March 29, 2019

I would rate this week as a 4 out of 5. I FINISHED MY TENTH WEEK! But, this week I was a little under the weather once again! I can definitely tell that my immune system is still trying to adjust to being around these little kiddos 24/7. But that is just what comes with this profession. If there is any advice I can give to student teacher it is to take care of yourself, get enough sleep, eat well, and take your vitamins!

OBSERVE

This week I observed some great problem solving skills. In several subject areas like identifying whether or not a letter sound was voiced or voiceless, how to fill in the missing numbers in a subtraction sentence, and how to sort a series of animals by different characteristics.

REFLECT

This week I felt the love from my students when I was not feeling well and losing my voice they recognized and whispered for the rest of the day with me. This not only touched my heart, but showed how much my students are maturing and beginning to think of others and show empathy.

FOCUS

This week as a grade level our main focus was putting the finishing touches on K-Day. All I can say is I am worn out! This was a successful day, but a very tiring day. I am thankful for all the faculty and other grade level teachers who helped make this important day happen.

BE PRODUCTIVE

This week I could have spent more time on my portfolio instead of on my lessons and binder.

HAVE COURAGE

Friday during K-Day my sole job was to welcome parents and students into the school and direct them to their assigned rooms, make sure they were successfully signed in and putting them at ease through this process.

BEGIN ANEW

Next week I want to focus more on getting some applications finished so the job search can begin!

DATA

The data that I got to observe this week was related to the MTSS data within our classroom. I saw how much these students have grown through observation and through our progress monitoring data that we have collected.

1c. Teachers lead in the teaching profession.

This week I lead in the teaching profession by helping assist with the Kindergarten registration.

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

This week my CE and I analyzed data from our progress monitoring for those tier students in our class and brainstormed some ways to better instruct these students.

3a. Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study

This week I increased my flashcard use during transitions especially to the carpet. This week they were all Spring themed, number words, and zoo animals since this is our new unit we are starting.  

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

I have started assigning table captains for each week. This is to try and boost leadership qualities. The students love this opportunity to have a purpose and role each week like: passing out papers, getting to go sit at their tables first, collecting materials and just having the title of captain.

5b. Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.

This week I worked a lot on my PDP goals which are mainly focuses on positive behavior management strategies, and differentiation strategies for tier students.

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

March 22, 2019

I would rate this week as a 4 out of 5. We had a jam packed week from celebrating St. Patrick’s Day on Monday, having a PBIS dress to impress ball on Thursday, and supporting the GWU men’s basketball team Friday by making a school wide video helping cheer them on. We also met our blurt goal meaning we go to visit the treasure box and we earned 2 paws from other teachers putting us at our 100 paws earn so far in the school year.

OBSERVE

This week I observed a great use of technology. I have been trying to expand our technology use and looking back from the beginning of the school year students are feeling much more comfortable using the iPads and Smartboard especially with ease. I remember at the beginning of the year so many students were getting so frustrated with these elements of the classroom and would give up, and now they are excelling.

REFLECT

This week I feel like we made better progress with our behavior as a whole class. Last week were were unable to go to the treasure box due to, too many blurting out and earning our 5 out of 5 marks on the board. This week we only received 2 out of our goal of 5! This seems to be an incentive that works for my students. Next week our goal will drop to 4.

FOCUS

This week as a grade level our main focus was preparing for the upcoming K-Day next week which will be the day our school will open their doors to rising little kinders to register for school. We have presentations, testing center, school tours, parent Q and A’s and much more planned for this day.

BE PRODUCTIVE

This week I could have spent more time on my portfolio which is what my focus is going to be for the remainder of the semester as we finish.

HAVE COURAGE

This week I took charge when a family member of my CE’s passed away and she was pulled from the classroom and a sub was not able to come in so, the assistant and I stepped up and kept students calm and continued our regular schedule like normal. Any change with little ones brings about stress and worry.

BEGIN ANEW

Next week I want to focus more on getting my philosophy of education finished so I can start working towards my portfolio completion.

