last day in the class

By: Alexandra Slater

Tuesday, December 14th 

Wow, I cannot believe this is my last day at Monee Elementary! I feel like time has flown by so quickly. It has been an eventful past couple of days. My teacher mentor tested positive for COVID so her and her classroom are quarantined until winter break is over. Im deeply sadden by this because I didn't have a chance to say goodbye to the students or to my teacher mentor. I was able to leave treats for the kids and a gift for my mentor when they return though. I wish I had the chance to wrap things up with them when they return from break but I will be student teaching then. Out of all that negativity,  I was lucky enough to get a teacher to accept me into her room to finish my remaining hours and teach my last lesson. My last lesson, is a literacy lesson. I was excited and nervous because I was in a new classroom with new students for the last lesson but the teacher and students are very nice. It was also beneficial to see how someone else runs their classroom. From 1st grade to second grade was a big change in pace. Students are a lot more well behaved and have better listening skills. 

• 2 strengths going into FE and now

    

1) Building relationships with students. I had no problem bonding and getting to know the students. Working with kids is something that has always come easy to me and why I wanted to become a teacher. 

2) picking engaging materials, students always enjoyed what i use and brought into the classroom to teach my lessons. Going forward I don't think I will have any issues with that! 

• 2 areas that you improved

1) Directions and procedures, i feel in the beginning of teaching my directions were a little rocky but I feel I have improved a ton in this area

2) classroom management, I know for sure I have improved in this area because in the beginning my lessons were taken over by me yelling and trying to get the students to listen but towards the end of the semester I had all the tricks, tips, and ways to handle the students under my belt. 

• 2 areas that you still need to work on,

1) critical thinking questions, I definitely feel I can brainstorm more critical thinking questions moving forward for students. 

2) providing accommodations for students / differentiation I noticed in my lesson plans these areas were still weak. So moving forward, this is something I need to pay close attention to. 

• most fun experience

I think the most fun day was when the students earned a "fun day". Students were able to wear their pajamas to school and then they got to eat popcorn and watch a movie. It was so cute seeing how excited the students were for this day. Its also nice to see them outside of learning lessons and just relaxing and doing something non school related. 

• most challenging experience

I think the most challenging experience were ones where students came up to me needing help and i wasn't exactly sure how to help them. For example, there was an incident where a student punched another. The student who had been punched came up to me for help instead of my teacher mentor. This was a scary moment, i was not sure how to handle it. I ended up just going to my mentor teacher about it and letting her handle it. I think this is something college can't and doesn't prepare you for are moments like these ones. 

• best lesson taught and why 

I feel that my best lessons taught was my literacy lesson on mental images. Students were extremely engaged throughout it and had a lot of fun while learning. I was able to assess students learning at the end and I noticed that they all took away the important information and major key points. It was a good feeling to know that you helped the students learn something new. This was also my highest grade out of all the lesson plans I taught. 

• worst lesson taught and why

I feel my Science lesson as the worst lesson taught. I feel this way because students were talking the entire time and did not pay attention. This was also the first lesson I taught so I wasn't comfortable enough to yell at  them yet. I didn't get too comfortable with the students yet till the second lesson. If I could go back in time I would redo how I taught the entire lesson. 

• 3 things you learned specifically from your CT

1)  classroom management - she taught me how to get the students to respect and listen to me. 

2) being flexible- new things constantly popped up thou

3) time and pace of lesson 

• 3 things you learned about yourself

1) During this time in field, I learned that this is really something I am passionate about and want to do for the rest of my life. 

2) I learned im able to build great relationships with co workers, well in this case my teacher mentor :) We have gotten so close during this experience 

3) I learned I have a lot of patience 

• 3 things you  learned about children.students

1)  students try to make the best of every day and they depend on you to  be happy and positive each day 

2) students have other stuff going on outside of school that may impact their learning like sports, family issues, etc. 

3)  students trust their teachers to be their for them 

• 3 things you learned about the education field

1) as an educator, you will have to keep update on all the new technologies, curriculum, etc. 

2)  building relationships with the students parents is crucial to help students succeed. 

