My brother and some of his super cool nerdy friends started a community they refer to as #NerdLution. The goal is to make a resolution you can commit to for 50 days, and you blog about it (or not if blogging isn't your thing). After 50 days round one is complete. At that point you have hopefully turned your #NerdLution into a habit. If after round one you do not feel your #NerdLution is a habit, you can keep the same #NerdLution for round two or adjust your #NerdLution. If it has become a habit then you keep doing it while making a new #NerdLution for the next fifty days. http://sharpread.wordpress.com/2013/12/01/nerdlution-round-1/
It took my some time to decide what I truly wanted my #NerdLution to be for round one. I want my #NerdLution to be literary based, and knew I needed to set a realistic goal since I am currently in the final week of my college career. I love reading, but sometimes it has been difficult for me to make time to read with student teaching and a side job that keeps me busy from 7:00am-7:00pm. Then when I get home I take time to run almost everyday. When all is said and done it is about 8:15 when I can finally take a breath from my go-go-go days, and I still have to be prepared for my next morning of school. This week will be very hectic and consists of building three portfolios by Friday, along with some other stuff. My #Nerdlution for the next 50 days is to read out of a paper based text for a minimum of thirty minutes everyday, to not eat after 8:00pm, and to keep up with my "1 Second Everyday" videos (it's a really cool app for 99 cents that you should definitely check out).
I am excited to join this nerdy community, and have already began thinking of how I can improve my #NerdLution for round 2!
Join the movement! BE NERDY!
Monday, December 2, 2013
Sunday, December 1, 2013
Weird
I completed my student teaching internship on Tuesday. It is going to be so weird not going back to school tomorrow. When I dismissed the class for the last time on Tuesday I had tears in my eyes as students came up to hug me goodbye. Some students even cried too. I'll always remember my first class and I could not have asked for a better mentor teacher or a more awesome group of students. I learned so much in the last three months as I continued my path to being a teaching professional. My time spent student teaching has me confident that I am prepared to have my own classroom. I cannot wait to see where my teaching career takes me when I finish my education at Albion College.
Before I left I put two thank you notes on my mentor's desk. One for her specifically, and one for her to read to the students when they return from Thanksgiving break. She told me she did not read the one I left for the class because she "wants to be surprised along with them." I hope my students understand how much I care about them.
Sunday, November 24, 2013
Only Two Days Left
Final Friday
On Friday morning a few students came to the classroom with
some treats carried by their parents.
When I asked the students what their treats were for, they simply
responded with a shoulder shrug. I had a
strong hunch the treats would be part of our Friday Brain Boosters, and that
this Brain Booster would be different from previous. I had a feeling this Brain Booster would be
more of a party with all of the treats students and their parents brought in
that morning. With Friday being my final
Brain Booster I also kind of had a feeling the party would be like a going away
party for me, even though I still have two days left.
When 1:50 came around, it turned out that my feelings were
correct, kind of. This Friday’s Brain
Booster was a celebration of both fourth grade student teachers. Both fourth grade classes came to my
classroom and we did our MEAP celebration dance to Roar by Katy Perry, along
with some dancing to a couple other songs.
Then the two classes went back to their homeroom to continue celebrating
with some snacks.
As my class was passing out their baked goods (WAY TOO MANY
BAKED GOODS FOR ANY ONE PERSON TO EAT), I was given a couple gifts to unwrap
from my mentor teacher. As soon as my
mentor teacher put the gifts on my desk, students began getting into their
folders to find notes they had written and had gotten signed by fourth graders
from each classroom. It was so
sweet. They all wanted me to read
everything they wrote, but I decided not to because I knew it would make me cry
and I wasn't ready for them to see me tear up before I finish my student
teaching experience on Tuesday. I
explained that to them and there was a collective “awwww” from some, along with
some collective laughter from others.
The students had known about this celebration since last
Friday, but none of them let me in on the secret. A few students had some minor slip ups
throughout the week, but none that gave the surprise away until I saw all the
baked goods being brought into the classroom.
The best surprise was one of the gifts my mentor and one of the teaching
aides helped the students create. This
past week the two worked together to get each student to fill out a prompt
about what they liked about me and how they hope I remember them in order to
create a going away book. I cannot
believe I didn’t notice anything about the book being created. I was so touched to see how much each student
cared about me. It was also great to see
the effort my mentor and the teacher aide put into making a wonderful book to
surprise me. The notes and the book are
definitely items I will keep with me forever.
I’ll never forget my first group of students, and now I have items to
help me remember specific things I did in class that helped them learn and
grow.
Wonder
It took a while, but I finished reading Wonder to the students. When
I am able to set my own schedule I will set aside at least 5-10 minutes a day –
probably after lunch and recess – for a read aloud, just to make sure I can
read multiple novels aloud each year.
Setting aside time for a read aloud right after lunch and recess could
also help with the transition, allowing students a little more time to use the
restroom and to wind down after playing outside.
When I closed the book for the last time, the students
applauded. I did not expect that type of
reaction. It was moving to see that they
learned valuable lessons from the book and enjoyed hearing it read aloud. After finishing, I started a discussion with
the students by saying “this is my favorite book because of the message it
teaches. All great books teach a message
that makes us better people. What is the
message we learn from the awesome book?”
It was wonderful to hear their responses. It was a time when I allowed every student who
wanted to share tell their thoughts without having to cut off to move on with
the lesson. From their responses I could
tell that my students really understood the meaning and purpose of Wonder by R.J. Palacio. I hope they are able to use the lessons they
learned to help them become the amazing people each and every one of them has
the capability to become.
Sunday, November 17, 2013
Conferences and Recess
Parent-Teacher
Conferences
This week I experienced parent-teacher conferences from the
teacher side of the table for the first time.
Our conferences for each student were only ten minutes long. Since we did not have a lot of time, my
mentor and I had to make sure we were concise in what we said, in order to
discuss everything we thought was necessary.
It was tough, and more than a few conferences went over the ten minute
time frame. Almost every child was
represented by at least one parent/guardian at the conferences, and we even had
some students sit in with us too. With
only ten minutes and two teachers having things they wanted to bring up, I
would always let my mentor begin the conference and discussion. During that time I would observe how different
topics were discussed and then I would add my own input on the topic where I
saw fit. If something I wanted to bring
up was not mentioned in the beginning of the conference I would hold onto my
thought until the end, once my mentor had gotten through all that she wanted
to. Overall our conferences went really
well. I learned even more about my
students by listening to concerns and positive comments the parents/guardians
brought up, and all of the parents/guardians really seemed to listen and take
in everything my mentor and I had to say during the conferencing. Ten minutes definitely does not seem like
long enough to adequately discuss all that I felt was needed for each students. I am hoping when I have my own classroom my
district will stretch conferences out over a couple days so each student can be
addressed for a longer time. It would
create a longer work week for the teacher, but I feel that the conferences will
be even more valuable to everyone involved.
