When the Fun is Almost Over.

This week was really good. I was observed for the 4th time and we had a pep rally but it was my 9th week so I would have to give it a 5/5!!!!!

Observe: My pleasant surprise this week is the amount of students that have told me they were going to miss me and they hope I am teaching 8th grade next year so that they can have a chance to have me again. I also had two students bring me gifts and it was so thoughtful. One student got me a little easter box with candy and a bible verse and the other students gave me a notebook the same colors as my wedding colors and wrote me a sweet note. I am really going to miss these kids (well, most of them anyway) but I am excited for graduation and excited to have a classroom of my own. I always write my blogs during planning after I have had two classes and today we are doing an activity with an iPads. The students were given a choice. They could do an activity on the iPad to learn more about factories during the industrial revolution. This activity was a thinglink.com (you need to check it out) and they could navigate this themselves and answer questions, watch videos, and play games that would help them learn more. This could be one individually or with a partner. The other choice was that students could research inventors of the Industrial Revolution and fill out a chart on three of them. They were then to create their own invention and try to “sell it to me” like on the show shark tank. They had to come up with a name for their invention, why people should buy their invention, what makes their invention unique, a slogan for their invention, and a sketch. They were then to create an advertisement poster where they tried to convince people to buy their product. I was pleased with the way the class was divided up. About half of the class chose one thing and the other half chose the other. This happened in first and second block. 

Reflect: This week, being my last five day week as teacher in the classroom is bittersweet. We are finishing up the Industrial Revolution. What my experience with this week has taught me is that kids need choice, sometimes. It is important to make sure that each student is learning in an environment that fits them and I will not only build upon that next week with the continuation of the activity from today but also for the rest of my teaching career. 

Focus: My short term effort for this week was hit on the head with the activity from today. I was working towards completely fulfilling that standard and I think I finally did. This goes back to my long-term goal of making sure that each student is learning and that their learning matters. They say discovery is the best way to learn and these self-guiding activities are great, in my opinion. 

Be Productive: I could have spent more time planning this week. I honestly didn’t because next week is “easy.” We are reviewing for the test on Monday, on Tuesday we are taking the test, and on Wednesday, we have a field trip in the morning and a presentation in the afternoon. 

Have Courage: This week, there was not a whole lot of apprehension that affected my decisions. I actually thought this week I was faster on my feet than I have been and believe me, we had some interesting situations this week. I am proud of what I have grown into and I hope that as I get my own classroom I am able to continue developing my leadership as a teacher. 

Begin Anew: I can clear the clutter of being sad that is it my last week and remember to have fun with my students as much as I can. 

Data: This week I analyzed data in terms of a sheet that had students answer questions very similar to those they will have to answer on the EOG. The questions can right from the story and the answers were right there easy to find. What I found is that some students can not infer or “read between the lines.” If the answer is not explicitly stated then they are not interested or willing to search in the passage. This to me is a problem and something I will try to combat in my own classroom later down the road. 

Standard 1: I have focused on being a leader in the classroom this week because the students look to me for advice and I need to stop looking at my CE so much and make more decisions and this week I did that and made an effort to do so. 

Standard 2: Teachers embrace diversity. This week I have been trying to make sure that I embrace diversity to make sure that all students feel safe and comfortable in my classroom.

Standard 3: This week I tried to make my instruction relevant to my students by giving them a task that is fun, interesting, and modern. 

Standard 4: Teachers integrate and unitize technology in their instruction. This week with the activity we did today I definitely integrated technology. 

Standard 5: This week I was focused on students learning because that is important. It is important for teachers to make sure students are learning their best all of the time. 

#napoleon

This week has been pretty great. I had my first experience with parent teacher conferences and my students played Kahoot and made Instagrams about Napoleon. That being said, this week was definitely a 10/10!!!!

Observe: I achieved a few pleasant surprises this week but most of them came with the parent teacher conferences that we had on Thursday. I had so many parents say how their students were coming home excited to tell them about what they had learned and that they loved me. This may seem silly, but it really made me feel good because some of the students parent’s who said that are of really quiet students who do not seem to enjoy the class or me very much. We also played Kahoot this week and made Instagrams about Napoleon and the students LOVED doing this. They had a great time with Kahoot and I saw some improved quiz grades for sure. They were also so creative with their Instagrams and they turned out so wonderful!! How we created the Instagrams was that in a group they analyzed a picture of Napoleon and answered some questions about aspects of the picture. They did took their answers to the questions to create hashtags on some hashtag sticky notes that I found at Dollar Tree. The next day, I had the students get back into their groups and they had to use their hashtags and picture of Napoleon to create his Instagram, and they were GREAT!!! I was so pleased with how they turned out and the kids had a blast creating them. They were also really excited to play Kahoot. They have been asking since Tuesday if we are going to do it again. I am so glad they enjoyed it and like I said earlier, I can really tell a difference in their scores. 

