Student Teaching Journals 13 and 14

These are my last 2 journals from student teaching. I hope this was interesting to someone! For more info. on what these journals are and to read my previous journals, please click here http://sfraww.blogspot.com/search/label/Teaching

Week 13

My 8th and final observation didn’t go as well as I had wanted. Making an interactive math review was a good idea that would have the students excited to come up out of their seats and put a little spotlight on them. However, the technology started messing up from the start even though we had set everything up prior to my lesson. I had to just roll with it and the interactive part was out unfortunately.

Prior to my lesson, I had asked my CT what she thought of my review and she had said it looked good. I didn’t want to bother her and ask too many questions on every little detail of my lesson so I thought we were good to go. But once the lesson started, a lot of comments were made that lengthened the lesson and got the students focused on the teachers rather than the questions. Another teacher even told me that she felt there were a lot of interruptions and I should have been given the chance to teach my way since it was my observation and the comments that were made could have been said in a better way. For example, instead of having said “that is too confusing” my CT could have said, “or you could do it this way” and shown her way after letting me finish my thought.

Many of the questions were advanced and I was surprised that 3rd graders were being expected to know such math. When I took the benchmark before making the review and study guide, I decided to teach the students the way I solved the problems myself. I realized I need to think like a third grader. I wish my last lesson had gone well, but this is all part of learning!

Week 14

My days at the school are numbered and the students know it. Many of them keep asking me when I am really leaving, am I coming back tomorrow, where was I last Monday when I was absent, etc. A few of them even questioned me if I am their friend to which I replied that I am their teacher. It is amusing to see how much my presence affects them! I do hope they have enjoyed having me in their class and found me to be a helpful and caring person. 

Although I didn’t write the lesson plans last week, I still helped the students as much as possible. The students had three projects that my CT wanted them to complete by the end of this week and they managed it even with three days of PARCC testing! The students did oral presentations with their partners for a social studies project. They were able to present their drawings and knowledge of their southwestern states to the class. Of course they were nervous, but overall they did a great job! I think having students get used to standing and speaking in front of a crowd is a good skill to acquire from a young age. This will be needed in the future so the earlier they get to practice the more confident they can hopefully become.

During PARCC testing, I actually stayed with the 3rd grade students. One day I was asked to stay with the special needs children while their classmates were testing at a different time in the day. I tried to get some work done for my writing portfolio the other days while the students tested. Initially, I wanted to observe different grades, but I figured I would spend my remaining time with the students in their class, especially since they had some free time afterwards.

Student Teaching Journals 7-9

I am going to continue sharing these journals here (since I can go back and read them).  For more info. on what these journals are and to read  previous journals, please click here http://sfraww.blogspot.com/search/label/Teaching

Week 7

I only went to the school on Tuesday and Wednesday last week, but I have learned a lot in 2 days. I taught the whole morning on Wednesday and I realized I need to work on my classroom management skills. I feel like since I am the youngest teacher (by age and looks) that works with the students, they have become too comfortable with me so they don’t take me as seriously as they should. They do respect me and we get along fine, but I have found that I have to repeat myself a lot to get all the students attention and sometimes I have to even raise my already loud voice, which I don’t want to do, especially with a sore throat.

There is always going to be at least one student who gives teachers a hard time, and there is one student who likes to push my patience. I try hard to be patient with him, but sometimes it becomes annoying and very distracting, to me and others. This boy in particular and another girl are very clever. They can tell if I am being sarcastic, when I am not impressed with the class’s behavior, what their teacher’s intentions are, etc. It is amazing how fast some of these 3rd graders are growing mentally compared to when I was there age. 

Because I am teaching a lot more now, I have to frequently freshen up my content knowledge. It has been about 12 years since I was a 3rd grader so I obviously don’t remember everything I learned. I don’t mind having to refresh my memory, but it does take some time and teaching does help. I can’t imagine what it will be like when it comes time for me to teach all day every day in the future!

The past week has been a little overwhelming. I am halfway done with student teaching and the initial excitement has honestly faded. It takes A LOT of hard work, time, dedication, and love for teaching to actually be a teacher. I hear some teachers complain about students, other teachers, what they have to teach, etc. and it is discouraging. I have wanted to be a teacher since I was in 4th grade and many times I have been told to consider another career. I have stuck with the decision so far and I don’t want to regret it, but with a lot of distractions and things not going as smoothly in the classroom as I had hoped for, it is sad that I am looking forward to a break.

Week 8

My fourth observation this week didn’t go as well as my last reading lesson in my opinion. Now that I am teaching all day, I had other things on my mind and not just my observation, so I don’t think I was as focused. I also didn’t have my printed lesson close by so I couldn’t go back to see if I was sticking to my plan. As a result, I forgot a few things and did some out of order. I might be too hard on myself, but it was nice to hear good feedback from others!

I worked with a few lower performing students one day for math this past week and really enjoyed it! I was helping them subtract using 3 digit numbers and after a while, they seemed to get it. I was really proud of them and I let them know to encourage them to continue. Another student wanted to join our little group so he came over too. I didn’t think I could work well and enjoy teaching classified students because it requires A LOT of patience. However, I think I might work with these students again when it comes time to centers in math!

A higher performing student in class asked me during the week to give him some improper fractions on a number line after I had given his group fraction task cards for a review. Improper fractions are not in the standards for 3rd graders but it was a PARCC practice question. He constantly asked me during the week, so I finally came up with a few problems for him. He was really happy and enjoyed the challenge. When planning for instruction, I need to keep in mind the high performing students so I find work for them that is challenging and fun.

Due to PARCC this week and not being a proctor, I was able to observe a 2nd grade class on Thursday and a 4th grade class on Friday. The 2nd grade class was nice and roomy, had colorful anchor charts around the room, convenient storage space for backpacks, work displayed around the room, and a lot of books! While in the 2nd grade class, I was asked to cover for 2 neighboring teachers for a few minutes so I was able to see more classes. The students in all the rooms were extremely open and friendly, which was pleasant. The 4th grade class had a lot of students in the room and I didn’t like the setup of the desks. I sat at the back to get some work done, but I did watch the students and teachers during two lessons.

There are only 6 more weeks of student teaching left! Although my time is short and has been enjoyable for the most part, I am really looking forward to a nice long break before having my own classroom next September. Being with 3rd graders this semester and kindergarten for practicum, I came to the conclusion that at least for the first year or two of being a full time teacher, I prefer to work with the youngest elementary students. I feel like I could better manage them and would have little to complain about. I would eventually teach 3-6th grade students, but I plan to start with kindergarten.

