Week 14

Hi Everyone, I hope you all have had a good week. 
I would rate this week a five. I was happy to see my first-grade students this week. Though I enjoyed spring break, I do miss the students. Also, I got word from the first-grade team, that we will be going on another field trip. The students are going to go see a Letterland concert. Letterland is part of our phonics program. I did not expect to go on another field trip this year, therefore finding out we were going was a pleasant surprise.

·         Seven questions to end your week:

How do you talk about culture in your classroom?

What phonics program do you use?

How do you communicate with parents?

Do you discuss flowers and growth during the spring in your classroom?

Are you doing anything for Earth Day?

How does your school keep up with who is a car rider and who is a bus rider?

What spelling technologies do you use in the classroom?

        

·         Observe: I found out I have passed my Reading Foundations Test. I am so excited to finally have the test out of the way so I can get certified when I graduate college.

·         Reflect: This week we have been discussing a lot about clocks and time. Students have learned how to tell time by the hour and half hour. The main misconception about time is that students are getting confused on where to put the shorthand when the time is on the half hour. Students will forget and put the shorthand on the number instead of in between the numbers. I will continue to go over the concept throughout next week.

·         Focus: My short-term goal is to finish my classroom room management documentation and PDP documentation by Monday. My long-term goal is to get my video and portfolio completed no later than April 23rd.

·         Be Productive: I could have spent less time trying to think of things to do. I get an hour for planning time, but I feel I do not utilize my time appropriately. I am going to start making a list in the morning of what I can do during planning time, so I can consistently be accomplishing activities.

·         Have Courage: I need to try a new technology in the classroom I have been indecisive about using. The Technology is called Osmos. Students use Osmos with their iPad to spell words, manipulate shapes, and add numbers. When students solve one problem, the screen on their iPad will pull up a harder problem. I want to try this technology with the students before I leave the classroom.

·         Begin Anew: For next week, I plan to start a unit on China. We will be discussing the Chinese culture and Chinese literacy. I look forward to integrating the culture into the classroom as students will also be using the literacy strategy of comparing the boy version of Cinderella "Prince Cinders" and the Chinese version of Cinderella, " Yen Shen." The mental clutter I can clear away is the concern of the phonics spelling test. I was so proud of my students' grades for phonics this week. Only two out of 15 students made a bad grade. I will continue to keep going over spelling rules for the sake of these two students, however, I am able to move on to the next phonics unit with the confidence that my students understand the long I and o sound we discussed this week.

·         What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions?

This week students compared the story of Prince Cinders versus the true story of Cinderella. Students can tell what is the same and what is different, however, they did get confused on explaining what is different about what is being compared. For example, one of the similarities in both stories was that both families of the main characters were mean to him or her. A contrast sentence would state Cinderella's family was made up of women and Prince Cinder's family consisted of men. I will continue going over the compare and contrast concept as we will be doing the literacy strategy with another version of the Cinderella book.

What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers?

Let your students know you love and care about them. They go through so much. For example, one of my students has lost two family members who were very close to her in the past school year. Most of my students do not have two parents living under the same roof.

·         NC Teacher Candidate Standards (be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer)

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·         Pick an element from standard one 1a: I have a timer which goes off every single day to remind me to check car transportations right before students leave the room. Most of my students ride the bus, however, if a parent calls the office and tell them their child is a car rider, it is logged in on the transportations sheet. If I do not check the sheet, the student may be sent to the wrong transportation place.  It is so important in the classroom to be responsible for keeping track of non-teaching areas such as transportation changes.

·         Pick an element from standard two 2e: This week I was so happy to get two of my students’ families signed on to class dojo. Unfortunately, it has taken a few parents a long time to sign up. I was able to send an invitation by phone the other day and two signed up. Class Dojo is such a great way for the parents to communicate with the teacher and vice versa. I can also post class pictures of students in class dojo. The best way to utilize dojo is to be able to message parents privately about concerns. This week, I even started doing attendance on the website instead of doing a paper copy. Class dojo can keep up with attendance electronically.

·         Pick an element from standard three 3a: This week students compared the story of the "Three Little Pigs" and "The Three Little Pigs and the New Neighbor." In one story the wolf was bad and in the other story, the wolf was friendly. Compare and contrast is one of the direct standards from the NCSCS.

·         Pick an element from standard four 4d: For standard 4, I had students try something different by using their iPad to type out a sentence. Students compare what was the same and what was different about two pinwheels. They typed their work and then took a screenshot for me to see.   

·         Pick an element from standard five 5a: I reflected on how well students understood their spelling test this week by grading their papers. I was happy to see most of the students successfully completed their papers and are ready to move on to the next rule.

·         What components of your portfolio have you started to complete?

I am in the process of completing my Live folder to share. Also, I have been working on gathering everything I need to make a successful video.

·         What support does your clinical educator need from your university supervisor?

·         What support do you need from your university supervisor?

·                     My CE and I do not need any support right now. I will email if we do. Thank you.