Short Week!! =D

Student Intern: Barbara Edwards Week Ending:

Placement: First Grade Clinical Teacher(s): Mrs. Hallmets

If you did not teach a full load this week, please indicate which subjects you taught.

1. The main discoveries that I made from teaching this week are:

This week we had a lot planned and got a lot done. I was very impressed at how focused the children were on Monday but Tuesday they were very rowdy and hard to settle down. We had a activity [cornucopia] made out of pop corn, m&m's, nuts and gummy bears. The children really enjoyed this activity. We discussed what a cornucopia was and what it stood for. The children were very excited. My main discoveries were before a holiday the children are rowdy and it takes some settling down and patience to get through the day.

2. When I think about being a teacher, I am concerned about: I am still focusing on time management as well as:

* The time is getting near where I will have my own classroom and be held responsible for so many things. I am getting nervous. I am still trying to focus on time management.

3. I feel...

* I feel like I am still improving. I learn so much each week and new ways of teaching my students. I feel like last week having the PLC and planning day I learned a lot. I used the activity that one teacher said worked for her class and it did as well for my own.

4. Questions I have after working this week are:

* I just had questions for one of the kindergarten teacher that I observed during the writing block.. She wrote the words on the board the way that the children spelled them instead of the correct way.

5. I rate my experience this week as:

Inadequate Marginal Excellent

1 2 3 4 5 **

6. Other reactions:

* This week I mainly focused on Literacy and centers.

7. After discussing this week with my clinical teacher(s), next week I will focus on:

I am still focusing mainly on guided reading groups as well as the literacy block and how to make phonics and word sounds easier for the children.

November 16th!

Student Intern: Barbara Edwards Week Ending:

Placement: First Grade Clinical Teacher(s): Mrs. Hallmets

If you did not teach a full load this week, please indicate which subjects you taught.

1. The main discoveries that I made from teaching this week are:

This week so far has been a busy week. We had our plc day on wednesday and early release. We talked about the new writing for this month. We are focusing on how to papers. The children today seemed to understand and enjoy how to writing. The children also noticed that it is harder to write out the steps rather then just doing them. We got a new student last week from pinehurst she is very behind in all subjects and I have set time aside to help her on her reading skills.

2. When I think about being a teacher, I am concerned about: I am still focusing on time management as well as:

* I am getting more nervous as the days pass and I am getting closer to graduation. I feel like I am ready but at the same time I am concerned about having my own class and facing the parents and everything that comes along with teaching. Its stressful.I am excited but still scared.

3. I feel...

* I feel like I am still improving. I learn so many things each week. I loved this weeks meetings and PLC. They actually taught us how to teach how to lessons. The plc meetings were hands on and gave us many resources. We also had meetings on the new teacher evaluation process which was exciting because we talked about this already in the classroom.

4. Questions I have after working this week are:

* This week I am actually ok with questions. I am still worried about how many weeks I have had a full load. It bothers me that I am getting penalized bc kelly wasn't ready at the time to give up the literacy block.

5. I rate my experience this week as:

Inadequate Marginal Excellent

1 2 3 4 5 **

6. Other reactions:

* This week we still continued rocks. The children are still fascinated with studying the different types of rocks.

7. After discussing this week with my clinical teacher(s), next week I will focus on:

Guided Reading groups. My higher readers are starting to become lazy. I have actually dropped them down a couple levels because they could not have discussions with me about what they were reading. Now they feel like it is to easy but I want them to comprehend what they are reading before moving up any more levels.

Rocks and More!

Student Intern: Barbara Edwards Week Ending:

Placement: First Grade Clinical Teacher(s): Mrs. Hallmets

If you did not teach a full load this week, please indicate which subjects you taught.

1. The main discoveries that I made from teaching this week are:

This week was kind of a crazy week. With the children being out on Wednesday kind of threw the schedule off a little bit. The children had a lot of trouble with subtraction so my main discoveries this week were to try new ways of teaching subtraction rather then just teaching the way dps wants me to. The children were not getting it with the work booklets that dps provides so I pulled more things for the children dealing with fewer and more in subtraction.

2. When I think about being a teacher, I am concerned about: I am still focusing on time management as well as:

* Learning when the lessons arent working and when I need to teach the same topic just in a different way.

* Keeping the children's interest.

