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