3) its good to have the principal on your side as well as coworkers 

• what you wish you had done differently 

There is nothing really I wish I had done differently besides being so shy the first couple of times in fields because the more I came out of my shell the more I bonded with the students and my mentor teacher 

• what you are excited about in terms of student teaching

I am looking forward to taking over the class more and being in a district I've always dreamed of working in. I am also looking forward to meeting new students and my mentor teacher. I will be interesting to see how a different school runs and functions. I can't wait to learn new beneficial information, tips, advice that will help be become a better educator. 

• what you are most anxious about in terms of student teaching

I am most anxious about getting in the groove of a new classroom in the middle of the year. I am also nervous to teach students materials I am shaky on. I have already build a good relationship with my MT so I hope it was ease my nerves . 

Week 14: Thirteenth Day in the Classroom

Week 14: Thirteenth Day in the Classroom

Date: Sunday, December 12^th, 2021

By: Monica Schrank

            I cannot believe that this was my last day in the classroom with the students!! On the first day I was in the classroom, the last day felt like so far away and now the last day has come and gone. On my last day, the students made me a book about how to survive 1^st grade and they all drew pictures of me (which made me feel so loved) and as well as a sign on the whiteboard when I came in to the room on my last day!

One of my strengths going in to FE was my determination and enthusiasm to teach the students and to help them learn about the world around them. Another strength now that I have FE under my belt is to show a variety of ways for the students to work on activities, respond to questions, and to learn that best fits each student’s own learning abilities. I have learned so much by being in the classroom with the students. One of the areas that I improved on was classroom management. My CT used a variety of call and responses as well as a chime to get the students’ attention before talking or providing directions. After day one of being in the classroom, I picked up on her call and responses and used them throughout the rest of my days in the classroom with the students. Another area that I improved on was providing “brain breaks” for the students. After my first lesson, I realized that I was losing the students’ interest. Therefore, after talking to my CT, she mentioned that I should incorporate brain breaks into my lesson after a certain amount of time to get the students moving and keep them focused for the rest of the lesson. One area that I still need work on is time management. Throughout my lessons, I tried my hardest to keep an eye on time, but still had difficulty keeping my lesson to the designated time. Another area that I still need work on is to keep the information that I explain to the students to a minimum. The more information that you explain to students, the more distracted they will be and they will not be understanding the information.

The most fun experience that I had was being with the students and being a part of their parent teacher conferences. I learned so much from the students about how to double check my work (the students liked to call out my mistakes that I made), being there for them when they needed someone to talk to, and doing everything I could to help them to learn the information in a way that best fits them and their learning needs. I truly will miss each and every one of them and cannot wait to come and visit them when I have time! I was able to be a part of the students’ parent teacher conferences which was a wonderful learning experience for me to see how the conferences go and how the different parents react. The most challenging experience that I had was being able to talk to the students with my mask on. A lot of the students had difficulty understanding me which forced me to talk louder which made following directions or understanding information a little challenging. My best lesson that I taught was my last lesson about the continents of the world. This is my best lesson because each morning the students were shown a map of the world and talked about traveling to other countries. Therefore, the students had prior knowledge about a map and what a map is used for. So, this lesson was very beneficial because it allowed the students to expand their prior knowledge that they had of a map and to learn about the different continents, what they include, and where they are located on a map. My worst lesson was teaching the students how to add using hundreds chart. This lesson was my worst because this was the first time the students had ever used a hundreds chart which made it very difficult for the students to fully understand the different strategies that are used when using hundreds chart to add. I feel that this lesson would have been better if I had just focused on just the hundreds chart itself and the different strategies, rather than focusing on the hundreds chart and how to add using it.

