Week 3

This was another strange week since Monday we had off for MLK day and then Tuesday we had an Institute day. The Institute day was good to experience but I was disappointed that a lot of the teachers weren't paying attention during the presentations. I learned about TDQ's (text driven questions) and Close Readings from the reading specialists from the district. I also learned all about the Foutans and Pinnell Benchmark Assessment. On top of hearing some great presentations, I was able to write down a bunch of teacher resources like literacy shed, and receive a bunch of handouts to use in my future classroom. We also worked on writing the grade level SMART goals.

On Wednesday we got a new student! She is extremely bright and made it into the Math Challenge team on her first day! I also went to my first 504 plan meeting this day and it went so well! Everyone was so prepared and it was great to be on such a great planning team in which I could tell the mother felt supported and comforted by the teachers and staff present. I loved that the 6th grade middle school special education teacher was there too to talk about transition into middle school.

On Thursday, I taught a math lesson that was supposed to be a review of equivalent fractions and adding and subtracting fractions in word problems. We had been working on multiplying fractions all week but we were going to have a word problem assessment on Friday so I wanted to review. I was so confused because it seemed like all my students completely forgot the past month we spent learning about equivalent fractions! I assigned some extra review problems for homework and said my prayers that they would not forget tomorrow on the assessment.

On Friday, it was assessment day!! They had a social studies quiz, and a math quiz, and a spelling pre-test! They did awesome. We also did a 3 part activity with the story of the 3 little pigs. First, I read them 3 different versions of the story and we did compare and contrast t-charts. We also did stations in which they noted differences, the point of view, the narrator, and the main characters for each story. Although overall the assessments went well, two of my students who participate the most and who I know knew the material, scored far below the rest. I decided to make a decision to talk to each of them individually about the quiz and they both expressed having anxiety and knowing they did poorly. I decided to pull them out of class during reading contract time and give them an opportunity to redo the parts they missed and earn back half the points so that I could give them a meets for the standard since I knew that they had mastered the skills. I did not want to punish them for one bad performance because of stress.

Overall, it was a great week and I think that I really grew in the areas of professional development and assessments. IPTS standards 9 and 7. Specifically 9A which states, "evaluates best practices and research-based materials against benchmarks within the disciplines."
 
Schmidt Chapter 4

My understanding of culture was changed by my reading of Schmidt in 3 ways. First, on page 77, I was introduced to the perils of color blindness. I cannot count how many times I have heard the phrase "I'm color blind" used in a positive manner to show that a person does not see people's race or cultural differences. In fact, they treat everyone the same, ignoring anything that makes them a unique individual. Through reading this section of the text, I came to a better understanding of why being colorblind is not truly accepting all cultures in the classroom. Instead, we should notice, and celebrate and learn from each other's cultural differences.

Second, I learned that it is better to "keep your eye on the prize" than to use every "mistake" as a teachable moment- especially if they are culturally sensitive ones. Just because a student has a different dialect or a language difference because of their culture, does not mean that every time they do not use proper American English, that you should correct them. Sometimes it is far more beneficial to the student to just respond to them instead of negatively drawing attention to their cultural difference.

Thirdly, I learned that we as teachers must create a culture of inclusion rather than a culture of exclusion. I loved the quote on page 89 that said, "Social equality cannot be attained merely with material resources. Those who have knowledge and education must be ready to share it with those who lack them, for inequality in money and property is not always most tragic. There is an even more crying inequality-- between those who know and those who do not know."  --Golda Meir. I think that that is so perfectly stated. It is quite tragic that there are still those who are not given equal opportunities and are surrounded in exclusive environments.

Schmidt Chapter 3

From reading chapter three in Schmidt, I learned a lot about behavior. I learned about the term accommodators and camouflagers.  My classroom has many accommodators and camouflagers. Accommodators self-accommodate for their disabilities by doing things like looking at what other people are doing before they start working. The accommodator that I am going to reference is also a camouflager. This student of mine was recently diagnosed with ADHD and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. We just had a 504 plan meeting for him recently. These diagnoses flew under the radar at school because he hides his disabilities so well. In fact, he bottles up all day and then has huge explosions at home. The ways in which he hides his disability are through self-coping mechanisms like talking to himself during tests and when copying down the assignment notebook-- both overwhelming tasks for him. He is very good about self-accommodating at school. These coping behaviors can become a distraction to others and he needs to learn to control his behaviors at home by using more coping and relaxation methods there as well. 

Something else that I took away from the Schmidt text were a few reminder to use body language in order to get desired results for a behavior change and to provide supportive redirection. I was reminded that a simple glance or sign language sign could completely stop an undesired behavior in one of my students without causing a huge disruption or embarrassment for the student. I was also reminded on page 60 that my comments should reflect concern for the child. An example she gives is "I know you love to talk to your friends but..." I think that these are good for me to remember to use more often because they are effective and loving ways to help my students become more aware of their behaviors and when they need to alter them.

Week 2

This was my first full week of student teaching. Boy, am I exhausted. On top of teaching full time for the first time, I was helping my fiancé move into our future apartment and was painting and cleaning until 10:00 pm almost every night! Phew, I am glad that is over!

This week I took on Math and Social Studies full time and it was a blast! I learned a lot, planned a lot and then changed things up! Flexibility is something I am becoming better and better at. It seems that you can plan and plan and plan but when it comes down to it, you have to go with the student's pacing and something always seems to come up. No plans are ever really set in stone, and that is OK.

Something I learned this week was a way to teach multiplying fractions. My cooperating teacher is awesome about modeling for me and helping me in any way possible. She taught me the "brownie pan method" and how to explain in a more effective way than I was able to come up with on my own. My cooperating teacher is so experienced and I am just trying to soak up any tips and tricks she has.

