Week 14

I cannot believe this is my last post!!!

It has been a real experience completing this program and student teaching! I have learned so much and met many good people over these past 15 weeks. I will miss these kiddos very much and it will be an emotional departure, I'm sure. 

I am happy to say that I passed EdTPA and can finally relax a bit. Now on to job hunting! Since the position I interviewed for needed to be filled by Dec. 5th, I did not get that position. It is disappointing, but all things happen for a reason. 

My goals going forward (after finding a position) are to;

• Be the best teacher I can be
• Surround myself with positive people
• Never lose sight of why I joined this field
• Manage my time wisely (which is my absolute weakness)
• Be a lifelong learner

I wish you all the best going forward and I thank you for your support along the way!

Week 13

This past week, I had my first experience with modifying and assigning a Wonders online reading assessment. Reading is the biggest area of struggle for the class I work with. Although the class average is not where we would like it to be, 15 of the 20 students who took the test scored 70% or higher. There are 4 students who were absent and still need to take it, however, that is the most successful they have been this quarter...score!

It is hard to believe that I only have 8.5 days left with these students. I have built some strong relationships with them and I it will be hard to say goodbye. The last day will definitely be an emotional one. 

I also had an interview for a position in the district (3rd grade) on Wednesday. I will know the result of that this week, along with my EdTPA score. It has been torturous to wait all this time! Hopefully, it will be worth the wait.

Classroom Confidential

I chose to focus on chapter 12, "Great Teachers Are Lifelong Learners." Although I have not been in this particular field for very long, I definitely have experienced that "famine culture" perspective among many teachers. It is definitely a downer and very negative perspective to have. I love Schmidt's philosophy of sharing ideas, collaborating, and learning from one another. I will definitely follow her advice for new teachers and be sure to surround myself with the "superb teachers" so that I do not fall into the pits of famine culture.

Week 12

My goals for this week were to continue doing what I can to enhance my students' learning for the last few weeks I will have with them, and to start looking into school districts and teaching opportunities for after graduation. Success for both!!!
✅This week began our lessons on fractions in math...which is apparently a dreaded segment in 4th grade. I am pleasantly surprised by how well most seem to be grasping the concepts. Even my lower math students are getting it and I have been seeing genuine light bulbs going off in class! There are a couple of students who display signs of math anxiety, one of which always needs to see the nurse when math is about to begin. She didn't ask to go once, and she was one of the main ones raising her hand to offer answers or comments. 😍 I don't know that it is really my teaching, but rather my efforts to reduce anxiety and help students feel safe in risk taking that is making a difference. We left off on mixed numbers from improper fractions, and I found an informative yet tension easing video to introduce it... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggYdPef3Nuk

✅I began looking into local districts a bit online. Then on Tuesday, I was visited by our district's assistant superintendent to see if I am interested in a 3rd grade position available next month! 😀 This is super exciting, although not guaranteed since they hope to have it filled by 12/5 and I won't know my EdTPA score until 11/27. So waiting is now torture!!! In any case, I am happy to know that I have made a positive impression in this district!

My goals for the coming week are to keep on keeping on, tackle the showcase video early for extra credit, and to add more to my portfolio.

Classroom Confidential

Writing is a very important skill that many students dislike, and this chapter offers great strategies to change that. I love the ideas that help to ease anxious students who worry about writing requirements. The ones I liked were coding, having writer's hats, "Author's Hour" and "Do-it-Yourself" journals. 

Coding turns the chore of writing into a fun game that students will need to beat so they can "crack the code" and reveal the message. 

The idea of writer's hats can put a silly spin on writing. Allowing students to decorate their own hat to wear will add to the fun. 

As an encouragement to students, "Author's Hour" allows an at will sharing of writing that nervous students can warm up to. There's no pressure, but they will want to have their turn eventually. Giving students control will definitely ease anxiety.

The "Do-it-Yourself" journal covers those students who fret about how many empty pages there are to fill. I love the idea that students can create a journal that can be as long, or short, as they want, while being free to add to it. 

Week 11

Well, now I know why I felt fatigued most of last week (and am still battling it now)...it was illness (not EdTPA)! I has a fever that went up to 102.6 from Sunday through Tuesday morning. So, I missed teaching on Monday and Tuesday 😞 and feel I did not pay close enough attention to final details on EdTPA before submission. Luckily, I had to view every item on Pearson before the final submission, because I had forgotten one of the assessments! I will happily accept your prayers for a passing score! 