* The different skill levels that are present in the class and meshing a child who reads on an 20 level with a child who reads on a 4. Its difficult and I learned the first day that the child with the level 20 got extremely bored and became a behavior problem so I have to keep him engaged and interested.

3. I feel...

* I feel like I am still improving. Everyday I am learning something new. This week I had trouble with math lessons. The children were struggling with subtraction and I felt like it was my teaching. My clinical teacher insured me that I taught the lesson correctly sometimes the children do not catch on. I had to reteach the subtraction.

4. Questions I have after working this week are:

* Just to kelly when the children were struggling

5. I rate my experience this week as:

Inadequate Marginal Excellent

1 2 3 4 5 **

6. Other reactions:

* This week we continued rocks. We sorted pebbles, sand and larger rocks. The children really enjoyed the rock lessons and looking at the different types of rocks that I have provided this week. I also let them observe my sculpture that I did in art course out of granite rock. They were amazed that you could make rock into sculptures.

7. After discussing this week with my clinical teacher(s), next week I will focus on:

seeing new classes and discovering ways that other teachers teach

Last week of Full Load =/

WEEKLY REFLECTIONS FOR STUDENT INTERNS

Student Intern: Barbara Edwards Week Ending:

Placement: First Grade Clinical Teacher(s): Mrs. Hallmets

If you did not teach a full load this week, please indicate which subjects you taught.

1. The main discoveries that I made from teaching this week are:

This week the main discoveries that I made were getting teaching all of the subjects. I am enjoying teaching all of the subjects. I feel like it has gotten much easier I do not have to think about what subject is next. I just flow from one to another. I also feel like my transitions between the subjects has gotten much better also.

2. When I think about being a teacher, I am concerned about: I am still focusing on time management as well as:

* Coming up with creative lessons even though the curriculum is already set by DPS.

* Keeping the children's interest.

* The different skill levels that are present in the class and meshing a child who reads on an 20 level with a child who reads on a 4. Its difficult and I learned the first day that the child with the level 20 got extremely bored and became a behavior problem so I have to keep him engaged and interested.

3. I feel...

* Like I am improving so much. I feel confident and ready to teach everyday. I am very proud of how I am doing now in the classroom. I now review my lessons each morning so I am prepared for that day. I feel like the children are starting to become more comfortable around me and I have noticed that they are coming to me for more questions rather then going to the clinical teacher which in return makes me real like the real teacher.

4. Questions I have after working this week are:

* This week I didnt really have any questions.

5. I rate my experience this week as:

Inadequate Marginal Excellent

1 2 3 4 5 **

6. Other reactions:

* This week we talked about rocks, I was very surprised at how interested the children were with the rocks. I did not think that the children would like them as much as they did. This week was probably one of my best weeks I felt very prepared and ready. I knew the lessons very well and made sure I could implement them as well.

7. After discussing this week with my clinical teacher(s), next week I will focus on:

* Guided reading and literacy block.

Reflections

WEEKLY REFLECTIONS FOR STUDENT INTERNS 

 

Student Intern: Barbara Edwards     Week Ending: 

Placement:   First Grade   Clinical Teacher(s): Mrs. Hallmets

 

If you did not teach a full load this week, please indicate which subjects you taught. 

 

1. The main discoveries that I made from teaching this week are: 

 

This week the main discoveries that I made were getting teaching all of the subjects. I can not believe that I am doing so well teaching all of the subjects. I was for sure that I would struggle and be very stressed out but I love it! I love having the children the whole day and getting to know them in every subject. I now get to see that some may excel in one subject but be very bad in another. It has given me a new light on teaching.

 

 

2. When I think about being a teacher, I am concerned about: I am still focusing on time management as well as:

* Coming up with creative lessons even though the curriculum is already set by DPS.

* Keeping the children's interest.

* The different skill levels that are present in the class and meshing a child who reads on an 20 level with a child who reads on a 4. Its difficult and I learned the first day that the child with the level 20 got extremely bored and became a behavior problem so I have to keep him engaged and interested. 

 

 

 

3. I feel... 

 * like I am doing my job to the best ability. We tested the children again in reading and everyone increased and improved. Some did not improve by a great amount but they went up and thats more important to me. I feel like it has become much easier now that I know the curriculum and know the children as well as the schedule. I also feel like I am going to miss my children so much. I mean its only another 30 days that i am with them.