Reflect: This week I learned that learning can be fun, interactive, and relatable to kids and it doesn’t have to take the entire class time. I also learned that if the students are really into the review or the material they do better on the tests and quizzes that we give them. This may be a no-brainer but there is not always time every day for fun interactive activities. Next week I am going to make sure I am reviewing in a fun way multiple times a week so that the material is being engrained in their heads. 

Focus: This week I have really had them aligned by trying to make the material as relatable to the students as I possibly can.

Be productive: I could have spent more time making sure that I not getting behind and that I am staying on top of what I need to be doing to help make myself and my students successful.

Have Courage: This week there was not really any decision that was hampered by indecision. I am on the tail end of my student teaching so my decisions are not beginning to be influenced by experience to some degree. 

Begin Anew: Next week I just need to stay focused and make sure I am doing everything I need to be doing to be successful

Data: Some data I analyzed this week was the quest that my students took. I compared the grades to the last quiz and it showed me that most grades had improved a lot. Between the two quizzes I had my students do more relatable and interactive things. I also tried to make the material more interesting and it seems to have helped. 

Standard 1: 1d: Teachers demonstrate leadership in their school: This has always been one that I struggled with and this week I feel like I have done something right. I have decided that students need to write more and in the SIP there should be a push for more writing in the literacy component and not so heavy on the reading because writing is literacy also and some of the language and grammar that these students use is terrible. We wrote an essay and I had to teach a lot of the students how to write a complete sentence. How you write is a reflection of how you speak. Writing helps you to develop a formal language that is important for obtaining jobs and for the rest of your life. 

Standard 2: 2a. Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. This week I have had quite a few instances that have required me to step in and mediate. I had two students become angry when working on their Instagrams because they did not feel like their group was listening to them or taking their ideas seriously. I also had a student who thought she was being made fun of but the other student was just joking and she became angry and said some inappropriate things to him. I had to step in to make sure that each student was in an environment in which they felt safe and like their opinion mattered. 

Standard 3: 3c. Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines. Global awareness was integrated this week in a discussion about the Vienna Congress and the delegates that they sent. We began to talk about how in a month or two it will time for Democrats and Republicans to send delegates to help decide who the nominee for president will be. 

Standard 4: 4b. Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students. This week I really feel like Kahoot and Instagrams were great for them and really helped them dive into the content. 

Standard 5: 5a. Teachers analyze student learning. I am constantly analyzing data and using different methods to see the best ways for students to learn. 

Who needs compete sentences anyway?

This week I can definitely give a 5. It was a great week but I am very happy for it to be over. We finished a project where my students made a video about a government during the FR and I am so excited about what they created!

Observe: This week we had two major things happen. My students created a video and they wrote an essay. I was pleasantly surprised with some of my students and the way they were able to take information and create a video. Some of the videos were great but others were not so great. I also gave them a peer rubric to grade their group on how well they did during the project. I asked for feedback about the project as well. I was pleased with what the students wrote for the most part but some of them did not enjoy the project (which I expected). My students also had to write a 5 paragraph essay this week based on some Document Based Questions we did last week. THIS WAS A PAIN!! It has become quite obvious to me that students do not write enough. I also did some investigating and found out that in language arts, they are not required to write in complete sentences and they only ever write their spelling words and stems. I became very frustrated with this assignment because I was constantly having to explain how to write a sentence. That being said, after a lot of guidance and reading and rereading essays, some of them turned out to be pretty good. I was very impressed with how hard the students were working on them and there are some students that never work at anything who were working their tails off the complete this assignment. 

Reflect: This week I learned that you cannot please everyone with every single lesson or project. The goal of an activity is to make sure that the students are having the material reinforced and not every student will enjoy every activity. Next week I will combat this problem with making sure we are doing a variety of activities that can please every student at least one day. 

Focus: I am still trying to create lessons that are real for my students. This week with the videos, I tried to make them relate their government to something physical that they had to do or make (song, play, etc.). I am also going to do this next week by doing a simulation of the Industrial Revolution which I hope will be memorable and meaningful to the students. 

Be productive: I could have spent more time explaining to my students how to write. This seems silly but they need to know how to write. Writing is linked to literacy. I think we have moved to a point in education where there is such a push for knowing how to read that writing gets pushed to the side while it is important too. 

Have courage: This week I did not have any moments where indecision impacted what I didn’t do. I have become more confident and I am also becoming more sassy (if that is appropriate). I am finally growing into my skin in terms of decision making. 

