Theresa's+WikiSpace+Page

==== //**My name is Theresa DiLeonardo. I am a senior working towards my bachelor's degree in early childhood education. Both of my placements are in suburban elementary schools. My first placement is in a first grade classroom, and my second placement is in a kindergarten classroom.**// ====

==== The day has finally come! Tomorrow is the first day of student teaching! I will be working with first graders and I cannot wait! I have never worked with first graders other than when I was observing and I am more than excited to see what they have in store for me! The teacher I will be working with is extremely nice, we had a meeting two weeks ago and I agreed to choose a book to start off my student teaching. ‍‍I chose //Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day// by Judith Viorst. Some may wonder, "why this book"? I decided to read this book on my first day of student teaching to let the students know, we are all the same! We will have good days, and we will have bad days... they happen. This is a book I can relate to and I know they can too. When meeting with the teacher we also discussed writing a letter to the parents/guardians and the students to send home, this letter allows me to introduce myself and let the families as well as the students know why I will be in the classroom. Now that the day is almost here, I cannot wait to get started! ‍‍ ====

==== Today was the first day of student teaching! As I arrived I received a warm welcome from the teacher, students, and staff! The day was exciting and yet overwhelming all at the same time! There was a lot to take in for it being my first day, though I know once I get acclimated it will become much easier and not so intense! However, the students enjoyed the book I read for them, and to my surprise they only had a few questions for me! As I was shown through my first day with the first graders I feel like the day flew by! I know that student teaching will be a lot of work, though I know it will all be worth it! I am excited to see what else this week has in store for me as I continue to observe the daily routine! (Next week I will be teaching math!) ====

====The classroom itself is very welcoming as well. ‍‍The teacher has chosen a theme of frogs and it has brought a bright warmth to the room. ‍‍The students are forced to develop relationships with their peers, they sit in groups and all of the students have a partner on at least one of their sides. Also, during centers they have partners and they are forced to develop a relationship with those peers as well. The teacher has many different relationships; she appears to have not only many colleges but many friends within the building. Everyone comes to her for advice and guidance; she is experienced and is someone that the newer teachers look up to. In the classroom, students are allowed to talk with one another quietly and all students appear to get along wonderfully. If there is ever any disagreement between two students they appear to work it out on their own ninety percent of the time. The students are expected to be respectful to all adult figures including substitute teachers and of course student teachers! ====

====The classroom appears to be run in a very organized manner. The students know what is expected of them and when they break the rules they get a strike. When the students get three strikes, they then lose their super day. Once the students lose their super day they go down to yellow and then red. If the student does not earn back their super day, then some sort of communication letter has to go home with the student for their parent to sign. The learning objectives are very clear in that the teacher directly tells the students what she expects of them. As for student interests, they appear to interested in learning and listening to what the teacher has to say ninety percent of the time. When the students found out that they would be getting a new chapter in math next week, they could not wait! This shows their enthusiasm for learning. ====

====Depending on the subject in which the teacher is addressing, she usually asks questions with open ended answers, except for math. During math, the teacher then asks questions looking for direct answers. The students ask questions usually that relate to little details they could not remember or ones that have not been gone over. Rarely do the students have big questions. In order for the students to show their understanding of the material, they complete worksheets, activities, crafts, open-ended questions, written tests, and games. All the material so far have been related to everyday experiences such as numbers of people, oceans, lakes, and other factual information that will help the students in their everyday lives. ====

====As previously stated, there are clear behavior expectations. The students are expected to follow all rules within the classroom, and when they do not follow the rules there are consequences. ‍‍The teacher in this classroom uses the "super day chart" which appears to be working. When students misbehave they get strikes, when they have received three strikes they lose their super day, and if they continue to misbehave they lose their yellow and then red card. The general behavior in the classroom is not too bad. For the most part the students behave, and when they slip up they are quickly put back in place when their super day is pulled and they are working to earn it back. I will take on the strike/super day system. ‍This prevents the students from misbehaving by knowing the possibility of losing their super day ‍. ‍‍ ====

