#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.