The countdown is officially on. 95 days until we student teach, NINETY-FIVE. That means that I am only 95 days from beginning the very last part of this journey towards my lifetime goal of becoming an educator. It is so close I can taste it and I get more excited as the days pass. I have gotten past being nervous about student teaching because I finally feel like I  am almost ready for it. That is a great feeling!

This week, I became even more comfortable in my clinical classroom and got to participate in assisting my CE with a math lesson which is good because next week I will be doing a math mini-lesson when Clarker comes to visit! My CE told me the lesson that would normally fall on that day and she told me to tweak it anyway I wanted and then she gave me some feedback on what she would do to the lesson to better meet the needs of our students. I am taking her advice and making some of my own changes too. Like I said in the meeting, I will be along with the assistant next week for open house and my CE is leaving me all of the notes. This is a huge responsibility that I do not take lightly because I will be interacting with lots of parents so it is important that I am prepared and professional. I want them to get a good impression of me and this is one of my opportunities to make that impression! No pressure, right? I am nervous but grateful for the opportunity. This will be a very good learning experience for me. Also, my CE and I have started to observe the students that we know are struggling. We talk about it often and what we can do for them. I love her dedication to what's best for each student and her willingness to work with me as a team. She told me that the tough conversations with parents about the possibility of retention happens in January when she has a very clear idea of where the students are at that point compared to where she needs them to be. She said that is the worst part of the job because who really wants to have that conversation? She informed me that she feels personally responsible when a student does not make the growth that they need to in order to move to first grade. She wants me to be present with her when and if she has to meet with parents to have those tough conversations. She told me that will be good for me to see and be a part of because it is a very tough and real part of the profession!

Also, this week I have spent a lot of time thinking about my own classroom management. As I work on my plan, I think about everything that I have seen in every classroom I have had an opportunity to be in. I think about what I have personally seen work and what I have read about. It is crazy to think about how all of these learning opportunities have impacted me in such a way and allowed me to really think about what is best for my own personal classroom. I am taking the very best of everything I have learned and observed and making it into my own classroom management plan. It is has been really fun to work on, it doesn't even really feel like work because it is something I am so excited to be doing. Thinking about all of these small things that are going to make such a huge difference especially in my first few years of teaching has been a good experience. It's going to help me exponentially to already have a game plan. Planning out my classroom management really relates to the professional teaching standard- Teachers Establish a Respectful Environment for a Diverse Population of Students. The way I manage my classroom is what will help to shape the entire classroom environment!