Middle School=Kindergarten

Well it's 2 days into my middle school placement and I have realized, already, that my previous teacher was correct in saying that middle schoolers behave much like kindergarteners. They are amused by the same things (jokes, videos, teachers, snacks, etc.) and they don't listen very well, they run around the room, they throw tantrums, and never work when you want them to. Despite all of this, I am enjoying every minute in the middle school ESL classroom. There are only about 20 students that are in ESL in all of the 6th-9th graders. But they all need A LOT of support and help in every subject!

During the school day, students come to ESL class, just like a normal period. We have block scheduling so we have students for 90 minutes a day and they have 4 classes a day. They alternate which 4 classes they have every other day, so I only see students 2-3 times a week for ESL class. Some students are in the room for academic support class (study hall and homework time). It is a great environment because the students and the teacher have a very close relationship. They joke around but can also have serious conversations.

All of the students can speak, read, and write in English, some better than others. There are students from Somalia, Ethiopia, Togo, France, Spain, China, India, Tibet, Yemen, Mexico, and Guatemala. I love the diversity and the students are not shy about sharing stories from when they lived in another country. It will be fun to get to know the students and they are NOT shy at all so there will always be plenty of talking!

I'm enjoying middle school so far and will update you later when I have more to tell you!

Thanks for all of your support and encouragement!

Dana

Only 4 more weeks!!!!

I have finished my placement in the first grade! I am happy that it is finally done. Some of you already know, but it was a rough 7 weeks for me. The whole time I was there I didn't feel welcome or like part of the first grade team. There didn't seem to be much respect for me as a teacher. On my second day of full time teaching I had a HUGE breakdown. I balled in front of my supervisor and my teacher. That day, it seemed like I could do nothing correctly according to my teacher. I was yelled at when I gave students half an hour to read independently. They enjoy this time to read their choice of books and I wanted to listen to them read and ask questions to see if they are independently comprehending what they are reading. My teacher put the kabosh on this right away. It was awful. She made me find something else for them to do. She just kept saying that they are only 6 and can't pay attention that whole time. I believe they can if you make them. If they are used to it, they will do it. The worst part for me was that when my supervisor came that same day, my teacher told her that it was 'obvious' that I didn't prepare at all over spring break. This is the biggest lie ever. I spent a lot of time over spring break planning every lesson of every day that I was teaching. She had no right to say anything like that, especially to my supervisor. I was glad that my supervisor was there that day because she listens to me and gives me advice. She also sees that I am doing well and gives me encouragement. Since this day, it was very hard to go back to the classroom and even see my teacher. The relationship was done after that day for me. I behaved civilly and politely but didn't go out of my way to be nice. I just couldn't be that fake.

Needless to say, I am glad to be done working with that teacher. The only thing that made me want to go back to school every day were the students. They say the funniest things and make me smile. Students complimented me on my new haircut and the clothes or shoes I wore. It always makes me laugh when they compliment things like this. The other day it was very cold and windy out at recess and none of us were really prepared for it. The students could tell I was cold and one in particular spent almost the whole recess trying to find a spot where I could stay warm. It was so funny. Students also always ask me to walk laps around the playground with them. (They get a little charm to put on their shoelaces after they walk 20 laps, or 5 miles!) They love walking laps and fight over who gets to hold my hand. It is a definite way to make a teacher's day! On my last day I had a few students come over and whisper to me, "Ms. Sonnicksen, I will never forget you." I just smiled and said "thank you", but inside I was laughing. They are just so funny! Also, the students asked where I was going since I was leaving. I explained to them that I'm going to teach older kids in ESL, which some of their friends go to to help them learn English better, since they don't speak it at home. One student turned to me and said,"Well Ms. Sonnicksen, you're in luck! You found the right man! I know Spanish! Hola!" I couldn't help but let out a little laugh. What a charmer!

The last thing that topped off my last day was a compliment from an Sign Language translator. She appreciated that I used sign language with the 5 deaf students in the class. She liked seeing me trying to pick up new signs and words by watching her. It made her job easier since she didn't have to translate for 5 students at once. I was very happy to hear this since it was basically the only compliment I received while at this school, from anyone on the staff.

While at this school I learned a lot, unfortunately things I don't want to do in my classroom. Here are a few things I have learned:
- my students will learn independence no matter what age they are
- sign language, and I also discovered a desire to learn more sign language so I can use it with all
of my students some day
- Working with your colleagues and your team are very important
- trying new strategies and resources could be the ticket to students learning better and more
- kids love art projects but not all the time!
I'm sure there are more things I learned but I can't think of them right now.

Tomorrow I start a new placement at a Middle School in Edina teaching English as a second language. I am really looking forward to this since it is a completely different change of pace! Hopefully it goes well and I can learn a lot in the last month I have left before graduation!
Thank you all for your support! It means the world to me!
Dana

What teachers make

I received this via e-mail from my student teaching supervisor (the one who observes throughout the semester). I thought I would share it with you guys because it explains exactly why I became a teacher! Enjoy!

What A Teacher Makes............

The dinner guests were sitting around the table discussing life. One man decided to explain the problem with education. He argued, "What's a kid going to learn from someone who decided his best option in life was to become a teacher?"

To stress his point he said to another guest; "You're a teacher, Bonnie. Be honest. What do you make?"

Bonnie, who had a reputation for honesty and frankness replied, "You want to know what I make? (She paused for a second, then began...)

"Well, I make kids work harder than they ever thought they could.

I make a C+ feel like the Congressional Medal of Honor winner.

I make kids sit through 40 minutes of class time when their parents can't make them sit for 5 without an I-Pod, Game Cube or movie rental.

You want to know what I make? (She paused again and looked at each and every person at the table)

I make kids wonder.

I make them question.

I make them apologize and mean it.

I make them have respect and take responsibility for their actions.

I teach them to write and then I make them write. Keyboarding isn't everything.

I make them read, read, read.

I make them show all their work in math. They use their God given brain, not the man-made calculator.
I make my students from other countries learn everything they need to know about English while preserving their unique cultural identity.

