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!