrate other subjects into my math classroom. I had a little bit of an advantage this week as I was planning for pi day next Wednesday. I was able to incorporate global awareness, the history of pi, and even science as it is also Albert Einsteins birthday. However, I do still struggle with getting that cross curricular integration in on a more common basis. This is one of my main goals in the upcoming weeks.
For standard 4, at the end of the week I had to completely change my plans for next week because my students just weren't getting the material. During the lecture on Thursday, they seemed to be understanding and even expressed confidence in their ability to try the assignment. However, time did not allow us to get to the assignment until Friday, which turned into a major bust for 3 out of 4 of my classes. They were completely lost on what to do and there was a line of students at my desk waiting for help. I instructed the students to communicate with their group members and turn in their assignment whether they finished or not. I wanted to study their work and see if I could discover a common misconception or pattern that was happening. This coming Monday was suppose to be new material, but I have since decided to go over each problem in this assignment with the students in depth. Once we have gone over the problems and addressed misconceptions, I will give the students a new assignment to re-assess their understanding of this content.
For standard 5, on Friday I spent a lot of time reflecting on my practice when things didn't go according to plan. I knew in advance, from my CE, that this particular material usually takes longer for the students to pick up. Even so, I was still completely thrown off when it turned into such a bust. I spent of a lot of time reflecting and talking with my CE about how I could have taught the material differently and what steps I should take next week.
Well, that about sums up my week. I hope everyone had a slightly better week than I did. Enjoy your weekend!
I would rate this week a 3. It was a good week, especially without the stress of edTPA, but there were little hiccups here and there. I started out the week by getting another new student. This makes my fifth new student in the past couple of weeks. It really is stressful getting a new student. Trying to get them settled in the classroom and caught up to where you are is a daunting task especially when you consider that I only see them for an hour each day. On top of that, I learned of two heart breaking situations with two of my other students, and dealt with a threat that was made to the school by another student. Also, at the end of the week, 3 out of 4 of my classes did not pick up the new material as I had hoped so I had to change my lesson plans for next week at the last minute.
For standard 1 (NCPTS) this week, I was able to demonstrate leadership in the school by attending an MTSS meeting. While I did not actively participate in this meeting, my observation of the meeting allowed me a great opportunity to see MTSS in process. It was also very beneficial for me to listen in on the discussions about my particular students who had been brought to MTSS. I was able to hear first hand where they are in their interventions and/or testing process, and what I need to be doing to ensure that they are receiving the support they need until they are approved for resource math. This also allowed me to demonstrate standard 2.
Also for standard 2 this week, I found myself thinking about how I treat each one of my students. I learned of some very unfortunate and sad situations for a few of my students this week. After hearing these stories, I began thinking about how I get frustrated with these particular students because they don't turn in work, or have their materials, or give me their best effort everyday. I realize now that I don't always know what is going on in their lives and that I need to keep that in mind when creating an environment for my classroom. While I do think that middle schoolers need to be developing a sense of responsibility, sometimes it is better to just give them a pencil or paper because the parents can't or won't buy it for them. Sometimes less than 100% effort is all they can give me because of what went on at home last night. Sometimes they can't focus because they can only focus on the hunger in their stomach. Sometimes they act standoffish towards me because of the way all the other adults in their lives treat them. This has been one of the biggest and hardest lessons I have learned throughout my student teaching experience. I am over emotional even as I sit here typing this because I just want to hug these kids after learning about what has happened to them.
For standard 3 this week, I spent a lot of time looking at ways I can integrate other subjects into my math classroom. I had a little bit of an advantage this week as I was planning for pi day next Wednesday. I was able to incorporate global awareness, the history of pi, and even science as it is also Albert Einsteins birthday. However, I do still struggle with getting that cross curricular integration in on a more common basis. This is one of my main goals in the upcoming weeks.
For standard 4, at the end of the week I had to completely change my plans for next week because my students just weren't getting the material. During the lecture on Thursday, they seemed to be understanding and even expressed confidence in their ability to try the assignment. However, time did not allow us to get to the assignment until Friday, which turned into a major bust for 3 out of 4 of my classes. They were completely lost on what to do and there was a line of students at my desk waiting for help. I instructed the students to communicate with their group members and turn in their assignment whether they finished or not. I wanted to study their work and see if I could discover a common misconception or pattern that was happening. This coming Monday was suppose to be new material, but I have since decided to go over each problem in this assignment with the students in depth. Once we have gone over the problems and addressed misconceptions, I will give the students a new assignment to re-assess their understanding of this content.
For standard 5, on Friday I spent a lot of time reflecting on my practice when things didn't go according to plan. I knew in advance, from my CE, that this particular material usually takes longer for the students to pick up. Even so, I was still completely thrown off when it turned into such a bust. I spent of a lot of time reflecting and talking with my CE about how I could have taught the material differently and what steps I should take next week.
Well, that about sums up my week. I hope everyone had a slightly better week than I did. Enjoy your weekend!
Friday, March 2, 2018
We survived edTPA!
Well guys, we survived edTPA! Now we just have to anxiously wait for our scores, finish out student teaching strong, and put together all the little pieces of our portfolio. Thats still a lot to do, but none of it sounds as stressful as edTPA. I know this week was the half way point for many of us. Pretty soon we'll be walking across that stage wondering where the semester went.
I would rate this week a 2. It was a very stressful week, my lesson plans were not the greatest, I spent every spare moment working on edTPA, stayed up to late, didn't get enough sleep or food in my system, and had to try very hard (though failed at times) to not be irritable with the students. All that being said, I can't rate the week a 1 because I still love my placement and what I'm doing. Its a slow start getting up in the mornings (I mean, I do get up at 5:30) but, there has not been a single day where I dreaded going to teach. God has surely blessed me this semester.
I was able to demonstrate standard 1 (NCPTS) this week by taking total leadership in my classroom, which in turn helped out in other places around the building. My CE was out on Wednesday, so there was a sub in my room with me. They ended up needing to pull my sub to cover other classes throughout the day. In the midst of this, I received a wonderful compliment when our principal said "that student teacher is great, go ahead and pull that sub." It was a very rewarding feeling to know that the principal trusts me and views me as a capable leader and teacher in her school. I also had another opportunity to demonstrate leadership in my school by attending this week's faculty meeting in place of my CE.