DATA

The data that I got to observe this week was related to social studies and learning about landforms and bodies of water. This was a difficult standard to tackle with the amount of time that I am given in the afternoons, but I was impressed how well students were able to identify these! After working with many visuals and movements their mastery was truly shown during our I have who has game where they had to look at their pictures on their given cards of different landforms and bodies of water to first identify and then ask if someone else has another type.  1a. Teachers lead in the classroom.

This week I lead in the classroom by pushing students to meet their behavior goal of no more than 5 blurts for the week.

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

I have continued to work on my proximity praise for my students.

3a. Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study

This week I incorporated more flashcards during transitions especially to the carpet. This week they were all Spring themed words that are high frequency words that students should associate with the season especially with insects which we have been learning about.

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

This week I saw students really excelling in the technology aspect of our everyday having two opportunities to experiment with technology in our small group times.

5b. Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.

This week I critique my PDP to become better SMART goals.

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

March 15, 2019

I would rate this week as a 3 out of 5. This was a better week, but I can tell that students are ready for a break! As a class this week we set a goal to strive to get less than 5 disruptive blurt outs. If we met this goal then we would get to go to the treasure box on Friday. But we sadly did not meet our goal this week. But this was a way for students to talk about doing better next week to have this as a treat!

OBSERVE

This week I observed some great teamwork efforts especially during a scavenger hunt that we had. This week we were learning about positional words and students had to work with their table groups to read their starter card and find all the cards to lead them to their mystery hidden object. At first I was a bit skeptical of how well students would be able to execute the task but I am seeing my students develop great teamwork skills.

REFLECT

This week I had the opportunity to attend a professional development opportunity by attending the PBIS monthly meeting with all the grade level PBIS reps. This was a great opportunity to hear first hand not only how our school is doing based upon data on behavior management, but to also learn the newest strategies that the school is trying to implement. I also learned what is to come for PBIS and MTSS in the future.

FOCUS

This week my main focus was to stay on top of my lesson plan writing. I was feeling the domino effect from the edTPA week.

BE PRODUCTIVE

This week I could have spent less time trying to think of creative ways to grasp my students attention with elaborate things rather than using what I already have and building upon that. Students don’t always have to have the biggest and greatest things I found that you can get students excited if you seem excited about it.

HAVE COURAGE

I had courage this week to take away the treasure box and follow through with it without giving them chance after chance to earn it back. I did however let my two behavioral kids go and explained to the class that they sometimes get more chances when it comes to expectations and since they have had another great week they get rewarded. But overall as a class we needed to work better together on blurting out and being less disruptive.

BEGIN ANEW

Next week I want to focus more on lesson planning and getting proficient in all the areas that I have left for my student teaching.

DATA

The data that I got to observe and analyze this week was mainly dealt with behavior. I have analyzed the patterns of success with my behavioral managed students and have found what calms them down rather than reacting to situations. We have been having much better days and now weeks so they now are rewarded with more treasure box visits and check-ins with other adults throughout the school.

1c. Teachers lead in the teaching profession.

This week I lead in the teaching profession by attending the PBIS meeting for the grade levels.

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

This week I really tried to keep the positive proximity up especially with my more challenging students to encourage better behavior as well as giving physical praise such as pats on the back, and high fives.

3a. Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study

This week I incorporated more flashcards during transitions especially to the carpet. This week they were all St. Patrick’s Day themed words that are high frequency words that students should associate with the holiday.

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

This week I tried to promote more team building with lessons and activities. This is harder for kindergarten because most students do not want to share anything but we are working on what it means to be a good team player.  

5b. Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.

This week I continued to implement some of the behavior management strategies and the information that I learned in the PBIS meeting to better educate myself and to complete wha is needed for my PDP which relates to both of these.

This week my focus was on filling in all the information on my logs with parents, specialist people etc.

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

March 8, 2019

I would rate this week as a 2 out of 5. This was such a stressful and overwhelming week! But edTPA is finally submitted!

OBSERVE

This week I observed some great changes with my students. This week we were able to have more of productive afternoon after lunch instead of having an increase in behavior problems. I this is a also due to the way I paced the afternoon this week. After lunch we tried more slow and soft transitions to get students in the classroom mindset instead of more high energy and loud transitions that I originally had been doing. I think these were just too much like the lunch room atmosphere that students were coming from that it did not get them classroom ready and focused for learning.

