Week Three Complete!!

Week 3 is complete! I would say this week was a 4.5 out of 5.  My students had one bad day this week where they were out of control, spitting on each other, hitting, head butting, you name it, it happened. Thankfully after that day, we talked to parents and the behavior turned around for the rest of the week. I was pleasantly surprised that all of our students parents are on board with our behavior plan. When students get in trouble in school, they also get in trouble at home, which helps with behavior in our classroom. This week after reflecting, I know that I need to go back and work on first sounds and rhyming with 2 out of my 5 groups, because they were not able to grasp the concepts. My short-term efforts of using positive proximity praise, team-work building centers with rewards on the line, and helping my behavior student, all lead to my long-term goal of classroom management. I could have spent more time on edTPA this week, but unfortunately there is too much to do and no time to do it. When the students had a bad day, I had indecision about what I should do concerning recess. I thought about taking it away because my CE said I could, but instead I had them sit in “time out” for 5 minutes on the carpet and told them if anyone talked they would not get to go outside. They did not say a word because they love recess. They do need to learn their lesson, but at the same time they are still babies and just like to roughhouse too much for school. I think the punishment I gave them taught them a lesson that I wasn’t playing around, but taking away recess could be the next thing if behavior gets bad again. The first logical steps for next week, is to complete edTPA.

I analyzed my students’ phonics data to plan for next week. I have 7 students that are able to complete the more advanced worksheet, and the rest of the class still needs some more practice with letter tracing and writing before they practice slides and words.  The advice I will give students is to hang in there, once we hand in edTPA it will be one weight off of our shoulders!

NCPTS

This week to increase my rating in standard 1a, I used a lot of positive proximity praise. I had 4 students complete their star charts this week and go to the treasure box. I also implemented teamwork centers for students to build number and letter-sound puzzles. If they completed it by the end of the center as a team, they got to go to the treasure box, which gave them more incentive to complete their work. For standard 2a, I continued to get to know my students more this week. I danced with them during morning work and brain break so they know I like to have fun when it’s time, but also can be serious when it’s time. For standard 3d, I started “Wonder Wednesday” which is my global awareness project that I will be doing once a week. I showed students where El Salvador is on the map and where it is in relation to the U.S. I also showed them pictures of the four children we sponsor in El Salvador. I taught them how to say Hola and adios and had them draw a picture for the kids and write “hola my name is _______.” To increase standard 4b, I looked over my students phonics papers to see which students can handle the more advanced sheet for phonics next week. For 5a, I have analyzed students TRC and DIBLES scores. However we can not make official groups until after our data dive which is next Friday.

I have been videoing, taking pictures, and communicating with the parents in my classroom this week to work on my portfolio. My CE and myself are both all set for now!

Another weeks in the books!

 I would rate this week a 4. Monday I was out sick, so I only had a three-day week this week. I was pleasantly surprised that most all of our parents are on board with class dojo. By this I mean when the students get in trouble in school, they also get in trouble at home. The students who we have issues with regularly, when I remind them about what their punishment at home is, they usually change right around because they don’t want to lose privileges at home. This week we finished testing on Thursday, so next week I will look at where our students fall and rearrange ability groups as needed. My short term efforts of classroom management using rewards and dojo will help me in my long-term goals of having a well-managed classroom. This week was spent on edTPA. I wish I could have spent less time on edTPA and more time on my lesson plans for next week, but that was not possible. During my edTPA lessons, I had apprehension and indecision about whether or not I could use class dojo and stickers to keep the students quiet and focused so I did not. If I did, I believe the students would have been more focused in my video, but in the end of the day, they are in their second full week of kindergarten, so they aren’t going to be perfect. The first logical step for next week, is to continue working on edTPA. I hope I can get a good chunk done this weekend so I can clear the mental clutter of having edTPA hanging over my head.

I analyzed my students hand-writing and ability to write their letters. With the students who were successfully able to complete this, I gave them a more challenging worksheet to complete during phonics. A piece of advice I would give to my classmates is to get your edTPA done so we can stop stressing about it.

