Week of 01/23 - 01/27

Rate your overall experience of the week: 4

Seven questions to end your week:

Observe: What pleasant surprises / accomplishments did I achieve this week?

I got a lot completed during our two planning days, and even made some new organization boards for WIN time and rearranged how I want to do WIN time that is more differentiated for the students. I was also very surprised that my students were so well behaved this week, and kept all of their stars.

Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week?

Keeping track of the students grades and how they are improving really does drive my instruction for the following week. I have so many different methods are keeping track of student grades, but I have learned that by doing this, planning for the next week is not nearly as difficult. 

Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned?

My long-term goal is improve my students TRC scores when they take it for one final time in may. My short term goal right now is to differentiate the WIN groups, so that I can have a chance to work independently with every group on their TRC skills. 

Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing?

I really needed to spend more time putting in HOTS questions into my lesson plans, and revising them before I send them in to my supervisor. 

Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do?

This week I was apprehensive about group work and who to put into hat group. I spent about an hour looking over test scores and grades in order to determine where I was going to put each student. Indecision with determining groups, lead to one of the groups not working out at all. I need to be more intention with picking groups, and not looking only at test scores, but also who works well together. 

Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear?

I am going to work on portfolio and and hopefully finish my website this weekend. I will also be committing my resume this weekend, so I can have that looked over. I will start writing lesson plans for the following week, this Monday, and continue the trend of writing lessons like I have, because that has helped so much! I will look over my lesson plans this weekend also, and make sure that they have everything I need in them. I will focus on my hooks and HOTS questions this coming up week. 

What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions?

I have started collecting even more grades and data this week, and that has really helped to drive my instruction for the next week. I finally got to see how my students performed on the TRC test, and that helped me to form my WIN groups for next week when I try something new with them. This will make WIN time more meaningful and differentiated. 

What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers?

Get materials from your teacher for the next week as soon you can. This helps so much in the planning process, and helps to not be as stressed. Also, make sure that you actually schedule yourself some “me” time, or else you will get so stressed that your hair falls out. Get those lesson plans done early, so that you do not have to worry about them during your “me” time. 

NC Teacher Candidate Standards (be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer)

Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

I am the full-time teacher now. I know that it is my job to lead in my classroom every single day. When something does not goes as planned or something happens with a student in my classroom, it is now my responsibility to lead and take care of whatever is happening. I am leading 21 little life in classroom, and that is on of the greatest responsibilities. 

Pick an element from standard two of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. I hope I always establish this kind of enviroment for my students, but I think this week I really understood what that meant. I want my students to feel safe and happy in my classroom, and the way portray myself and handle situations. I want to focus on being the best role model that I can possibly be for my students. 

Pick an element from standard three of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. This week while writing my lesson plans, I made sure that I aligned the content that I was teaching with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. I also discussed with my CE about if I was on the right track with the standards or not.

Pick an element from standard four of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers use a variety of instructional methods. I have facilitated learning in different ways than my CE normally does this week, and my students love it. I am implementing technology into almost every one of my lessons, and my students are becoming more and more engaged. 

Pick an element from standard five of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers analyze student learning. Like I mentioned before, my teacher has a great way for me to easily look at class data, and figure out what I need to do to strengthen student learning. Also, I am reflecting on my teaching practice by using the #ObserveMe in my classroom for my colleagues to give me feedback on my teaching and how I can strengthen that. 

Other:

What components of your portfolio have you started to complete?

Working on website, portfolio and resume. 

What support does your clinical educator need from your university supervisor?

N/A

What support do you need from your university supervisor?

Just prayers as I continue this journey. 

Week of 01/16-01/20

Rate your overall experience of the week: 4

Seven questions to end your week:

Observe: What pleasant surprises / accomplishments did I achieve this week?

I started my first full week of student teaching, and it was amazing! Of course there were some struggles, but I had so much fun! I am surprised at how easy it was to take over, because of how much I had observed my teacher last semester and this semester. My students surprised everyday with the good and the bad, but I love them very much. 

Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week?

I have finally figured out how to differentiate and close a lesson, but I did not put the correct way in my lessons this week. I will build upon the knowledge I have gained this week of differentiation and closure, and make my lesson plans for next week even better! 

Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned?

My long-term goal is to find a job before I graduate. Some short term efforts that I have been pursuing are contacting my superintendent back in my hometown of Mitchell County. He referred me to a human resources lady, and I have a meeting with her to talk about job options in my surrounding area. I am so excited! Also, I have been working on strengthening my resume, and signing up to hopefully take the General Curriculum for one last time. 

Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing?

I could have spent more time on revising my lessons this week. Adding a hook and closer that was solid to each of them, even though I had already submitted the plans. 

Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do?

I feel like I am getting better with not being apprehensive about asking my CE questions about things that I need help with. My CE is super understanding, that sometimes I have no idea what I am doing. Enforcing positive and negative reinforcement has been a lot easier for me this week, because I am not nearly as apprehensive as last week. 

Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear?