For standard 3 this week, I started researching more ideas for integrating other subjects and 21st century skills into my lesson plans. My weakness right now is getting adequate integration of other subjects into my lesson plans. This has really been a struggle for me, so I decided to take some extra steps this week to research some integrative and engaging ways to do this.
For standard 4 this week, I took note of some things I noticed happening while students were taking their benchmark and made plans to prevent it from happening in the future. Students took their benchmark on Tuesday and Thursday this week. They had 2 days to complete their benchmark, so you would think they would take their time and check their work...wrong. The moment students found out they could play Prodigy after finishing their test, majority of them rushed through it. I purposely did not tell them this before the test started, however when they noticed other students finishing and playing Prodigy, they started to rush resulting unnecessary bad grades. On testing days, I try to give students a break and let them do something they enjoy, but still curriculum based, after finishing their test. This is something my CE does as well. But, after watching them rush through the test and seeing their benchmark scores, I have decided to give them an assignment to do after the test next time. I plan to tell them the reason for receiving the assignment instead of being allowed to play Prodigy. At the 7th grade level, middle schoolers should be starting to make steps towards taking responsibility for their own grades and learning. But, we still have to give them little nudges in that direction.
For standard 5 this week, I reflected on my teaching the past 5 weeks. I can see how much I have grown from last semester and how much I have grown in just the last 5 weeks. I know that I have a lot more growing to do, however I am proud of how far I have come. I can't wait to see what the next 5 weeks hold.
I hope everyone has a great edTPA free weekend and a great week next week! We are finally on that downhill slope towards graduation!
I would rate this week a 2. It was a very stressful week, my lesson plans were not the greatest, I spent every spare moment working on edTPA, stayed up to late, didn't get enough sleep or food in my system, and had to try very hard (though failed at times) to not be irritable with the students. All that being said, I can't rate the week a 1 because I still love my placement and what I'm doing. Its a slow start getting up in the mornings (I mean, I do get up at 5:30) but, there has not been a single day where I dreaded going to teach. God has surely blessed me this semester.
I was able to demonstrate standard 1 (NCPTS) this week by taking total leadership in my classroom, which in turn helped out in other places around the building. My CE was out on Wednesday, so there was a sub in my room with me. They ended up needing to pull my sub to cover other classes throughout the day. In the midst of this, I received a wonderful compliment when our principal said "that student teacher is great, go ahead and pull that sub." It was a very rewarding feeling to know that the principal trusts me and views me as a capable leader and teacher in her school. I also had another opportunity to demonstrate leadership in my school by attending this week's faculty meeting in place of my CE.
For standard 3 this week, I started researching more ideas for integrating other subjects and 21st century skills into my lesson plans. My weakness right now is getting adequate integration of other subjects into my lesson plans. This has really been a struggle for me, so I decided to take some extra steps this week to research some integrative and engaging ways to do this.
For standard 4 this week, I took note of some things I noticed happening while students were taking their benchmark and made plans to prevent it from happening in the future. Students took their benchmark on Tuesday and Thursday this week. They had 2 days to complete their benchmark, so you would think they would take their time and check their work...wrong. The moment students found out they could play Prodigy after finishing their test, majority of them rushed through it. I purposely did not tell them this before the test started, however when they noticed other students finishing and playing Prodigy, they started to rush resulting unnecessary bad grades. On testing days, I try to give students a break and let them do something they enjoy, but still curriculum based, after finishing their test. This is something my CE does as well. But, after watching them rush through the test and seeing their benchmark scores, I have decided to give them an assignment to do after the test next time. I plan to tell them the reason for receiving the assignment instead of being allowed to play Prodigy. At the 7th grade level, middle schoolers should be starting to make steps towards taking responsibility for their own grades and learning. But, we still have to give them little nudges in that direction.
For standard 5 this week, I reflected on my teaching the past 5 weeks. I can see how much I have grown from last semester and how much I have grown in just the last 5 weeks. I know that I have a lot more growing to do, however I am proud of how far I have come. I can't wait to see what the next 5 weeks hold.
I hope everyone has a great edTPA free weekend and a great week next week! We are finally on that downhill slope towards graduation!
Monday, February 26, 2018
edTPA week
This week was my 2nd full week taking over the classroom. It was also my edTPA teaching week. I started out in the week feeling like everything had to be "just perfect" this week since I was recording for edTPA, but I soon forgot the camera was even there. I found this to work better and actually eased my stress level.
I would rate this week a 3 out of 5. So many of my students were out sick with the flu and it put the whole class behind slightly. I've had to adjust my plans for next week several times already and I'm not even there yet. At this point, I am suppose to end our unit on area on Tuesday and start new material on Wednesday. However, with so many students out sick, I have way too many holes in my grade book. I think I have decided to use Wednesday as a "catch up day." Students who were absent have the opportunity to catch up on notes and work on missing assignments. Even the students who were here all week have missing assignments so the catch up day will benefit them as well and give them a free "second chance."
For standard 1 (NCPTS) this week, I was able to sit in on the School Improvement Team meeting. Since my CE participates in this committee, I have the opportunity to observe. While I only observe, it really benefits me to see how these meetings go.
For standard 2 this week, I spent some time accommodating my new students (3 new students!) and helping them adjust to their change. It is never easy changing schools in the middle of the school year, and I want to make sure these students adjust well and are as comfortable as possible.
For standard 3, I printed copies of the 8th grade math standards and their unpacking documents. I teach 7th grade, but I have one honors class who often need more in-depth and challenging extension activities. I started looking at the 8th grade standards to see how I can build on what we are learning and make the content more engaging and challenging to my honors class.
For standard 4, I spent some time looking for new resources, materials, and activities I could use in my lessons. We have been using a lot of the same types of materials and resources so I want to change things up a little and engage the students with something new.
