1.13.17

Weekly Rating: 4 out of 5

It was a short week due to our 2 snow days and one 2 hour delay, so I don't have much to complain about! I can't say that it was just the best week of my life, but I really learned a lot and felt more comfortable than last week!

• Observe: What pleasant surprises / accomplishments did I achieve this week?
  
  
  Something great that happened this week, was we set a date for the parent night that I will be holding! I really enjoyed planning this night in 435, so I'm excited that I will be able to follow through! The night is officially set for March 7th. I will actually be holding it for the entire kindergarten, so wish me luck! 

• Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week?
  
  
  Today I taught a short lesson on Martin Luther King Jr. to my kindergarteners. I had such great intentions, but honestly, most of them didn't really understand at all. My main goal was simply to make my students aware of the fact that there was a man that helped a lot of people, and that's why we won't be at school on Monday. To help us learn more about him, we watched a video from BrainPop (which I really do love). Luckily, our guidance counselor had just visited the class to talk about using our words to talk to people and working our problems out without violence. After watching the video I asked the students what they learned. One student told me that Martin Luther King Jr. killed people and another student told me that he hit people. I'm honestly not sure where this came from, because the video didn't mention any of that! I realized at that moment that I needed to quickly redirect the students. I had to backtrack and basically re-summarize the entire video. By the end of the lesson, all of the students understood that we should be nice to other people and work towards making our own change in the world, so it ended up being okay! Basically though, this made me realize that I have to be very intentional in the beginning part of my lesson. Maybe we should have discussed Martin Luther King Jr. and the great things he did BEFORE watching the video. This makes me more aware in my future planning to make the beginning part of the lesson more effective. 
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned?
  
  
  My short term goals for next week include completing my classroom website and to continue working on subtraction in the classroom. Completing my website will help me with my final goal of completing student teaching with success. Working on subtraction next week will help my students be successful! The students have their county math assessment coming up next week, so it's important that I am pushing them to do their best!
  
  
• Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing?
  
  
  This sounds crazy, but I could have spent less time planning what I was going to plan and more time actually planning. Don't get me wrong, I spent A LOT of time planning, but I spent a really large chunk of my time writing out exactly what each day was going to look like before typing out my plans. I really don't regret it, because I think it helped a lot, but I definitely don't need to spend so much time on that next week!
  
  
• Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do?
  
  
  I'm still not totally confident in myself, which is something that I talked about last week. I look at how effortlessly my CE does things and how she guides the class so smoothly, and it makes me realize how clumsy and goofy I must look. Luckily, the kindergarteners don't really notice, but I notice every little mistake that I make! I have the same complaint from last week. If I could just own my teaching and accept that I've made it this far for a reason, I think things would go a lot smoother.
  
  
• Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear?
  
  
  My first logical step for next week is to go ahead and plan out how the week will look and what I should plan. If I can do this quickly and early, it would save me a lot of time. I'm also going tonight to buy some big tubs, new binders, new folders, and new notebooks to house all of my materials, assessments, and work! Every teachers dream right?!
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions?
  
  
  This week we were taking assessments all week. This helped us determine what reading level our students were on and what level they were on with writing. Our students are doing great! (Despite the increase of expectations from the county) This helped me determine what kinds of things I needed to plan for next week. Were the students ready to move forward? Did we need to back track? Or did we need to continue with where we were? Based on the data, our students are ready to move forward!
  
  
• What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers?

My advice this week, take time to learn the story of all your students. That child may be driving you absolutely nuts, or maybe it seems that they are never to going to listen. But every student has a story. I learned that lesson myself this week. Take the time to show them that despite everything, you are there because they are cared for and loved.

• What components of your portfolio have you started to complete?
  
  
  First, I have worked more on my classroom website. I'm getting off to a great start with that!
  Also, I have chosen two students to work with regarding the behavior intervention plan.
  
  
• What support does your clinical educator need from your university supervisor?
• What support do you need from your university supervisor?

No current support needed. Thanks for staying in constant contact with us, Dr. Sanders! Your feedback, encouragement, and support is appreciated!

NC Teacher Candidate Standards

Standard 1

Teachers demonstrate leadership in the school. 

I was able to meet with the principal this week to talk more about the parent night I am planning. Planning and following through with this will help me show that I am a leader in and out of my classroom. This night is based around specific goals of the school improvement plan. I want to show that I care about the needs of my students and I care about the school as a whole. 

Standard 2

Teachers embrace diversity in the school community and in the world. 
By teaching about Martin Luther King Jr., I was able to embrace diversity and teach students about diversity in our world. Students were able to learn how this historic figure caused a massive shift not only nationally, but globally as well. 

Standard 3

Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. 
This week I familiarized myself with the pacing guide and required standards that I will teach in the upcoming weeks. I was able to plan lessons that specifically align with the NCSCS. For example,  teaching about Martin Luther King Jr. supported the social studies standard stating that students should understand change over time. Students learned that in the past, people were treated differently, but things have changed since that point. They also were able to see changes since that time period. 

Standard 4

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 week I spent special time reviewing notes and records of students to learn how they best learn. Every student in class is different, so it is important that I am aware of specific needs regarding all areas of all students. After spending so much time in classroom this year and reviewing records, I feel confident that I know my students. 

Standard 5

Teachers analyze student learning. 
I also spent a lot of time this week analyzing assessments that students have recently taken. This allowed me to see where all the students are, what kind of instruction I need to plan, what kind of help students need, and expected requirements of students at this point. Analyzing this data has helped me tremendously in the planning process.