Week 12

This week in transition was dedicated to getting ready for the Bunny Hop Shoppe! The transition program, Pod 4, vocational class runs a business called Savory & Sweet. Pod 4's goal is to raise enough money to purchase the transition program a new basketball hoop. The Bunny Hop Shoppe is an Easter candy fundraiser for the basketball hoop! We spent all week making chocolate candies including:

• marshmallow peeps dipped in chocolate
• pretzels dipped in chocolate and sprinkles
• bunny sucker molds with candy eyes
• miscellaneous chocolate molds
• lemon, white chocolate candy deviled eggs
• citrus bark and peanut butter toffee bark

The students made a spreadsheet for inventory as well as for costs and profit. The students learned all about gross and net income, profit margins, etc. They also gained so many cooking and job skills through working in the kitchen. In all, I think we are estimated to make around $100!

We also watched a video and discussed how to have a positive attitude at work, show self-discipline, and give good customer service. The students had many great connection. For example, one student works at a nursing home and was able to share how important a positive attitude is at his jobsite. This lesson was also important as we just had a student fired from a job and we were able to come up with ways that we can show self discipline on the job and what future employers are looking for. We also discussed the importance of being professional on social media. Once something is posted on the internet, it never really disappears. I think that this is something really important for the students to know. I hope to teach a lesson on social media and the work place in the future.

I have noticed a few students that don't really respect me because I am young. One in particular always compares me to his other transition teachers. I keep reminding him that I am not those other teachers and that I am still learning, but sometimes it can be discouraging. My cooperating teacher has complimented the way many students are responding positively to my calm nature in the classroom but there are 2 or 3 who I think do not. Next week I hope to see how our interactions progress and that they hopefully will improve!

I have seen myself grow in the area of justice in diversity. The transition program is filled with students of all different ability levels, as well as cultural backgrounds. Being there has opened my eyes to a world of diversity I have never experienced in such a saturated amount. It is making me more passionate about helping my students understand what makes them who they are and making them aware of their abilities. It is also making me more passionate about informing others and spreading awareness.

Week 11

This may be week 11 of student teaching, but it is week 1 of my special ed placement at a transition program! I am now working with 18-22 year old individuals with disabilities. It has been quite the transition....get it? Although I truly miss all my 5th graders, I have really loved my first week in the transition program. I am in pod 4 which is the highest functioning pod and I am in the vocational room teaching job skills. I will be teaching 3 classes each day. The students in pod 4 are grouped by ability level into 3 groups- A,B, and C. The day consists of:

30 mins of homeroom
1 hour of class
1 hour of class
30 mins for lunch
1 hour of class
1 hour of class
30 mins of homeroom

The three classes rotate so that each teacher gets one full hour of plan time each day. There are four class times but only three groups of students so that fourth class is used as the plan time.  Friday is used for adaptive PE and electives. My cooperating teacher teaches a cartoon elective. Many students are in and out throughout the day because of employment or classes at community college. Sometimes I have 9 students, sometimes 2.

My second day at the program, I was thrown in head first! Tuesday was baked potato lunch day, a fundraiser to help the class buy a basketball hoop. The vocational class runs an in-house business named Savory & Sweet. This business makes lots of food goods and sells them for profit. It not only teaches business skills, but also cooking skills and creativity. My cooperating teacher was scheduled for a meeting at 10:00 and the lunch started at 11:00 so I had to basically run the set up of the lunch! My cooperating teacher was very impressed with my ability to jump right in, but when you are with such awesome students, it is really no big deal at all.

I am sometimes intimidated by the fact that most of my students are my age, if not older than me. I try to turn it into an advantage by being able to related to my students on a more personal level, while still maintaining an authority. I do think they all respect me but I definitely see that some recognize how young I am and view me more as a student or friend. It is a tough balance that I am hoping to master.

Another thing I want to work on and grow in is my intuitiveness with students when they are struggling. For example, in one of my classes, I have a student who has Tourette's syndrome and what seems to be a short temper. Together, these things can result in some fiery situations with explicit gestures and language. I tried to calm the situation by talking the student through what was upsetting him, but it did not seem to be working. Eventually the cooperating teacher was very firm with him and basically told him to "knock it off- or else." This worked much better. I am eager to continue learning more about each of my students and what makes them tick as well as what calms them down and gets a hold of the situation at hand.

