Guided Reading

 

 

Today was a great day.  My cooperating teacher allowed me to take over guided reading today.  At first I was very nervous.  After the first reading group I found my groove.  Each student read to me today, and I made notes about the words that gave them problems, or good habits that they demonstrated.  My cooperating teacher told me that I was definitely ready for student teaching.  She is always very supportive and she is always there for what I need. 

Now I am looking forward to Friday and my last lesson.  I chose something that I am not comfortable with.  I am doing my lesson on science and about magnets.  I am very nervous about it, but while I have a back up I want to try to see what I can do.  I have everything ready for Friday, and I have emailed my cooperating teacher my lesson plan.  I hope she likes it, but at least I can still make changes.  If I could ask for anything it would be to understand science more.  I have never been a fan, and it was always my worst subject.  I prefer math and reading any day. 

I realized today that I have 2 weeks from today left with my class.  I am sad because I will miss them, they have become a part of me.  My cooperating teacher and I let them know when I will be leaving, and they were upset.  They asked me if I could come back and visit.  I told them I can't promise, but I will be on the other side of the school.  They then asked me if I could teach 5th grade so they could get me next year.  They are so sweet. Even though I am sad, I am so excited because I have almost made it through this semester from heck.  I am so proud of all of us.  We have been through a great deal and we have survived. Now if I can make it through this leadership project and the case study I will be golden.  I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Finally!!!!

     Today I did my 2nd lesson, and I worked with the whole class this time.  The students were having their vision checked today, and that ran into my lesson.  So I had people coming in and out for that and for specials.  I am so glad that I had decided in advance which kids went into which groups.  I started out the morning with my video not working, the website was down. Just my luck. So I decided to do what was in the video.  It was a podcast from another 4th grade class, and it helped with defining the four properties we were learning.  The students had written the definitions on white boards, and the students put numbers on their feet, and they created examples of the properties.  I had this to use as a back up.  I didn't get to use it, but I thought it was a good backup just in case.  Instead I had the students to write the definitions on the board, and then I wrote problems on the board and they worked the problem and wrote the property on their whiteboards.  This helped me to see if everyone was getting the properties.  At the end I had divided the class into 3 different teams.  I had the three best students as my team leaders, and I paired my two ADHD students with 2 of the team leaders.  I created a game for them. I had written problems on the papers and put them facedown.  Starting with the first person they were to turn the paper over and do the math problem, and write the property.  Then turn the paper over and go to the back of the line and the next person goes.  They each got 2 turns.  Afterwards, I saw a few things  that I could have done differently.  I should have asked them to put their name's on each page, and had a chart with the properties listed with the full property name and the abbreviation. They could have put the abbreviation instead of writing the full name.  I timed them to see who got finished first.  I did give everyone a sticker that said AMAZING.  This lesson was the first time that I actually got mostly positive feedback.  I asked the kids during the day what part of my lesson did they enjoy, and what part helped them the most.  They all said the game was the best part and it helped them the most.  My cooperative teacher also gave me lots of complements.  Now to get ready for lesson 3.  This one will be my hardest one, because it will be in science.  I am not a science person.  Give me math (my fave) or reading anyday.  I am going to step out of my comfort zone and go for it.  I'm excited about the challenge.
   

Working with Substitute Teachers

 

     With my cooperative teacher gone for the week on her honeymoon today I had the 2nd sub.  The sub today was very nice.  As a person she was awesome, as a sub not really.  There is 1 sub for most of the week, but she couldn't be there today.  The one today wouldn't let me do anything. In the sub packet I had jobs and she did them.  I was so frustrated. We had a schedule and when I tried to explain that we didn't go to recess until 20 after she said no and we got there at 5 after.  I couldn't even get the paper work until after everyone left for the day.  One of the other teachers came in after school to check the lesson plans. It has the correct info, but this sub marched to the beat of her own drum, and didn't follow the times.  She was very strict and the kids weren't even allowed to do anything.  The sub actually told one student not to speak to her the rest of the day.  The kids at lunch asked me if she would be there the rest of the week.  Today was definitely a learning experience.  The teacher never gets to really understand the sub and how they handle their class.  I'm glad that the other sub will be back on Wednesday. 

     The students all went to "vote" today, and didn't have computer time.  While waiting with them in the hall they kept asking me about voting.  One asked me about the electoral college, and I tried to explain the best I could, but I don't really understand it myself.  They were campaining for Obama and Romney on the way to vote.  They tried their best to get me to tell them who I voted for.  I told them sorry that's something you don't share. They were very excited to take part in this process.  I kept thinking if we as adults would be that excited and vote things could change.  I do think this really was a great learning tool for them.  

Yeah!!! The best week for being an intern.



     This week was definitely a good one.  I have learned so much this week.  On Monday, I went to observe a different teacher's math class.  Since, my next lesson is on Math my teacher thought it would be helpful to get a different take on teaching math.  This teacher is just so awesome.  She did her math in the same style as guided reading.  She spent the first 30 minutes working with the class, then she divided them into different sections.  One group worked with her, one worked with VersaTiles, some used spinners, and some did computer work.  The thing that struck me was how none of the students talked unless they were called on.  I was very impressed by this teacher.
     Wednesday was the first time I had worked during a teachers work day.  I had so much fun learning how to use the laminator, and putting up a new board in the classroom.  Also, since my teacher will be out for the next week I spent most of the day discussing what she expects from me.  It was so nice to hear how much someone was impressed by me, and how much they knew I was cut out for this job.  She gave me a list of things to work on while she is gone, and was so happy that I would be there with them every day but 1. 
     Today started out slow.  I really enjoyed meeting the substitute, and found out she retired from teaching first grade last year.  She was so excited to hear that I would be in 1st grade for student teaching.  We gave the summative assessment for the area/perimeter unit, and found out that no one passed.  We decided to go over finding area and perimeter again, and then regive the test.  For the most part the day went well.  The students created a sign telling the teacher that they loved her, and congrats on her wedding.  I took a picture of them holding the sign and texted it to the teacher.  I thought she would love to know that they were thinking of her. 
     I for one am very happy to be at GES and I am so excited about the future.  Now if I can just make it through this semester!!!  I'm ready to see the light at the end of the tunnel.  We GOT this!!!! 

