Weeks (1)9 and 10 (or 20): The other side of the teacher's desk!

For the first of those two weeks, I was able to plan everything and teach it all by myself! I really learned how lucky I was back with the 1st grade team... CT2 said that it's really rare for a teaching team to plan all together like that! It was kind of exciting to do it all, though, too. I got to plan all 15 centers for the week, plus all the other subjects, and then my CT2 looked it over to make sure it would all go smoothly. :-)

It went really well! She was gone for part of the morning on Monday because of the talent show, but it was totally fine. I got to think of a few cool activities for my guided reading groups, too!

We also got to start an end-of-the-year countdown - "Off to Palombi!"

For this math unit, since it was our last unit test, I told all the students that my goal was for every single one of them to get a "C" or higher -- quite an accomplishment for this math class! I've realized that I work best with small groups, so I did that a lot this week. Thursday, test day, I even told them that I would be in the classroom during recess in case any of them wanted to go over anything. 2 students chose to stay, and I think it really helped them! They got high Bs!! And... EVERY STUDENT GOT A "C" OR BETTER!!! I was SO thrilled! I mean, I was lucky that the unit wasn't too difficult, because most of them remembered cross-multiplication from last year, but still!!! When I graded those tests, you'd have been hard-pressed to find a happier teacher :-)

Week 10/20 began the wind-down part of the year. CT2 started back in, and the units all wound down. All the students got Cs or better on their Ancient Rome test, too!!! We got to watch a movie, and do a cumulative review for math, just to see what they remembered.Wednesday my CT2 had to run for a quick doctor's appointment during specials and lunch, and her appointment ended up running a little bit over, so I got to start the second part of the day on my own. Again, it went well! She has her class so well set up that they know exactly what's expected of them, and just continue to act the way as they do when she's in the room. In math we learned to play Jeopardy with this awesome system that she has, and Friday morning the students performed short plays. :-) All in all, another good week!

Report cards are done, and I got to help with those too! Who knew so much went into that?! AND I thought I lost them all when I was on the last report card, boy was that a mini-heart attack! The sixth graders had an awards ceremony on Wed. night, which I went to. It was very nicely done :-)


It's hard to believe my student teaching experience is almost over. I've had a lot of ups and downs, and I've learned more than I ever imagined I would. It's so funny what you learn when you're on the other side of the teacher's desk! ;-)

This next week is short and sweet -- no school Monday, and lots of fun for the rest of the week! For Tuesday, my CT2 said I should go visit 1st grade for a bit, so I'm excited about that, too!!! Well, that's all for now, time to write my reflection paper for the student teaching seminar!

This is the bulletin board I made for our Ancient Rome unit! My CT2 made the map, I did the word play ;-)

Week (1)8: On my own!

This week I've been teaching all day. My CT2 has been leaving the room to run errands for her many committees and whatnot, and it's a nice feeling. I feel like she's confident enough in my ability to leave while I keep things going. It's funny, because I'm sure my CT1 would have done the same thing, if my supervisor hadn't at first said that our CTs should always be with us!

My supervisor also came in again. My new word this time was "wonderful!" Oh well, I'll just keep working on it...

Wednesday morning I had an interview, so I wasn't there for a good portion of the day. I got the job, too!!! :-D Thanks to PSH, CT1, Mr. CT1, and CT2 for all their help!!!!

Thursday the 6th graders started presenting their research projects, and I am SO happy with them!!!! But now I understand why MJW (one of my professors) always says "Don't assign anything you don't want to grade," because I'm not particularly looking forward to grading their papers... I was definitely more excited about the presentations. I did end up having a good time grading one of the reading assignments I gave them, so I'm definitely trying to remember that advice!

My CT2 has been having me get more involved in meetings, such as collaboration and team meetings. I'm still not quite comfortable in that position, though, probably because I don't interact with the other staff members as much as I did with the rest of the 1st grade team.

I'm pretty happy with the result of Week (1)8, which is a great feeling!! I feel so accomplished, because I've had to do a lot more work, and I had a difficult time -- making it through that is a good feeling, and I'm feeling happier in 6th grade finally!!! I still do feel like I'm more of a natural in the younger grades, but it's nice to know that I can make it work with the older ones as well!!!

And now, onto week (1)9!!!

Weeks (1)6 and (1)7, and the first day of (1)8... just a little late! ;-)

I feel bad for not updating this as often anymore, but then I realize that it's not necessarily a bad thing -- it just means that I'm spending more time on the most important things, such as trying to keep up in the classroom! ;-)

There have been some interesting moments in 6th grade... one student is writing about dreams for his research report. Apparently in the past, people used to think that dreams were messages sent by the gods. This student thought it would be perfectly acceptable to write somewhat offensive sententances about the "fake" gods in his research paper... I'm not looking forward to the social studies section about Christianity in Ancient Rome with this student!

Behavior is a bigger problem, as well. I'm much more nervous to handle it here than I was in first grade... I feel like there's more ways for things to go wrong when I try to help work it out. One student refuses to participate occassionally, and I feel lost trying to get him on track... especially because he's refusing to do what he thinks is unnecessary, since he understands the concepts perfectly well. On his last math test, he even wrote "100%" on the top of his paper, showing his confidence (to put it nicely) in his knowledge. I can understand where he's coming from, and I wish I could make it more meaningful for him, I just don't have the time, energy, or knowledge to put that in place. Luckily, my CT2 has a couple of options to help me out!

I've also discovered that it's easier for me to act with the first graders than it is with the sixth graders!! A couple lessons have called for skits, and I just can't make it work. It's always fun trying, though :-)

My supervisor came on the Wed. of week (1)6. It was not quite as easy as my first observed lesson in first grade, and he actually had suggestions for improvement (which is, of course, expected - my first grade supervisor didn't really ever make any, though)! That lesson I had my first moment when I actually saw the light bulb go off for a few students, which was so exciting!!

I got to go to the 'final' scheduling committee meeting, which was kind of ridiculous... the decisions made almost overrode everything they did at the last meeting, so everyone's schedule drafts had to be redone... but oh well. I LOVE the whole committee thing, so I enjoyed it anyway.

Last Monday I got to do my own little creative lesson -- whatever I wanted to do. I was SO excited, because I remembered an activity that I'd done in 6th grade, so I was going to share it with them. Unfortunately, they'd already done something similar in 5th grade, so they weren't as excited about it as I was... too bad...

Tuesday we watched "Oceans," since Wednesday we were going to see "African Cats." Wednesday was my first school field trip! I LOVED the movie, and since I'm used to going on field trips with theatre and dance camp, I felt much more in my element. I've got the head count thing down! ;-)

In Social Studies we're doing an Ancient Rome unit. CT2 found a cool webquest to use in addition to the book, so she edited it to fit our needs, since we don't have access to computers all the time. I got to make a bulletin board for the map that CT2 made -- I titled it " 'Roman' Around." :-D I keep forgetting to take a picture, but I'll post one eventually :-)

I started with guided reading groups, and was able to make the final test for the Glory Field group. I'm nervous but excited! Their research presentations are going well, too, and they're due on Thursday. I can't wait to see them all! I'm concerned about grading them, because I had this nice rubric made, but I feel like so much has changed and I just can't keep track of it all...

Tomorrow my supervisor is coming for his second visit. Hopefully I don't say "OK" too much -- that's my new word for 6th grade... that and "fantastic!" Haha. Oh well... it's late, here's to hoping for the best!!!