Blog Post: March 1st

Week Reflection 

During this week, I would rate my week about a 2! Again, after this upcoming week with submitting edTPA, I will be able to put back up a 4 or 5 for a great week! I just feel so stressed to get everything done, but I know it is possible! This week I was able to lead the students in a unit review prepare the students for their unit test! This is something that I have never been able to do before! I have not been in a classroom long enough to teach a unit and then for the students to test on it! I am very anxious to see their test scores on Friday and see how they were able to do! Next week we are starting "book clubs" where our guided reading groups are getting their own book and they are going to be working with their own leveled book and reading the book throughout the rest of my student teaching! This is something that took a lot of effort and pre-planning and will continue to take a lot of effort and planning but something that my students LOVE and are really looking forward too. I can spend more time this weekend finalizing edTPA and really making sure all my ducks are in a row and ready to submit on Tuesday! I can have the courage that I WILL PASS EDTPA. I CAN DO IT. :) My mental clutter will be drastically smaller once edTPA is over and I will be less stressed and have more time to focus on my lesson plans and portfolio. I analyzed data during my WIN time. Some of my students were ready to go onto the more complex area and perimeter problems and others were Not. During this time I made sure that the students were working on problems that they were ready for! What I can share for advice: edTPA will all be over soon and we are going to be able to have a big sigh of relief!

NCTCS

• Standard 1
• 1A: During this week I was able to continue to use my doorbell to get my students attention and for them to not be talking while I am talking. This is something that my students are LOVING and they are really responding well to. 
• Standard 2
• 2E: This week I was able to get the Gardner-Webb University Police Officer to come and talk to my students and read them a book about being kind to each other! This is something my students thought was so fun and exciting! They loved hearing from someone in the community and having the ability to ask questions and answer questions.
• Standard 3
• 3A: During this week I was able to really focus the students in math by reviewing key vocabulary words and incorporating literacy into math. This allows the students to really think about what they are working on and how that can help them then apply the information within a math problem. 
• Standard 4
• 4C: I was able to incorporate 4C by having the students use collaboration, technology, individual work, as well as group work. Students were able to get a variety of instructional materials throughout the week. 
• Standard 5
• 5B: Throughout this week I was able to really apply what I have learned within PDP days and really try to incorporate those in my classroom! This week I made the lesson plans that specifically incorporated activities that I learned within my PDP days at the school!

Other

This week I have focused alot of time on the edTPA section of my portfolio.
I do not have any comments. :)

Blog Post: Feb 22

Week Reflection

This week I would rate the week a 3! It was a difficult week just for getting everything done. I taught my reengagement lesson for edTPA as well as finishing lesson plans and trying to work on edTPA! Besides still not having enough time in the day, I had a good week besides that. I have a lot of students absent because of sickness, so make sure that you are taking Vitamin C and getting the correct medicine that you need! During this week I will build upon my "signal" for getting my students attention! I got a remote control doorbell off amazon that hopefully will get my students attention when they are going to be too loud or I need to say something. I hope this will help my long term of being a leader in my classroom and making sure that I am always keeping my classroom attention and focusing on the students and keeping a safe and orderly classroom.  I need to spend more time with edTPA and really focusing on getting that done this weekend and into next week! That is definitely my focus and the logical steps that I need to focus on. Some data that I analyzed is that my students were not really understanding comparing fractions on a number line and they were not doing well with placing each mixed number on a number line. This is something we ended up breaking down and really taking it to step by step the next day in order to fully break it down and really understand the information by going through each step and how they can break it down and go slowly. 

My advice is that WE CAN DO EDTPA!!! WE GOT THIS!!! 

NC Standards

• Standard 1
• This week with my remote control doorbell being introduced on Friday, I will be trying to complete standard 1A which creating a safe and orderly classroom. 
• Standard 2
• This week I completed 2D when I talked to the nurse in depth and other specials teachers when one student had to be sent to the office for a medical issue and he stayed there the rest of the day. During this time the nurse talked to parents about how to help the student and I was able to take a roll in that and really have help in the situation which was a great feeling! 
• Standard 3
• This week I have completed 3C which discusses global awareness. Students have learned about China and how they have polluted the environment and they are going to be comparing this during the Google slide presentation! 
• Standard 4
• This week I have completed 4F and the students have to create a google slide presentation for NC Natural Resources. The students are working in groups and each student has their own specific roles. 
• Standard 5
• This week I have been able to complete standard 5B because I was able to sit in on a professional growth seminar that discussed behavior so it was really interesting to see and hear ideas on how to decrease behavior issues within the classroom! 