Recess
Recently the teachers have been asked to take turns as a
supervisor of their grade’s first recess.
The fourth and fifth graders share a first recess time and the five
teachers have each been assigned one day a week. Since I am no longer teaching every subject I
have a little less to worry about through the day I have volunteered to go out
each day so the other teachers can have that time to prepare. It’s a win-win situation for everyone. The teachers have more time to prepare for
the rest of the day, or to work with a student who needs extra help, and I get
to go outside and play for twenty minutes.
I am no longer teaching the math lessons (which occur immediately
following first recess) so I do not need those twenty minutes to make sure everything
is in order when the students come back inside.
Instead, I take my football outside and play catch with any students
that want to throw the football around.
It’s a very fun time, and I think the students really enjoy being able
to see their teacher in a different light.
While playing catch, I take breaks to see how other students are
spending their recess, and to ask them if they are having a fun time. Being outside helps me continue to develop a
personal relationship with my students, which can lead to better learning, more
respect, and even more fun inside the classroom.
I believe
that being outside during recess goes right along with habit one of
the five healthy habits: “To be thoughtful and caring learner-teachers, open
and eager to know, be known, and respect self and others.” When I am outside I am able to learn about my
students and what they like to do for fun.
I do this simply by observing how they spend their recess, and I also
take time to converse with them about any type of topic. At the same time, my students are getting to
know me better too. They see what I like
to do for fun and they hear what I have to add to our conversations. When I am outside playing and talking I show
the students that I want them to enjoy being at school, and that I care about
who they are as an individual. When any
teacher is outside – especially when they are actively involved in the recess
and not just standing to the side and watching – it shows the students that we
are all people who want to do things that make us happy.
I LOVE TO READ
“I LOVE TO READ”
Throughout student teaching I have been pushing my fourth
graders to do more reading. In my three
week take-over of lesson plans I tried to plan for more read-to-self time than
we had given the students throughout the year thus far. I’ve also continuously expressed my love of
reading to my students. We have
discussed how awesome reading is and how it can be used for enjoyment and
learning at the very same time. I have
some rubber bracelets that say “I LOVE TO READ” on them, and I have been giving
them out to students who show me they love to read. Many times the bracelet handout has occurred
when the class as a whole has gotten loud during a little down time, but one
student has chosen to take the small amount of time to continue reading their
book. The bracelets have helped me with
classroom management as students want to earn one, and be greatly complimented
in front of the whole class, so more and more have taken it upon themselves to
read whenever they have a free moment.
At the end of my student teaching experience I plan on giving every
student a bracelet. However, since
having to earn one has been helpful to classroom management, I will not tell
the students they all get one until it’s time to give them all one.
One day this week, a student told me the most awesome thing
about reading his book. This student has
given me some troubles this year. He
hasn’t always listened and followed directions, and he’s given me some attitude
about listening and doing his work. My
mentor and I decided to move him to the back of the room to see if he would
cause fewer distractions, and the move has worked wonderfully! He has had a
great attitude all week and has been focused and listening much more. We took a math test, and the students were
told to read-to-self when they finished.
By the time everyone finished it was time for us to transition to lunch
and it was getting a little noisy. This
student didn’t even notice we had started transitioning until one of his
friends tapped him on the shoulder to get him moving. As the student went to grab his lunch pail he
came up to me to share why he did not get ready for lunch right away. His reasoning could not have been a better
excuse, “Mr. Sharp, I was reading and I didn’t even notice we were getting
ready for lunch. I was just so into my
book. It didn’t even feel like I was in
the classroom. I felt like I was
actually in Africa , living the story.” When my student told me this, I beamed with
joy. It was way too cool. We talked for a minute about how awesome it
is that reading can do that for you. He
has definitely earned himself a bracelet.
Take-over Over
I have now completed my three week takeover of all teacher
duties. It was a great experience and I
learned a lot of valuable things that will stay with me forever. Going forward I will still be teaching
lessons. My mentor and I have discussed
how we will shift back toward her teaching and planning everything. We will discuss the weekly plan together, and
then decide who will teach what lessons.
We are just playing it all by ear for now. Our plan of attack is not the most decisive
plan, but I know we will make it work best for us and the students.
I still cannot believe that student teaching is almost
over. It has gone by so fast. Looking at the calendar I realize I only have
10.5 days of school left with my students before I finish at Thanksgiving
break. When I told them this on Friday
they all asked if I’d ever come back. I
know I will have to make time to do that because I will definitely miss
them. I’d really like to come back
periodically, either for a visit or to substitute teach for my mentor or
another teacher, and I also want to come back near the end of the year. I’d want to come at the end of the year to
see how much the students have grown in their learning and abilities. I’m super excited and very sad that it’s
almost over, but I’ll have to get used to this feeling because it’ll always
bittersweet seeing my students move on to the next grade when I have my own classroom. I’ll be sad to not see them, but I’ll be
proud of how far they came in the year they were with me.
Tuesday, November 5, 2013
Week Two
Week Two
The second week of taking over
the classroom is now in the books. This
past week was quite eventful. We had the
excitement of Halloween on Thursday, and a MEAP celebration dance along with a
fall festival on Friday. To say the
students were wound up a little bit nearing the end of the week would be an
understatement. All week the kids kept
asking if we could take a minute to share what their Halloween costumes were
going to be. All week I kept telling
them when we had time, and no later than on Halloween. Well we didn’t find time before Halloween so
on October 31 the students knew they would be sharing their costumes at some
point, and they were frequently asking when that would be. When we finally found the time to share
costumes it was great to hear the excitement each student had in their voice
and body language as they said what they would be wearing, and heard what all
of their friends in class would have on that night. They also had quite a laugh when I shared
that I too would be dressing up and taking my little brothers Trick or
Treating.
Halloween
definitely poses a challenge for teachers.
The young students’ short attention spans become even shorter. They only seem to want to focus on Halloween,
costumes and Trick or Treating. With our
Fall Festival and a MEAP celebration dance being the following day it made
Halloween even more difficult for the students’ ability to focus on the
important subject matter we were still covering. Both overly exciting schools days went quite
well for the students and myself. To
make this possible I had to stay on top of classroom management. I was firm with my behavior and work ethic
expectations, but made sure I was also being fair – taking time to enjoy the
excitement of the days this past week, as well as pushing my students to give
me their best effort in everything they did.
