Journet-Week 1

       First Week Experience:

           On my first day of student teaching my host teacher was absent due to medical reasons.  The substitute and I read the sub plans and then headed down to pick up the kids and their breakfast.  He introduced himself  as the sub and I reintroduced myself as their new student teacher.  They were anticipating my arrival.  We led the 3rd grade students through their daily schedule.  The students were very respectful and excited about my being there.  I followed the lead of the substitute for the most part.  After their math block I agreed to read a few chapters of the chapter book that they are reading.  They were on chapter 4 of Tiger Rising.  They really enjoyed the read aloud and they were very attentive.  I read 3 chapters and they convinced me to read one more.  It was so hard to say no to a group of students wanting me to read just one more chapter.  I asked the substitute and he said we had time for one more chapter and the students cheered.  As I finished reading the 4th chapter I realized that I should have asked some questions to gage their comprehension.  In retrospect I wish that I would have asked them to tell me about what happened in the first 2 chapters before I read.  When I thought about it we were out of time and I didn't have a chance to verbally summarize what we read.

         This week I also helped with attendance, picking up and dropping of the students during transitions.  I reviewed the curriculum for math which is Jump Math 3.  I reviewed the guiding reading lessons.  I observed the daily routine and the procedures of the classroom.  In the morning the general education and the special education teachers manage guided reading until 10 am.  I had a chance to sit in during their small groups to see how they run guided reading.  The teacher has great behavior management skills and routines already in place.  I was part of a peace circle which really reminded me of how good hearted the kids are and how they incorporate the restorative practices taught by their teacher.

What did you learn in terms of new idea’s concepts, techniques, strategies, best practices? Did you have any personal insights about teaching, student learning, teacher or student role, or new connections?

I learned that kids want to be challenged.  I have seen how eager they are to learn.   While observing during math, I learned a technique in introducing vocabulary. As the teacher was teaching them about finding the perimeter, she explained that peri means around and meter means measure.  The students had an aha moment.  Now they knew not just how to find the perimeter but they had meaning behind the math terms and It made more sense.  This strategy taught me not to introduce vocabulary separately. Instead I will link the vocabulary words with the concept as I teach the new terms and concepts. As a new teacher my inclination was to pre-teach the vocabulary terms and then refer to them as we learn the concepts. The way the teacher did it was very effective without bombarding the students with many vocabulary words at one moment. CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.D.8 (Perimeter 3rd Grade math Standard)
The teacher also explained Unit Square and how you can find the area and the perimeter. CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.3.MD.C.5.A
A square with side length 1 unit, called "a unit square," is said to have "one square unit" of area, and can be used to measure area.

A best practice: The teacher does a lot of character development during her lessons.  I had a personal insight while she was teaching, she noticed that a student was visually upset.  As a result, the student was not paying attention to the lesson. She paused for a minute and quietly asked if the student was ok.   He shared that something happened during recess that really upset him. She paused everything to address the situation, yet did not take too much of the class time. She was able to address the situation while incorporating the Social Emotional Learning Standard SEL2D.2b D. Demonstrate an ability to prevent, manage, and resolve interpersonal conflicts in constructive ways. 2D.2b. Apply constructive approaches in resolving conflicts.   

 In this small moment, the student felt heard and validated. After this interaction, she could continue teaching with this one student’s attention as well. This expressed to me that she cared about the students.  I was reflecting on my own tendency to want to only stay focused on teaching the lesson, and potentially come back to the student later, after the moment. But by taking my approach that student would have missed the entire lesson because of being upset.   I learned that it's important to see your students and it may be better to take a moment with the student rather than ignore and try to move forward with the lesson. The teacher was able to both validate the student and teach in the same moment.

Another personal insight that was, not new but reinforced, is that it is important to make the lesson fun.
The teacher’s tone and energy impacts the lesson and the students.  It is important to have fun.
As a new teacher, it is easy to be preoccupied with making sure students learn the concept that sometimes
we don’t think to incorporate fun energy, through a joke or a game.  These practices keep students engaged
and excited about what they are learning.

What do you hope to learn or discover about your teacher or student learning in the week ahead? What
might you do differently now based on your experiences than you would have done previously?

I want to learn how to manage my time.  I find that I don’t have enough time for all planned activities
because one activity may take longer than expected.  I want to learn how to better manage this dynamic
without rushing through the lesson plan to complete all the activities.  I want to learn about pacing in such
way that students can engage with the lesson as much as possible. For example, I want to be able to make
decision in the moment to extend the lesson into the next day instead of cramming too much into a 50-minute slot.

Goals for the next week:

• Teach guided reading group
• I will be learning the NWEA exam structure because students are testing all week.  I want to take this opportunity to learn about the process of testing. This includes best practices, such as bathroom breaks and snack during the exam.
• My cooperating teacher and I discussed the possibility of teaching a math lesson this coming week.  I expect to teach this lesson. This will be an opportunity to practice time management, while keeping the lesson active and fun.
• In two weeks I may begin teaching science lessons.