Today was the craziest day of student teaching I have experienced. It was Mrs. Gabriele's first day back and I was being observed. Mrs. Gabriele came back and gave me a bunch of extra things to do. Then she informed me that she could start bleeding internally and have to be rushed to the hospital and that I would need to rush the students out of the room.
Dr. Jarrett came to observe the math lesson today, which was review Jeopardy for the test that we are having on Wednesday. Multiple of the students decided to argue with me about the randomly assigned teams. Some of the students decided to argue about the rules. One student decided to come up to the chalk board to argue with me in the middle of the game about the answer to a question.
The other MAC class had a substitute TA all day and a substitute teacher in the afternoon. Today was the longest day of student teaching ever and I still have a ton of prep work and grading to do tonight. I am sooooo ready for student teaching to be done and have my own classroom where I can make the rules and discipline system. There was not punishment that I was allowed to give for anything that happened today and I think that I am going to go insane soon.
Monday, December 5, 2011
Sunday, December 4, 2011
3 Weeks with a Substitute and My Cooperating Teacher is Coming Back
It has been 3 weeks since Mrs. Gabriele was at school. She is feeling better and is planning on being back at school tomorrow. The 3 weeks with the substitute went much better than I would have expected. The substitute and I got along really well. We definitely played off of each other effectively. I am ever in the situation of co-teaching, I can only hope that I get along half as well with the other teacher as I did with the substitute. I am glad that Mrs. Gabriele is feeling better, but I feel like 3 weeks is not long enough to recover froma a heart attack and be back at school. I truly hope that Mrs. Gabriele is ready to be back at school. I worry that she may be jumping back into things too soon. I am going to do everything that I can to make her transition back into school as easy as possible for her.
I think that these last two weeks of student teaching are going to be the hardest. Not only will I be continuing to teach everything, but I feel like I will probably be worrying a lot about Mrs. Gabriele. One of her procedures after the heart attack had some complications. She has been having some internal bleeding issues and I worry that the stress that comes with teaching and the chaos of the two MAC classes might cause the bleeding to start again. She coughed the other day and the bleeding started up, so it does not take much to aggravate the situation. I am praying that these last two weeks will go well and that she will be able to rest a lot over their winter break and be fully recovered when school starts back up in January.
I think that these last two weeks of student teaching are going to be the hardest. Not only will I be continuing to teach everything, but I feel like I will probably be worrying a lot about Mrs. Gabriele. One of her procedures after the heart attack had some complications. She has been having some internal bleeding issues and I worry that the stress that comes with teaching and the chaos of the two MAC classes might cause the bleeding to start again. She coughed the other day and the bleeding started up, so it does not take much to aggravate the situation. I am praying that these last two weeks will go well and that she will be able to rest a lot over their winter break and be fully recovered when school starts back up in January.
Sunday, November 27, 2011
Update on the Craziness
As I said in my last post, my cooperating teacher has been out the past two weeks. The latest report is that she should be back on Wednesday as long as her doctor's appointment goes well tomorrow. She is definitely feeling better to some extent. She has been emailing me constantly the past few days. I now have a pretty good idea of what this week is going to look like, in terms of what the next few topics are in most of the subjects.
In all of the craziness the past few weeks, I have been very thankful for Mrs. Tikten (the other 3/4 MAC teacher), Mrs. Shupak (the TA for the two 3/4 MAC classes), and Ms. Masi (the substitute). They have all been extremely helpful in many different ways. Mrs. Tikten has been checking in on Ms. Masi and I to make sure that we have everything that we need. Mrs. Shupak has been extra vigilant in making copies and ensuring that the students are where they are supposed to be on time. Ms. Masi has given me excellent pointers on how to better my lessons. I am definitely glad to have these three wonderful women as a part of my student teaching experience.