Whenever I saw the class getting unruly I would use our classroom
quieting tools immediately. On Thursday
and Friday I would even use those tools a little bit earlier than normal
because I had a hunch it would take a little extra time to get my students back
on track. I was also thinking that if I
let them get too loud and off task at any point on those two days I would never
get them back where I needed them to be in order for them to learn.
Being the
teacher in control of the class on Halloween was a very beneficial
experience. It helped prepare me for
other times when the students will be more excited than on the typical day such
as holidays, when long breaks are coming up, field trips, etc. On those kind of days I will need to utilize
my best classroom management practices in order to make the day as productive
as possible.
Looking Ahead
This next week will be my final
week of having complete control over the teaching and planning for the
class. I wouldn't mind doing it for a
longer period of time, but I think the way my mentor and I have planned out my
student teaching is in the best interest of the students. We started the year with me helping out where
I could, and then I would take over one subject at a time as we continued
toward my three week long takeover of everything. When the three week long takeover ends I will
still be teaching multiple subjects throughout the day, and my mentor and I
will team teach the remaining subjects throughout the day. I think it is important to make the
transitions from my mentor teaching to me taking over (and vice versa) smooth
rather than abrupt. If the transitions
are too abrupt the students will not understand the sudden change and might not
be able to adapt quick enough to the different teaching methods. By making the transitions smooth the students
have a better chance to understand that both my mentor and myself are their
teacher and require the same respect and work ethic from each of them.
Sunday, October 27, 2013
A Crayon's Point of View
The Day the Crayons Quit
My students
loved hearing The Day the Crayons Quit read
aloud. They also thoroughly enjoyed the
short video from the books illustrator, Oliver Jeffers, and how he goes about
his daily work as a picture book writer and illustrator. The video led to some interesting forms of
brainstorming. For the first time I
allowed my fourth graders to brainstorm by first drawing their picture. They also had the option to work in the same
way as Jeffers, and write their piece and draw their picture at the same
time. Many kids chose to brainstorm via
drawing, and then were able to quickly write a letter from a crayon’s point of
view. A few students really liked another
form of brainstorming that Oliver Jeffers discusses in his video – walking
around with a notepad in hand to jot down ideas based on the world around
them. Others stuck to more traditional
brainstorming methods such as quick notes, spider webs, lists, and short
sentence outlining. When I collected the
papers, I also collected their brainstorming notes. It is very interesting to look at the
brainstorming and their letters side by side to see how they work through the
entire writing process.
On Monday I
will hand back the graded and edited drafts so the students can use their
chosen crayon color to write their final copy and produce an illustration. With it still being pretty early in the year
I am mostly looking for ideas and staying on topic when it comes to grading
their written work. However, since we
did a letter writing mini lesson earlier in the week when we wrote thank you
letters to a student’s parent for adopting our class (donating) to our
fundraiser earlier this month, I will also be grading to make sure they follow
the guidelines for writing a letter. The
format of the letter will be a small portion of the grade, because I still want
them to be working mainly on ideas, staying on topic, and writing
coherently.
Once the
students finish their final draft and illustration page, I will put all of
their work in a binder that will be available in the class library for them to
read during read to self time. I will
also take some time to share their writing and illustrations in a read
aloud. Before doing this I will ask to
see if any students are uncomfortable with their work being read aloud. If anyone doesn’t want me to read their page
then I will just skip over it during the read aloud. I am pondering even letting the students read
their own pages of the book if they want.
If I choose to do this the students would have the option to have me
read it for them or they could choose to not have their work read aloud at
all.
Looking Back and
Ahead
Monday will be the start of my
second week having control of everything within the classroom. The first week went over well, and the
students didn’t seem to miss a beat transitioning to me teaching everything
instead of just the subjects I had been teaching. Going into the week my biggest concern for a
subject was math. I have always loved
math personally, but had found it somewhat difficult to teach. In previous field placements it was weird to
me that a subject I understood so well was so difficult to teach. When I reflected on my previous math teaching
experiences I began to wonder if it was harder to teach because I understood it
so well. When I learned math concepts I
usually picked them up quickly no matter how they were taught to me. Now when I teach math I like to make sure I take
some extra time in my planning to think about concepts that might be harder to
grasp. Within my math lessons I try to
plan for teaching the same concepts in multiple ways, so each student has a
chance to learn and completely understand the material. My first week of having complete control of
the math planning and teaching seemed to go over well, and we got through all
of the material I had planned for, as well as some supplemental teaching
methods for most topics. I am glad I was
able to teach the math lessons using multiple teaching practices.
As I look
ahead to my next week, I see the student teaching experience going by so
fast. THERE ARE ONLY FIVE WEEKS LEFT! I cannot believe it is going by this
quickly. While I am very excited to
start my search for a career in the elementary education field I do not know
how I will feel when it is over. I know
my education at Albion
College
Sunday, October 20, 2013
Taking over Everything
Taking Over
Starting
tomorrow I will be taking over complete control of the classroom for at least
three weeks. Before I started student
teaching I thought this day would be a lot more nerve wrecking. Surprisingly, I am quite calm. There are a few things I am slightly worried
about (I will get into that later on), but overall my mentor teacher has done a
wonderful job preparing me for this next step toward the completion of my
student teaching semester. I’ve already
been teaching most subjects on a daily basis.
Some of those lessons were ones I developed completely on my own, others
were done with a little guidance from my mentor, and the rest were done similar
to my substitute teaching experience – where I would be given a lesson and
specific details on how to teach it, but still had to interpret the lesson plan
on my own. Having been in this classroom
for seven weeks has me very comfortable with how to manage my students, and how
to find ways to teach all of them.
I am very
excited to have complete control of how to teach each lesson. My mentor has given me ideas of how she would
continue with each subject, but it is up to me to decide how I will plan and
teach each lesson. The guidance of how
to carry on with each individual subject was a major relief. My mentor could have just said, “On Monday
it’s all up to you where you go.” By
giving me a little bit of guidance, it made me think this experience over the
next few weeks will be similar to how I hope my first year of teaching in my
own classroom will go. For the first
year (and certainly after that too – more like every year) in my own classroom
it will be vital that I talk with my colleagues to learn how they use the
school’s chosen curriculum. We can then
bounce ideas off of each other to come up with the best teaching practices and
lessons to use in our own classrooms.
