Reflection 1/25/09

Tuesday was really interesting in my classroom. I was subbing, and the Team had decided to do a Thursday schedule and spend the whole afternoon talking about the inauguration/ watching it on TV. We had some students that were really into that, but then a majority were completely uninterested and wanted to party since it was unstructured time. They saw the schedule and immediately thought we would be watching YouTube and playing games. I had things planned, but they wanted nothing to do with any of it. Later I found out that the students had watched the inauguration in their arts and fitness also so this was about three hours of it by the time we were winding down. When I look back at it I wish I had not been so upset about their interest level and thought more like a fifth grader. It seemed like a good idea at the time, but I think if we talked about it again, I would have fought strongly against the idea. It was a good experience to see what the kids were interested in and what they weren't.

Reflection 1-18-09

This week was very short in the school since we had class on Thursday and Friday. I had a very awesome subbing day on Tuesday and enjoyed teaching Lucy Caulkins writing for the first time Tuesday and Wednesday. I was very excited to be given the opportunity from my CT and I think I was able to do well with it. The book was intimidating at first because Lucy is very wordy and complex. Once I got started the kids seemed really excited about essays and that was great! My favorite activity was where the students wrote an essay using my main idea and pushing your thinking prompts that I gave them. They pulled out many big ideas about essays through this activity and were able to feel successful with the activity since I gave them the main idea and the prompt to push their thinking. They also got a chance to push their thinking once in their own way. Some of the most reluctant writers that are in my class were writing away with this activity. I would use it again.

Friday we went to the special education mini conference. I feel as though it was very beneficial because I have had many questions and concerns about special needs students being in my classroom. I have always been surprised that we do not receive more special education instruction through the elementary education program, especially since inclusion has become a reality that we all have to be prepared for. I feel like that is the part that I am the least prepared for, because I want to provide the best education for ALL students, but I don't know if I know what is best for ALL students. I got a lot of great tips and advise along with a lot of facts that I did not know. I feel like exploring this topic in our TE 803 class will be a great deal of help in my future and I am excited to have a class that is going to explore these things.

Reflection 1/9/09

This week was a great week back. I had been worried that the week would be hard because everyone was used to being on break, but it seemed like the kids had been refreshed a little bit and had more patience with sitting in class. My guided lead is over so I went back to observing a little more than I had previously been doing. It was a little sad for me because I really got into being the classroom teacher for so long. I'm really excited to watch in language arts though, because Historical Fiction is what they are doing and that is one of my favorite genres. My CT came up with an awesome unit plan for it this year and I'm really enjoying watching it executed for the first time. It's nice to see an established teacher revamp her unit and notice things within it that are good and things that needed some variation. I will be doing this a lot in these next few years, so its nice to see what goes into it from her point of view. I also got the opportunity to sit in on a PD that was going over the new science curriculum. I enjoyed this because it was another example of teachers who have been teaching for a long time doing things I will be doing a lot of. I liked listening because they chose this curriculum for specific reasons but they are noticing a lot of holes in it. This part of the job is never done, even if you have been teaching for ten years. I think it was nice to see that because I really enjoy planning and changing things up.

I had my first spur of the moment subbing moment this week. It was awesome! (not that my CT was sick, but having to sub without planning on it for over a week) Things went really smooth and when I saw a problem I dealt with it. I was extremely proud in that regard, because I was questioning what to do when a student was messing up the class. I called down to the office and sent him there because he was ruining a moment when the students were able to play a game instead of work, and he simply did not like being out. He had been doing things like that all day, and does them pretty much every day. I had told the class that if they couldn't handle it we would read instead. Instead of punishing the whole class I think I made a better choice, and looking back on it I should have dealt with him sooner in the day.

Reflection 12/14/08

This week was another great week. I spent a lot of time in front of the class and it felt great! I had two really great teaching moments this week. On Thursday, I played a game called Sparkle. My first class did wonderful and made it through the whole word list. My second class was noisy and talking during the game and didn't make it past the first side of the page. They were getting outs because they couldn't hear and it was all because of their peers. When they went back to their seats I had a discussion about how they were affecting others with their actions. They identified the problem and seemed pretty ashamed that they screwed up a game. My second teaching moment was that I started a really good discussion about bullying. I put up a journal about the topic in the morning and it spiraled into my CT getting chart paper and talking about what bullying looks like and how to prevent it. In the afternoon I read a story and had them journal about it. We then discussed everything and it was really eye opening. This was a totally unplanned event, but it was necessary. I am impressed by their involvement.