There are many things that I learned from my CT. One of the things that I learned was how to inform the parents of the daily activities that the students are doing. My CT uses a website called Bloomz that allows the parents of the students to connect with her classroom while seeing posts and announcements about the class and what the students are doing on a daily basis. My CT allowed me to be a part of her classroom on Bloomz which allowed me to see some of the activities that the students were doing that the parents are informed about. It also allowed me to be a part of the classroom by informing the parents about myself, the different lessons I taught, my newsletter, my last day, and about the literacy reading website. I've learned that keeping parents informed on what the students are doing throughout the day is beneficial for keeping them up-to-date on what their child is doing especially if students do not tell their parents what they did at school. Another thing that I learned was how to have a structured classroom that has great classroom management. As previously mentioned, the call and responses that I learned from my CT, helped the students to learn how to stop with their doing and give their teacher their undivided attention to make sure that they are listening to what the teacher is saying so that they know what they should and should not be doing. These call and responses help to provide a well-managed and structured classroom and I plan to use them when I start teaching to help me to have a structured and well managed classroom. Another thing that I learned from my CT was how to make learning fun and engaging. Throughout the day, my CT always had a craft or a fun activity for the students to do in between the content material that they were learning. For example, one of the days, the students were working on making elves for the hallway. The students were always excited to do a fun craft before or after they finished math or writing to allow them to take a break from learning and refresh their brains. While observing and teaching in the classroom, I learned a lot about myself. I learned how to quickly make modifications to a lesson by reading the students and realizing that they needed more time on the information that they were learning. It is very important to realize that lessons will not always go as planned and it is important to read the students and to see you need to spend more time on certain information so that they can better understand the information that is being taught to them. Another thing that I learned about myself was being ready to explain information such as directions multiple times. In the classroom, I noticed that students came up to me multiple times asking me what they should do, and where they should put their papers after they were done working on them. I realized that it is very important to make sure that you repeat the directions multiple times or even call on a student to repeat the directions to the rest of their class. Another thing that I learned about myself was how time management plays a very important role in the life of a teacher. In the classroom, I got to see first-hand how little time teachers have to make copies, talk to parents, send emails and get other things done when the kids are at specials or if they are at lunch and recess. While I was in the classroom, I made very good use of my time by talking with my CT about how I can improve my lesson or by talking with my CT about how we can reconstruct an activity to best fit the learning needs of the students.

There are many things I learned about the education field. I learned how important it is to be informed of different strategies that can be used in the classroom to change the way that you instruct and teach in the classroom. It is also important it is to keep parents informed of situations that happens at school but also making sure that parents are keeping teachers informed of situations that are happening at home that teachers should be aware of. It is also important to make good use of the allotted time that you have either after dropping the students off at specials or quickly finding the time to use the bathroom. There is not much time for teachers to get their planning done or make copies. It is important to make good use of the time that you have either coming early to school or leaving a little later in order to get everything done to ensure you can leave it at the school and not bring it home to make sure that you spend time with your family. One of the things that I wished I did differently would have been to try and come other days, rather than just one day a week to see how my CT taught the students for other subjects that she did not teach when I was observing. This would have allowed me to get more experience and see how the other subjects were taught. I am very excited for student teaching because I am excited to be in another grade (1st grade) and to see a different teacher’s perspective to gain more information and knowledge on other useful tips that can use in the classroom to be a successful teacher. I am also excited to be observing Monday through Friday rather than just one day a week so that the students will become more familiar with me and I will be more familiar with them. One of the things that I'm anxious about for student teaching is taking over the classroom and being the teacher for five to six weeks. This is very nerve wracking for me because it is preparing me for the future when I become a teacher and have my own classroom and am the only person, teaching rather than co-teaching or assisting the teacher.

I honestly am so sad to not be able to see the students anymore and to not be a part of their classroom. I enjoyed spending time with them, teaching them, and observing my CT. I hope to find time to visit them to show that I still care about them. I also hope that I can take all that I have learned from their classroom into student teaching as well as when I become a teacher to be the best teacher that I can be and to teach the students about the world around them in a way that is fun and engaging!

             

The Last Day by Aranis Samra

Hello Everyone, 

My last day was a very bittersweet one. I came into the classroom to find a great surprise. My students had decorated the classroom and the desk I sit with "Good Luck" and "Farewell" cards and banners. During the day, students reminisced on the work we did together and stated how much they would miss our time together.  

2 strengths going into FE and now

• Meeting Time deadlines and pacing appropriately while teaching. 
• Interpersonal skills to engage students.

2 areas that you improved

• My first area of improvement is evident through my comfort in teaching and presenting. I am much more comfortable engaging with the class as a whole. I get less anxious about the process of presenting. 
• My second area of improvement is that I am able to create and plan more effective lesson plans. I have enhanced my lessons to create objectives that meet standards for that grade. 

