Week 5: Half-Way There!

Week of Reflection: Friday, March 8, 2019

This past week went good. I would rate it as a 4. The beginning was rocky with getting edTPA turned in, but after that was completed, the week began getting better because I was able to focus more on my lessons and teaching. I also finally began feeling better so I’m ready to tackle week 6 next week!

A pleasant accomplishment was getting edTPA turned in. It was so rewarding to have that finished and have that part of the semester behind me. I feel that I can finally begin to see the end!

A lesson that I learned this past week is that even though I have something big like edTPA going on, I can’t let my lessons suffer because of it. I think my lessons went well this past week, but I know that I could have put so much more into them. This taught me that I can’t let something else interfere with how well I plan out my lessons for the week because my students are always depending on me!

I have been working closely with my student that I made a behavior plan for. This short

term effort aligns with my long term goal of having data collected to show her growth for this semester.

Once again, I feel that I could have spent more time on lesson planning for this past week instead of stressing about edTPA and getting it finalized and turned in.

This past week, we had parent teacher conferences. I noticed I was very apprehensive going in wondering if the parents would listen to what I had to say because I was the student teacher. However, I quickly learned that they appreciate me as well because I am the one teaching their child. This taught me to believe in my abilities!

The first logical step for next week is to get everything prepared lesson wise. I already feel 10X more prepared this week than I did last week since I got edTPA out of the way. I know that I can put that away for right now and focus on my portfolio and getting it complete.

Great news! The spelling activities that I had implemented into my lessons are working. My spelling grades are improving and I can tell that the activities are working based on the scores and data!

One piece of advice I would share with other student teachers is to never see yourself

just the “student” teacher. We are making a huge impact in our student’s lives and we are doing it while being a student as well. This is our first class and one we will never forget. Our goal is to make it to where they never forget us either!

NC Teacher Candidate Standards

This past week we have been finishing up our entrepreneurship projects. I am so proud of each of my students and the work they have put into these projects. I have enjoyed watching them work as much as they have enjoyed completing the project. They were given a paper with a checklist of things they needed to include and a piece of paper to take notes on and this was all. I wanted their creativity to shine through this. Students had to work together in a group to decide on their business and what good/service they would sell. They also had to figure out what they needed to buy to start their business and where it would be located. They only were given $5,000 to start their business. Students were able to develop critical thinking/problem solving skills and develop 21st century skills of communicating and collaborating. This relates to NCTCS Standard 4: Teachers help students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills and Teachers help students work in teams and develop leadership qualities. I can’t wait for them to present their projects!