As my last blog post, I’d like to share some of the important things that I’ve learned throughout the semester.

At the end of my student teaching experience, one thing I learned is that you WILL get through it.  Your toughest day where you want to (or do) cry, your edTPA, applications, long hours of planning, challenging students, observations, lessons gone wrong, all of it! There will be days where you question yourself and the profession you’ve chosen, and that’s completely normal. What’s important is that you will overcome all obstacles, and become an even BETTER teacher because of them! In the end, this is what you are meant to do 🙂

Another thing I learned is that teaching is such a rewarding career. It’s an awesome feeling when you know you have taught a student something new, made an impact in their life, and serve as a smiling face to them every morning. They also do the same for you! My last week of student teaching happened to be teacher appreciation week, and I was definitely feeling the love! On my last day, my students made me a book and gave me a basket full of school supplies for my future classroom!

So, despite the challenges that will come with student teaching/teaching in general, remember to focus on the positive things because they definitely outweigh the negative! Although I’m excited to be done and transition into having my own classroom, I will miss my first graders so much! Student teaching has been an experience that I will always remember. Those of you who will be in my position next year have so much to look forward to and will feel so accomplished in the end 🙂 Good luck!

Well, tomorrow begins my last week of student teaching!

Seriously, it’s unreal how fast it went!

I would like to share some of my first impressions of my student teaching placement as I reflect on my experience in first grade:

1. I was SO excited to be placed in the district I grew up in! It has always been a dream of mine to teach in the district I also went to school in, so I was excited to learn I would be student teaching there (and hopefully get my foot in the door). On my first day, the principal and my cooperating teacher welcomed me with open arms and I could tell I was going to have a great experience there.
2. I was nervous about the transition from 6th grade to 1st grade- I have always wanted the primary grades, but my clinical experiences at UIUC included two 6th grade placements, and one 3rd grade, so I felt like I now had more experience with the upper grades and wasn’t sure how the transition back to the little ones would go.
3. From Day 1 I was proposed with some challenging students, My very first impression of the classroom I was about to student teach in was a student in particular who has a 504 for autism. This student was JUST diagnosed upon my arrival, so all the plans put in place for him were also new. About an hour after I had settled in, I got a glimpse of some of the challenges I was about to face- the student was throwing a tantrum, kicking and screaming on the floor as well as throwing objects and pushing over chairs. In this moment, I knew I was in for some unique experiences.
4. Overall, I was overjoyed to begin student teaching! My cooperating teacher was so sweet, and the class was made up of 20 kids who seemed as eager to get to know me as I was them.

Stay tuned for next week, as I reflect on my final thoughts of my student teaching experience!

As my student teaching experience is winding down, it is definitely bittersweet! With two weeks left, I am starting to give my coop her classroom back and absorb as many strategies, materials and advice as possible. With that, I’ll share some experiences and advice I have for the end of student teaching!

1. Have the principal observe you- I know a lot of you are probably thinking “No way, that sounds terrifying”. That’s what I thought at first too, but it’s a great way to get your foot in the door either in your own school district or other districts; Principals talk! I am lucky enough to have a wonderful principal who is nothing but uplifting and encouraging, so approaching her to come observe me wasn’t so scary. After she came in to watch a shared reading lesson, I met with her in her office to discuss the lesson. She gave me a lot of valuable feedback, and it was nice to build a professional relationship with her. She even encouraged me to apply for some openings in the district. Your principals word, along with your coops, can go a long way with getting you a job interview!
2. Go see other teachers! Now that I am no longer in full-takeover, I have a full schedule of other teachers I am going to see throughout these next two weeks. I am seeing every elementary grade, including ELL, Special Ed, and Reading Interventions. You never know what position you may be interviewing for, so take advantage of the time you have to observe as many teachers and grade levels as possible!
3. SAVE EVERYTHING. Again, this is the last time you will be exposed to so many ideas, strategies and materials. Whether you have a file folder for paper copies, or a google doc for electronics, keep every worksheet and project you come in contact with! You never know what grade you will end up teaching, so saving these things can help in the long run.

I still can’t believe how fast this semester has gone by. I’m looking forward to making the most of my last two weeks!

P.S. I passed the edTPA! 🙂

One thing I learned this week is the importance of going over classroom expectations. When coming into a new placement once the year is already half-way over, its easy to settle into the fact that your cooperating teacher has already set up the classroom expectations for students. Although this is true, it does not mean that the students are good to go for the rest of the year.