2 areas that you still need to work on,

• An area of development I need to work on is my implementation of technology in the classroom. I would like to find more resources that can engage the students and expand their learning experience to include technology. 
• Another area of development is practicing my use of critical thinking questions. This is important to me because this will also help me in gauging the student's understanding. I have also noticed that upon using these questions, students show that they aren't just retaining information but comprehending its implementation. 

Most fun experience

• The most fun experience during my field experience was playing Math Battles with the students. To close our division lesson, the students faced each other in solving division problems. The students were very energetic and had a great time implementing what they learned. 

Most challenging experience

• The most challenging experience was when there was a technical issue during my Science lesson. While trying to present the wrong presentation opened up. It took a while to try and get the presentation back up. The time pressure, it made it very stressful to combat this issue and have students waiting. 

Best lesson taught and why

• My best lesson taught was my Sequencing lesson for Literature. This lesson was the most effective to me because this lesson felt the most effortless to implement. Students were engaged throughout and really understood the objectives. This lesson was also one where I used a lot of differentiation in what I used to present the content. 

Worst lesson taught and why

• My worst lesson taught was my Surface Tension lesson for Science. When the presentation went wrong it threw the rest of the lesson off. I was thrown off and did not know how to handle the situation. It also made me get nervous for the rest of the lesson.

3 things you learned specifically from your CT

• How to assess and create appropriate for different student needs. 
• Classroom procedures that work for different students. 
• Fearlessness in implementing classroom management. 

3 things you learned about yourself

• I learned that I am more empathetic with my students than I thought. 
• I have learned that I have a great deal of patience. 
• I have learned more about what motivates me and why I love what I do. 

3 things you learned about children.students

• Background matters to the educational impact each student may have. 
• How resilient students are to learning and implementing the content. 
• How creating supportive relationships impacts their work in a classroom setting. 

3 things you learned about the education field)

• The best way to implement what you are learning is through experiencing it. 
• Teachers take a great amount of responsibility for how students feel, learn, and behave in their lives. 
• The importance of differentiation in the classroom especially around events that happen outside of the classroom, like a pandemic. 

What you wish you had done differently

• I wish I found more ways to include technology in the classroom. 
• I wish I also implemented activities that allowed students to have a hands-on experience.

What you are excited about in terms of student teaching

• The opportunity to spend more time with students rather than one day a week. This will help me in being able to engage in creating a more effective curriculum and assessing each student's needs.  

What you are most anxious about in terms of student teaching 

• What I am most worried about is implementing full classroom management. 
  
  
  
  
  
  

Last Day- Cordova

 Hi Everyone! 

I cannot believe we have made it to the last week of our field experience, I am so proud of all of us! For the last week I taught my last lesson which was Math, thankfully it went smoothly and the students were engaged. I am definitely going to miss teaching to this group of students, they have made a huge impact in my career as an educator. For the final week this blog will be more detailed as I will be going over some strengths and my entire experience at Crete Elmentary.

2 strengths going into FE and now:

• Classroom Management 

• Using hands-on activities 

2 areas that you improved:

• Directions and procedures 

• Time/pace of teaching 

2 areas that you still need to work on:

• Critical thinking questions 

• Providing accommodations for all students 

Most fun experience: The most fun experience I had during my field experience was participating in read alouds with the class. At the end of the day, I usually read a book to the class and it was a fun way to wrap up the day. In that moment I had all their attention and it felt good that the students looked forward to me reading to them.

Most challenging experience: The most challenging experience I had during my field experience was getting the students settled at the end of the day. The students were also full of energy since it was the end of the day and it was almost time to go home. At first, it was challenging to get their attention and transition them to getting their belongings. Over time I learned that the students benefited from getting up to stretch and do some exercises by their desk.  

Best lesson taught and why: The best lesson I taught in my field experience was my Social Studies lesson. I feel that it is my SS lesson because it was the most hands-on and engaging lesson of the semester. The students were introduced to the concepts of maps, where they had to work in a group to find the hidden treasure. I hand drew all the classroom maps each group would use and provided a copy for everyone in the group to use. The students really enjoyed going on a quest, and I did a great job with time and pacing to make sure we got through everything planned. 

