Never marry a tennis player. Love means nothing to them.

How crazy is it that this is our last blog for the semester?! I know that I am excited about seeing the light at the end of the tunnel. In my classroom this week, I had an observation, and I was extremely nervous for that, but it went well and the feedback was very helpful! My CE showed me the books that they are going to be reading during PDP meetings next semester, and showed me where to buy them at. These PDP meetings will help teachers with passing the Reading Foundation Test. So, if I do not pass the test when I take it this semester, I will have a lot of my time spent studying for it at these PDP meetings. My teacher explained in detail what the folders on top of each desk were. Turns out that each of those folders have a students name on them, and they have differentiated work inside each of them that is specific to that kid! I thought that those folders were a wonderful! They use these folders during WIN time, but this is the first I got to observe that, because they were finally not testing. I also observed some students take the STAR test today, and noticed a lot of them were just clicking answers to be done with it, and my CE noticed that and made them take it again during their free time.

For us in college, when we think of a brain break, we think about going home or away for the weekend. This past weekend, I was able to go home, and it was a wonderful brain break for me! I came back to school refreshed and ready to go. I think that everyone needs a brain break everyone in a while, and that is including our students. I found a great article on Edutopia talking about the importance of brain breaks in the classroom, and different strategies to implement brain breaks into the classroom. “When we take a brain break, it refreshes our thinking and helps us discover another solution to a problem or see a situation through a different lens. During these few minutes, the brain moves away from learning, memorizing, and problem solving. The brain break actually helps to incubate and process new information” (Edutopia). Some of the activities that the article suggests are as follows; A Squiggle Story is when students, on a blank sheet of paper, whiteboard, or Promethean Board, draw one squiggly line. Give students one minute to stand and draw with their opposite hand, turning the line into a picture or design of their choice. Another activity is called, Opposite Sides. Movement is critical to learning. Have students stand and blink with the right eye while snapping the fingers of their left hand. Repeat this with the left eye and right hand. Students could also face one another and tap the right foot once, left foot twice, and right foot three times, building speed they alternate toe tapping with their partner. This article has a ton more activities to have small brain breaks throughout the day in your classroom. I encourage each of you to look at this article and find a few strategies and activities you can use in your classroom. 

This article hits on the NCPTS number one, because I think it takes great teacher leadership to distinguish when your class needs a brain break. As teachers, we will sometimes think we need to push through the day to get everything finished that we need too. However, they are human too, and we all need a brain break every once in a while in order to absorb the material we want them to learn. 

https://www.edutopia.org/blog/brain-breaks-focused-attention-practices-lori-desautels

A man just assaulted me with milk, cream and butter. How dairy.

Each week, I feel like my CE's and I grow closer, and that is a wonderful thing experience! We work together professionally, but she can also be my friend. Our assistant was not at school Friday, so I had to help my CE with some things that I have never done before. Such as, check the students folders for notes from parents and help get the students AR points organized on their spreadsheet. Dr. Suttle had her meeting with my CE and I, and it went really well! Having this meeting with Dr. Suttle made the fact that I am student teaching in 2 months, so real! I learned a lot from our meeting, such as, ways to better prepare for student teaching while I am on Christmas break. The meeting with Dr. Suttle last almost an hour, so my CE did not get her usual planning period. My CE asked if I would take the students to lunch by myself Friday, so that she could stay in the room and work on lesson plans. I was a little nervous, but was super eager to take the kids to lunch for the first time by myself. We only had two little spills the whole time, which is pretty good considering my class! I had to make a little girl move her clip when we got back into the classroom, because she was acting up in the lunchroom. That was the first time I had to make a students move their clip, but they know the rules of the lunch room, so acting out is not acceptable. Other than that one discipline problem, my students were great! I really feel like my students are starting to see me more as their teacher, rather than just their friend. Which was a goal of mine at the beginning of the year. I had a student at the end of the day, come up to my desk and say, "Ms. Townsend, I just really love everything you do for me, and I love you." That made all the bad days before disappear, and brought back into view the reason that teaching is my passion and purpose in life.

This week I have been dealing with a lot of stress with a lot of different assignments and tests to to finish. At first, I honestly did not think I was going to make it out alive this week, but here I am and all the assignments were turned in on time and finished to the best of my ability! I have always been pretty great with time management throughout my entire college career, however, this semester seems to have tried to kick me when I’m down. I feel like I can never catch up, because of so many different assignments due. Now I can gladly say, that I see the light at the end of the tunnel. The semester is calming down a bit, and I can focus on my assignments more. What the little boy said to me Friday about how he loved me and appreciated me, really made me remember why I am doing what I am doing. I am so passionate about teaching, and I know that my purpose in life is to teach kids and love on them. I will push through the rest of this year with my head held high, and I know it will all be worth it. This week, I decided to research about how a bad day in the classroom will pass, even though I haven't had any bad days in the classroom so far! (knock on wood).  I learned something important: don't concentrate on the lesson you planned to teach, but on the students. If you are determined to stick to you lesson plan, and it doesn't seem to be working—for whatever reason--you will become frustrated and, very likely, show that frustration in your tone of voice, facial expressions, and body language. You may very well end up blaming the students and punishing them. Unless they are completely cowed by your authority or a lot more mature than you are, they will react negatively, and that day's class session goes down the drain. It is far better to come into the classroom with a focus on the students: read their signals as you teach and react positively before thins get out of hand. For example, say, "It looks like we all need some music today" and play a tape, or, like Larry, break for a game. Then try again. As the students work, move slowly around the classroom to see how they are doing. If many seem to be off track, stop the class and explain or demonstrate in another way. This article was great for showing me that every teacher will have a bad day ever once in a while, but it is how we handle the situation after we get frustrated that matters the most. 

This research ties to the NCPTS number two of teachers establish a respectful enviroment for a diverse population of students. We should all set a respectful enviroment for our students no matter the mood we are in that day. We should not take our frustrations out on our students, and should always always be respectful of each individual student. Below is the link to the article I researched. 

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/classroom_qa_with_larry_ferlazzo/2013/11/response_the_first_step_is_admitting_our_frustration_is_real_and_valid.html