Rate
I would rate this week a 3 out of 5. Some of my lessons did not go as planned and the students seemed to push my buttons this week, trying to see what they could get away with. This was frustrating, but I made it through.
Observe
I accomplished a global awareness piece this week. My students are reading The Trumpet of the Swan. This novel is set in Montana and Canada. I used a Virtual Reality viewer to take my students on a "field trip" to these places. The students were so excited about learning and it made these places real to the students.
Reflect
I learned that things don't always go as planned, especially when school gets out early. Today we were going to take our tests in their normal blocked order, but had to rearrange things to benefit the students and get everything complete before the students left for the day.
Focus
My short term efforts and long term goals are still aligned thanks to my long term plan I created last week. I plan to work on my website this weekend and to get a lot of planning done during the planning days on Monday and Tuesday.
Be Productive
I could have spent less time overthinking my plans and remembering the KISS rule "Keep It Simple Student." Sometimes I make things harder on myself than they have to be.
Have Courage
I attended a staff professional development meeting after school today and I was nervous to share ideas with the staff, but I ended up gaining the courage and sharing my idea. Others liked the idea and complimented me after the meeting on having the courage to share.
Begin Anew
My first logical step for next week is to get to work on my website. I have been compiling tech tools and am ready to hit the ground running on this portion. I also need to sit down this weekend an don the planning days and discuss beginning my behavior program with a student in my class with my CE.
Data
This week, I graded math tests and saw that my students did not have a clear understanding of the material we learned and covered over the past two weeks, despite several reviews. This was disappointing because the students had performed well on review questions and assignments and seemed to really "get it." However, after talking with the other 4th grade teachers, very few students did well on this test. I have planned for a review day next week to review the material and to complete test corrections.
Advice
If I could advise other student teachers, I would tell them not to be afraid to use their voice. It can be scary or overwhelming in a large group of other teachers to share what you know or think, but thy can learn from us just as much as we can learn from them. Be proud of what you know and don't be afraid to share!
NCTCS
This week I feel like I began to "demonstrate leadership in the school" (NCTCS 1d). I attended the Guided Reading Professional Development meeting after school today and was able to work collaboratively with school personnel in a professional learning community. I shared rubrics as a way for students working independently during the GR time to be held accountable and to know explicit expectations for their independent work. I also found myself in conversations about teaching with a couple of the 5th grade teachers this week. This was exciting because I felt like I was and am beginning to be a part of the whole school atmosphere rather than just a part of the 4th grade team.
At this time my CE and I do not have any questions. We will be in touch if we do. Thanks!
Leslea,
ReplyDeleteSorry you had a rough week. I definitely know how it feels to have your buttons pushed. Mine get pushed very often as well.
However, I LOVE YOUR FIELD TRIP IDEA. Just now told me CE about it, and I may steal it!
Thanks for the advice about using your voice. I was a little discouraged this week with that. During a planning meeting, I made the other kindergarten teachers aware that I would putting on a parent night... They were not so thrilled. I'm not really sure why, because they aren't required to come or put forth in any work, but they weren't overly supportive, so I'm now afraid to share my opinions and thoughts about things. I have a feeling this is how it will always be though, so I need to be brave and accept that I'm doing something great.
Good luck with everything and keep up the good work!
I loved your global awareness piece this week. I think that it is an awesome idea!! Very creative, and I am sure the students loved it! I was thinking about doing something like that after a read aloud. I know that the students would love to hear and learn about other places around the world.
ReplyDeleteI understand the frustration you can feel when the lessons you had planned did not go as you intended. That has happened to me, as well. The one thing I like to remember is that the students have no idea what you planned. I had one component of my lesson plan that I believed would last only 5 minutes; however, it ended up taking up the whole time. I just had to teach with what I had, and I definitely had to go back and adjust my lesson plans. Good luck this upcoming week!!
Leslea,
ReplyDeleteI love how you included global awareness this week. I think its great that you used the virtual field trip to take students to see the places that were included in the book. I am kinda doing the same thing this week. We are learning about different penguins and I am going to use the google streets app to allow student to see where the different penguins live.
I can completely relate to the students pushing your buttons. It happens to me at least once a day. But I have learned to just ignoring and move on. I love the KISS idea! I need to do this for myself. Great Blog!