Students do
not all learn the same, and not all teachers feel the same practices work for
them or their students, so communicating and discussing with other teachers about
teaching practices helps each teacher find what works for him/her and for
his/her students that year. Bouncing
ideas off one another is one of my favorite ways to find the best strategies
for anything in life, not just teaching.
Why work exponentially harder to figure something out on your own when
you could utilize your resources (colleagues in your school, teachers you may
know, friends and family, students, etc.)?
“Work smarter…not harder.” – Allan F. Mogensen
Most Anticipated
Lesson Plan
On Wednesday
I will be reading a picture book titled, The
Day the Crayons Quit. This will
actually be for a writing lesson. We are
still focusing on getting the students excited about writing, and this book is
a way I think we can continue to do that.
The book consists of letters written to a crayon owner by each crayon on
his box. The letters state the reason
the crayon is has decided to quit working for him. After reading the story I am going to show
the students this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KZu0X82l7k&feature=youtu.be.
It is a short video from the author and illustrator, Oliver Jeffers. He tells the viewers how he does his work as
picture book writer and illustrator, and it is fascinating. I will then have the students write their own
story from a crayons perspective (I have yet to decide if their crayons will be
quitting or saying why they love how they are being used). Their stories will first be
done in pencil, and then edited by each other, then re-edited by myself. When they have their final draft they will
write a letter in crayon and add illustrations.
I will then create a book with all of the crayon stories from my
students. The book will be kept in the
class library for them to check out whenever they want. I think using the different medium of
handwriting (this time with a crayon), and writing for classroom publication
will help generate excitement and enthusiasm for this piece. I am hoping the excitement and enthusiasm
will carry over into other writings they do throughout the year, and even
throughout their lives.
A few Areas of
Concern
The
subject areas and lessons are a very important part of the next three
weeks. I think I have that area down
pretty well, and I know where the class is headed in each subject so they are
not an area I am currently worried about very much. Remembering all of the little things that go
into teaching a class on your own are what have me the most concerned. Do I have all the copies I need for this
lesson today? How will I help absent
students catch up the next day on all the important things they missed? Did I scan that document correctly so I can
use it on the projector? Will I have
time to grade everything and promptly get it back to my students so we can go
over anything they might be confused about from the lesson? Did I remember to write out the Common Core
“I can…” statements on the board? How
will I adjust our schedule for an assembly?
There are so many little things to think about for each day as a teacher
and I am looking forward to the challenge I will be facing. These challenges remind me of Habit 2 of the
“Five Habits of Mind”: To be curious,
critically thinking risk-takers and problem-solvers. I will have to constantly be curious and use
my critical thinking skills in order to teach all of my lessons in the best way
possible for my students.
As of right
now I have my first week of plans all ready, the “I can…” statements on the
chalkboard, I think I have all of the copies I need, everything that needs to
be scanned for the projector has been scanned, and I think everything is in
order for the first five days. The thing
I have definitely noticed throughout the past seven weeks is even though my
mentor plans out each week before Monday, something always gets shifted for
some reason. I know I have to go with
the flow and see how my students are doing with each lesson. Sometimes I will be able to move forward
quicker than I thought, and other times I will have to re-teach at least part
of a lesson, in a new way, the following day so the students are able to
completely understand it.
Sunday, October 13, 2013
Another WONDERful Week
Wonder
I recently bought an “I
read Wonder” shirt and I was so
excited to wear it to school on casual Friday.
The
students were also excited when they saw what I was wearing. They quickly started asking if we’d be
reading any of the book today. One student
even added “you cannot wear an ‘I read Wonder’
shirt and not read any of the book to us today, Mr. Sharp.” They were definitely right. Wearing the “I read Wonder” shirt made me feel like it was necessary to take some time
to read the wonderful book to my class.
Since the students worked so hard throughout the first week of the MEAP
test my mentor and I decided that after lunch I would spend some extra time
reading Wonder (30 minutes or so
instead of the usual 10-15 minutes whenever I can find time to read it
aloud). During the time I was reading
students were allowed to draw pictures about the book. After I finished I had those who chose to
draw hold their pictures up and I provided a positive comment to every student
who drew a picture. It was very
interesting to see how they interpreted specific scenes of the story and to
compare them with how their classmates and I saw it in our heads.
MEAP
The
MEAP test is not the most exciting time of the school year. In fact, it is quite boring. Once the test begins, teachers are only
allowed to read the directions to the students, dismiss students to the
bathroom, and hand out sharpened pencils.
We can’t read, organize our room, grade, or anything. Which I guess makes a small amount of sense
since it could be a distraction to the students taking the test, and it would
be unfair as a teacher to distract them.
But that is not even what makes the MEAP test less than exciting. The hardest part is that the students cannot
do next to nothing once they finish their test.
All they can do is go back and check their answers on the current test,
sit quietly, or put their head down.
These kids are 8-10 years old; sitting still is and silent for an
extended period of time is one of the hardest possible things for many of
them. It does not make much sense to
me. As an educator I try to put a lot of
emphasis on the importance of reading. What better time to read a book than
when you cannot make noise in the classroom?
I just think that the people who decide on the rules for the MEAP test
should lighten up a bit, and allow the kids to read. It would help them be less disruptive, and it
would help them learn at the same time.
Isn’t learning the point of going to school? If the students were allowed to read they
would be able to improve their reading comprehension, improve their reading
fluency, learn about something knew, and it is very possible that a student
that does not enjoy reading might finally pick a book they love and could
potentially fall in love with reading at that very moment.
Habit 3: To be perspective-takers, seeking out, valuing and
incorporating different viewpoints and positions about learners, learning,
teaching and subject matter
By giving my students the option to draw about the story when I was
reading Wonder it gave students a way
to quickly show how they see the story, as well as what they might be learning
from the book. When I read the novel
aloud students are also always free to raise their hand and share something the
story is making them think about. They
could share an event it reminds them of, something they have learned from the
story, how the story makes them a better person, a comment on how they would
feel in a situation the story is narrating, etc. It is fun to learn what my students think
about Wonder and to see how the story
can have a very positive impact on how they interact with their peers.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Hear us Roar!
“Awesome” Pep Talk
One day
this past week my mentor teacher was out of the room for a meeting. She had given me plans for what to do before
taking the kids to their music class, but she figured she would be back before
I had to pick the students up. She
wasn’t, and I didn’t know what she had planned for her reading lesson because
it was going to be test taking practice/review that she wanted to do with the
students while I observed. So I just
ad-libbed a reading lesson.
My
ad-libbing began with a little pep talk.