Finally, for standard 5, I took the notes that my CE made on my teaching this week and reflected on them in anticipation of next week. There were more positives than negatives, which pleased me, but I still took the negatives and reflected on how I can turn them into positives in the upcoming weeks.
I would rate this week a 3 out of 5. So many of my students were out sick with the flu and it put the whole class behind slightly. I've had to adjust my plans for next week several times already and I'm not even there yet. At this point, I am suppose to end our unit on area on Tuesday and start new material on Wednesday. However, with so many students out sick, I have way too many holes in my grade book. I think I have decided to use Wednesday as a "catch up day." Students who were absent have the opportunity to catch up on notes and work on missing assignments. Even the students who were here all week have missing assignments so the catch up day will benefit them as well and give them a free "second chance."
For standard 1 (NCPTS) this week, I was able to sit in on the School Improvement Team meeting. Since my CE participates in this committee, I have the opportunity to observe. While I only observe, it really benefits me to see how these meetings go.
For standard 2 this week, I spent some time accommodating my new students (3 new students!) and helping them adjust to their change. It is never easy changing schools in the middle of the school year, and I want to make sure these students adjust well and are as comfortable as possible.
For standard 3, I printed copies of the 8th grade math standards and their unpacking documents. I teach 7th grade, but I have one honors class who often need more in-depth and challenging extension activities. I started looking at the 8th grade standards to see how I can build on what we are learning and make the content more engaging and challenging to my honors class.
For standard 4, I spent some time looking for new resources, materials, and activities I could use in my lessons. We have been using a lot of the same types of materials and resources so I want to change things up a little and engage the students with something new.
Finally, for standard 5, I took the notes that my CE made on my teaching this week and reflected on them in anticipation of next week. There were more positives than negatives, which pleased me, but I still took the negatives and reflected on how I can turn them into positives in the upcoming weeks.
Week 4 of 10
Hello everyone, I am last posting for last week because my mind has not ventured far from edTPA this weekend. I have been so focused on edTPA that it seems everything else has slipped my mind. I'm sure we all agree that Thursday can't get here fast enough.
Last week was a decent week. I would rate it a 3 out of 5. It was not a special week and nothing "bad" happened. I just felt like the whole week I couldn't get caught up. I still feel that way in anticipation of this upcoming week. I know that also relates back to edTPA. I am really looking forward to next week because edTPA will be behind me and I know I can give more of my attention to my teaching.
Last week, I was able to demonstrate standard 1 (NCPTS) by collaborating with the other 7th grade math teacher. We typically get together once a week to plan our content and stay up to date on where each other is at in the curriculum. There have been a few times when he has asked what I had planned and then asked if he could use the same thing for his class. This week, he had a family death and had to be out unexpectedly for a couple of days. I told him to let me know what I could do to help and he asked me to get together some work for his classes to do while he was out.
I demonstrated standard 2 last week by going over the lockdown procedure and other safety information with each of my classes. With everything going on in the country recently, the students and the staff were all feeling a little uneasy. To help make my students feel safe in the classroom, we went over the procedures and took time for questions which me and my CE answered carefully and clearly. I also spent a lot of time reflecting (standard 5) about the recent situations and about how I can professionally advocate (standard 1) for change in our schools. Our students shouldn't fear coming to school and knowing that they do has really dampened my mood.
For standard 3 last week, I took some time to study the content I knew I would be teaching this upcoming week. This was content that I was a little uneasy about and was having a hard time remembering. I tried to write my lesson plans before studying the content, but I quickly found out there was just no way. I ended up having to set my plans aside and took some time to refresh my memory on this content. To some, this might sound like I don't know what I'm doing because I had to "study my content." However, I feel the opposite. Last semester, my CE told me that even she, who has been teaching for 13 years, has to study sometimes. I think this helps make for a good teacher - one who is not embarrassed to study her content.
Last week was a review week for my classes. We spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday reviewing material that would appear on their benchmark this upcoming week. On Thursday, my students took all of their "training" from the beginning of the week and participated in the "Math Games. This is an example of how I demonstrated standard 4 during the week. As students came into class Thursday, the room was decorated with a South Korean flag and an olympic sign. Instead of the usual warmup on the board, there were fun facts about South Korea. I tried to find facts that the students could compare to. For example, in America a birthday tradition is birthday cake, in South Korea a birthday tradition is seaweed soup. Class time on Thursday was spent playing review games in which teams competed for the "gold."
Finally, for standard 5 last week, I spent some time reflecting on how I can include more 21st century skills and integration in my lessons. I feel like I made good progress on adding 21st century skills, however I am still struggling with integration.
Last week was a decent week. I would rate it a 3 out of 5. It was not a special week and nothing "bad" happened. I just felt like the whole week I couldn't get caught up. I still feel that way in anticipation of this upcoming week. I know that also relates back to edTPA. I am really looking forward to next week because edTPA will be behind me and I know I can give more of my attention to my teaching.
Last week, I was able to demonstrate standard 1 (NCPTS) by collaborating with the other 7th grade math teacher. We typically get together once a week to plan our content and stay up to date on where each other is at in the curriculum. There have been a few times when he has asked what I had planned and then asked if he could use the same thing for his class. This week, he had a family death and had to be out unexpectedly for a couple of days. I told him to let me know what I could do to help and he asked me to get together some work for his classes to do while he was out.
I demonstrated standard 2 last week by going over the lockdown procedure and other safety information with each of my classes. With everything going on in the country recently, the students and the staff were all feeling a little uneasy. To help make my students feel safe in the classroom, we went over the procedures and took time for questions which me and my CE answered carefully and clearly. I also spent a lot of time reflecting (standard 5) about the recent situations and about how I can professionally advocate (standard 1) for change in our schools. Our students shouldn't fear coming to school and knowing that they do has really dampened my mood.
For standard 3 last week, I took some time to study the content I knew I would be teaching this upcoming week. This was content that I was a little uneasy about and was having a hard time remembering. I tried to write my lesson plans before studying the content, but I quickly found out there was just no way. I ended up having to set my plans aside and took some time to refresh my memory on this content. To some, this might sound like I don't know what I'm doing because I had to "study my content." However, I feel the opposite. Last semester, my CE told me that even she, who has been teaching for 13 years, has to study sometimes. I think this helps make for a good teacher - one who is not embarrassed to study her content.
