I would rate this week as a 4, it was good week but we had a lot of sickness going around the classroom this week which I think is to be expected this time of year but it is hard on the Kindergartners when they don’t feel good! There were some tears, upset stomachs, and lots of runny noses! I hate it when they are sick and I found myself wishing there were more I could do to help them feel better but I am hoping by next week, we will all be on the mend! 

This week, I was pleasantly surprised to see how engaged my students were in phonics. It is admittedly my lease favorite subject to teach but it is very important they get it because it is essential to their reading skill development. I found this week that it is really all about how I approach it though! If I seem excited about it, they are excited about it and I worked to build in activities and hooks that would make the content more engaging. They did so well with it and were excited to do phonics so that was a big accomplishment for me this week! 

That was an important lesson that I will build upon next week. As I am getting more and more comfortable with planning lessons, I am finding it easier to build in engaging and interesting hooks and actives that will catch their interest. That really is so important because if they are not engaged, I might as well be speaking a different language because without engagement, they are not getting what I want them to out of the lesson! I will build upon that next week, as I work to build in even more opportunities for engagement- I am especially focusing on my RTI group with this because the skills we practice in that group everyday can seem so redundant! 

My short-term goals and my long-term goals are definitely still aligned. I am working on improving myself in each area of the NCTCS each week so that my long-term goal of being a well-rounded, effective educator are still aligned. Each little step that I take each week gets me one step closer to the goal! 

This week, I will spend more time analyzing data from my students and less time over-thinking my plans! I am finally feeling more confident in my ability to plan for a successful week so if I spend less time over-thinking while planning, then I can spend more time analyzing data to see exactly what each of my student’s need. That ties into apprehension as well because my apprehension with my planning tends to have a negative effect on me and can be time-consuming. I am making a conscious effort not to be apprehensive about planning and if I feel unsure about something, I will reach out more to the resources I have available to me-such as my university supervisor. 

My first next logical plan for next week is to go ahead and look over my plans and make sure I have all of the materials and resources that I need ready- I have learned that in Kindergarten, you really can never be too prepared!

This week I was able to analyze progress monitoring data for my RTI group. Those students are not in my classroom but I have them for an hour for targeted instruction in the areas that they need in reading. They were progress monitored this week and I was able to see the areas that we saw the most improvement in and the areas where they improved the least. This let me see what I need to continue to target in my group. 

My best piece of advice right now for upcoming teachers is to go ahead and be focusing heavily on the teaching candidate standards and each element of the standards- there is a lot that goes into each standard and you want to make sure you are covering each area! This week I worked on improving myself in the following areas: 

1b. Teachers demonstrate leadership in the school- I was able to sit down with my Kindergarten colleagues this week and look at the math standards that our school system is looking at adjusting and implementing into our standard course of study. It was a great opportunity for me to collaborate with my colleagues and get some of their insight of the standards. 

2e. Teachers work collaboratively with the families and the significant adults in their lives- This week I was able to be a part of several conferences to let parents know exactly where their student stands at this point in the school year. Some of the conferences were harder than others but it was an excellent learning experience. 

3d. Teachers make instruction relevant to students- This week I worked hard to put technology in my students’ hands and to give them some time to work collaboratively with partners in order to foster their 21st century skills.

4b. Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students- Collaborating wit my colleagues in order to analyze student data and plan for small group allowed me to develop this area this week. 

5b. Teachers link professional growth to their personal goals- Reflecting on my strengths and weaknesses as a teacher in order to develop my PDP was very impactful for me and helped me in this area of the standard. 

This week, I was able to work on my behavior management portion of my portfolio as well as the technology requirement- I am working on compiling a list of technology resources to implement in my lessons each week that will have an impact on student learning. 

At this point, my CE and I feel very supported by my supervisor. I cannot think of any extra support we need at the moment!

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! 

It has been such a great week, it is the first week I am rating as a 5 and that makes me really happy! I was so afraid of being in full control this week- I had it in my mind that whatever could possibly go wrong, would. However, that was just not the case. The kids transitioned into me being in full control so much better than I ever thought that they would. I really could not ask for a better group of students and for that I am grateful. 

I was pleasantly surprised at how well this first week went with a few minor hiccups here and there. I really have ended this week feeling so happy and content with my students, my classroom, and my colleagues. Of course, there is always room for it get better! For next week, I am working on even more detailed differentiation- I am addressing specific students and their needs in my plans. This is to help them and to help me to know what I need to be doing for them everyday. I also am working on seamlessly integrating other content areas- my supervisor suggested vocabulary cards in math instruction and I think that is going to be really great for my students. They are always hearing all of these big math terms but never really seeing them so what better way to integrate both, right? 