Worst lesson taught and why: I do not think any of my lessons that I taught was the worst lesson, but the one that I wish I could have fixed was my Science lesson plan. This was the first lesson plan that I taught for my field experience. I enjoyed the way my lesson was organized and the way I created engaging materials such as the Flipgrid. The issue with my lesson was I did not ask enough critical thinking questions to challenge the students.

3 things you learned specifically from your CT:

• Time/pace

• Engaging activities 

• Organizing lesson plans

3 things you learned about yourself:

• I have a great teacher voice

• I have the personality for working with students 

• I am great at managing a classroom 

3 things you  learned about children.students:

• Students grow to love their teachers quickly

• Students put their trust in their educators right away 

• Students bring whatever issues are going on at home to school 

3 things you learned about the education field):

• It is important to build relationships with all your colleagues in the field 

• It is important to bring yourself out there and make yourself known to others in the school because it can benefit you in the future 

• It is important that you maintain a relationship with your principal to make future communication easier 

What you wish you had done differently: I wish I would have thought to go visit the classroom before we began our field experience, to get a step forward

What you are excited about in terms of student teaching: I am excited about being in the classroom everyday and building a relationship with everyone at the school. I cannot wait to learn many new things that will prepare me to be a better educator. 

What you are most anxious about in terms of student teaching: What I am most anxious about for student teaching is completely taking over the classroom. I do not want to overstep my boundaries but I am sure once I meet with my teacher and MT to go over expectations I will feel better.

Last day-Sad day

Sylvia L. Bradshaw

Week 13

12-9-2021

So, today was my last day and I must say that I had a bag of mixed emotions.  I was sad because I'm really going to miss the kids that I worked with this semester but, I'm happy to be at the end of my semester.  I also had to teach my last lesson and of course that came with the usual nerves that I have before any lesson.  

My lesson today was on sequencing, I started with a crazy mixed up story of the three little pigs.  I wanted the students to correct me as I went along with my story and they were really into it.  I followed the crazy story with a PowerPoint on sequencing and clue words that can be used to explain the order of events.  Since I started the lesson with a story that I know all the students were familiar with, I used the book The True Story of The Three Little Pigs for my guided practice.  I mentioned to the students that they would be doing a sequencing activity after the read aloud and that they needed to pay attention to the order of the details in the book. The students completed their sequencing activity and after the lesson I shared with them a feel words about what a joy it has been to hang out with them every Thursday.  I handed out goodies bag that I had for each student, I had personal notes written for each of them.  I hope that what I said in those note inspire the students in some way.

This semester has been a lot for me in a lot of ways. My mentor teacher was not the warmest personality to work with but she is a great teacher.  I wish that I felt more welcomed in her room, I wish that she was more willing to share the things that make her a great teacher, spread the knowledge or offer any type of tips.  Although, I did learn a lot just observing, I know that most of my cohort had a much better experience with their MTs.  The students, thank goodness, were always warm and inviting and that did make up for whatever short comings my MT had in the personality department.

Looking forward to working with my CT next semester, I see already just from our brief interaction that she is willing to share her wealth of knowledge and welcome me into her classroom.  

Final Words on Field Experience 

o 2 strengths going into FE and now

-I believe that I plan creative lessons

-Level of comfort with the students

o 2 areas that you improved

-I learned so much about classroom management

-My lesson plans have improved so much, making sure that my objectives align with the lesson

o 2 areas that you still need to work on

-Pace and timing of lesson

-Critical thinking questions

o most fun experience-

The most fun that I had in the classroom were the one-on-one conversations with the students either in the morning or during their breaks.  The students in my class were some of the most entertaining kids with the biggest personalities.

o most challenging experience

Navigating my way in a classroom with a MT that more comfortable with me observing than participating.

o best lesson taught and why-

I believe that my best lesson was my math lesson on place value.  I was the most relaxed before that lesson.  I didn’t lose any sleep the night before and even though I was nervous, I feel that the lesson was well executed and the materials that I used were creative and the students enjoyed them.

o worst lesson taught and why

If I had to pick a lesson that was my worst, I would say that it was my perspective lesson.  I think that I choose good materials and I think that the students enjoyed the lesson but, one of my objectives was out of place and it made the lesson a bit disjointed.

o 3 things you learned specifically from your CT

-The benefits of a posted schedule for the day

-The benefits of setting behavioral expectations early

-Correct behavior issues in the moment and also know when to ignore bad behavior and praise good behavior for student that may be an issue in the classroom.

o 3 things you learned about yourself

-I love being around children, they encourage me to become a better teacher.

