February 22, 2019

I would rate this week as a 4 out of 5. I myself was feeling much better this week, but we still have sickness all around us in the classroom, and school.

OBSERVE

This week I saw one of the two students on my behavior plan help our new student during our literacy center rotation and help him know where to go. This student had made such a positive turn around. He still has is days, but I have been so proud of how he has grown with his behavior and it in turn has helped him academically and socially.

REFLECT

Speaking of behavior, after reflecting on the patterns of outbreaks from our second severely defiant student we have come to the conclusion that the behavior management plan is not working, and we are seeking a tier plan for this student. He has other siblings with a history of defiant behavior and have been placed on tier plans as well where a behavior interventionist come and counsel. After meeting with the principle and reviewing and reflecting all the possible outcomes my CE, assistant, and I are hopeful that this will help this student as well as the classroom environment.

FOCUS

This week I finished up my math edTPA which was productive, but now I just need to carve out the time to write the commentary to support it. I feel like there is so much to submit for task 4 I just want to make sure I have the time to double check through all of my stuff before it is time to submit so I will feel better about it.

BE PRODUCTIVE

This week I could have spent less time second guessing my assignments. I did that with one of my writing lessons and did a different assignment than the planned original one and regretted it.

HAVE COURAGE

This week I had the courage at the end of the week to quit following the normal rule of everyone gets two warnings before losing a paw and instead started taking paws on the first warning. I am trying to reinforce to these students that I have high expectations and that they need to think of me as having as much power as my CE or assistant.

BEGIN ANEW

Next week I want to strive to have all commentary completed so I can get as much peer feedback as possible next Friday our last seminar before our submission day!

DATA

I analyzed a lot of math data this week while I was teaching my edTPA and I was pleasantly surprised in several of my students on their assessments. I honestly thought that the entire class was going to bomb it, but they did well. This is a more challenging unit.

NCTCS

1a. Teachers lead in their classroom.

This week I lead in the classroom by setting my behavior expectation higher and cracking down on the behavior.

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

This week I started to really research some better differentiation strategies and with the help of my CE found some great maps and graphic organizers that I think will help with this for next week.

3d. Teacher make instruction relevant to students

This week when we were learning about number bonds I had students take turns jumping in and out of hula hoops to practice the process of composing and decomposing numbers.  

4f. Teachers help students work in teams and develop leadership qualities.

This week we did more partner work and teamwork to help students socially and to help with their leadership skills.

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

This week I planned some more behavior management techniques that I can use like names on popsicle sticks, singing more songs, ringing the bell, or having a talking light to better the classroom environment.

This week my focus was on edTPA for my portfolio specifically math and will continue to be until I get these tasks complete.

My CE and I do not need any additional support from my university supervisor right now.

February 15, 2019

I would rate this week as a 3 out of 5! I have been very sick this week with a sinus infection and have been very drained trying to get lessons written and commentaries ready for the edTPA seminar. But, I have made it and even survived Valentine’s Day with kindergarteners.

OBSERVE

I think something that surprised me this week was how much my students retained when we talk last month about the Ukraine. This week we talked about China and did some similar activities for this month’s global awareness so students could easily compare our country to others. I had several students mention the Ukraine showing that these activities were sticking with these students so they could get a better overall global awareness.

REFLECT

This week as I reflect I learned a lot about how powerful songs and transition sounds are. I used my bell a lot this week to also preserve my voice and it worked much better than me using my voice to get my student’s attention.

FOCUS

I was very productive in the edTPA seminar and feel good about where I am this point with this process. I also will be teaching my math edTPA this week and feel that I have chosen a good solid lesson segment with a lot of meat to it so I can truly see where students are struggling either with procedural fluency, mathematical reasoning and problem solving, or conceptual understanding.

BE PRODUCTIVE

This week I could have spent less time working on my lessons and more time taking care of myself. I think I just let myself get too worn down resulting in my having to go to the dr to get some antibiotics for my sinuses.

HAVE COURAGE

This week I spoke up a lot in our grade level meeting when we were talking about our math data. I spoke up about potentially starting a math guided group on Friday’s for a portion of their center time or even having math guided centers on Fridays. I got a pretty good response and got some ideas that we can maybe try in the next upcoming weeks to see if this is a good time to do this.