Week 9

My first social studies lesson the past week went well in my opinion. Besides the fact that I couldn’t get the students to interact with my review “game”, I was pleased with my lesson overall. I ended on time and got everything on my lesson plan done. The students were a little lost in the beginning even though directions were provided verbally and written down, but that day was the first for them to get with new partners and move around in stations for the lap books. The students are not used to having social studies right after homeroom, so they were all over the place before my lesson as well. 

Taken out for personal reasons.

My relationship with most of the students has been going well as usual. However, one student has been pushing my patience for a while now and he went a little too far last week. He made a really disrespectful comment to me in front of a few students and I couldn’t let him slide like I did in the past (when he tried to trip me and made a rude comment related to my head covering). I tried to ignore his comment this time, but he kept talking to get a reaction out of me. When I did confront him as polite as I could, he was really surprised and tried to act innocent when students around him heard and told me what he said. After what I said to him, he got the message that I won’t tolerate his rude comments anymore and he needs to control his mouth. With only 24 more days left, I want them to go well like they did in the first few weeks.

Student Teaching Journals 4-6

 

For more info. on what these journals are and to read journals 1-3, please click here http://sfraww.blogspot.com/2015/02/student-teaching-journals-1-3.html

Journal 4

I am with a small group of students this semester for student teaching. There are only 16 students in this 3rd grade class! At first I was surprised that there were less than 20 students in one class, but it is an inclusion class. This means that special needs students are placed in a similar environment and work alongside non disabled peers. Thus, having less students in a class such as this one makes sense and it is better for the students that need more attention. There are 4 students who are specifically under the supervision and guidance of the special education teacher in this room. One if not two more students in this class have issues with focusing and work better in my opinion if they have an adult next to them.

With only 16 students, the majority are male. There are 11 boys and 5 girls in this class. I don’t mind the difference in numbers, but I notice it does have an effect on the students. If the girls want to work together on an assignment or even make friends with other girls in class, they don’t have many to choose from. The boys on the other hand are chatty and have plenty of options of who to hang out with or not. Because the boys can get overly excited and talkative, my CT tried her best to separate the boy’s seats as much as she could. Also, since there are less girls, one girl in particular seems to be a favorite amongst the boys. She is really smart and must be the most “attractive” in the eyes of a number of boys. They are still young, but growing up fast in my opinion.

Of the 16 students, about 11 are 9 and 5 are 8 years old. Just by looking at them, one probably can’t tell which student is which age and the “smart ones” aren’t typically the older ones. As for the cultures and languages of these students, this class is diverse. There are Peruvians, Puerto-Ricans, Dominicans, Italian, Jamaicans, African-Americans, and mixed race students. At least half if not more speak Spanish at home, but none of the students have serious issues with speaking English.

This class has a range of abilities. I have been able to work with the 4 special students in this class. One of the boys doesn’t do well when it comes to reading and writing. He asks me to read words for him and doesn’t try if he is asked to do something he doesn’t know. I have asked him a few times to either read or answer a question and he shrugs his shoulders when he doesn’t know or says “no” even after I tell him to try. I don’t want to discourage him or push him further away, so I help him to read and spell. Another girl really has trouble understanding and working. She has great manners, but performs below grade level. She needs a lot of help and I try to assist her along with the other 15 students in the room, but I feel she needs someone constantly by her side. There are at least 4 higher performing students in my CT’s room. One boy asks for more difficult work, which is provided at times, because he feels like he already knows what his peers are currently learning and says it is easy. The other 3 students answer a lot of questions that are asked to the class, showing their understanding of the material and their good listening skills.

I’ve noticed that a lot of worksheets are used and group work is essential in this classroom. For group work, the students are placed with peers that are at the same level as them. This way, the higher students aren’t held back and the lower students aren’t made to feel inferior. Since a lot of worksheets are used, which is easier, the students don’t get many chances to do hands on learning in my opinion. I think they would like the latter better and more frequently, but of course it takes a lot of time to plan lessons and having too many hands on tasks could become too much to handle for teachers. For my lessons, I like to include games which I think students really like. Of course these are related to what they are learning. Even if I can’t have the students play games, I like to have them come up and show the class their understanding and ask students to explain themselves.

I have been able to teach more this past week, but of course I have a lot more to learn and improve on. I feel like since I am the newer, younger teacher in the room, the students try to take advantage of me being nice. I don’t mind helping them, but a lot of them call me for help and it gets to be too much sometimes. One boy in particular seems to be my “shadow”. If he can’t physically follow me, I’ve noticed he watches me around the room. He constantly wants my attention and help even for simple tasks. I don’t feel this is inappropriate behavior, but I think I should distance myself from him so he doesn’t become too dependent on me.

Week 5

In 5 weeks, the school has been closed 3 days due to the weather and there has been 1 early dismissal and 1 delayed opening. I feel like we are getting used to 3 day weekends, especially the students, who have been less focused the past 2 weeks. I wouldn’t mind a longer weekend, but it does affect my observation days. Like for this past observation on February 11th I didn’t get a chance to discuss my lesson in person with my CT until the day before my observation. I know I have to submit my lesson plans 48 hours in advance, but with school closings, it can be a challenge to plan out a lesson and get materials ready without prior approval from my CT. My CT has been understanding and I plan to give in the rest of my lesson plans on time.

 

On the subject of my observations, I felt like my 2nd one was okay. After my lesson, I realized I need to work on time management. More practicing teaching and writing lessons will help, but also if I don’t have to include so many different elements into my lessons. I think the 5Es are a lot to include in a 45 minute lesson and I don’t feel like I spend enough time on the last few sections. For my second math lesson on fractions, I felt like I rushed through the evaluation because I didn’t have enough time. However, I think the 3 games went well and the students seemed to enjoy it. Thanks to the setting I am in for student teaching, I can take advantage (in a good way) of having a lot of adults in the room. This helps for group work and also for helping as many students individually as possible.

 

My CT was out Wednesday and Thursday because of strep throat so I had a chance to run the class the whole day basically, with the help of substitutes and SPED teacher of course. Instructing the students most of day was definitely a challenge. Because there were no plans, the SPED teacher and I had to work with what we had. I looked up worksheets for the students on what they were currently learning, for example verb tenses. My CT had mentioned to me the week before that she wanted me to start taking over reading and if I could teach a lesson where the students had to interview a classmate. So, I wrote up a list of questions, put students into pairs, and had them ask these questions. We did this the first day and a little more on Thursday. Then I had them start writing a biography after we brainstormed some strong beginnings. The website, teacherpayteachers.com has become one of my favorite places to find ideas and materials.

 

Something I wanted to do while I had the chance was to let the students clean out their desks. I am glad I gave them time on Thursday to do so and according to some students, because they had more organized desks afterwards, they were better able to find what they needed when they needed it. This may be minor, but I think students should be given time in the middle of the year to clean and organize their desk and lockers. This way, their spaces won’t look like a hurricane went through it and they can easily find what they need and fit more.