Begin Anew: My steps for next week is to make sure I am still confident with my discipline and that I am teaching my students the foundations and that I differentiating my instruction to make sure that every student is getting something out of my lessons. 

Data: This week I analyzed the videos and the some of the essays. Once I looked at some of the essays that have been completed and I took up an entire classes essays because they were struggling. I used this by revamping how I explained it the day before. I also had to create a guided template for them to use because they needed some extra help. 

Standard 1: 1c: begins to develop professional relationships and networks: This week I attended a PLC. My PLC does not meet much but I did attend this week. I also have developed a friendship with a lady who has shared some resources with me. 

Standard 2: 2b: incorporates different points of view into instruction: This one is something I am working on with the DBQ. It uses different POV to describe life before the revolution and different causes. 

Standard 3: 3b: Encourages students to investigate the content area to expand their knowledge and satisfy their natural curiosity. This is one that I have trouble with. This week I have made sure I am encouraging students to learn and investigate things they may have questions about or things that could help enhance their learning. 

Standard 4: 4d: Integrates technology with instruction to maximize students’ learning. I have done this this week by using touchcast for my students to make videos about the French Revolution. 

Standard 5: 5a: Uses data to provide ideas about what can be done to improve students’ learning.: I have done this this week by discussing with my CE about how students writing more could be a good way to improve literacy. 

Videos and Therapy

This week was a pretty good week. I would rate it a 4. I had a couple of what I consider real-life situations this week that I am grateful for. 

Observe: This week was a week that I consider real-life. I was observed, my students started a video project, I had a therapy/tutor session with a student, and I gave a test. Out of all of these, I have two accomplishments/surprises. My first one came with the excitement of my students over the projects. They worked extremely hard and wanted to make it the best they could be. The project was that they were divided into groups and assigned a government during the French Revolution. They were given a sheet to fill out with the information they would need to include in their project. The only other requirement was that they create a video. Some of the students are doing skits, some are doing newscasts, and some are doing raps and songs. I am really excited to see what they have created and how it has helped them when learning about their government. The second surprise I had this week came yesterday when a student came to me and asked if he could come to my room during electives and get some extra help with studying for his test. He has been really stressing about his grades and I noticed a change in his studiousness when it came to his assignments. I was grateful he asked for help and as I was helping him he talked to me and I really learned a lot about him that helped give me insight to his situation at home. He told me about how he was really glad I was helping him because he liked my CE but he did not know if she would help him or not because she could be mean sometimes. This meant so much to me that he thought he could come to me for help because he knew I would assist him. This made me feel like I was doing something right in terms of relating to the students. 

Reflect: This week I learned that you really learn a lot about your students when they are engaged in assignments they enjoy and that they really become engaged if it is something they are interested in. This seems like a no-brainer but there are some things that are just not fun that have to be completed. Looking ahead to next week, I am planning lessons that will not be so monotonous and will hopefully be a mix of information they need and assignments they enjoy. I want the students to really learn about Napoleon because I think it is something they will really enjoy and I want to make sure that they get everything they need to out of my lessons. 

Focus: I am still trying to make sure that I plan effective, meaningful lessons for my students. I am going to do that next week and I tried to with the video projects as well and I feel like I get better at planning engaging lessons as the time goes along. 

Be Productive: I could have spent less time explaining to them how to make the video and more time letting them work on their projects. I think I over explained to them how to make the videos and did not give them enough time to work on them. 

Have Courage: This week was my first instance becoming incredibly angry at a student. He said something smart and I was able to hold my own and make sure he knew I was in charge. My apprehension came after the fact when I wondered if maybe he was not being smart and just really did not know. Knowing the student though, he was just being a smarty pants. 

Begin Anew: The logical steps for next week are to make sure that my lessons are engaging and relatable to the students and interesting. I also need to clear the mental clutter of feeling bad after I discipline a student. 

Data: This week I was able to look at the data of a pop quiz on which the students did better than I expected them to. It showed me that they do know the answers but it may require them to study and actually learn.

Standard 1: 1e: Teacher demonstrate high ethical standards: I have been working on this one this week because I need to work on treating students equally. No matter how much we do not want to admit it, everybody has students they like better than others. This is something that I struggle with, but not on purpose. 

Standard 2: 2c: Treating students as individuals: I have been working on this by making sure I encourage students to graduate high school and go to college and work to their full potential.

 
Standard 3: 3b: Teachers know the content: This past week I have been in my element because this is a topic I enjoy. I think it is interesting and I tried to convey that to my students. 

Standard 4: 4d: Teachers integrate technology: This week my students have been working on a project making a video using the app touch cast and this is an app where they can record and use different features like a green screen to create and edit fun, unique videos. 

