Week 3 of Student Teaching

Week of Reflection: Friday, January, 18, 2019

This past week has been a good week in my classroom. I began teaching everything, but literacy and math. It has been exciting and challenging all at the same time. Overall, I would rate this week as a 4. I think that this has been a good week, but I know that I still have a lot to learn.

This week I finished up the unit on the solar system. My students did very well on this unit and I received great feedback from each of my students. They all worked so hard and I feel that they learned a lot. It was a huge accomplishment to be able to sit down with each of them individually and ask what they learned, what they liked the most, and what they would change. It was so great to see the end of a unit and the learning that came from it.

A lesson that I learned that I will build upon not only next week, but in my future units, and future years in teaching is that my students thoroughly enjoyed this unit on the solar system, but I think doing the same type of thing every day on a different planet became tedious. I know that personally, as the teacher, I was becoming bored with it myself and I can’t expect my students to feel any different. Every student gave me positive feedback and explained that they learned a lot, but I know that I will want to take a different approach with this the next time I do it. I have already begun changing things around because for the next unit that I will start on Wednesday, we will be doing a different activity every day and each of those will build upon each other. I’m pretty excited about it!

This week I have been focusing on my student that I am working on a behavior plan for. I have been paying extra attention to his behaviors and the things that we need to work on in order for him to become a better student and learn all that he can. These short-term efforts align with my long term goal of helping this student and getting him on a good path so that he can be the best little person he can be. It also aligns with my long term goal of completing my portfolio.

I feel that I could have spent more time focused on the lessons that I was actually teaching for this week instead of focusing a lot on planning ahead and getting ready for the next week.

When referring back to the unit that I did on the solar system and the things that I would have changed, I feel that I should have changed things around the minute that I noticed myself becoming bored with it. However, I didn’t change things and I kept things the way that they were. My students all learned something and got something from the entire unit, but I wonder if they could have learned even more if I would have done it a different way.

I have my lessons prepared for next week and I’m excited about doing a short unit on Martin Luther King Jr. with my students. The first step for next week is going in on Tuesday for the workday and ensuring that everything is printed out and copies are made so that I can be prepared for the entire week.

This week we received our STAR data which tells us the level that our students are reading on and the level of books that they should be checking out of the library and we also received our student’s fluency scores and reading comprehension scores from the middle of the year testing that we just finished up. This data was very helpful to look at and become familiar with. It showed the growth that many of our students have made and I have been able to make instructional decisions because I am seeing how much more each student is capable of now based on their growth.

My advice this week for the other student teachers is a little bit more of an

encouragement than advice persay. I did a 5-day devotional plan for teachers last week and it was so encouraging. On one day, a letter written to a teacher from a student was included. It began by the student thanking the teacher, but then it went into a part that talked about how discouraging it is for students to hear their teachers complaining about their jobs. The student went on to say that they will work hard if they fully believe that we have confidence in them and truly care about their success. We shouldn’t lump students all together because not all of them disrespect us or lie and cheat. Also, our classroom should be a safe haven for our students. The outside world is a cruel place. For many students, the hallway can be a dangerous place. However, students should also feel a sense of comfort and peace in our classroom.

NC Teacher Candidate Standards

This week I was able to look at the data from the mid-year testing to see how students have grown. This relates to NCTCS Standard 1: Teachers lead in their classroom by using a variety of assessment data throughout the year to track progress.

I have a classroom full of talkers this year. They love to talk about anything and everything! Don’t get me wrong, it’s great for discussion time, but not so great when we are trying to read silently or transition. This week, I have tried to treat every student as an individual and reward those who do always follow directions and are quiet when it’s time to be quiet. It’s not fair to lump my entire classroom into a whole if some students are doing what they are being asked.

The solar system unit that I completed had the students researching and finding a lot of information in their groups. This allowed me to make instruction relevant to them and teach them 21st century skills. They were communicating and collaborating with each other and using technology to learn instead of just a place to play games.

Students working in their groups this week really helped me to see those that work well together and those that really possess leadership qualities. It was so fun to walk around and listen to their conversations.

Looking back on the unit, I did a lot of reflecting and things that I would change or do differently the next time that I complete a unit like this. This was a great practice on reflecting on my lessons and my teaching.

I have begun to develop my behavior plan. As of right now, my CE and I are good!