NCPTS

This week for NCPTS 1a; teachers lead in their classrooms, I would be proficient. I have already used students’ work and formative assessment to create ability based groups. This week we finished TRC testing so Monday I will be able to re-evaluate the groups. However, I am going to use my discernment because there are some students who panicked during testing or were being goofy so their scores did not reflect there actual ability. My CE and I will collaborate to decide on the groups. For standard 2a; Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults I would say I am proficient as well. My students know they are loved and in a safe environment. I dance with my students each morning to keep them engaged and so they know I want to have fun with them. However, they are starting to figure out when it’s okay to be silly and when its time to be serious. As each week goes on, my relationship with the students continues to grow. For standard 3c; Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines I would be developing. I have displayed global awareness so far this semester, but this week I have come up with a whole plan for presenting global awareness since it is one of my PDP goals. For standard 4c; Teachers use a variety of instructional methods I would be proficient. I have been using a variety of methods and materials to meet the needs of all students. For all my edTPA lessons I used auditory, visual, and kinesthetic methods for my students. For standard 5a; Teachers analyze student learning I would be developing and on my way to proficient. I am going to analyze the TRC data and be brainstorming different ideas to help each of my students.

I have completed the edTPA videos for my portfolio, I have created my PDP’s and have started communicating with parents about their child’s progress and accomplishments both through class dojo messenger and at the open house we had on Tuesday. My CE and myself are both all set right now!

First Full Week of Student Teaching!!

     This has been a very exciting and draining week. I have been crazy busy and feel like all I do is teach, plan, sleep, repeat. I started losing my voice and feeling very sick by Tuesday. I went to the doctors on Wednesday where I was diagnosed with a sinus infection and severe drainage in my sinuses. It has been a tough week, but I used a lot of rewarding for the kids who were following directions the first time, so I did not have to raise my voice as much. I was pleasantly surprised at how well the kids will behave if there is a reward or punishment on the line. If the kids are wild and talking, as soon as I brought class dojo up or the stickers out, their behaviors changed drastically. This week I found the students really enjoyed going on the scavenger hunts for the post-it notes when teaching the phonics lessons, so I will be including fun activities that get students active more often. They were very engaged in the Jack Hartmann videos in the phonics lesson as well because he interacted and asked the students to answer questions. I will be sure to include interactive and engaging lessons that keep my students involved and interested in their learning.

    My short-term efforts of using positive proximity praise and rewards, is helping in my long-term goal of classroom management. I could have spent more time setting up the classroom during planning time so I didn't have to stay at the school so late. Apprehension of students not using their white boards correctly in the whole group lesson made it so I only had students practice their letters a and b on their paper at their seat. On Thursday, I decided to let them use the boards during our phonics lesson to write their letters and slides, and they did a good job with it. The logical first steps for next week are to start planning and preparing for my edTPA lessons that will start Monday.

NC Teacher Candidate Standards

    I was able to work on some NCPTS this week while teaching. For standard 1a; Teachers lead in their classrooms, I would be a developing candidate. This week on Thursday and Friday we were able to complete DIBLES and TRC testing to assess our students. With this data, I will be able to see the skills and abilities of my students even more than I already have. I will be in proficient as soon as I am able to use the data to make groups and develop instructional plans for the students needs. For standard 2a; Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults I would be proficient candidate. I have been able to form relationships and show my students that I love and care about them. I give them each a hug the first thing when they walk in and hug them as they leave each day. I would say the only thing that keeps me from being accomplished is not having a flexible learning place just yet. If I am flexible right now, students may take advantage. Also if I am flexible with one student, the rest will catch on and want the same thing. I am working on creating a consistent, but supportive and positive learning environment in my classroom. For standard 3a; Teachers align their instruction with North Carolina standard course of study, I would be a proficient candidate. I have developed all of my lessons based on North Carolina standard course of study. What I can improve on is making my lessons more rigorous. That will come as I have more and more experience lesson planning and teaching. For standard 4c; Teachers use a variety of instructional methods, I would be proficient. This week I tried to meet the needs of all of my students by using visual, audio, and kinesthetic parts to each lesson we had. My students love interactive games and learning styles. I can further this by adding in more variety and options as the year goes on and my students can handle greater responsibilities. For standard 5b; Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals, I would be a developing candidate. I was able to attend my first professional development secession today after school and was able to learn more about our phonics program.

I started videoing some lessons this week for my portfolio video. I also attended a 2 hour professional development meeting on Thursday that will go toward the hours to put in my portfolio. My clinical educator and myself are both all set right now! The advice I would give to other student teachers is to make sure to set time aside for edTPA. There is not enough time in a day, so I would say to use your time wisely!