My students are pretty well behaved in the hallway when we transition
from one room to another. However, on
this day when I dropped off my students I saw a third grade class walking with
their teacher, and these kids are always so quiet that the teacher didn’t even
notice she had walked well ahead of them.
When I brought my students back to class I told them this story. I also told them that the younger students shouldn’t
be setting the example for how we walk in the hall, as fourth graders we need
to be the role models for the students under us. I truly think my students took this to heart
because I could see immediate improvement in their hallway behavior. I am very pleased that a quick pep talk about
being leaders had such a quick and positive impact on my students.
Following
the being a leader pep talk I decided to praise my students with how awesome
they are. I pointed to each individual, said their name and told them they are
awesome. We had a discussion about how
we are awesome, and what we can do to be even more awesome. We talked about how it isn’t just the
students in our class that can be, and are awesome, but everyone in our school
– from the students, to the teachers, to the staff and faculty, etc. – is also
awesome. The students all seemed to love
this change of pace in their day, as a pep talk is not something we do often,
if at all. They also thoroughly enjoyed
the praise they received just for being who they are.
The
best part about the pep talks was that I was genuine about everything I said. I
know my students can be leaders and role models in many facets of school and
life. They are also all awesome
people. There are a plethora of reasons
that make every person awesome. As I
continue working with my students it is great to see their awesome traits and
abilities shine. Next week I want to
follow up my pep talk with this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-gQLqv9f4o. I’ve already shown a Kid President video to
my students, and I think this video will be a very inspiring video to back up
my pep talk to them last week.
Roar
The
MEAP test begins on Tuesday. The MEAP is
not an exciting time for the students, nor is it exciting for the
teachers. There’s some prep we have done
recently instead of our usual lessons.
The prep lessons are not as exciting.
These lessons do teach valuable skills and knowledge the students definitely
need to have, but with focusing the prep on test taking it just seems to come
off a little dry.
To help
remind the students of some important test taking practices one of the teachers
created a video of tips to show during a kick-off assembly. The video was set to the tune of “Roar” by
Katy Perry, and had various tips such as “eat a healthy breakfast”, “get plenty
of sleep”, “review your answers”, “take your time”, etc. Along with the video a handful of teachers
and student teachers choreographed a dance to go along with the song. We dressed in all black, taped glowsticks to
our clothes to create a glowstick stick figure, and we danced to the
video. The students LOVED it! It was so
much fun. When we got back to class we
talked with the students, and they had actually watched the video and read the
messages. With MEAP not being the most
entertaining time of the year for the students, it was awesome to do something
fun for them, that would also help them remember important tips to use.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4aMUgN0hZbY
(I am the one in the very front, with the crazy headgear that breaks.)
Habit 5: To
be morally, ethically-grounded deliberators, living and working with diverse
individuals with integrity
I believe my pep talk about being awesome individuals goes very well
with Habit 5. Each student, and every
person for that matter, is awesome in their own, individual way. As a teacher it is important to find the
awesomeness in each student, and to help each student use his/her awesomeness
to better himself/herself. It is hard to
observe what each student can do well.
It also takes a lot of time. By
putting in the extra effort to find the positive traits of every student it
will make for a much more productive school year, and will help each child grow
tremendously.
Sunday, September 29, 2013
Being Observed
Observation
On Tuesday I had my first observation by my
field supervisor. I wasn’t freaking out
with nerves, but I was definitely a little bit nervous going into the day. The thing that had me the most uptight was
the fact that my field supervisor would be the first guest we had in the
classroom all year, so I was unsure about how distracting it could be for some
students. I also did not inform my
students about our guest until the morning of my observation, they were all
very excited to find out a college professor would be coming into their
classroom. When I walked the students to
gym that morning, the field supervisor was actually at the door, waiting to be
let in to observe a fellow student teacher before coming to my class. Students instantly began asking if that was
our special guest. I’m just glad they
had 40 minutes of gym to work off some of their over excitement.
The lesson I
was teaching during the observation was on using context clues while reading. I
started the lesson with this sentence on the board as the students walked into
class from gym:
I allowed them some time to think about what
the word meant on their own, and then I opened it up for a class
discussion. I began the discussion by
asking them the different strategies they could use to figure out what a
difficult word in their text might mean.
The first few suggestions were a dictionary, a thesaurus, ask somebody;
but then a girl said you could use the words around it and what you already
know from the reading to help you. It was awesome to hear a student say that,
without even knowing what context clues were beforehand. After a couple more
strategy suggestions the students shared what they thought context clues might
mean based on how it was used in our modeling sentence. Once I felt that they had the idea of context
clues down we moved on to the next task.
I introduced my field supervisor with her title of “Doctor” and asked
them to tell me what “Doctor” might mean based on context clues, since she
isn’t a medical doctor. They did a very
nice job with using context clues to work through what the general definition
of the word “doctor” means. (Side note: At the end one girl went up to her and
said “if you were a real doctor you could help me with my headache”). I think using our lesson as a way to
introduce our guest helped make the students a little more comfortable having a
stranger in the room. We then went on to
do a couple practice problems together.
We wrapped up the activity by having some read to self time with a sticky
note. The sticky note was to be used for
more context clues practice. I asked the
students to write down a word in their book that they did not understand and to
use context clues to define it. At the
end of read to self time the students were able to share their word, the
passage it came from, and what they thought it meant. My hope is the extra practice during read to
self time will help the students remember to use context clues on their own in
order to better understand whatever it is they are reading.
Overall the observation ended up going
really well, and I think my students did a very nice job staying on task and
not getting distracted by a guest being in the room.
INDEPENDENT
Writing
This week in writing we started working on
another watermelon seed story. The students were to write this story about a
favorite place, or they had the option to write about a place they imagined on
their own. I think it is important to give the students some freedom in their
writing because I want them to enjoy their writing time, and I want them to
write for the whole time. When they choose the topic it allows them the
opportunity to pick something they know well, thus helping them write for the
couple days of writer’s workshop we use for each writing assignment.
During writers workshop I have noticed that
many students frequently ask me to read their paper, or do not get started
until I give them ideas on how to write about their topic. We want our class to
be able to write independently because every one of the students is capable of
doing so. To try to increase their independent writing stamina I told them my
mentor teacher and I would not be answering questions, giving tips, reading
papers, or talking in any way for the first fifteen minutes they were writing.
Before they started I made sure to take the time to answer any question a
student had about the assignment, but once they started I just walked around
and observed the class. Many of them were able to do some quick
brainstorming and get right into their watermelon seed story. For some it took
a little longer, but with my mentor and I being adamant about not talking for
the first 15 minutes the students were able to get started all on their own. I am very excited to read these watermelon
seed stories for a handful of reasons.
