Week of January 4th

This was the first week of student teaching for me. It was a short week being only 3 days but there was so much going on. Even so, I would rate this week as a 5. Coming back from the long break everyone was tired, students and teachers, not being able to sleep like we all did during the break. Kids were late to school because of oversleeping and almost falling asleep in class. However, everyone was quick to get back to work

Observe: 

My biggest accomplishment that I was proud of was talking to the Title 1 teacher and collaborating to create a plan for a parent night we will be doing in February. I am excited about it and happy to be able to do something like this. I also wrote my first week of plans for one subject area. At first, they were daunting and I was apprehensive but after the ideas started flowing I got so excited. That is until I got to work filling out the template. I am having to figure out how to translate my thoughts and timeline that I write for myself into the template. I am hoping this will get easier as I get used to it.

Reflect:

At this point, I am trying to figure out my schedule. Between school, getting enough sleep, and getting all of my work done, I am struggling to figure out how to work out a schedule that works best for me. I am still rearranging things and trying to figure it out.

Focus: 

My short-term efforts mostly consist of me creating a to-do list for each day to break my long-term goals down into manageable pieces. 

Be Productive:

I could have spent more time just writing out the things for my lessons and other assignments and doing my best, than spending so much time worrying that I am doing them wrong.

Have Courage:

Like I said above, I am constantly worried about doing my lesson plans wrong and worried about misunderstanding something that I take forever to do them.

Begin Anew: 

I have so much mental clutter right now. So many things are bouncing around in my head that I have to do and I am having a hard time keeping my thoughts straight. I think to best combat this is to spend time this weekend to plan out next week and break things down to manageable pieces. Similar to what I did this week but now I have some experience and can maybe do it a little better. 

Data:

I visited with the EC teacher and the Title 1 teacher this week to discuss the students in my class that they serve. As the Title 1 teacher explained to me what things the students might need from me in lessons, she showed me some data from their assessments and went over it to help show where they were and why they needed certain things.

Advice: 

A piece of advice that I have for other student teachers is to remember what you love about teaching. Do not get so wrapped up in all of the things you have to do for school that you forget how important these students are to you.

NC Teacher Candidate Standards:

1c. Teacher lead the teaching profession

One of the points in this element is establishing positive working relationships in the school. In just the past three days I have become a lot closer and comfortable with many of the other staff members at my school. I am creating relationships with them that will help me throughout the rest of the semester and maybe farther.

2d. Teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs.

This week I consulted with both the EC teacher and Title 1 teacher, as well as my CE, about the needs of the students I will be teaching this semester. They explained to me different things that I can do in my lessons that will help these students. 

3a. Teachers align their instruction with the NCSCOS.

My CE has given me the pacing guide for the next month and I have begun to go through the standard course of study and finding the standards that align with each topic. 

4d. Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction.

In social studies, the students have been working on research projects on the states. They are creating presentations with Google Slides. I have been helping students work it like adding textbooks and such, or recovering slides that they have accidentally deleted. Something that I have found interesting is they have been sharing these with each other to help each other check for mistakes or to help each other add things that they do not know how to. They have done this without any guidance from either my CE or me. 

5b. Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.

I created my PDP goals with Dr. Parker before the break using the school improvement plan. This week I have been talking them over with my CE and working on getting them started.

Other:

I have begun working on completing my PDP goals which also align with the school improvement plan.