I make my classroom a place where all my students feel safe.
I make my students stand, placing their hand over their heart to say the Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag, because we live in the United States of America .

Finally, I make them understand that if they use the gifts they were given, work hard, and follow their hearts, they can succeed in life.

(Bonnie paused one last time and then continued.)

Then, when people try to judge me by what I make, with me knowing money isn't everything, I can hold my head up high and pay no attention because they are ignorant. "You want to know what I make?

I MAKE A DIFFERENCE. What do you make?

It's Spring Break so Time to Update!

It's been about two weeks since my last update (sorry it's been so long). The first grade classroom is keeping me very busy, along with trying to complete my teaching portfolio. My first grade placement, as you know, started out a little rocky and didn't really seem to be improving much as the weeks went on. I don't look forward to school as much as I did when I was in the 3rd grade classroom. It's not the students that I don't enjoy. The school is just a completely different environment than my first school. It is hard to feel welcomed there sometimes, and I don't always feel like part of the team. I often have been used as the copy girl, the person who will climb on tables to hang artwork from the ceiling, and a janitor. This was quite frustrating because at my first placement I was treated as an equal that could always contribute new ideas to the third grade team. They enjoyed my knowledge, as I enjoyed theirs. Now, I am afraid to contribute new ideas that I learned at Luther because I get the vibe that my soon-to-be-retired teacher doesn't really want to see anything new. If she does it her way then things get done a lot quicker rather than having me try something new, or learn how to do something she normally does everyday. This didn't make me feel welcomed in the classroom at all.

This last week was a three day week because we had parent-teacher conferences and the start of Spring Break. This week was much better than the previous weeks. I was able to teach all of the language arts lessons Monday-Wednesday. It was fun to teach these lessons because they didn't follow the textbook curriculum. We decided to theme each day with a topic instead of cramming a 5 day literacy unit into 3 days.

The first day we talked about lions because it is March and we had talked about March coming in like a lamb and going out like a lion. The students loved learning about lions and telling me all of the information they already knew about them.
The second day we focused on Spring. We read stories about spring and wrote descriptions about spring using our senses. To prompt the students descriptive vocabulary, we fingerpainted with chocolate pudding. Yes!, we are crazy! It was my teacher's idea but I thought it would be fun so I didn't oppose to it. It created a huge mess since we didn't have the correct paper and first graders with pudding is just asking for disaster. The students really enjoyed it, though! Some were even hesitant to put their hands in the pudding because they didn't want to get dirty, they quickly got over that! The clean-up of this lesson was awful! All of the papers stuck to the tables when they dried because the pudding soaked through it. So, some students artwork ripped as we peeled them off the table and I had to scrub the tables to remove all of the pudding and paper. (My 'Art in the Elementary Classroom' professor would not have been impressed with my clean-up process!) The writing and paintings were hung in the hallway when the students. (As seen in the picture at the top of this blog post.)

The third day was focused on Clifford. This was also a huge hit with kids. We read books and did activities that talked about the plots of the stories. I was really impressed with the hard work the kids did this day. I paired students up to partner read books and fill out a worksheet together. The pairs were usually a low reader with a high reader. Some of the high readers usually throw a fit if they are paired with certain students but they did a wonderful job and worked very hard to help their peers read the books!

As I mentioned earlier, we had parent-teacher conferences for three days. Two of the days were at night after school from 4-8pm and then we had one full day this past Thursday from 7:30-4pm full of conferences. These were very exhausting days! A lot of preparation and work goes into these conferences. Each parent showed up for their scheduled time, so we had 24 conferences in all! I enjoyed meeting the parents because it gives some insight into the students. They share stories from home but you can also just see behaviors that are similar between the parents and children. Most of the parents are very involved in their child's learning at school and at home. They do whatever they can to help their child succeed in school. Many parents asked for book suggestions, what math activities can be used at home to help the child's math skills, and if the teacher needs any help during the day in the classroom. On the opposite side of the spectrum, there were a few parents that liked to give off the impression that they were doing extra things at home and making sure their child is staying on top of math homework and reading. We know it's not true because we never see a single math homework sheet return to school (and we make sure it makes it home) and the student can barely read a word longer than one syllable. It makes me so sad when the parent just doesn't care and their child is struggling a lot in school. We do all we can at school, but parents also have to keep an enriched home environment for the child. Trips to the library would more than enough for most of the students! There is homework help and free after school programs for students who need extra help. These programs help most students but not all, so parents really need to support their child's learning at home.

Conferences also brings to light some sad family situations including illness, divorce, poor financial situations, etc. It breaks my heart to hear that 6 and 7 year olds are having to deal with these kinds of things at such a young age. They don't really have the coping skills yet at this age to deal with any of these situations. The families seemed to be doing all they can to help their children make it through the tough situations, but it is still sad to see the kids go through it.

Needless to say, conferences were an eye-opening experience for me. I learned a lot about preparing for them and how to communicate with parents their child's accomplishments and your concerns for their child.

I've been busy, and will only be busy because as soon as my break is over in 1 week, I am full time teaching. I am excited for this because I'm just going to teach my way, not my teacher's way! I know I have good ideas and can carry them out, so I'm going to prove to my teacher that I can do what she sometimes appears to think that I can't do!

Thank you for all your support throughout this semester and especially the last few weeks!
I'm going to relax and enjoy my spring break in Madison with Justin and then get back to work so I can end this placement on a high note!
Dana

It's been a while!

It has been a few weeks since I've updated you on my adventures in first grade! It has been quite interesting and challenging to say the least.

Let's start back at the first week again. It was an overwhelming week because 1st grade is such a change from 3rd grade! I felt lost the every day just trying to get my bearings and follow along with the schedule and the content. I was still uneasy about the whole thing because I knew that a previous Luther student teacher had taught there earlier in the year. To make matters worse, this student teacher showed up on Wednesday morning. The students were very excited to see her and she worked with a few of them on their reading, while I taped number charts to students' desks. Not really my idea of fair learning. This really upset me because she was taking away from the relationship I was trying to build with the students and staff. This was my last day at school that week since I had to go to seminars at Luther for Thursday and Friday. I discussed this issue with a few people at Luther and brought it up with my cooperating teacher the following Monday. She said she could tell it was awkward for me. Great! But then she said that she did tell her that she could come whenever she wanted to help the students with reading because they always need that...not so good! She just didn't seemed to worried about it.