Standard 5: 5a: Analyze student learning: I have been trying to collect and analyze any data that I can, including conversations with students about their personal life or things they like to do outside of the classroom. 

Other: have been working on different parts of my portfolio and I am glad to have those parts almost completed. 

Dependent Clauses

This week was pretty simple, for being in a middle school. Nothing too exciting happened but there was good learning that took place, at least in my room. That is why I would rate this week at a 4. I’m afraid to give it a five with the fear that next week would be a one. 

Observe: One accomplishment/achievement I had this week was that I was pleasantly surprised by one student in my classroom and his willingness to learn this week. He is usually disinterested but for some reason, this week, he was like a new student. He is the student I have chosen for my behavior plan and I have been trying different strategies trying to get him to focus on the work and not other things and whether or not it was me, this week has been a good week for him. He actually asked me what he was supposed to be doing and apologized for being off task (which is a miracle!). He is a sweet kid but his home life is sub par but I want him to have a chance because he can do the work if he wants to. This week, he showed me that he is capable and can do the work if he has proper guidance and he knows that somebody cares about him. 

Reflect: I learned that students do not like to write but they need to desperately!! We are currently working on a DBQ (document based question) for the French Revolution. It is like pulling teeth to get the students to think and even worse if you want them to write something. There are 8 DBQ’s that they have to complete and then use those answers to write an essay about the causes of the French Revolution. When I said essay, some of them could have fallen in the floor. So this week, I had them write a paragraph about ways they would change the government in France and why, just to get a taste of their writing. IT WAS AWFUl. Their grammar was terrible and there were incomplete sentences all over the place. I only had 5 requirements. Students had to title the paper what I told them to (I even wrote it on the board and gave them time to write it), indent the first sentence, tell me how they would change the government, tell me why they would change the government, and write five complete sentences. All I can say is, differentiating between independent and dependent clauses is not their thing. That being said, next week we are going to continue working on the DBQs and hopefully write their first paragraph of their essay. I am going to walk them through the first paragraph (that will contain a thesis) and remind them how to write a complete sentence. 

Focus: This week students were required to put themselves in the position of changing the government in France. I want students to see that the learning they do in this room is related to the outside world. They made their recommendations and discussed why theirs were similar to the peoples’ in France. I hope that students make the connections between my classroom and the world they live in. 

Be Productive: I could have spent more time working on my portfolio, no joke. I need to kick it into high gear and this week was not my week. Short weeks are harder than long weeks in my opinion but that is irrelevant. 

Have Courage: I’m going to switch this one up. This week I gave someone silent lunch. He was disrupting class and I was so ill he got silent lunch. This was where my decision showed out my indecision. I was proud (it sounds silly) and I am glad I was not indecisive. 

Begin Anew: The first steps for next week is to focus and prepare for writing and to help my students the best I can become good writers. With all of the technology, students are becoming worse writers and communicators and next week I am going to help them become better communicators through writing. 

Data Analyzed: This week I looked at their paragraphs they wrote and realized that WOAH! They are terrible writers. This helped me decide how I was going to go about assisting them with their DBQ essay. 

Standard 1: This week I focused on leading in my school. We had a meeting on a student and I participated and helped give input when needed because I have been her teacher for the past couple of weeks I really felt like I could be helpful in the meeting. 

Standard 2: I also tried to incorporate more diversity into my classroom by focusing on black history month this month. This is a great way to make my room more diverse but I need to work on it at other times in my lessons. 

Standard 3: I have also been really trying to dive deep into the content and learn more about the subject myself. 

Standard 4: This week I tried to not be as direct with my student and facilitate learning more with my students. 

Standard 5: I am trying to go with the flow and operate in a complex environment because that is hard for me because I need things to be structured to function. 

Laughter is the best medicine

This week was a good week, even though I did have my second observation. I will rate this week a 4 because I did have some small victories but also a loss or two. 

Observe: This week my accomplishes included making a girl peeved at me when I made her move seats. This may not sound like an accomplishment but I have been having some issues in the discipline department. She and her friend were excessively talking so I made her switch her seat and did not skip a beat. She was peeved at me the rest of the day but I counted it as a victory because she saw that I was serious and the entire class saw that I was serious. So I feel like I have established myself a little more as the “Absolute Ruler” of the classroom. I also found myself surprised at how much learning can take place when the students are having fun. A few of my classes had me in stitches this week which I will elaborate more on later. I have also started teaching my unit for my portfolio so that is exciting and new for me this week as well. 

