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 1st
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 1st 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.
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:
I agree Abby, it is crazy that it is already March. This semester is flying by and we are keeping very busy. I think it is great you were placed in a kindergarten classroom for your clinical this semester. I hope that you enjoy it! I love kindergarten, it is such a fun age to teach and it is amazing to see how much they grow by the end of the year. I agree that learning more about EDTPA will help us as we prepare for student teaching. The sooner we are able to start learning and understanding it I think the better we will be for student teaching. Great blog!
ReplyDeleteAbby, I completely agree that learning about edTPA was extremely terrifying at the beginning. The more we dig into edTPA though the more I am realizing that it is doable and it is something that we will do and it will make us better teachers throughout our years of teaching. I also really liked the link about teaching students with IEPs. That is something that is definately going to be needed within our future classroom! Great post.
ReplyDeleteAbby,
ReplyDeleteIt is so great that you get to see two different classrooms! You will be able to observe how just one year makes so much difference in student's education! This will also help you to see first-hand where students are in kindergarten, and where they are heading in first grade. It helps put into perspective why you need to teach the specific content we make our lessons out of. I love the Dr. Seuss quote you put on the end!
Great job and have a wonderful break!
Abby,
ReplyDeleteI am so happy for you getting to pull students out and work with them in smaller groups or individually. This is such a wonderful way to learn about meeting various students' needs. It is also incredible that you have been given the opportunity to already begin making a difference in students' lives. It is the best feeling to know that you have been an encouragement to the students whether it is academically or even just letting them know that someone cares about them! You are also so very right about all the EdTPA practice we have been doing. It is frustrating and annoying and take tons of time... but we will be SO thankful for all this practice and guidance when student teaching rolls around. Enjoy your spring break! You've worked hard and you deserve it!
Abby,
ReplyDeleteI agree that edTPA has seemed extremely scary at the moment. Although I have been intimidated by this assessment that we will be facing in student teaching, I feel as if the more we talk about the process, the more comfortable we all will become with the process. I am very glad that we are looking into edTPA now, a year out from student teaching. This will help us to be prepared by the time we student teach so that we can show our knowledge to the best of our ability.
Abby,
ReplyDeleteThe edtpa lessons are driving me out of my mind. To begin with, I got a late start on the assignment due to a late clinical placement. Thankfully, we have supportive professors who accommodated my barriers. As I was creating the learning segments, my mind raced in a million places. I feel as though more time should be devoted to edtpa language and how to write the lesson plans. I also believe the template that we are required to use to design the lesson plan should be explained. An exemplar would have been an excellent resource. The beauty of our pre-student teaching course is that we are able to make our mistakes a semester early and receive constructive feedback. This will help us be more prepared for our student teaching experience.
I'm so glad you're enjoying your clinicals so far, Abby! That's awesome that you were able to work with a group of students and connect with them, I bet that made their day. While edTPA is extremely terrifying, the more we dive into the handbook, the more we can learn. Kindergarten isn't for everyone, because it can be stressful at times. It's great that you've determined your feelings about it now so you know what grades to focus on!
ReplyDeleteAbby,
ReplyDeleteIt has been a busy month! However, I want to thank you for always being positive throughout all of the stress - edTPA can be overwhelming - but...I believe that is why it is so important to begin that conversation NOW rather than later.