My short-term efforts are still aligning with my long-term goals to be proficient in all areas and have a successful student teaching experience. I am really enjoying seeing the ways in which I can grow in all areas each week. It is amazing to me how actually being in charge of a classroom allows you to make such a huge amount of growth and change within yourself as a professional. I am extremely grateful for the experience- it has been so wonderful so far!

I need to spend less time overthinking what I am doing and be confident in what I am doing. Overthinking and being hesitant at times is really wasting my time and is not doing me any good- I am working hard to address them. I can’t be a quick thinker and decision maker if I am overthinking and I think those are important traits in an effective educator which is definitely my overall goal. I will not let apprehension, overthinking, or indecision affect me next week because I have realized we simply do not have time for it and it does no good. We just need to be confident in our abilities and what we are doing! 

I would advise student teachers next semester to always be planning ahead! Get a good, early start on you lesson plans because they can be time-consuming and start edTPA early so that you have time to actually enjoy the process and grow from it without feeling really stressed and strained for time!

I feel I have developed in each of the following areas this week: 

1a. Teachers lead in their classroom- I have found, this week especially, how important leadership is in a Kindergarten classroom. Without leadership, you have chaos. I have worked hard to make sure I embody the leadership skills my CE has and it is paying off. I am having little to no behavior issues so far (fingers crossed it stays this way) and they are transitioning without trouble which is huge for students this young. They are responding to my positive behavior praise and I am feeling really confident in this area of the standards!

2a. Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults- I knew I need to be a strong authoritative figure in the classroom this week because they were already so established in my CE having having that role. However, I made it a priority to not do that in a negative way. I praise them and highlight the things that they do right. I have found they really want this praise and are responding well to it. I am making sure each student feels comfortable and wants to be in my classroom!

3b. Teachers know the content appropriate to their teaching specialty-  I was able to take what was laid out for me in the Math Instructional Framework and Literacy Instructional Framework this week and make it fit the needs of my students. I still followed the standards and the content was there but I worked on making it more engaging and sparking their curiosity. I am finding hands-on mathematics instruction is working really well for my students as well as making text-to-self connections as often as I could. 

4c. Teachers use a variety of instructional methods- As I get more comfortable with teaching on my own, I am getting more comfortable with thinking outside of the box. I am using as many different methods as I can to reach all of my learners- I am finding modeling, partner activities, and hands-on explorations to be really beneficial for my students. 

5c. Teachers function effectively in a complex, dynamic environment-I am working every week to  continue to be flexible- you literally can never predict what will happen in a classroom full of students. It is all about making quick decisions and knowing what is best for your students! I really feel I am getting better at this week to week. 

I have been working on my PDP and attending as many professional development opportunities as I can- these are so essential and I have learned so much up to this point! My CE and I have had so much support from my supervisor already- the first visit went so well, there really is no reason to be nervous about it! It was a wonderful learning experience and I love knowing what I need to improve myself professionally. I am so thankful for a great week and so much support! 

This week was a really good week for me! I thought it would be pretty stressful considering I have a lot on my mind/plate with preparing to fully take over next week but it turned out to be a very good week, I would rate it as a 4 on the scale. I say this because, the students are adjusting to me being their leader in the classroom which REALLY helped take a lot of the stress away. I learned even more this week of exactly how to manage Kindergartners and I am learning that you have to break everything down into small steps. You cannot tell them too much at once- it overwhelms them. Transitions were a biggie for me and I finally feel like I am really mastering them this week and it is making me feel so much more confident in my classroom management skills. I am getting them from subject to subject and place to place without any chaos and most of the time with NO TALKING! This felt like a huge accomplishment for me. My CE is letting me handle the classroom management already so that next week when I fully take over, I will already have been in charge of the classroom management. It really has went much better than I had anticipate and only a few times did I have to move students down on the behavior chart (which were minor disruptions). It really has boosted my confidence to know that I can actually manage a classroom of twenty-two five to six year olds on my own with few minor problems- it felt like quite the accomplishment! So, I was pleasantly surprised by this and I hope you all are having positive experiences with behavior management too! 

Next week,  I feel I will be even better prepared to make quick decisions and judgments on small management issues in the classroom because I have spent so much time seeing how my CE handles these situations and I have had some experience making these decisions myself. My short-term efforts are still aligned with my long-term goals of beginning my ten-weeks of complete takeover next week and doing so as smoothly as possible. I am learning that even though I have planned my lessons a week ahead of time, I need to spend more time looking over them the night before so that I don’t have to spend time when I come in in the mornings puling up all of my flip charts and materials. I spent time downloading everything I need for next week and putting it all in one folder so preparing for the days ahead can be much more time-efficient. I found this week that the subjects that I was more confident teaching went so much more smoothly and I was able to see how the subjects that I was more excited about were the subjects I was able to get students much more excited and engaged in. So, I learned that my enthusiasm and confidence while teaching has a HUGE impact on student learning. This directly shapes my approach next week and shows me that even if I don’t feel completely confident about something, I cannot let it show. Kindergartners rely on enthusiasm a lot so I will bring that to the table in everything I teach. 

