This week was a bit of a chopped week since I was only in placement on Monday, Thursday, and Friday. The days that I was in placement were spent as catch up days to equal out the 6 sections and get everyone ready for a new chapter next Monday.

On Monday we had the chance to finish up some assignments that were not finished or caught up on from the previous weeks. It was nice to have this day to get an even better idea of what it is like to be a teacher since sometimes you just don’t get to everything you need to in a given amount of time. I reflected back on this Monday realizing that it’s important to include cushion days in your planning. Not one every week, but one often enough to be able to have time to reteach lessons, meet benchmarks that were not yet met, and practice skills students need to strengthen in order to further succeed in the class.

My two days back after edTPA days were given to start a new unit for the students. We had finally wrapped up everything with my edTPA in the class it was the perfect time to lead into astronomy and begin the discussion on the Thursday and Friday. We began learning and wrapping up the early astronomers in astronomy and how astronomy has changed throughout the years. This is a completely new unit and topic for students; so many students are unaware to the new information they will soon be realizing. Honestly, this is one of the best feelings as a teacher: being able to be the person who exposes this new information to the students about our solar system and space and encouraging them to pursue careers in science and engineering. Having the students see me be excited about topics in science and being a role model teaching the information in an enthusiastic and engaging manner allows the students to become even more involved during discussions. I realize that I will make an impact on these students and be the reason they learned why telescopes are both on Earth and in space, that there are people in space, and that I will spark their interest to investigate how potentially someone can walk on or visit Mars.

Ms. P

This week has been packed: I finished filming my edTPA lessons, my students began PARCC testing, I attended an IEP meeting I really was turned off by, all in a weeks work!

Starting off with edTPA filming, it’s a huge relief to have it done. I was worried with how PARCC with affect my students’ schedule and how everything would pan out in the end, but thankfully it worked out well. I was crunched for time including the final assessment, but overall I was very pleased with the outcome, my efforts put into it, and my students positive feedback regarding the edTPA. It forced me to really think about the lessons that I’m planning, are the engaging, will the students get what they should out of it, and what will I need to improve on for next time. Some of the things I really noticed I need to work on is my time management. It’s difficult to be giving time restrictions when so many students work at different paces, but obviously that’s part of being a teacher. In my opinion, every teacher is always or should always be learning. If a teacher ever stops learning, that marks the end of their era and passion.

PARCC testing was chaotic. The whole test is frustrating to see the students take because it essentially tests the skills that I feel my students most lack on. The students really have not had formal testing like the PARCC expects, and though the teachers have prepared the students the best they could have, the students need time to perfect and better those skills of writing and math. It was also definitely irritating that they only test the students in language arts and math, but not science or even social studies? How is that even fair? Science, to me, is a very important subject and the fact that students are not tested in it makes me angry. My hard work and passion should definitely be something students should be expected to know. Honestly, math and language arts are important, but its also important to teach students STEM so they can find their interests in medicine and engineering.

Attending the IEP meeting was one of the worst experiences of my life. It was in regards to a parent request on one of my students and the two “evaluators” there could not be more difficult and not on the same page. The two did not agree on the same things. One felt the student did NOT need to be evaluated for an IEP or sped placement, the other felt that the doctor of the student made an incorrect determination on what the student needed, and the whole time it was going back and forth between evaluating the student of not. It made me pretty nervous for my future students and even my future kids. I truly think one of the most important things is for everyone to remain professional when handing these scenarios in order to best support the student. As a student teacher I just sat and observed how the other teachers, principal, and intervention coordinator handled everything. I must say, the staff and peers that are at my junior high do everything to ensure each student is given all the support to achieve, and they sure delivered. All teachers and staff kept the student and the demands of his parent in mind when discussing the “next steps” and the ending was a common understanding from all perspectives.

Ms. P

This week throughout my placement I started filming for my edTPA and we began preparing the students for PARCC testing that is starting next week.

Preparing and filming for the edTPA is stressful. We have a lot of expectations on our end to uphold, we also want to see the students succeed and do the best they can, but pressure is obviously on when the videotape is rolling. I’ve tried getting the students as comfortable as possible with the recorder. I have kept the recorder out while warning them about it for practice leading up to the real filming for the edTPA, but regardless they are still silly sixth graders who like to seek all attention and giggles they possibly can. The students so far have are loving the projects and assignments we are completing for my edTPA unit. The type of learning and classroom assignments are different than what they have previously experienced in the class. I am pushing for a more student directed/driven unit on the 8 planets, allowing for students to create their research questions and presentations based off of lead-up discussions we have completed as a whole group. I value science, and STEM, a lot when it comes to teaching and with science a lot of what I strongly believe is a part of it is inquiry. Therefore, I am using a lot of the student driven activities (class discussions, students teaching the rest of the class, presentations, and research projects) based off of the large class discussions and collaborations we have in whole group. I have been able to see all the engagement, effort, and comprehension of the materials and can see the large significance it makes in the students learning by completing these types of assignments and projects.

