Weekly Reflection - January 25th

Week of Reflection

Overall, this week was a very difficult week. I enjoyed full time teaching, but it was very overwhelming. I would again rate this week as a three.

This week, I was pleasantly surprised by my students really growing in their knowledge of math! This is the first time I have taught for an extended period of time, and finally seeing students that I have taught grow in their knowledge is very exciting. A lesson I learned this week is the realization that lessons do not always go perfectly, and that you have to be prepared to be flexible. You never know what is going to happen, whether the school has a random event that you didn't know about or a child gets sick in the class, you have to be prepared for anything. My short term goals this week are to be able to successfully implement my behavior plans for the students I have chosen. This aligns with my long-term goal of teaching students to the best of my ability because often students who are behavior problems are not learning to the best of their ability. I could have spent more time this week reflecting on my students' progress. I think this is something I have struggled to make time for, and I need to find time for this. This week, I think apprehension prevented me from fully taking control of the classroom. I still tend to look to my classroom teacher for approval of every step I make, and the students notice this. The first logical step towards next week is to begin printing materials and preparing for my lessons.

This week I had the opportunity to analyze the University of Oregon tests my students took in math. This is a standardized test that they had to take, and I was able to use this data to inform my math small groups for next week.

One piece of advice I can share with student teachers is to continue to remember why you are here. Student teaching is difficult, so you have to remember that you are in this for the students, and that there is a student in you classroom that you are making a difference for. 1a. Teachers lead in their classrooms.

1a. Teachers lead in their classrooms.

This week I have taken responsibility for my students' learning by using the data from my math whole group lessons to plan reteach lessons during small groups.

2b. Teachers embrace diversity in the school community and in the world.

This week I have had the opportunity to teach about culture in Mexico, Africa, and teach about Martin Luther King Jr. This has helped my students see the diversity within our classroom and in the world.

3c. Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines.

This week I have had the opportunity to integrate culture in social studies with author's purpose.

4b. Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students.

This week I have planned small group math instruction that has allowed me to plan differentiated lessons for my groups based on what they need.

5a. Teachers analyze student learning.

This week I was able to analyze the University of Oregon test to inform my small math groups for next week.

1a. Teachers lead in their classrooms.

1a. Teachers lead in their classrooms.

Other:

I have worked on completing my portfolio by signing up for my first professional development! I will be attending a webinar in March that helps me learn strategies for teaching students with learning disabilities. 

My clinical educator and I do not need any support from my university supervisor at this time. 

• • What components of your portfolio have you started to complete?
  • What support does your clinical educator need from your university supervisor?
  • What support do you need from your university supervisor?

Weekly Reflection - January 18th

Questions for the Week

This week I began teaching half of the subjects in the classroom. I would rate this week as a three, not because I didn’t enjoy what I was doing, because I adored teaching, but because I was very overwhelmed by planning, preparing my materials, and grading student work. This week, I was pleasantly surprised my the willingness of my students to accept me as their teacher for part of the day. I was slightly nervous about my students still relying on my CE and looking to her for approval while I instructed, but the students did not struggle much at all with this! They automatically accepted me as their teacher for the subjects I took over and were willing to follow my instruction. One lesson that I learned this week is that I need to plan less activities, and simply plan impactful activities instead. I struggled greatly with the majority of the lessons I taught to get my lessons finished, and this caused me to feel very rushed and behind. Once I got behind, it was difficult to catch back up throughout the rest of the week. My short term goal for next week is to begin to understand how to pace my lessons better, and how to plan better for the time frame I have. This aligns with my long term goal of becoming an efficient student teacher for my students because I need to be able to fit all of my instruction into the lessons that I teach. This past week, I could have spent less time printing things for my lessons each day. This coming week, I will have my materials for the entire week printed and ready by Sunday evening. In regards to behavior, I have still been apprehensive to take the students dojo points. It really bothers me to see my students be disappointed and upset, and I am extremely bad about giving the students too many chances. Next week, I plan to have a checklist for the students with three chances. Once they have three checks where they have had to be redirected, I will take their dojo point. This will help keep me accountable. The first logical step for next week is to go ahead and gather all of my materials and make sure everything is printed this weekend.

This week, I was able to use the students TRC and Dibels scores that we just recieved to inform guided reading groups. Many of my students changed groups due to their growth in reading.

One piece of advice I would give other student teachers is to remember to have a small part of your day each day to put things away and take a breathe, even if it is just for a few minutes. Student teaching requires you to constantly work, but you must take a moment each day to stop and breathe.

NC Teacher Candidate Standards

Standard 1a: Teachers lead in the classroom.

This week, I have worked on standard 1a by working with students to create goals, and helping them set goals in the classroom. I have individually set goals with specific students that are struggling in math to have have growth goals.

