End of October, Say What!?

Hey guys!
It's been a few weeks since we've blogged and a lot has happened! About two weeks ago I was able to teach two lessons in my clinical. I was super nervous, but I think it went well. To help with my refection of the lessons, after my second lesson I had the students answer a few questions:
1. Did you learn anything form Miss. Ramsey? If so, what?
2. What did you like about Miss. Ramsey's teaching?
3. What did you not like?
4. How do you feel about Miss. Ramsey teaching you next semester?
5. Leave any other comments for Miss. Ramsey.

I stressed to the students to be honest on these questions and not worry about hurting my feelings. I wanted them to take these questions seriously so I could get a good understanding of how they learn best. I also wanted to know how they genuinely felt about the dynamics of the classroom changing after Christmas break, so that I can do what I can to help make the transition easier for everyone involved. I gained a lot of useful information through this short reflection activity. Some of the students admitted that they were nervous about having a student teacher, and they were worried they would not do as well. This was a major wake up call for me. I have been focused on my own achievement next semester, but I hadn't stopped to consider the achievement of my students as well. This really changed my way of thinking about next semester. It's important that my student teaching semester is successful and beneficial to my professional growth, but the connection has now been made that the academic success of my students is included in my success. One cannot happen without the other.

This short reflection was super helpful and provided me with some great information about my students. If you have the opportunity, I would suggest doing this with your students, especially if they are older and can take the reflection seriously. And, of course, this all relates to NCTCS 5: Teachers reflect on their practice.

Also, within the past few weeks, I have begun to move out of the "observation stage" and started working with the students more, particularly during their independent practice time. This past week the students took their quarter one benchmarks. It was interesting to see how this whole process took place. The beginning of the week started with my teacher preparing the students and reviewing the material that would be on the test. She spent class time reviewing and also stayed after school for two days to provide tutoring. On Wednesday they took their test, and some finished up on Thursday. Friday was filled with mixed emotions as I watched some students celebrate their scores as others were disappointed. This, I found out, was one of the highs and lows of being a teacher. You celebrate with the students who did well, while your mind races trying to figure out how to help the other students in the weeks to come.

I am going to relate this to one of the NC Professional Teaching Standards that we don't talk about as much: Standard 6, Teachers Contribute to the Academic Success of Students. A teacher's rating on this standard is measured by a student growth value calculated by the statewide growth model for educator effectiveness. The EOC/EOG assessments, Career and Technical Education Post-Assessments, and Measures of Student Learning provide the student data that is used to calculate the growth value. The student growth value places a teacher into one of the following categories:

• Does not meet expected growth
• Meets expected growth
• Exceeds expected growth

After the benchmarks, my teacher immediately started planning for how she can better reach those students who did not meet the expected growth during the first quarter. As far as how to approach the students, she reflected long and hard. In the end, she decided to not place to much emphasis on the grade. She assured the students that this grade would not impact them the rest of the school year, but she also stressed that some of them needed buckle down and work hard and let her know how she could help them. 

That about catches me up on the hi lights of the past few weeks. Moving forward into the next week, I have obtained a copy of my schools improvement plan and have started to research other information needed to complete LE 5&6 in EDUC 435. I can't believe that we are headed into the last week of October, but it feels good to be marking off those tasks. I hope everyone has a great week! 

Time is Flying

Wow, I can't believe that September is almost over. I have no doubt that October will go just as fast and before we know it, we'll be on Thanksgiving break thinking "only 2 more weeks!" When Dr. Parker told us how fast this semester would go, I honestly didn't believe him. I thought it would be the longest semester so far. But, I am ready to get stuff done and start student teaching! At the begining of the semester I was panicking, but the closer we get to student teaching, the more prepared I feel. I am really starting to fall into place at my clinical experience. I am a quiet and reserved person, so it has been hard for me to take those steps and talk to the faculty and the students and make myself known. I am much more comfortable observing from afar. This past week, I had more opportunities to interact with the students and assist them during independent or group work. I also had a chance to interact with some of them outside of class, like in the hallways or at lunch. Interacting with the other teachers and staff is still a struggle for me. I usually sit back and listen, but I have set a goal for myself to start conversing and adding my input. This should help me with NCTCS 1 and working collaboratively with my colleagues.