Journal 6

 

During this past week of student teaching, I have been taking over a little bit more. I have given the students their spelling test for the 2nd time as well as taking over reading. I helped introduce cause and effect by defining what they are, giving examples, writing on an anchor chart, doing a shared reading, working with students individually and in their groups, etc. I have also made a handout on the topic I think the students could benefit from, but I haven’t had the chance to give it to them yet. Hopefully, I can give it to them this week. I have realized that it is not so difficult and actually fun to come up with one’s own handout/ worksheets. Although teacherspayteachers.com has become my favorite site recently, if I can’t find exactly what I am looking for, I can make up my own handout to introduce a topic and for the students to refer back to.

 

Since I do a lot of math with the students, I have been looking for fun ways to teach them. I know the students like games, even if they are educational, so I have found fraction games I think they would like and can still learn from. Again, teacherspayteachers.com has been a really good source for this, and I think I will eventually share some of my work on the site so others can use them as well! The site has a lot of great materials, many of which are free. I have found games that I think work well with the 3 leveled groups. I try to keep the students who need more attention in mind when looking for teaching materials, but also the higher performing students because I want them to learn something new as well.

 

When planning for instruction, I find that it helpful to write an outline rather than in boxes. I write what I want to say, questions I will ask, what I want the students to do, etc. Just like any lesson plan template, I include what I think is necessary, but without the rule that it has to be a certain amount of pages. I think having a plan in mind and written on paper is a good idea. Of course being flexible is a must for a teacher.

 

My first reading lesson for my 3rd observation went well in my opinion. Although there aren’t a lot of students in the class to begin with and even less that day, I still felt everything was fine. The students participated well and we accomplished what I wanted. It seemed like after a week of doing cause and effect, they are finally getting a hand on the subject. Time went by fast as it always does when one teaches, but I think I managed my time well. When working with my group of three, Tachanta’s behavior was a little discouraging. I thought she was mad at me for some reason so when I asked her later during gym, I was relieved to hear her say that she wasn’t mad, just tired. Working with students who put up barriers isn’t fun work, but they have to be brought back in eventually somehow.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Student Teaching Journals 1-3

This final semester at uni. I am doing student teaching. Similar to my practicum journals (which you can read about here), for my major, I was assigned to a school and class to go to 5 days a week (from morning till afternoon) to work with the students and teacher(s). Throughout this experience, I am required to write weekly journals to submit to my supervisor. These journals have to include specific info. Since I shared my practicum journals here, I decided to continue to share my experience teaching. I hope you find this interesting! Below are my first 3 journals. 

Week 1

(School name was removed for privacy) is an urban school in (location removed). It is the only public school in the small town and serves 996 students from preschool to 8th grade. There are three groups within the school: Early Learning for preschool and kindergarten, Elementary for grades 1-5, and Middle School for grades 6-8. There are 5 sections for each grade level with an average class size of 21 students. About 100 certified teachers as well as 35 support staff are available to help educate the students at this school.

 

A breakfast program and Aftercare program are offered here. The latter runs from the end of the school day until 6 p.m and is available to parents for a monthly fee. In addition, about 23 clubs and activities are offered throughout the year for students of all ages. There are also about 150 computers and 50 Promethean boards in the school. Thanks to all the programs, activities, and resources, students, parents, and educators have a lot to do and offer the children of the school. For an educator and future teacher like myself, a school that has a lot going on is interesting to be a part of, will help build experience and with networking, and will help in instructing students during and after class.

 

The neighborhood around the school is nice and quiet. According to census.gov for the year 2010, 91.5% of the town’s population was white, followed by 7.5% Hispanic/ Latino, Asian 3.8%, Black/ African American 1.8%, etc. The school population is diverse, with over 50% of the students speaking a range of 26 different languages at home. This could be a challenge for educators. If students are not provided with the support they need in school and at home, this could affect them greatly. From low self-esteem, miscommunication, not understanding learning materials due to language barriers, etc. could all result in lower student performance. However, diversity is a plus because it does expose both students and staff to many different people, languages, cultures, and religions which can only help a person to appreciate and learn from the people around them.  

 

For the years 2009-2013, the area had 93.1% high school graduates or higher (percent of persons age 25+) and 43.9% had a Bachelor's degree or higher (percent of persons age 25+). Finally, there was a median household income of $96,602 and 1.9% of people were below the poverty level in 2009-2013. The fact that many people in proximity have at least a high school degree and almost half the population having a bachelor’s degree or higher is impressive. Compared to other urban areas, these numbers seem high. Students who have well educated adults in their lives, especially at home, might be more likely to take education seriously and have higher standards of living. For educators working with the majority of these well off children, behavior shouldn’t be a major issue. The level of educational performance shouldn’t be really low either if children are coming from homes that have the means to provide high quality education or learning materials.

 

Week 2

 

Two weeks of student teaching has gone by really fast! For practicum, I was with kindergarten students and I loved working with the younger students. Before I actually started student teaching, I was a bit nervous thinking about how older students would react to me being in their classroom. Thank God, there was nothing to worry about. Within a day or two, I felt comfortable and I am glad the students have taken my presence well. I honestly look forward to going to the school every day! As a student and future teacher, I personally feel that if the students are a pleasure to work with, going to school every day to work won’t feel like a chore, but can be an exciting part of my day.

 

One good feature about the school is that a parking lot for teachers and staff is available. This takes one less stress off of teachers and staff so they don’t have to spend a lot of time and compete for parking spots with parents and people in the neighborhood. In addition, tickets from street cleaning and snow taking up space on narrow streets shouldn’t be a major concern. Two of the teachers in my room have been nice enough to give me a tour of the school in my first week and meet with others. I am getting more familiar with the big building which is useful for finding my way around.

 

I have been trying to get involved in the classroom as much as possible from day one. I am not one to just sit for too long, so I have spent most of my time walking around to help, talk, and see the students work and interact. My cooperating teacher (CT) handed over the responsibility to me of going over the mini daily oral language (DOL) lesson with the students since Thursday in week 1. I have also volunteered to check off the students agendas every day, something I noticed the teachers do in my room.

 

This past week, I have also started to go and pick the students up in the morning from the lunch room (since it is cold outside). I prefer to stay with the students during their specials, so I have seen them in gym, art, library, etc. I know the teachers don’t have to and usually have a prep, but I stay because I like to see the students during different times and subjects throughout the day. For example, I have seen one student who is usually quiet and lower performing in other subjects really come alive during gym. Likewise, I have found out what some student’s favorite subjects are and how they perform in the different areas. Being able to see the third graders in my room throughout most of the day, I am starting to get a better idea of their personalities, abilities, strengths, and areas for improvements. I feel teachers sitting in once in a while during their student’s other subjects will give them a different view of what their students are like.

