Week 10 of Student Teaching

I would rate this week at a 4, I am having so much fun teaching! Also, This is my tenth full week of student teaching!

• Observe: I am becoming very comfortable with teaching everyday. I can really tell that my connections with students are paying off. My fear for this semester was that I was going to teach and my students were not going to learn anything.
• Reflect: This week all of our math lessons have focused on monetary value, using different coins to make the same amount of money, and how to give change. I put memory sheets on the students desk to help remind the the value of each coin. Today, a prime example of a student not understanding what I was teaching occurred when they were completing their problem set. While the students were doing their work I pulled the student that was struggling to the back table, and pulled out plastic coins that he could use to help him find the answers. We worked on each problem together to create a combination of coins two ways that represented one amount. As we working through the problems it was as if a lightbulb was going off in his head and was able to demonstrate mastery with the skill.
• Focus:  My goals are still aligned I am trying to smoothly integrate global awareness in my lessons. I have been able to do this much easier because of my literacy lesson based on tales around the world.
• Be Productive: I could spend more time on helping students grasp the concept of money. Students are struggling with identifying coins and their value. I am planning on having some type of activity in the classroom that has them use money.
• Have Courage:  I still have apprehension with being too stern with my students. Classroom management has improved greatly in my classroom but that is based upon my continual praise for the students that are displaying positive behavior, when students do not react to the positive praise about another student, then I have purposed on having the students face consequences.
• Begin Anew: I am going to have to integrate more mathematic activities based on the value, and total value of coins that are represented from a given group.

What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help guide your decisions?

From the STAR test that I viewed last week, I have purposed that my student that is not developing as well in reading will have extra time during guided reading groups to focus on developing reading, and it is my goal to have him take the STAR test again before I stop student teaching.

• NC Professional Teaching Standards 
• Standard 1: 1a, I am continuing to maintain a safe and orderly classroom that facilitates student learning. My behavior student was out for over a week  and has been calling out and disrupting class, but I have continued to communicate expectations and goals for students. I have continued to enforce consequences for bad behavior.
• Standard 2: 2c, I want all of my students to know that I have high expectations for them. Many times I tell them that "our goal" is to... so that they know what I am wanting from them exactly.
• Standard 3: 3a, I have been working on integrating vocabulary in my math lessons. I can tell that since I have began teaching the math vocabulary that students are able to solve word problems easier that are used to work with monetary value. Tuesday I used COMPASS math to help them with money and how to make change and combinations of coins.
•    Standard 4: 4d, Integrating technology has been a goal for me to do in the classroom. During my literacy lessons we are learning about folktales told around the world. Students have an app called Sock Puppets, I am having them retell a story of their choice to retell. 
• Standard 5: 5a, I noticed this week that students are struggling with quarters during our math lessons, students can not grasp how to count based on the 25 cents, and it is my goal to have students work more with quarters. 

• • What components of your portfolio have you started to complete? I have worked on global awareness project for my portfolio.
  • What support does your clinical educator need from Mrs. Suttle? None at this time.
  • What support do you need from Mrs.Suttle? None at this time.

Week 9 of Student Teaching

I would rate this week at a 4, things seemed to flow pretty seamlessly considering the fact that it was the week of my final observation. I was really nervous that I would not meet the standards for student teaching. So, yes I am my worst critic!

• Observe: I am becoming very comfortable with teaching everyday. This being my ninth week I would guess so, but it's more than just being comfortable, it's being confident. It amazes me that just by being with my students that I am able to help them successfully grasp any the content that they may be struggling with.
• Reflect: One lesson that sticks out in my mind for this week is from my literacy lesson. I read to the student the Pied Piper of Hamelin. For each stanza the students had to visualize what event was going on in the text. I read and reread each stanza from the poem. The poem is written in somewhat older language. We discussed what events were taking place in the poem. Once students visualized what was happening in the text, we acted out the poem. I was the Pied Piper, I had a recording of a pipe on my phone, and the students were the rats in the story. We walked down the hall to specials acting out the poem.
• Focus:  My goals are still aligned I am trying to smoothly integrate global awareness in my lessons. I have been able to do this much easier because of my literacy lesson based on tales around the world.
• Be Productive: I could spend more time on helping students grasp the concept of money. Students are struggling with identifying coins and their value. I am planning to have a memory sheet for the coins and their value on their desk.
• Have Courage:  I still have apprehension with being too stern with my students. Classroom management has improved greatly in my classroom but that is based upon my continual praise for the students that are displaying positive behavior, when students do not react to the positive praise about another student, then I have purposed on having the students face consequences.
• Begin Anew: I am going to have to integrate more mathematic activities based on the value, and total value of coins that are represented from a given group.