 

 

4. Questions I have after working this week are: 

 * This week was ok. I had many questions about what I could and could not do for halloween and the activities.

 

 

5. I rate my experience this week as: 

 

Inadequate   Marginal   Excellent 

1       2                    3                  4                     5 **

 

6. Other reactions: 

 * This week was probably one of my best weeks I felt very prepared and ready. I knew the lessons very well and made sure I could implement them as well.

 

 

7. After discussing this week with my clinical teacher(s), next week I will focus on: 

 

 * Guided reading and literacy block.

 

 

Week of October 12th

WEEKLY REFLECTIONS FOR STUDENT INTERNS 

 

Student Intern: Barbara Edwards     Week Ending: 

Placement:   First Grade   Clinical Teacher(s): Mrs. Hallmets

 

If you did not teach a full load this week, please indicate which subjects you taught. 

 

1. The main discoveries that I made from teaching this week are: 

 

This week the main discoveries that I made were getting teaching all of the subjects. I am really enjoying having the class on my own and teaching the entire day. I actually feel like it is my own class. I enjoy seeing how everything that I am teaching ties in with the curriculum and how I can incorporate new and exciting things into the lessons.

 

 

2. When I think about being a teacher, I am concerned about: 

* Coming up with creative lessons even though the curriculum is already set by DPS.

* Keeping the children's interest.

* The different skill levels that are present in the class and meshing a child who reads on an 20 level with a child who reads on a 4. Its difficult and I learned the first day that the child with the level 20 got extremely bored and became a behavior problem so I have to keep him engaged and interested. 

 

 

 

3. I feel... 

 * Like the children are progressing so much in reading. I feel like the guided reading groups that every group has done so much and has made leaps and bounds from where they started at. I am ready to test them again and see how much they have grown individually. I am excited to see the scores and their improvements are what I have taught them. 

 

 

4. Questions I have after working this week are: 

 * I didnt really have any questions this week. I feel like when I run across a question I am aware and asking questions to my clinical teacher. She is always helpful and answers the questions I have. 

 

 

5. I rate my experience this week as: 

 

Inadequate   Marginal   Excellent 

1       2                    3                  4                     5 **

 

6. Other reactions: 

 * This week we had our PLC planning day as well as parent teacher conferences. I was very shocked at how late we had to stay for the conferences. I was shocked that this was normal and most teachers stayed that late. I also felt like the conferences were very important and some of the parents failed to show up or did not schedule an appointment. This shocked me because these children are so young the parents should want a part or role in their education. 

 

 

7. After discussing this week with my clinical teacher(s), next week I will focus on: 

 

 * Guided reading and literacy block.

 

 

This week

Student Intern: Barbara Edwards     Week Ending: 

Placement:   First Grade   Clinical Teacher(s): Mrs. Hallmets

 

If you did not teach a full load this week, please indicate which subjects you taught. This week I taught a full load.

 

1. The main discoveries that I made from teaching this week are: 

 

This week the main discoveries that I made were that teaching a full day can be extremely tiring. I need to pace myself and keep the children engaged the entire day not just in the morning or during the subjects that I like the most.

 

2. When I think about being a teacher, I am concerned about: 

* Pacing myself.

* Keeping the children's interest.

* Topping my last lesson. I had the children say that was the most fun they have ever had at school. I think that it was a lesson that they will always remember.

 

 

 

3. I feel... 

 * I feel extremely well about math lessons. I love teaching math..and in school it was my own struggle.

 

 

4. Questions I have after working this week are: 

 * This week I dont really have any questions.

 

5. I rate my experience this week as: 

 

Inadequate   Marginal   Excellent 

1       2                    3               4                     5** 

 

6. Other reactions: 

 * This week was a busy week with the children. We had a spelling test and writing evaluations. I was impressed with the children on monday it was just me and them. Kelly was absent and they did very well.

 

7. After discussing this week with my clinical teacher(s), next week I will focus on: 

 

 * Literacy lesson plans!!!!

Full Week of Teaching

Student Intern: Barbara Edwards     Week Ending: 

Placement:   First Grade   Clinical Teacher(s): Mrs. Hallmets

 

If you did not teach a full load this week, please indicate which subjects you taught. This week I taught Math, Science, Calendar Routines

 

1. The main discoveries that I made from teaching this week are: 

 

This week the main discoveries that I made were teaching Social Studies, Math and Literacy. This was the first week that I had a full week of teaching with every subject. I thought that it so far has gone extremely well. I have enjoyed this week. Last week I did a fun filled Science Unit on Insects and this week I have done a lot on literacy and teaching Mathematics in new ways.