When I returned on Wednesday, I was surprised to be greeted with such enthusiasm and hugs from the students. With it being the week of Halloween and a field trip, there was a lot going on. On Halloween, we still managed to pull some science into the celebration. Students from both 4th grade classes came together to complete a STEM challenge. They worked in groups of 3 to build structures from toothpicks and candy corn. Here's one of them...

Then, we had a field trip to the Peggy Notebaert Nature Museum by Lincoln Park Zoo on Friday. This tied in well to our unit on vertebrates and invertebrates. We began by having a class that dealt with observation of "Red Wiggler" worms and their behavior.

Then, the students got to visit the various exhibits of the museum, which were awesome!

Water current exploration

Butterfly observatory "Oh wow, it landed on me!"

Butterfly observatory

Live snake show

Brave students touch the snake

My goals for the coming week are to continue doing what I can to enhance my students' learning for the last few week I will have with them, and to start looking into school districts and teaching opportunities for after graduation.

Classroom Confidential

This chapter highlights some important points regarding effective communication with parents. Schmidt's 10 essentials of effective communication are a great guide in this respect. It is also amazing to learn how many cultural considerations there are regarding communication. For example, I never knew that showing the sole of your shoe when crossing your legs is offensive to some Middle Eastern cultures or that the number 4 is associated with death and bad luck in Korean culture. It will be important to consider these ideas when encountering seemingly unusual communication behavior with multicultural parents.

This week's reading comes at a good time, considering that parent teacher conferences are just around the corner. I was considering the use of a student "self survey" already and this reinforced the idea. I intend to be ready with positive insights, work samples, and notes to support my observations. However, I will be sure to set boundaries and be prepared in the event of a disgruntled parent. I am very glad to have this as a reference when conferences come up on the 25th and 26th.

Week 10

This has been a rough week. I haven't had much energy and have felt fatigued almost all week. Maybe it is because this is the last week before I submit my EdTPA and I'm having a subconscious meltdown (which is better than an actual meltdown 😜). 

The teaching part is going well enough, but I really look forward to having my own classroom. There are still random interruptions by my CT or changes to my plans because of something she wants them to do. This is to be expected, but I am ready to try being truly on my own. I am just happy to see growth and learning. The students did well on their module 3 math test and on the science test on cells, plants, and fungi, overall. Those who did not do so well will have the opportunity to make corrections after their parents sign and return the tests. I tried out having a couple of extra credit questions on the science test, since this subject is a struggle for many students. I am happy to report that there were quite a few who got 100% - 107%! One student who frequently scores low on science tests got a 100% and I was THRILLED!

My goals for this week were to submit my EdTPA to my liking and not alienate those I love in the process. So far so good, but I have until Monday, so this remains to be seen. the coming week are to take some time for me and spend more time with my own kids after EdTPA submission. 

Week 9

I am happy to be fully immersed in the role of teacher, but  absolutely exhausted and drained with all of the demands being placed on me right now. Now that I am doing all subjects, the grading load is huge and very time consuming (if I am going to do it well). That coupled with EdTPA finalizing is an excessive workload. So, it is hard to have these other time consumers like this blog and continuing to write long LP's for observations (Yes...of course I have one this week).

My goals for this week were to go through my clips and make an outline of task 2 and to deliver ELA lessons well. Both were a success. My goals for this week are to finish my EdTPA submission to my liking and not alienate myself from everyone in my life who matters in the process.

Week 8

I cannot believe that we are at the half way mark already!  Over these last 8 weeks, I feel I have made substantial progress with most of my students. They feel comfortable enough to write little notes on assignments when they don't understand something, work though problems even when they get stuck, and to challenge solutions to problems (even if they end up being correct). So far, we have had 2 pre and post tests in math and in each case, they nearly doubled their scores. We've had significant growth! We have been working on rounding, which has been difficult for several students. I started with about 15 students who were struggling and now I am down to 4. 

One of the fun things we did in math was a "Roll and Round" game in small groups. Each student in the group rolled 6 dice to create a 6 digit number. Then he/she picked a card that determined which place value to which the number would be rounded. All students worked to complete this on their own sheet and each student got to roll and pick a card. They really enjoyed that. Here are some pictures of the groups.

So, I have been teaching the math and both science classes for the last 2 weeks. Starting next week, I will be adding ELA which means I am taking over EVERYTHING! My biggest struggle at this point is grading. I am trying to offer feedback and tips for success I can honestly say that I cannot see how that will be possible. The amount of time it takes me now is mind blowing. Hopefully, I will be able to figure something out now that I will be doing all subjects.

My goals of picking my clips and finishing the outline were not met so they are still on my agenda for this week. My additional goal is to successfully deliver ELA lessons this week. 

Happy Day off!