Throughout my placement, I have found myself re-teaching the classroom expectations on multiple occasions. First grade students are young and need reminders of what is expected of them. Although it seems repetitive, it makes a huge difference in your classroom management. Expectations for students at the carpet are one thing I have found really beneficial to go over. The students and I made a list of things they should be doing at the carpet such as being quiet, sitting on their pockets, etc. It’s important to keep these lists positive, writing things such as “Sit quietly” and “Sit on your pockets” rather than “Don’t talk” and “Don’t shout out”, where the statements sound negative and more like rules than expectations.

I have also found myself going over expectations for guided reading, daily 5, bathroom breaks, and math lessons. Role playing, creating lists, and having students remind others of what is expected are all ways you can reteach expectations to students in order to ensure the best learning environment possible for students.

This week, I was able to attend my first Teacher Institute Day. While other teachers seemed bored and complained about being there, I felt like a sponge soaking up information, and enjoyed my experience just being there.

Throughout the day, there were various meetings and times for teacher collaboration. I got to observe how the teachers took scores from state wide assessments such as the PARCC test, as well as district wide assessments like Discovery, and analyze those scores in order to improve student learning for upcoming years. They compared their scores to other schools in the district, as well as the state, and I thought it was really interesting to see how they used this data in order to guide discussion on areas of improvement and goals the school could made.

I also got to attend a presentation on Guided Reading. I found it really beneficial to attend this meeting, as teaching students to read is a fundamental part of their elementary education, and the teachers presenting had a lot of great information, strategies, and theories when it comes to small group reading instruction. I have already seen improvements in my guided reading instruction after utilizing the materials and knowledge I gained from this meeting.

Overall, this day was a professional learning opportunity for me. As I sat there and engaged in this day, I really started to see myself less as a student teacher and more as a professional educator.

Hello!

This week is my Spring Break, and it is definitely a much needed time of relaxation! I also got my edTPA turned in which is a HUGE weight off my shoulders. I am so happy to finally be able to focus all of my attention to student teaching and enjoy the experience!

As I am thinking about my time in placement so far, some of the most positive experiences are my interactions with the students, and relationships I am building with them.  Believe me when I say, first graders are hilarious. From the beginning of placement, I have put in every effort in order to personally get to know each and every student, from things as small as saying good morning, to things as big as being there for them to discuss personal issues in their life. Listen to what they have to say, show them you care, and celebrate their differences. As I am nearing the end of placement, I am really seeing the positive impacts of these efforts, so I really encourage everyone to set aside time everyday to get to know your students! I have built a relationship with the students where they are excited to come into class and share stories and ideas with me. It is so rewarding to hear things like “You are the best teacher ever!” and “I’m really going to miss you over Spring Break”.

Not everyday is perfect or easy, but having a positive relationships with your students makes learning fun for them, and teaching fun for you!

One of the challenges I have been facing in my classroom placement is the lack of technology.  My previous placements have been fortunate enough to have class sets of chrome books, various iPads, and other resources that could be utilized by students for educational apps, games, quizzes, and other engaging activities. In this placement, however, there are no lap tops, iPads, or anything similar available for student use. The classroom does, however, have an interactive white board and document camera. I have been doing my best to use what we have in order to find fun activities for students to learn from.

Something really cool I was recommended and began using in the classroom is called Plickers. Plickers is a free website/app that teachers can use to create quiz questions in a way that is interactive for students!

How it works: First, sign up on plickers.com and add your class roster. Each student gets assigned a number (In my classroom each student has a class number used for their cubbies, mailboxes, etc. so I assigned them corresponding to their class number). Next, you will print out the Plickers cards (I printed mine on card stock and then laminated them). Each card has the number on it that corresponds to each student, so each student will have their own individualized card. On the card are answer choices A, B, C and D. When a question is presented on the board through the website and your Plickers app, students will then hold up their card with their answer facing upright, and then you are able to scan each students card on your phone so that their answers show up in real time! The website then makes a graph of all student answers, and saves the answers for later viewing. The students LOVE doing this, and it’s a great way to formatively assess students!

For more info on this resource/to sign up, go to: https://www.plickers.com

I did it! I have officially completed my first week of full take-over. I won’t lie, it wasn’t easy. Especially with the added stress of edTPA and other class assignments, staying focused and giving 110% during full take-over can be a challenge. Here are some tips and tricks to get you through the rough start of full take-over!