This upcoming week, I am teaching the Math 1 class on Monday and Wednesday. I have been working with my CE to plan my lessons and get everything in order. Currently, the class is studying slope and linear equations. My lesson on Monday is a review lesson from their introduction to slope last week. I have planned a game of SLOPE, or BINGO to help them review and practice these concepts a little more before moving on this week. On Wednesday, we will look at creating linear equations from word problems. I am looking forward to this lesson, because it provides me with a great chance to work on that literacy strategy component of edTPA. My CE gave me several ideas for this one, but I am still finalizing my plan. I am trying to come up with the best way possible to facilitate the learning of this concept for my students (NCTCS 4). At the end of my lesson on Wednesday, I want to know what my students liked and didn't like about my teaching to help prepare me for student teaching. So, I have created a quick survey for them complete for me. This will also help me reflect on my practice later (NCTCS 5).

I am really looking forward to getting my feet wet this week and getting a taste of what is to come in only a few short months. Good luck to anyone else teaching this week!

Week 4

It's the end of week four and we are already closing in on the end of September. I can't believe how fast time is flying, but I am so ready to get this last semester of coursework over. I am spending more and more time in my clinical experience, observing what's going on, and getting to know the students.  The closer we get, the more excited, and nervous, I get to take over the classroom in January.

Each week, I spend two full days in my clinical, usually Tuesdays and Friday's. Last Friday my CE did "break out boxes" with her Math 1 class. If you are like me and have not heard about break out boxes or seen them in action, I suggest you do! They are a great hands-on and fun activity that can be used in any subject area. The students absolutely loved it! Break out boxes start with a simple tool box that is locked on top of locks, on top of locks, on top of locks...Students begin with a QR code they have to scan to get their first problem. The solution to that problem opens a separate box that contains a key, a flashlight that will read invisible ink, and more problems. Students then use those materials to open the other locks. Once they "break out" there is a prize inside the box. Breaking out can be as easy or as hard as the teacher decides to make it. This is a wonderful way for teachers to facilitate learning for their students. During this time students are thinking mathematically and critically, they are exercising problem solving skills, and they are building their collaboration skills while working in teams (NCTCS 4). So much is going on here, and again the students love it! Here is a link to Breakout EDU so you can learn more about it.

My CE goes above and beyond the expectations set on her to use a variety of instructional methods (NCTCS 4). She refuses to teach from a textbook. Instead, she looks for ways to keep her students engaged and focused. She prints out guided notes for the students everyday and the students have an interactive notebook which they tape their notes into. She's also doing small activities almost everyday and a larger activity at least once a week. These activities always build on the students understanding of what they have been learning. I honestly wonder how she does all the planning she must need to prepare for all that she does. She has offered me access to her notebooks from previous years, I know they will be a huge help to me next semester.

As for outside research, after hearing Dr. Clark talk about the 8 mathematical practices, I knew I needed to refresh my memory on these. I have heard of them in the past, but I didn't know them off
the top of my head. I found a very helpful Scholastic article on this topic. Here is a link:                     8 Mathematical Practices. This article lists the 8 mathematical practices, describes what each one means, tells you how you can "own" each one, and gives some great resources.

Settling In

It's the third week of classes and I'm just starting to settle in and get into my "groove." I've got my class schedule memorized, I've found a set time to be in my clinical each week, and I'm staying on top of course work. Now, I'm just counting down the weeks to December, and then May. Can you say senioritis?

On the topic of clinicals, this was my first week actually being in the classroom with the students. I have scheduled it with my CE to come on Tuesdays and Fridays each week and stay all day. This week, on Tuesday, I mostly observed what was going on to get a feel of the classroom. Tomorrow, though, my CE has asked that I help her with some activities she has planned for her classes. One of the first things I picked up about my CE is that she is not a "textbook teacher." The only time she even cracks open a textbook is if she is sending work for a student to do in ISS. This may seem hard for a math teacher to do, but she tries her very best to keep the students engaged and entertained while learning. She is GREAT at facilitating learning for all of her students (NCTCS 4).

To give you an idea of what a typical day may look like in her classroom, I'm going to quickly describe how one of her classes went on Tuesday...Before students can even enter her room they must greet her at the door. Sometimes she simply requires a hi-five or a hello, but other days she may ask them a quick mental math question that reviews something from the day before. As students come in they grab their printed, guided notes and any other sheets and take a seat. My CE is very creative in the way she designs her guided notes. They are specifically set up in a way that helps the students memorize whatever notes they are taking, therefore the setup changes day-to-day. From there, my CE goes over announcements and then jumps into the lesson. She has everything she needs already pulled up so she can walk around while she teaches. After taking a few notes, she has everyone stand up and they play a quick game to help further their understanding of what they just learned. Then, she continues teaching and the students continue taking notes. To end, they play a matching game, this time working in groups.

I really liked how my CE organized her lesson in the order of "notes, game/activity, notes, game/activity. I think it really helped keep the students engaged and focused. It also helped her teach towards a diverse population of students (NCTCS 2). Those who learn from taking notes and listening were reached, as well as those who prefer to be hands on or active.