Reflect: This week I learned that having fun is okay and laughing with your students is a great way to connect. We were doing an activity about the “haves and the have nots” during the French Revolution. A few of the students who were the “haves” were allowed to sit on one side of the room and do whatever that liked (play on their phone, talk, sleep, etc). The other students, who were the “have-nots” had to fit between two rows of desks (some of them were on the floor) and copy the second paragraph of the Declaration of Independence (which is very long). If the students did not finish writing the paragraph at least once they had silent lunch for two days. If they talked to anyone in their group they got one week of silent lunch. I also passed on bonus points to anyone who completed writing the paragraph. The catch was that they had to rip the bonus point in half and give it back. The students who were doing whatever they liked received quite a few bonus points for doing nothing. This activity was to show the students the unfairness of the social system in France during the French Revolution. The point of explaining the activity was that there was one student who was sitting on his instrument instead of the floor (I had not noticed). All of a sudden I hear this big commotion and turn around and he has fallen into the floor. I don’t think I have ever laughed so hard and the students either. I did ask If he was okay but he was laughing and embarrassed but thankfully not hurt. My point is, I have learned that laughter can help students learn as well. The students remember this activity because it brought them laughter. I also feel a connection with my students I did not feel before. Next week I am going to build on this by trying to laugh more with my students to continue building rapport. 

Focus: I want my students to be engaged in my lessons and this week I tried to create lessons that they would enjoy and that would engage them in a way that would make them want to learn. During the “haves and have nots” activity I had a student who wanted to continue writing the entire Declaration of Independence so that he could memorize it. The Declaration of Independence is a very important part of our country’s history and it meant a lot that he wanted to memorize the whole thing. It is also important to  know the parts of the Declaration of Independence because that is where we see the idea that “all men are created equal.” In short, I feel like I am on my way to reaching my long term goal of creating learners who want to discover and learn new things beyond the classroom. 

Be Productive: This week I could have spent more time asserting myself as the disciplinarian rather than worrying about the students’ reactions. I know that students are not going to like you 100% of the time and I am okay with that. It is just the first couple of times I have to discipline them it is hard for me because it is a new concept. I just need to remember that I am here to teach them and if they are not doing what they are supposed to be doing then they are not learning anyway. 

Have Courage: Once again to the discipline thing, there were times I should have said something and I did not. I need to have courage to be the ruler of the roost so to speak and let them know that I am in charge not matter what. 

Begin Anew: The next logical steps for next week is to make sure that I am prepared since there may be a snow day or two. I also need to make sure that I am mentally prepared myself to discipline the students when I may need to. 

Data: Some data I analyzed this week was an activity I took up and a quiz. One thing I learned is that some students do not follow directions and other students do not study the way that they should. This made me decide that my directions needed to be clearer and that I needed to remind them of how to study and what to study. 

Standard 1: I don’t want to talk about a specific element but rather the entire standard. I find this standard the most difficult, being a student teacher. I find upholding moral standards easy but the other is very difficult. I have been working to lead in the school but it is tough. 

Standard 2: 2a. Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults: I have been working on this one this week by making sure I take the time to make sure I am making my classroom my classroom a positive place to be. We had an incident this week where a student said something that offended another student, and while it was completely innocent, I had to handle the situation so that my classroom could be a place they can feel safe. 

Standard 3: 3b. Teachers know the content appropriate to their teaching specialty: This week and for the next few weeks, I feel like I really know my content. I love the French Revolution and while I may not know everything, this is a subject I can really make my students excited about. 

Standard 4: 4a. Teachers know the ways in which learning takes place, and they know the appropriate levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of their students: This is something I worked on this week and my example is with the haves and have-nots activity I talked about above. I knew that there would be a few students that couldn’t handle being in the have nots groups so I chose them to be the haves so that the activity could go as planned. 

Standard 5: 5a. Teachers analyze student learning: This week I have started taking up more work to analyze because of my portfolio and because I have noticed a pattern of students not following directions. This has helped me give better directions and I will use it to demonstrate why their scores are not where they should be. 

I was supposed to learn what?

This week I am going to go all out and rate this week a 5. It has been pretty good and overall very well pleasing. While there have been times where I have had learning experiences and monitored and adjusted, I have made strides that make me happy. 

Observe: My pleasant surprises/accomplishments I have achieved this week is finally having rapport with my first block. They are getting used to me and I them so there is less awkward silence and more discussion, jokes, and questions. They are now comfortable with me and while that may not be a good thing they have gotten to a place where they feel like they can talk to me. Where they used to just come in and sit and stare at me they have taken to saying things like “Mrs. Carroll, my knee hurts” and that leads to a conversation that helps me get to know them better. I am also very proud of student we will call Fred. Fred is notorious for sitting in class and doing absolutely nothing and he has done the same for me for the most part but this week, especially with the map activity we have been completing, has been interacting with his partner in a helpful manner and taking pride when he was able to find an answer. I do not know what it is, I would like to think that he his working for me and I have had an impact on his work ethic but I can not say for sure but whatever the case may be, I hope he keeps it up. 