 

I use to think I wasn’t the best person to work with students with “disabilities”. Being with such students who have some sort of difficulty learning or performing during practicum and again this semester made me think twice about this. I know I have more patience with younger children and this comes in useful when working with students who aren’t as quick. I still feel these students can learn, especially if they are given the extra bit of help and attention. I have been working with some of these 3rd graders and I came to the realization that it isn’t as hard as I thought. Although I still don’t feel like I am the best person to help them individually because I don’t have all the tools or knowledge for teaching students with disabilities (TSD), I feel like I have made a little bit of difference in their learning. If I can give them the confidence that they are as smart as their classmates and can do the work, then I know I have been able to help.

 

Week 3
 

This semester was my chance to finally see inside the school. I live around the area and I’ve passed the building the past few years on my way to uni. When I walked into “my new classroom”, I immediately noticed what looked like a smart board in the room. I later found out it is a Promethean board. I am a little familiar with smart boards (from practicum), and now I am learning how to use a similar technology to teach. The Promethean board is used the whole day in my class. Even when it is not directly being used, the objective is always typed on the board.

 

I was surprised that there are no computers for the students to use in the classroom. It isn’t a big issue since the school does have a computer room, but I think it would be more convenient to have a few computers in the classroom as well. A printer is in the room and it is used by all the 3rd grade teachers. The fact that at least the teachers have a computer in their room and in my CT’s case, the printer too, it is easy for them to print assignments and other documents without having to run to the computer or teacher’s room three floors down. A lot of time (and energy) is saved this way!

 

A 360 view when walking in the room: a teacher's desk is to the right, a U table is directly to the left and to the left of that is my CT's desk. In front of her desk is a blue round table where I sit. Between my table and a matching blue table on the other side close to where another teacher in charge of a student sits, the students sit in groups or individually at their desks. In front of all the desks is a rug where the students can sit in front of the Promethean board. To the left of the board are bookshelves with a lot of fiction books. Nonfiction books are usually kept in baskets on the floor. Beside these shelves to the left is the shortcut door. On the other side of the board are the printer, TV, and the first teacher's desk again. 

 

Something different in my CT’s classroom is the door in between leading to another 3rd grade class and also a skylight in the back of the room where I keep my belongings. The “back door” serves as a shortcut for any teacher and teachers/students are always coming in the room to pick up papers from the printer for their class. The skylight adds a natural light to the room even when the lights are turned off and a view of the weather can be seen a bit from inside.

 

The morning routines are simple and I have been given them by my CT. The students get picked up at 8 am from either outside or the cafeteria (if the weather isn’t good). They go to their lockers and then come in to their room to start writing their homework in their agendas. I check off that their homework is all written. At this time, the TV is used. There is a TV in the room attached to the wall above the printer. On the TV, the pledge of allegiance is written and said by all and then a patriotic song is played. Everyone has to be standing during both. After the song, the announcements are made by students in the school. The students go back to writing their homework or start doing their daily oral language assignment. After 10-15 minutes, I go over the DOL with the students. By now it is around 9 am and my CT starts the day’s reading lesson.

 

There are 3 groups of desks in the classroom with at least 3-4 students sitting together. A few students sit individually away from their groups. Since there are a lot of boys in this class (11) and they all like to talk, my CT had to separate a few from their groups. The 5 female students in the room are seated throughout the 3 groups, so at least 1 girl is placed in each group. For these seating arrangements, at least 1 if not 2 high performing students are placed in each group. This could be to help their classmates or so all the “smart” students aren’t all together making the others feel bad. There are 3 leveled groups for math; an above level, on level, and approaching level group, and 4 groups for reading; A, B, C, and D. For math, the 3 groups get to work with an adult. For reading, it is almost the same, but one group gets to work individually. I go around helping the students during these times.

 

One thing I really like is that my class has a lot of different specials, like art, music, computers, library, gym, Spanish, and dear (drop everything and read) time. Because they have so many subjects, they can never really be bored and have the chance to learn a lot more then students in other districts. I think it is great that the school can provide their students with so much! Students have the opportunity to learn a different language, play instruments, have easy access to a lot of books at the school library, etc. This will give them an advantage later in life because they experienced a lot more than maybe others.

 

The classroom is managed well by the teachers. The students can get loud and excited as usual, but they are brought back as a class with either clapping or a louder than normal comment to quiet down. The students are all treated equally in my opinion. None of them are made to feel inferior by adults and I personally have made an effort to know the students better. I stay and talk with the students a lot (which is probably why they seem to like me). A lot of them (of not all) seem to be comfortable around me and I am really glad about that. If students are relaxed around their teachers, I think they are more open to learning from them and listening to them. Teachers will enjoy their work and students will enjoy the company and their many hours spent in school!

 

My 1st observation was this past week on Friday January 30th. Although I felt more calm then I did last semester about being observed with so many adults in the room and teaching, I was still a little nervous in the beginning of my lesson. This was the first time I was told what I have to write my lesson on (fractions) so that was a little challenging because I had to stick to it. I also never did station work for an observation so I didn’t know what to expect from that. Time went really fast surprisingly and everything went fine. I did catch myself say “you guys” a few times out of habit, but I tried to stop myself. Hopefully, I will be teaching a lot more before my next observation so I will get more chances to practice being in front of the class and teaching them.

Practicum Journals 10-12

For more info. on what these journals are and to read journals 1-9, please click here http://sfraww.blogspot.com/search/label/My%20Journal%20Writings This is the last group of journals from teaching this semester. I hope this was interesting for some of you :)

Week 10 (November 25, 2014) Journal

I didn’t go to my practicum school on Wednesday, November 26, so this journal is based only on the previous day.

I was nervous about my 2nd and final observation this week because I knew I had a lot to improve on from my last observation. I am also sick, so my throat was a constant issue (which I had to soothe by drinking a lot of water throughout my lesson). Nonetheless, I felt a little more comfortable (my wow moment) teaching then in my last observation. This could be due to the fact that I had more practice sitting in front of the students at the rug and being their (math) “teacher” by this time in the semester, I wasn’t nervous about adult eyes observing me (I asked the SPED teacher and TA to not focus on me), or because I felt my lesson was the best I could make it. Whatever the reason, I am grateful that the lesson went well and I made improvements!

My CT was out at a workshop in the morning so she couldn’t see my lesson, but I am extremely appreciative that the SPED teacher gave me pointers before and after my lesson. She suggested I use songs, which made sense since the students are used to singing songs to learn, but I was concerned about doing too much in a short amount of time (I know my lesson took more time than I thought)! I think the songs actually helped the students get into math mode since they usually do ELA right after breakfast and it also helped me relax a bit and sing along with them.