Since then I've tried to move on from that. I've been trying to get into the swing of things but that has been hard considering the crazy schedule we have had the past couple weeks. Last week we had two morning filled with standardized testing in reading, along with math testing two days this week. We had projects to get ready for the Science and Learning Fair last Friday, which the students were really proud of. They had traced themselves on huge sheets of paper and then we glued cut-outs of organs and body parts that students colored on them. The students then stuffed these bodies and they were placed on their chairs at their desks for their parents to see that night. Unfortunately, only 7 out of the 24 students came that night. It's frustrating that it was on a Friday night because many families are busy and others can't get rides. It was a long day at school (almost 12 hours) so it would have been nice to have more students show up. However, that is the reality of teaching and after-school events.

The other day, the students almost made me cry when they were singing "God Bless the USA" for a fun activity between recess and gym. They had sang the song for their Veteran's Day program so they knew all the words. They had so much passion and were so proud of their singing. Watching and listening to them brought tears to my eyes.

I've learned that 1st grade, involves a lot of arts and crafts related to the seasons, holidays, and language arts. Almost everyday ends with some kind of art project. We've made leprechauns, shamrock collages, chicks in eggs, painted rainbows, Arthur's, riddles with pictures, and something else that I'm sure I'm missing. The students love the art projects and really need this at the end of the day because they can't think too much at the end of the day. Art is a good way to keep them occupied when they would otherwise run wild around the room.

1st grade has been a difficult adjustment and I'm trying my best to keep my chin up and be hopeful that it will get easier for me. I still feel lost in the curriculum and not really sure what the actual schedule is for the class. I am coming to think that there is no schedule for the first grade and it's just cram, cram, cram. This is frustrating but it is also teaching. I hope to have positive updates the next time I write!

Thanks for your support and hopefully I will update you sooner rather than later!
Dana

An Overwhelming First Day in 1st Grade

Today was my first day in 1st grade! There were many emotions that went along with this! As I drove to school it hit me that I am no longer with my third graders and the great staff I worked with for 8 weeks. But I held my head up high and kept my composure as I walked into a new, strange building trying to find my way to my new teacher. My teacher greeted me and showed me around the school a little bit. Get this! The school is NOT a circle and every classroom has DOORS! How crazy! I actually like the circle layout of the first school because it's simple, not a maze, and you see more staff members than just the few from your grade's team since you have to walk around the circle to get to some parts of the school.

My new teacher seems great and I've heard many times that she is a master teacher and one of the best! The other members of the 1st grade team seem nice and helpful, too.

One thing that really frustrated me this morning was something my teacher told me. She was telling me that she had a student teacher earlier this past fall. She said, "But I'm sure you already know who it is." I was very confused about this. She proceeded to tell me that she was also a Luther student that I had had classes with at Luther. I was upset because I feel like I'm being compared to this student teacher now. She said I'll have to compete to win the students over because they loved the past student teacher so much and they ask everyday when she is coming back. Great! I'm not too worried about the kids liking me, I'm more worried about the possibility of being compared to the other student teacher by my teacher. Hopefully this won't happen and I'll I can do is be myself and do what I do best!

The morning started with greeting the students and introducing myself. It quickly got interesting because a student threw up all over the carpet and a little on a student during the morning meeting time. The teacher rushed her to the nurse and took the other student to clean her up. I had to take charge and read a book to the students in another corner of the room. Needless to say we avoided that area of the room for the rest of the day, even after it was cleaned!

It's going to take some adjusting to this new school and classroom. It is completely different from the third grade class I was in.
Some things that are different from my third grade room:
- 5 deaf or hard of hearing students in my 1st grade room
- a very structured schedule that rarely changes
- no severe Emotional/Behavior disorders
- many adults in the room at one time for the deaf students and ESL students
- a lot of art projects themed for the holidays and months
- picture storybooks instead of chapter books (I love this change!)
- the school is not a circle
- there is a door on the classroom

Some similar things between the two schools:
- I'm teaching
- there are students
- I have an experienced teacher

Today was an interesting, overwhelming day! It's difficult to start completely over with new people and a new environment but I will adjust soon (I hope!).