For next week, my first logical step is to look over the plans and make sure I have everything in place to have a successful week and there is not anything I need that I don’t have. Also, I am going to spend the workday (when I am not in professional development) lesson planning so I can go ahead and get ahead (hopefully by a week). I would share the advice with upcoming student teachers to try and be at least a week ahead in planning so that you don’t feel overwhelmed. Also, OVERPLAN! You don’t want to feel worried that you aren’t going to have anything in place for students to do if a lesson ends early!

I spent a lot of time analyzing writing benchmarks that we completed this week and it let me see the writing skills that some of my students are lacking. I built in writing workshop practice into my literacy rotations for next week and will continue to in the future because of the data I analyzed this week. I was able to make that instructional decision based on what was lacking in those benchmarks. 

I also feel I am growing in different areas of the teacher candidate standards: 

1a. Teachers lead in their classrooms- This week I felt much more like the leader in the classroom than I ever have. I can tell that the students are responding to me as the leader because I am working to ensure my classroom management skills match my CE! I feel like I really had a lot of growth in this area over the last few weeks which I am proud of. 

 2d: Teachers adapt their teaching for the benefit of students with special needs: Differentiation was a big focus for me this week because it in an area I feel I need constant improvement in because it is a challenge to meet the needs of all students but it is so important. So, I spent more time learning about and understanding the needs of my students this week and worked to improve my differentiation strategies in my lessons to be tailored to each individual student. 

3d. Teachers make instruction relevant to students- I worked this week to make even more text-to-self connections for students because I am finding that is an essential part of comprehension. They are also so much more engaged when they can make those connections. I was intentional about having those discussions with students and giving them opportunities to connect to the characters in our stories this week and with the events in the story. 

4e. Teachers help students develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills- This week I was very intentional about asking students deeper-level thinking. I stayed away from the one-answer questions (especially in math) and focused more on asking why? How do you know? Explain the strategy you used? Why did you use this strategy? I found it really helps to deepen their understanding of the concept. 

5a. Teachers analyze student learning- I am becoming much more intentional about taking my student’s work and using it to guide my next instructional steps in a much more focused way. 

This week, I started to look heavily at my philosophy of education and edTPA requirements. My CE had some really good conversations about what I can do for the Task 4 in math and we are deciding for sure early next week what I will be focusing on for Tasks 1-3 in literacy and when a good time is for me to go ahead and teach my progressions (we are thing mid February). Any support I can get with edTPA from my supervisor will be very helpful to me (which everyone has been great with information on that thus far) and I know my CE would like support as well as she helps me through the edTPA process. 

Week 2 as a Student Teacher

Whew, what a week! First, the snow caused school to be closed for two days and then a delay on the third. Luckily, all both snow says were optional work days so I had the opportunity to spend some much needed time working in the classroom with my CE. Work days fly by but I enjoyed spending extra time with my CE and we organized the classroom and got ready for the week which was really nice. After the two hour delay on Wednesday, I was able to take over the Math and morning work for the week and it went so much better than I was anticipating. I was so worried that I was not going to be able to teach math as efficiently as my CE and I know how important it is that math instruction is carried out in the correct manner. Each lesson in our math curriculum builds on the lessons before so I know it is a huge responsibility to make sure the students are receiving the instruction that they need to move forward. What I have found this week is that it is so important to be prepared. Even though I had already planned out my lessons the week before, I went back to look over what I would be teaching the next day so that I could be sure I had all of my materials and I knew exactly how I was going to teach the content. I have found it is easiest to go ahead and lay out all of my materials for the next day before I left school each day. That way, I knew I had everything that I needed. Even being totally prepared, I still felt a little nervous so I cannot imagine how I would feel if I were about to start a lesson being unprepared. Hopefully, that won’t happen during my student teaching experience! 