I am looking forward to break, but I am not looking forward to all the giddiness that is going to be in school this week. They have been off a lot lately but I think this anticipation for break and the holidays is going to be a lot to deal with. Thank goodness for ending with a party this week! It should be an interesting week!

Reflection 12/7/08

This past week was great. I had my first real subbing all day long day and it went awesome! The kids really respected me as the teacher and it went by without any problems. I also started book clubs. Some students really enjoy the silent reading time and others seem to hate it. I feel like I'm pulling teeth with a lot of them and its frustrating to me that they won't do their work. Some of the incentives I have come up with, rocking chair, managers, and pillow people seem to working wonderfully. The kids like to have rewards :) and I like that they see reading in a different spots so fun.

Something I struggled with this week was modeling my reading journals since they are leveled and are 3 different prompts. I did not want to show one on the ELMO because I was afraid they would catch on or some students would get angry that they have so much to do when other kids don't have quite as much. The first day I sort of realized that problem right before I modelled journaling and ended up just talking about questions. I thought about the problem a lot and came up with a solution. For each entry I have been doing a mini lesson beforehand that relates to the journal. Since connections is something I am focusing a lot on, I spent two days already on connections and they have not had that journal yet. On Friday, I had them write their connections to Jumanji and tomorrow when I do day 4 (connection day) I will show some student work so they know what I expect them to do.

This week I am going to work on doing more modelling of the journals in this way. I wish that I had thought of it sooner!

Reflection 11/25

This week was really short, but very eventful. I was supposed to use the laptops on Monday, and the wireless Internet was NOT working! I had to change all of my plans right there on the spot, and it was very stressful. It all worked out in the end, but I was extremely nervous going into it, because I was not well planned anymore. I did end up having the kids finish up their cartoons and work on horror so it was a good work day in the end. I am happy that I was able to adapt a lesson out of what happened, and I am scheduled to be in the lab on Tuesday so I will have a backup plan ready since I am not sure if they will work then.



One really good thing about this week, was seeing the kids excited about book selection for their fantasy book groups. Coraline, The BFG, and The Doll People sparked a lot of excitement and I love seeing kids ready to read. I felt like the meanest person ever when I told them they were not starting on Tuesday and they had to wait until Monday for their books. I hope they are still excited then!

Reflection 11/21

This week was another good week. One strength for the week was transitioning from math to Language Arts. I feel like my first few days went really well and I am enjoying getting the chance to teach two classes and seeing the differences. I am noticing the differences between the two classes and they are pretty different. One class is more chatty and needs more support. The other class is good at working individually and needs to be prompted for answers more. They aren't as chatty of a group. Something I came across this week was having to discipline. I got very angry at my afternoon class on Friday and told them that the next person who is acting out needs to call their parents right then. Right after I said that the class settled down and this one kid decided to test my "threat". He came walking up with his shirt over his face and making funny hand motions. I sent him straight to the phone. This stopped the class and settled them down for the most part.

Two students had been fighting before making it to my class and the fight continued into class time. I was not aware of the previous situation, but it was apparent something was off. I went around the room and noticed the kid drawing a rather threatening picture and had labeled it as the kid who he was having the fight with. I had to call down to the office and send the kid with his picture to the office. I was nervous about doing this but I had no other choice that I could see. My CT was not in the room at the moment, so I did not get to ask for an opinion and I had to make my own choice. I think I chose wisely because the picture was something that needed to be dealt with by higher authority. I am glad that I am getting the opportunity to test these things out and I wish they weren't necessary, but I would be naive to think I would never need to discipline.

This week is going to be really short and I am looking forward to a break! With these 2 days I need to be able to get a lot done with a lot of interruptions. I am nervous about it, but I am hoping that it goes well. I need to use my time to the fullest. I am hoping for full cooperation from the students so we can have fun and get what needs to get done.