====I would say that the teacher has pretty high expectations for the student within her classroom. She appears to not be as flexible as I thought with her expectations being that she takes away free time for the students to finish work. It is important to her that the students within her classroom try to reach her expectations.‍‍ Autonomy in the classroom is supported through seat work and a lot of work is finished depending on how students manage their time. They are able to show leadership when it is their week to have job. ‍‍ This is shown when they either lead the students in pledge, in the hall, through the doors, or to the beginning of a lesson. Students are encouraged to express their own thoughts and ideas when they are asked open ended questions, when the teacher asks for the students opinions, and when they have some free range on assignments. ====

====There is an absolute sense of flow within the classroom. The students know exactly what comes next because they have pocket chart with their schedule on it. Transitions consist of the teacher ringing a bell and giving the students instructions. They also receive warnings before a transition is about to occur. ====

====The teacher gives the students all positive feedback. When the students state an answer or their opinion, they are respected for their answer and/or opinion, and the teacher will only give positive feedback. All work is given positive feedback and suggestions as well. ====

====The teacher appears to encourage conversation and so as stated before many open ended questions are asked. By asking open ended questions not only are the students given the opportunity to have a conversation but to learn something from their peers as well. ====

==== Yesterday was my first day teaching a lesson as a student teacher! It was very exciting! I taught a lesson on math which included starting a new chapter. This particular lesson is a review lesson of the entire unit. This chapter is very important for the students to grasp in order to be ready for their unit test next week. This lesson discussed using adding to subtract. Since the students had already been taught this lesson they appeared to really grasp the concepts. One of the highlights to my lesson was having them play a domino game. This was a game they had never played, and they really took a liking to it. While we took up more time then planned I thought the lesson went smoothly. My cooperating teacher only had a few suggestions, which included: leaving the ELMO to check student's work, having the students skip the bottom of specific math pages, and being sure not to praise any students who shout out answers. Overall, she said that my lesson went well and that I appeared to have skills that experienced teachers have in the classroom. This was very encouraging and made me want to teach another lesson ASAP! ====

==== Today, I taught another review lesson. Today's lesson was reviewing fact families. After doing the mandatory math workbook pages with the students, they then created their own fact family house which they loved! After finishing their fact family house we had time to play a game using the fact families. ‍‍‍My cooperating teacher had nothing but positive feedback and noticed that I addressed all three suggestions she had made yesterday ‍‍! ‍I am feeling confident and cannot wait to teach another math lesson tomorrow! (I will also continue to teach just math next week, as this week and next week are shortened weeks!) ====

====Today was the day I was SUPPOSED to be observed while teaching a lesson for the first time during student teaching, however it did not work out this way! Today was a scheduled review day. The students were going to do what they called math stations which is center based. I had set up five different stations where the students would play a game and practice a word concept at the same time. The first game was called //Find the Sums//. In this game, the students would find the sum of two dice. The second game was called, //Tic-Tac-Know//, and in this game the students would use tens and ones to create a number, each number that was correctly created gained them a tic-tact-toe spot. The third game was called, //Fishing for a Difference//; in this game the students would fish for a math sentence and then have to find the answer to a subtraction problem. The fourth game was called, //Get Rolling//. In this game, the students would roll a a dice and put the dice together to create a two digit number, they would do this a second time and then determine what sign (greater than, less than, or equal to) would go in the middle of the two. In the fifth game, the students were supposed to play a game called //Mighty Movers//, this game dealt with odds and evens, however, this game was never played by the students, and here's why. ====

====<span style="color: #21d12f; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">As we all know, yesterday was our first seminar, ,meaning that I missed yesterday afternoon in the school where I am student teaching. Today, as previously stated, was the day that I was supposed to be observed for the first time while teaching a lesson. I was all prepared and eager to show Dr. Steeley the lesson I had planned on centers. However, this morning I woke up to a text message from my cooperating teacher. The message said that yesterday the principle had decided there would be an assembly and this assembly would be during my lesson and that I would have to push my lesson a half hour later. At this point I knew that Dr. Steeley would not be able to stay and watch my lesson. I was quite worried because I know that the school where I am teaching is a ways away from where she was coming from. I called her, and emailed her but there was nothing else I could do. She ended up coming to my school because she had not yet checked her calls or email for the day. I was flustered and felt bad that she drove all that way to not even see a lesson taught! I was also flustered because my time teaching would be shortened and this would mess up my station timing! We ended up finding that Dr. Steeley needed to give me her cell phone number in case this ever happens again (something to think about). Also, in order to save my lesson I had to take out one of the games (Mighty Movers) that I originally had planned. While I felt flustered I knew that this was just part of teaching... we as teachers MUST BE FLEXIBLE! **FLEXIBILITY** is key! While I did not learn anything from feedback on a lesson, I learned that flexibility is just as important in a teachers schedule, because things happen! Well... tomorrow is a new day, and better luck next week! (Next week I will be picking up afternoon reading.) ====

