Week of Reflection: (list the date of the Friday for week just completed)

  

Friday- 2/3/17

Can you believe it is already February and we are chugging right along with our student teaching experiences? It is really moving so much faster than I ever imagined it would but I am finding there is so much that happens in such a short span of time- a week can be so full of experiences and opportunities to learn!

I would rate this week as a 4, it was a good week but a little bit chaotic trying to get students adjusted back to our normal schedule. This has been the first week the students have been in school for a full five days in three weeks so I knew it was going to be an adjustment. Also, we started our RTI intervention groups which are an hour a day and so building that in with everything else I need to teach presented a new challenge for me but it is a good challenge because I know my students are going to benefit from interventions tailored to their individual needs. It was my first week of seeing what it is like to just have to be completely flexible. Sometimes, we had to finish work or lessons past the time I had blocked off and I just learned to go with it this week. Most days, the schedule is going to change a little bit and I have learned to be accepting of that while still finding time to fit everything in!

This week, I was surprised by some things. I started a unit on symbols. I started with symbols that students see everyday in the environment and I build in some symbols in the first lesson that I knew they had seen before and they could correctly identify. As we moved into harder symbols that I did not think they would have been exposed to, they really surprised me not only with how well they could identify the symbols but also how they could tell me exactly what the symbol met. It turns out Kindergartners are WAY more interested in symbols than I ever thought. So, we took a couple of days and moved into national symbols. I started with our country- the students were so interested in our national symbols. They LOVE the bald eagle- we even watched some live in the nest. They also want to know exactly why we have the national symbols we do which lead to some really good teachable moments for me. I loved seeing them so engaged in a topic that I really thought might be complex for them. It felt like a really good accomplishment. We also have moved into other countries- it blew their minds that other countries have completely different symbols than we do, one student even proclaimed “WHY wouldn’t they want the bald eagle?!” The quote of the week for me was when I was showing students the national symbols for Canada and when I got to a picture of a beaver, one student said “Canada picked a HAMSTER as their national symbol??” I had to bite my cheek not to laugh but we talked about the reasons why Canada chose a beaver, not a hamster, as one of their symbols and it was a good learning experience. 

My experiences this week taught me a lot about what I need to be doing in the near future. I was able to take what I am seeing and experiencing with my students and letting that decide exactly what works as my next steps with them. I am really starting to see how each student learns and I am getting a god understanding of things they are getting and not getting as we go. I know what we can continue with and what we need to re-focus on and that makes me feel really proud. I knew that was something I would pick up on as I spent more and more time with them but it feels really great to be able to build on what I am experiencing and it be meaningful and helpful to my students. This keeps my short-term and long-term efforts aligned as I am working to see growth in each of my students and prepare them for the first grade. 

I think next week I need to maybe spend a little more time sleeping. I do not feel like I really have much time for it but I am finally starting to see that rest is actual an important component of successful teaching. If I go to bed late because I am up working on something, I see a direct impact on my ability to focus and my ability to teach. It will be a challenge but I am going to set a time for myself to put everything away and rest at night. That way, I won’t be drained and I can keep my immune system up- I certainly do not have time to be sick! I will spend more time resting at night and less time worrying! 

My next logical step for next week is to go ahead and get as many of my materials together as I can- I am implementing lots of manipulative for math and I can go ahead and get lots of my activities for small groups next week- I am still at the school now so this will be easy! I can clear out my mental clutter by writing down exactly what I need for each lesson. I am finding it helps me to have a list of what I need attached to each lesson with bullets for what I  need and then I check them off and I get the materials together-that helps me to feel much more prepared for the week!

This week- I was able to look at progress monitoring data for my small groups. I can see where there is growth and where this is little growth. That is helping me to target the areas my small group needs the most. They did really well with letter recognition on their progress monitoring and got most of their sounds. They showed the least growth in segmenting and blending. I am finding this is struggle for many Kindergartners and my small group in particular, can say most of the sounds in the word accurately but when they put it back together, they put the last sound first. For example, a student will say /t/ /o/ /p/ and then blend it as pot which is incorrect. I am trying some different approaches and activities next week with my small group and seeking advice from the other teachers on my team. The data was very helpful with letting me know exactly what I need to target. 

For other student teachers, I would advise you to spend as much time as you can learning exactly how assessment data is gathered, what it means, and how it guides your next steps. That has been such an important part of my learning process and really is an essential aspect of effective teaching. 

I am working on increasing my rating in the following elements of the NCTCS- 

1c. Teachers lead the teaching profession- I worked with my county’s professional development coordinator in order to obtain even more professional development opportunities in my county- she is willing to help me to get into the courses that certified employees are being offered. She has been a really great resource for me to develop even further professionally. 

2d. Teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs- For my lessons this week, I worked on implementing strategies that are research-based and are much more specific to the needs of my individual students. 

3a. Teachers align their instruction with the NCSCOS- This week, I worked on integrating literacy instruction into other content areas (specifically math) which is something I was not doing before. My students and I have focused on the vocabulary in the math concepts we are learning and I am developing a math word wall for my classroom to solidify those connections. 

4d. Teachers Integrate and utilize technology in their instruction- This week, I am worked to give my students more experiences with technology that will actually enhance and impact their learning. I am putting the technology in their hands and getting creative with ways that we can use it to make our learning more engaging and effective. 

5b. Teachers link professional growth to their professional goals- I am seeking as many professional development opportunities as I can- I signed up for a webinar today on how we can make academic vocabulary stick for students! I am excited about it as I am working to expand my students vocabulary everyday which is important in Kindergarten. 

I have worked on assessing myself and developing my PDP this week which really has an important role in many parts of my portfolio. I am also watching the other teachers complete their PDP’S which are due this week and it is very similar to what I am doing. I am hearing many of them say, “Why did I ever set this goal? What was I thinking?” I don’t want that to be my thoughts at the end of this process so I am being very intentional about the goals I set for myself. 

I am fining that many of the tips and advice my university supervisor gives me are tips that my CE is taking to heart as well. I tell her all of the suggestions I get and how I am going to implement what my supervisor suggests and she’ll say “I never thought about it that way” or  “that is a really great idea!” and then she helps me to come up with the bets ways to use the advice in the classroom. It has been really great to have everyone working together so well. My CE was especially on board with helping my students to start thinking about their futures, high school, and college even in Kindergarten. We are designating a spot in our classroom to display when they graduate from high school and their thought on their plans after that. It was so sweet to see how many of them already have an idea of what career they might want- I am excited to build on this as time goes on! I am thankful for all of the support I have gotten so far and cannot think of any other additional support I need at the moment!