-I have a very nurturing personality, I care very much about children and, I want them to have a positive experience in my classroom.

-I need to work on being stern when I need to be so that my students don’t mistake my kindness as a reason for them to misbehave.

o 3 things you learned about children/students

-Students are eager to share parts of their lives with you, you must be an attentive listener.

-Children are honest and will let you know exactly what they are thinking.

-Children need encouragement, if you tell them the goodness you see in them, they will see it in themselves.

o 3 things you learned about the education field)

-There are so many people in the field that are willing to help you.  Use your resources.

-You will hold many hats in this field, and you must be able to adjust and be flexible.

-Even though you might follow a strict curriculum you must bring your own personally and flare to the lessons you teach.

o what you wish you had done differently

I wish that I had a conversation with my MT early on to let her know that I wanted to be more involved in her classroom.  I’m not sure if it would have made a difference in her disposition but at least she would have known what my expectations were.

o what you are excited about in terms of student teaching

I’m very excited to work with my CT, I had the opportunity to work with her in field experience 1 and 2.  She is an awesome teacher and was so warm and welcoming with my previous experience with her.

o what you are most anxious about in terms of student teaching

Honestly, I’m worried about having the energy to be at “work” all day Monday-Friday.  I haven’t worked a nine to five in about 12 years and with the health issues that I’ve had I’m still working on my endurance.  I know I can do it, but I am a bit anxious.

End Of A Chapter

 By: Melissa Cabrales

Thursday, December 9, 2021

Today was the end of  field experience in my second grade classroom. It was a bittersweet feeling knowing today was my last day with this class. I'm excited the semester is over and I'll be student teaching soon, just another step closer to being done. I was also sad to leave this second grade class. They have been a wonderful class and I really enjoyed teaching them all kinds of things. They all really seemed to enjoy the lessons I taught. I walked into the classroom to a table full of hand written cards from each student and my MT. I was even given flowers! I was so happy to see the students walking in as they greeter me with hugs. They all told me how much they'd miss me and how much they enjoyed having me in their class. At the end of the day, the kids were given hot cocoa from their teacher and I passed out my goody bags to the students. They were so excited and thanked me for their treats. 

In the morning, I taught my last literacy lesson which was on visualizing. I started out the lesson by telling the students a story about my fun Friday night. I had the students close their eyes and imagine my story in their heads. To explain to them what visualizing is and how to create visuals in their heads, we played the game of Disney Hedbandz. The kids had so much fun with the lesson and laughed the whole time. By the end of the lesson, I had them play a Kahoot! game where they were given a prompt and had to choose the corresponding visual. They all did so well with this lesson. 

As this chapter closes, another one opens. I'm glad I had this opportunity to work beside a wonderful teacher who has taught me so much. I'm happy I got to work in this classroom because the students taught me a lot too. They made me realize what works and what doesn't. I got to see first hand how important it is to have classroom management. As this chapter ends, I'm glad to move onto the next chapter which is student teaching. I'm so proud of myself for my accomplishments this semester!

Sad Last Day - Week 13 - Alejandra Govea

 By: Alejandra Govea 

Week 13 

12/9/2021 

Today I felt so sad knowing that it was my last day. The students knew it was my last day and were so sad that I was leaving. I received a basket from the students and the teacher. I received a letter from each student , book marks, highlighters, color pencils, stickers, a journal, and bulletin board borders from the teacher. This made me so happy to know that the students cared about me and showed me that I will be missed. I received endless hugs all day and it just hurt me to think that it was my last day with them. The teacher came up with a good idea. They will be able to write letters to me like a pen pal. I gave each student a little bag that had a silly band, two erasers, fidget spinner, 3 pencils, sharpener, two lollipops,  and motivational stickers.

I also taught my last literacy lesson plan. I taught cause and effect where the students were actively engaged throughout the lesson. I started with a time where I did not put a timer on the turkey and the turkey burned. I then started asking questions like what was my cause and what was my effect. I extended their thinking by asking why or how they know. We then glued scenarios onto the correct category either cause or effect. The students were able to create their own flipbook where they drew out three causes and their effects and they were able to choose one to act out. Kahoot! at the end allowed me to see if the students understood the prompts.