Standard 2a: Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing environment with caring adults.

This week, I have not only had the opportunity to speak with many students about their work and areas they need to grow, but I have had the opportunity to talk with students about their lives and what they are doing outside of school. I think it is extremely important to make time to talk to students about what they think is important and exciting that is going on outside of school to create a positive environment where they feel safe and encouraged.

Standard 3a: Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

This week, I have practiced aligning each of my lesson plans with the NCSCOS that I have written.

4a. Teachers know the ways in which learning takes place, and they know the appropriate levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional

development of their students.

This week, I have used many different teaching strategies to help students always be learning in different ways. I have used specific methods of teaching that I know will work for specific students, and I have even practiced providing alternate assignments for students as well.

Standard 5a: Teachers analyze student learning.

This week, I have had the opportunity to assess Dibels and TRC data for my students in order to change guided reading groups according to student growth.

Other:

In regards to my portfolio, I have started to plan behavior plans for the students in my class that I have decided need a plan, and I have also started implementing technology. I do not believe my CE and I need any support this week from my university supervisor at the moment.

Weekly Reflection - January 11

Overall Reflection 
   This week everything has started to become very real! I have planned lessons for half of the school day, which I will be taking over next week. Although this week was challenging, I still had a very good week and would rate it as a 5. I believe my biggest accomplishment this week was writing my first set of student teaching lessons! It was very overwhelming to plan at first due to the fact that there are so many activities that go on in the classroom that I had never thought much about. For example, I automatically knew I needed to plan for guided reading groups, but I realized because I had been observing my CE teach these groups, I hadn't paid much attention to what independent work the rest of the class did during this time. I had a lot more to learn that I did not realize, but I think knowing what I need to plan will become easier as I dive into student teaching. I think that the biggest thing I learned this week is the value of working with not only your CE, but other second grade teachers as well. I was able to spend a lot of time discussing which assignments the entire grade level does together, which assignments I can take more liberty on, and even just listening to ideas and advice from the other second grade teachers. This was very valuable for me this week, and I want to continue to learn as much as I can from the other second grade teachers and my CE. My short term goal right now is to plan and execute lessons that not only successfully help the students learn and grow, but also make the students excited about learning. This aligns with my long term goal of being a successful student teacher because if my students are excited about learning and want to learn, they will likely grow much more in their learning. I could have spent more time talking with my CE and the other grade level teachers about my ideas at the beginning of the week. If I had taken the opportunities I was given to talk to them about my ideas and receive feedback all week instead of towards the end of the week, I believe it would have helped me grow in my lesson planning and knowledge of the classroom even more. This week, apprehension stopped me from disciplining a child that was acting up. In my classroom, we use class dojo. If a child misbehaves they lose their class dojo point. I do not struggle very much with correcting the students in my class due to the fact that my CE has encouraged me to discipline and make sure the students saw me as an authority figure from the beginning. Although I am willing to correct the students, I often am hesitant to take their class dojo points and tend to look to my CE to do any discipline past verbally correcting the student. This is something that I need to not be afraid to do, especially since my CE has encouraged me to make sure I am an active part of her discipline plan. The first logical step for next week is to continue planning my first full week of student teaching! As I continue to lesson plan, I need to remember to not get overwhelmed and just take one lesson at a time.

     This week, my CE allowed me to look at the students Dibels testing scores. I was able to analyze this data to help me decide which reading group each student needed to be in for guided reading. This also helped me decide what differentiation I would need to consider as I planned not only guided reading, but any lessons that involved reading and writing.

One piece of advice I would like to share with other student teachers is to utilize your resources! Your CE is a wonderful source of information, advice, and ideas. Your other grade level teachers are as well. When you have people around you willing to help you and give you ideas, take advantage of it!

NC Teacher Candidate Standards

Standard 1d: Teachers advocate for schools and students.
This week I have observed my CE and other grade level teachers advocating for their students by encouraging our school not to implement online TRC testing. My CE feels that this would be detrimental for the students because they would likely get very distracted if they were put at a computer by themselves and may simply click through the answers instead of trying. Since my CE feels this is not beneficial for our students, she is encouraging the administration not to implement this idea.

Standard 2d: Teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs.
This week I have observed my CE realizing that one of our students needed to be removed from whole group math and placed alone at the back table to do first grade level work. My CE saw that this child was not learning or able to participate in whole group math, so she adapted his instruction and has found something that has successfully helped him grow in his learning.

Standard 3c: Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines.
This week I have observed my CE teaching a unit on animals in Antarctica! My teaching this lesson, she was able to integrate science, social studies, and literacy! The students learned so much from this lesson, and they enjoyed what they were learning as well. It was clear that making connections
between content areas made a big difference for the students.