The first being the fact that reading my students’ writing helps me
continue to get to know them even better.
With much of this assignment being focused on independent writing, it
will also allow for me to see where each student is at in terms of writing
ability and getting their ideas down on paper.
Along with the challenge of writing independently I asked the students
to continue focusing on showing sentences and not telling sentences. To help stress this idea they were given a
second challenge for this story. They
are not supposed to say what the place is until the very last sentence, instead
they need to show their audience the place through descriptive sentences, and
then reveal the actual place at the end.
I really hope the additional mystery of their stories helped motivate
them to work hard on showing the reader rather than just telling.
Sunday, September 22, 2013
The Land of Cantdo
Lessons
I
taught a handful of lessons this week, but a couple of them really stood out as
great lessons I will be able to do (or modify based on what grade level I
teach). Tuesday, September 17 was Constitution day so all of the teachers were
asked to teach a lesson about the constitution. Mrs. Stacks let me take over
this task by reading the "Land of Cantdo" story and discussing it
with the students, followed by the "Visitor from Space" activity.
"The Land of Cantdo" is a short story about a family who moves to the
fictional land of Cantdo (it didn't take the students long to realize the name
of this country is pronounced "Can't do", and you'll soon see why as
well). In Cantdo the people have no rights like we do in the United States.
They can't talk about their government in anyway, they can't assemble in groups
of more than two for any reason, unless they are in a line to go somewhere, the
can't start a petition, they can't hang up flyers or hand put invitations for
an event, they have little to no freedom, and to top it all off, there is only
one television program in Cantdo - a show that repeats all of the things you
cannot do in Cantdo. When I finished the story many children asked if
Cantdo was a real place. I told them no,
and added a question of my own, “do you think there are places like this around
the world?” The all said “NOOOOOO” and
were shocked to hear the truth that led to further discussion of our rights in
America and how not everybody has those rights.
Reading the “Land of Cantdo” is a very eye opening experience for the
students. It is an activity that could
be done with nearly every elementary grade so it is definitely something I will
keep as I move forward in my professional teaching career. We followed the story with a quick Bill of
Rights activity. “A Visitor from Outer
Space” puts the children in a hypothetical situation in the year 2020, were an
alien population has landed and taken over the United States. I used my best alien voice to inform the
children of their next task. They had to
pick five of the ten rights in the Bill of Rights that they wanted to
keep. If they could not agree on which
five, they would lose all ten. For this
activity the students were in groups of three to four and they discussed and
debated the case for each right. While they were debating, I walked around the
room and played devils advocate for rights they had chosen to leave out – just
to fuel some more intense debates within each group. When every group had picked their top five we
did a class vote to see which rights each group thought were most important.
The results were as follows:
Obviously
there were some rights that seemed a little more important than others, but
none of the rights received a vote from every group. It was very interesting to see that freedom
of the press was not selected because I would not be able to post anything to
this little blog without that right.
Doing this activity made the students really stop to think just how
important it is that we have all of these freedoms where we live.
Habits of Mind
Habit 3: To
be perspective-takers, seeking out, valuing and incorporating different
viewpoints and positions about learners, learning, teaching and subject matter
With our social studies activity of “A Visitor from Space” the
students had to work together to decide which rights they felt were the most
important. Their groups were picked at
random, and they had to incorporate the viewpoint of each person in order to
fairly decide their five most important rights to keep. If the students did not listen to and value each
other’s perspectives on the importance of each right one was arguing for, then
they would have been acting like the rulers of Cantdo. They would not be allowing their peers to
have a voice. I think reading the “Land
of Cantdo” story beforehand only enhances the discussion during “A Visitor from
Outer Space.” It really helps the
students understand how great our freedoms in America are, and it makes them
truly care about which of the five rights they will vote for.
Wonder Relates to a Specific School Event
This week we held our first "classroom meeting." During
these meetings the students have the opportunity to bring up things going on at
school. We started our meeting by only allowing positive comments for the first
bit. Many students were eager to share stories of how others treated them
nicely, how the new kids were quickly being accepted by their peers and other
reasons why fourth grade has gotten off to a nice start. Hearing the positive
stories was a very heartwarming experience and just another plus to entering
the profession of teaching.
After the positive comments we allowed the students to share some
of their general concerns about the rest of the fourth grade year, along with
some common negative things that have been occurring during the school day
(students were not allowed to use names for negative behavior). The most
frequent complaint was about the "club" a girl had formed at recess.
She runs the club and picks who is allowed and who isn't. It has caused many
students to become upset and feel hurt. Going into the class meeting we knew of
this issue, as it was one of the main reasons we held the meeting, and we were
prepared to discuss it at length. We wanted to remind the kids that exclusion
was very hurtful and was a form of bullying. We talked about how it was okay
for students to call their group a club, as long as they let anyone and
everyone join.
At this point you might be wondering why the class meeting fell
under the Wonder section of this post. During our
discussion of the club, a student brought up a part in Wonder that addresses a similar instance.
An early chapter in of the book focuses on August's first experience
eating in the lunchroom. There's only one person who will sit by him, a very
sweet girl (who is even a member of the "popular" group) named
Summer. The two become quick friends. They are the only two that ever sit at
the table and they soon decide to call their table "The Summer Table"
and say that. The table is for people with names that remind them of summer.
They start to list students and teachers whose names fit the requirement, and
then say that even if someone's name doesn't match the criteria of "The
Summer Table" they can still sit there as long as they are nice. The
student in my class said that this club at their recess should be more like
Summer and Auggie's, where they allow everyone to join. It was so cool to see
my student understanding how Wonder stresses the importance of
including everybody, and for the students to relate a similar school event to
our novel. It was a moment that reassured my confidence that hearing Wonder read aloud will have a positive
impact on my students.
Wednesday, September 11, 2013
Even More Involved
As requested by my professor for student teaching my posts
will now include discourse on at least one of the “Five Habits of Mind” for
teaching. In case the “Habits of Mind”
from the Albion College Teacher Education Program differ from other habits
people may be thinking of, I will start this post by listing them.
Habit
1:
To be thoughtful and caring learner-teachers, open and eager to know, be known,
and respect self and others
Habit
2:
To be curious, critically thinking risk-takers and problem-solvers
Habit
3:
To be perspective-takers, seeking out, valuing and incorporating different
viewpoints and positions about learners, learning, teaching and subject matter
Habit
4:
To be child and youth advocates, desiring a more fair, equitable and democratic
society
Habit
5:
To be morally, ethically-grounded deliberators, living and working with diverse
individuals with integrity
I will make an effort to not rehash the same habit week
after week, in order to have a more diverse dialog throughout my student
teaching experience.