 

My Last Lesson Week #14 by Aranis Samra

     This week was a little bittersweet because it was my last math lesson. This week, I saw that I was progressing. In a variety of ways, both emotionally and physically, as well as intellectually. It took me half as long to complete a lesson plan when it typically hours and hours. My ideas were clearer and I was more organized. At the same time, I was concerned that I was doing something incorrectly. But I think it's simply that the fact that I've done it four times already, and this being the fifth, made it simpler to do because I was getting comfortable with it. My topic was division. And I believe it went well. Normally, I'm quite anxious, and my anxiety gets the best of me. But not this time; this time, I felt confident I was more secure in the lesson plan I had designed, despite the fact that my math skills aren't always the best. The closer we go to the finish, the more difficult it becomes to consider not meeting on Thursdays.

I've grown accustomed to the class routine and seeing the kids every Thursday. Becoming an educator was possibly the best decision I could have made. I love what I do, I love my surroundings in the schools, and I love the sense of accomplishment you get when they comprehend you and learn something new. In terms of improvement, I'm quite sure I still have a long way to go, but I can honestly say that I'm a lot better than I was when I first started. I'm more confident, I'm more knowledgeable, and I'm more aware of my surroundings. And it is something I am certain I could say.

Literacy Lesson

 Hello Everyone!

This week I was able to teach my second literacy lesson, I taught my lesson on questioning. This was a review for the students. The students were engaged in the lesson but I feel that my lesson was not as fun this time. I incorporated a game into the lesson but I wish that I would have provided more opportunities for the students to move around. Towards the end of my lesson the students were getting loud so I had them stand next to their desks and shake their sillies out and do a few stretches. That seemed to really help them refocus and concentrate on the task. Overall, the students did well and I appreciate their participation in my lessons. For my final lesson I will be teaching Math, the topic will be telling time, focusing on five-minute intervals. This will be a new topic for the students, they are already familiar with telling time by the hour and half hour. I am nervous to teach this lesson because Math is not my strong suit but I think the topic is appropriate for this group and there will be opportunities to provide challenge for students. 

Besides teaching my lesson, I was able to do a read aloud with the students on a book called Gingerbread Cowboy. Earlier in the week they read the classic Gingerbread Man story. The task was to have the students identify the similarities and differences between the two stories. I gave a lesson on the students practicing thier blends specifically 'am' and 'an.' The task was to have the students coming up with words that contain the blends and then using a worksheet to further practice that skill. The class also had a new class visitor which was Elf on the Shelf. The students were very excited show me where he was hiding in the classroom, they named him Bubbles. I thought it was a fun and appropriate way to get into the holiday spirit and a fun activity that everyone can participate in. My goal for the final week of student teaching is creating a fun and engaging Math lesson, and really focusing on asking more critical thinking questions. 

Good luck to everyone on your last day next week, we are almost there! 😊

Week 13: Twelfth Day in the Classroom

Week 13: Twelfth Day in the Classroom

Date: Thursday, December 2^nd, 2021

By: Monica Schrank  

This week I got to teach my fifth and final lesson to the students!! I taught the students about the seven continents and oceans of the world. The students were able to look at the classroom map and see the seven continents and oceans. I grabbed the classroom globe and the students were able to see that the globe is a 3D or spherical version of a map, and a map is a "rolled-out" version of a globe. As I was teaching, I kept looking at the clock and realized I was running out of time and would not be able to teach the students about the oceans and get through the activity sheet and continents song. I realized that I had to take out the oceans of the world and move right on to the activity sheet and then teach the students about the continents of the world song. So, I made the quick decision to move right into the activity sheet which is what I had to do when I taught my second lesson. I was very glad that I decided to take out the oceans of the world information because I feel that I would have lost the students’ interest if I taught them about the oceans and tried to have them remember where the continents and oceans are located by labeling them on a map. However, the students truly enjoyed learning the seven continents of the world and singing about them in a song.