BEGIN ANEW

My first logical steps for next week are to finish polishing my task 1 and 2 and begin on task 3 so when I am finished teaching for task 4 I can solely focus on completing it to meet this deadline.

DATA

Some data that I analyzed this week was during our grade level meeting with the other kindergarten teachers. We looked at where each of us were with math and where the areas of struggle seem to be and how we are going to address this.

NCTCS

1a. Teachers lead in their classroom.

This week I lead in the classroom by urging students to be aware of germs and take care of themselves. We have had a lot of students out and myself included sick, so we used this as a teaching moment of how we take care of ourselves.

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

This week I brainstormed ways that I can help my students who are lower in math by trying to fit in a guided math group through the week.

3d. Teacher make instruction relevant to students

This week while we were learning about China we learned about the Chinese New Year and compared it to how we celebrate our New Year. We also looked at China’s weather, their flag and then their ABC’s by having students see their names written in Chinese.

4d. Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction

This week we played some interactive games on the smartboard to help review our 2D and 3D shapes since this seems to be an area of math that students are struggling in.

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

Thursday was Valentine’s Day and while students just wanted to party all day long I tried to make instruction fun and enjoyable but still explain to students that yes we were going to be exchanging valentines and have a cupcake at snack time, but we also have to work and learn in order to get to do that.

This week my focus was on edTPA for my portfolio and will continue to be until I get these tasks complete.

My CE and I do not need any additional support from my university supervisor right now.

February 8, 2019

I would rate this week as a 5 out of 5! I felt much better leaving each day after my lessons this week then I have any other week. We still had some behavior bumps this week but no week is perfect.

OBSERVE

I think something that surprised me this week was seeing on of my students read through a book in guided reading and get almost every sight word correctly. This was one of my students 
that has just recently been put on a Tier plan and is at risk but after this week spending some 
much needed one on one time in Title 1 has made improvements!

REFLECT

This week I learned a lot from my math lessons. Math is the subject I feel the least confident in and struggle coming up with fun engaging activities that still align with the Eureka script. This week some days were fails and others were great successes. I found that whole group activities with manipulatives on the carpet made the lessons more fun and engaging that then letting students 
use write and wipes make worksheets less boring and so routined.

FOCUS

My long term goal for edTPA math is to have a solid lesson segment and small group 
planned so I feel confident with this piece. This week after talking with my CE we have come up 
with a time frame and segment that will hopefully represent this. I have been set back with timing 
and with the topics we are going over which has been frustrating, but I think the reschedule was 
necessary to get the best content for this.

BE PRODUCTIVE

This week I could have spent less time in the classroom after school. I feel like I get sucked into cleaning up the classroom each day and wiping down counters and tables with all the 
sickness going around. I feel like time freezes when it is just me in the classroom after school, but then I get off on tangents of things to do around the classroom and forget what I’m actually 
suppose to be doing which is planning.

HAVE COURAGE

This week I definitely had more courage with parent communication. Sometimes my CE will help with the parent contacts since she has more free-time during the day now, but this week she was out the majority of the week so I took over this aspect. I called two parents of students who 
are struggling with behaviors and talked about some next actions steps to take. I also did a lot of 
texting back and forth with parents about upcoming events like the 100th day, Valentine’s Day, and
our field trip.

BEGIN ANEW

My first logical steps for next week are to focus on edTPA so I will come prepared to the next seminar and be able to utilize my time.

DATA

Some data that I analyzed this week was during our inclusion time. We have been working 
with nonsense words and I really paid attention to which students need more assistance with 
sounding and reading these words more fluidly.

NCTCS

1a. Teachers lead in their classroom.

This week I lead in the classroom to facilitate the lessons to my students and to lead in 
contacting parents when needed.

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

This week I tried to provide a positive and nurturing environment for students by welcoming students every morning into the classroom with hugs and helping them unpack.

3d. Teacher make instruction relevant to students

This week in math we worked a lot with manipulatives and showing more than, less than, 
and equal to.