Week 10

I am horrible at goodbyes. Most of the time I just ignore the fact that they are happening. This was no exception. My whole student teaching placement seemed to have flown by and I completely ignored the fact that I would have to leave until week 10. Once week 10 arrived, I got extremely sentimental and very sad to be leaving. I have loved every second of my 5th grade student teaching experience and I had a great time getting to know each of my students. As my last day approached, I wrote each of my students a note. I wrote the same thing for each student but made sure to add one special sentence that pointed out something I enjoyed about them in class...for example, their love of reading or excellence in writing or passion for sports. It was a great way to reflect on my time there and on each of my students.

Most of the week we spent a lot of time in preparation for the PARCC test. I was sad to see the students getting burnt out and anxious from the tutorials and practice tests but my cooperating teacher and I gave lots of pep talks about doing their best and were able to share some tips and opinions of the fourth graders who were currently testing.

On Monday, my principal observed me teach a social studies lesson on slavery. It was the third of a three lesson unit on slavery. The first lesson was about West Africa and the dilemmas West Africans faced and how they were stolen and traded into slavery. Next, was a lesson about the Middle Passage and the terrible treatment of the West Africans as they were taken to America. Finally, was a lesson about arriving in North America and becoming a slave. We talked about slave auctions and "scrambles" as well as plantations, overseers, and how the slaves responded. Many slaves tried to do their best in hopes of winning the overseer's favor and becoming a house salve, but some protested by faking sickness or breaking tool, and some brave slaves ran away- risking what would happen to them if they were caught. We had a very involved discussion about the dilemma the slaves faced and they had to decide with a group what they thought they would do. I was able to show the students some pictures of my trip to Zanzibar where I saw a slave auction building, now renovated into a church. The students loved seeing pictures of what they were learning about and I think it really affected a lot of them to see what it was actually like for the Africans when they were being sold into slavery.

On Friday, I met with my principal to discuss the lesson and also to have a mock interview. I was encouraged to hear that he enjoyed the lesson and I appreciated the advice he had for me. He suggested always having the students summarize back to me what the main ideas of the lesson were in their own words. What a quick and simple way to assess their learning. I will definitely be using an exit slip at the end of lessons to see if my students can summarize what they learned in their own words instead of just repeating the purpose of the lesson for them at the end of a lesson. The mock interview went very well. I was very appreciative that he took the time to do this with me because it gave me practice for future interviews and he responded after each of my answers with advice on how to make them even better. He is very knowledgeable on research based practices and explained to me why my answers were researched based or what other research based practices I could refer to. Overall, this conversation was a great experience for me!

After my interview with the principal, I return to my class to find a SURPRISE PARTY!!! (Not to mention my cooperating teacher had already surprised me with a "Good Luck" cake at lunch!) Some of my students had chipped in to purchase me gifts off of my wedding registry including a beautiful frame and wall art. My cooperating teacher also purchased me some beautiful pillows and a storage bin. As well as a ton of awesome teacher supplies from Lakeshore!!! It was so unexpected and so incredibly kind of them. Other students got me some very nice gifts and wrote me some heartfelt cards. Best of all was an advice book from the class. Each student and my cooperating teacher took the time to write me a letter with kind words and advice. It also had each of the student's yearbook pictures and some whole-class pictures we had taken the day before! I LOVED IT! I felt so loved and I will truly miss each of them.

My next placement is at a transition program with 18-22 year olds. It is definitely going to be an adjustment, but I am excited! Student teaching is truly flying by!

Classroom Confidential Chapter 16

 

Throughout my last 10 weeks teaching 5th grade, I have taught a literacy block each morning in which writing is the focus. During the block I would typically give a mini-lesson on things like determining importance or effective endings or figurative language. Then, the students would work on their writing assignments and I would conference with them. One of the major projects this quarter was writing a research paper. I definitely saw some students find their niche in writing as well as others who struggled along and had a hard time ever starting their writing. I enjoyed reading the strategies that Schmidt talked about to help students become better writers. In particular, I really liked the brainstorming ideas strategy called "Empty Your Head." I think my 5th graders would have gotten a kick out of this activities name and I think it would have helped a lot of them kick start the writing process and starting their writing. This activity has student jot down every word or phrase that comes to mind when thinking about a certain topic. I think this would have worked nicely with the research paper as well because it would've helped the students organize and see everything they already knew about their topic. My next placement is at a transition program in a vocational room so I am not sure how much writing we will be doing but I would love to try and incorporate this brainstorming activity into my next placement as well as a few other of Schmidt's ideas. I think that being able to write and enjoy writing is something so important to making life-long learners and I hope to foster a classroom of writing lovers!

