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.

The 7 Deadly Sins of Books Tag

 

I wanted to do a tag and I found this, the 7 Deadly Sins of reading/books. For those who aren't familiar with tags online, it's basically a questionnaire that people answer and they tag a number of people to also answer them as well. For my tags, I will try to vary my answers without making them up and ask that everyone else try to do the same. Feel free to answer the questions here in the comments below ;) You can still answer these questions if you want to whether I tagged you or not!

1. GREED—What is your most inexpensive book? What is your most expensive book?
My most inexpensive book would have to be something from my library hauls that I posted about here and here.  My most expensive book for my personal bookshelf (not for my book biz) is probably Footsteps by Umm Zakiyyah.

2. WRATH—What author do you have a love/hate relationship with?
I'm not sure if this counts, but my love/hate author would be Lemony Snicket because although I liked his books in elementary school, his writing was sometimes boring and annoying to read. But I made myself finish the series; 13 books that I probably would never have read if I wasn't introduced to the series by my 4th grade teacher.

3. GLUTTONY—What book have you deliciously devoured over and over with no shame?
Probably Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone. I'm sure I've read it more than twice since 6th grade.

4. SLOTH—What book have you neglected reading due to laziness?
Any books under standalone, start and complete series, and others from my 2015 Reading Goals post.

5. PRIDE—What book do you most talk about in order to sound like a very intellectual reader?
None. I'll talk about any book even if it is "unintellectual".

6. LUST—What attributes do you find most attractive in male or female characters?
Funny, smart/ clever, outspoken, brave, etc. Basically anything I find attractive in actual people.

7. ENVY—What books would you most like to receive as a gift?
Monster War by Dean Lorey. I can't seem to find this book anywhere (and at an affordable price). I want it to read and complete my set of the Nightmare Academy trilogy!

The Ghost of the Tower of London

I wrote this short story as a freshmen in uni. and decided to finally share it here after holding on to it for so long for some reason. There were specific rules to the assignment which I don't remember, but I will put up my "explanation" of this story in my next writing post. Until then, I hope you enjoy this and it makes sense :P

 

 

It was late at night when Buffy and Willow arrived at London's five star hotel. The two friends were on a vacation in England for summer break.

 

"I can't wait for tomorrow when we go sight-seeing!" Buffy exclaimed. She snuggled up under the covers as Willow went across the room and headed to her own bed.

 

"Sleep tight. Don't let the vampires bite," Willow said with a wink before she turned the lights off.

___________________________________________________________

 

The next day, Buffy and Willow got ready to go on an evening tour around London's famous tourist spots. First stop, Buckingham Palace. Tall gates separated the palace from tourists, but soldiers in their tall furry hats were visible from a distance, guarding the palace grounds.

 

The tour ended after about two hours of visiting the Palace of Westminster where the legendary Big Ben stands, the London Eye, the Swiss Tower, and finally across the Tower Bridge to see the Tower of London. The tour guide handed his group brochures with information on the Tower of London.

 

"Catherine Howard, a queen of England, escaped from her room in the Tower of London. She ran down the hallway screaming for help and mercy. She was caught and returned to her room. The next day she was beheaded for treason. Her ghost has been seen running down the hallway screaming for help," finished the tour guide.

 

The group continued around the castle for another half hour before it was time for visitors to leave for the night. Willow thought she saw a teenage boy quietly walk into another room with two other boys. No one else had noticed them leaving.

_____________________________________________________________

 

Two days later, as Buffy and Willow were walking around the shops of London buying gifts and souvenirs, the newspaper caught Willow's attention.

 

"Look here Buffy. A Crown Jewel at the Tower of London has been stolen! The Sovereign's Scepter holds the famous gemstone, the First Star of Africa. It is the largest flawless cut diamond in the world and weighs 530 carats. A group of three British teenagers have been suspected of being involved in the theft, but have mysteriously disappeared," Willow said nervously, suddenly realizing that she really had seen the boys leave the group.

 

"It says here that the Crown Jewels, part of the Royal Collection, are the most powerful symbols of the British Monarchy and hold deep religious and cultural significance in the nation's history."

 

"We have to go check out the scene and try looking for those stupid boys. How could they possibly think they would get away with such valuables!" Buffy exclaimed.

 

The two arrived at their destination and after asking the police for permission to do some investigation of their own, Buffy and Willow went inside. Willow debated whether she should tell Buffy where she had seen the boys going that night. She didn't. Having no luck for the first half hour of their search, Willow finally decided to just say what she knew.

