Week 1 as a Student Teacher

Hi, everyone! I am so excited we are all back together and have made it to this point in our educational journey, can you believe it? It still seems unreal to me but it is so exciting! I hope everyone had a great break and is having a great start to their student teaching experience, I am so looking forward to reading everyone’s blog reflection because I know each experience is going to be so different but so rewarding! 

I have to say I have a very wide range of emotions over the break and starting in this first week of student teaching but I have learned a great deal from everything that has happened. I have realized there is something to learn from everything that happens whether it has been something about myself personally, myself as a professional, or just life in general. I feel like I have learned more than I ever had expected just in this first week so I can only imagine the great deal of learning that is to take place in the weeks to come. I am so excited to learn and grow more as an educator than I ever have before! I know we are all going to experience so much growth and I am also thrilled to get to see you all grow as well! 

When I look back and reflect on this first week, I am in awe that it has only been a week. It seems like it has been a month because so much has happened. I would rate this week as a 4 on a scale of 1-5.  To me, this means it was a good week overall. I had never spent a full day in my placement because of my job so I was excited/nervous to finally be there full-time. There was so much more to a full-day then I had imagined in my classroom. I paid attention to all of the small things that I was missing before and it was an eye-opener to see exactly what goes into each day. Things I hadn’t paid as much attention to like bathroom breaks, classroom jobs, and getting the kids through the lunchroom efficiently are all very important to me now because they are a large part of what makes the classroom run effectively day to day. There were times where I felt a little bit overwhelmed which I think was just a part of getting used to a new routine but overall- it was a really good week!

I was pleasantly surprised this week at how well the students came back after the break and got back into the routine of things. I really thought, with them being Kindergartens, that is was going to be a difficult transition back. I was pleased to see that they came back with little trouble and by the end of this week, it was like we had never been gone! My CE informed me that every class she has had has not been this way, she says this class is kind of a special group so for me to not expect every return from break to be this easy in the future! I appreciate her honestly and the fair warning! 

As I prepare to take over math instruction next week, I paid close attention to the math instruction this week so that I could build off of what they are learning in my lessons. I am following the mathematics program that the district mandates with help from my CE with what I can add and take away to meet the needs of all of my students. I am glad I had the experiences I did this week to better prepare me to take over math instruction because it is so important that I be well-prepared for it. My CE has been so great about helping me to prepare and she feels confident in my ability to begin teaching math next week so I am feeling confident and excited about it! 

My short-term efforts are aligning with my long-term efforts this week because my short-term effort included getting as much time observing everything that I could so I would be prepared for my long-term efforts which include taking over each subject until I have full control of the classroom. My short-term efforts will pay off because they will help me to be more successful in my long-term efforts. 

I am excited to spend more time teaching and I am working on making my lesson plan process faster next week. I felt like I was spending so much time doubting what I was planning this week to the point where it was driving me a little bit crazy. I want my plans to be the best that they can be but I think it is important for me to remind myself that they are not going to be perfect at first. So, I want to spend less time re-thinking, second-guessing, and doubting myself when it comes to lesson planning. That leads me to discussing how my apprehension has affected me this week. I was not apprehensive in the classroom, I was apprehensive when I was planning. It held me back because I could have gotten my plans finished a lot earlier had I not have been so apprehensive about it. So, this is something I am continuously working to improve so that I do not waste any precious time second guessing myself. 

Next week, the first logical step is to begin planning for the next week even earlier than I did this week. Looking forward to the next week and what exactly will be happening with my plans and the schedule will help me to declutter my mind. It is important to be extremely organized and always be looking forward so that I can plan. 

This week, I was able to work with my CE as she gave students mCLASS assessments which is what we use in my county to determine the reading level of each student. Watching the assessments and then participating in the analysis of the assessments gave me a much more clear depiction of what my students need as I plan for small literacy groups and Language Arts instruction overall. So, analyzing that data was very beneficial for me. 

This week I have also been working to improve in areas of the NC Teacher Candidate Standards: 

Standard One- Teachers Lead in their Classroom- This week, my CE was essentially still the leader but I prepared myself to become the leader next week. I paid close attention to the small parts that go into being an effective leader in the classroom as well as the large parts and I feel more prepared than ever to lead. 

Standard Two- Teachers Adapt their Teaching for the Benefit of Students with Special Needs- My discussions with my CE and my interview with the EC teacher in my school really benefited me in this area. It allowed me to identify the special needs in my classroom and exactly what my CE does to meet these needs and what I will be doing to meet these needs. I also learned the process of placement from the EC teacher and exactly what her role is in serving my students. That really strengthened my knowledge and understanding of exactly how to meet the needs of my special needs students. 

Standard Three- Teachers align their instruction with the NCSCOS-  I have worked closely with the NCSCOS, math in particular, to plan for instruction next week. I have worked to align my lessons directly with the NCSCOS of asked my CE to ensure my plans were aligned with exactly what my students need to know. Her input helped me tremendously in this area. 

Standard Four- 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- This week I was able to spend a lot more time than I ever have learning about and understanding the specific needs of my students. Spending time in each subject area and participating in each lesson has helped me with seeing where each student is developmentally. I am able to keep in mind exactly what I saw and know about my students while I am planing for instruction. 

Standard Five- Teachers Link Professional Growth to their Professional Goals- I am finding myself reflecting this week on small accomplishments that are helping me to become the teacher that I want to be. I feel like I am growing especially in the area of knowing my students because I am able to spend so much time with them which is helping me to be a better teacher for them. The better I know them, the better I can plant to meet their needs. It is a professional goal of mine to really be able to differentiate instruction to meet the needs of each of my students. So, growing in this area is directly correlated to my professional goals. 

This week, I also created a notebook with a tab for each requirement for my portfolio. I have worked to add things that I think would fit under each requirement that I have done thus far and it gave me a solid understanding of what I need to do in each area to meet the requirements. I am very visual so I recommend anyone else who is a visual learner to lay it out that way so you can see what you need to do, it was very beneficial for me personally! 

I have gotten more support from my CE, university supervisor, and student teaching supervisor, school staff, administration, and my peers than I ever could have asked for. It really has shown me how much support I have and I could not ask for a better support system at a time where I have needed it the most! My CE has even complimented several times how well my supervisor and just the GW program has been as a whole in communication with her and making expectations clear. I just ask for continued support as we move forward! I feel like great things are in store for all of us!