What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help guide your decisions?

This week I analyzed scores from a STAR test that each student took. This test allows me to see their reading level. Most of my students all have reading levels about second grade. I have two students that are on grade-level, and one that has a first grade reading level.

• NC Professional Teaching Standards 
• Standard 1: 1a, I am continuing to maintain a safe and orderly classroom that facilitates student learning. My behavior student was out for over a week  and has been calling out and disrupting class, but I have continued to communicate expectations and goals for students. I have continued to enforce consequences for bad behavior.
• Standard 2: 2c, I want all of my students to know that I have high expectations for them. Many times I tell them that "our goal" is to... so that they know what I am wanting from them exactly.
• Standard 3: 3a, I have been working on integrating vocabulary in my math lessons. I can tell that since I have began teaching the math vocabulary that students are able to solve word problems easier that are used to work with monetary value.
•    Standard 4: 4d, Integrating technology has been a goal for me to do in the classroom. I have had students create videos about what information was gained from science day this Friday.
• Standard 5: 5a, I noticed this week that students are struggling with answering word problems. They are not able to break apart what the problem is asking them. Word problems that allow them to use more than one specific type of data causes them to become frustrated.

• • What components of your portfolio have you started to complete? I have worked on global awareness project for my portfolio.
  • What support does your clinical educator need from Mrs. Suttle? None at this time.
  • What support do you need from Mrs.Suttle? None at this time.

Week 8 of Teaching

I would rate this week a 4.

·         Observe: I was able to connect with my new student. While the students has ADHD and can be very distracting to not only himself but the other students, I have found a way to help the student have  a way to get rid of the extra movement, by giving them a stress tooth.

·         Reflect: I have found that differentiating is not only on what you are teaching your students but also the atmosphere in which is conducive for the students. My student that suffers from ADHD cannot sit still during any of the lessons when there hasn't been any medicine I allow the student to walk at the back of the room while I am teaching if they are having a hard time.

·         Focus:  I am still planning on how to differentiate and implement global awareness in my lesson plans.

·         Be Productive: I am continuing to work on spending lesson time on managing negative behavior and praising for the good behavior that students are doing.

·         Have Courage:  During one of my lessons, I had a student constantly calling out the answers, now mind you the answers were correct, and the student never call out, but I gave a warning, and it was not heeded. I had to have the student clip down for not following directions.

·         Begin Anew: My first logical step for next week is to find strategies that will help my students to learn the value of money. Students are going to begin on this once they return from Spring Break.

NC Professional Teaching Standards 

·         Standard 1: 1a, I am continuing to maintain a safe and orderly classroom that facilitates student learning. My new student has thrown a monkey wrench in this plan, but I have continued to communicate expectations and goals for students. I have continued to enforce consequences for bad behavior.

·         Standard 2: 2e, I had a pretty good response to my parent involvement project for my students. Many of the parents with the students to research a specific country of their choice.

·         Standard 3: 3a, I have been working on integrating vocabulary in my math lessons. I can tell that since I have began teaching the math vocabulary that students are able to solve word problems easier that are used to compare data on a chart.

·         Standard 4: 4d, Integrating technology has been a goal for me to do in the classroom. I have had students watching videos on youtube that acts as a read aloud for students. Students seemed to be engaged in these lessons.

·         Standard 5: 5a, I noticed this week that students are struggling with answering word problems. They are not able to break apart what the problem is asking them. Word problems that allow them to use more than one specific type of data causes them to become frustrated.

·         What components of your portfolio have you started to complete? I have started to complete the student teaching video.

·         What support does your clinical educator need from Mrs.Suttle? None at this time

·         What support do you need from Mrs.Suttle? None at this time