I am going to work on portfolio and website this weekend. I will start writing lesson plans for the following week, this Monday, and continue the trend of writing lessons like I have, because that has helped so much! I will look over my lesson plans this weekend also, and make sure that they have everything I need in them. I will focus on my hooks and closure for next weeks lesson plans. 

What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions?

I have started collecting grades and analyzing data for every subject. While this is a lot of data to keep up with, it is very helpful. My CE gave me a very unique grading format, because it shows each individual problem, and which student missed what problem. Also, it shows which kind of problem the class as a whole is missing the most. I love this type of grading system, because I know exactly what kinds of questions I need to cover in future lessons. 

What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers?

Get ahead of your work as much as possible. I love being able to not stress about finishing my lesson plans on the weekend, and I can actually relax a little while I work on other things that are not due until later on. Teaching is already a little stressful, so I do not want the stress of falling behind on top of that. 

NC Teacher Candidate Standards (be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer)

Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

I am the full-time teacher now, I believe that I am fully learning my class in every subject, and also I am leading in my teaching profession, because I have implemented observe me and other teachers want to try it out too! 

Pick an element from standard two of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. I hope I always establish this kind of enviroment for my students, but I think this week I really understood what that meant. I want my students to feel safe and happy in my classroom, and the way portray myself and handle situations. I want to focus on being the best role model that I can possibly be for my students. I have learned a lot about home lives this week, and it breaks my heart, but that makes me want to provide them with a nurturing enviroment even more. 

Pick an element from standard three of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. This week while writing my lesson plans, I made sure that I aligned the content that I was teaching with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. I also discussed with my CE about if I was on the right track with the standards or not. We also talked about making lesson plans for stuff that is not in the 2nd grade curriculum, because my CE loves to prepare them for the 3rd grade. Finding the different standards keeps getting easier, thank goodness!

Pick an element from standard four of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers use a variety of instructional methods. I have facilitated learning in different ways than my CE normally does this week, and my students love it. I actually let the students come up to the Smart board while we review math problems, and they love that! Apparently they have never used a Smart board until this year,s o we had a lot of fun with that. I cannot wait to implement more technology into the classroom! 

Pick an element from standard five of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers analyze student learning. Like I mentioned before, my teacher has a great way for me to easily look at class data, and figure out what I need to do to strengthen student learning. Also, I am reflecting on my teaching practice by using the #ObserveMe in my classroom for my colleagues to give me feedback on my teaching and how I can strengthen that. 

Other:

What components of your portfolio have you started to complete?

Working on website, portfolio and resume. 

What support does your clinical educator need from your university supervisor?

N/A

What support do you need from your university supervisor?

Not at the moment. 

Week of 01/09-01-13

Rate your overall experience of the week: 5

Seven questions to end your week:

Observe: What pleasant surprises / accomplishments did I achieve this week?

I took over most of the classroom this week, because I start full-time next week. I was very surprised at my confidence level this week. I know that last semester, I was always so nervous to teach, but this week I felt so great about my teaching. 

Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week?

Writing all those lesson plans for full-time teaching next week, was no easy task, but it is now finished and I can just review them. I have noticed upon reviewing a few, that I need to not be so generic on my differentiation, and come up with ways to differentiate, that even my CE does not do. 

Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned?

My short term goal this week is to establish discipline for my students. That way whenever they misbehave their will be consequences, but this also true for positive reinforcement. I will need positive and negative reinforcement all throughout my next ten weeks, so those goals are still aligned with one another. 

Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing?

I could have spent more time this week working on my portfolio and website during the snow days. I did get a lot of lesson planning finished during that time. However, I do wish I would have gotten some portfolio pieces taken care of. 

Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do?

I feel like I took a big step back in the positive and negative reinforcement this week, because I just was not sure when I was able to punish or reward a student. My CE talked to me about a lot of that this Thursday, and today I was able to put that into practice, and my CE commended me doing a great job in that area. 

Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear?

I am going to work on portfolio and website this weekend. I will start writing lesson plans for the following week, this Monday, and continue the trend of writing lessons like I have, because that has helped so much! I will look over my lesson plans this weekend also, and make sure that they have everything I need in them. 

What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions?

I have already started collecting grades for the subjects thatI teach. So right now, I have ever grade for literacy that I have taught. Looking through this data on my own, makes me realize what students need the extra help, and in what areas they need it. Looking through the class data helps me to differentiate my instruction and WIN time for the students. 

What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers?

Seriously stay organized. I have been the most organized I have ever been, and I still feel like I could slip up at any second. Also, stay ahead! You're week will be so much easier and stress free. I am so happy that I have finished everything for next week by now. 

NC Teacher Candidate Standards (be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer)

Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers lead in their classrooms. This week I lead my classroom in behavior management. I finally took control, and my students will listen to me now and they see me as a leader. 

Pick an element from standard two of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. I hope I always establish this kind of enviroment for my students, but I think this week I really understood what that meant. I want my students to feel safe and happy in my classroom, and the way portray myself and handle situations. This week, everyday that they have left the classroom, I made sure I hugged each student and told them I loved them and cannot wait to see them tomorrow. 