Standard 4b: Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students.
This week I have observed my CE using the data she has collected from multiple math and literacy assignments to inform her instruction. She has planned her instruction based on what teaching strategies seemed to work best for the students, and worked with the students on what the data showed they did not understand using the strategies that clearly helped them learn best.

Standard 5c: Teachers function effectively in a complex, dynamic environment.
This week I have observed my CE utilizing the environment in our classroom to benefit her students. We have a very talkative group and a very social environment. Our students love to help each other. Therefore, my CE has allowed the students to work together more in order to use the complex, dynamic environment to help the students learn.

Other: 
This week, I have planned my lessons with global awareness in mind. This is something that is very important in the portfolio, and I wanted to get started on this piece of the portfolio early. I do not believe my CE and I need any support this week from my university supervisor.

Weekly Reflection - January 4th

Overall Reflection

My first week back in the classroom was so exciting, and I was so glad to be back in the classroom with my students. Although I am nervous about student teaching beginning, I am excited to see what is in store as well. This week, I would rate my overall experience of the week as a 5. Since I was only observing this week, I did not encounter very many difficulties and I enjoyed my time in the classroom. I believe my biggest accomplishment throughout this week was simply becoming extremely familiar with the entire day and how everything in the classroom works. Although I observed and became fairly familiar with the classroom last semester, being there every day for the entire day has given me a lot more insight into the classroom. As I have learned more about the classroom and what each lesson consists of, I have learned the importance of being extremely prepared. In order to teach a successful lesson, you must have your materials prepared, be prepared for what students will need, be prepared for what student will misunderstand or not understand at all, and be prepared to assess the students on their understanding. Each lesson requires an immense amount of preparation, which also means being proactive is extremely important as well. My short-term efforts at the moment are to stay ahead on my school work and learn as much as possible about the classroom before I begin teaching. This is aligned with my long-term goal of being a successful student teacher because in order to successfully teach my students I need to be as prepared as possible. Although I feel as if this week was a successful week, I do think I could have spent more time working on edTPA. Since student teaching has begun, I am beginning to focus more on lesson plans and the specific student teaching requirements coming up more than edTPA. I need to make sure I do not let this fall behind in the future. One thing that I feel I was apprehensive about during this week was speaking up during planning meetings with the other second grade teachers. Last semester, I sat in during planning meetings while the students were at specials, but it was just to listen and observe. Now that I will be teaching, I want to make sure I am an active part of these meetings and include my ideas and thoughts. In the future, I want to be less apprehensive about speaking up, and make sure I am actively participating in these meetings. The next logical step for next week is to begin perfecting my lesson plans that I will be teaching in week three. As I plan, I need to clear my mind of stress and worries of not being able to do well enough and just have confidence in myself and what I have learned thus far, as well as prepare myself to learn and grow even more as I begin this experience.

I did not analyze any data this week due to this being an observational week. Although I did not analyze any data myself, my CE has allowed me to observe the TRC testing that she is doing with the students this week, and has shown me the data that she is using from their TRC tests to inform her instruction.

One piece of advice I would like to give other student teachers is to have confidence and to remember that we are here to learn how to become even better educators. It is easy to be worried about not being a good enough teacher for your students, but each day we learn how to be a better educator.

NC Teacher Candidate Standards

Standard 1a: Teachers lead in the classroom.

This week, I have observed my CE teaching her students about goals, and helping them set goals in the classroom. The students have set a class goal for their AR percentage, and have also learned about "dreaming big" and setting goals beyond the classroom.

Standard 2a: Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing environment with caring adults.

This week, I have observed my CE taking the time to have important conversations with each of her students about not only their learning, but their lives in general. This is important in order to create relationships with the students and create a safe environment.

Standard 3a: Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study.

This week, I have observed my CE as well as the other second grade teachers aligning their instruction with the NCSCOS during planning meetings. During these meetings, they talk about which standards they are teaching, how it aligns with their pacing guide, and what they feel their students need.

Standard 4f: Teachers help students work in teams and develop leadership qualities.

This week, I have observed my CE intentionally grouping students in order to work on skills such as working together and leadership. My CE often groups students together in a particular way in order to give specific students an opportunity to lead and take charge who may not normally get to.

Standard 5a: Teachers analyze student learning.

This week, I have observed my CE utilizing the TRC testing scores from each student to help inform her instruction. TRC testing gives my CE a lot of data to work with, and has helped her analyze student learning in reading tremendously.

Other

This week I have begun working on my portfolio by thoroughly going through the rubric and beginning a checklist of everything that has to be included in the portfolio. I do not believe my CE and I need any support this week from my university supervisor at the moment.