Thank you for your continuous support!
Dana

My Last Day in 3rd Grade

Well this week was filled with observations of other classes, hugs, 'don't go's', and mentally preparing to leave my third graders. It was my last week with my third grade class. Eight weeks sure flew by quickly!
On Monday we were supposed to have a professional development day but because of all the snow, we had a SNOW DAY!! This was nice to have because I was not feeling so well that day so it gave me time to recover from my cold. We returned to school on Tuesday not very well prepared for the day. We had planned on having half of Monday to prepare for Tuesday and the rest of the week. My teacher quickly decided what we would be doing that day. It was nice not having to stress about it as much because I wasn't teaching the class anymore. Instead, this week I went to other classrooms to observe different teachers and grade levels. Tuesday, I went to my cousin's Kindergarten class to surprise her in the morning. It was fun to see her at school and watch her learn. I learned that she is a very smart little girl! I couldn't believe how much she knew! As I observed the Kindergarteners, I noticed how well they paid attention to their teacher as they sat on the rug. They listened better than my third graders! It was also a very fast paced environment. Since their attention spans are very short all the lessons have to be short as well. Their math lesson was a max of 10 minutes! It was short but they learned what they how to count pennies and nickels in that amount of time. I was impressed that they were learning about money in Kindergarten also!
Later on Tuesday I went to the fourth grade room. This is a unique room. It is a large room with two 4th grade classes in it. I'm not sure how I would like having to teach in the same room as another teacher but they work with it really well. They teacher together and separately. It was fun to see what the 4th graders were working on. They were doing more advanced writing but also reviewing reading strategies that I had taught my third graders but the strategies made more sense to the 4th graders. The most interesting part of this observation was watching the relationship between the teacher and the students. He is a very sarcastic teacher but knows when to be serious and caring. The students respond really well to this personality. I think it makes him seem more human and relatable.
Wednesday I observed a second grade room and the third 3rd grade teacher's morning meeting. The second grade teacher didn't have much control over his students. He let's them run the classroom and whatever they want to do is what they do. He spent a lot of time letting them share stories with the class, which is a waster of time after 2 stories! The third grade room was interesting because literally no students get along in this room. The classroom chemistry is awful! The teacher has been working really hard during morning meeting to try team building activities. The one I observed seemed to work really well, but she said that was the third day they had tried it and the first two days they had to stop in the middle of it because the students were arguing and being disrespectful to each other. It is just so sad that a whole class can't get along!
Throughout the week I observed and helped in the low level third grade math class. It was amazing to see how low the students actually are and range of ability between the students in this class and the higher level class. The low level students still have a difficult time with simple multiplication facts like 3 x 4 and adding 3-digit numbers together. It is so sad to see and makes me wonder how this happens! How do they get passed up through 3 years of school to get to the point that they can't add?
Friday, I observed two ESL sessions. ESL in this school is mainly pull-out, which means that students are taken out of class to go work with the ESL teacher for 1/2 an hour. I saw a group of first graders and some 4th and 5th graders. The first grade group is more what I visualize ESL to look like. They were working on English grammar (contractions) and reading a story that used contractions. This makes sense to me for them to be working on their grammar skills in English as they are different from their native languages. The older grades were a little different. The teacher was working on map skills and vocabulary with them. I didn't know if it was an extension of what they were learning in their homeroom class or just to build their content vocabulary. The lesson they were learning seemed to be like one you could use in a regular classroom, so I was unsure. I guess I will have to wait and see what it is like when I do middle school ESL!
Overall, Friday was a great day! The kids were giving me lots of hugs all day and the staff was so nice! I had made two types of dessert bars for the staff as a 'Thank you', which the staff loved and wanted the recipes for! All day I was being thanked for bringing in the treats. The third grade team surprised me with a gift and dessert during lunch. My teacher had put together a binder full of worksheets, activities, and fun pages for my students to do in the future. It's a great resource to have as a new teacher! I also received a 3-hole punch from my teacher because I always asked where hers was for me to borrow, now I have my own! I was a given a children's book and also a bell like the ones we used in the classroom for different signals. The gifts were great and they all meant something to my teacher experience! At the end of the day we had a little 'party' with the two third classes. My teacher brought cupcakes for everyone and the students finished watching a civil rights movie that we had started last week. During this time students were showering me with cards and hugs. Some things included in the cards are: two used, but sharpened pencils, one paper fan, one used valentine, many drawings of Swiss cheese, pictures of me driving away in a car, and pop up pictures or pieces of paper. The students kept telling me they didn't want me to leave and that they would miss me. There is no better way to end a student teaching experience. I definitely know that I was appreciated by the teachers and the students and felt like part of the team. I know that I can always go back for advice to anyone that I worked with at the school and they would help me in any way they could. I love this feeling.
I will leave you with some of my favorite card sayings from my students!

"Have a good 2011."
"I hope you get a job as a teacher."
"I hope you like your new school."
"I'm sorry if I've been bad. I wish in the past I could be good!!" (She was not a bad student!)
"Have a good time teaching. I hope you have a good time."
"I hope you have a good day."
"Please come back on the last day of school."

Thanks for all of your support during these past 8 weeks! Now on to my new adventure in 1st grade next week!
Dana

Almost done!

It's been a while since I've updated you with my adventures in the classroom! I have only one more week left at this school and then I move on to first grade! This past week has had its ups and downs. I look forward to school everyday but some days are just more exhausting than others. It has still been a struggle to manage the students, the noise level, and getting them to listen when they are supposed to. I have been told many times that my lessons are great and I am very thorough but I need to work on getting the class under control sooner. This is seeming to be easier said than done most days. I try relentlessly to quiet the students and warn them about losing recess. Three times this week I have taken away 6-8 minutes of recess from the whole class. Obviously this strategy is not working because they still talk whenever they want. Today I talked with another teacher and she suggested focusing on the positive rather than the negative. I should pay attention to the students who are doing what I am asking and reward them for it, making it known to all of the students in the class as I do so. She said that this usually makes the other 'bad' students jealous so they start to behave so they can be rewarded, too. Unfortunately, tomorrow is my last day teaching full time so I don't really have a whole lot of time to try this new focus out on the class. I'm relieved and sad that tomorrow is my last day to teach full time. I love it, but all the preparation I have to do to make sure I have artifacts for my professional portfolio is overwhelming. When I don't have to worry about the portfolio it is a little easier to plan and not as in depth.

This past week has had some interesting situations. Yesterday I had to deal with 2 students' behavior issues. One student had told me to 'shut up' so I had to talk with him and keep him back from library. My teacher ended up sending him to the office during computer time, which he was not happy about. Another student got upset at me during math and slammed her water bottle on the floor after I asked her to put it somewhere she couldn't touch it (she had been crunching it non-stop). After math, she had to fill out a form we call a 'stop and think' with me. We talked about why she acted the way she did and if it got her what she wanted and how she can change her behavior next time. She wasn't happy to be talking with me about this but she did and I found out her frustrations with math. Later I worked with her on math to help her understand the recent concepts we had learned. I think this helped and she eventually got over being mad at me, even returning to school today happy and with no issues...until math...where I apparently made her look stupid. When a student refuses to explain how they got their answer, it is not my fault. Oh well, just one of the many things I'm sure I will be blamed of by my students.

Besides all of the behavior issues, this past week has been wonderful! The students keep asking me when I leave their class and are sad to find out it is in only one week. They tell me that I can't leave and that I should just stay for the rest of the year. This is definitely a good way to brighten my day! They were also concerned that I wouldn't come back to school this past Monday after I left for Madison on Friday. I told them not to worry that I would be back and ready to go on Monday morning! One student even asked me how Wisconsin was when he saw me on Monday. That really made me smile!