====<span style="color: #dfb309; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">This week was a very busy week for myself and the students. This week I was introducing not only a new chapter in math, but a new theme in reading. This week I took on afternoon reading. Monday morning I taught my math lesson like always. The students were excited because we started sorting and they loved using manipulatives such as bears and buttons. I was excited for them, but when it came to afternoon reading I knew that the lesson would not be as engaging and that the lesson would be somewhat boring. I knew I had to do something to "spice it up". ====

====<span style="color: #dfb309; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">The cooperating teacher told me that I had to do the spelling pre-test, introduce and have them write their vocabulary words three times, and give them flashcards to cut out. This was A LOT of seat work. I began brainstorming ideas and I could not come up with many ideas for spelling. Then, I began to think... when I was their age I remembered playing the game SPARKLE. I brought this game up to my cooperating teacher and she seemed a bit apprehensive about it. She expressed how she thought that it would discourage the students who had to sit down either after the person who said SPARKLE, or if they spelled the word wrong. My idea was quickly squashed and I was worried that the students were going to spend all of spelling in their seats. Then during another activity we realized how much the students LOVED to use "dry erase boards" which were really card stock in a plastic sleeve. The cooperating teacher expressed to me that the children see writing on dry erase boards as something fun and that I could use this in my game of SPARKLE. I liked her idea and we decided to practice. After I had the students do what was needed we played SPARKLE with old spelling words. Students who sat down were given a "dry erase board" and the game was a hit! The students LOVED the game. Only one student was discouraged and he soon realized that he'd rather write on the dry erase board anyway. This helped me to take something boring and make it fun for the students. I know that some people do not encourage the game of SPARKLE, but it worked for this classes needs. ====

==== Then on Wednesday I decided to have the students play another game because Wednesday is activity day. I had the students cut and color a dog house and glue it to a bag, and then they had bones to cut out which had their spelling words on them (I will upload pictures ASAP). Their spelling words were all long o and long u words so this went perfectly with the theme. Once students had finished, I had them play a game with a partner. They had to take a word out of their bag, spell it and then if they got it correct they could keep that bone out, whoever emptied their bag first won. This game helped the students to practice their spelling words and see the words as they were spelling and saying them. ====

==== Finally, on Friday, the students took their spelling tests. I wanted to grade the tests on Friday since I gave it to them, but I did not have the chance because the cooperating teacher uses the spelling tests as a handwriting grade as well. I am interested to see how these games helped/ hurt their grade. I would like to come up with other engaging activities for spelling and I could use any ideas/advice. Next week I will begin teaching centers which helps with reading remediation. ====

<span style="color: #d63917; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">February 2, 2012
====<span style="color: #d63917; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">This week was such an exciting week for the students. Wednesday was the 100th day, today was Groundhog Day, and tomorrow is not only crazy hair day but bingo night! The students have been very excited this week and many activities were planned for this week’s events. Due to all of the extra activities this week, many of my lessons were not finished, however I improvised to finish them the best that I could. ====

====<span style="color: #d63917; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">For example, on Wednesday I had a very detailed lesson planned on money, and another one of the first grade teachers came in and said that all of the students were meeting in the hall to sing their 100th day song. <range type="comment" id="453577">This was exciting and yet I knew that I would have to improvise to finish my lesson. I quickly re-planned my lesson so that the students would learn the same amount of information in less time. While it was not what I had originally planned, it all worked out in the end. This week I experienced a lot of professional growth. ====

<span style="color: #d63917; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Not only did I send another letter home about the project-based lesson, but
====<span style="color: #d63917; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I sat in on a parent conference. The letter home was something that I had done before but the parent conference was a whole new experience. At first I felt somewhat intimidated because I know that the parent wanted to talk about her student and had many questions. However, the conference went well and the parent was very understanding and interested in not only what the classroom teacher had to say, but what I had to say as well. ====