 

"Buffy, you'll probably be mad to me for not mentioning this earlier, but I think I know where the boys might be. When we were at the Jewel House, I saw the boys walking into a room close by it. I thought I was just imagining it since it was dark and I was pretty tired, but I guess I was wrong..." Willow finished off quietly with her head down.

 

"You should have told me even though you weren't sure Willow. I bet the boy's parents are really worried since they've been gone for the past few days. Let's go back to where you last saw them; they probably got locked in by mistake and couldn't get out," Buffy said, taking Willow by the hand and guiding her back to the Jewel House.

________________________________________________________________

 

Before they got to the room where Willow had seen the boys enter, they heard a female scream! Buffy and Willow turned around and realized they saw a ghost running down the hallway towards the room they were heading for. The two followed the ghost and saw Catherine Howard, as Buffy and Willow assumed, walk right through another door. Buffy tried to open the door, but finding it locked, she kicked it as hard as she could and the door finally fell loose. Inside, they were surprised by what they saw.

 

The three boys were held down by something invisible. When they saw Buffy and Willow, they tried speaking, but no sounds came out. The ghost came up to Buffy and whispered, "These boys are being punished for their crime. For years, the ghosts of the Tower have been safeguarding the Crown Jewels while the human Yeomen Warders get the credit. The ghosts will not let foolish teenagers stop the tradition of guarding British's most prized possessions. Assuming you two ladies came to rescue them, which was rather odd during my time, you will both have to give up something you hold dear. And, if the boys truly want their freedom, they must return the Sovereign's Scepter which one put in his backpack, and confess to authority what they have done. If the boys don't go through with their part of the deal, they will be cursed for life. Now, what would you all like to do?" asked Catherine Howard's ghost.

 

Not liking what they were hearing, Buffy and Willow discussed their options. Finally, with much regret, Buffy replied, "I'll give up my slayer abilities and Willow will stop her interest and involvement in Wicca."

 

The boy, who Willow recognized from the start and must have been the "boss", shook his head. Apparently, he didn't want to be saved by girls!

 

"Look you three. Me and Willow are your only chance for freedom, so suck up your pride and let us help you get out of here. Imagine how your parents feel," Buff reasoned.

 

After some thought and nonverbal agreeing to the deal amongst each other, the "boss" nodded his head at the ghost. The force holding the boys motionless was removed. Taking the Sovereign's Scepter out of his backpack, the boy returned it to its location in the Jewel House. Suddenly, Buffy and Willow felt something escaping from them. With looks of surprise on their faces, the ghost simply explained that their part of the deal was being done.

 

Exiting the Tower, Buffy, Willow, and the boys went up to the police who was shocked. Dismayed at their loss for something that would have made them rich, the boys told the police what they had done. Returning the Scepter, which Buffy and Willow confirmed, the police let the boys go from serious punishment, but just to teach them a lesson, the boys had to do community service for a while.

She Wore Red Trainers by Na'ima B. Robert

 

I didn't make it an "official" goal this year to do monthly book reviews, but will try nonetheless. I can't promise that this will be a monthly reading post, so enjoy the reviews as they come!

 

She Wore Red Trainers appealed to me because it was the newest release from one of my favorite authors, Na'ima B. Robert. I have reviewed 2 of her other books on this blog, so please click the titles for a review of Far from Home and Black Sheep if you are interested. To read the book description found in the back of She Wore Red Trainers, please click here.

 

I am not into the romance genre, but this novel was actually a fun and easy read. YA (young adult) Muslim romance (not completely marriage related) is new to me, so this made the book interesting. The point of view alternated between the two main characters, Ali and Amirah, and I liked that idea for this type of story. I really enjoyed reading Amirah's parts (probably because I could understand/ "relate" to her a bit more ;) Reading about Amirah's brother was frustrating at times because of his personality and mentality and it is crazy that he is a lot like someone I know!

 

Thanks to the amount of details (which I loved), I felt like I could really picture the scenes in my mind from She Wore Red Trainers. I also liked that Arabic sayings/ words were used frequently throughout the book and it didn't seem like they were just thrown in. (The words are explained in the back for those not familiar with Arabic). I am really interested to know where the author gets her ideas like the Muslim bike club.

 

I gave this book 4/5 stars but maybe 4.5 would be more accurate. There were a few typos in the book, but the real reason why I didn't give this book 5 stars is because I felt the ending was rushed. I really wish there was more to the "happily ever after".

 

Since the story does revolve around teenagers, I would suggest this book to teenagers, especially Muslim teens. You don't have to be a fan of romance, but if you are curious to read a fictional "love" story between young Muslims, I think this would be a good book to read!