Last week was a review week for my classes. We spent Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday reviewing material that would appear on their benchmark this upcoming week. On Thursday, my students took all of their "training" from the beginning of the week and participated in the "Math Games. This is an example of how I demonstrated standard 4 during the week. As students came into class Thursday, the room was decorated with a South Korean flag and an olympic sign. Instead of the usual warmup on the board, there were fun facts about South Korea. I tried to find facts that the students could compare to. For example, in America a birthday tradition is birthday cake, in South Korea a birthday tradition is seaweed soup. Class time on Thursday was spent playing review games in which teams competed for the "gold."
Finally, for standard 5 last week, I spent some time reflecting on how I can include more 21st century skills and integration in my lessons. I feel like I made good progress on adding 21st century skills, however I am still struggling with integration.
Friday, February 16, 2018
Teaching Middle Schoolers
Hello everyone! I want to start off this post by letting you know what its like to teach middle schoolers...Today one of my students came up to me and said "Ms. Ramsey, I need some scissors because my shoe string is stuck in my braces." There is definitely never a dull moment in middle school and I love it!
This week was my third full week of teaching and it feels like it flew by. I don't know about you guys, but it seems like the weeks are just flying. The day certainly goes much faster when you are teaching all day instead of observing.
I would rate this week a 2. I am still loving my placement, the students, and my team mates and other teachers/faculty. But, this week, and last week, I experienced a major "teacher struggle." So many of my students were out for days at a time, some of them more than a week, because of the flu. This resulted in a lot of students missing lessons and a lot of missing/makeup work. On Tuesday, I ended our unit on area, but I just didn't feel comfortable moving on without more of my students and with so many holes in my grade book. I decided to use Wednesday as a "catch up day." I made a table with all of the current assignments and the names of students missing each assignment. The students were able to use the entire period to work on missing assignments, and I was able to catch up the students who were absent for a week. Allowing for this "catch up day" made me feel much better about ending our unit, and I'm sure those students who missed so many days felt the same way.
Another "teacher struggle" I experienced this week was getting three new students in four days. Two of these students joined my 2nd period right in the middle of my edTPA lessons. This put me in a bind because I had to find a place to seat them out of camera range. This is a full class and I already had three students who didn't bring their forms back. So, I ended up cramming five students against the back wall. I hated to do this to them, especially the new students, but I didn't have much of another option.
For Standard 1 (NCPTS) this week, I was able to demonstrate leadership amongst my teammates and the other 7th grade teachers by volunteering to do "2nd load duty." All of the 7th grade teachers had a workshop to attend after school on Thursday so no-one was able to do 2nd load duty (usually the teachers trade off). I over heard a conversation between the principal and some of the teachers about this and they were really struggling to come up with a solution. I volunteered to do 2nd load since I was the only one on my hall who would not be at the workshop. The Principal was ok with it and the problem was solved.
For Standard 2, I want to talk about a particular student. When I first started, I was told that this student was home bound because he was receiving therapy for behavioral issues, and that I would need to prepare work for him every week. Then, I found out that he was coming back for one class a day and that would be my class. At first I thought "great, of course he comes back for my class." I had heard the stories about all the fights he got in, the way he treated teachers, and the girl who now has scars on her face from him scratching her. I was really nervous about him coming to my class. After four weeks, I can say that I have not seen even an ounce of what was described to me. I have only seen a sweet, quiet boy who struggles in math but who tries very hard. From his first day back, I have tried my absolute best to make him feel comfortable in the classroom and during the lessons and assignments. A lot of the time that meant I had to pull a chair up beside him and talk him through each problem while all of the other students flew through them independently. My heart has really grown for this student and I want to see him succeed. Today, I was helping him and he told me "I used to be really good at math and then something happened." I simply reminded him that as we get older, our classes get a little harder, but that I knew he worked very hard and I was proud of the effort he gave. Sometimes, its not about getting a 100, but about the effort that was given.
For Standard 3 this week, my CE talked to me about BAV, Building Academic Vocabulary, and how they use it in the school and in math class. Every subject in every grade level has a list of content specific words that the students are expected to know and understand. In math class, every 9 weeks my CE assigns so many BAV words in Google Classroom. The students must find a formal definition for each word, put the definition in their own words, illustrate it with a picture, and then write about how they will use it in real life.
For Standard 4, I had to adapt my lesson plans more than once to benefit not only the many students who were absent, but the whole class. I had to stay on top of students about catching up notes and missing work, while at the same time having extension activites for the students who were not absent. I hated the idea of "punishing" these students by giving them busy work, so on "catch up day" I gave them a small test practice on area and then allowed them to read a book, work on stuff for another class, or play Math Prodigy.
For Standard 5, I spent a lot of time reflecting on school security and procedures both in my current placement and in my future classroom. In light of the tragedy in Florida, I have really been thinking about how I would handle a similar situation. I decided not to worry about my future classroom as much right now, but to focus on the present. I reviewed my school's emergency procedures and had my CE walk me through what needed to happen incase of a lock down. God willing, I will never be in this type of situation, but I want to make sure I am prepared to keep my students and myself safe should it ever happen.
Well, I'm sorry to end this post on a negative note but I think every teacher in America has had these same thoughts this week.
I hope everyone has a restful weekend and a great week next week!
This week was my third full week of teaching and it feels like it flew by. I don't know about you guys, but it seems like the weeks are just flying. The day certainly goes much faster when you are teaching all day instead of observing.
I would rate this week a 2. I am still loving my placement, the students, and my team mates and other teachers/faculty. But, this week, and last week, I experienced a major "teacher struggle." So many of my students were out for days at a time, some of them more than a week, because of the flu. This resulted in a lot of students missing lessons and a lot of missing/makeup work. On Tuesday, I ended our unit on area, but I just didn't feel comfortable moving on without more of my students and with so many holes in my grade book. I decided to use Wednesday as a "catch up day." I made a table with all of the current assignments and the names of students missing each assignment. The students were able to use the entire period to work on missing assignments, and I was able to catch up the students who were absent for a week. Allowing for this "catch up day" made me feel much better about ending our unit, and I'm sure those students who missed so many days felt the same way.