Monday we had our Valentine's party in the afternoon. The kids ate A LOT of candy and chatted with each other, enjoying their social time. One of the activities they did during the day was writing sentences that included phrases from 'sweetheart' candies. They glued the heart on their paper where the message appeared in their sentence. I really enjoyed reading these afterwards because imaging the kids saying some of these things is hilarious! Here are a few examples (the parentheses are the message from the heart) :

I got my (first kiss) at the movies.

You show me your dance moves and I said (U go girl)!

(U go girl) into the dungeon.

These just made my day!

Today I was observed during guided reading groups which went well. My supervisor said that I keep improving which is all I can ask for! We also had a guest reader come in today for "I love to read" month. It was Gus Rosendale from 5 Eyewitness News. The kids LOVED him! He was a great story teller, too. It was entertaining to observe the kids as he read. They were mesmerized by his story-telling! They all also got his autograph (all 46 students!) and he took a picture with both third grade classes and put it on the 6pm news tonight! The kids were very excited about this and did everything they could to remember the time and channel they would be on. Sure enough at about 6:50 (the end of the news hour) our picture was up on the screen and Mrs. Zakariasen and Mrs. Hayden's classes were mentioned! It was kind of exciting to be a part of it, especially since the kids really enjoyed the experience.

Well this has been a long enough e-mail, so I will end it here. I look forward to my last day teaching full time tomorrow and observing other classrooms in the week to come. Thanks for all of your support during my adventures!

Dana

Full-Time

Well it's been a long time since I've written on here! Life has been pretty hectic since I've taken over teaching full time! I started teaching all day on Monday this week. It started out rough. The students tested me all day! They would not stop talking and moving around! I took away a lot of recess minutes because it's the only way to get them to start thinking about their actions. The whole class missed recess for 5 minutes and some students had minutes on top of that. They were not happy about it but I just kept telling them that they are the ones who make the decision. As soon as they start talking after a warning, they have decided right then that they don't want recess. Needless to say, on Tuesday they realized that I was not afraid to take charge and I wasn't joking around with them. No students had to miss recess on Tuesday!

On Wednesday morning I was observed during literacy time. I played a bingo game about prefixes and suffixes with the kids. But of course, since my supervisor was there, they enjoyed the game...WAY TOO MUCH! They were rowdy, loud, hyper, crazy, or any other word you could use to describe over-excited third graders. My supervisor said that she was impressed on how eventually I got the students to calm down. (Threatening to do a worksheet instead of a game really works!) She also liked my lesson and that the students were engaged. Overall, I think it went well but I didn't have a chance to talk to her afterward because we were headed off to lunch.

Today the whole third grade when to Minneapolis for the Physics Circus hosted by the U of M. They really enjoyed all of the physics demonstrations they saw! It was fun to see them so excited about it and getting really into it. I hope they took away some learning from it!

The field trip wasn't as chaotic and overwhelming as I thought it would be. Don't get me wrong, there were a lot of students and other people there (the Minneapolis Convention Center), but somehow it wasn't too hard to keep track of the kids. We stressed the importance of staying together and listening and it worked! It was good to see how you handle a field trip and to realize that things won't always go according to plan. One of the third grade classes ended up waiting 45 minutes for their bus to pick them up from the convention center! We were already back at school eating lunch when they were picked up to return to school! In the end, all went well and the students enjoyed the field trip!

After the field trip students made their bags for the Valentine's party on Monday. They really enjoyed this and love being creative! After the bags were made, I read a story to the class. Before I began I made sure everyone was seated at their desks and ready to listen. I explained what I expected of them during story time (they have a hard time listening to stories). I would allow them to sit on the floor as long as they sat cross-legged without talking and touching someone. They couldn't get up and wander the room, get a drink, or go to the bathroom. They could last 15 minutes without doing one of these things. I also told them that me setting these expectations was their warning. As soon as I saw them break one of these expectations, they would go back to their seats. All of this expectation setting worked like a charm! They were quiet AND still! This rarely happens!

The best part of all of this was my teacher's compliment to me. She said she was very impressed by how I set my expectations for story time and followed through with what I had warned them about. My teacher said SHE was learning a lot from ME! I never thought I would hear that!

As I realize that my time at Edward Neill Elementary is coming to a close very quickly, I have begun to reflect on my experience here. I love the community I walk into everyday! It is helpful, welcoming, and fun. I love that my teacher and I can learn together. It's not just my cooperating teacher telling me what to do like she knows all. I know she has more experience than me and has a lot of knowledge to share with me, but it's nice to know that you can always learn something new, even as an experienced teacher. I appreciate her and she appreciates me. This makes for a well-working relationship at work. I've been incredibly fortunate so far in my experience and will embrace every moment I have left with this community!

Thanks for all of your support!
Dana

A Musical Week

This week was filled with music! It was hectic and didn't follow the usual routine but part of teaching is learning to adapt to new schedules and make adjustments as needed. Wednesday involved 2 hours of musical rehearsal for all the 3rd and 4th graders. This messed up the whole schedule for the day so not much teaching got done. We managed to get in some literacy and math time though so for how hectic the day was, we tried our best to cram as much in as we could. At the end of the day, there was also an awards ceremony for the students. 1-3 students in each class received an award for effort or citizenship. The students enjoy this but one girl in our class was upset that she didn't get an award (even though she got the very first one the last time they did the awards).

Thursday was the big day! I taught almost the whole day because my teacher had a meeting to go to at another school. She was only gone until 12:30 but since I was in the middle of a lesson when she got back she let me keep going. Besides me teaching almost the whole day, the 3rd and 4th graders had their musical. It was cutest thing I have ever seen! I was so proud of them! They worked really hard all week and had a great time up on stage singing their little hearts out! I still get songs from the musical stuck in my head and it's been 4 days since I saw it! I am including some pictures from the musical of my students and the students in the class next to us that I also work with.

Friday was almost back to our normal routine. I taught guided reading and observed my teacher teach a new math program we are trying. It is called 'Hands on Algebra'. Who would have though you could teach 3rd graders how to solve algebraic equations! They are already solving simple equations with 1 variable. It uses manipulatives to help students visualize balancing an equation which has really helped students. At the end of the day the Burnsville High School jazz band and a capella group came to do a little concert for the school. I really enjoyed it and the students did too! They clapped along and swayed in their seats.