Between the crazy snow days, delays, picture day, and MAP testing this week, I would rate this week as a 4 meaning it was a good week but there were a lot of surprises! I found that my lessons are not going to all happen exactly when I plan them throughout the day/week because things are going to come up. I am starting to accept that things are not always going to go as I plan (that one is hard for me). Math had to be moved a couple of times because of a 2-hour delay and because of makeup MAP testing which we missed because of a snow day! It was a good chance for me to adjust to sudden schedule changes and I am learning how important it is to just roll with the punches and be flexible. All of the changes and unexpected occurrences were definite surprises this week but they were important learning opportunities for me. Next week, I will build off of what I have learned and try to be more laid back and flexible. I am not going to allow the little surprises and changes in the schedule stress me out because it is always going to be a part of teaching! I know that going into the weeks ahead, it is important for me to keep an open mind and look at each surprise as an opportunity for growth. 

My short-term efforts are still aligned with my long term efforts as I continue to take over responsibilities and areas of instruction that will allow for my first full week of taking over. I am hoping to shorten my lesson planning process next week. It seems that I am just spending every afternoon until bed lesson planning which is fine but I am trying to be able to focus on other areas of what I need in my portfolio too so I am trying to become faster and more efficient at writing lesson planning. I can tell the process is already easier than it was last week but I would still like to be even faster. 

This week, I still had some apprehension that I would like to have dissipated by next week. I have to have confidence in what I am doing/saying because I don’t want my students picking up on any apprehension. The areas that I was most apprehensive about (teaching math, for instance) are the areas that turned out to go the most smoothly so I am setting a goal to go into next week with no apprehension- we all need to keep in mind that we have made it this far for a reason and have confidence in what we have learned thus far!

My first logical step for next week  is to go ahead and start planing for the newest area that I am taking over (literacy stations) because I know that is what is going to take me the longest to plan because I am not used to planning for it. So, I will start that first so I don’t feel nervous and rushed. 

This week, I analyzed the formative and summative assessments I implemented throughout my math instruction and I was able to see what the students understood and what we need to work on more. This week was able about more than, fewer than, and equal to. I found they understood equal sets the best (which is not what I expected) and had trouble identifying sets that had fewer. I used this data to build activities into my math lessons this coming week that allow them to practice making sets that have fewer than another set and practice with comparing sets to see which has fewer objects. 

A piece of advice I would share with upcoming student teachers this week is to spend time really getting to know your students. It is amazing how much easier lesson planning comes when you know the needs of your students and what they can and cannot do. It may not seem like one of the most important parts of student teaching but it really is. 

This week I also spent some time working to become more proficient in different areas of the NC Teacher Candidate Standards- 

1C. Teachers Demonstrate Leadership in the School- This week, I was able to attend a data meeting (to analyze student assessment data in the school), the grade level meeting, and planned for professional development opportunities which I can join in on with the assistant principal. It turns out I have experience with “myON” which is a digital reading program the school is implementing on the iPads. I will be able to assist in training my grade level with the program because I have used it extensively at another school I worked at. So, I am excited to be able to help in that area!

2C. Teachers Treat Students as Individuals- This week, I focused on having individual goals for my students. I was able to be a part of their math MAP testing and it really allowed me to see the range of abilities I have in my classroom. I cannot set the same goals for every student. Based on individual needs, I set different goals for my math assessments. 

3D. Teachers make instruction relevant to students- I am putting a big emphasis on 21st century skills this semester. I heard someone say this week that Kindergartners are not ready for group work. I disagree with that statement. I think the time to begin to put them in groups and with partners to work is in Kindergarten so that we can build those necessary 21st century skills. I built in opportunities to work as partners into my lessons this week and it went better than I thought. I will continue to build in even more opportunities to foster their 21st century skills. 

4E. Teachers help students to develop critical-thinking and problem-solving skills- This week, I was intentional about building questioning into my lessons which required thought. I want my students to have to think critically and I am working to eliminate one word answers from my lessons. In math, I am focusing on the why and the how? How did you get that answer? How do you know? Why is that the way that you solved that problem? My students are responding well so far!

5A. Teachers analyze student learning- I put an emphasis this week on letting my math data guide my next steps so I am anxious to see how it will go next week! 

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! 