The week and a half since I last journaled have been quite
interesting. As the students get to know
me better they continue to try to see how I react to certain things. It has been important that I remain kind of
strict early on so they understand that while the school day will be fun, we
both have a job to do in the short time we are together each day. Students continue to try to find where
exactly the fine line between fun in the classroom and classroom disturbance is
in my book. It makes it a little hard on
the students that there are constantly two teachers in the room. I think I allow for a little more freedom to
talk quietly, as long as the students are focused and discussing their
work. My mentor teacher on the other hand
is a tad stricter when it comes to talking in the classroom. It’s not that she prefers silence at all
times, she definitely knows and understands that students can learn from each
other while they work, but she has a lower level of noise tolerance than I
do. This can make it kind of difficult
for the students when my mentor teacher and I take turns teaching lessons
throughout the day. I have a good
feeling that as the students learn the differences in how she and I handle
classroom management they will become better at transitioning between their two
teachers.
You’re in the Picture
This week I was allowed to take over a lesson my mentor does
every year. It’s a writing lesson called
“You’re in the Picture.” For the bulk of
this lesson I gave a book – turned to a specific page with a large picture – to
each pod. The students then had to work
individually to write a story based only on the picture they were given. If there were words on the picture, I covered
them up with sticky notes. I allowed the
students to either tell the story the picture tells them, or to tell a story
that was inspired by what is in the picture.
Before they began I brought them back to the class library for a
mini-lesson. In the mini-lesson I went
over the general idea of what we would be doing. The next step was to discuss how we
experience life through our senses. To
demonstrate this I wrote the five senses on the board in the library and told
the students to take a mental walk through the woods, and to focus on what all
five of their senses would experience.
We brainstormed a list together, and then we created a story. It was important to note that in order to
develop a better story we needed to focus on a few of the topics we
brainstormed and not just list off everything.
Then I chose a picture that none of them would be using and I modeled two
example stories, like the one they would soon be working on individually, based
on my picture. The first story was a
boring one where I just listed the things in the picture. The kids clearly didn’t enjoy this story,
which was the point. In my good example
I focused on a few details from the picture and described a story from the
perspective of one of the people on the page.
I was able to incorporate both Taylor Swift and Miguel Cabrera in my
story, which had the students laughing and very interested. The students were given about 25 minutes to
brainstorm and write on the first day of the lesson.
The second
day of “You’re in the Picture” started off with a mini-lesson again. This mini-lesson was about using descriptive
words (adjectives) to help enhance the images your story creates for the
reader. We went back to our mental walk
through the woods brainstorming list and I gave a brief talk on the importance
of vivid description in story telling. Together, we modeled how using adjectives
created a better mental image of the items on our list. The students were given about 25 more minutes
to write and to go back and add in descriptive words to what they already had
written.
The final
day of the lesson consisted of the students just finishing up with their story,
or even writing another one based on a different picture. Before the end of writing the students were
given the opportunity to share what they had written.
Habit
2: To be curious, critically thinking risk-takers and problem-solvers
While the
students were writing their “You’re in the Picture” stories I would take time
to read aloud a sentence or two that someone had wrote. I would pick sentences that did an excellent
job in modeling the use of descriptive words to liven up a story. Doing this was kind of risky, because making
the students pause in their writing could make it hard for some to get back on
task. However, that was not the case, it
actually did quite the opposite. It
helped solve the problem of students letting their mind day dream too
much. Since I was giving examples from
all kinds of students, the others wanted to be the next student celebrated for
doing a great job. It motivated many students
to put forth the extra effort I knew they could give me. Even if they didn’t get called out in front
of the class for a job well done, their writing was greatly improved and they
will get their reward of a great grade and positive comments on their papers.
Wonder
Reading Wonder to my students has been a great
experience for all of us. They really
enjoy hearing the story of Auggie going to school for the first time. In our discussions of the book, my students
are easily able to relate it to their life, and how the first day of school –
be it their first day ever, or their first day each year – is always a little
scary. Every morning when I greet the
students at the door many of them ask
“are we going to read Wonder today?!”
or “can we PLEASSSSE read Wonder today.” It’s awesome knowing my students love hearing
me read them a book with such a magnificent message. The best part about reading Wonder to them is hearing the students
discuss how the book teaches us to be more accepting of everybody. The message behind Wonder makes the reader a better person for having read the story,
and when a book is able to do that it is a WONDERFUL book.
Tuesday, September 3, 2013
First Day of School/Reading Wonder
"When given the choice between being right or being kind.
Choose kind” – Dr. Wayne Dyer
***Before I start, this journal might be a little more of a
book review/praise for Wonder by R.
J. Palacio, because the book is awesome and Mrs. Stacks told me I could read it
to the kids to start the school year.
Today was the first day of school, and it was
wonderful. It was great to see how eager
the kids looked – maybe it was mainly because they were surrounded by their
friends for eight hours a day again, but some of it was also their enthusiasm
to learn. I hope Mrs. Stacks and I can
keep that enthusiasm up as the first part of the year continues. We started the day by greeting the students
at the door. We shook their hand and
said “good morning” to which they gave the same reply. This will be how we greet our students every
morning. I like this method of Mrs.
Stacks’ because it’s a good way to help teach the students how to greet people
when they enter a place, how to properly shake hands, and to use eye contact
when addressing someone. The only
downfall of this is the increased possibility of Mrs. Stacks or me getting
sick, but I like to think I have a strong immune system, and we use hand
sanitizer before and after. As one new
student from out of state arrived this morning he was visibly upset. He had a couple tears in his eyes as he put
his stuff on his hook and went into the classroom, saying goodbye to his
mom. I could tell that it was not that
he was too sad to be apart, but he was scared of having no friends. He was one of the first students to get to
school today so when he went into the room I went in to talk to him. I told him that I was new to the school as
well and that we would both make friends in no time. This helped him calm down a bit, but not
entirely. About five minutes after the
bell rang he was already making a new friend with the student he sits next to
in class. When we went to our morning
assembly him and his new friend were quietly chatting and laughing as we walked
to the gymnasium. Usually talking in the
halls is against the rules, but in this instance I chose not to put a stop to
it because the joy on the young boys face from making a new friend is well
worth more than making him follow a simple rule on the first day of class,
especially when the boy was terrified of being alone all school year.