The Cheerios Counting book was a good choice to combine it with using actual cheerios for my lesson. Again, I hesitated to use cheerios at first because I thought it would result in a big mess, which it didn’t. I know teachers have to take risks sometimes, but I was worried this would negatively affect my observed lesson. The students looked like they enjoyed working with cheerios and when I went around helping them, I felt like many of them understood my point of having them group the cheerios. Yes some of the students might not have understood, but it will take more than one lesson for students to truly grasp an idea.

I especially liked the bingo boards that I made for this lesson. Although the SPED teacher later suggested I should have made it less than 5x5 (because special students would not be able to focus with so many numbers all at once) and not put all the numbers on every board, I felt the way I did it served my purpose i.e. to see if and which students recognized the numbers 0-20. I came to the conclusion (my aha moment) that I should save my teaching materials, especially handmade ones like these bingo boards, for future use. After my lesson the SPED teacher suggested I should never keep my back to the students (my oops moment), which she noticed I did a few times. I didn’t notice I said okay so many times, but I know I said “you guys” a number of times. It felt great to get good feedback overall and getting my observation done!

Coming up with ideas and writing a lesson plan takes a lot of time and effort. It is worth it if the lesson goes well or if one learns from mistakes. Knowing the students, how to manage them and one’s time, and how to assess students and adapt lessons are all part of the learning experience for (future) teachers. There is always something to learn when it comes to teaching, whether from one’s students, colleagues, teaching materials, etc. I have a few more lessons to teach in the next 2 weeks, so there is still more I can learn and experience!

Week 11 (December 1-5) Journal

 

A full week at my practicum school was a lot of time to be with the students. I haven’t been in school from 7:00 am to 3:00 pm in almost four years, so going home with daily headaches on top of being sick wasn’t fun. On Monday and Tuesday, my CT was out sick, but there were still three adults including me in the room to help manage the students. On Monday, I was able to see the students during music for the first time. The music teacher and the students played drums and tambourines, and sang a song about the angels they drew. During a different period, the students had to draw a Christmas tree and once a student asked me and I helped them, a couple more called me over to teach them as well. The SPED teacher noticed my drawing and that the students wanted my help, so she suggested I go up and draw it on the blackboard, which I did. Now I feel like the students try to get my help for a lot of drawing assignments because they seem to like my examples and know that I will help them.

 

On Tuesday, during homeroom I read to a few students at their tables and while reading, I replaced the character’s name with the student’s name. They found it funny and seemed to like that which was cute. I think I should do this more often (my aha moment) so the student feels as if they are part of the story! I had the chance to start my teacher work sample (TWS) after lunch. I chose the topic community workers (CW) and started with a Guess Who game. I pointed to a picture on a chart with examples of CW and had the students name the person. Afterwards, I had the students role play CW while discussing how a specific CW helps people. I started with the example of a teacher writing on the board. For a firefighter, I pulled up a picture on the smart board of a house on fire so a student came up pretending he was the firefighter using a hose to put out the fire. We also did doctor/ nurse, police officer, garbage collector, librarian, etc. The students seemed to really get excited and enjoyed this activity. I followed the games with a read aloud of a book with questions and then had them go back to their seats to do their own illustrations of what CW they want to be when they grow up.  

 

For the rest of the week, my CT came in. On Wednesday during ELA centers, I worked with  students at the skills center. They were working on a project about nouns. A long sheet of construction paper was folded in half and then 4 cuts were made for vertical flaps. Under each flap, one word was written (person, place, thing, animal) so the students had to pick one thing for each category, draw a picture, and write the word to go along for each category. I think this project was cute and creative and would like to do something similar in the future (my aha moment).

 

I continued with my TWS after lunch again on Wednesday. We went over community workers/ helpers from the previous day and then I played two short interactive books on scholastic.com about librarians and firefighters. For their assignment, I modeled 4 squares on 4 different community helpers I see in my community. I had the students go back to their seats to complete the task and collected their final work. I gave them stickers when they were done because they had asked the day before and I promised I would bring them.

 

On Thursday, a new student joined the class. I noticed he is smart for the most part and friendly. He needs some help with writing his letters which I noticed during my lesson. I planned to finish my lesson this day, but it was my fault the students didn’t understand and complete the task (my oops moment). I wanted each student to make a thank you card for a community worker. First I had the students glue the little stamped thank you notes I made the night before. I should have glued them myself because this took them at least 10 minutes. I wrote dear and thank you on the board for them to copy along with some CW they wanted to write to. I thought they would be able to copy my example on the board and also my card I showed as an example, but it was apparently too much for at least half the class (my wow moment). I realized I should have had the complete writing I wanted them to copy on enough pieces of paper for each student. I ended my lesson, hoping I would be able to reteach my lesson the next day and that the students would have some writing for me to analyze for my TWS.

 

On Friday, the students had art and again I was able to see this for the first time. They learned about the three primary colors and colored in a lot of pictures for each. Thankfully, I was able to reteach my lesson after lunch. For reinforcement, I had the students go over examples of CW and what they do to help people. I explained exactly what I wanted some of the students to redo and what some of the students had to finish from the day before. I made copies of what they had to copy. For example, for students writing their cards to a teacher, they wrote, “Dear teacher, Thank you for helping me learn. From Miss F” (replace with their name). Then they were able to draw a picture of their CW and color it in.

 

Only four more days left for practicum. I can’t wait to see the student’s reactions when I give them the story books and coloring books I got for them. I will really miss the students and I know at least one of them will miss me too (a girl said this to me)! I wish I could do student teaching in the same classroom, but I guess Haledon PS with 3rd graders will be good for more experience and to make it a little less stressful for myself.

 

Week 12 (December 8-11) Journal

 

My days with the kindergarten students were numbered this final week of practicum. I made sure to tell the students that I won’t be coming in a few days so they know not to expect me in their classroom anymore. Of course I plan to visit and was even told by the teachers to come for their graduation which I would love to see!

 

On Monday, the students worked on writing their own mini books of what zoo animals went in their mitten. This project was inspired by the book The Mitten by Jan Brett. Instead of the mitten being lost in the woods and woodland animals making themselves at home inside, if they lost a mitten at the zoo, the students had to pick what animals they would find inside the mitten. I walked around to help the students of course. My CT suggested to me if I ever need lesson plan ideas for any book, to go to scholastic.com. I always knew of this website, but didn’t think it could be a first stop to lesson planning help. She used it and after I went on the site for myself, I found a section dedicated to lesson plans. I think scholastic.com will be one of my best friends next semester and as a future teacher (my aha moment)!

 

A few days this week, the students did projects to decorate the classroom and bulletin boards. They colored candy canes and Christmas tree lights and while I cut the student’s completed candy canes, my CT decorated them with glitter to make them more festive and stand out. The students also glued together a person’s head, opened mouth with tongue out and teeth showing as if catching snowflakes. Then they used their finger and white paint to dot snowflakes around their person’s head. Finally, they counted and wrote how many “snowflakes” they finger painted on their paper. I helped the children arrange the pieces correctly, paint, and count the snowflakes.