In all of the craziness the past few weeks, I have been very thankful for Mrs. Tikten (the other 3/4 MAC teacher), Mrs. Shupak (the TA for the two 3/4 MAC classes), and Ms. Masi (the substitute). They have all been extremely helpful in many different ways. Mrs. Tikten has been checking in on Ms. Masi and I to make sure that we have everything that we need. Mrs. Shupak has been extra vigilant in making copies and ensuring that the students are where they are supposed to be on time. Ms. Masi has given me excellent pointers on how to better my lessons. I am definitely glad to have these three wonderful women as a part of my student teaching experience.
Sunday, November 20, 2011
One Crazy Week
So this week was very crazy and chaotic. It started Monday. I arrived at school to be greeted by a substitute, who after I stated that I did not know that we were having a substitute responded "Oh, they didn't call you!" Over the weekend my cooperating teacher had not been feeling well, so her husband took her to the hospital. There they determined that the reason for not feeling well was having had a heart attack. She was in the hospital for the week and is now at home on bed rest. The substitute stayed for the week and will be with us this coming week as well. We are not sure what is happening after Thanksgiving. We are all hoping that Mrs. Gabriele will be able to return to school.
On top of Mrs. Gabriele not being at school, the week was crazy in many other ways. On Monday, we had a fire drill while the students were moving between the two classrooms and we got outside to realize that we were missing two students. We did end up finding them. We also had one of our students come in with poison ivy, so he was itchy and disruptive all day. Then one of the girls went home because she had cold sores in her mouth and was extremely uncomfortable. Later her dad called the school and told us that she had lice. We then had to take all of the students down to be checked for lice by the nurse. While we were standing outside the nurse's office the girls were freaking out. I tried to calm them down by telling them that it was not the end of the world. They responded by asking me "Wouldn't you be freaking out if you had lice?" I responded that "We did not know if any of us have lice and that we probably don't. Also, if I did have lice I would not be screaming in the hallway. I would get the special shampoo and do whatever else I needed to do to get rid of the lice." Then the principal came out in the hall and reprimanded me that we were not discussing it with the students and that a letter would go home. The students all knew why we were down at the nurse's office because the substitute had already told them. I was just trying to settle them down, so that they would not continue to disrupt the entire school.
The rest of the week went relatively well compared to Monday. Dr Jarrett came in on Thursday to observe a lesson. I did not really have a lesson to teach at the time that she was coming in, so I did the best that I could to make a lesson out of reviewing what an action verb is and what the past, present, and future tense are.
On Thursday, we had a bus drill. The students seemed to be doing fine and then one of the boys screamed. We then found out that a few of the other boys were verbally bullying him and telling him that he should just go home. The substitute reprimanded them and dealt with the problem. We then continued the bus drill and finished too early to take them to lunch. So we walked them down the hall and back to use up the time.
Friday was a half day for parent teacher conferences. Mrs. Gabriele's conferences have been postponed until she is back, but not all of the parents knew this. Some of the parents of the ESL students showed up because the letter telling them that conferences were going to be rescheduled had not been translated.
All in all this was the craziest week that I have experienced. These were just some of the highlights of the week. I truly hope that the coming weeks come and go with less excitement and that Mrs. Gabriele is able to return soon.
On top of Mrs. Gabriele not being at school, the week was crazy in many other ways. On Monday, we had a fire drill while the students were moving between the two classrooms and we got outside to realize that we were missing two students. We did end up finding them. We also had one of our students come in with poison ivy, so he was itchy and disruptive all day. Then one of the girls went home because she had cold sores in her mouth and was extremely uncomfortable. Later her dad called the school and told us that she had lice. We then had to take all of the students down to be checked for lice by the nurse. While we were standing outside the nurse's office the girls were freaking out. I tried to calm them down by telling them that it was not the end of the world. They responded by asking me "Wouldn't you be freaking out if you had lice?" I responded that "We did not know if any of us have lice and that we probably don't. Also, if I did have lice I would not be screaming in the hallway. I would get the special shampoo and do whatever else I needed to do to get rid of the lice." Then the principal came out in the hall and reprimanded me that we were not discussing it with the students and that a letter would go home. The students all knew why we were down at the nurse's office because the substitute had already told them. I was just trying to settle them down, so that they would not continue to disrupt the entire school.