In preparation for the PARCC assignment, it has overall been a lot on the students picked for my edTPA group. We are preparing them for the math and literacy PARCC tests, filming and recording in classes, and overall each section of mine is still competing the same projects and assignments- which can be a heavy work load on their end sometimes. We have had a school meeting where we had the chance to go over the PARCC booklet with the principal and other staff members to ensure the best success for the students, going over when and how students will test, how students will move around the school without distracting others, and participating in raffles for the students to win prizes at the end of the day. I really like the system of prizes at the end of the day for students who are giving their best during PARCC (i.e. staying quiet and focused during the test time). This goes under the schools PBIS system (rewarding students for following the being respectful/responsible expectations, and overall rewarding them for their hard work. Students have the chance to be entered for the raffle during each test that we will be taking over the next 3 weeks. Those prizes consist of food gift cards, staRRRs for the school store, and bulldog pride apparel. Additionally, all students who have shown excellent effort and behavior throughout all seven tests will be entered in a raffle for the chance to win a tablet. This incentive pushes students to excel on their exam and also rewards all the students who are doing a great job. I personally really like this system that the school is trying this year because testing can be a stressful time and these little pushes and reminders allow even the students who often feel they are not exceling or are always in trouble a chance to be rewarded for their good actions and behaviors.

Ms. P

This week was the week of parent teacher conferences and the preparation of those. I must say, after seeing elementary school conferences last semester…middle school ones are even MORE chaotic!

In preparation for P/T conferences each week during team planning period and personal planning period my coop, the rest of the 6^th grade teachers, and I made a priority list of students who each teacher wanted to most definitely conference with. This list was comprised of students who either needed a lot more support behavioral wise or academic wise (at risk of retention). That list, at the end would come down to about 20 students (out of 150) and we would make contact with those parents and create time for a team conference. A team conference is when all the 6^th grade teachers of that student meet, still during P/T conferences, and would discuss what was going on, the next steps, and how to best support to see that student succeed. I’d never seen conferences done this way so it really stuck out to me, and as far as I could tell only the 6^th grade teachers had the idea to complete those conferences in this manor. With all the teachers there in the same room, it allowed all teachers and the parents to discuss together and have everyone be on the same page. Another thing that stuck out to me, and that I thought was handled very well, was that my coop and most of the other teachers did a great job at sandwiching the good bad and the ugly. Regardless of how much you want that student to be the best and do the best, you have to state the facts and data (some that parents do not want to hear whether academic or behavioral wise). The teachers all did great with including as much positive in-between the more support areas the student needed to work on. For every comment that was not the best to hear, the teachers would counter it immediately with good parts (student always turning in homework, student participating in class, student working great with others, etc.) to encourage that student. We came to find out at the end of one conference that the student really just wanted to fit in with his friends, who needed more academic support, and so he began to purposefully flunk his exams and homework assignments because he did not want to seem like a “nerd” to his friends. That incident was handled very well, reminding the student that there is nothing wrong with being smart and succeeding.

Another thing that stuck out to me was how organized you need to be even more the conferences happen, and how quickly you need to move around from room to room. You have 15 minutes to kind of word vomit, but allow enough time to ask questions, answer questions, and discuss anything with the parents and it usually is not enough. There are so many things a parent does not know about (i.e. AIMES web testing, PARCC testing, and other assignments) so the teachers almost need to catch up the parent on the content, then explain the students final grade (as of now) and what is comprised of it. Then after the 15 minutes, there is another parent waiting so the teacher must run around to the next open room to repeat that process again. I’ve learned that some parents really like to chat, and you have to find a balance of making them feel comfortable and not rushed, but you as a teacher need to attend all your conferences scheduled so some must be cut short. I noticed that most of the teachers handled situations like that by going “if you have any other questions please feel free to contact me by email or phone anytime” (which were provided on a handout they gave to parents), so that parents still felt connected with what was going on and not as rushed.

Ms. P