Other

This week I have taught my reengagement lesson and really trying to get edTPA finished and ready for submission date!

Blog Post: Feb 15th

Overall Reflection 

This week I would rate I this week a 2. This week was pretty difficult because I have had to spend more time with edTPA and I feel like it was very hard to balance edTPA with lesson planning and what I need to be doing within the classroom to prepare. I would love if I could just add two hours to each day and that would have helped a ton this week! This week my pleasant surprises were my students understanding their North Carolina Cherokee Indians information within social studies time. My students loved to learn about this and they were able to successfully compare the Cherokee Indians to how we live our lives today. Next week we are going to continue to go more in-depth with fractions, and this is something that is still going to be new for my students. My short term goal and long term goal of staying organized have really been stressed this week, but in the future, I am going to do my best with time management and getting ahead as early as I can. This week I could have spent more time on everything, to be honest. This week we had professional development after school and then robotics so my time that I normally was working on my lessons and edTPA I did not have. This added to my stress of this week and getting everything done. For next week, I can get as many things done this weekend as I can. I can try to get everything ahead for the week so I do not have to focus during the week as much as I should at the end of the week. This week they took their math test on comparing and adding fractions. Students did well with adding fractions and subtracting fractions but could use more work with comparing fractions. This is something that students will work on during WIN time as well as during fluency review. 

Advice: I learned that Valentine's Day is a HUGE day for our students. They LOVE this day and this day can be very chaotic sometimes but also such a day to enjoy with your students!! 

NC Standards

• Standard 1 
• During this week I was able to implement 1C by attending a PD day on Word Study and how you can incorporate activities dealing with vocabulary and phonics. 
• Standard 2
•  During this week I was able to incorporate 2B by working through the culture of the Cherokee Indians and then comparing that to our culture now by asking specific questions about why and how we are different. Students were really able to see how we are very different now than how we were then. 
• Standard 3 
• This week I was able to incorporate standard 3D. I was able to incorporate a science experiment and have the students use magnets and get to explore with magnets and how some metals are magnetic and others are not as well as how magnets can create movement through the magnetic fields. My students LOVE magnets and this is something they all loved to work through and accomplish. 
• Standard 4 
• During this week I was able to incorporate standard 4D which talks about technology within the classroom. Students were able to work with kahoot during this week as well as working with a website called Study Island! 
• Standard 5
• During this week I was able to incorporate standard 5B which discusses how you can continually go to professional development and continue to learn and professionally grow. 

Other

During this week I was able to continue working on the professional development log as well continued to work on the classroom website. I do not need anything from my university supervisor. 

Blog: February 8th

This Week

Throughout this week, I would rate it a good 3! I have been sick this week and under the weather. I tried to fight it out but went to the doctor after school today and got medicine! Hopefully, I will start to feel better and be on the up and up! I would say that is really the only thing that I was struggling with this week. My students have learned this week about inferences and textual evidence. This was something that was so fun to teach and for my students to learn about! The students really excelled in this and were able to understand the information! Students will continue to use textual evidence and inferencing throughout the rest of my time student teaching. Next week, they are going to be learning about cause and effect and sequencing! My short term goal of getting my video clips cut and ready to write my instruction commentary for EdTPA have been done so that is exciting! Now I can continue to look forward and stay organized and on top of things! This week, I could have spent more time taking care of myself. I feel like I get so overwhelmed with everything that I have to do, but I do not take time for myself. I really should have gone to the doctor on Tuesday, but better late than never I guess. :) During this week, I was able to become more comfortable with the students. This is something that really shines within my lessons. My students were able to really be able to understand the information by me bringing in some jokes and sayings that are going to have the students really think about what they are working on. For next week, my goal is to continue being confident and a leader within the classroom and continue to really pour into the lives of my students. 

My advice for fellow student teachers: If you are sick go get medicine! Do not put it off like I did- you will be feeling better faster and that is what your students need!!! 