====<span style="color: #d63917; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">I am so excited to start my project-based lesson next week. The topic will be on penguins and I have planned much of next week around penguins, including a center. We even created a bulletin board that offers many opportunities for the students to learn about penguins. (I will post pictures soon!) I will be introducing this project on Monday and the letter that was sent home to parents explained each aspect of the lesson. ==== ====<span style="color: #d63917; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">Not only was I pleased with the way my bulletin board and planning turned out, but my cooperating teacher and her coworkers were impressed as well. A few of the other teachers wanted some copies of my materials. This was not only a confidence boost but a reassurance that I can make it in the world of teaching! Next week I will be taking on the daily routines and the computer lab. ====

====<span style="color: #d63917; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;"><range type="comment" id="132937">I am so excited to start not only the daily routines of the teacher, but my project on penguins. We made a K.W.L. chart and I know that the interest of the students has already been sparked! ====

==== The questions were asked, "How do you monitor the whole group for understanding? What are some of your strategies?". I sometimes ask myself these questions and ponder over how I will check for group understanding. Yesterday for example, I taught a lesson on money. In this lesson, I introduced a dollar and all of the ways that one can make a dollar. Money is a hard concept for the students and they do not easily take to the lesson which is quick and not thorough enough in my opinion. In order to monitor the entire group for understanding, <range type="comment" id="829296">I use one of the strategies that my cooperating teacher has already incorporated into her classroom. ====

==== For example, the teacher asks a lot of open ended questions and during my lesson on money I did this in order to have many of the students answer and explain how they found that answer. I used this not only to check for their understand but for the students who were struggling to hear how others solved the problem or found that particular answer. I truly believe and have seen within this classroom, that the students sometimes understand better when they explain concepts student to student instead of teacher to student. ====

==== I have implemented another strategy within the classroom in order to monitor those students who do not answer or volunteer to answer questions during instruction time, I walk around the classroom while the students work on their "math books". Their "math books" are workbooks that the students are required to do everyday. However, while I do not always like all of the seat work they are given, this does help me check who has grasped the concept and who has not. When the students are finished with their math workbook pages, they are also required to turn in their work to be checked. By checking their work, I am able to see who needs some help and who does not. ====

==== In this lesson in particular, I was able to see which students did not understand how to make a dollar. For the students who needed more help, I called them over to my desk and worked with them one on one to find where they were struggling and I helped them by using manipulatives to visually show them while I was verbally telling them how they can create a dollar.They then were able to fix their math problems in their workbooks and this reinforced their understanding. ====

==== To further check for understanding of the whole group, we are having a money review day next week where the students will go to math stations and this will help them to further grasp the concepts taught before their test. As I walk around I will make sure each child understands what he/she is doing and make sure that each individual child has grasped the concept. ====

February 17, 2012
==== This week was such a fun week for the students! They were very excited about Valentine's Day and we had so many fun activities planned for them. We also finished up my project plan on penguins this week and I will add pictures of the center I created around the project next week. The lesson that my supervisor observed was my remediation/acceleration center time. The question that was asked: "How do you incorporate differentiation?". ====

==== Differentiation is incorporated into this classroom in many ways. During centers there are three different groups. We have the green group which is below level readers, the red group which is on level readers, and the orange group which is above level readers. All of these groups are selected through dibels testing. During center time, these three groups are separated. All of the students read the same phonics readers, however we have three different "On My Way Readers", a different one for each group. However, there are only three children in the classroom who leave during centers, these three students read a different "Leveled Reader" then the rest of the group. The below level and on level readers read the same "Leveled Reader", and the above level readers read a different "Leveled Reader". Games during centers, depending on the game are adjusted to the students needs. For example, if the students are more advanced we may add more flash cards to the above level readers. ====

==== All of these groups were carefully planned and carefully selected. I do support this during my planning time and take this into consideration when teaching. <range type="comment" id="950222">I feel that this differentiation is very important to help all students succeed. ====