During math, the students were learning how to subtract with regrouping using base ten. Last week, the students were introduced the arithmetic and practiced subtracting like how I was taught to add when I was their age. I was actually really surprised at how the students could solve a subtraction problem using arithmetic, which they have never learned prior to last week. Some of the students were asking me if they got the right answer, and I showed them that they could add the part numbers together and see if the answer that they got was the given whole number. The students were really excited to use the arithmetic method which was fun to see that they understood it and used it correctly when subtracting two numbers from each other. I noticed a lot of students were using the base ten and arithmetic method by solving the problem with both methods. This was a great way for the students to understand that no matter what method they use to solve a math problem, as long as they use the method correctly, they will all get to the same answer regardless of what method they used, either the base ten or arithmetic method.   

During guided reading this week, I helped the students finish up their letters that they were writing to Santa. The students learned right in the beginning of the year how to construct a letter (heading, greeting, body, closing, and signature). My MT had the students review the parts of a letter with the “Parts of a letter” song to refresh their memory of how they construct their letters to Santa. The students were constructing their letters so well by making sure that they had a heading (which was what they were writing Santa about), greeting (which was how they addresses Santa) body (which was where they were asking Santa questions about his reindeer, the elves, and what they wanted for Christmas), closing (what they wanted to say to Santa as their last thought) and the signature (which was coming up with a way to say goodbye to Santa at the end of their letter). The students were coming up with so many things that they asked Santa about such as what his favorite reindeer was, how many elves he had at the North Pole, while also providing Santa with so many different toys that they wanted to Christmas. I cannot believe that next week is my last week and I am truly going to miss the kids!

As Ice Cube Would Say "Today was a good day" -Sylvia L.Bradshaw

It was really nice seeing the students after the Turkey Break.  Our morning greeting was filled with hugs, especially since the week prior to the break half the students were absent due to a COVID outbreak.  All the students wanted to know if I was teaching a lesson and actually sounded disappointed when I told them that they were going to have to wait until next week.  I'm going to miss these kids soooooo much, they are the sweetest kids on the planet.  

My MT was absent today and I guess it was a last minute thing because there was a bit of confusion as to who the sub was going to be. I was able to get the student in the room with their regular greeting which includes either a wink, air hug, wave, or elbow bump.  The students are programed to their morning routine and settled into eating their breakfast and doing their morning work. The sub was able to get all her technology in place while the students were doing their morning work.  Just to give you an idea of how use to the routine the students are, when the sub was about to jump into her assignment that she had for them this morning the student were quick to remind her that they did not go over the calendar and the weather.  because she was not familiar with what they are use to, I was happy to step in an do that part of the day with them.  We went over the date and the day of the week, we sang the days of the week song and we talked about the weather.  When that was over and the students were happy they did a part of what they were use to, the sub did remind them that they should not expect everything to be the same as when their regular teacher is in the classroom but that they should expect to have a fun and productive day.

Fun and productive it was.  It was awesome to observe another teacher in the classroom that has a completely different teaching style.  She was incredible.  Her teaching style was very relaxed, but she still had a high level of behavioral expectations for the students. I was able to help out so much more today and I enjoyed every minute of it.  As a gift to the class, I purchased four books from the website that we created in 4570 for the class to have in their library.  Towards the end of the day the sub chose one of the books that I gifted the class and had them write a narrative on the story and draw a picture.  The book is called The Day You Begin by Jacqueline Woodson. National Book Award winner Jacqueline Woodson and two-time Pura Belpré Illustrator Award winner Rafael López have teamed up to create a poignant, yet heartening book about finding courage to connect, even when you feel scared and alone. The students were really into the book and I was able to insert a few critical thinking questions at the end of the book that I believe added to the read aloud.  For example, "what is the illustrator trying to express by using rulers in the pictures?"  I believe the important message of this book is not to measure yourself to anyone else because you are perfectly perfect just the way you are.  

The students were required to write on a time in their life when they felt like any of the characters in the book.  Some of the students were able to finish their writing before the school day was over and I read some of them.  One of the little girls that may be one of the lower performers in the class wrote that  she felt like the characters in the book when someone bullies her.  I asked her if she has ever been bullied at school and she said no, because it was the end of the day I was not able to elaborate, but I hope to talk to her about it more next week.  It's very interesting how one story can bring the most out of the quietest person in the room.