Tomorrow I will be teaching all day because we have a substitute teacher again. I really enjoy this because it is my turn to take over the teaching and show that I am capable of it. Hopefully all goes well!

Picture Captions:
Top: Mrs. Hayden's class (the class in the room next to mine)
Bottom: Mrs. Zakariasen's and Ms. Sonnicksen's class

Report Card time = Crazy!

Well, it's been a while since I've written on here so here is a brief update of what is going on at school!

On Friday, I went out for happy hour with some of the staff from school. They go to Champs in Burnsville every Friday so I finally joined them. It was really fun to chat with them and hash out some the students we have. One thing we talked about was all the strange names the teachers have heard over the years, thanks to Neill's diversity. Some of these names are: two sisters named Margarita and Chardonnay, two sisters named Destiny and Ecstasy, a girl named La-a (pronounced LaDASHa, yes you pronounce the hyphen!), and many other ones that gave us a laugh, because sometimes you wonder what the child's parents were thinking!

Monday, was a professional development day for the teachers. Students do not have school but teachers do. For the morning we had time to work on report cards and prepare for the week, then in the afternoon the teachers each had a class to go to to learn new strategies and information about teaching. In between these two things the third grade teachers and I went out to lunch again. During lunch the teacher I was supposed to go with to the class got a call to go to a different class that could only have 40 people in it, so I was not allowed to go (dumb). My teacher was also in one of these limited number classes so they just told me to go home because they didn't want to feed me to the sharks by myself. If I had known that other teachers I know were in another class, I would have gone to it. Oh well, though. So, I got a half day on Monday which was awesome because I was so tired. I worked out and relaxed to try to regain energy for the coming week!

Today I took on the guided reading groups along with continuing math lessons. Guided reading groups are just small groups of students that work on reading together with some help from me. The students are put into groups based on their reading levels. This allows the students to feel comfortable with reading allowed and gives them a chance to read text at their level. I really enjoy working with the small groups because I get to see each child more individually (and it's not as chaotic).

In math I taught the students a review game that I made up. They really enjoyed this because it involved tossing a blow up ball to their peers in the room and writing on the overhead. Getting them involved really helped them focus. They were surprisingly good at keeping a low volume in the class even though there was a lot of activity going on. I then used the same concept of the review game for another math time we have with all levels of math ability and the kids loved it again! I was so glad that they enjoyed my game! I just wanted to get them up and moving so they aren't so antsy and I think it worked! My teacher really liked the game to because it kept the students involved.

Today we were cramming to get grades on report cards. Everything is done on the computer nowadays (way different from the hand-written report card, literally, that I received in elementary school). It's funny to watch my teacher try to navigate the report card website and to type comments for the students. I ended up entering the grades and comments as she dictated them to me because I could navigate and type faster than her. She doesn't like technology and says she would never use a computer if she wasn't a teacher, so I help her out with that end of the grading. It was nice to be included in the assessment of students' effort and success in the different subject areas. I've only been there three full weeks but she really appreciates my input.

Today was a bit of a struggle with some discipline for a couple of students. One student gave me the death glare when I told him that he couldn't sneak tape off of the teachers desk and he needed to go sit down at his desk. I just laugh when this happens because it is frequent and I know that I'm doing the right thing. He can't always get what he wants even if he has emotional and behavioral disorders. He also told me to 'leave him alone' during math. My teacher doesn't allow students to tell me or other teachers to 'go away' or 'leave them alone'. So, he lost his points for the day and was not too happy about it. He will have to stay in and write about what he did and why it was wrong. Another student that just lacks complete motivation and care for education completely refused to work with his small group teacher today. Needless to say he will be staying in for recess and doing some work.

Some of these students can be challenging but I enjoy them as much as the other students because when they make gains in academics and behavior it feels like even more of an accomplishment. My experience continues to be rewarding everyday and I'm so grateful for that!

Thanks for all your love and support!

Dana

Flying by the seat of my pants!

Today was a BIG day!! I had to unexpectedly teach my class all day today. Normally, I would have just taught the math lesson and helped out here and there, but today was very different. To start from the beginning, my teacher and the teacher next door often team teach, or share the students and teach them lessons as a whole group. This teacher was absent today and her sub didn't show up this morning and the school couldn't find anyone else to cover for them. So, the principal decided that my teacher would teach the absent teacher's students and I would teach my students...all day. This was okay to do because the rooms have a foldable wall in between them so we just left them open all day so my teacher could go back and forth to check in on me and the students.

I enjoyed the day a lot (until the last hour when the kids would not stop talking or moving around). I definitely proved to myself and my teacher that I am capable of teaching the class for a full day. I never stopped moving today! It gives me a great appreciation for my teacher and opens my eyes to what I'll be doing for the rest of my life. I was exhausted after all of it but it has never felt more rewarding!

The main thing I struggled with today was classroom management. The students were great in the morning but as the day wore on and my patience grew thin, it was more difficult to manage them. It really isn't a surprise that this is where my difficulties were because that's where they were when I was observed. I tried to be as consistent as possible with how I disciplined them and gave them warnings. By the end of the day the whole class had 5 minutes off of recess tomorrow and another student had 5 minutes on top of that. This is mainly because they keep talking when I am and don't follow my directions. They hate having recess taken away so hopefully this will 'click' with them one of these days and they will start to behave better.

Hopefully I will be able to teach more lessons tomorrow! Thanks for all your thoughts!
Dana

First Observation

Today was the first time I was observed by my supervisor. I taught math during the time I was observed today. We were finishing up some stations that had been started the previous day and discussing the new concepts learned over the past two days doing station activities. Overall, the lesson and observation went well! My supervisor really only had one thing for me to work on and that is controlling the noise level. It was VERY loud! It isn't always loud but once the students start talking it is difficult to get them to stop. She gave me a few suggestions about how to solve this problem, including a noise meter that shows students what level voice they should be using during the lesson or activity. Other than this, she said my teaching went very well!

