Week Ten Reflection

 

• Rate and explain your overall week: 
• Overall, I would give this week a 4. The check-in meeting we had yesterday took 1 point off my week because it quite simply stressed me out. My kids were great this week and I feel like I did a great job teaching! I also had a walk-through done on me by the Principal which went very well! 

• Respond to these questions to end your week: 
• Observe: What pleasant surprises/accomplishments did I achieve this week? 
• On Monday, I was informally observed by the Principal through a walkthrough. I had no idea this was going to happen and really was not prepared. However, I just did what I would normally do and taught and redirected my kids as I normally do and it went well! The principal sent over her feedback and I was pleasantly surprised. 
• Reflect: What did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week? 
• I learned that it is okay to correct and redirect behavior in front of major authority figures. For so long, I struggled to show my classroom management when major authority figures ( principal and assistant principal) were around because 1. I am still a guest in this school and not actually a teacher, 2. I did not want them to think I was being mean to the kids and 3. I did not want to overstep the authority figures if they had already given punishments and reprimands for behaviors that I was just now seeing. I had to redirect a student for playing with her paper while the principal was doing her walkthrough on me. My CE later told me that she was SO glad I did that because the principal always told my CE to back off and let me handle behaviors. From this experience, I can carry my classroom management style beyond the classroom as well as when there are guests in the classroom. 
• Focus: How are my short-term efforts aligned with my long-term goals? 
• I am working on learning everything that I can from my CE now because I think she is wonderful and my long-term goal is to be a great teacher like her. 
• Be productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing? 
• I could have spent more time working on things for the portfolio, however, some things I just found out about/remembered so now I really need to buckle down on getting things started and going. 
• Have courage: How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and did not do? 
• I participated in K-day this week. I was apprehensive about this because I was assigned to be a facilitator. K-day is when future Kindergarteners come to be assessed. I was assigned as a facilitator in domain #4 which had to do with listening and paying attention to a nursery rhyme book. I, the facilitator, read the book and asked some questions to the students while they flipped through, wrote their names, and colored on the book. My CE was my partner and she was the assessor, so she was filling out papers while I was facilitating. I was nervous, but I asked lots of questions and eventually got things figured out and everything went very smoothly! 
• Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? 
• Figure out what I need to do and get caught up on this portfolio. 

• What were some data you analyzed this week? 
• Some of the data I analyzed this week came from a Reading Horizons Multi-Skill check. This is a skills check they complete after they've completed a few lessons. It is sort of like a test but we do not call it a test nor does it go into the grade book. I analyzed student data and reassigned them as needed. 

• What is one piece of advice you wish to share with other student teachers? 
• Do not be afraid to be a part of a special day, like K-day, if they ask you to. It was scary at first because I had no clue what I was doing, but it turned out to be really fun! I got to meet a bunch of the future kiddos of my school and whew, they were something else! Overall, just have fun. This is an extremely stressful time right now but whatever happens now will just happen because if the lord wants us to be a teacher then he will make it happen. 

NC Teacher Candidate Standards: 

• Standard 1: I demonstrated teachers leading the classroom as I am currently student teaching and leading the classroom. 
• Standard 2: I demonstrated treating students as individuals by looking at individual student behaviors before rewarding a positive note home to one student. 
• Standard 3: I demonstrated aligning my lessons to the NCSCOS as all my lessons had standards attached. 
• Standard 4: I demonstrated planning instruction that was appropriate for my students as we did things that they could developmentally understand. 
• Standard 5: I demonstrated teachers analyzing student learning throughout the week with skills checks on reading horizons. 

• Others: 
• What components of your EdTPA and portfolio have you started to complete? 
• EdTPA is submitted thank God. I am waiting on the results now. As for the portfolio, I have a good parent communication log going. I am working on gathering and figuring out what else I need to do for the Portfolio. The meeting yesterday was helpful however I wish these things would have been discussed earlier if we were supposed to have already been working on it. It is okay though, as teachers we must be flexible and make things work! 
• What support does my CE need from my US right now? 
• No support 
• What support do I need from my US right now? 
• Kind words, encouragement, and motivation. I am struggling. I feel like every time I get one major thing done 2 other major things pop up. It is all too much and I am extremely overwhelmed every single week with something new. It is not my elementary school that is overwhelming me, it is Gardenr-Webb. My supervisor is great and helps me every way she can, and does not get annoyed with my hundreds of phone calls, but it is just too much and my brain cannot take much more. 

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This week's joke: 

Why were the fish's grades bad? 

Answer down below↓

Because he was below sea level