Journet Week 6

1.                                                                                                                                                                 This week has been very busy and off schedule.  The small guided reading groups have not met in the morning due to STEP Testing, and an observation.  My cooperating teacher and the learning specialist were testing on Wednesday and Friday.  On those 2 days, I pretty much ran the show as the main teacher, while the sub took more of a supporting role.  I really like that my cooperating teacher has full faith in me.  This inspires me to do my best.    On Monday, we took some time to create the students portfolios of graded quizzes and tests.  The portfolios were sent home along with the students report cards.  I did get to teach a lesson on Black History were I read the book The First Step.  The kids were very engaged and eager to learn more about the Civil Rights  and how the laws were unfair.  We held a discussion about how the main character Sarah Roberts felt about being escorted out of her classroom at about 5 years old by a white police officer.  They compared her story to Ruby Bridges story.  They also did research on a famous African American person of their choice and wrote a paper summary or sent me a google doc summary of their work.                                                                              Tuesday was not a typical day either because the learning specialist was being observed and instead of guided reading, we had a whole group Language Arts Lesson in which I took more of a supporting role.  This Language arts lesson was perfect especially since the we read The First Step (Monday).  The lesson was about reading strategies and the book that was read aloud was Henry's Box.  By observing this lesson it taught me how I can incorporate Social Studies into Language Arts.  The kids made some great points and used some of the words that they learned about during my Social Studies lesson such as, ally and desegregation.                                                                                       Wednesday was very busy for me because my cooperating teacher was testing.  This gave me the opportunity to teach science and I am really loving the scholastic lesson plans and especially the online resources that she uses.  Being a techie teacher, I am able to project the article on the smart board and show a 4 min summary video.  We were also able to work on the assignments together.  The kids were loving it.  I really love the feature were I can print out the article at a lower lexile level for my struggling readers. Standard 3- Differentiated instruction 7G)  The competent teacher understands how to make data-driven decisions using assessment results to adjust practices to meet the needs of each student)  There are some hands on science experiments that I can't wait to do with them.  They even have a choice of giving the studnets a comprehension test on google docs or on paper.   https://goo.gl/forms/XlbvOZ56L8sm5rlb2                                                                                                                                       
   

   

   I love how colorful the magazines are.  The students find the articles very engaging.

   

   The activity sheets help the students with different skills.  This one teaches them how to read a diagram.

                                                                                               I did teach math today.  We have finished our Money Unit and are now transitioning to Multiplication and Division.  I feel that I had a great hands on activity for the math small group activity.  I started with a 10 minute whole group lesson on the carpet and then moved the students to work in small groups at their table.  I gave them each a plate to represent the set or group and I pour some pretzels ( school approved snack) in the middle.  I had them take turns taking one pretzel until they were all distributed among each other.  I wanted them to understand that they were sharing or dividing a certain amount of pretzels.  They really loved it.  There was a healthy amount of conversational noise as the kids counted how much pretzels they each had, then they added the total to come up with a division sentence like 24 pretzels divided by 3 students.  I think it went very well.  The students gave me great feedback. Standard 5- Instruction Delivery 5F) The competent knows strategies to maximize student attentiveness and engagement)                                                                                 

   

   This is an example of the sharing/diving activity  that the students worked on.

                                                                                                                     I think we can infer how Valentine Day went.  No testing was done on this day.  I taught the second part of the science lesson.  The students also liked this lesson and learning about emotions and parts of the brain.  I didn't think they would be interested in the anatomy of the brain but they were really into it.  They really got engaged in the part were they shared about a strong emotion that they have felt and how their body looked.  I think I could have incorporated a turn and talk activity because at one point all the students wanted to share and I did called on every single student.  This was a bit time consuming.  Midway through I realized that I should have done a turn and talk to save me some time while allowing all of them to speak.  At Trinity, I learned all about this activity and others like it.  I just realized that I should use this strategy more often so that all students can benefit including my ELL students, who need practice with academic language.  Two unexpected things happened today.  Our prep was cancelled and a music program came to teach music.  I did not get to teach Math today.  The unexpected turns of today cause my cooperating teacher and I to burst into laughter.  She said she was happy that I was able to witness a day like today when nothing might go as planned.  We also integrated a "Valentine Party."  The kids loved it.  I also brought them cards and some slime which they loved.  They were thankful.  My cooperating teacher brought me a rainbow cupcake and I brought her a some sweets as well. The kids were so eager to pass out their Valentine cards and so was I.                                                                               Today (Friday) was another day of testing for the teachers and I ran pretty much ran the show.  The last three days I have been teaching non stop and I am realizing how as a teacher you have to have a third eye, trust your gut, be fun yet stern.  Today I taught Science and Math.  I feel like I over worked the students too much.   None of them complained but I realized that I did not offer them too many brain breaks.  In Science they learned about the elephant population declining in Kenya and how drought plays a factor in this along with poachers.  Once again, I incorporated Language Arts strategies like finding non fiction text features in the scholastic science article. (The Competent Teacher 2D) understands the relationship of knowledge within the disciplines to other content areas and to life applications)  My CP gave me suggestions on how to have the students search for nonfiction text features within the article.  I am learning so much.  I feel that this week has given me a good sense of what teaching is all about.  I did a lot of grading during my lunch and prep today.  I was able to reflect on my lessons based on how well the students did or did not do.                                                                                                                                                                                                                What I hope to learn this week is how to let the assessment guide my teaching.  I have been reflecting on the students grades and sometimes I feel that if many of them got the same thing wrong that maybe I didn't teach it in a clear way or maybe I could have checked for understanding. In the week to come I will give more brain breaks and also use integrate more turn and talk lessons. (7G- Assessments: The competent teacher understands how to make data-driven decisions using assessment results to adjust practices to meet the needs of each student)  

           My goals for this upcoming week is to have 2 out of my 3 EDTPA lessons taught and recorded.  I am nervous but I just have to get it done. Next week we only have 4 days because we get Presidents Day off.  My goal is to record my lessons on the 20th, 21st and 22nd of February.  So that if I need to retape anything I can get it done before March 8th.