It is my LAST blog before student teaching, you guys! I cannot believe it! We are down to less than a month left in the semester and it has absolutely flown by for me, I have never experienced such a mixture of emotions in one semester and I have never had a semester full of more personal growth. Not just growth in knowledge but growth as a professional. I feel more prepared to walk into a classroom and take over than I ever have and that is a great feeling. There is always room to grow and constant opportunity for learning but I finally feel like everything I have learned and experienced throughout my college career are coming together and clicking in a way that it never has before. I feel ready to apply it and take charge of a classroom. I know that will be my greatest learning experience to date and I am so thrilled to finally be at that point as I know you all are as well. I will be missing your blog posts and I am hoping we can all keep our blog posts going as student teachers- is that a requirement? If not, it should be! Some of my most important learning experiences that have stood out to me have taken place through collaborating with you guys. I know we have all grown in the NCTCS- Teachers demonstrate leadership because we have all engaged in collaborating with you guys every week to grow as a professional. This is a skill that we can all take with us and that will be so valuable to us as new teachers. I have a new understanding and appreciation of what you can truly learn from your peers and your colleagues. I have grown as a person and as a professional working with you all and feel like I have gained a new family! Now, it is time to take everything we have learned from each other and our professors and apply it- it's where the rubber literally meets the road! As the days between now and student teaching grow smaller and smaller I am spending even more time making sure I know every little detail and part of what makes my clinical classroom run smoothly everyday. Knowing exactly how my CE would handle different situations has been on of the biggest goals because I know that very soon, I'll be handling these situations. I want to walk in prepared the first week of January to take over and most importantly, go above and beyond what my CE, supervisor, and school administration expect from me. While student teaching may seem like a big hurdle, the next task is even greater! I want to be a first year teacher that is prepared for anything and everything. 

This week and in the weeks to come, I am spending time getting even more prepared for my student teaching experience! Here are some of the best tips I have found, many of them reiterate what Clarker have been telling us all along! 

I found these to be really practical and honest and they are from the point of view of a teacher who has obviously been right where are now and has had student teacher in their classroom- These are the 7 habits of "amazing" student teachers- 

1. They take opportunities to be helpful instead of waiting to be told what to do. Don’t get me wrong: There’s nothing impolite or unhelpful about asking, “What would you like me to do now?” but there is something incredible about realizing my student teacher has anticipated and met a need without me even addressing it. Sometimes when I zone out or get bogged down with one of my 2,045,778 emails, I’ll look up and my student teacher will be doing something I didn’t ask her to do but is totally wonderful, like straightening the bookshelves or supply closet, cleaning off desks, or organizing the mountain of papers threatening to take over my back table.

2. They say goodbye to their comfort zones. Student teaching is scary, y’all. It’s like meeting your future spouse and their 120 children for the first time … on the day of your wedding. We all have limits on what we are and aren’t comfortable with (and it’s important that both the student teacher and mentor teacher share and understand these), but good student teachers know that there is no better time to fail or make a fool of yourself than now, in a controlled environment with support from the mentor teacher.
3. They share ideas. Student teaching is not (or at least should not) be a one-way street where the supervising teacher simply tells the student teacher what to do the whole semester. Personally, I’m so grateful for my student teachers’ fresh lesson-plan ideas and new ways of doing things, and I know my students are too.

 4. They are direct but kind. One of my favorite things about my student teachers has been that they respect me enough to let me know about their needs and suggestions directly and in a kind way. Just before break, my student teacher said some version of, “I would really like to know more about your planning process—can you show me more of that next semester?” I loved that she let me know this directly instead of going the rest of the year wishing things were different, or worse, going into next year not knowing how to plan a unit because her mentor teacher would go into a silent, scary Planning Trance at her computer.
5. They embrace the grunt work. I think I’ve made it clear that I’m not a supporter of the king-servant ideology regarding the student teaching experience. But that being said, I think it would be a disservice to the student teacher to let them think that teaching is purely lesson plans and classroom management. My student teachers have been absolutely amazing about helping me make copies, grade, move furniture and do other odd jobs when asked—and with smiles on their faces! (I have no idea who they learned that from. I walk down the hall on Monday mornings singing loudly in a minor key.)
6. They welcome feedback—positive and critical. Everyone loves positive feedback—that’s easy. But what’s trickier is accepting and welcoming critical feedback. Good student teachers interpret critical feedback as opportunities for growth, not reasons to slash the tires of their mentor teacher.
7. They are flexible. I remember being frustrated as a student teacher when my mentor teacher would tell me I had a certain amount of time to teach a lesson or unit and then suddenly change the amount of time at the last minute. Now, with a few years under my belt, I know that’s just the nature of the beast. It’s rare for any teacher to always have more than a few days’ notice about field trips, schedule changes, assemblies and other things that affect lesson/unit planning. Both of my student teachers have been so flexible with last-minute changes, which is not only a relief to me, but is good practice for the unpredictable world of teaching in which they are making their first steps

Resource: http://www.weareteachers.com/7-habits-of-amazing-student-teachers/

Out of all of these, the one that stands out to me the most is be FLEXIBLE. Administrators are looking for flexibility, it is so important in the teaching profession. I think we all need to remember this as we begin student teaching because there is going to be a lot thrown at us! Flexibility and adaptability will be key!

Have a great week and share any personal tips you have with me in the comments! 

-Skylar