UGH!!!!!

 

     I am so FRUSTRATED right now it's not funny.  I was on my last sentence for my blog, and my laptop crashes.  Even though I saved it now it's GONE!!!  So I have to start over, and after getting through writers block I now have to figure out again what I want to write.  I have noticed that lately I am having issues remembering things verbatim.  It is driving me insane.  It makes taking notes for journals and what not extremely difficult.  If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

     I am happy to see the kids again, I did miss them.  Within the first 10 minutes I realized that they missed me too.  As soon as they came into the classroom Monday they all had to come and see me.  They let me know very quickly that they missed me and that they were happy to see me again.  This made me feel very good.  At least with the kids I am getting positive feedback.  These kids are so amazing and I am honored to get to work with them.

     I wished I could say that I was sad to miss my classes, but unfortunately that is not the case.  I missed seeing my classmates.  It was also nice to not have that gnawing feeling of despair on Tuesday and Thursday nights.  I feel like nothing I do is ever good enough.  I am trying so hard, and it feels like the more I try the worse it is.  I have heard that when you break something down, it will be stronger when you build it back.  Well I for 1 am ready to be built back up.  This experience has made me aware of my students feelings.  The student should never feel less than.  I see myself consciously trying to think before I do or say anything.  I don't want my students to stop trying because they think why should I. 

     I have decided that on Thursday nights and possibly Tuesday nights after class I am not going to look at my book or read anything after class.  I feel like I need a break somewhere in my over busy week.  I discovered that otherwise I really have no down time.  I wish I could be a total student, and not have to work.  Unfortunately, I have to have gas to get to school and I do have to eat.  I know next semester won't be any easier but I need to try to get as much saved up as I can. 

     I feel so scatter brained tonight and I'm sure this blog is disorganized.  I am doing basically what my students did today.  I'm doing a brain dump, but instead of doing it in my journal it's on a blog.    

1st Lesson Down

     I will admit up until the actual time I was schedule to teach my first lesson, I was very nervous.  I think it was just the idea of teaching in front of my professor. My teacher that I am working with gave me some great advice.  While our students were in their guiding reading groups she had me go to our back table and practise.  That really helped center me, and I had everything set up and ready to go.
     My students were very excited that I chose them to work with.  They did very well, and I was impressed by their reading.  When choosing them I didn't want to pick those in the highest or the lowest levels.  I noticed that the boy that I was working with knew what he was reading, but he was afraid he wasn't right.  He had no confidence in his reading ability.  I hope that by using him as one of my case studies I can change this and give him some confidence in his ability.  The girl that I worked with was very confident, and tried to be the center of the lesson.  Their strengths and weaknesses are opposite of each other, and I think they both could learn from each other. I'm excited to test this theory and see if I can make a difference.
     I see where I need to make changes in my lesson, and if I ever teach it again I think it will be even better.  When I was planning the closing and assessment, I thought using the letter to the I can statement was a great idea.  In hind sight I didn't really like it as much as I thought.  Since we were learning visualization I should have had them draw a picture of what they saw in their mind. 
     I am already thinking about my second lesson.  I love math and I am ready to see how I can incorporate reading and math into one lesson.  Even though one of my majors at Guilford was English, math is one of my favorite subjects. The only thing about math that I hate is geometry.  I don't want my students to see that I am not that knowledgeable about geometry.  It was one of the hardest classes that I have ever taken in my life. 
     I am so glad that we have a week away from school.  It will be nice to regroup and get ready for the last 1/2 of the semester. 

I have been feeling lost and undecided about planning my first lesson. My biggest hope is that I don't turn the cartoon above into a reality. Today I sat down with my teacher and worked on my lesson plan. At first I wasn't sure I knew what in the heck I was doing. Through her guidance I think I am finally starting to understand.

I have decided to do my first lesson on text features with an emphasis on visualization. I have a book that talks about ranches and ranchers, and my first thought was omg how can I do this. I have decided to look at this as a documentary. I will first ask the students if they know what that is, and then explain that they are the director putting the documentary together. Then I will ask them to close their eyes while I read to them, and then I will tell them what the passage brings to my mind and compare it with what they saw. Then I will have them pair up and do the same. This is still a work in progress, but I do love the idea for closing that my teacher gave me. I will have them write a letter to the I can statement and explain that they learned it today because of something, and that they know they learned it because of doing this. This will be a great assessment of how much they actually got out of my lesson.

I think that what I am most nervous about is doing my lesson in front of Julie. I think I can handle it in front of the kids, but if I can do this in front of her I can teach in front of anyone. I just need to spend my weekend working on the lesson and making sure that I have every t crossed and i dotted. I know that there are no perfect lessons, but I hope that with this one I can get some justification for wanting to be a teacher.