Week of February 15th

Week of Reflection February 15th

This week was a week of some crazy kids. I am assuming that most of this was due to Valentines being this week and that they will be back to normal next week. This week was also a huge catch-up week. Last week was mostly a wash with so much testing going on a field trip and we got behind in a lot of our lessons. This week we were catching up on what we did not get to last week. And most of the lessons I had planned to teach this week has been pushed to next week. Even with all of this, it was still a very good week. I would probably rate it as a high 4 due to behavioral issues, but for the most part, it was good. I did get a surprise from the students which made my week. My birthday was Tuesday and the students had planned a surprise party for me. I had no clue and after lunch, my CE tricked me into the extra empty classroom that we have and they surprised me. They had all of my favorite things and as I reflected on the past two weeks I realized all of the little things that they had done and questions they had asked me that I thought nothing of at the time were all building up to this. It was all really sweet.

Observe:

I feel like I picked up a lot of little things and skills from my lessons this week that I am not going to list out but it made me feel good and proud of myself.

Reflect: 

We have been focused on the Civil War in my social studies class last week and was supposed to finish it up at the beginning of this week. Well Wednesday, which was supposed to be our last day with it, the students were all arguing about the two sides of the Civil War and who was right or wrong. Right then and there I threw out my whole lesson plan and I divided the class in half with one side devoted to the Confederate side and the other to the Union. I made sure as I split them up to put those who had been arguing for one side on the opposite side. What I then had them do is research their side and all of their reasons behind the conflict. I explained how each side had their own reasons just like any argument and there was not really a right or wrong side to it. The students are then going to have a debate between the two sides. This really helped me see how flexible a teacher has to be. It also gave me a lot of confidence to see how fast I could completely flip a lesson and come up with what the students need in that instance.

Focus:

Still working on weekly lesson plans and trying to get this edTPA done.

Be Productive:

I spent a lot of time focused on my science and social studies for next week until ELA and math were just pushed to the side. I also need to spend more time on my edTPA

Have Courage:

At the moment I am thinking about how I want to finish up our next social studies unit and I am kind of apprehensive about my idea and what my CE will think about it. But I really want to try it.

Begin Anew:

Get my math reengagement lesson taught.

Data:

It was quick formative data that I just saw in my students’ discussion/argument but it made me decide to completely change my social studies lesson from what I saw from the students.

Advice: 

Don’t worry so much about all of the nitpicky things and focus on what the kids need. 

NC Teacher Candidate Standards

1c. Teachers lead the teaching profession. 

I am getting more chances to talk with the other teachers at this school and building relationships with them. I have also been a lot more active in some of the Facebook groups that I have joined. Asking them questions and even answering some of theirs. 

2a. Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. 

My relationship with these students just keeps improving. 

3c. Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines. 

I used Venn diagrams in my math lessons this week when working with GCF to help students see how these work. 

4c. Teachers use a variety of instructional methods. 

Every week I am looking for new methods and materials that I can use in lessons to meet all of the students’ needs. 

5c. Teachers function effectively in a complex, dynamic environment. 

I used a bunch of graphic organizers to go with text structures to help students with these as we went through different texts. 

Other:

Got a good bit of videos for my portfolio video this week.