 

2. When I think about being a teacher, I am concerned about: 

* Coming up with creative lessons even though the curriculum is already set by DPS.

* Keeping the children's interest.

* Topping my last lesson. I had the children say that was the most fun they have ever had at school. I think that it was a lesson that they will always remember.

 

 

 

3. I feel... 

 * I feel extremely well about the lessons and teaching this week. I was excited to take over and teach everything.

 

 

4. Questions I have after working this week are: 

 * This week I am still working on my time managment. I try to do a little every night even though I feel exhausted when I get home. 

 

5. I rate my experience this week as: 

 

Inadequate   Marginal   Excellent 

1       2                    3               4                     5** 

 

6. Other reactions: 

 * This week I was very impressed with the students. I have taken a full load for a couple days now and the children have made a very easy adjustment to me and the way that I teach Literacy. I am doing better with classroom management. I started a new system awhile ago and the children are doing better on this behavior chart then the previous one.

 

7. After discussing this week with my clinical teacher(s), next week I will focus on: 

 

 * Literacy is my main focus. It is the core chunk of the day and the most time is spent on this. I also think that I will focus more on preparing sooner for the next week and thinking ahead.

Tasty Bug Treats!

Student Intern: Barbara Edwards     Week Ending: 

Placement:   First Grade   Clinical Teacher(s): Mrs. Hallmets

 

If you did not teach a full load this week, please indicate which subjects you taught. This week I taught Math, Science, Calendar Routines

 

1. The main discoveries that I made from teaching this week are: 

 

This week the main discoveries that I made were teaching Science, Math, Centers and Literacy. This week I completed my Unit in Science. These lessons were awesome. The children loved discovering insects. They loved having live animals in the room to look at and observe. I had them do a lot of active lessons that kept them engaged in the lessons. We did a sequencing map of the life cycle of a ladybug, as well as a life cycle ladybug book. At the end of the week we made a ladybug out of apples and the children enjoyed eating their ladybug treat!! This lesson was a hit and I discovered if you keep them busy and active you can pretty much do any lesson regardless of how caotic you might think it will be.

 

2. When I think about being a teacher, I am concerned about: 

* Coming up with creative lessons even though the curriculum is already set by DPS.

* Keeping the children's interest.

* Topping my last lesson. I had the children say that was the most fun they have ever had at school. I think that it was a lesson that they will always remember.

 

 

 

3. I feel... 

 * I feel more confident with teaching. I am very sure of myself after teaching the unit. I came up with those activities to do each day, and at the post assessment I could tell that the children have learned so much.

 

 

4. Questions I have after working this week are: 

 * This week I am still working on my time managment. I try to do a little every night even though I feel exhausted when I get home. 

 

5. I rate my experience this week as: 

 

Inadequate   Marginal   Excellent 

1       2                    3               4                     5** 

 

6. Other reactions: 

 * The children loved learning about bugs/insects. They loved being able to actually see the bugs/insects. They seemed interested in everything that I was trying to teach them. They seemed engaged because it was something that they wanted to learn. I tried to make every lesson fun and active.

 

7. After discussing this week with my clinical teacher(s), next week I will focus on: 

 

 * This week I will focus on literacy. 

Week of September 14th

Student Intern: Barbara Edwards     Week Ending: 

Placement:   First Grade   Clinical Teacher(s): Mrs. Hallmets

 

If you did not teach a full load this week, please indicate which subjects you taught. This week I taught Math, Science, Calendar Routines

 

1. The main discoveries that I made from teaching this week are: 

 

This week the main discoveries that I made were teaching science and Mathematics. This week I taught mathematics and science. I also contributed to the daily centers. This is during the literacy block so I haven't picked up the whole Literacy block yet. We did a science, math, word works and writing centers. Each center consists of two days worth of work. For the science center I read them a book by eric carle "tiny seed" and them we made our own poem about the seed. The children had to draw and color the sequence of the seed in the book. For mathematics the children took tangrams and made different shapes then wrote about the shape they made and how many tangrams they used. In word works the children had to use word tiles to spell different numbers and finally in the writing center the children had to copy the poem we made from science. 

