Student Teaching :)

April 28, 2017

Today was my last day of full takeover. It was definitely an experience that had many learning opportunities. As a student teacher in early field placements, you never truly experience a “full takeover” because you’re only there half the day. Something I hadn’t realized was how much time a teacher actually needs to do the “little” things you never think about.

In my math class, it is imperative that I do the homework assignments with the students so that if they had questions, I was ready to explain it to them rather than just give them the correct answer. It’s about showing them the step-by-step process of how to do it and why it’s done. I hadn’t realized how many copies teachers need to make for their classes and how time consuming that task is. When I first started, I thought I could come in early to make copies, but there are always other teachers there and you don’t want to be the teacher making 120 copies at once. It’s so important to get that stuff done in advance, especially in case the printer/copier breaks down.

Another thing is to have the answer keys done for the assignments/assessments you give. If you have that done in advance, you can get assessments graded and passed back earlier to help drive your future instruction.

Overall, full takeover was a great experience for you before you have your own classroom. The responsibilities of a teacher is not something that can be taught by sitting in a classroom. It’s something you experience and you don’t realize how much your co-op actually helps you until you’re left to do it all on your own!

April 25, 2017

PARCC testing is the WORST! The schedule stinks and it goes on for a very long time. I had a hard time trying to figure out how to teach a lesson when some days classes were only 20 minutes long! The thing I’ve learned is that you always have to be ready for whatever is thrown at you during the year.

For example, I was planning on having the students do a practice PARCC test last Friday before the math section. However, our entire school lost internet as the server was down… for the WHOLE DAY. I wasn’t 100% prepared for Monday’s lesson (since I was going to review it over the weekend). My co-op told me I had to teach Monday’s lesson today since we had no internet.

This was a HUGE lesson learned. It’s never a bad idea to be two steps ahead of the game. Always have your planning done at least for two days in advance. This includes making keys to assignments, making copies of notes/tests, and doing the homework you assign. You may ask why I do the homework that’s assigned to my students… and it’s because although I’ve done this math, it’s still something that needs to be reviewed. I do the homework so that when students have a question on their homework, I not only have the answers, but I solved it so that I can provide a better explanation. It is crucial for you to be able to explain and understand a concept in order to help your students.

April 16, 2017

As a teacher, especially a first year teacher, you may think you have to jump in and attend every single event that your students are part of, but don’t burn yourself out… especially when you’ve got a lot on your plate as it is. However, I do recommend attending the main events to show your students that you truly do care about them and their personal endeavors inside and outside of the classroom!

This week I had the privilege of attending the last volleyball game for the boys volleyball team. My students were excited to see me at their game, and I was excited to see the talent my students had. Although we lost, I was thrilled to see my students showing team work and being part of a game that I loved dearly in middle school.

 

April 04, 2017

Today was the first day of my full takeover. It was a great day, but also very busy. You don’t realize how much teachers actually do throughout the day and how much needs to get done. I had to run to make copies, grade assessments, record grades into the grade book, go to meetings, make slides, fill in notes, keep up with their homework assignments, etc. It was an exhausting day, but I’m excited to see what this month will be like!

 

 

Only 6 weeks left in student teaching! This semester has been flying by… how is it spring break already?

Much of my spring break was spent relaxing and catching up with friends. With all the work involved in student teaching, it is often hard to find time to meet up with friends all the time. I’m glad we had the week off to have some more free-time. The end of spring break is here and I am relaxed and ready for my full-takeover!

I have been spending time during spring break prepping for my full-takeover. I feel as if I’m ready to teach but also feel very nervous… even though I have been teaching 2 out of my 3 blocks already. My co-op has prepared me by giving me reminders, helpful hints, and always asking me if she can do anything to help! Tomorrow is my first official day of full-takeover.

I went to visit some friends in Champaign and many of my younger friends who are education majors ask me about this semester. I gave them one hint, which was to always stay on top of things and get things done early. I told them to film early and submit edTPA before spring break so that you can focus primarily on job applications/interviews and full-takeover.