Week 9

WEEK 9?!? Student teaching has flown by! I cannot believe that next week is my last at my placement, especially since I was there all last semester as well. I have gotten choked up more than once thinking about leaving my students there and the community in which I have come to feel so comfortable and seen myself grow in so much. Although I am sad, I am also excited to enter into my special education student teaching placement. This past week was exaushting. It was edTPA "boot camp" week so I spent 15 hours working on the edTPA in addition to teaching, being observed by the principal, and acting as 'sub' for Friday. Although I feel like I got a lot accomplished this week, I know that I have a lot more to do before I am finished.

On Wednesday this week, all of the fifth grade students went on a field trip to Robert Crown. While at Robert Crown, the students are educated on the ways in which their bodies will change during puberty, as well as some sex education and the birthing process. I was completely impressed with how maturely my students handled these delicate and somewhat awkward subjects and words they may have never heard of before. I really enjoyed this day because I remember going to Robert Crown as a fifth grader and it neat to see how far I have come from that day and to be in the teacher position after all those years.

On Friday, my principal observed me teach a Social Studies lesson on slavery. This was one of my favorite lessons! We talked a lot about dilemmas and making tough choices and how finding out the outcome could make us want to go back and choose a different option. This day, we were learning about what life was like for enslaved Africans living on plantations. We had already gone over how West Africans were captured and sold into slavery as trade for guns and other goods, the Middle Passage, and slave auctions. After learning about plantations they students were faced with the dilemma of how they would respond to the unfair treatment. Would they protest by breaking tools, faking sick, and passing secret messages through song? Would they run away even though they may get caught and severely punished? Or would they try their best to earn favor with the overseer in hopes of becoming a house servant?

As they were discussing the dilemma with their groups, I had them stand and pretend to be plowing a field and whisper quietly to their group so that the overseer wouldn't hear their plan. I think that this helped them sympathize with the slaves and imagine what it would be like to stand in that position for 16 hours a day. I also was able to show them pictures of my trip to Tanzania in which I was able to see a slave auction building and where they kept Africans before the auctions. The students were deeply moved by these pictures and I think that it helped them visualize what it was really like for these people. Overall, I thought the lesson fostered deep discussions and I was proud of the students for making connections to other things we have discussed like the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement.

Friday was also interesting because my cooperating teacher was not their. She will also be absent on Monday. This was an awesome opportunity for me to see what it would be like to be completely on my own with the students. (The substitute was in the back of the room for any emergencies and to help me when needed). I am looking forward to Monday as well as the rest of this last week!!

Week 8

Week 8 was exhausting but rewarding! This was the first week in which I was extremely exhausted. By Thursday, it really felt like Friday to me. I think that it felt this way because my 5th graders were really keeping me on my toes this week! In Math, we continued learning about decimals and I continued to alter my lessons based on their need for more review. I also taped every day this week for the edTPA during math, and I had my final observation (also during math). Overall, it was quite a busy week! My observations are always so encouraging and I was so thrilled to hear I am ready for my own classroom. I think that the year-long placement has prepared me so well for teaching and I am getting really excited!

My favorite math lesson this week was on Friday. On Friday, the students were completely exhausted as well. I could tell as I started the lesson that they were wiped out and basically staring into space. I decided to stop the lesson and do a brain break. I had three students come up to the ELMO and choose a brain break activity that I was projecting. We shook, and bowed, and yelled Yes! Yes! Yes! These things seem simple and goofy, but it energized them and got them to focus again. Next, I decided that the students needed more review of place value. Towards the end of the lesson I could see the students finally starting to "get it." I asked them if 0.4 is the same as 0.400 and at first they were all going to say 0.400 is bigger, but then one by one they all seemed to get it and exclaimed, "Ohhhhhh!!!"

This week my students finished their colony iMovies. They turned out fabulous! We spent time on Friday to watch them and I was very impressed. They will all be posted on the S.S. colonial mission website so that they can watch not only their classmates videos but the videos from the other classes as well. I am in the process of grading them and I think that it was a great authentic assessment. I am also working on grading my student's research papers. I have been doing a lot more grading lately and have seen myself growing in the areas of the professional teaching standard 7M "maintains useful and accurate records of student work and performance."

I am looking forward to this upcoming week for a few reasons. We are practicing PARCC more and I really enjoy doing that because I like making sure that my students will be as prepared as possible for this test that is going to be very challenging for them. On Wednesday, we will be going to Robert Crown on a field trip! I remember going to Robert Crown when I was in 5th grade so it will be interesting to go again as a teacher. On Friday, my cooperating teacher will not be at school, so I will be the "head-honcho." I am pretty excited to see how that will go and if they students will still respect me and be as well behaved if she is not in the room. I am almost done with my 20 consecutive days so finishing them by basically being the "substitute" will be a fun ending. I am getting quite sentimental about leaving, but I will leave that for another post.