The rest of the week went relatively well compared to Monday. Dr Jarrett came in on Thursday to observe a lesson. I did not really have a lesson to teach at the time that she was coming in, so I did the best that I could to make a lesson out of reviewing what an action verb is and what the past, present, and future tense are.
On Thursday, we had a bus drill. The students seemed to be doing fine and then one of the boys screamed. We then found out that a few of the other boys were verbally bullying him and telling him that he should just go home. The substitute reprimanded them and dealt with the problem. We then continued the bus drill and finished too early to take them to lunch. So we walked them down the hall and back to use up the time.
Friday was a half day for parent teacher conferences. Mrs. Gabriele's conferences have been postponed until she is back, but not all of the parents knew this. Some of the parents of the ESL students showed up because the letter telling them that conferences were going to be rescheduled had not been translated.
All in all this was the craziest week that I have experienced. These were just some of the highlights of the week. I truly hope that the coming weeks come and go with less excitement and that Mrs. Gabriele is able to return soon.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
The Importance of Pacing
I understand that there is a lot to teach in very little time, but moving on in a unit before students are ready is not going to get you to the end goal. This week my cooperating teacher had me teaching the students long division because "we need to keep moving along." If it had been my classroom, I would have spent a day or two on multiplication facts because most of the class does not know their multiplication facts. Division, especially long division, is extremely hard if you do not know basic multiplication facts. I personally love math and it is very hard for me to see so many of my students hating math, when I know that a good part of their hatred comes from being frustrated due to pacing of the unit.
I am also struggling with the pacing that has been dictated for the writing unit that I am teaching. The unit is on letter writing. The students need more time to write a letter, than what I am able to give them because I was told that I had to teach certain letters on certain days. The majority of students are very slow writers and need more than half a period to write a letter, but that is all that I can give them with the pacing that my cooperating teacher set. At least, she is seeing that the students need more time and has allowed me cut out having the students write a business letter and give them a day to catch up on the letters that they should have written by now. They will also have a large chunk of time at the end of the unit to "publish" 3 letters, which means that those letters need to be well edited and written neatly. The hope is that they will be able to give those letters as gifts.
There are many other instances in which I have noticed pacing issues. I think that one of the biggest reasons that the students are having trouble with the pacing of the different subjects, other than in math with not knowing their multiplication facts, is that they are required to correct every little mistake. My cooperating teacher has me checking their work and calling them over to fix every little mistake, rather than just marking things wrong and writing the correct answer. I agree with calling students over to go over work with them if they clearly do not understand a concept. I do not think that it is necessary to have them fix every mistake. I feel that it is a waste of my time and a waste of the students time. Some of the students are falling farther and farther behind because they are spending their time correcting old assignments, rather than working on the new assignments. If you want students to correct work, there has to be time built into the schedule for that. It is not fair to students to take away from their time for other subjects. It is also not fair to the other teacher, to keep students during her time to finish our work. I have been getting really frustrated with how much time is being spent on corrections rather than on actual learning. Yes, students learn from correcting their work, but there has to be a balance between correcting old work and learning new concepts. If a student clearly understands a concept and just made a "silly" mistake or two, it is not a good use of time to have them correct those mistakes. It makes more sense to let them work on their new assignments, rather than cause them to fall behind in their work by going back to fix their old work.
I am also struggling with the pacing that has been dictated for the writing unit that I am teaching. The unit is on letter writing. The students need more time to write a letter, than what I am able to give them because I was told that I had to teach certain letters on certain days. The majority of students are very slow writers and need more than half a period to write a letter, but that is all that I can give them with the pacing that my cooperating teacher set. At least, she is seeing that the students need more time and has allowed me cut out having the students write a business letter and give them a day to catch up on the letters that they should have written by now. They will also have a large chunk of time at the end of the unit to "publish" 3 letters, which means that those letters need to be well edited and written neatly. The hope is that they will be able to give those letters as gifts.