Reflect: STUDY, STUDY, STUDY!!! This week we talked about the revolutions in Latin America. I knew nothing about the revolutions in Latin America, notice that I said knew. The first day I am teaching this, I had looked over the notes and I thought I knew about these revolutions. Well, I start talking about it and realize I knew a lot less than I thought. I studied before second and the rest of the day went smoothly but first was a disaster and I ended up having to reteach that lesson to first block. While this was not fair to first, I learned a valuable lesson, always know exactly what you are going to teach because if you don’t you will mess up. So looking forward to next week, I am teaching a topic I am a little more familiar with but I am definitely going to study so I do not have another day like I did the other day.

Focus: I am trying to do activities in which my students are challenged mentally in order to help them become better thinkers. I think it is important for students to discover information for themselves. It is so easy for us as teachers just to give students the answers when they do not know and I have been trying to make sure that I help them if they need help but that I teach them how to learn for themselves and how to find things for themselves. 

Be productive: I should have spent more time looking over material that I was going to teach. Usually the stuff that I have to teach are things that I have learned about and I took for granted that I would be able to get up in front of the class and be able to talk intelligently about something I had studied very little. Next week this will be an area I will be spending more time on. 

Have courage: I am struggling with handing out silent lunch for things like when students do not bring their AR book to class. It is something that I need to do and my CE and I have talked about it and there were a few times when students did not have their AR book and I let that slide. I am, next week going to start handing out silent lunch to students who do not have their AR books, or pencil, or any other materials they may need for class. This is something I need to do so that the students know that I am in charge and I mean what I say. I think there is still apprehensiveness with this because everybody forgets sometimes and I want to give them the benefit of the doubt but I also realize that if this problem is not fixed, there will soon come a time where they take advantage of me. 

Begin Anew: Next week I will be looking at making sure I set aside time every night to look over my notes and make sure that I know the information well enough that I can help my students understand it more than just on the surface. 

Data: I actually graded tests this week and I found out what it was like to be really pleased one second and pretty angry the next. Overall, the scores were not bad but there were a lot of students that could have done better because they knew the answers in class but could not answer them on the test. I think the snow days and the break threw them off but I just had such high hopes. After looking at the test and the scores I decided that I needed to go about teaching the material a little differently, at least in some classes. They needed interaction with each other and movement when learning so I decided to do a social activity with them that turned out fantastic not only because they enjoyed it but because they remembered the material because they could remember the activity. It was a very pleasing moment and a great thing to learn. 

Standard 1: This week I focused on leading in the school, which was harder than I expected. What I did was not much but I feel like it was a start. I begin to put my opinion in during conversations. I would not intrude but I spoke intelligently and made sure that I had a say in what was going on. 

Standard 2: This week I tried to provide a caring environment for my students. I tried to talk to them about myself more and asked them questions about their lives so they could see I that I was interested in them and that I cared about things that were going on in their lives. 

Standard 3: I really tried to make my instruction relevant to students. Which is no easy task given the current subject but I tried to give real life examples that they could understand to help them truly see connections between the past and the present. 

Standard 4: This week I really tried to do activities that required students to work in teams and develop leadership skills. I put them in groups that were not comfortable for them because they were not with their friends and I have been pleasantly surprised at some of the students who have stepped up and took charge in making sure the task was completed correctly and in the appropriate time frame. 

Standard 5: This week I made sure that I was equipped to function in a complex and dynamic environment. I like things to go just so and with middle schoolers that is never going to happen. I had back up plans and back up plans for my back up plans. I made sure I asked my CE questions and that I was prepared no matter what. 

Other: This coming week I will start teaching my unit for my portfolio, I am stressed in that I do not want to mess up but I am also relieved that I will have that part of my portfolio completed. 

What is school anyway?

This is embarrassing but I completely forgot to put my blog on the tracker last week. I had it typed up on my computer and I sick and just forgot to upload it. 