Surprise, Surprise!

The  pleasant surprise for the week came on Tuesday morning when I got a text message from my CE saying she would not be in school today due to family reasons. Tuesday when I thought I would be teaching only morning work, morning meeting and a daily 5 center, turned into a full day of unexpected teaching. What I learned from this weeks lesson plans are, I need to move at a slower pace with my lessons early on in the year. I had planned for students to be able to write the uppercase and lowercase letters a-f Tuesday, g-l on Wednesday and work with sounds on Thursday. However, some groups only made it to letters a and b and still could not master them. Instead of moving onto the next 6 letters on Wednesday, I had to stay at the first few letters for some students in order for them to grasp the concept of writing uppercase and lowercase letters. One of my long-term goals is going to be classroom management. I got A LOT of experience with classroom management on Tuesday and Friday when my CE was out and I was in charge. When you have 22 kids asking you different questions and wanting to do something and talk at all times, it isn’t as easy as one may think. A lot of re-directing and teacher eyes were used. In the beginning of the day on Tuesday to get their attention, I used a loud voice so they could all hear. Once I started to lose my voice and my throat was hurting, I started talking quietly and told them I wasn’t going to raise my voice again. Surprisingly, when I talked quieter, the students also got quieter.

On Tuesday, I could have spent less time telling the students to “stop talking” “stop touching each other” “stop coloring on themselves” and more time praising the students around them who were being well behaved. After discussing with professionals regarding my day, I learned that a more effective way for classroom management is to praise the students around the ones who are misbehaving so they will want praises and rewards as well. I used this on Friday and the day went 10 times better. Because of apprehension that a teacher would walk in the class and the kids would be crazy, I wanted them to be calm and quiet at all times. Instead of sounding like a broken record and having to raise my voice constantly, the logical steps for next week when I take over the class will be to use positive proximity praise. I will have star stickers with me, and when I see a child is doing something they are supposed to be doing, they will get a star. I started this method on Thursday and there has already been a huge change in behavior. If a student fills up their star chart which is 25 stickers, they will get to go to the treasure box at the end of the day. I am going to clear the mental clutter of stressing out about managing the students, and I am going to use a calm voice and positive proximity praise to keep the students under control.

I analyzed the data from this weeks lessons that I taught, and found a few students were above what I expected, and there were a handful of students who were below the level I planned the lessons for. Based on my formative assessment each day, I had to alter each lesson I had planned for this week in order to meet the needs of each of my students. I also had to change daily 5 groups so students were better grouped based on ability. The advice I would share with other student teachers this week is to use positive proximity praise when they start to take over the class next week. Trying to raise your voice and constantly giving orders gets exhausting, especially in kindergartner. Save yourself a lot of effort and energy and focus on praising the students who are doing well, rather than the students who are misbehaving.

NC Teacher Candidate Standards

            This week I was able to work on proficient candidate standard 1a; Draws on appropriate data to develop classroom and instructional plans. After my lesson plans from each day and formative assessment of each student, I had to go in and change what I was going to do in order to meet the needs of each of the students. There were a few students that could stay on track with the lessons, but for most students, I had to change my lessons and move at a slower pace. I have not yet reached accomplished candidate because my students are not yet learning to collaborate with one another. For standard 2e; Teachers work collaboratively with the families and significant adults in the lives of their students I would say I am a developing candidate. I understand the strategies for enhancing communication between home and school and for engaging parents, guardians, and community members in schools. My next step is to communicate with the parents and guardians of my students on a weekly basis when I take over the classroom next week. For standard 3c; Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines, I would be an emergent candidate. I understand the importance of global awareness for students but I have not yet been able to display it. I plan to include global awareness regularly when teaching. For standard 4b; Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students, I would be a developing candidate. I used as much data as we have from the beginning of the year to plan my groups and instruction. I plan to collaborate with colleagues and monitor student performance when able to. For standard 5a; Teachers analyze student learning, I would be an emergent candidate. I am able to recognize multiple sources of information on students’ learning and performance, but I have not yet identified data sources to improve students’ learning. This will be my next step.

This week I started editing my classroom philosophy to go in my portfolio. My clinical educator does not need any support from my university supervisor at this time. I have already received the support I need from my university supervisor this week J