 

2. When I think about being a teacher, I am concerned about: 

* Coming up with creative lessons even though the curriculum is already set by DPS.

* Keeping the children's interest.

* This week I had a tough time with classroom management once again. I have a couple children that are very very talkative. I have planned to move their desks and I will see how well they do in the following days with their desks moved. 

 

 

 

3. I feel... 

 * I feel like I grow a lot each day, I have learned so much about teaching and its only the 15th day of school. I am much more aware of my surroundings and what the children are doing through out the course of the day. Each day I am more confident with my teaching and lessons. I feel like I am doing a better job each day and becoming more aware of my own skills and faults. 

 

 

4. Questions I have after working this week are: 

 * Time managment. I feel exhausted when I get home, I wanted to know does it get easier for the teachers as the years go on or is it always this crunched for time. I feel like I use every minute of my day with none to spare. 

 

5. I rate my experience this week as: 

 

Inadequate   Marginal   Excellent 

1       2                    3               4                     5** 

 

6. Other reactions: 

 * I did a lesson on seeds for one of the days. I used this activity where the amount of pedals they put on the flower was the age that they were. The amount of leaves on the stems was the amount of brothers or sisters they had. The seeds in the middle was the month that they were born in  example: if they were born in January they would have one seed and so on. The color of the flower was for if they had a pet or not. This activity was very stressful for me. The children could not hold scissors, or could not make their own seeds, petals or leaves. I wish that I had made everything for them and then they just put the amount that they needed on their flowers. This activity took longer than I anticipated. It also was very messy and maybe to hard for first grade. I should have modified it some so that the first graders could do it with ease.  

 

7. After discussing this week with my clinical teacher(s), next week I will focus on: 

 

 * Guided reading and working on the goals for each child and trying to cover the goals for that week. 

This weeks Lessons!

Student Intern: Barbara Edwards     Week Ending: 

Placement:   First Grade   Clinical Teacher(s): Mrs. Hallmets

 

If you did not teach a full load this week, please indicate which subjects you taught. This week I taught Math, Science, Calendar Routines

 

1. The main discoveries that I made from teaching this week are: 

 

This week the main discoveries that I made were teaching science and Mathematics. This week I picked up Math lessons for everyday. I realized that DPS makes the teachers teach to the text. We got to have some creativity in the centers and math games but the main core of the lesson was planned out and you have to follow the strict pacing guide that Durham Public Schools has set. I also liked how I could make my own assessment for the math and let the children do that as well as the assessment that DPS set up for them to do. Science is a time where I can shine and I can do more of the lessons that I want to as well as making more creative, exciting hands-on lessons. This week we sorted different types of seeds. I used the elmo and this projects what the image looks like on the screen. The children then used their five senses to describe each different type of seeds. We also did a poem that was called Little Brown Seeds. Then the children sequenced what happened with the seed and how it grew over time.  

 

2. When I think about being a teacher, I am concerned about: 

* Coming up with creative lessons even though the curriculum is already set by DPS.

* Keeping the children's interest.

* Classroom management is still a problem for me. The children are very talkative and I do not like it to be loud while I am teaching. I would like to enforce some sort of behavior modification so the children are focused on me and the lesson rather then each other. I am going to try and spice up the lesson so they aren't bored and try something new. 

 

 

 

3. I feel... 

 * Each day I am more confident with my teaching and lessons. I feel like I am doing a better job each day and becoming more aware of my own skills and faults. 

 

 

4. Questions I have after working this week are: 

 * How do I put more creativity in my lessons when the pacing guide is so strict. Is there anything that I can change or make more fun so the children enjoy mathematics more?

 

5. I rate my experience this week as: 

 

Inadequate   Marginal   Excellent 

1       2                    3               4                     5** 

 

6. Other reactions: 

 * I had my first observation this week by Dr. Berdeau. I thought that it went extremely well. I didn't expect it to go as well as it did because I have been out of school for awhile due to me being sick. I was very pleased with the results and comments I got back after doing the lesson. However I am worried about the observations in the future because they are going to be done via webcam. I am just worried that they won't be as attentive because its through webcam but I will find out if it works, soon. 

 

7. After discussing this week with my clinical teacher(s), next week I will focus on: 

 

 * Starting to have a lesson each day instead of every other day. [week ahead of time] I want to start to plan for literacy and taking more time to look at literacy and try to pick up one or two lessons for literacy.