This week I worked a lot more with a few of my students who are tier 3 or special education students. My favorite part of teaching is differentiation and explaining concepts and rewording things until my students "get it." I am learning more and more about them daily and how they learn best. One student in particular struggles with her attention span and staying focused. I tried chunking her work and covering up excess materials on the page and this seemed to really help her stay focused on one topic at a time. I think this is a strategy I want to explore more with her.

This week I was able to go to "Data Day." This is where the grade level team meets with the principal and specialist to go over all the special education and RTI student's scores and data. Based on the information given and teacher comments, the team decides if the student is appropriately placed or needs to be moved up or down a tier. At this meeting I learned a lot about quite a few students in my class and how I can better differentiate for them and support them in the classroom.

This week was VERY eventful. My cooperating teacher and I were informed about a situation going on at home with one of my students. The student has begun to act like a baby at home; unable to get themselves ready in the morning and laying around all day instead of playing age appropriate games. This behavior is not evident at school or if a friend is present at home. Another student was recently diagnosed with ADHD and Anxiety and put on a 504 plan. Both of these student's parents came in or are coming in for meetings in which I may get to observe. I am very curious to see how these situations play out and how I can support these students better in the classroom and show them an attitude of Christ-like servant hood.

The most exciting day of the week was Friday! On Friday we rearranged the desks because we are getting a new (highly gifted) student on Wednesday! We also had a TALENT SHOW!!! This was so much fun and I got to learn so much about my students! One student was able to say the alphabet backwards in less than 10 seconds! AMAZING! We also had a comedian, some instrument players, sports card collectors, and artists. It was so great to see all the talents and hobbies my students posses. This is definitely something I want to do in my future classroom.

Week One

Hello! This is my first blog post of my student teaching experience. I will be blogging weekly to update my readers on what's new in my classroom. I am currently student teaching at the same 5th grade classroom in which I completed my novice teaching. This has really made my transition into being a full-time student teacher a smooth one. I am already so comfortable and acclimated to that classroom and those students that I was not really nervous and I have been able to jump right in with teaching lessons and leading small groups. I love that I already know my kids and that I know the policies and management plans for the classroom. I am truly excited for this experience in this classroom of awesome learners.

This week was a hectic but short one. We had TWO snow days! Monday and Tuesday I spent as half-days in the classroom because of student teaching orientation. These days were great for getting back into the swing of things in the classroom. I was proud of myself that I remembered everyone's names since I had been gone for a whole month! It was encouraging to me how excited my 5th graders were to see me again. The days were filled with questions like, "Are you going to be here forever now?" "Can you finally stay a full day and be my real teacher?" Then, there ended up being 2 snow days-- which were quite beneificial to me since I was already asked to teach 2 social studies lessons (which means I have to write two lesson plans).

On Friday, I spent my first full day in the classroom. I was put right to work. I led a math small group, did some individual reading conferences, lots of grading and photocopying, and giving spelling tests and pre-tests. I wish every classroom could have two teachers all the time! I loved handing off the teaching and responsibilities back and forth between my cooperating teacher and myself. Co-teaching is something I am very open to and excited about. On Friday afternoon, my cooperating teacher asked me to take over mathematics full time! This is a huge deal because they don't really have a set math curriculum. There are many resources to pull from, but you kind of have to plan a unit from scratch and play it by ear according to the standard (which is very vague). So, this weekend I planned 2 lessons of many more to come on multiplying fractions. I plan on teaching these first two and seeing how the students are grasping the material before planning any more. I know that this class' pacing can be slow for certain concepts so I do not want to rush it. I really see myself growing in Standard 3** of the IPTS.

**Standard 3 - Planning for Differentiated Instruction – The competent teacher plans and designs instruction based on content area knowledge.

Next week I am looking forward to teaching math and social studies full time and learning more about teacher responsibilities and how to juggle all that they must take care of throughout a week. I am also looking forward to helping at homework help on Tuesday's until 4:45. I think that will be a neat opportunity for me to experience working with a wider range of students and grade levels.

Classroom Confidential-- Schmidt

 

In Classroom Confidential, Schmidt refers to Gardner's multiple intelligences. The two that really struck me were Naturalistic Intelligence and Kinesthetic Intelligence. Naturalistic struck me because while I was reading the description, I was able to picture a few of my students. My class seems to have a love for science, animals, and nature. Anytime we are doing a science experiment or research project, student interest seems to sky rockets. Any writing assignment in which students can pick a topic, 15 out of 23 most likely will choose an animal or nature related topic. Noticing this has encouraged me to incorporate more naturalistic topics and examples into my teaching.

 

Kinesthetic Intelligence struck me because I do notice that my students are stationary for large portions of the day and I know I have a lot of football players and athletic people in my class. We do move around during math and reading for different small groups and conference groups, but there is no real active movements except for every other day in gym class and at recess (which has been indoors lately due to the weather). I have been learning a lot about brain breaks and the importance of movement in the classroom. It might even be beneficial for me to allow students to move around the classroom as I teach. There are plenty of table seats and floor seats for students to move around to that wouldn't be distracting.

 

All of the different intelligences that students have can come together in order to make a "full brain learning" experience for the class. If I am engaging all my different types of learners throughout the day, I am much more likely to fully engage each of their brains, bodies, emotions, etc. I love how Schmidt talks about teaching your learners how to learn. We must discover their learning styles and strengths, play off of those and encourage the whole class to learn in many ways in order to engage the "whole" child and not just the "copy the board and follow directions" child. This isn't easy to accomplish at first, but by teaching them how to learn, life long learners are created and their bull brain learning is fostered throughout the year and hopefully beyond.