There are many other instances in which I have noticed pacing issues. I think that one of the biggest reasons that the students are having trouble with the pacing of the different subjects, other than in math with not knowing their multiplication facts, is that they are required to correct every little mistake. My cooperating teacher has me checking their work and calling them over to fix every little mistake, rather than just marking things wrong and writing the correct answer. I agree with calling students over to go over work with them if they clearly do not understand a concept. I do not think that it is necessary to have them fix every mistake. I feel that it is a waste of my time and a waste of the students time. Some of the students are falling farther and farther behind because they are spending their time correcting old assignments, rather than working on the new assignments. If you want students to correct work, there has to be time built into the schedule for that. It is not fair to students to take away from their time for other subjects. It is also not fair to the other teacher, to keep students during her time to finish our work. I have been getting really frustrated with how much time is being spent on corrections rather than on actual learning. Yes, students learn from correcting their work, but there has to be a balance between correcting old work and learning new concepts. If a student clearly understands a concept and just made a "silly" mistake or two, it is not a good use of time to have them correct those mistakes. It makes more sense to let them work on their new assignments, rather than cause them to fall behind in their work by going back to fix their old work.
Sunday, November 6, 2011
First Week of Second Placement
This week was the first week of my second placement. I am now in a 3rd/4th grades MAC (mixed age class). It is very different than a 2nd grade classroom. There is definitely a big jump from what is expected in 2nd grade to what is expected in 3rd and 4th grades.
It was an interesting first week. We did not have school on Monday due to the power outages. There was school on Tuesday, which was very chaotic due to not having had school Monday and most of the teachers (including myself and my cooperating teacher) and students still having no power at home. Due to the power outages, there was a district ruling of no homework for Tuesday night.
I am definitely getting into things much more quickly in this placement. On Tuesday, I was working with small groups and in charge of the read aloud (reading to the students when the come in from recess). On Wednesday, I continued those responsibilities and some other daily routine type tasks. On Thursday, we started to get into their normal routine. The students took their science test, which had originally been scheduled for Tuesday. So on Friday, I started teaching the next unit of science. I will be adding in teaching Writer's Workshop on Monday and Math on Tuesday. This is definitely going to be a different experience than my last placement.
It was an interesting first week. We did not have school on Monday due to the power outages. There was school on Tuesday, which was very chaotic due to not having had school Monday and most of the teachers (including myself and my cooperating teacher) and students still having no power at home. Due to the power outages, there was a district ruling of no homework for Tuesday night.
I am definitely getting into things much more quickly in this placement. On Tuesday, I was working with small groups and in charge of the read aloud (reading to the students when the come in from recess). On Wednesday, I continued those responsibilities and some other daily routine type tasks. On Thursday, we started to get into their normal routine. The students took their science test, which had originally been scheduled for Tuesday. So on Friday, I started teaching the next unit of science. I will be adding in teaching Writer's Workshop on Monday and Math on Tuesday. This is definitely going to be a different experience than my last placement.
Saturday, October 29, 2011
The Weekend Between the Placements
The first placement has ended; the second placement will begin Monday. I cannot believe that my time in second grade is over already. I miss my students already. Yesterday, they threw a goodbye party for me. The students had made posters and cards for me. My teacher and TA had gotten me a card and a practical gift of bulletin board letters, post-it notes, and such. It was really sweet of them.
My second placement is a 3rd/4th MAC class. I'm not sure how I feel about MAC classes, but this should be good experience because I have always wanted to teach 3rd or 4th grade (emphasis on the or though). I am a little bit worried about this placement though. When I met my cooperating teacher a few weeks ago, she gave me a whole list of things that I will be doing right away. I would like to have a little bit of time to get to know the teacher, the class, the schedule, and the routines/procedures. I am excited to be moving up in the grades though. I will enjoy that the students can be a little bit more independent. Second graders, early in the year, are not very independent.