I discussed my supervisors comments with my teacher later in the day and she also gave me advice on how to solve the noise issue. This will be a challenge to get the students to realize that I am also an authority figure in the classroom and to have my teacher and I be consistent with each other and the students. I'm sure it will take a while for students to get used to my level of tolerance for noise (not very high) but I'm up for the challenge! It's kind of funny to see the difference between my third grade class and the other third classes. One is similar to mine but the other class is always so quiet. Today I walked by their room and they were silently listening to their teacher read a story to them. They weren't even at their desks, but sitting on the floor at the reading rug! This made me jealous a little bit but I realize that it takes a lot of work and time to get to this point. Things will also be different when I have my own classroom where I can enforce my own rules from the beginning.

I am also getting anxious to start teaching more subjects daily. I did teach a literacy skill lesson yesterday but only did math today. I think I will ask my teacher tomorrow if I can teach the literacy lesson for tomorrow. Teaching more lessons will also help the students to see that I am also a teacher in the classroom that they have to listen to, thus hopefully solving some of the noise problem.

Today as I talked with my supervisor about my overall placement so far I realized how much better this placement is than my January placement last year. I feel welcomed and included by the staff at the school. I know that I can ask any one of the staff members for help or advice and they would not hesitate to give me their 2 cents! It's wonderful! I am always learning new things and am able to collaborate with teachers and tell them some of my ideas. I was not included like this last year and it makes it 100 times easier to go to school everyday. Don't get me wrong the 5:30 am wake up calls are not fun or easy but once I'm at school it doesn't even phase me anymore! My job is totally worth getting to work before the sun is above the horizon! I love being able to say that, too!

Well, I hope you enjoyed reading this again! Thanks for all of your support during these past weeks!
Dana

2 Weeks Complete!

I have completed my second week of student teaching and first week of teaching a lesson! Time is going fast already! Each day my math teaching improved and I look forward to teaching more math next week. I am adding another lesson to teach next week also. I am going to teach a literacy skills lesson about visualization. The lesson shouldn't be too difficult and the kids will hopefully like the lesson, as it involves drawing and they are always doodling!

This week I was able to go along with my teacher to a district meeting for third grade teachers to learn more about teaching geometry. Unfortunately, this meeting was not very helpful. We spent 3 hours talking about area and perimeter doing activities for 5th graders, not 3rd graders. No one really learned how to better help our students to understand geometry. There are also more concepts in geometry than area and perimeter! The nice thing about the meeting was being able to go out for lunch with the 3rd grade teachers. We were able to talk without having to inhale our food at the same time! So nice!

The more time I spend in the classroom, the more I am learning about the students. The range of ability level between all of the students is amazing! Some students can only read 10-20 words a minute while other students read 120 words per minute! It is also sad to notice signs of neglect in the students. Some students have poor dental hygiene (their mouth looks like it hurts to talk), their clothes are horribly dirty, and they wear a spring jacket in the middle of winter. It is just sad to see that these kids aren't taken care of very well. Makes me realize how good I have it!

Finally, I am looking forward to my three day weekend, thanks to Martin Luther King, Jr.! I'll be hanging out with Justin most of the time since he heads back to school on Monday morning. I'm sad about that but happy to not have to wake up before the sun for three days!

Thanks for all of your support!
Dana

Feeling like a real teacher!

Well yesterday was my first day actually teaching the students something. I am teaching math this week and probably for the rest of the time I am at this school. More subjects will be added each week until I reach full-time teaching. The math lesson didn't go as I had hoped yesterday. I felt a little scattered brained as I went through the lesson and confused myself and the students a little bit sometimes. (Not what I wanted for my first time teaching.) However, I have to realize that it was my first time teaching these students and it's been a while since I've taught a whole class. Student teaching is about improving everyday and becoming a better teacher. I can't do this if I already teach 'perfectly'. Even if I felt a little uneasy about my teaching yesterday, my teacher was really supportive and gave me a small list of things she was impressed about during my teaching. She said I was a natural at it and liked how I stated my expectations of the students before we began. I will always be working to make my lessons better and more organized. My teacher is a great help if I feel lost or unsure about something I have to teach.

Today's math lesson went much more smoothly. It probably helped that I had lowered my expectations a little bit after yesterday's lesson. The students are always squirrelly and love to be active which has been tough since there is a lot of note taking to help the students remember their vocabulary. It is difficult to get used to all of the commotion when you are standing in front of the class but part of teaching is learning what to tolerate from the students and them knowing what is and isn't tolerated. It's different for each teacher so I'm sure it will take some getting used to as I start taking over more lessons.

Today we also had a 'lock down' drill for practice if an intruder would ever be in the building. This boggled me at first because the school is designed in such a way that many of the classrooms have no doors and only partial walls (my classroom being one of them). This doesn't seem too secure to me, but it's required by law to practice this. The students are expected to go to a certain corner of the room to avoid being seen by an intruder. Silence is also expected, especially since there are no doors between the classroom and hallway. There are doors that block off sections of the hallway all the way around the school so hopefully that is secure enough. Hopefully this drill will never become reality but it's always good to know what to do.

Tomorrow I am fortunate enough to go along with my teacher to a professional development seminar about strategies for teaching math. This is great, new knowledge for me to learn as I am the one teaching math now. I am excited to learn more but also bummed that I will not be able to teach math to my students since the seminar is during this time. This, however, is an opportunity for me to work on making plans clear enough for a substitute teacher to follow. (I hope they are good enough!) My teacher and other 3rd grade colleague also invited me to go out to lunch with them before the seminar begins. I look forward to this because it was one of my goals going into this semester to build good relationships with my colleagues. This lunch outing is a great time for me to socialize with them outside of school and not always talk about just our students.

Well I think this is long enough for now. I will leave you with a student conversation that made my day today. This was during a health lesson about muscles in our bodies.

JP: I have a 4-pack. For real!
M: I should have a 6-pack right now. I'm surprised I don't!

Who knew 3rd graders had 6-packs?!

Thanks for reading!
Dana

1 week down, 7 to go!

