1.6.17

Week of Friday, January 6

I would rate this week a 5!

This week I was pleasantly surprised by how well my students behaved when they were left alone with me.  I know this may change as I take over more, but this week they were very well behaved and acted as if my CE were present or with us.  This week I learned the full routine of my class.  This was my first time staying for a full day.  Last semester, I had the opportunity to observe all instructional time but did not observe or participate in lunch, recess, or transitioning to specials.  I will definitely build on this next week as I begin to take over.  Currently my short and long-term goals are still aligned.

This week I could have spent more time working on assignments throughout the week.  I'm not sure if it was because it was the first week or because my sleep schedule was whacked out because of Christmas break, but I was exhausted when I arrived back on campus from school each day and feel like I did not get as much accomplished as I would have liked.

There were a couple behavior issues this week when I was alone with the students.  My CE rarely takes a paw (a disciplinary action) and I was apprehensive about taking paws so at first my students got away with a little more than they should have, but by Wednesday I felt confident in my position and authority to take paws and after taking one the students knew I meant business and that they are expected to act the same way they would for my CE.

My first logical step for next week is to begin working on lesson plans for the week of 1/17.  I will be responsible for math and reading instruction that week and would like to get a head start on my lesson preparation.  As of right now, I do not feel like I have any mental clutter to get rid of.

This week I interviewed the EC teachers that work directly with one of my students and got to sit in on this students IEP meeting.  I was able to look at data related to his reading fluency and math calculations scores.  These scores helped me to better understand my EC student and areas that he needs help with.

This week, as I wrote my first student teaching lessons, I really had to think about differentiation in regards to NCTCS 4a "Teachers know the ways in which learning takes place, and they know the appropriate levels of intellectual, physical, social, and emotional development of their students."  Mrs. Suttle shared that differentiation is more than how will you serve the high kids, the average kids, and the lower kids it's how you will serve students with specific needs.  I feel that I have a better understanding of differentiation now and see it as something more specific than high, medium, low.

This week I began talking with my CE about a specific student I would like to work with for the classroom management portion of the portfolio.  I shared some thoughts I have about working with this student with my CE and other teachers who work with this student.