One area of strength this week would have to be me stepping up and being seen as the teacher more. On Monday I got the opportunity to set up home base time with putting up the agenda, taking attendance, putting up a journal topic, and keeping that time monitored and quiet along with silent reading time. I was also able to run community meeting for all classes. At the end of the day I did agendas and homework descriptions and I felt very accomplished with myself. I realized that I have been around enough to do those everyday things that my CT does without having to question anybody and I was able to do it effectively. On Friday I got to teach another lesson, and I received great feedback from my CT so I feel extremely proud of myself and comfortable with my students as the teacher.
This week I will strive to improve myself in being more efficient with my time. When planning for this week I realized that for a lot of the students in the room were done rather quick whereas others were struggling. I think that next time I plan for the day, I will include a "get done early" activity for the done kids to do so they don't interrupt those students still working.
Something that would help me is teaching more full periods so I can see what an hour and twenty minutes feels like more and be able to use the period to its fullest. This will really come in handy during my lead teaching.
Sunday, September 28, 2008
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Weekly Reflection
This week my one are of strength was meeting challenges that were put forth by being on a week long field trip. I am not a hike in the woods kind of person, but this week I needed to step it up and be that. I needed to be a good leader and I needed to keep my group together. I feel like I met this challenge all week and was very proud of myself in the end as well as exhausted from it. I also needed to follow directions just like the kids because I was not always sure of what was going on and how things would be done. I was very happy with the outcome by the end of the week though. My other main strength this week was dealing with some behavior issues that came up in the group I was in charge of. I feel like I had a good talk with the students involved and handled the situation appropriately.
This week I will improve upon getting frustrated when I feel like I don't know whats going on. Sometimes during this week I felt like I was being left in the dark and had no clue what was going on and when it was going on. This frustrated me very easily because I don't like not knowing things. I think I need to just let go of some of the need to know I have and just go with the flow a little more.
Something that would help me is getting to see a little clearer what lesson plans are getting taught that day, whats going to happen, and know a little bit about it before the fact. This will help me be able to help students, and to add things in where I see fit. I feel like I could be more useful from this simple difference.
This week I will improve upon getting frustrated when I feel like I don't know whats going on. Sometimes during this week I felt like I was being left in the dark and had no clue what was going on and when it was going on. This frustrated me very easily because I don't like not knowing things. I think I need to just let go of some of the need to know I have and just go with the flow a little more.
Something that would help me is getting to see a little clearer what lesson plans are getting taught that day, whats going to happen, and know a little bit about it before the fact. This will help me be able to help students, and to add things in where I see fit. I feel like I could be more useful from this simple difference.
Sunday, September 14, 2008
Rules and Routines
During the first few days of school the behavioral expectations were set in the classroom. My CT did not go over a list of rules like I am used to seeing, we simply talked a lot about respect. She made a journal prompt that asked how can you show respect today, then we talked about that at community meeting. Other expectations that were set forth were that they can only go to their lockers before and after school, and that you need to ask before you go anywhere like the bathroom or drinking fountain. They also must sit in their assigned seat. One other rule is that they can not talk during silent reading time.
The behavioral expectation are made clear by reminders. We remind the students when they are not doing what they should be to make better choices or that they need to start acting like fifth graders.
Students were not directly included in making the classroom rules, since I do not think they were ever explicitly stated. If there are things that the students are doing that are not following an expectation then we will have a talk about it at community meeting or journal about it.
The students are held accountable for their actions by losing their privileges. This is done by either giving us 5 minutes of their LAF time, or by going to sit in the hall for a while. I have not seen much of this yet because in the first few weeks of school the students have been very respectful and have not really been acting out.
The behavioral expectation are made clear by reminders. We remind the students when they are not doing what they should be to make better choices or that they need to start acting like fifth graders.
Students were not directly included in making the classroom rules, since I do not think they were ever explicitly stated. If there are things that the students are doing that are not following an expectation then we will have a talk about it at community meeting or journal about it.
The students are held accountable for their actions by losing their privileges. This is done by either giving us 5 minutes of their LAF time, or by going to sit in the hall for a while. I have not seen much of this yet because in the first few weeks of school the students have been very respectful and have not really been acting out.
Weekly Reflection
This week my main area of strength had to be my organizational skills and my ability to work as a team. We are going on a week long field trip and the preparation for it has been quite extensive. On Friday the students had to put together their Woldumar journals and it was quite a bit of work. I could have seen it turning into a disaster but between me another intern and my CT it went along quite smoothly. We were able to improve upon our system each class, so by the third we were pros at it. I really think I am starting to correct myself when I see trouble spots and do it more effectively the next class period.
Next week I hope to improve upon my leadership skills in the wilderness. Since we are going on a field trip with 80 students and I will have some lessons to teach and some groups to watch throughout the days, I am hoping that I can step up to the plate and do what needs to be done. My main concern is that I feel I am strong in the classroom but this is completely different. We are going to be outside and completely out of my element. I hope that I can suck up some of my fears (bees, snakes) and be a good leader. I hope to reach my goal by going into this experience open minded and ready for whatever gets thrown my way.