Pick an element from standard three of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. This week while writing my lesson plans, I made sure that I aligned the content that I was teaching with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. I also discussed with my CE about if I was on the right track with the standards or not. We also talked about making lesson plans for stuff that is not in the 2nd grade curriculum, because my CE loves to prepare them for the 3rd grade. 

Pick an element from standard four of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers use a variety of instructional methods. I have facilitated learning in different ways than my CE normally does this week, and my students love it. During social studies, I used a video and a game to help reinforce what MLK did for us and how important he is. The students seemed to have learned so much, and everyone passed their assessment on MLK. Making the learning relevant really helped the information to stick in their heads. 

Pick an element from standard five of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers analyze student learning. This week I have graded more papers than I care to admit, but this data has helped me to shape what I am teaching for the following weeks. 

Other:

What components of your portfolio have you started to complete?

I have almost completed my website, and have been working on the portfolio pieces. 

What support does your clinical educator need from your university supervisor?

N/A

What support do you need from your university supervisor?

Just prayers to make it through this semester to the best of my ability. 

The Week of January 2nd - 6th

Rate your overall experience of the week: 5

Seven questions to end your week:

Observe: What pleasant surprises / accomplishments did I achieve this week?

I am just very proud of myself for getting out of bed everyday this week, and participating in every literacy subject this week.

Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week?

This week I have started to write lesson plans for next week. All in literacy. However, I have participated in Novel Reading this week, and have taught a few lessons. Every lesson has went well so far, but I know that need to build upon my lessons for next week in the area of asking more thought provoking questions. I asked a lot of yes and no questions, and hardly any that that brought the students to a deeper level of thinking. 

Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned?

My short term efforts right now are to stay in my time frame for each lesson that I teach, because my CE says that this will be very important when I actually take over. This aligns withy long term goals, because as a teacher I need to learn to stay on track, so that I can fit everything I need to into my day. 

Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing?

I could have spent more time this week familiarizing myself with the lessons I am going to teach. Instead, I just wrote the lessons and then put them away. I need to be able really think about how I am going to teach a lesson. 

Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do?

I feel as if I am still trapped inside the box of how my teacher does things in the classroom. I want to do stuff all the time that my CE may does not do, but I need to communicate those ideas with her to make sure they are okay for me do. However, I understand this is her classroom and I do not want to step on any toes, because me and my CE have a great relationship! 

Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear?

I have already began planning my lessons for next week. My idea is to do all of next Mondays lessons this Monday, and next Tuesday finished on Tuesday and so on. This way I can make sure that I am staying on top of the lessons I have to write and turn in this Friday. I have laid out a calendar with everything I am doing and trying to accomplish this month, and that has really helped me to get organized. 

What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions?

I gave the Novel Reading test this week, and it was based off of what I have taught this week. Every student except for one made a 90 or above. The student that did not make a 90 or above was our EC student. Therefore, I know that I need to differentiate even more with her in order to see her succeed. However, I was very please with the class average being a 95. 

What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers?

Get organized now! Right now I have folders in my Google Drive and actually tangible folders with me that are labeled with the different subjects. Each week I will put my lesson plans and materials in each of the folders, that way the materials are all together and I know hat should be in each folder. Also, planning when you are going to complete lesson plans and parts of the portfolio will help to stay organized. 

NC Teacher Candidate Standards (be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer)

Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers lead in their classrooms. This week I feel as if I have taken a step forward with my leadership in the classroom. I can call students to come back to my desk now, and I am able to discipline them. I also take the students to specials and lunch by myself, and I believe that shows leadership in my classroom. 

Pick an element from standard two of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. I hope I always establish this kind of enviroment for my students, but I think this week I really understood what that meant. I want my students to feel safe and happy in my classroom, and the way portray myself and handle situations. This week I established this type of enviroment by being inviting and respectful to my students in every way that I could. 

Pick an element from standard three of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. This week while writing my lesson plans, I made sure that I aligned the content that I was teaching with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. I also discussed with my CE about if I was on the right track with the standards or not. 

Pick an element from standard four of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers use a variety of instructional methods. This week I really tried to focus on how I facilitated the learning in my classroom. I used a variety of strategies during Novel Reading time, some of which included that I use the Smart-board for part of the lesson, I use the ELMO for part. Also, I let the students move around in between sections of the lesson. So for one part of the lesson the students are sitting on the carpet in front of the Smart-board listening to vocabulary information, and then they move back to their seat or the fuzzy carpet to actually read the novel. I have also differentiated for my EC students and low performers, by having them sit close to me, or to sit in the back with the assistant to make sure they are on track and focused. 

Pick an element from standard five of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.

Teachers analyze student learning. This week I will use the data received from the Novel Reading test to drive my instruction for next week. I also reflect with my CE about how the lessons I taught and how I could improve them next time. 

Other:

What components of your portfolio have you started to complete?

I have started working on my resume and my website. 

What support does your clinical educator need from your university supervisor?

N/A

What support do you need from your university supervisor?

Just prayers to make it through this semester to the best of my ability.