Week 11; November 7-10

I rate this week a 4. 

Observe: This week, I taught fifth grade because my CT was absent (she usually teaches fifth grade). I taught three fifth grade classes concurrently and it went amazingly well. 

Reflect: This week, I learned a bit about a fourth grade student who went through trauma before he came to school in kindergarten. This will help me to better deal with his sometimes difficult to manage behavior in the classroom.

Focus: My short term goal this week was to finish edTPA, helping me complete my long term goal to graduate.

Be Productive: I’m not really sure; I’m not always productive but I usually try to use my time well. 

Have Courage: When I filled in for my CT for fifth grade on Tuesday, it was last minute notice (about 1 hour before I taught). Since I am not used to this group of students, classroom management was more difficult. I was a bit apprehensive about how firm to be and what classroom management strategies to incorporate (as what works better is different for each class). 

Begin Anew: To do my final editing of edTPA and submit it.

In fourth grade, students played a game in teams to answer questions related to a Pentatonix interview. Teams’ results revealed that one of the questions I wrote was not worded in a way that was easily understandable to fourth graders. I taught this lesson six times, so I reworded this question, and students were more successful. 

Find out as much as possible about individual students—it helps to understand their behavior and to reach them at their level. 

Standard 1b, “ Teachers demonstrate leadership in the school.” I worked with two substitutes this week when my teacher was absent. I did all of the teaching, but they were present. It was a bit distracting when the first sub started correcting students during my lesson (as my CT rarely to never does this). It was, however, definitely a learning experience. 

Standard 2c, “ Teachers treat students as individuals.” I learned some specific information about the fourth grade student I mentioned above. I definitely plan to take this into consideration when teaching him. 

Standard 3b, “ Teachers know the content appropriate to their teaching specialty.” This week, I did a lesson on the ballet, “Rodeo.” I did some research in order to explain about this ballet as an American ballet, the plot of the ballet, and the concept of “curtain call.” 

Standard 4e, “ Teachers know the content appropriate to their teaching specialty.” Students worked in teams to answer questions related to a Pentatonix interview. They were required to discuss answers with their team members, and students took turns being the “scribe.” 

Standard 5c, “ Teachers function effectively in a complex, dynamic environment.” Out of all the standards, I think perhaps I have grown the most in this one. Change is definitely constant, in any classroom, but especially in elementary. Students are constantly moving in and out of the school, it is typical to witness several students crying throughout the day (in the hall and/or in my class), and bodily function accidents are common. Within these changes, it is important to balance instruction, leadership, and nurturing of the students.