You Got This!!

Week Of Friday Jan. 6th, 2017

Level of Difficulty: 3/4 (working on transferring power mmmmmuuuuuhahahaha!!)

Observe

As I begin the process of moving into the full time role as Student Teacher, I am working on developing rapport with my math group. So far, I was able to teach a mini lesson last week and this week I will begin assisting and really developing a style to match the math CE as well. She is really great with her class and I have learned a lot from each teacher I have worked with. I will continue to lead in the class changes, lunch line, recess, specials etc…  I also have watched a ton of Youtube and reflected extensively on different websites to work out a better classroom management style.  I will update soon on this.  Another tool I would like to use as a development resource is #observeme for my fellow classmates and teachers to give me options, critiques and advice.  (Thanks Amber Townsend for leading the way on this for this semester!!!)

Reflect

For the start of this week, I have been pondering what full time teaching will look like. There are no reservations, but I continue to want the best for my class and to develop the best methods possible for each student to learn. I have one student in my Math group who is VERY stubborn and I love it! I know, I am a glutton for punishment. This interests me because while doing a symmetry lesson I attempted to get her to participate. Every student was asked to come to the board and help me figure out how to create symmetry with different shapes. This student continually raised her hand and so I asked her to show her work on the board. She said “no, come look!” I walked to her desk and she had created the shape on the board on her desk with the coins that she had in her wallet. I proceeded to ask her how to split the heart and make it symmetrical and she was unclear. We worked it out together with her classmates and she finally figured it out!  THEN she wanted the whole class to see what she did!

We continually read and talk about differentiated learning, but this situation made it very real in my eyes. It showed me WHY it is important and HOW to incorporate a way for this student. Sometimes, students need a different platform. This doesn’t mean let them do whatever they want to do, it means sometimes we have to offer them choices on how they provide us feedback for our assessment purposes. This could be PBL, using technology to present work, find what interests the student etc. Forcing a student to perform is very negative and counterproductive in my mind. All this to say, I want to be super intentional with my lesson plans and my instruction. It will benefit us all, but for the next 10 weeks, I will see this in action and continue to mold my learning and my pedagogy through real life experience.

Focus

Not to sound like a broken record, but I am continually working on classroom management. This is not to sound like I don’t have it together, but my hope is that by the end of the semester, I will have developed my teacher voice and learned what works and what doesn’t. This week, I am continuing to establish my presence more and set clear expectations as well as follow through with my students. Short term, my goals are similar with this, but I feel the less I have to repeat myself, the more I will feel like I am progressing. The most important part for me with CM is making sure each student is understanding and that I am able to convey the information and direction efficiently.

Be Productive

To be more productive this week, I am intentionally and thoroughly looking ahead. My CE and I have been able to work on plans during our Teacher Workdays, but we won’t always have that luxury. Taking each moment I can, I am thinking about what I can check off my list and how I can stay ahead (for my sanity and so I can create quality instruction) as well as not putting extra stress on my Supervisor :) !

Have Courage

Courage for this week is to be strong in my abilities. We all still have much to learn (always a student) but I think sometimes, myself included, we are not confident in all that we have learned and experienced. I was reminded of this by a fifth grade teacher on my hall.  She asked me how it was going Monday and I said good, I think. She said she has seen me in action and that I look like I know what I am doing. This was very good for me to hear and I told her I wasn’t sure if I was on point or not.  She said “You don’t give yourself enough credit. I have seen you as I walked by the classroom, YOU GOT THIS!!”  Confidence is learned by doing/trying something you are unsure of. If you fail, learn from it and try again. Kids can tell if you are unsure so it is important to convey that confidence to them.

Begin Anew

One new thing I want to implement this week is being more proactive as a leader in the classroom. I have been working on this over the past month, but now as I transition, my focus needs to be set and directed at running the show. I will still need help, but it will be in the form of feedback from week to week and in real time from my CE.

Data

This week, we worked on Data Notebooks that show the progress each student has made since the first of the year. They will be showing these to their parents on Friday and then we will have an assembly to award students who have achieved A or A/B honor roll for the last quarter as well as other outstanding students. We are also working through a writing assessment on Wednesday-Friday. It is cool to see where these students have progressed and giving them a chance to take ownership of their work.

ADVICE

Work on developing an organization system. This goes for paperwork, Google files, lessons, financial aid paperwork, EVERYTHING! It will make life easier as well as show your CE and Principal that you are professional. You will have to be intentional about this. The more you practice your system, the better you will be at it and the more accurate you will be.  

Standard 1 1A: Teachers lead in their classrooms

• This week will be a lighter week on instruction. Since this is the case, my goals are to continue to implement classroom management and work with my CE on how to develop the best strategies to encourage participation. Making sure students are on task and putting forth their best work is important to me.

Standard 2: Teacher creates a safe and loving environment for their students.

• Tattle tales, lunchroom spot thieves, pencil thieves etc. are going to happen in our classrooms. How you deal with this is very organic to me. Each situation is different, but having a plan in place that students already understand is a great idea. This seems like not a big deal, but I find myself every week trying to break up arguments and confrontations. Not only does it help the teacher out to have a way of dealing with these situations, it is our job while we have our students to show them how to be good citizens in our society.

Standard 3: Teachers know the content they teach in the classroom

• We are beginning Poetry soon, so I am brushing up on my knowledge on this area of ELA. We are also beginning fractions too, so this is top priority. Not only am I brushing up but I am using the instruction methods I have learned as well as researching new ways to instruct to include real world application as well as visual stimuli to encourage students to not “memorize” the content.

Standard 4:B: Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students

• I began this week during teacher workdays to prepare for next week (Week 5). I am beginning to think about how I want to lead as we progress through our ELA block as well as how I will teach the math content. We are on a pretty set schedule, but we are able to move around content if we need to. This enables me to plan in advance which is nice! The more I work with the classes, the better I can prepare to differentiate and create plans that flow as well as make sense to all students.

Standard 5: Teacher Reflect on their Practice

• This is ongoing for me. Each time I see my CE do something awesome I take note. I am on Twitter constantly seeing what everyone is doing and trying. I am constantly reading blogs (I try to read everyone in class each week) as well as other articles to get a better understanding of pedagogy, new and old tips as well as how other teachers deal with stress and other factors of education.

My agenda for the weekend is to attend the edTPA seminar and learn as much as I can to prepare my heart and soul for making the best submission possible. I have already started working on creating lessons for the following week, but I do plan on working on any revisions I need to make.

My CE and I have discussed all of the necessary transitions and requirements for the next process in student teaching. I believe everything is great as of now. She continues to support me and give me great feedback so I am confident in moving forward.

If I need ya Dr. Parker, I will Tweet ya!  Haha!