Another "teacher struggle" I experienced this week was getting three new students in four days. Two of these students joined my 2nd period right in the middle of my edTPA lessons. This put me in a bind because I had to find a place to seat them out of camera range. This is a full class and I already had three students who didn't bring their forms back. So, I ended up cramming five students against the back wall. I hated to do this to them, especially the new students, but I didn't have much of another option.
For Standard 1 (NCPTS) this week, I was able to demonstrate leadership amongst my teammates and the other 7th grade teachers by volunteering to do "2nd load duty." All of the 7th grade teachers had a workshop to attend after school on Thursday so no-one was able to do 2nd load duty (usually the teachers trade off). I over heard a conversation between the principal and some of the teachers about this and they were really struggling to come up with a solution. I volunteered to do 2nd load since I was the only one on my hall who would not be at the workshop. The Principal was ok with it and the problem was solved.
For Standard 2, I want to talk about a particular student. When I first started, I was told that this student was home bound because he was receiving therapy for behavioral issues, and that I would need to prepare work for him every week. Then, I found out that he was coming back for one class a day and that would be my class. At first I thought "great, of course he comes back for my class." I had heard the stories about all the fights he got in, the way he treated teachers, and the girl who now has scars on her face from him scratching her. I was really nervous about him coming to my class. After four weeks, I can say that I have not seen even an ounce of what was described to me. I have only seen a sweet, quiet boy who struggles in math but who tries very hard. From his first day back, I have tried my absolute best to make him feel comfortable in the classroom and during the lessons and assignments. A lot of the time that meant I had to pull a chair up beside him and talk him through each problem while all of the other students flew through them independently. My heart has really grown for this student and I want to see him succeed. Today, I was helping him and he told me "I used to be really good at math and then something happened." I simply reminded him that as we get older, our classes get a little harder, but that I knew he worked very hard and I was proud of the effort he gave. Sometimes, its not about getting a 100, but about the effort that was given.
For Standard 3 this week, my CE talked to me about BAV, Building Academic Vocabulary, and how they use it in the school and in math class. Every subject in every grade level has a list of content specific words that the students are expected to know and understand. In math class, every 9 weeks my CE assigns so many BAV words in Google Classroom. The students must find a formal definition for each word, put the definition in their own words, illustrate it with a picture, and then write about how they will use it in real life.
For Standard 4, I had to adapt my lesson plans more than once to benefit not only the many students who were absent, but the whole class. I had to stay on top of students about catching up notes and missing work, while at the same time having extension activites for the students who were not absent. I hated the idea of "punishing" these students by giving them busy work, so on "catch up day" I gave them a small test practice on area and then allowed them to read a book, work on stuff for another class, or play Math Prodigy.
For Standard 5, I spent a lot of time reflecting on school security and procedures both in my current placement and in my future classroom. In light of the tragedy in Florida, I have really been thinking about how I would handle a similar situation. I decided not to worry about my future classroom as much right now, but to focus on the present. I reviewed my school's emergency procedures and had my CE walk me through what needed to happen incase of a lock down. God willing, I will never be in this type of situation, but I want to make sure I am prepared to keep my students and myself safe should it ever happen.
Well, I'm sorry to end this post on a negative note but I think every teacher in America has had these same thoughts this week.
I hope everyone has a restful weekend and a great week next week!
Friday, February 2, 2018
1 Down, 9 To Go
Well, I made it through my first full week of teaching! It was definitely one for the books and one I'm sure I will never forget. This week had some highs and it had some lows, but the one constant throughout the whole week was that I loved every single minute.
I would rate this week a 4 out of 5. The only reason I wouldn't give it a 5 is because some unfortunate situations arose at the end of the week. On Thursday, on their way out of my class, a student made a very serious threat against the school. With everything recently going on in schools across the country, threats like these are dealt with immediately and strictly and the student was suspended indefinitely. This was a student who we just had a team-principal-parent meeting on to come up with a plan on how we could get his grades up before the end of the semester. His grades were not down because of a lack of understanding, but because of a lack of simply doing the work. In the meeting, an incentive was given that the student would be able to wrestle next year if he worked hard and brought his grades up. Everyone was on board with this plan including him, so I was saddened that he threw this chance away. All of the teachers on the team, including myself, had high hopes for him and were willing to do their part if he would do his.
Later on Thursday, one of the teachers on my team went home to a horrible tragedy and in turn will be out for a little while. This made its way on the news, so Friday was a long and difficult day as we did our best to divert the students from talking about the situation and tried to keep them focused on school. I had to step up a little bit on Friday as I was left in the classroom completely alone for about half of the day. The substitute for my teammate never showed and we also had several other teachers in the school out. My CE was pulled to cover my teammate's room for awhile until someone could get there. Friday was a difficult day for teachers and students who sympathized greatly for their colleague/teacher.
Despite the hard ending to the week, I still enjoyed my first full week of teaching in the classroom. I surprised myself with how "not nervous" I was about taking over the classroom. From the very beginning I have felt completely comfortable and "at home" in my placement. It was very easy for me to step in a fill the teacher role, something I am extremely grateful for in my reflection of the week.
To prepare for next week, I spent Friday after school getting all of my materials printed and ready for next week's lessons. Before leaving, I also changed the desks around in the room and created a new seating chart for each class. Earlier this week, I gave my students an interest survey and many of the students said that math class would be better if we did more group work. I am a big fan of group work and students working collaboratively, so I moved the desks out of their rows and put them in groups of 5. When planning my seating charts, I purposefully placed at least one higher student and one lower student in each group. I then distributed the rest of the students evenly over the groups. My goal here is that the students will gain some insight from working with each other, and that the higher student can assist the lower student and/or other groups members when something is not clear. Typically, when working in groups, I will tell my students that if they have a question they must collaborate with their group before they can ask me. I am excited to see how the new grouped setting works out next week.