1. PLANNING AHEAD: I cannot stress enough how important it is to PLAN. Every Friday, I stay after school to plan everything I am going to teach the next week in order to ensure that I am fully prepared. This includes reading through books, preparing materials such as having worksheets printed ahead of time, etc. It definitely feels like a lot at first, but it’s worth it to have everything ready to go when you arrive to school Monday morning. It also makes for more successful lessons when you have thought about critical thinking questions, points for clarification, and other important parts of a lesson ahead of time.  Getting in the habit of preparing everything in advance will be beneficial in the long run for both you and your students.
2. Ask questions!: Even though you are taking over every responsibility, both planning and teaching, it’s sometimes easy to forget that we are STUDENT teachers, and in our placements to learn and soak up as much information as possible! This is still true during full take-over, and I have found it so helpful to continue asking my cooperating teacher questions during full take-over. This is the last time we will have a mentor in the classroom with us, so asking questions about planning, pacing, instruction, classroom management and anything else you are struggling with can still be assisted by your coop!
3. Breath and Reflect: During take-over, you are going to teach so many amazing lessons, and some lessons that are total flops. It is all part of the learning experience, and it’s crucial to your survival that you realize this and learn from it. If your lesson doesn’t go the way as planned, it’s an important skill as an educator to reflect on what went well, and what went wrong in order to make changes for next time. Constant reflection will help you to obtain the most out of this learning experience! And taking a deep breath when things don’t go perfectly 🙂

For this week’s post, I want to give a book recommendation to practicing teachers. The book is called What Great Teachers Do Differently: 17 Things That Matter Most by Todd Whitaker.

This book was a choice among several for our book group project in CI 407. I chose this book because it seemed like it would be the most beneficial to me at this point in my teaching career. With interviews coming up as I search for a full-time teaching position, it’s always good to have in the back of your head what makes you stand out. Now that I am half-way through the book, I can say that I am so happy with my choice! This book gives the insight of a former school teacher and principal, who shares his experiences and advice on what makes a great teacher so great. He describes the beliefs, behaviors, attitudes, and interactions of great teachers and explains what they do differently. The book is easy and enjoyable to read, and really makes you reflect on and evaluate your own teaching.

I’m really looking forward to finishing the book, and I hope that others will take interest in it as well! Here are the other book choices we were offered if you are looking for other books focused on education:

50 Myths and Lies that Threaten America’s Public Schools: The Real Crisis in Education

Holler if You Hear Me: The Education of a Teacher And His Students, Second Edition

“Multiplication is for White People”: Raising Expectations for Other People’s Children

“Why Are All The Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?”: And Other Conversations About Race

The Teacher WhoCcouldn’t Read: One Man’s Triumph Over Illiteracy

Why Can’t U Teach Me 2 Read?: Three Students And a Mayor Put Our Schools to The Test

Letters To A Young Teacher

The Teacher Wars: A History of America’s Most Embattled Profession

The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice Are Undermining Education.

The Flat World and Education: How America’s Commitment to Equity Will Determine Our Future (Multicultural Education)

This week, I was lucky enough to attend a professional development meeting on responding to student behavior. The Behavior Specialist in our district came to discuss how to appropriately respond to negative student behavior, both in crisis situations and everyday, more common scenarios.

One thing that he said that really stuck out to me about behavior management in general is that you do not CONTROL student behavior, you INFLUENCE it. It is impossible to control your students, but what you do to influence their behavior is the best that you can do as an educator.

Another piece of advice he offered was to realize that if a student misbehaves, it is not your fault. Students are going to act how they are going to act, and you need to detach yourself from the behavior by not taking it personally and letting it affect your feelings and reaction. Once you can remove yourself from this idea, you will be a lot more successful in handling the behavior in a calm and effective manner.

The main idea the presenter offered us was to NEVER react in a negative way such as yelling at the student, threatening them, etc. What you SHOULD do, however, is offer the student a choice. Put the fate of their actions in their own hands. For example, you can tell a student “I’m going to give you two choices. The first choice is the right choice, and the second choice is the wrong choice which will follow with (insert consequence here).  You can choose to do (the right choice), or you can choose (the consequence)”. This approach should be calm and patient, and if the student chooses not to make the right choice, it’s important to follow through with the consequence. This is something that can be used with any grade level as the choices and consequences will vary.

In my first grade classroom, we have a lot of students with behavioral needs. My cooperating teacher and I have been practicing offering students the choice to make the right decision, and so far we have seen it working tremendously! It really holds students accountable for their own actions. I hope this helps when you run into some negative behavior within your own classrooms!