We are doing what is called a “soft start” where we focus
more on team building and relationship building than academics for the first
week. This is great because when the
class gets to know each other and their teacher it helps create a safe and
comfortable learning environment that fosters discussion and questions since
people are not afraid to speak up when surrounded by people they trust. Today we did a lot of “getting to know you”
activities, and through the week we will continue doing more team/relationship
building activities. Along with the team
and relationship building, Mrs. Stacks let me begin reading Wonder aloud to the class. Wonder
is definitely one of my favorite books.
I got it as a Christmas present from my older brother, Colby Sharp, who
is also an elementary teacher. Wonder is a fantastic book to read to
fourth grade children, and it also wonderfully coincides with Concord ’s “soft start” to the school year. Auggie is a little different, as he was born
with a facial deformity and has already had nearly 30 surgeries before going to
fifth grade. “I won’t describe what I
look like. Whatever you’re thinking,
it’s probably worse” (3). R.J. Palacio’s
novel gives you the perspective of many people affected by a young boy named
August going to mainstream school for the first time. With the book being told in parts, through
the eyes of many different characters, it helps the students understand point
of view in literature. It is a funny,
heartwarming, story of a boy looking to be seen as normal and not a freak. Wonder helps
readers understand the rule that it truly does not matter how different a
person is, everyone deserves the chance to be accepted and loved by their
peers. I would not hesitate to recommend
Wonder to my fellow peers, or to my
students. I honestly believe everyone
should read the book because it really helps readers understand that you should
not judge someone simply because they are not what everyone would consider
“normal.” I am so excited to continue to
read Wonder to my students, and as we
get further in the book I will start developing mini-lessons for us to do as we
enjoy its wonderful message. Following
the handful of pages we were able to read today, we have already began
discussing its amazing message, how we think Auggie will be treated by his
classmates and teachers, how we think mainstream schoolwork will be for Auggie,
and how R.J. Palacio’s use of different view points helps us better understand
the full story of this wonderful kid.
Wednesday, August 28, 2013
Brief Summary of this Past Summer
I know my professor, Dr. Shanton, said he wanted us to focus on the recent weeks
of being in the classroom, but he also said this was a “free write on our
teaching” so I will take that creative liberties in first discussing a
couple of summer events that pertain to my professional teaching career. Over the summer I attended the nErDcampBC
conference that was put on by my brother, sister-in-law and a group of their
amazing friends. nErDcampBC was set up
like a traditional EDcamp, but with a literary twist, and it WAS AWESOME! I
cannot even begin to describe all of the amazing things I learned that day in
the Cereal Capital, Battle Creek . I was able to attend four sessions, but I
wanted to attend them all. Most of the
people in attendance were teachers, but there were also many librarians,
authors, administrators, etc. at nErDcampBC that came to learn about literacy
in the classroom. I cannot wait for the
next nErDcamp, and I will definitely do a better job helping spread the word
about this amazing learning experience to my fellow colleagues and
friends. Plus I walked out that day with
over TEN free books (that were all donated to nErDcampBC by the hosts’
connections). All of these books will be
on my shelves when I have my own classroom.
The second summer event I feel the need to discuss is the
MTTC. I took both the elementary
education test, and the history subject area test. The history test was not required for my
certification, but I wanted to take it because if I passed it would give me
more job opportunities. I do not think a
middle school history class is where I belong in my teaching career, but you
never know until you try it and I definitely wanted to keep that door open once
I am finished at Albion
College Albion College
These past few weeks have been fun, interesting, slightly
hectic, and a wonderful learning experience.
I started going into my classroom in the mornings about 2-3 weeks
ago. I’d go in for a couple hours and
help Mrs. Stacks arrange some stuff, hang items up, learn to make copies (still
trying to perfect the double sided-multiple sheet staple-sort copying – I’ll
get it eventually…), and do whatever else she needed from me at the time. While we were working together she was
telling me all about how she runs her classroom, what she does on a daily
basis, different activities she likes to incorporate in various lessons,
etc. Throughout our conversations, Mrs.
Stacks would frequently add “I know this is wayyyyyy too much to take
everything in right now, but you’ll be surprised at how quickly you’ll have a
full grasp of everything.” I know there
are some things she will have to go over for me again during my student
teaching (especially copying with staple-sort), but I am thankful she was
willing to let me come in to help her out a handful of times as the summer was
winding down to a close. Having this extra
time in the classroom since I live so close to Concord has allowed me to build an already
strong relationship with my amazing mentor teacher. It also gave me a chance to meet many of the
other great members of the Concord Elementary team. I know I will seek advice from many of these
people during my student teaching experience, Mrs. Stacks and her team teacher
Ms. Buseth especially since I will work in their rooms on a daily basis, and I
also hope to be able to build lasting relationships with them so we can
continue to bounce ideas off each other as each of us learns and grows in our
professional career long after my student teaching experience is complete. As teachers we will never be done learning,
and it is great to have people you can trust as you constantly work toward
becoming better at what you do in order to help out your students even
more.
Meet the Teacher Night at Concord was on Tuesday, August 27 and it was
my very first experience of this event from the teaching side of things. (We started the night with a class list of 24
students and ended with 26. It is
rumored that one student on the roster is no longer going to attend Concord
Schools, so we might be at 25, a more than workable number of students. Our initial list had 15 girls and 9 boys, and
now we’re at 14 “for sure” girls and 11 “for sure” boys. I don’t know how much the closer to equal
demographics will play out during the year as opposed to having a more girl
heavy class would have, but in all honesty – as a male teacher – I am a little
glad the boys are not too outnumbered.)
It was a fantastic experience to be on the teacher side of Open House
night. I loved seeing the excitement on
the students’ faces when they got into the classroom to meet Mrs. Stacks and
me. They would then rush off to see
which friends were in their class. When
the students were doing this, Mrs. Stacks would almost always tell them that
while it is awesome to already have friends in class, we will also be working
toward meeting everyone in class to help build new friendships. When I have a classroom to call my own I will
definitely be borrowing that line from Mrs. Stacks at my open houses. Being able to meet the parents that night was
also really great. It helps create a
comfort level before the school year begins so the parents know that we are all
a team and in order for the child to best succeed it is a team effort that does
not end when the final bell rings.
Getting Started
So, I’m a little new to this blogging thing, but I know it is a wonderful tool to use to reflect on my teaching practices. For my Albion College student teaching course we write at least one reflection a week so I figured having that consistency would be a great time to start a blog. I will work hard to continue doing this long after I finish my student teaching at Concord Elementary and throughout my professional career. Hope you enjoy!
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