For standard 1 and 3 (NCPTS) this week, I had the opportunity to work collaboratively with the other math teachers in the school. Twice a year the principal organizes a "content day" for each core subject area. Content day for the math teachers was on Thursday this week, and we had half of the day to plan in the library while a substitute was in our room. I was able to plan with the other 7th grade math teacher, but also discuss with the 6th grade math teachers about what the students learned last year and how my lessons could build on theirs.
For standard 2, I gave each of my students (roughly 100 students) an interest survey to help me get to know them a little better as people and as learners. I asked some questions about themselves, but I also asked some questions about their ideal academic learning environment. For example, "math class would be better if..." "I like it when teachers..." "I don't like it when teachers..." "A good reward for working hard would be..." I took time to read through each one and took note of some of the more common responses I got. They also had an opportunity to tell me anything else they wanted me to know. I was surprised at the number of students who took advantage of this. They took the time to clearly describe themselves and their ideas for a learning environment, so in return I will take the time to create the best environment I can for each of them.
For standard 4, I spent a good amount of time looking for engaging activities, handouts, note taking resources, etc... My CE has given me access to her vast amount of materials and resources and even offered to share anything from her teacherspayteachers account. (If you don't have a teacherspayteachers account, I suggest getting one!) My students use an interactive notebook to keep all of their notes and assignments in, so I am continuously looking for new, cool, engaging things to use. For example, one day next week students will be using a "doodle notes" for their note taking on perimeter and area. Here are a few links to some things my students will be doing next week: Perimeter and Area Doodle Notes Area of Circles Notes Area of Circles Riddle
Finally, for standard 5, I have been some time reflecting on my first observation. It went extremely well, but of course there are always areas for improvement. For me, those immediate areas are time management and classroom management - I will say something but not always follow through. Next week, I plan to jump on these head first and have them mastered before my next observation.
I hope everyone has a long and restful weekend and a great week next week!
Friday, January 26, 2018
"Teacher Bladder"
This week I started picking up classes and by Friday I had 3 out of 4 classes picked up. I am starting to feel that "teacher tired," but more importantly I have discovered what it means to have a "teacher bladder." According to Urban Dictionary, teacher bladder is "the ability to prevent oneself from requiring the need to urinate less often than every 12 hours." If you haven't yet experienced this, I would start to prepare because the time will come.
I would rate my experience this week as a 4. Everything went smoothly and according to plan, or rather the "new plan" because of the snow days last week. I started picking up classes, which went great. I am just exhausted and ready for the weekend! Plus, I really need to empty this teacher bladder. I was surprised this week at how "not nervous" I was about picking up classes. Last semester I would have driven to school terrified while having an intense conversation with Jesus. However, this week I was calm and ready for the experience. I believe this shows growth! One of the biggest lessons I learned this week was to always over plan. It's better to over plan than to under plan and have students sitting with nothing to do. With this in mind, I made sure to pack my lessons full for next week. On Monday, I am starting my first week as the teacher in the classroom. In anticipation of this, I planned my lessons early this week to give my CE plenty of time to look over my lessons and allow me to make appropriate changes. Before leaving school at the end of the day on Friday, I made sure everything I needed for next week was prepared and set aside. With this done and my lesson plans in place, I feel confident that I am ready to officially start my 10 weeks of student teaching.
For standard 1 (NCPTS) this week, I had the opportunity to sit in on a parent-teacher conference for a student who was failing almost all of his classes. This student is smart and capable, he just doesn't seem to want to do his work. A meeting was called with all of his teachers, the principal, his mother, and himself to discuss the upcoming semester and how/what changes can be made. I did not actively participate in this meeting, I just observed, but I feel it provided me with a great opportunity to see how a teacher leads in a meeting like this.
For standard 2, I really focused on getting to know the students and who they are as individual people. With this only being my third week with them and with all of the snow/ice days, I really have not had much of an opportunity to get to know them as people and as learners. Next week, I plan to take time to have the students fill out an interest survey to further help me in achieving this goal.
For standard 3, I took an in-depth look at the standards I will be teaching next week. I spent some time unpacking these standards and looking back at the 6th grade standards to see what they should already know. Once I felt confident that I knew what the standards were saying, I started to look for resources (some on my own and some from my CE's stash) that I felt would be good for the lessons.
For standard 4, I took those resources and started to plan my lessons. I look at the different classes I had and the diversity in each and planned the best way to present the content next week. One of my classes, I know will pick up the content really quick, so I had to plan extra activities and assignments for them. Another class, will move really slow. They are my lowest class. They will need a slower pace and plenty of practice time. The other two classes should move at about a normal pace.
For standard 5, I took the notes that my CE made on my teaching this week and reflected on them. I was very pleased with myself to discover more positives than negatives in those notes. However, I did take those negatives and spent some time reflecting on how I can turn them into positives next week.
I hope everyone has a restful weekend and a great week next week!
I would rate my experience this week as a 4. Everything went smoothly and according to plan, or rather the "new plan" because of the snow days last week. I started picking up classes, which went great. I am just exhausted and ready for the weekend! Plus, I really need to empty this teacher bladder. I was surprised this week at how "not nervous" I was about picking up classes. Last semester I would have driven to school terrified while having an intense conversation with Jesus. However, this week I was calm and ready for the experience. I believe this shows growth! One of the biggest lessons I learned this week was to always over plan. It's better to over plan than to under plan and have students sitting with nothing to do. With this in mind, I made sure to pack my lessons full for next week. On Monday, I am starting my first week as the teacher in the classroom. In anticipation of this, I planned my lessons early this week to give my CE plenty of time to look over my lessons and allow me to make appropriate changes. Before leaving school at the end of the day on Friday, I made sure everything I needed for next week was prepared and set aside. With this done and my lesson plans in place, I feel confident that I am ready to officially start my 10 weeks of student teaching.
For standard 1 (NCPTS) this week, I had the opportunity to sit in on a parent-teacher conference for a student who was failing almost all of his classes. This student is smart and capable, he just doesn't seem to want to do his work. A meeting was called with all of his teachers, the principal, his mother, and himself to discuss the upcoming semester and how/what changes can be made. I did not actively participate in this meeting, I just observed, but I feel it provided me with a great opportunity to see how a teacher leads in a meeting like this.
