Week Three Reflection

 

• Rate and explain your overall experience of the week 1-very difficult to 5-great week
• I had the most fabulous week yet! This week is a 5 for sure! I taught my EdTPA Lessons this week. I included fun activities at the end of the lessons. EdTPA is a lot for the students just like it is for us student teachers. For one of the fun activities, I allowed students to draw on rainbow scratch paper. The picture you see above is a picture/note that one of my kiddos drew for me. My Students struggle with the "Sw" blend in my name, so frequently my name is said and spelled uniquely! The picture/note was so precious and made me smile from ear to ear, so I wanted to share it with everyone! 

• Respond to these questions to end your week: 
• Observe: What pleasant surprises/accomplishments did I achieve this week? 
• I have 2 EC students. Usually, these students score in the red, sometimes the yellow, on reading horizons. I taught Reading Horizons this week. BOTH of my EC students scored in the green on at least 1 or 2 of the Reading Horizons lessons! I was incredibly proud of these students and made sure to tell them that one-on-one! I felt like I actually made a difference in their learning. 
• Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week. 
• This week, I really buckled down on some classroom management techniques that are similar to my CEs. Up until now, I have been very light and easygoing. Because of this, some of my students wanted to play around during instructional time. At first, I tried to brush it off thinking the behavior would dissolve. It did not. So, I began to get a little stricter. Not mean, but I addressed and corrected behaviors which in turn led to better scores on assignments. I felt bad at first for having to toughen up with the students, but it is paying off in the long run. I was worried they would begin to dislike me, but even after being tougher, I still got a ton of hugs from my students this week! 
• Focus: How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned? 
• My short-term efforts of perfecting and increasing my classroom management strategies are aligned with my long-term goal of teaching students so that they excel. As I mentioned earlier, my students began to play around during lessons. I had to toughen up on them. I am not the best at classroom management when it comes to correcting behaviors because I fear that I will come off as mean, but I have finally found ways to toughen up without thinking that I am being mean. This in turn led to my students doing very well on assessments! As I said earlier, 2 students who do not typically score in the green DID score in the green- that is a win for me!!!
• Be productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing? 
• I taught my EdTPA Lessons this week. I was so focused on those lessons that I did not spend as much time reviewing other lessons for the week. The other lessons did go well, but I wish I had spent more time reviewing those lessons before teaching them. 
• Have courage: How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and did not do?
• Apprehension played a big part in my classroom management. At the beginning of the week and the previous weeks, I was so worried about discipline and correction. For one, I did not want to overstep my CE in her classroom. I talked to my dad about this for a long time. He told me that my CE is looking to me to lead her classroom, and that includes doing the hard parts like discipline and correction. This changed the way I looked at things. Secondly, I was worried that my students would begin to dislike me because I was being tough. At the end of the week when I really buckled down on being tough, my students still hugged me before they left. One student went as far as to say that I was the best teacher ever! That really made my heart happy. 
• Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear? 
• Looking to next week, my first logical step is to review lesson plans for this week so that I feel solid about teaching them. My second logical step is to begin preparing for parent-teacher conferences. At the next parent-teacher conference, the topic of retention will be discussed for some students. I do not exactly know how to go about this, but my CE and I agreed to do this part together because I am not comfortable discussing that with parents at this point. My CE is wonderful and always knows exactly how to help in any situation. 

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help to inform instructional decisions? 
• Some of the data I analyzed this week came from DIBELS and Star assessments. Students were reassessed to compare the beginning of the year data to now. With this data, students have been assigned to new WIN groups. We will begin with new WIN groups this week. My grade level even went as far as to assign me my very own WIN group! I will have high-flyer students. The way it was described to me was that I would have the students who are one step down from being placed in AIG. I am very happy about this! 

• What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers? 
• One piece of advice I can share with other students teachers is not to be afraid to do the "hard" things. Buckling down on classroom management was hard and scary for me, but I did it, and I am so glad I did! 

• NC Teacher Candidate Standards:
• Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tools and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. 
• From standard one, I feel as if I demonstrated teachers lead in their classrooms the most. Classroom management was a big task for me this week, but I eventually found a way to do it which made class time run so much smoother. 
• Pick an element from standard two of the evaluation tools and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. 
• From standard two, I feel as if I demonstrated teachers providing an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. As much as I talked about buckling down on classroom management this week, I also made sure that I gave out extra love and attention to ensure that students knew I still cared for them.  
• Pick an element from standard three of the evaluation tools and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
• From standard three, I feel as if I demonstrated teachers aligning their instruction to the North Carolina Standard Course of Study the most. This week, I picked up almost everything. I had a lot of teaching and lesson planning to do this past week. I was not sure about how to go about doing some of it, but I found a way to make it work! 
• Pick an element from standard four of the evaluation tools and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. 
• From standard four, I feel as if I demonstrated teachers communicating effectively the most. With classroom management, I found that sometimes the best way to address behavior is by doing so directly. I had to directly talk to students about actions and explain why we could/could not do something. 
• Pick an element from standard five of the evaluation tools and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. 
• From standard five, I feel as if I demonstrated teachers analyzing student learning the most. As I talked about earlier, new data was reviewed to assign new WIN groups. This data was carefully analyzed for each student in the school. That is A LOT of data! This data was very beneficial as it gave teachers an insight into what students have progressed in as well as what they need now. 

• Other: 
• What components of your EdTPA and portfolio have you started to complete? 
• I videoed my EdTPA lessons this week. My students did very well! They performed incredibly well on the assessment! 
• What support does your clinical educator need from your university supervisor? 
• My CE does not need anything from my university supervisor right now. 
• What support do you need from your university supervisor?
• I feel as if I am doing well so I do not need much support from my university supervisor right now. I just ask for encouragement and patience at this time! My university supervisor is wonderful and truly understands what it is like to learn to be a teacher. There is a lot to learn! 

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If you need a good laugh, I have some cheesy jokes for you! Check back every week for a new joke! 

This week's joke: 

• Why did the chicken cross the road?

Answer down below↓

Be-CAW-se