This was the best week I have had so far, mainly because it was so short. I hate to say that since you know, I'm supposed to be a teacher but sometimes you just need a break. We started an activity that I am pleased to say went extremely well. Each class excelled and did phenomenally. It was probably because this time I divided them up into Lexile groups. This made the activity so much easier for the students and I think most of them got something out of it. So my victory this short week was my students actually learning and making deeper connections. The group work they did also helped me to connect with each of them better by sitting down with them in their groups and assisting and answering questions they may have. I think that they have to know that I am human too. That sounds silly but what I mean is that they have to know that I do not expect them to be perfect. I expect them to have questions and I want them to ask them so I don't have to pull it out of them. I want them to know that they can tell me if they don't understand. For next week, if we have school, I will make sure that I express to them that I only want them to try their best and ask when they need help. My long term goal is to help students learn on a deeper level and hopefully by breaking the ice and letting them know that I am here to help them and not just grade them they will be able to ask questions and explore and discover new things for themselves. Over the break that we had, I should have spent all of my time finishing lesson plans for the rest of the semester, but I didn't and I'm actually glad. Being able to sit down with the students in their groups and show them and help them I came to the realization that my time needs to be more wisely spent on planning lessons that are going to help students learn and make them want to ask questions. So for the weeks ahead, I will be thinking of ways to help the students want to ask questions and want to speak up in class and answer questions because they have a thirst for knowledge and an interest in what is being taught so much so that they want to learn more outside of class. The logical step for next week is to make sure that my lessons that I have planned create an environment that is inviting and that my questioning makes students want to learn more and ask questions, and research. I want to take them a step farther. I actually did not analyze any data this week other than looking at some writing assignments about Voltaire. They were telling about how the student interacts with other people but not much about their school performance. It did however, give me insight to some of their personalities. 

Since it was a short week, there was not a huge pool to choose from standard wise but 1a was one that I tried to push this week. I tried to be the leader of my classroom. Everything that went on I took full responsibility for. There were times where students did not understand and I had to explain myself better and in a different way because they did not understand. I also explained to them that sometimes we need to hear things multiple times or in a different way for it to actually stick. 

What is success anyway?

My week overall: 4

I am going to give this week a four only because I felt terrible Wednesday and yesterday. Otherwise, it was a pretty great and short week. 

Observe: What I am about to say you should probably take with a grain of salt and I only say that because they tested today but yesterday, Wednesday, and last Thursday, first block did exceptionally well with the activity. They especially shined on Thursday when they were finishing up and we were going over what they had started the week before. I don’t know if they were just happy to be at school but they were responding to questions and more talkative than I have ever seen them. Anyone who has heard me talk about first block knows they frustrate me more than anything because most of the time I am like Dora the Explorer standing at the front of the room trying to find the mountain. So this week I was pleasantly surprised with their energy and willingness to participate in class. 

Reflect: Middle school students do not like to be wrong in front of their peers. This is something that I knew already but really never understood until this week with my classes. If they are not 100% sure about an answer, they are not going to risk being wrong and being embarrassed in front of their peers. I notice this more in my first and third blocks because they are the most timid about answering questions and usually preface their answer with “well I don’t know if this is right but…” or raising their hands and then changing their minds. Anyway, the point I am trying to make is that this week I learned that my job is to build their confidence in answering questions because most of them will make the first sound of the answer with their mouth but are too scared to answer aloud. I realized that I needed to build their confidence by assigning them tasks that are rigorous but make them feel like they have succeeded. The way I found this out was last Thursday I divided the students into groups based on exile levels (they had no idea). We were analyzing documents looking for Enlightenment ideas in each. There were four documents and each group analyzed a different document based on the reading level of the document and their lexile level so each group had a document that was their level so it was easier for them to read and to understand. After they had picked a few things out of that document and discussed with their group they broke into other groups where they had to “teach” the other students (who had different documents) about their document. I was so pleased with how well they did. Every single person, except for one or two, taught what they had learned with confidence and it was amazing. This showed me that from now on, starting next week, I need to bring the work to them. By that I mean, I have to find engaging, rigorous activities that are level appropriate that make them feel like they have learned and succeeded in the activity. 

Focus: My short term goal for this coming week is to make sure that each child has some measure of success with each activity that we complete. My long term goal is to make sure that I am effectively communicating information with students in a way that is more than just facts. I want the students to learn and to be able to make connections and learn on a deeper level. I think these goals are aligned because if I can tailor my instruction to help each child succeed and actually understand they will be able to make connections and learn on a deeper level than just remembering facts.  

Be productive: I could have used my time more wisely this week. I should have spent more time making sure I was planning lessons for individuals and not the entire class. It is not majority rule. I have to teach every student in the class and not just the students who understand most things. I must plan my lesson with individuals in mind and not the majority of the class because in my opinion, that is how students get left behind and the main reasons students drop out of school. They feel like it is so hard and that they are always failing. In order for students to want to stay in school they have to feel like they are doing more than getting failing grades. They have to feel like they are learning and that goes back to what I said earlier about students making connections and learning on a deeper level. They will not want to learn if they think they are going to fail. 