 

I had one final assignment I had to do with some students and I finally got a chance to actually do it. Our collection project using stickers was done this week with the help of five students I chose. They brought in stickers from home and I also shared a lot of mine to teach them about collections, sorting, labeling, etc. While the rest of the class watched a video for science, I had the five students at a table choose what category of stickers they wanted to work with. The five categories were winter, movies, cars, shiny stickers and stickers with letters on them. After labeling their papers with their chosen category, they sorted what stickers went in that group and picked 6 stickers each to display on their page. After picking their stickers, we went around and shared what stickers we each thought went along with our group. I really tried to emphasize the collecting aspect of this assignment. I didn’t think things completely through step by step so I took a little too long (my oops moment).

 

I decided to give my little gift to the students on Wednesday while everyone was present. After seeing them at the book fair and reading to most of the students individually and in small groups, I knew I wanted to give them books. I ordered different books for all the students to pick.  I spread all the story books on three tables for the students to be able to see their options. It was really nice to see them go around and pick a book. The teacher’s wanted a picture for the student’s yearbook, so I was able to take a group picture with all the students holding their book. 

 

I will miss the students and I know some feel the same because they have told me and many bombarded me with hugs on Thursday which was cute. The teachers were also nice enough to throw me a goodbye party and give me a little gift too (my wow moment). I plan to visit soon once before the next semester and will make plans to be there at their graduation!

 

I learned a lot during this semester in practicum. For example, I would prefer working with younger elementary school students like kindergarten. Prior to practicum, I wanted to work with 4th-6th graders. I learned a lot about the kindergarten age and grade, such as they need a lot more assistance then I thought and attention. Doing practicum helped me realize the work and dedication needed to actually be a successful teacher. I also know a little of what I can expect (coming home with headaches) next semester being in the field full time. There is good and bad to everything in life, and as for my decision to become a teacher and finish up my college degree, as long as the students are a pleasure to work with, I think I can manage the teacher lifestyle.   

Practicum Journals 7-9

For more info. on what these journals are and to read journals 1-6, please click here http://sfraww.blogspot.com/search/label/My%20Journal%20Writings

Week 7 (November 4 & 5) Journal

The two days at practicum this week were busy and eventful. On Tuesday, I got the chance to “teach” the students during math and science. The teachers were occupied with other things, so they asked if I could take care of the class. Having their math (and reading) routines memorized, I felt like I could do this! While the students sat at the rug, I played their usual educational songs via YouTube on the smart board; big numbers, days of the week, months of the year, one song on coins and another on the tricky teens. I asked some questions in between, but soon afterwards, it was lunch time so that was as far as we got. (Usually they have centers after songs at the rug.)  

After lunch, my CT asked if I could read a book to the students about Veterans Day. I felt the book was too advanced for the students and not interesting, but that was the only book available on the subject. So again, I asked questions about the book and later showed them a video of last year’s Veterans Day parade. For “busy” work, the teachers asked the students to draw a picture of a parade. Not really exciting, but I couldn’t think of an alternative on the spot. Since there was still time left before the media teacher came, I read Red Leaf, Yellow Leaf by Louis Ehlert. 

Wednesday was much more exciting. The students took a (standardized) test, the first test I’ve seen them take! My CT went over step by step with the students what they had to do for each part. The test included questions on matching beginning sound pictures, comprehension questions of a short story, recognizing letter sounds, and writing a sentence. While I was walking around, I was surprised (my wow moment) to see many of the students who I thought were smart (because they would answer questions correctly at the rug,) were struggling with the test. I noticed only two students got all 10 questions correct on the matching beginning sound pictures. The IEP students didn’t do that bad, but could have used some individual assistance. 

There was an assembly on safety, so I went with the whole class. Because this cut into the math period, my math lesson for an assignment was affected. I did it on shapes and realized I shouldn’t give stickers the students like in between the lesson (my oops moment)! I wanted to reward and encourage the students to participate, so I thought giving them each a sticker at the rug for answering would be better than giving one for the final assignment (which I wouldn’t have been able to since I didn’t finish). The students were getting distracted by the Disney Frozen stickers and I would constantly have to get their attention away from comparing their stickers with classmates. I eventually got a hoarse throat on top of my already bad cough!

For my lesson, I played a song on shapes in the beginning which worked out well. I also used shape manipulatives and taught them a mnemonic; to remember an octagon has 8 sides, think of an octopus with 8 legs because octo-means 8 in a different language! If I could reteach this lesson (my aha moment), I would ask the students to come up and draw shapes on the anchor chart instead of me doing it all. This would get them on their feet and engage them more. For the final assignment, I would change it and have the students draw a scene including at least 5 shapes they learned about in the lesson. Hopefully my CT will let me reteach this lesson! 

After I had my quick lunch and went to the cafeteria as usual, I showed some students my state quarter collection. I need to pick a few students to start a collection for an assignment and after asking a few students if they collect anything, I showed my collection as an example. Even though they don’t understand what states are, they were really fascinated seeing so many coins (50)! The five students I picked to help me, decided they want to collect coins as well, but we will have to pick something easily available on school property, like leaves.     

In the afternoon, I helped the SPED teacher work on a thanksgiving bulletin board project with the students. They had to use four adjectives to describe a person they were thankful for. It was at this time that a little girl said something disturbing about someone at home! Because my CT was at a meeting, I emailed her later and asked her to take care of the situation with the student and she later told me she did. 

All in all, I was exhausted by the end of the day. I still want to continue taking advantage of any teaching moments I can and hopefully the teachers will give me more opportunities! Week 8 will be very busy as well, especially since school #7 is closed on Tuesday for Veteran’s Day. The semester is going by really fast, but I have enjoyed practicum so far!    

 

Week 8 (November 12) Journal

 

Since School #7 was closed on Tuesday for Veteran’s Day, Wednesday was the only day of practicum this week. Due to this, I only had one day to teach my lesson for an art class assignment. For this assignment, we had to infuse art with a core subject and include an art project such as acting, singing, collage making, drawing using pastels/ paint, etc. I combined social studies and art and my lesson was on how we can be kind to others. I read a book, Each Kindness, and asked questions every few pages. Before starting the book, I asked what kindness meant, and many of the students didn’t know until a boy said “being nice”. By the end of the story, the students were able to understand the difference between what is kind and what is unkind. My CT was out for the day at workshops, but the SPED teacher was nice enough to give me tips (my aha moment) throughout my lesson. For example, she suggested I shorten my lessons for KG students or “put myself on fire” to keep the students engaged and excited, skip parts in the story that students might be sensitive to, define words like regret, etc.    

