Education Clinical Madness

CLINICAL CLASSROOMS

It is hard to believe that it is almost March!!!! Our time is quickly coming to an end. Since the last blog a lot has happened. First of all, we started our partnership with Washington Elementary. I have been placed in a kindergarten classroom on Monday’s and a 1^st grade classroom on Tuesday’s. This has been very eye opening as I begin to think about next year’s student teaching. I have always leaned more towards the younger K-2 grade levels, but I am now seeing it being narrowed down to 1-3 grades for my preference. I enjoy kindergarten, but I feel that it would not be a great fit for me starting out in my teaching profession.

During this time at Washington Elementary I have had the privilege of helping both teachers by doing pull outs. The students that both Mrs. Shull, and Mrs. Dick have me work with either are not on grade level, or have some sort of learning disability. These students break my heart. They are so happy to see me each week and just want my full attention 24/7. You can tell that they are not getting enough parental involvement at home. Even though I am only at the schools for a portion of the day I always leave feeling that I have done something to help in some way.

Since our blog I have received my clinical placement for this semester where I will be teaching some lessons. I am placed at Boiling Springs Elementary in 1^st grade. I was able to meet my teacher and students for the first time last Friday. These are a great group of students and a great school overall. My clinical educator, Mrs. Hamrick is precious and has been really helpful so far. She had a wide range of learners as well in her classroom that we talked about. I am looking forward to working more with them in the weeks to come. I feel very fortunate to have had this opportunity to be in so many school this semester and get my name out to potential employers. While it has felt like clinical madness it has been worth it. 

CLASSWORK

In class we have really begun to dive into the edTPA world. At first, I’m not going to lie it was all a bit terrifying. I still am unsure how I am going to get it all together by student teaching next year, but it is definitely a process. The one thing that has really stood out to me is when filling out the Context for Learning and talking with my CE about what all IEP’s and modifications she has it just really hit me at how much pressure there is on the teacher to accommodate all of these needs. I feel that is why these experiences and practice writing these edTPA commentaries are so important, because this is going to be us in the next couple of years. We are going to have to step back and really analyze the set of students we have and plan out how in the world we can make it all work.

OUTSIDE SOURCE/FUTURE CLASSROOM

            Below is a great source I found and read to help put IEPs in perspective. This site gives you as teachers some tips on how to plan your classroom lessons with IEPs and how to communicate well with the parents of those students. As for myself this was helpful to better understand the steps needed to take, because let’s face it we are all going to have students with IEPs in our classrooms it’s just a matter of how many there are. So, we need to know how to handle this well.

https://educationonline.ku.edu/community/advice-for-classroom-teachers

NCTCS

            The North Carolina Teacher Candidate Standards that I have related to these last few weeks are 2d. teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs especially when dealing with IEPs and other learning disabilities in the class. When planning with your diverse learners in mind I think of 4b. teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students, and 4c. teachers use a variety of instruction methods. These are what I have observed in my clinical classrooms so far as well.

Since it is Dr. Seuss week, my encouraging quote of the day is below:

Hello Spring 2018 Semester

It is February already!!! I can’t believe it honestly. Time is flying by whether I want it to or not. Time is of the essence to soak in as much knowledge as possible before it is my turn to take over the classroom. So far, this semester I have added a variety of skills to my “bag of tricks and resources” as I like to call. I have entered myself into the educational Twitter world, I had the opportunity to connect with past educators and ask for advice on teaching social studies, I have a much better understanding of how Social Studies plays a part in the classroom, and most importantly I have a grasp on the concept way to teaching.

Before this semester I had been active on social media but never really for an educational purpose. To be honest when I heard that we were going to have to communicate with other educators from all over it was a little intimidating. But, once I just started tweeting and commenting on other’s posts, I found I really enjoyed searching and finding ideas to use. For example, I have found great sites on first teacher tips for science experiments that won’t break your bank account, and some great tips from Google on how to keep technology in your classroom. These links are below, so go check it out if you haven’t already!

I’ve also enjoyed reading the inspirational posts that teachers would share of ways to keep the school moral up. NCTCS 1 states that we teachers should demonstrate leadership, and NCTCS 5 states that we should reflect on our practice. By taking ownership in our jobs and wanting to find more ways to improve we are being leaders for the school, and for other educators.

When I met my two teachers to interview for the wisdom from experience assignment, I had no idea what an impact it would bring to my education. I was able to gain some knowledge from real world educators that are doing this each and every day. But, I also got some great encouragement as I continue on this journey. From my interview I can say without a doubt that these teachers are modeling the NCSC 4 facilitating the learning for their students by integrating social studies across the board, and NCTCS 5 reflecting on their practice by asking me questions about the material that I am learning and wanting to know more about it to strengthen their instruction.

Along with doing these interviews I found out that most teachers are unaware of the concept-based planning and teaching of social studies. I was at first, but after diving into this tiered way of bringing the material to students it is all starting to make sense. I feel if I were taught this way when I was in elementary school I would have such a better appreciation of social studies. After learning this approach, I definitely feel I want to take this with me into my future classroom. My goal as a teacher is to fill each day with smooth differentiated activities and lessons that by the end of each day students don’t realize we covered all four subjects. I want students to be sad when it’s time to leave each day because they are that interested in the material. I feel with the help of Twitter and other forms of technology where good research strategies and resources can be found, the help of veteran teachers, and using the concept way of teaching it can be possible.

Below is some encouragement!

https://www.google.com/search?biw=1264&bih=736&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=PWFzWvirK-vn5gKwpo-oBw&q=teacher+encouragement+&oq=teacher+encouragement+&gs_l=psy-ab.3..0l4j0i30k1l2j0i5i30k1j0i8i30k1j0i24k1l2.40907.41827.0.42638.6.6.0.0.0.0.89.393.6.6.0....0...1c.1.64.psy-ab..0.2.160....0.VqMaSB3PXkw#imgdii=TAWOqSgjkwh4hM:&imgrc=nYGy--tOrcRo8M:

25 Ways Google Can Help You Become a Better Teacher:

https://www.teachthought.com/technology/25-ways-google-can-help-you-become-a-better-teacher/?utm_content=buffer23015&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

Inexpensive Science Experiments

https://www.weareteachers.com/inexpensive-science-experiments/?utm_content=1510771109&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter#science