February 24, 2012
====Today was my last day at my first student teaching placement. Talk about a bitter sweet day! When I first started I had no idea who any of these students were or if they would like me, and now on my last day I feel like I have been here the whole year and they each expressed how much they liked me being here. I know all of their personalities and I have grown to think of them as my own students. I have learned so much from not only them, but my cooperating teacher as well! She has truely taught me the meaning of kindness and patience. Today all of the students wrote me a letter, which I have not yet read (I didn't want to ball my eyes out)! My cooperating teacher put all of there letters in a book from A to Z and it was so nice! Some of the students even cried which made me feel as if I had a great impact on their lives and education! I hope that I can do the same for my furture classroom one day soon. Next week I will not only be moving classrooms but schools. I will be moving to kindergarten at another school within the district. While I know that I will have a wonderful experience there... I will truly miss this class and I will never forget what I have learned here in my first placement! (I will add more pictures soon)====

March 1, 2012
==== This is my first week in my new placement. While I am just starting out and just observing this week, I know that I will love it here. I already like kindergarten more than first grade. While I had a wonderful cooperating teacher before, I truly believe that this cooperating teacher has more of my teaching style.She is very welcoming and friendly. She has a very organized classroom with a set schedule- which is needed in kindergarten. While she is easy going she "means business", which is necessary as well. I am learning that I love the kindergarten age group and that having am and pm kindergarten is wonderful. There is a nice regrouping break in between and it seems to be just the right amount of time for the students in order to hold their attention span. The only thing that will take a lot of adjusting for me, is learning all of the students names. I have 46 students now where as before I only had 22 students. This is more than double the amount of students I had before and it is taking a little longer for me to learn all of their names. I think I will really like it here! I cannot wait to see what my future here holds! Next week I will be teaching calendar and I cannot wait! (I still need to upload pictures from my last placement!) ====

<span style="color: #21d12f; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The classroom where I am currently student teaching is a kindergarten classroom. The class is split into am and pm kindergarten. The students within this classroom are either five or six.

<span style="color: #21d12f; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The climate in the classroom is very welcoming, a place where students would want to be. The relationships within the room are very warm. The students talk with the teacher and the teacher talks with the students. It is an open relationship for the students to express their feelings and ideas with not just one another but with the teacher as well. The students are permitted to communicate as long as they are being nice to one another. They are not permitted to be mean or disrespectful meaning they are not allowed to speak when the teacher is speaking. For the most part the students interact nicely with one another. There are a few students who do not get along with one another but there problems are quickly resolved with help from the teacher.

<span style="color: #21d12f; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">There are many hands on materials that are used within the classroom. The teacher lets the children explore with the given materials and many of the activities are engaging and hands on. The learning objectives are very clear within the classroom. While some are posted on the chalkboard, others are written in the teachers plans. The classroom teacher also informs the students of what she expects to happen throughout the day, making it clear for the students. The students are very interested in learning; they are constantly asking questions and wanting to know more. This is wonderful and it is a very rewarding job at this age to inform the students with knowledge they want to know.

<span style="color: #21d12f; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">The teacher asks the students many open-ended questions while the students ask the teacher questions looking for specific answers. An example of a question that one particular student asked was, “what do whales eat”? This question was presented during a conversation about animals and questions such as this pop up frequently throughout the day’s span. The students create many projects during their time in kindergarten. One of the more recently completed projects was when the students colored a large picture of a rainforest coloring the animals the correct colors after they spent a week learning about the details of rainforest animals. Material such as the rainforest lessons help them to learn about the existing world around them.

<span style="color: #21d12f; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">There are clear behavior expectations for the students. When the students misbehave they are corrected and must realize what they should have done in place of the misbehavior. The teacher in this classroom has a card system, after given a few warnings, if the students do not change their behavior, their card is changed from green to yellow and a note is sent home. This also happens when a card is changed from yellow to red. This is the behavior management system she has used within her classroom and it appears to be working. The general behavior in the classroom appears to be good, with a few exceptions that are quickly cleared up with help from the teacher.

<span style="color: #21d12f; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;"><range type="comment" id="68398">The expectations within the classroom are somewhat flexible but not enough to be drastic. If something is not completed during the day it can easily be completed the following day. However, the rules are not flexible and when they are broken the warning/card system is still in place. Autonomy is supported within the classroom in many ways, for instance, the students are able to do many activities within the classroom that are interest driven, and trying to do things on their own is greatly encouraged. The teacher allows for time in which the students can explore in the morning, this is time the students take to play and make relationships with the other students how they wish. The students are encouraged to express themselves through play time, discussions, drawing, and coloring.

