1.9.17

• Rate your overall experience of the week: 4
• Seven questions to end your week:
• • Observe: What pleasant surprises / accomplishments did I achieve this week?
    Well, I wasn't expecting my Reading instruction to go as well as it did but it was really a good experience. I was able to make sure my students understood concepts of the new material because I made the lessons fun, and they were staying with me. Also, I have been able to spend a lot of time bonding with my grade level, whether we were working through a inclement weather delay or meeting at grade level.
    
    
  • Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week?
    As I prepare to begin my first full week on Tuesday of next week, I think it's been good to take over lunch and other management duties first. Doing so has allowed me to assert my role as a teacher and build relationships with students within this role. I was always the student teacher, now that I'm really beginning to take over, I am able to show that I mean business.
    
    
  • Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned?
    My short term goal of preparing for student teaching and long term goal of successfully completing student teaching correlate very well, and I have adopted a mindset of "ready or not, here I come" in order to achieve both of these goals.
    
    
  • Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing?
    I definitely want to dedicate more time to sleep, first and foremost, because I have noticed that student teaching (and just teaching in general) is a very demanding job. And I say "job" instead of "internship" or "course" because that is exactly what it is. Many of our peers are in the process of beginning internships, and I feel confident in saying that it is impossible to comprehend how much time and energy is devoted to student teaching until you do it yourself. So I want to sneak sleep in where I can. This will obviously be done by developing a more strict routine of planning after school.
    
    
  • Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do?
    In this in between phase of teaching in my CE's classroom, I am always careful not to overstep my boundaries by any means. I am often apprehensive to do something without my CE's permission, but she has maintained an attitude of open-mindedness for me and I am completely grateful for that. I've also been apprehensive about doing new things in the classroom, especially against my CE's advice. This is primarily because I know how much wisdom my CE has, and how I do not have many of the experiences she has had with trying things out.
    
    
  • Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear?
    Next week is huge for me, because it is my first week of holding everything. I want to take the lengthened weekend to prepare and meditate on the fact that I will start that first week of holding everything.

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions?
• Easy CBM data, DIBELS DAZE and DORF; It helped me further understand my student's instructional gaps
  
  
• What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers?

Keep ahead in your lesson plans!! It is so worth it! It will make your lessons that much stronger the longer you can let it sit and steep for revision before they are due to your CE and University Supervisor. Also, communicate your needs with your CE as they come along.

• NC Teacher Candidate Standards (be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer)
• • Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
    It's been a newfound world for me to immerse myself in the teacher world, and with all of our PLC and Grade Level meetings, I've really enjoyed getting involved at my clinical school and becoming part of the family. I requested to be put on our school's email list, so that got done as well. I've also made it a point to be a leader to my students, and show I care for them.
    
    
  • Pick an element from standard two of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
    My school has a very diverse element, and I've been fortunate enough to immerse myself in it over the past school year thus far. Part of NCTCS 2 is adapting for students with a variety of needs, and especially in my ELA lesson about making connections, I tried to use examples that the audience of students I had would relate with. Our grade level has also organized a Hospice Supply drive, which I feel relates to standard 2B.
    
    
  • Pick an element from standard three of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
    I've grown stronger in my content knowledge for sure. I also have gotten really creative with some ideas on how to integrate science and social studies since we don't have dedicated lesson time for those two sections. My CE also got me a Cleveland County Schools 4th grade standard book, and I've been researching in that this week. It's good to have everything I need in one book.
    
    
  • Pick an element from standard four of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
    I've been balancing how my CE teaches and how I teach just because I'm taking more control in the classroom. I've also had to balance my positive and negative behavior reinforcements. My students worked in teams quite a bit this week, specifically when we did a table challenge while reviewing Author's Purpose Task Cards.
    
    
  • Pick an element from standard five of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
    Reflection has always been important in my educational career thus far, but I've definitely been reflecting more on my teaching practices. I've found it really useful to take my commute to and from school to think about everything that has gone on/will go on in the school that day. It's helped a lot to avoid silly mistakes, which is ironic because Im always telling my students to do that.
    
    
• Other:
• • What components of your portfolio have you started to complete?
    I've begun to record myself teaching for the video purposes, as well as set up my classroom website.
    
    
  • What support does your clinical educator need from your university supervisor?
    None at this time

    
    

  • What support do you need from your university supervisor?
  • None at this time