Have courage: This is a hard one because I feel like because I am the “new teacher” all of my decisions are made apprehensively because I wonder if when they ask me to go to the bathroom if they really have to go or if they are trying to take advantage of me. This sounds silly but this week I was more decisive about making decisions regarding leaving the room. I realized that any decision I make my CE will support so there is not need for apprehensiveness or indecisiveness because my decision stands. This week I still struggled a bit and there were times I said no when maybe a should have said yes and times I said yes when I should have said no. I have decided to be more decisive and I hope this will help me become more authoritative in the role as full time teacher.  

Begin anew: The first logical step for next week is to go in with confidence in my role and to give me students confidence in their work. I want them to succeed and I want to succeed. I need to be student focused and less worried about other things. 

Some data I analyzed this week was their work from the document activity. I saw the benefits of tailoring instruction to student needs. This helped drive my decisions about all other work we will do. I will be purposeful when doing activities that involve reading to make sure that students are grouped accordingly so that they can reach optimal success in the activity. 

Standard 1: 1a: This week I put my kids into groups multiple times that required them to interact with people they may not normally speak to and it also required them to collaborate and work together in terms of being effective communicators with their peers and later when they get a job. 

Standard 2: 2d: This week has been an interesting week in terms of meeting needs. It was my first time testing and I had to create a separate test for each of my EC children that met their needs in terms of ability and strengths. I had to communicate with the EC teacher in terms of how I would go about giving the students who need it extra time and extra support she would provide for each student. 

Standard 3: 3b: We have been talking about the Enlightenment and this week I had a girl tell me that since we have been talking about a lady who thought women should be equal she has been looking up things about women’s rights in America. It was very neat that she wanted to continue learning beyond the one lady we had talked about. 

Standard 4: 4d: This week I had my first experience with Plickers and it went great. The students seemed to really enjoy it and were amazed at how it worked. This is something I hope to continue using in my classroom and maybe find a way to let the kids check each other maybe in groups or in other ways. 

Standard 5: 5a: This was the first week I really had data to analyze. I used what I learned with the Lexile based activity to plan other activities that used the same strategy to make students successful in the activities they complete. 

Parts of my portfolio that I have started completing is the preparation for teaching my unit.

 I have also started working on taking video clips that I will use to make my video for my lesson plans and philosophy video. Support is great!

You win some, you lose some.

This week has been BUSY BUSY BUSY! It was my first full week of teaching and I am exhausted!! I also had my first observation this week so it was certainly one to remember. My kids have begun to open up to me as a teacher and not just as the lady who comes in to observe or help. I have a great bunch and I look forward to spending 9 more weeks with them.

I am going to start by telling about what we have done this week. This week we have been talking about the Enlightenment. I started teaching last Thursday so this has been our topic since then. On Tuesday I had them do an activity that was a complete disaster. They were to read a document and summarize the section they were assigned. I should have looked at it better because they didn't understand any of it. They could not pronounce the words and had no idea what it was saying. Luckily, there is a break between my first two classes and my last two classes and during planning my CE and I sat down and she helped me overhaul my lesson and the second half of the day went much smoother. We also had a mock EOG on Thursday so our schedule was messed up and our classes were shortened but I was allowed to administer the test so that was great experience for me. Now, for my favorite part. Today, with two of my classes we made memes based on the ideas of the Enlightenment thinkers. They had a blast and I was pleasantly surprised with some of the things that they came up with. My other two classes did something different. After we finished our notes I gave them about ten minutes to look over their notes on the Enlightenment thinkers and highlight or underline their important ideas, while studying. I then put them into groups and assigned each group a different colored marker. Around the room I had that big paper hanging with Enlightenment thinkers names on it. They were to, as a group, come up with one thing they could remember about that person and put in on the paper with their color marker. I gave them about 2 or 3 minutes to complete each one. After they had come back around to their original paper they had to read what the other groups had written and come up with one sentence that explained the main idea the Enlightenment thinker had. When we come back to school on Thursday, for warm up, one person from each group will come up with their paper and tell us the ideas of the Enlightenment thinker and read their sentence. The other students will be checking their notes to make sure they highlighted the appropriate things. Overall, both classes did really well and I was very pleased with my first block, who usually has the hardest time with activities.

What I learned this week is that things do not always go as planned. In fact, they rarely do. It is important as a teacher to always have a plan B, C, D, and even a plan E because something will go wrong because the rule of the classroom is Murphy's law. I have grown a lot even this week I think because I did have a disastrous lesson the day before I was being observed and it messed up my plans for the entire week but I have been blessed with a wonderful CE. She has been fabulous and I am extremely lucky that she is willing to take her time to make sure I am successful. On the other hand, I also learned that some lessons go better than you expect. Today, the memes were so great. They did so well and I was extremely proud of the way they were able to create something so funny but that related to the topic. For next week, I hope to continue down the same path and grow with my students and hopefully plan some lessons and activities that can really help them dive into the material and make it meaningful for them.