4b. Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students

This week we used manipulatives and songs and dance to learn more about fire safety and make this a fun learning experience.

5b. Teacher link professional growth to their professional goals

At the end of this week I had my second observation and got to analyze my growth thus far and plan additional ways for me to grow in this experience and become the best teacher I can be.

This week I planned my February Global Awareness plug which we will be doing next week so that was exciting and took a lot of creativity to try and make this relevant and easy to compare to the United States as well as the country we looked at in January.

My CE and I do not need any additional support from my university supervisor right now.

February 1, 2019

This week is a 4 out of 5 for me. My week started out with some Professional Development on Monday with a data dive with the entire kindergarten grade level. My middle of the week was tougher getting students finally back into the school routine with this being the true first full week having total control of the classroom. But by the end of the week I was finally feeling the success feeling that students were back into the groove. You never know what each day will bring with kindergarteners and I think that is what makes this experience so difficult!

OBSERVE

This week I observed Thursday BOTH of my behaviorally challenging students turn their entire day around and made great choices, were nice to their friends, and I even overhear one using his manners and offering to share his crayons. While this may seem small for these students this was a huge milestone! I was so happy I could just jump for joy! These two students had the option to bring their lunch back to the classroom and watch a video while they ate their lunch, but instead they chose to stay in the cafeteria and want to eat with me. Again, another surprising but so rewarding moment. 

REFLECT

As I reflect on these student’s behavioral plans, I am seeing some improvements while they are small it shows that I still need to remain consistent and stick it out until the end. Next week I plan to use the sitting with the teacher at lunch reward again since this seemed to be a big hit. 

FOCUS

One of my long-term goals is to make our inclusion time a time that students enjoy learning and practicing on skills that they are lower in. This can sometimes be a boring time simply because a lot of the skills are memorization of sight words, letter sounds, and word building. So, this week I was able to check out some fun activities and new strategies to teach these same skills from our Title 1 resource center. I have been so blessed to be able to communicate freely with our Title 1 specialist and get some advice and ideas for teaching these students during this time. 

BE PRODUCTIVE

This week I could have spent more time on planning what I am going to do for my math edTPA. I feel like I am slacking in this area. I know our deadline will be quickly approaching so this is my next big focus. 

HAVE COURAGE

Since I have had such a behavior issue with my class and my two students were not responding well to the plan, I was tempted to change it. But, after this week I am sticking with it and seeing how it does until the end. This is hard because I want to see immediate effects and I am not, but I also know both of these student’s backgrounds and home life and know that it is going to be a constant battle no matter what plan I implement. 

BEGIN ANEW

Next week I plan to work on my Instructional Commentary since I have now finished videoing and begin to look at my plans for math. 

DATA

As mentioned earlier I had the privilege to participate in a data dive this week. We analyzed all student data with DIBELS and TRC and what our next steps needed to be in our literacy times, the skills and strategies to teach, and how each group with Title 1 has been doing. This was a great time to really see what true teachers do once they have data on their students. Kindergarten is a difficult year having not much data to go off of, but now at this point in the school year we finally have some real data on our students and know what our goals and actions steps need to be.

NCTCS

1b. Teachers demonstrate leadership in the school 

My principal sat in on our data dive this week and thanked me for wanting to participate and know more about the students that we are teaching by analyzing their data. 

2e. Teachers work collaboratively with the families and significant adults in the lives of their students. 

This week I have talked with a lot of the parents of our students mainly due to behavioral issues, but also to keep them updated with what happens in the classroom. 

3d. Teachers make instruction relevant to students. 

This week we learned about Groundhog Day. This is a difficult concept for students to wrap their heads around, but we sang and danced to a song to help students make better connections. 

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

This week we upper our use of technology in the classroom. For one of our literacy centers students were at a tablet and worked on their Reading Horizons lessons which is our Phonics program that we use. 

5a. Teachers analyze student learning

There was a point this week where I saw that students were not grasping the concept, I was teaching so I stopped and re-directed in a simpler way after seeing I was losing some students. 

This past week I collected some student work to have as evidence towards my global awareness piece for January to go towards my portfolio.