<span style="color: #21d12f; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Within the classroom there are many transitions. The students are told how their day will go on a regular basis and this is a constant. The students usually have the same schedule and if their day is going to be different they are warned. Before a transition, there is also a warning. These warnings are important for the students to be prepared to move to the next activity, especially in kindergarten! There is a sense of flow within the classroom since the same routine is followed daily.

<span style="color: #21d12f; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">Within the classroom all feedback is positive. Feedback is given on all work that is completed and throughout the day both verbally and non-verbally. Some non-verbal feedbacks are head nods, stars on papers, smiley faces on papers, stamps, and stickers. These are all ways in which the teacher within the classroom provides feedback to her students.

<span style="color: #21d12f; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 110%;">In conclusion, I learned a lot my first week of student teaching in the kindergarten classroom. The students and teacher gave me a warm welcome and I learned a lot about their day to day activities and how their classroom is run. So far this has been a very positive experience and I look forward to the rest of my experience in this classroom.

March 13, 2012
==== This week I took on printing along with calendar, which I took on last week. Printing is going well so far, I am teaching the students to write capital and lowercase /w/.The students seem to be catching on quickly, and we will continue to practice writing capital and lowercase/w/ all week. Yesterday was the first day during my student teaching experience, including my last placement, that I had a substitute teacher all day. At first I was very worried because this is only my third week and I feared disaster, but I was wrong, the day went very well! There were a few minor bumps, but for the most part we went through the day just as the teacher would have and the students didn’t seem to notice the minor hiccups. Due to the teacher not being here I felt like I was in charge and I had more responsibility. I liked having the extra responsibility and it felt good to know what I was doing. I also noticed that even though I haven’t been here long,<range type="comment" id="670102"> I already know all 46 of my student’s names. Also, when the sub was here I also realized that I know the students and all of their different abilities, even in the short time in which I have been here. Yesterday for example, the students had a math test. During the test, the sub just handed out the papers and let them get to work. I knew that certain students would need more explanation and I knew that some students would need more/less help than others. I also knew some students needed to be moved in order not to be tempted to look at someone else’s paper. These are the things you pick up on in your observing and by spending time with your students. I have found that these little things become a necessity in the learning environment and I am glad that I am catching onto them. After yesterday, I feel as though I can do this and that I am now a major part of this classroom. I am looking forward to next week, I will be teaching story comprehension and I will also be starting my project plan on ladybugs! ====

March 20, 2012
==== Kindergarten is the core place for a nourishing environment within the classroom. These young students bloom from preschoolers to first graders in one year. This is a time for growth and learning and it is essential to use all learning materials available to the young sponges. I recall in my kindergarten placement when I let these ideals slip from my fingertips and I became the teacher I "never ever want to be". Just last week, as I mentioned in a previous post, there was a substitute teacher in for my cooperating teacher. The students were assigned to do many things within the day, and the students had multiple worksheets to fill the teachers unexpected day off. The students were very talkative, more than usual. They were working on a specific worksheet and the students were not working at all. We were falling behind schedule and the students were not listen to the substitute what so ever! She looked at me and asked me if I could step in because she thought that they may listen to a more familiar teacher. While I took on the responsibility of stepping in, I somehow lost my beliefs in stepping into a situation created by another teacher. I was rushing the students and I was not giving them an option but to work (not that this is a bad thing, but I was not letting up on the pressure and standards that I had for the day). I continuously said things such as, "hurry up", "get to work", "what are you doing", "this needs to be done". I became oblivious to what I was saying, then... I caught myself mid-sentence ready to say, "first grade, let's go, this needs to get done", then I stopped and I remembered this was not first grade. This is KINDERGARTEN, what we don't finish today we can finish tomorrow. Suddenly I realized that I was not creating a nourishing classroom or enhancing my students learning by telling them to HURRY UP! This was just encouraging them to do sloppy work, which caused mass confusion and a hot mess! I quickly realized that I fell into the substitute teachers methods of teaching older children. I looked around for a second as all of these thoughts crossed my mind and I said, "everyone FREEZE". I had each student go back to their seats with their glue, scissors, crayons, and pencils. I once again gave directions of what the students SHOULD be doing and asked them to work quietly and told them that they could whisper to their neighbor. This helped the students regroup, reorganize, and better understand the task at hand.<range type="comment" id="526609"> Next time I am put in this situation, I am going to remember that these are my students, they will not learn by being hurried, confused, and flustered! Even though their papers all turned out in the end, I realized, it's okay not to finish a worksheet, it's okay to give directions twice, and it's okay to be HUMAN! The main thing that I learned from this experience is that, students work at their own pace, this is their way of learning. and by hurrying them along, you are interfering with their learning ability! ====