For standard 2, I really focused on getting to know the students and who they are as individual people. With this only being my third week with them and with all of the snow/ice days, I really have not had much of an opportunity to get to know them as people and as learners. Next week, I plan to take time to have the students fill out an interest survey to further help me in achieving this goal.
For standard 3, I took an in-depth look at the standards I will be teaching next week. I spent some time unpacking these standards and looking back at the 6th grade standards to see what they should already know. Once I felt confident that I knew what the standards were saying, I started to look for resources (some on my own and some from my CE's stash) that I felt would be good for the lessons.
For standard 4, I took those resources and started to plan my lessons. I look at the different classes I had and the diversity in each and planned the best way to present the content next week. One of my classes, I know will pick up the content really quick, so I had to plan extra activities and assignments for them. Another class, will move really slow. They are my lowest class. They will need a slower pace and plenty of practice time. The other two classes should move at about a normal pace.
For standard 5, I took the notes that my CE made on my teaching this week and reflected on them. I was very pleased with myself to discover more positives than negatives in those notes. However, I did take those negatives and spent some time reflecting on how I can turn them into positives next week.
I hope everyone has a restful weekend and a great week next week!
Friday, January 19, 2018
"sNOw school"
Wow, another crazy week. I have been in the classroom for 10 days, but I have only seen the students on 5 of those days. This week started out with a holiday so school was closed. On Tuesday, we were blessed with a full day of instruction before being slammed with snow on Wednesday, which closed school for the rest of the week. School was out for staff and students on Wednesday and Thursday, and Friday was an optional teacher workday with a 3 hour delay. However, my CE decided she was not going in and advised me not to make my 40 minute commute because the roads surrounding the school were still pretty bad. We texted back and forth for a little while and decided on a plan for Monday. I was suppose to pick up a class on Monday. This is still the plan, but I will pick up the last class of the day and observe her modified plans during the other periods, which I will then "copy" for the last period.
Overall, I would rate this week a 3. Nothing extraordinary bad happened, it was just a little frustrating to only have school 1 day. With it being the end of the semester, and students facing benchmarks January 29- February 2, we are desperately trying to get all of the content in. It's a scary feeling knowing that the students may not get an adequate amount of time to practice new concepts before the benchmarks. This is where I have learned and experienced first hand how important it is for teachers to take advantage of every possible minute of instructional time. Next week, we will really have to buckle down, keep the students focused, and get the content with as much practice as possible in.
This week, for standard 1 (NCPTS), I had the opportunity to sit in on the School Improvement Team meeting. My CE participates in this committee, so I will have more opportunities like this in the future. While I only observed, it was beneficial to see how these meetings go and I picked up on some things that I could do to help improve the school. A lot of these were just little things, like standing in the hallway during class change, but its all the little things that come together to help make the school great. For standard 2, I was able to sit down with my CE this week and discuss, and document my own notes, on the students and their different needs and abilities: the highs and the lows, who had 504s, BIPs, IEPs, who faced issues at home, who was defiant, who was a good helper, etc. I used my seating chart to make little notes and reminders until I am able to commit all the students to memory. For standard 3, I printed copies of the 7th grade math standards, and their unpacking documents, and began looking at the ones I will be teaching during my time in the classroom. For standard 4, I planned my first set of lesson plans, which I will implement next week as I begin to pick up classes. Majority of these lessons will probably not go as I had planned due to the snow this week. However, adapting my lessons plans to meet the needs of the students is just another part of facilitating learning. For standard 5, I spent a lot of time paying attention to how instruction and learning takes place in this classroom. I made notes and thought about how I can best continue this instruction in the near future.
For my portfolio, I have almost completed my classroom website, I just have a few more things to tweak. I have been using the portfolio tracker to make sure I am staying caught up and that I am prepared for Saturday's seminar.
I hope everyone has a great week! See you all tomorrow for a wonderfully long day of edTPA.
Overall, I would rate this week a 3. Nothing extraordinary bad happened, it was just a little frustrating to only have school 1 day. With it being the end of the semester, and students facing benchmarks January 29- February 2, we are desperately trying to get all of the content in. It's a scary feeling knowing that the students may not get an adequate amount of time to practice new concepts before the benchmarks. This is where I have learned and experienced first hand how important it is for teachers to take advantage of every possible minute of instructional time. Next week, we will really have to buckle down, keep the students focused, and get the content with as much practice as possible in.
This week, for standard 1 (NCPTS), I had the opportunity to sit in on the School Improvement Team meeting. My CE participates in this committee, so I will have more opportunities like this in the future. While I only observed, it was beneficial to see how these meetings go and I picked up on some things that I could do to help improve the school. A lot of these were just little things, like standing in the hallway during class change, but its all the little things that come together to help make the school great. For standard 2, I was able to sit down with my CE this week and discuss, and document my own notes, on the students and their different needs and abilities: the highs and the lows, who had 504s, BIPs, IEPs, who faced issues at home, who was defiant, who was a good helper, etc. I used my seating chart to make little notes and reminders until I am able to commit all the students to memory. For standard 3, I printed copies of the 7th grade math standards, and their unpacking documents, and began looking at the ones I will be teaching during my time in the classroom. For standard 4, I planned my first set of lesson plans, which I will implement next week as I begin to pick up classes. Majority of these lessons will probably not go as I had planned due to the snow this week. However, adapting my lessons plans to meet the needs of the students is just another part of facilitating learning. For standard 5, I spent a lot of time paying attention to how instruction and learning takes place in this classroom. I made notes and thought about how I can best continue this instruction in the near future.
For my portfolio, I have almost completed my classroom website, I just have a few more things to tweak. I have been using the portfolio tracker to make sure I am staying caught up and that I am prepared for Saturday's seminar.
I hope everyone has a great week! See you all tomorrow for a wonderfully long day of edTPA.
