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!