So I have finished my first full week of student teaching. It was all observation and assisting students when they need it. Most students have realized that I am an authority figure in the classroom that they have to listen to, but some have to be reminded of it. Hopefully they will listen to me a little better this week as I begin teaching the math lessons.

I'll be teaching the students basic geometry. They are really catching on to geometry as it is a more hands on type of math with shapes and spatial thinking. I'm enjoying the planning process, too. It's not as difficult as I thought it would be because the math text has the lessons pretty much laid out for you. I make some adjustments that are better for my students, but most of it is just following the book and making sure I know what I'm teaching.

On Friday all three third grade teachers planned an ice skating party for the third grade students. There is an ice rink right next to the school so for an hour at the end of the day we took all of the third graders outside to go ice/boot skating. They loved it! Many of the students wanted to wear ice skates so bad, but they didn't own any. Fortunately, one of the teachers brought in a whole storage bin of ice skates that students could try to use. I found this slightly entertaining as many of the skates were way too large for a third grader's feet. They wore them anyways, since, for many, this was their first time ice skating! By the end of their turn with the ice skates, they were walking on the sides of the boot of the skate (no metal was touching the ice). This was hilarious because the whole time they thought they were skating! Most of the time we were outside, I was in the warming house helping kids with their skates and boots. Students who did not have skates just boot skated on the ice. As soon as we were at the rink, these students ran onto the ice. I looked over 2 seconds later and almost all of them were laying down squirming on the ice. I just had to laugh. Luckily only a couple students had minor injuries (sore wrists and hands from falling). One student did have his leg stepped on by a student with a skate, though. There was no blood but his snowpants were ripped and he will definitely have a huge bruise on his thigh.

When the students came back in we had hot chocolate with marshmallows ready for them! They loved this! We had accidentally over-saturated the hot chocolate so their was a lot of mix left in the cups. But no worries! The kids found a way to make second helpings of hot cocoa! They all refilled their cups with warm water from the sink and stirred in the mix that was left at the bottom of their cups. They were so proud of this problem solving! Overall, it was a crazy, hectic, but fun day!

One thing that I have been meaning to mention is the diversity in the school. This is one of the criteria I really wanted for the schools that I'm teaching in. The school that I'm at now has a large number of Muslim students, along with some Hispanic and other diverse ethnicities. I really enjoy this exposure to many other cultures and customs! It is great exposure for when I will be doing my English as a second language (ESL) placement. There is an ESL teacher that comes into our classroom for an hour 2 days a week for some of our students. I love over-hearing what they are learning and how they are taught. The diversity just helps expose students to other cultures besides their own, even if they don't really notice it.

Well this has been a long entry so I will give you all a break and hopefully write again to share how my first few days of actual teaching went! Thanks for all of your support!
Dana

My First Day

Hello Everyone! It is time for me to begin my semester long narrative about my student teaching adventures! I am excited to share my stories with you!

Today was my first day so it was mainly observation and classroom management and, also, some 1-on-1 work with students when needed. I am anxious to teach a little more, but I know that the observation period is also critical for me as a learning teacher. It is a chance for me to see how the classroom runs, how my teacher rewards and disciplines behavior, and to get to know the students before I begin instructing them.

I walked around the room most of the day, helping students on assignments and keeping them on task. For the first time I was told that I am a mean teacher! This hurt me at first but then I just laughed because I would rather start out strict gaining respect from students than be nice and lose all control of the students. I was only 'mean' by telling the student to start clearing his desk and get in line to switch classrooms. It's good to know that I'm not afraid to show the students who's the authority in the room and that just because I am not their 'actual' teacher doesn't mean I don't have any power.

On a brighter note I was also told by a student that she thinks "I will make it" (through my student teaching). She is a sweetheart and I am the frequent recipient of hugs from her. I also was able to get many students motivated to work on their paragraphs about birds. They have a difficult time starting their writing but once they have an idea of what they should write, they don't want to stop! I also ate lunch with students in the classroom as a reward for getting homework done. It was fun to talk with some of the students and hear all of the questions they have to ask.

It was a good first day and I am anxious to get more involved in the classroom! Hopefully I will right again soon!

Meeting the Class

Hello everyone!
I am starting my Student Teaching experience in January and I thought I would start this blog to keep all of you up to date on my adventures in the classroom. I will be starting out in Burnsville at Edward Neill Elementary in a 3rd grade classroom. I will be in this school for 2 months and then I will move to Gideon Pond Elementary in a 1st grade classroom which is also in Burnsville. At the end of April, I will be going to a school that hasn't been determined yet to teach English as a second language (ESL).

Today I went to meet my 3rd graders and cooperating teacher. Getting to the school was a bit of a challenge! With a large dumping of snow yesterday, the roads were slick and traffic moved very slow. It took me 1 hour and 10 minutes to get to school (after missing a turn and becoming momentarily lost). I couldn't believe how long it took, but at least I was only 10 minutes late!

When I was finally at school, I met my cooperating teacher. She seems very nice and willing to help me out with whatever I need. She introduced me to any staff that we ran into, which was great, because my previous teachers had never done that! I loved meeting other teachers in the school and they were all welcoming and excited that I was joining them in January.

The students arrived and I was introduced to each student individually. They asked their teacher if I was the student teacher and as soon as she said 'yes' a huge smile lit up their faces. It was a great feeling to know that they were excited for me to be there.

Throughout the day I was guided around the school and talked with the students. I helped out whenever my teacher needed it and helped to make sure the students were staying on top of their work and not getting too distracted. I had fun just observing the students and hearing the things they talk about with each other. One girl that gave me hugs all day was telling me about her chapstick. Yes, they were fascinated by their chapstick. She had two different sticks that were different flavors of skittles. She explained to me that she put one flavor on the top lip and the second flavor on her bottom so when she smacked her lips together she got a mixture of the both; her own creation! I was also given three drawings already today. I haven't even officially started and they are showering me with little gifts! (We'll see how long that lasts!)

Overall, I had a great day observing the students and already saw some great ways to teach how to write a paper and practice multiplication facts!

My first official day of student teaching is January 3rd, so until then, I hope everyone has safe and happy holidays!
Dana