 

For the activity, I had the students get into 4 groups to practice a short skit on an act of kindness, ex. sharing, saying nice words, helping peers, and not pushing in line, so they could perform for their classmates. I knew from the beginning the options we were given on what art form we could do would be too difficult and messy for kindergarten, but I had to choose something from the list. While I was helping another group, two boys did something and one boy got hurt. He was taken to the nurse, but was fine when he got back. It was a mistake (my oops moment) to have the students attempt acting in groups, something they were probably not used to doing. The SPED teacher advised me that I end my lesson at the rug and have them do something else at their seats instead. So I had the students draw what kind act they did in their groups and collected their work. 

 

Eventually, the students went down to the book fair to see what books they wanted to buy the next day. The students would ask me or the SPED teacher for the price of the books and I felt bad when a few students expressed their concerns to me about money. The lack of money at home will make students feel bad for themselves if they can’t afford something they want while some of their peers might be able to. During my lesson, the SPED teacher told me to skip the part in the story about the girl wearing a dress that looked like it came from a secondhand store. I was surprised (my wow moment) to hear that some of the children in my practicum class are in a similar situation. I don’t blame the little students and nor will this negatively change my attitude or behavior towards them, but it does sadden me to know their situation, especially since they are so young. 

 

Two thirds of practicum semester is over and I am starting to think about what I can give to the students as goodbye presents. I know I don’t have to, but I will miss the students very much and I want them to have something to remember me by. I know I will regret it if I don’t give them even a small gift. In addition, I know they will appreciate whatever I give since they are children and get excited over everything!   

 

Week 9 (November 18 & 19) Journal

 

On Tuesday, November 18th, the students had a half day because it was report card night. The next day, I heard that 18/20 of the student’s parents came in. That was a good turnout compared to another class who had 9/19 parents come in. A teacher of the latter class was disappointed, which is understandable. If parents don’t show an interest in what their child is doing in school and their performance, the child may feel neglected. In addition, the child will not get the help (in time) that they may really need. Of course, parents are busy and tired after work and taking care of their family, so parents have their reasons.  

 

The students had an assembly early in the morning on Tuesday. A few classes performed dances for the Latin American/Hispanic Heritage assembly. After breakfast, the students in my class practiced dancing and the majority of them looked like they were having fun. While the students performed at the assembly and the SPED teacher and teacher’s aide helped them remember the moves, I was asked to record the students dancing, which I did. The students looked adorable and overall, the assembly was entertaining.    

 

Due to the half day schedule, not much teaching was done in class. I don’t know if that is usually the case on such days (this is the first time I was at #7 on a half day), the assembly took time out of an already short day, or because my CT was out. I heard she was out for jury duty, so I haven’t seen her this Tuesday or Wednesday (nor last Tuesday (off for Veteran’s Day) or Wednesday (CT at workshops). I have important things to discuss with my CT and would have preferred to speak to hear in person as soon as possible, so the fact that I haven’t seen her in four days (2 weeks) of practicum, leaves me no choice but to email her instead. 

 

After the assembly, the students did a little bit of math centers and then it was time for lunch. During science, the students learned about wood, while I helped work on a chart for the letter of the week. Soon it was time to go home.  

 

The next day, there was another assembly. Three firefighters came in to talk and later the students were able to go outside to see the fire truck. They were really excited and again, I was asked to take a picture. During math, I played the usual math songs for the students to sing along to. Later, I helped the SPED teacher do a short lesson using an interactive dice on the smart board. While I rolled the dice, she kept track of how many times each of the 6 numbers were rolled to teach the students that we can get a lot of information from a bar graph. 

 

For some reason, the students have been telling on/complaining about each other a lot recently. I was getting tired of listening to this constantly and so was the SPED teacher. Thus, she decided to give an impromptu lesson on tattle-tailing. She explained what tattle-tailing was vs. telling and when students should tell (during an emergency). She wanted to show a video to the students, but I felt like she spent a lot of time looking for one. This happened during science too. A lot of time was wasted just looking for a video when it should have been found before the lesson (oops moment).  

 

It wasn’t until this Wednesday that I realized I am a decent drawer! Previously, I would always think and say I can’t draw for my life, but the students have asked me to help them draw pictures, for example, a birthday cake, an igloo, or an iguana, and I would try on a separate paper. Not only did they like my attempts, but I was pleasantly surprised (my wow moment) and satisfied with my ability. This is probably minor, but I realized that (early) elementary school teachers, are artists amongst there other roles (parent, teacher, counselor, entertainer, etc.). 

 

Now that it is crunch time, I am counting down the days I have left at #7. I would love to work with the students again for student teaching, but I feel like my CT might not like that idea and it would be a challenge to look for parking around the school in the snow. Thanks to my experience in Passaic for practicum, I have realized (my aha moment) that I prefer to work at an urban school district. I am familiar with areas like Paterson and Passaic and I think I will be more comfortable working with younger students in a similar environment.                

Practicum Journals 4-6

For more info. on what these journals are and to read the first 3, please go to http://sfraww.blogspot.com/2014/11/practicum-journals-1-3.html. These journals are a great way for me to learn from my experiences as well as to remember how the semester at this school went.  

 

Week 4 (October 14 & 15) Journal

Week 4 wasn’t too exciting. On Tuesday and Wednesday, the students, teachers, and I did the same thing we have been doing for the past weeks. They followed their schedule and went about their day as usual. For reading and math, the students did their routine songs at the rug, and then went to centers. At centers, the 3 teachers called students to work with individually while I walked around and worked with other students in their groups. I continued to go to lunch and gym with the students to be with the students as much as possible. On Wednesday, my CT was out so a substitute came in. There were still 4 teachers including me, so it wasn’t a big deal. The SPED teacher took over just fine and later in the day, the smart board got fixed which was exciting for everyone.

 

I realized by Wednesdays, the students are more comfortable with me. Tuesday is the first day in the week I come to their class so this day they are getting used to seeing me again. Some of the students know I only come on Tuesdays and Wednesdays so they expect to see me the next day. In the first few days I was in my practicum class, one girl would cry for her mom during homeroom (right after being dropped off!) and would constantly ask if it was time to go home. For the past few days I was there, I have noticed she doesn’t cry anymore. She is one of the students who would ask me if I will come tomorrow (meaning Wednesday) and tries to get my attention a lot. I don’t know if my presence makes a positive difference to her, but if it does, I am glad.