A none teaching note: I cannot believe that it is snowing in October. I am not excited about having to walk up the hill to my car in nice shoes and pants on Monday in the snow.
My second placement is a 3rd/4th MAC class. I'm not sure how I feel about MAC classes, but this should be good experience because I have always wanted to teach 3rd or 4th grade (emphasis on the or though). I am a little bit worried about this placement though. When I met my cooperating teacher a few weeks ago, she gave me a whole list of things that I will be doing right away. I would like to have a little bit of time to get to know the teacher, the class, the schedule, and the routines/procedures. I am excited to be moving up in the grades though. I will enjoy that the students can be a little bit more independent. Second graders, early in the year, are not very independent.
A none teaching note: I cannot believe that it is snowing in October. I am not excited about having to walk up the hill to my car in nice shoes and pants on Monday in the snow.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
Nearing the End of Placement One
As the last week of the first placement starts, I cannot believe how fast the time has gone. I will definitely miss these students. I hope to make the most of this last week with them. It is going to be very hard to say goodbye to them.
At the same time, I am definitely ready to move onto a new classroom and a new cooperating teacher. I am ready to see how someone else deals with classroom management. I am also ready to move up to a higher grade. I'm thinking that second grade might not be my niche. I have wanted to be a third or fourth grade teacher since I was in those grades, so it will be interesting to see if one of those grades is my niche.
At the same time, I am definitely ready to move onto a new classroom and a new cooperating teacher. I am ready to see how someone else deals with classroom management. I am also ready to move up to a higher grade. I'm thinking that second grade might not be my niche. I have wanted to be a third or fourth grade teacher since I was in those grades, so it will be interesting to see if one of those grades is my niche.
Sunday, October 16, 2011
Motivation, Attention Span, and Intelligence
My cooperating teacher, TA, and I are seeing some major changes in a few of our students. As we are getting to know the students better, we are better able to help them. One of the students in particular has a hard time concentrating. We have found that by giving him the motivation of getting a sticker for the completion of each major assignment of the day, he is better able to focus. Being able to focus has made a big difference in the quality of his work. Another student also has trouble concentrating. We have not been able to find an effective motivational strategy for him yet.
There are also a few students in our class that do not listen, so they never know what is going on. For one of them we have found that physical proximity makes a difference. Another student needs the instructions explained one on one; he has trouble processing information given in group settings. As we have made these modifications, it is amazing the change in the work coming from these students. Some of the students that we originally thought were behind are actually highly intelligent and just needed some minor accommodations. I truly think that this class is one of the most intelligent classes of second graders that I have ever come across and it makes me sad that I will soon be leaving these students for my next placement.
There are also a few students in our class that do not listen, so they never know what is going on. For one of them we have found that physical proximity makes a difference. Another student needs the instructions explained one on one; he has trouble processing information given in group settings. As we have made these modifications, it is amazing the change in the work coming from these students. Some of the students that we originally thought were behind are actually highly intelligent and just needed some minor accommodations. I truly think that this class is one of the most intelligent classes of second graders that I have ever come across and it makes me sad that I will soon be leaving these students for my next placement.
Monday, October 10, 2011
My thoughts on taking the Strength Finder test
I had a hard time taking the Strengths Finder test. The questions were worded in such a way that I often was neutral because I strongly agreed with both options. Usually tests where you are supposed to pick one of two options, the options are opposites.
I'm not sure that I agree with the results: Discipline, Input, Belief, Learner, Responsibility. I agree that I fall into all of these categories. I just feel that some of the other categories in the book are equally applicable to me. I do not like that it only gives you a top 5. I took a test that was similar to this once and it gave the results in the form of a chart that laid out all of the categories and how many of your responses applied to each category. I liked that because it showed strengths, close runners up, and weaknesses. I feel like it is important to know which categories you are strong in, but it is also important to see what your weaknesses are. Weaknesses are areas for improvement.
