Here's the problem with not updating every week... I forget what happens. As far as I can remember, the rest of my 4th week in 6th grade went fairly well. I got to attend a Literacy Training on Tuesday with my CT2, which involved giving the Fountas and Pinnell assessment. I actually really enjoyed that one -- doing assessments like that is fun!!!
Wednesday we had an initial IEP meeting for one of the students, which took almost 2 hours! It was pretty crazy, but very nice to see before I have to be involved in all the discussion and decisions.
This week we did a Grammar Review product to wrap up the parts of speech that we've been working on :-) I gave them an option to make a song, skit, review game, or pamphlet, working with up to 3 other students. I LOVED the results! They all did well (including at least 5 different parts of speech), and were very creative!!
Math has been an adventure... trying to make sure I'm explaining everything well while still fitting it into the short time we have... same with the research skills unit. I started out so excited for it, but I didn't realize how little they would know compared to what I thought they should know... it's been kind of frustrating figuring it out, since my plans have had to change so many times. I guess that's just something I have to get used to -- not everything can be perfect the first time!
Week 5 in 6th grade had me starting the reading mini-lessons, in addition to language arts and math. All that's left after this is science/social studies (which switches depending on the unit) and guided reading groups. I was feeling overwhelmed, so I talked with my CT2 and we decided that I would wait to take on guided reading until the week after next. It worked out well, since next week they're finishing up they're unit on historical fiction, anyway.
I had fun with the reading mini-lessons -- reading aloud is one of my favorite parts of the day! ;-)j
This week was also a math test, so I learned some ways we could review for that. I liked figuring it all out, though it was confusing at first. I was nervous about not having the centers exactly mapped out and partners exactly matched up, but my CT2 reassured me that it would work out. I was going to take small groups to review material while the rest of them were doing their center games. At the end I had time to ask anyone who just wanted to review anything to come to the back by me to ask questions. I didn't know that any of them would come, but to my surprise, there was a fairly large group! I really feel like it helped to have those small groups -- a great example of how much help CTs can be!! :-)
After the math test on Wednesday, my CT2 had a game for the students to play. Unfortunately, they got bored with it just 10 minutes before the math period was over... so she said I should intro the next lesson. It was uncomfortable for me to try to do that without any preparation, since I'd been under the impression that the entire introduction lesson for the next unit would take the hour and 10 mins on Tuesday... I was just confused. Oh well, these are the kind of kinks to work out now, instead of my first year of teaching with no one in the room to help me. Wednesday we also had a collaboration meeting to talk about the upcoming topics and how to meet the needs of the students with IEPs.
Thursday afternoon I got to see the 1st graders again for their music concert that the whole school was able to watch, and I was beyond excited!!! I miss them a lot, but I realize that 6th grade is growing on me, too. I know I'll miss those kids when it's time to go!
No school Friday or Monday (today), so 2 4-day weeks in a row--YAY!!! I needed that SO bad, hopefully this will help me last through the year. At least I still enjoy going to school every day, so I know I'm in the right career :-)
In other news, I turned in my very first job application, thanks to PSH's help and guidance, along with the help of my family, CT1, Mr. CT1, and CT2. I feel so extremely lucky to be surrounded with people who are willing to help me succeed -- I can't wait until the day when I can pass along that help to someone else!!! :-)
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