Journet Week 7

           This week I have felt very comfortable teaching.  I have found my “groove” in teaching.  I have taught interdisciplinary lessons that combine science with language arts, social studies  and language arts, specifically about Black History and I have also continued the math lessons.  This was the week that I thought to myself,  I can do this.  I can teach students.  I understand the rhythm of the school day as a teacher.  I know that it does take a lot of work, but it is exactly where I am called to be.  I have been excited about incorporating black history with language arts.  I had the students research a famous African American  person who was a catalyst for change.  I am very proud of this lesson/unit because first I gave the students a choice in picking who they wanted to research.                                                       

Second, gave each student a differentiated article according to their reading level.  I also incorporated 1 read aloud  Chapter book called THE First Step about segregation in schools and steps taken to change that in the 1850’s.  I also started a read aloud chapter book on the life of Harriet Tubman.  All of this learning has a strong emphasis on Social Emotional Learning and how to be respectful to others.  Each day we watched a brain pop jr video on different people like Martin Luther King, Rosa Parks, and Ruby Bridges.  I have seen how engaged students can be in conversations about unfair laws.  They didn’t want to take a break from reading about the life of Harriet Tubman aka Minty as one student pointed out. We culminated by having the students write a summary of the research they did and also by answering some questions about the life of the person they chose using the reading strategy R.A.T.E.  Rephrase the question, respond to the answer, Give Text evidence, Explain your answer.  Standard 5 - Instructional Delivery –The Competent Teacher 5C) knows how to implement effective differentiated instruction through the use of a wide variety of materials, technologies, and resources;   

            My cooperating Teacher has been testing this week but still in the classroom.  She continues to support me in giving me the freedom to teach.  I review my plans and intentions for the week or day, she offers feedback and suggestions.  She continues to have faith in my teaching and instructional delivery methods.  I can truly soar as a teacher in her classroom and if I don’t it is because of my own limits that I place on myself.  The learning specialist has also been testing this week, so we have not been able to run our guided reading groups as we would normally do.  I feel that even though the teachers have been testing, I have held down the fort by keeping to a semi normal teaching schedule and I feel that the students that are not testing have benefited from my continuous lessons on math, social studies, science and the weaving of language arts. 

            I recorded 2 lessons this week for my edTpa.  My CP helped with the camera to make sure it was running smoothly.  My camera has been turning off.  On Friday I almost cried because I could not find the adapter that connect my laptop to the smartboard and that I normally use for my math lessons.  Also, did not want to miss out on recording today.  My CP saw me in distress and pretty much talked me out of a panic state.  I was able to get it together and borrow someone else’s adapter.  Then my battery was low, and I had to stall my lesson a bit in order to record.  Finally, when I did record my sd card ran out of room,  I was sure that I was prepared in all of these areas.  In the end it wasn’t horrible, I managed to get about 20 mins of video.   

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?

While teaching math this week, I gained a personal insight.  I taught a whole math unit on money that included 2 quizzes and unit test.  We have since switched over to a new unit on division.  My personal insight was on how the lessons build on each other and even though I am not reinventing the wheel in my lesson planning, I can see how the lessons start off very basic.  For example, in our division unit, even the academic language that is used is very basic.  It uses the word “sharing” for dividing.  This way the students can see that division is just another word for sharing.  It was very nice to be able to refer to previous lesson to remind students about their learning.  I have also used brain pop jr videos that are so helpful for my ELL and struggling students.  They summarize my lessons in a 4-minute nutshell.  Standard 5- Instructional delivery 5N) uses technology to accomplish differentiated instructional objectives that enhance learning for each student)  I also made anchor charts to go with this math unit and in it I used the word sharing/dividing so that the students can continue to associate sharing with dividing.

Standard 2 - Content Area and Pedagogical Knowledge (The competent teacher 2M) uses a variety of explanations and multiple representations of concepts that capture key ideas to help each student develop conceptual understanding and address common misunderstandings)

 

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?

Things that I would do differently next week is being a sterner with my students.  They interrupt often in my lesson and it is usually something that is not related to the lesson.  I must learn techniques on how to not have them go on and on especially when it isn’t relevant to a lesson.  We are getting better at our hallway behavior.  I don’t move the line unless we are at a level zero noise. (Standard 4 - Learning Environment –The competent teacher 4O) uses a variety of effective behavioral management techniques appropriate to the needs of all students that include positive behavior interventions and supports) I have a bittersweet feeling as this next week is my last full week of teaching 3^rd grade.  The last week I pass the baton back to my Cooperating Teacher.  I have learned so much. 

 

Goals for the next week:

• Continue to write for my edTPA.  This week’s focus is mainly edTpa related.  I am feeling the pressure of getting it done right.  I know that Trinity has trained me well but I just want to have done and ready.
• I will choose my footage for edTpa.
• I will record another 2 lessons this week so that I can have a lot of video footage. 
• I will make sure to gather as much student work for my assessments.