 

I started to read to a few students at their tables after they finished their assignments for science. I read to a few students individually, and then more students came up to me asking if I could read to them or would sit close by while I read to their classmates. I was surprised (my wow moment) by how much they enjoyed this individual time with me and how comfortable I felt doing this. I think it is a little easier to read to a few students then read to a whole class. Of course I will have to read to the whole class eventually, but for starters, small groups are easy to manage and fun to work with a few students. Since the kindergarteners are so young and can’t read a lot of the books at their tables, they would pick books they wanted me to read to them. I think this would make a good reward for my future (younger) students (my ah ha moment). If students behave, say during the week, then I could treat these students to personal reading time with me. I read to more students later in the day until it was time to get ready to go home. I realized I would read to the same few students (because they would ask first), which isn’t nice or fair to the others, so I have to remember to read to other students as well (my oops moment).

 

According to the journal outline for weeks 4-5, I have to gather some information on student characteristics. There are 10 girls and 10 boys, so 20 students total in a class with 3 teachers (not including me). All of these students (and teachers) are Hispanic. Some of the students are Mexican, Puerto Rican, Columbian, etc. Their ages are 4-6 years old. There are 8 students with Individualized Education Program (IEP) and at least 3 bilingual students in this kindergarten class. As my CT says, she has IEP and bilingual students in a transitional classroom! 

 

There are a few students who I feel have attachment issues, one being the girl mentioned earlier (in this journal). It could be that their young age requires dependence on an adult or the fact that they were not taught a little bit of independence from parents and teachers is part of growing up. Two students in particular have issues with oral fixation (constantly putting fingers in their mouth or licking hands) and another student has anal fixation issues. Two students in my practicum class are a little too friendly with each other, almost like bf and gf (as the SPED teacher correctly identified). These latter issues can lead to problems for an educator. For example, if teachers have to constantly interrupt class time to tell students to take their hands out of their mouths, ask if students washed their hands after using the bathroom, etc. this will waste a lot of instructional time. Because of these two common issues in my practicum class, teachers have to constantly tell students about germs spreading. Students (and teachers) will get sick from other classmates unsanitary habits, leading to more absences, missing lessons and assignments. This in turn will lower the achievement of students and teaching time of teachers.

 

Week 5 (October 21 & 22) Journal
 

The most exciting thing that happened on Tuesday was that I got a chance to read to the students for the 1st time. My CT said for me to read to the class to practice for my observation, so I read The 13 Nights of Halloween. The teachers in the room got some work done while I kept the students busy for a period. I wasn’t nervous and the children were really into the book. I asked questions about the book while reading and later I had them do 4 squares.  They drew 4 events that happened in order in the book and colored their illustrations. The teachers complimented me while I was walking around and helping the students with their assignment. This made me feel a little more confident for my observation the next day.

 

I was surprised (my wow moment) that I was nervous the day of my observation. Just days before, I was telling my older sister that I was confident my lesson would go well and I thought I would do a good job. I realized after my lesson, that too much confidence, for me at least, isn’t a good thing. I got nervous with so many adults actually paying attention to me and the students were a little too quiet than usual. From the beginning, I felt my throat get dry. It didn’t help that my eyes were acting up again either.

 

There are a few things I noticed about my lesson. While I was doing my lesson, I realized I did some things out of order. It wasn’t a big deal because I did cover them eventually. I also said you guys to the students a few times. I didn’t think of adding a clear closure to my lesson either. But my biggest mistake (my oops moment) was afterwards when I realized my lesson was a little too hard for the kindergarteners. I thought it wouldn’t be, but I was wrong apparently. For next time (my aha moment), I have to keep in mind to focus more on what the students already know/ learned.

 

Besides my 2nd observation, I still have to write and teach 2 lessons as part of my classes. I should start out my lessons with what I know the students already learned. Maybe I can introduce a little bit of something new, but not focus too much on new material for my lessons. I could do what I want with my future students because I will know what they have been taught for the most part, but since I will be teaching a few separate lessons for practicum, it would be better I think, if I stick with a topic the students have worked with in depth for a good amount of time.

 

There are actually a lot more things I need to improve on for the next time. Hopefully, I can practice more with the students and get use to adults watching me teach. I will try to get more involved in actually teaching the students rather than just observing and helping them after the teacher is finished. I have to get over my anxiety, and would rather it be sooner than later!

 

Week 6 (October 28 & 29) Journal

I was really looking forward to teaching this week at practicum. When I asked my CT on Tuesday, she said she would be observed sometime soon, but I could definitely teach on Wednesday. She did get observed on Tuesday, but I didn’t get the chance to teach on Wednesday because my CT (and the SPED teacher) were out. I thought the TA and I could take care of everything and even after I was asked about my sub license, the school felt it necessary to split the class into two groups for the day because there was no substitute teacher. About 10 students went with me in a neighboring teacher’s room, and the other students went with the TA to another room. I didn’t get to teach like I wanted to, but I did get to see how another KG teacher ran her class.  

 

I mentally compared this other KG teacher’s room and teaching to my CT and I came to the conclusion that I really preferred the way my CT did (most) things. My CT has reading and math centers, sight words are taught, fun educational songs are used, the room is nicely organized, etc. Of course the other teacher had to adjust to having more people in the room and she may also do similar activities on other days. The students with me did similar work to the other students (mostly a lot of coloring). My students also got to eat lunch with their classmates and I did get to see the other half of the class for a while. Getting the chance to go into another KG teacher’s room was a different experience to learn from.

 

One student in particular that caught my attention was a bilingual girl. From the beginning of practicum, she would talk to me in Spanish and I would tell her to try and say it in English because I didn’t understand her (for the most part since I forgot a lot of Spanish). She would try to talk in English, but is definitely more comfortable with Spanish. She (along with another girl) came up to give me a hug on Wednesday morning. The day before when my CT and I were talking about the student’s work (not in front of them), we both noted how this girl did better than all her classmates! People would assume that since she is bilingual, she isn’t so smart, but that is not true at all. After doing some coloring with the students in the other room, I found it amusing and was surprised (my wow moment) how this little girl caught on that if she copied my color by number, she was actually doing it right. All the student were told to color the picture with whatever color they wanted, but this girl wanted to do it right.

 

The day before (Tuesday), the students went about their day as usual. Minus the 5+ adults in the room at one point in the day, everything was the same i.e. breakfast was served, journal writing, ABC and sight word cards, videos and songs, big book reading at the rug, centers, etc. During lunch, I brought in candy for the students, which they were excited about. After lunch, the class did an experiment turning white carnations into different colors using food color. This is a simple science experiment teaching students how water goes up the plant’s stem (capillary action), but I would consider doing this with my future students (my aha ha moment). The school counselor came in later to do a lesson on making good choices. I felt like she made her lesson to long and difficult for the students (oops moment). The students were getting restless (one girl was dosing off) and didn’t understand much of the lesson. Because the counselor made the same mistake as me, I saw how the students behaved when the lesson goes over their head.

 

I can’t believe practicum is halfway over! I hope I don’t have to be absent (feeling sick).