Time moves very fast when you’re trying to balance college courses, work, and student teaching so it’s easy to forget a task or two. I always encourage people to make to-do lists and use your planner!

I mentioned having the opportunity to go on a field trip with the 6th graders to the South and West side of Chicago. We got split up into groups and each group went to a different location. On Thursday, my group got dropped off at Community Roots Garden in Garfield Park. We picked up garbage, pulled weeds out, and planted peas in the garden. I have to admit, I wasn’t pleased that we would be doing manual labor, let alone in 30 degree weather. However, I admit that I had a fun time working together with my students to help out this community. This garden grows and provides healthy foods such as a variety of fruits and vegetables that community members can come and take since they may not have money to buy some at the grocery store.

On Friday, we went to St. Joseph Child Development Center. This was extremely fun for my students and myself. We had the opportunity to read to pre-schoolers, play gym games with them and eat lunch with them. This is located in the south side of Chicago where most of the students come from single-parent homes who are living below the poverty line. Something amazing about this school is that it offers ESL classes to the parents, since a majority of them are Hispanic and don’t speak English. They also offer GED classes and computers to help parents fix their resumes to help find jobs. This field trip was an eye opening experience for both my students and myself.

This week, not much of actual teaching will be done. However, I’m excited for this week because it’s jam-packed with activities! Today, we had a professional development meeting, which really focused in on student feedback and how to make it more clear and beneficial for students to see and understand where there are concerns, where they meet the standards, and where they are exceeding expectations. The presenter offered many different styles of rubrics that I believe has helped me understand how to give proper student feedback.

This week, students will be presenting their projects to their classmates, which they have been working on for the past three weeks. Students picked a broad topic, such as “travel”, asked 5 questions about their topic and surveyed 50 people. They collect and analyze their data based on who they surveyed (gender/age) and made conclusions about their data. I’m excited to see what the students have done with their presentations!

On Thursday and Friday, the sixth graders are going on a field trip to the city to help homeless shelters, parks, etc. They will be giving up their time to learn more about communities outside of their comfort zone and there will be a panel held by people who were previously homeless. I believe this will be an eye-opening experience, and I can’t wait to see how it goes!

How is it March 1st already?

I feel like I started student teaching just a few days ago, when in reality, this is my 8th week teaching! It’s amazing to see how much more comfortable I am with my students, my classroom, and my co-op. I’ve also built strong relationships with my students which is a huge step from them staring at me when I first met them (like deer in headlights). Throughout these past 8 weeks, I’ve learned a lot about classroom/time/behavior management.

I actually recently had a situation in which a group of students were extremely disrespectful during my lesson. It was a wacky scheduled day, after a 4 and a half day weekend, and they were w-i-l-d. Oh… and we had a sub that day.  I’ve learned a lot from that single day. My co-op helped me out while I was reflecting and we decided that changing seats was the best solution.

Even with the bad days, I wouldn’t trade my classroom, students, or placement. I can truly say that it is a blessing to be at the district I’m at with such supportive teachers, administrators, supervisors, etc.

Last week, I had the opportunity to attend parent-teacher conferences. It was a quick 10 minute session, which wasn’t nearly enough to cover as much as anyone wanted. However, I observed my co-op and the way she lead conferences, and I really like the way she does it. She greeted parents at the door and once everyone was situated, she started off the conference by asking if they had any questions or concerns. Some parents would bring up certain questions, while others just asked how their child was doing.

It was nice to meet my students’ families and get to know them. I had a scare when one student’s parents walked in while my co-op was in the bathroom and said, “I am extremely pissed off”. I sat there with a face whiter than snow (I can imagine), while looking like a deer in headlights. I started off by saying that I was surprised since we never had problems with their child, but that my co-op would be back in a minute and we can further discuss this. The wife started laughing and said, “I’m so sorry. My husband is just playing a prank on you since you’re a student teacher”.  Needless to say, it was a relief.