Something that would help me is some Woldumar experience. I did not get a chance to go out and check out the place beforehand, so if you are going on this trip in the upcoming weeks I highly recommend that. I also think that some more knowledge of the areas we are studying would really help me out so I am going to be researching some of that tonight.
Next week I hope to improve upon my leadership skills in the wilderness. Since we are going on a field trip with 80 students and I will have some lessons to teach and some groups to watch throughout the days, I am hoping that I can step up to the plate and do what needs to be done. My main concern is that I feel I am strong in the classroom but this is completely different. We are going to be outside and completely out of my element. I hope that I can suck up some of my fears (bees, snakes) and be a good leader. I hope to reach my goal by going into this experience open minded and ready for whatever gets thrown my way.
Something that would help me is some Woldumar experience. I did not get a chance to go out and check out the place beforehand, so if you are going on this trip in the upcoming weeks I highly recommend that. I also think that some more knowledge of the areas we are studying would really help me out so I am going to be researching some of that tonight.
Monday, September 8, 2008
Equity vs. Equality
When setting up the seating chart for our homebase, we did not have a lot to go off of other than the pink and blue cards that we received from their fourth grade teachers, and names. We have put the students in pods of four to five so that they would have support available to them for group work opportunities and allow them to still be social while in class at appropriate times.
We were able to try not to place any of the seemingly challenging students together. The actual seating chart has been edited several times since that time because we have gotten to know the students a little better and have been able to pinpoint issues that have caused us to flip flop seats around the room. We are still in the process of moving students around so that they are all in a place that ensures a quality learning opportunity for them.
Some students seemed to have problems focusing next to their friends so we were able to move them away from one another to make a better learning environment for both people involved. So far this switch has helped because it makes talking more difficult, and the urge to do so seems to have gotten less because they are no longer close to the person they want to talk to.
We have also made sure to mix up the boys and the girls in an attempt to have equal amounts of both at each table to balance things out. This is not perfect at the moment because of drops that we have had, but we seem to have a nice balance at the moment.
We were also able to put students with attention problems in areas that are less distracting to them and up close to the board and teacher so that they are more likely to pay attention.
Through these little switches in the seating chart we have been able to make the classroom environment equitable while still remaining equal. We have also been able to use the seating chart to add extra support to students that may need it without drawing attention to that fact.
We were able to try not to place any of the seemingly challenging students together. The actual seating chart has been edited several times since that time because we have gotten to know the students a little better and have been able to pinpoint issues that have caused us to flip flop seats around the room. We are still in the process of moving students around so that they are all in a place that ensures a quality learning opportunity for them.
Some students seemed to have problems focusing next to their friends so we were able to move them away from one another to make a better learning environment for both people involved. So far this switch has helped because it makes talking more difficult, and the urge to do so seems to have gotten less because they are no longer close to the person they want to talk to.
We have also made sure to mix up the boys and the girls in an attempt to have equal amounts of both at each table to balance things out. This is not perfect at the moment because of drops that we have had, but we seem to have a nice balance at the moment.
We were also able to put students with attention problems in areas that are less distracting to them and up close to the board and teacher so that they are more likely to pay attention.
Through these little switches in the seating chart we have been able to make the classroom environment equitable while still remaining equal. We have also been able to use the seating chart to add extra support to students that may need it without drawing attention to that fact.
Physical Space: Our Classroom
Our Classroom is room 124. Here are some pictures to show you around. My CT only teaches language arts this year, so her room includes a vast amount of books and a desk dedicated to writer workshop supplies. Above I have posted the way my CT does her daily schedule. It always starts at the arrow and goes clockwise till the end of the day. I think its a great idea!
This is an image from the back of the room.
This is where the student mailboxes and teacher materials are stored. The mailboxes are only used in our homebase.
This is the place where the books are stored. They are all organized by genre. There are more books that we will eventually switch into the bookshelves so the students can have some new choices.
This was our bulletin board for open house night. It took a long time to write all those names on the stars!
Here is another view of the room
This is where materials are put for students to use. These materials are especially useful for writers workshop.
This is the best technology in the room, the ELMO. It makes everything so much more visible and allows for more efficient instruction time because u can project anything on the screen and not have to pass it around or show each table individually. The computer is only for teacher use because the students have access to a computer lab.
Here is another view of the room.
This is my desk (GO STATE!)
This is an image from the back of the room.
This is where the student mailboxes and teacher materials are stored. The mailboxes are only used in our homebase.
This is the place where the books are stored. They are all organized by genre. There are more books that we will eventually switch into the bookshelves so the students can have some new choices.
This was our bulletin board for open house night. It took a long time to write all those names on the stars!
Here is another view of the room
This is where materials are put for students to use. These materials are especially useful for writers workshop.
This is the best technology in the room, the ELMO. It makes everything so much more visible and allows for more efficient instruction time because u can project anything on the screen and not have to pass it around or show each table individually. The computer is only for teacher use because the students have access to a computer lab.
Here is another view of the room.
This is my desk (GO STATE!)
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