TEAM PLANNING
==== Every week I engage in team planning. The cooperating teacher and I plan our lesson for the following week together. This works in both of our benefits. The teacher and I both come up with ideas that correspond with each others plans. For example, my project plan was based on ladybugs. This was a team planning process and it turned out wonderfully! My cooperating teacher loved my plans so much that she said she will use them next year in order to teach her students about ladybugs. Last week when I was teaching ladybugs, I was not yet teaching the full day. The teacher helped me engulf the students in the ladybug topic. This not only led into my lessons on ladybugs, but it helped the students stay focused on her lessons which were everyday topics with more "spunk" then usual. The students really took to the ladybug theme. I even brought in real ladybugs and let the students explore with them (letting them go in the flower garden after the exploration). This was a very successful team planning experience. ====

==== This week however, has not been as successful. In the past few weeks, I have been able to successfully keep the students' attention. This week... I have not been able to do so as easily. Today, for the first time, I had to take away one of the student's behavior cards. I had given multiple warnings that the students needed to stop talking, and eventually all of them listened except for a specific student. After this student continued to talk, I warned her that if she did not stop talking I was going to take a card. Almost as soon as I was done telling her to stop talking, she started talking. I then told her that she lost her card, and she didn't even seem upset. While I did not want the behavior management within the room to come to this point, I know that what I did was in the best interest for the student. In a strange way, I was almost proud of myself for not letting her talk over me and for following through with the teacher's discipline policy. This was the first card that I have taken within the kindergarten classroom and I hope that this will not become more and more frequent. Only time will tell... next week I will not be adding anything new due to a three day week for the Easter holiday. I hope within this short, exciting time-frame, I will not be forced to take anymore cards. ====

Ladybug Project:
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UPDATE:
==== This week I am picking up phonics. While today is only the first day of the week because of Easter break, everything seems to be going well! I have actually found it easier to make connections throughout the day in printing, and story comprehension by picking up phonics. Today my cooperating teacher was not here and we had a substitute. Since I did all of the teaching today, I felt as though the day went much smoother and it seemed as though the students are really picking up on my way of teaching. I think that I have also fallen into their routine nicely, and I would like to believe that they have finally come to understand that I too am an authority figure to them while in school. Normally, my morning class is very energetic and has a lot to say while being somewhat rebellious. Today however, I found that my students were listening and hanging on my every word. This was a new side of the class that I have not seen. I think that the students acted in this manner not only because I was teaching for the full day, but because now that the teacher was not there I was their "usual" teacher. This felt good, I look forward to the days when I will have a classroom of my own where I will teach all day everyday. This experience has been wonderful and I am sad that it is coming to an end so soon! ====

<span style="color: #006bff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">April 20, 2012
====<span style="color: #006bff; font-family: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; font-size: 16px;">This was my last week of student teaching and it was very bittersweet. All week the students mentioned how much they will miss me and how much fun they had while I was teaching. This made me feel as though I truly had an impact on their learning. I will miss the kindergarten class, first grade class, and student teaching itself. It is really hitting me that my time in not only student teaching is ending, but in college. Before I started student teaching, I was not sure what to think. I was unsure if I would be able to teach a class of more than twenty students, and I had heard so many horror stories that I was unsure that I could handle it all. I was very wrong; this experience has really let me put my education and hard word to use. Student teaching has reassured me of the teaching skills I did not know I had. While I look forward to what the future holds, I am going to miss student teaching! I could never thank my supervisors, cooperating teachers, and students for the confidence they have given me. I now feel like a true teacher! ====