 

If you want to purchase this book, order a brand new copy from Books by the Dozen to support by business :)

Virtual Writing

I have wanted to write about blogging for a while and finally decided to do it for an assignment last semester. Let me know in the comments your thoughts about blogging.

Beginning to write a piece can be intimidating. However, once a post is completed and ready for publishing online, the excitement of sharing it with others via a blog feels great. This virtual writing platform is a great place to share opinions, favorite sources, i.e. videos, websites, and books, and have discussions with readers from around the world through comments. While personally having a number of blogs, three are currently active. Some people might not understand why I have so many, but I think it is fun. Even if I don’t have a huge audience, the fact that I can go back to what I posted, share my opinions/favorites and refer someone else to them, and maybe teach someone out in cyber space something I know and understand, are enough reasons for me to continue blogging. 

I started my first interactive cyber journal on March of 2009 using Google’s blogger about topics I was learning related to Islam. After coming up with a name, I chose a background layout that I thought was aesthetically pleasing. Having changed the background many times since then, it has stayed a nice sky blue color for a while. Included throughout the blog are videos, poems, links, and images to make it more interesting. It was a “goal” of mine to post every Saturday since posting regularly will bring traffic to a blog. Readers can figure the writer(s) is serious/ passionate and they will know to expect a post soon. 

Some other tips I suggest for bloggers include: add good quality pictures, directly link anything mentioned in the post, write in a conversational way rather than too professional (unless it is a professional blog), check for typos and errors that could be distracting, and finally, share links to the blog/post on social media sites. I don’t do this last tip, which is probably why I don’t have a big audience, but if updating social media after every post isn’t a hassle, then definitely share the link, especially if you are on social media constantly.

I remember having to start a blog as a high school assignment and I enjoyed it. Already being familiar with blogs, I realized then that if I could, I would assign my future students a blog project too. For example, they might have to keep up a blog for a few months or throughout the school year on a subject they are learning in school, their opinions on specific topics, etc. Blogging like this would take in-class journaling to the next level by incorporating technology with writing!

Although I still blog about Islam, I have ventured into writing about books and sharing my personal writings, like poems and some school/ college pieces on http://sfraww.blogspot.com/. I also write about entertainment, college advice, product reviews, etc. on another blog. I would highly encourage everyone to start a blog, even if it is for oneself. Who knows, maybe it could be a source of income one day as it is for many others!

2015 Reading Goals

1. Read 50 books in 2015. If you are curious to know about my progress, my status gets updated on https://www.goodreads.com/user_challenges/1925556
2. I have to go on a book buying ban! I spent way too much money in 2014 on books and have to take a break. Basically, no more book hauls, at least until I read most of the books I own on my bookshelf.
3. Going along with the above, read as many books on my bookshelf that I can this year! It's silly that I continue to collect more books when I own a ton that still need to be read...
4. Write books reviews, a few sentences or in depth, for all the books that I read from now on.
5. This isn't a reading goal, but it is related to books. After I graduate, I want to get serious about my book business and really advertise and sell them!
6. Read as many of the books in my to be read (TBR) pile below! This isn't the order I plan to read them in, just a list for me to refer back to. I know it looks like a lot, but this is just an idea of what books I want to finally get around to reading. Click on the titles for more info.

Islamic nonfiction
1. finish Summarized Sahih Bukhari that I started years ago...
2. Stories of the Prophets (own)

Islamic fiction (for my biz!)
1. The President is a Muslim? by Hakim Muhammad Rashid
2. The Size of a Mustard Seed by Umm Juwayriyah

Read to complete the series
1. Allegiant by Veronica Roth
2. The House of Hades by Rick Riordan

Reread to review
1. The Game of Triumphs by Laura Powell (own both books)
2. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull (5 books, own first 2)

Standalone
1. Robin: Lady of Legend by R.M. ArceJaeger (own ebook)
2. Iron House by John Hart (own)
3. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (own)

Start and complete the series (for the 1st time!)
1. The Keys to the Kingdom by Garth Nix (7 books, own the 1st)
2. The Sisters Grimm by Michael Buckley (9 books, own the first 2)
3. The Mortal Instruments by Cassandra Clare (6 books)
4. Septimus Heap by Angie Sage (7 books, own the 1st)
5. Thursday Next by Jasper Fforde (7 books, own the 1st)
6. Last Dragon Chronicles by Chris d"Lacey (7 books, own the first 3)

Ohers
1. Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass by Lewis Carroll (own)
2. Silent Mercy by Linda Fairstein (own)
3. The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown (own)

Let me know in the comments below what books are in your TBR pile/ your reading goals for 2015!

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.