During this week, I have been able to analyze data within my math edTPA segment as well as during ELA time during inferencing. This is something that I was able to really help with my instruction for the next few days. For example, my students were really starting to understand inferencing and showing that they can correctly make inferences so later in the week, I did not spend as much time reviewing it as I would have if they were struggling with the information still. 

North Carolina Standard

• Standard 1
• Throughout this week I was able to implement 1A. I was able to use a variety of assessments to evaluate the students. This week they were able to play a game with popsicle sticks that showed their understanding of adding and subtracting fractions! This is something that my students loved and something that was different than the normal Eureka that they have been used to. 
• Standard 2
• This week I was able to implement standard 2C dealing with high school graduation and even college. Students were able to see my timeline "Road to Graduation" and then the students were able to make their own as well as present it to the class. It is so fun to hear about the dreams of my students going forward and how I am having an impact on them now to achieve that goal. 
• Standard 3
• This week I was able to make instruction relevant for the students. (3D). During my inference lesson, students were making inferences about pictures. This lesson was on Monday and the day after the Superbowl. One of the pictures was the Patriots player in the endzone celebrating after a touchdown. Students loved this because this was something that was relevant for them and something that they all spent time going over.  
• Standard 4
• During this week I implemented standard 4D which states "Teachers integrate and utilize technology in their instruction".  This week I have really been trying to let students model information within math and within WIN time where they are coming up and interacting with the smartboard. This is something that the students love to do and they all want to come up to the board and solve the problem.  
• Standard 5
• During this week I was able to implement standard 5A on analyzing student learning. I was able to use exit tickets as well as other means of assessment to really make sure that my students were understanding the lessons and really able to show their learning. 

Other

I do not need anything from my university supervisor or my clinical educator. I have started to complete my math edTPA this week for my portfolio!!

Blog: February 1st

Overall Week

This week was an interesting week! The workload is VERY heavy this week as well as filming for edTPA I feel like I have focused on that this week. I would give this week a 2 because trying to balance everything has been very overwhelming! I was surprised at how well they were able to understand my edTPA unit and how they were able to really comprehend the material. I will continue to build on my students understanding of fractions as we continue to learn about fractions. Students are still struggling with this topic and will continue to need more guidance on this. My long term goals are aligned by making sure that I  am changing my instruction for data purposes and really being a leader in the classroom. I could have spent more time focusing on the other subject lessons when planning this week ( I was mostly focused on English for edTPA). I had more courage this week with discipline still. My students were really trying to "test me" as my CE calls it. I have found my "teacher voice" and am trying to make sure that the students see me as that authoritative figure. For next week, I would like to spend a lot of time this weekend getting my edTPA video cut and done so I can write my planning commentary. 

This week I was able to analyze data in a huge way. We had a data day this week which I was able to sit on and make changes to our WIN time. This was something that was very interesting to be a part of and have a say in! During this time, my students were taking a math test with a substitute. The sub said our class was very loud and talkative and when we got the grades back, the majority of our class did not pass. With this information, I changed things up and during WIN time later that week I retaught the information and overlooked the test and what went wrong. Students were able to retest today (Friday) and they improved their score (Some by a lot). I thought this was such a cool and neat experience to be able to do and see how I changed my instruction for what my students need and to see how it was able to improve and help their understanding was so amazing! 

NC Teaching Standards

• Standard 1
• 1A: Take responsibility for students learning and use data to set goals and organize for lessons
• Standard 2
• 2E: During this week I was able to give out my first awards ever on awards day! This is a day that we are able to choose students for the awards in their class. This is a big day at my school and parents were able to come and cheer on their children! This was a great day because I was able to discuss and talk to parents and tell them how proud we are of their child! Was a great way to get on a positive note with parents. 
• Standard 3
• 3C: This week I was able to incorporate global awareness within my lessons! I was able to teach my students about Japan and how we are different but also the same! Students LOVED this! They were able to make Origami bees at the end of the week and they loved it! 
• Standard 4
• 4D: Throughout this week students were able to use technology within their own hands! Students were able to use the computers for kahoot as well as quizizz! Students love working on this. 
• Standard 5 
• 5A: This week as mentioned above I was able to really analyze student learning throughout the week (especially on their math test and the retest). 

Other

This week I did my first global awareness and I was able to put that in my portfolio! As well as teaching edTPA which will eventually go into my portfolio. I do not need support from my CE or my university supervisor.