Having already written my Philosophy of Ed, I find it interesting to see which of these strengths are easily seen it. I feel that it is important for a teacher to be part of the learning community of the classroom. Teachers should always be learning, not stagnant. It is also important for teachers to be disciplined and responsible. As a teacher, it is also important to have good ethics and beliefs. Christian teachers have the advantage of a solid place on which to base their lives.
I find the Input category the most interesting. I had not really thought about this aspect of myself before. The book talks about collecting information and physical things and having the inability to get rid of things. I definitely fall into this category. I have kept every workbook, worksheet, list of books, textbook, storybook, etc that I have ever gotten because I might be able to use it when I'm teaching. I have boxes and boxes of "teaching stuff." I have been striving to become a teacher since elementary school, so I have quite a collection. At the same time though, I have managed to keep it fairly well organized. I can call home and ask my mom to scan something in and email it to me. Sometimes she knows where to find it; most of the time I tell her go in the box labelled ______ in the _______ book/binder/folder and about halfway through it there should be a page that talks about ____________. Almost always my mom finds what I wanted. I have gotten better at figuring out what I use the most and bringing it with me to college, but it would be impossible to bring all of my supplies.
Overall, the top 5 strengths that the test identified for me are things that I already knew about myself. This test did make me think a little more deeply about these strengths though. I hope to put them to their best use to aid my students.
I'm not sure that I agree with the results: Discipline, Input, Belief, Learner, Responsibility. I agree that I fall into all of these categories. I just feel that some of the other categories in the book are equally applicable to me. I do not like that it only gives you a top 5. I took a test that was similar to this once and it gave the results in the form of a chart that laid out all of the categories and how many of your responses applied to each category. I liked that because it showed strengths, close runners up, and weaknesses. I feel like it is important to know which categories you are strong in, but it is also important to see what your weaknesses are. Weaknesses are areas for improvement.
Having already written my Philosophy of Ed, I find it interesting to see which of these strengths are easily seen it. I feel that it is important for a teacher to be part of the learning community of the classroom. Teachers should always be learning, not stagnant. It is also important for teachers to be disciplined and responsible. As a teacher, it is also important to have good ethics and beliefs. Christian teachers have the advantage of a solid place on which to base their lives.
I find the Input category the most interesting. I had not really thought about this aspect of myself before. The book talks about collecting information and physical things and having the inability to get rid of things. I definitely fall into this category. I have kept every workbook, worksheet, list of books, textbook, storybook, etc that I have ever gotten because I might be able to use it when I'm teaching. I have boxes and boxes of "teaching stuff." I have been striving to become a teacher since elementary school, so I have quite a collection. At the same time though, I have managed to keep it fairly well organized. I can call home and ask my mom to scan something in and email it to me. Sometimes she knows where to find it; most of the time I tell her go in the box labelled ______ in the _______ book/binder/folder and about halfway through it there should be a page that talks about ____________. Almost always my mom finds what I wanted. I have gotten better at figuring out what I use the most and bringing it with me to college, but it would be impossible to bring all of my supplies.
Overall, the top 5 strengths that the test identified for me are things that I already knew about myself. This test did make me think a little more deeply about these strengths though. I hope to put them to their best use to aid my students.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
The Beginning of Student Teaching
Student Teaching has had a somewhat rocky start. During my first conversation with my cooperating teacher I was told that she did not want a student teacher. This has been reiterated multiple times. She has good reasons for not wanting a student teacher, but I'm there and it's not my fault that I was placed in her classroom.
The computer that is connected to the Promethean Board is always having issues. I tried to improvise when it wasn't working and my teacher did not like my improvisation. Between that and the kids being super hyper, my lesson fell apart. Hopefully this next week will go better.
The computer that is connected to the Promethean Board is always having issues. I tried to improvise when it wasn't working and my teacher did not like my improvisation. Between that and the kids being super hyper, my lesson fell apart. Hopefully this next week will go better.
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