With there being so much to absorb during my time in my clinical, I got to thinking about how I can organize my thoughts and ideas. So, I ended up purchasing a simple daily planner with plenty of space for me to write in. Each day I spend in my clinical, I can jot my observations down on that specific day. This also allows me to keep track of any methods, teaching strategies, games, classroom management strategies, etc...that I observe and don't want to forget. I also glued sticky notes to the inside of the front cover in case I need more writing space. Since it's already a calendar, its also great for keeping track of the school system's important dates, events, early release... This planner is separate from my usually planner. This one has sort of become my "all inclusive clinical notebook."

I think that about catches me up on the events of my week so far. As I've been settling in, I've become more and more excited to see what all this semester holds and how much I learn.

I'm praying you all stay safe in the event Irma makes her way to us this weekend/next week. We may get a crash course in how to keep our classrooms and students on track with chaos going on around us.

Enjoying the Last Parts of Summer...

My blog this week will be shorter, since I am pretending that school hasn't started back and spending one final week at the beach. This will probably be the last time I am able to vacation at the end of August, as in years to come I will be getting ready to start the school year as a teacher and not a student.

Obviously, I was not able to make it to my school this week but I have been in contact with my clinical educator and she is expecting me for majority of the day next Tuesday. In the mean time, I gave her a copy of my clinical experience checklist and she has sent me a few things this week that she thought would help me in completing it and prepare me for her classroom. Some of these things included the school handbook and schedule, as well as her classroom schedule.

I have focused on reading and becoming familiar with the school handbook. Knowing this informtion may seem like a simple task, but it is an important one. The information in it helps prepare me to be a better leader in the school (NCTCS 1), and helps me create an environment in my class that best suits the needs of the school (NCTCS 2).

Tomorrow, my vacation comes to an end and next week I will be forced to buckle down and focus on school. While I dread it, at the same time I look forward to embracing it and finishing my last semester of course work with a bang. I am super excited to see what my time at Shelby Middle School will bring.

Let's Get It Done

I'm sure everyone is just as excited as me about this being the last semester of course work. I am indeed excited, but I'm also terrified! It's only week one and I am already feeling overwhelmed. There is so much to be done before December and I stress over wondering if I have what it takes to get it done. Then there's student teaching a mere 5 months away, another exciting yet terrifying experience.

During this time, I have found myself reflecting (NCTCS 5) on all that I have done and learned up to this point. Thinking back on 4 semesters of EDUC classes, I feel a little more confident to embrace the next 2 (and final) semesters for what they are. I know my content (NCTCS 3); I have been trained in classroom management (NCTCS 1&2); and I have a vast pool of resources, strategies and teaching methods to assist me in facilitating learning for my students (NCTCS 4).

On another note, I met my clinical educator on Tuesday and took a tour of the school. While I was there I had the opportunity to sit in on a team meeting. That was interesting as I was able to watch a team of 4 teachers plan for the school year. I'm already tucking away ideas for my own classroom. For example, they agree as a team to not fight the "pencil and paper battle." Students are able to check out pencils and take paper from a classroom stack, no questions asked. Another thing I loved is my teacher's "turd warnings." She has a stack of small, medium, and large poop emoji cut outs. If a student is "being a turd" she quietly places a small poop emoji on their desk while continuing to teach. The student knows this is their warning and they shouldn't let their poop emoji get bigger or they will face a consequence.

I was there for several hours and absorbed a lot more than just poop emojis, that was just a favorite of mine. I really like my clinical educator and look forward to working with her. She seems like the kind of teacher who establishes a relationship with all of her students. She said that everyday her students are not allowed in her classroom until they say hello, give her a fist bump, or acknowledge her in some other way.

Tomorrow, I get to attend student orientation and meet some of my students and their parents. So exciting! As I have typed out this blog my stress has started to fade away (I'm sure it will be back) and I am getting really excited for what this year will hold!

Writing

The past few weeks in class we have been looking at reading strategies and exploring how we can incorporate them into our different content areas. This week we bagan looking at writing strategies. In math, we probably won't do a lot of "essay writing," but I do like the idea of having students write out explanations when they are solving problems. By doing this, I of course am implementing that literacy component, but it also shows me that my students understand what they are doing. If they can  explain to me how they got the answer, then I know they understand the concept and they will most likely be able to do it in the future.

In middle school, math class starts to pick up speed. Students are expected to build on their basic math skills, memorize formulas, and learn step procedures for solving problems. Flow charts are commonly used as a pre-writing strategy, but they can also be great in math when learning step procedures. For example, see the picture below of a flow chart used to guide a student through factoring quadratic equations.