REFLECT

This week I had the opportunity to attend parent teacher conferences and this was a great opportunity to see some of the parents of my students for some only the second time since the beginning of the year for orientation. We had some great conversations and I just think this was a great experience to go through before I have a classroom of my own.

FOCUS

This week my main focus was on edTPA since we submitted Tuesday. I was so nervous about this thinking of every way that this process could go wrong, or just thinking and worrying about the scores. My goal is to leave this topic for a while and focus more on my lessons and finishing this experience.

BE PRODUCTIVE

This week I could have spent less time working on getting things ready for edTPA and more time lesson planning. I got very behind on writing my lessons and by the end of the week I have just been wiped out.

HAVE COURAGE

I had courage this week to talk to a lot of the parents during the teacher conferences especially those that are struggling both academically and behaviorally.

BEGIN ANEW

Next week I want to focus more on lesson planning and seeing what my next steps are for student teaching to make sure I finish this 10 weeks on a good note.

DATA

The data that I got to really focus on was the progress monitoring data to show the parents. THis was really awesome to see especially from those lower leveled students that have improved tremendously.

NCTCS

1c. Teachers lead in the teaching profession.

This week I lead in the teaching profession by helping my CE lead the parent teacher conferences.

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

This week I really tried to keep the positive proximity up especially with my more challenging students to encourage better behavior.

3d. Teachers make instruction relevant to students

This week I tried to incorporate more 21st century skills into my instruction like more teamwork and leadership. I started doing table captains each week. This helps give each student a special responsibility to help out their table when we are passing out materials, or getting to go to their tables first.

4e. Teacher help students develop critical-thinking and problem solving skills.

This week I tried to promote more thinking and problem solving in both math and literacy time. We have bee transforming number bonds into number sentences with addition, and then in literacy talking about storms and the potential harms they can cause.

5b. Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals.

This week I continued to implement some of the behavior management strategies and resources that I learned from the PD that I attended and am seeing some growth. While it is small it is there.

This week my focus was on edTPA for my portfolio!

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

March 1, 2019

I would rate this week as a 4 out of 5. We finally had a little bit of sunshine! Student behavior was much better this week as well.

OBSERVE

This week I observed the light bulb come on for several students in math while we were talking about number bonds. These students also were some of my lower leveled students. I have been so proud of their progress with this more challenging unit.

REFLECT

This week I had the opportunity to attend a professional development on behavior management. I did a lot of reflecting during this time on some of the strategies that I have been using and if they really are effective or not and what I can do to make them better. We had a smaller group of teachers so this time was made more personal and we were able to share some classroom examples to examine the best practices which helped me A LOT!

FOCUS

This week my main focus was on edTPA as this due date is quickly approaching and I have been quiet stressed over it to be honest making sure that I have everything done and that I have included everything to the last document.

BE PRODUCTIVE

This week I could have spent less time nitpicking my commentaries and documents for my edTPA and working towards finalizing them.

HAVE COURAGE

I had courage this week to attempt some different ways of teaching and ordering the lessons I plan. I think my students liked the variety and I was pleased how they responded.

BEGIN ANEW

Next week I want to leave the edTPA submission day feeling at ease and leave edTPA behind me so I can start focusing on finishing my 10 weeks of student teaching strong.

DATA

Most of the data that I spent my time analyzing was for my edTPA and seeing where the patterns of learning and struggle fell and specifically with math if my re-engagement lesson actually worked or not.

NCTCS

1c. Teachers lead in the teaching profession.

This week I lead in the teaching profession by attending a PD to help me with some behavior management strategies.

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

This week I started to use more bubble maps, and graphic organizers to help those lower leveled students see our topics more visually.

3a. Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study

This week I added vocabulary flashcards for each subject area to use during transitions especially when coming to the carpet and for students to be able to strengthen their vocabulary in the topics and themes that we are talking about.

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

In math we had more partner and teamwork activities to make this time more enjoyable and fun.

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

This week I continued with my discipline plans and behavior management strategies adding some of the new ones that I learned from the PD opportunity.

This week my focus was on edTPA!!!

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