Sunday, January 14, 2018
1st Week in the Classroom
Wow! What a week! This was my first week in the classroom and it was a doozy. The week started out on Monday with the students being sent home at 11:15 due to a chance of ice. The teachers, however, stayed, which gave me a chance to talk with my CE quite a bit and plan out how we wanted the semester to go. Tuesday began with a 3 hour delay for both students and staff which resulted in another day of very limited instruction time. On Wednesday we had a normal day, but it was "Wonderful Wednesday" at my school which basically just means it was club day. Every Wednesday there is an alternate schedule and the last hour of the day is set aside for students to do clubs. Each teacher leads a certain club for 6 weeks and the students usually get their top choice of which club to attend. There are all kinds of clubs but some include scavenger hunt club, Disney club, sports clubs, coloring club, nail painting club,...the list goes on and on. My CE leads the scavenger hunt club and I will pick up this responsibility in a few weeks when I take over. Moving on to Thursday, we had a normal instruction day with a normal schedule. This was my first chance to observe how a "normal day" went at my school. On Friday, my grade level had their ELA NC Check In. This is just a state mandated benchmark for English - Language Arts. So, we had another crazy schedule. Out of the whole week we had one normal day. It was certainly a wonky week, and I was constantly on my toes, but it was interesting and enlightening to see how my CE continuously had to change her plans and take advantage of her spotty instruction time. Despite the craziness, I would rate my week a 5 out of 5. I am absolutely in love my school, my CE, the students, the administration, and other staff members. I can't wait to start taking over in the classroom and becoming more involved.
Since this was my first week in this classroom, I spent majority of the time observing and "getting my bearings." I focused on how my CE implemented her instruction and tried to start making plans and mental notes for how I wanted to continue that instruction when I take over. I reflected (NCPTS 5) a lot this week on how the school and my specific classroom ran, and tried to "set my mind" to a teacher mindset. Later in the week I started focusing more on getting to know the students and communicating with them while trying to establish myself as a leader for them (NCPTS 1). I've began making notes about some of the different needs of my students and started planning for how to differentiate my instruction for them. My 2nd period has several different needs to be addressed. While none of them fall into the range of needing a resource math, some of them do qualify for a resource ELA and those issues trickle into the math classroom as well. I do not have any inclusion classes but there is definitely a lot of differentiation to be addressed. I focused a lot on these students during my observations so I can best be prepared to facilitate learning for them (NCPTS 4).
Next week, I will continue to observe what is happening in the classroom, but I have plans to take more steps to interact with the students and start to establish myself as a teacher in the classroom.
For my portfolio, I have started putting together my classroom website and plan to have that finished and posted this week. I also have created and set up a Live Binder to start putting materials in for my portfolio. I have a "portfolio checklist" saved right on my screen so I am continuously reminded of what I need to be working on. Getting behind is not an option for me this semester.
I hope everyone has a great week!
Since this was my first week in this classroom, I spent majority of the time observing and "getting my bearings." I focused on how my CE implemented her instruction and tried to start making plans and mental notes for how I wanted to continue that instruction when I take over. I reflected (NCPTS 5) a lot this week on how the school and my specific classroom ran, and tried to "set my mind" to a teacher mindset. Later in the week I started focusing more on getting to know the students and communicating with them while trying to establish myself as a leader for them (NCPTS 1). I've began making notes about some of the different needs of my students and started planning for how to differentiate my instruction for them. My 2nd period has several different needs to be addressed. While none of them fall into the range of needing a resource math, some of them do qualify for a resource ELA and those issues trickle into the math classroom as well. I do not have any inclusion classes but there is definitely a lot of differentiation to be addressed. I focused a lot on these students during my observations so I can best be prepared to facilitate learning for them (NCPTS 4).
Next week, I will continue to observe what is happening in the classroom, but I have plans to take more steps to interact with the students and start to establish myself as a teacher in the classroom.
For my portfolio, I have started putting together my classroom website and plan to have that finished and posted this week. I also have created and set up a Live Binder to start putting materials in for my portfolio. I have a "portfolio checklist" saved right on my screen so I am continuously reminded of what I need to be working on. Getting behind is not an option for me this semester.
I hope everyone has a great week!
Friday, January 12, 2018
Welcome Back!
Welcome back to my education journey! It's been awhile since my last blog and A LOT has changed. I am getting ready to (finally) begin my student teaching experience and I could't be more excited!
I am posting this blog a week late, and it will be shorter as I was not actually in the classroom yet. However, I was busy busy getting ready to walk into the classroom on Monday, January 8.
I found out just before Christmas where my placement would be, so I waited for Central Office to open back up and spent the first week in January getting a background check, drug test, TB test,... all that fun stuff. Once all of that was done, I was finally able to contact my clinical educator (CE) and make plans to meet with her.
With all that going on, I also spent the week reading, hi-lighting, making notes, and rereading the student teaching handbook, syllabus, and the 7th grade math standards. I was anxious to get into the classroom and to be as prepared as I could be. I also started trying to plan out how I was going to keep myself organized this semester and made lots of folders in my computer.
It was a stressful week knowing that I wasn't starting on the first day of school. However, I am thankful for the extra week that I had to rest and recover from a surgery I had over Christmas break. Thats about all I have to say for now. My next blog will be much more inclusive and detailed as I will actually be in the classroom. I can't wait!
I am posting this blog a week late, and it will be shorter as I was not actually in the classroom yet. However, I was busy busy getting ready to walk into the classroom on Monday, January 8.
I found out just before Christmas where my placement would be, so I waited for Central Office to open back up and spent the first week in January getting a background check, drug test, TB test,... all that fun stuff. Once all of that was done, I was finally able to contact my clinical educator (CE) and make plans to meet with her.
With all that going on, I also spent the week reading, hi-lighting, making notes, and rereading the student teaching handbook, syllabus, and the 7th grade math standards. I was anxious to get into the classroom and to be as prepared as I could be. I also started trying to plan out how I was going to keep myself organized this semester and made lots of folders in my computer.
It was a stressful week knowing that I wasn't starting on the first day of school. However, I am thankful for the extra week that I had to rest and recover from a surgery I had over Christmas break. Thats about all I have to say for now. My next blog will be much more inclusive and detailed as I will actually be in the classroom. I can't wait!
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