Yesterday I had school, but for the first time, the kids were not there! It was parent - teacher conference day, a day that I was not entirely sure what to think. These conferences were not the typical conference that every student has, this was a conference day for those students who were having a tough time and are really struggling. While I do not have a problem talking with adults or parents, it does get kind of nerve wracking when you do not know how a parent is going to react when you tell them that if their child does not show improvement by the end of the year, they may have to stay back in first grade, which may be the case with a couple of the students. I was very interested to see how Maria handled these situations.
We only had 5 conferences, four of which we needed a translator for because the parents spoke mostly or entirely Spanish. Seeing the way the teacher, translator and parent worked was very interesting, it flowed a lot smoother than I thought it would. Some of the parents brought their older children with them to assist in the comprehension because they have been in school and understood more English. Even a couple of our students came in with the parents and we had them read a book while we talked to the parents.
All of the conferences went fine, the parents seemed comfortable and asked questions when they had them. Maria offered ideas and ways that the parents can help the students at home to do better and some of the parents even talked to us about what the home life is like for the students and gave us things to watch out for in the classroom. They did not get upset or angry with the teacher, they just listened, which was very cool. I am glad I was able to see this dynamic of being a teacher, it made me feel more confident for when I have to start this. I really liked the open communication that I saw and I hope that I can make my classroom seem as friendly to my parents and students.
Showing posts with label Maria Natalie. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Maria Natalie. Show all posts
Saturday, February 19, 2011
Monday, February 7, 2011
Student Teaching Shenanigans: Second Observation
This past Thursday, I had my second observation and, let me say, it was far from the cake walk that the first one was. My observation was taking place right after lunch, during the students math lesson, which for me was difficult because math is very challenging to teach and even when I was in school, it was not my favorite subject. The focus of the observation was my ability to create and teach a well constructed lesson plan which includes an anticipatory set (something to start the lesson with) and a good closing.
The week itself was kind of bizarre, I had planned to do a math lesson before the day of observation, but with all of the snow days we have been getting, it was hard to fit it in, so my observation lesson was my first lesson. To add to the craziness, the cold and snow have caused the children not to go outside and run around for recess for about 2 months. Needless to say, they have cabin fever. What scared me about the cabin fever was that this math lesson involved manipulatives, which are hands on materials to help them to learn the concept; in this lesson, it was fake dimes and pennies. When you give students hands on items, you officially lose their attention, even if they have been outside for recess, so the cabin fever just intensified the lack of attention.
Like I said, the lesson was right after lunch, and it was this day that the students had earned the reward of eating lunch in the classroom with the teacher. While they had lunch, I was finishing getting my lesson set up. I was a little nervous, but I wasn't going to let it get to me because I have handled this class for 3 weeks now and I knew that I could take care of the lesson. I did get a bit of a shake up about 5 minutes before my supervisor walked in; as one of the students was throwing their lunch away, another student bumped into them and they spilled their milk. The milk did not just spill on the floor, but also splashed up and landed all over the back of my pant leg. This really got me flustered for a minute, but I stayed in control and focused on the task ahead.
As my supervisor Marilyn came in and got settled, I began my lesson. The beginning of the lesson was doing Calendar with the students, a system the students have been familiar with for the whole year. This went relatively smoothly except for one boy who decided that this would be the perfect time to become defiant. He was not sitting in his chair correctly so I did not invite him to the rug for the first part of calendar until he decided to sit correctly. He was very frumpy but he sat there. After a little bit, I said he could come to the rug and he said "No, I dont want to". I told him once again to join us on the rug and even told him where to sit so he wouldn't get in more trouble and he continued to defy me. Luckily, my co-op saw I was struggling and had a talk with the boy on how to behave. After that, he came to the rug and we continued calendar without a problem.
The next part was the math lesson, the concept being dimes and pennies and how to buy things. For this lesson, each student had a cup of dimes and pennies and I had objects with prices on them that the students had to pretend to buy. To sum up this section, it was a mess! I dropped a couple cups of dimes, the kids kept jingling the cups, they didn't want to listen, I had to stop 10 different times to get them to be quiet, one kid went back to his seat because he wasn't behaving....it was just insane. Somehow though, we got through it and I taught the lesson the best that I could. I still had to teach a worksheet, but my co-op said that she would do that while I talked to my supervisor. For this I was kind of glad, I was tired, so Marilyn and I went to an office and had a conference, which I really thought would not go well.
To my surprise, Marilyn thought I did a great job! She completely understood what was happening in the classroom and how and why the kids were behaving the way they were and she thought I handled it well! I was shocked, I did not expect such a rave review. She did give me some pointers to work on and some tips for working with manipulatives. My third and final observation in Maria's classroom is next Tuesday, the 15th during a reading lesson, focusing on questioning tactics. I cannot believe I am a third of the way done student teaching already!!
The week itself was kind of bizarre, I had planned to do a math lesson before the day of observation, but with all of the snow days we have been getting, it was hard to fit it in, so my observation lesson was my first lesson. To add to the craziness, the cold and snow have caused the children not to go outside and run around for recess for about 2 months. Needless to say, they have cabin fever. What scared me about the cabin fever was that this math lesson involved manipulatives, which are hands on materials to help them to learn the concept; in this lesson, it was fake dimes and pennies. When you give students hands on items, you officially lose their attention, even if they have been outside for recess, so the cabin fever just intensified the lack of attention.
Like I said, the lesson was right after lunch, and it was this day that the students had earned the reward of eating lunch in the classroom with the teacher. While they had lunch, I was finishing getting my lesson set up. I was a little nervous, but I wasn't going to let it get to me because I have handled this class for 3 weeks now and I knew that I could take care of the lesson. I did get a bit of a shake up about 5 minutes before my supervisor walked in; as one of the students was throwing their lunch away, another student bumped into them and they spilled their milk. The milk did not just spill on the floor, but also splashed up and landed all over the back of my pant leg. This really got me flustered for a minute, but I stayed in control and focused on the task ahead.
As my supervisor Marilyn came in and got settled, I began my lesson. The beginning of the lesson was doing Calendar with the students, a system the students have been familiar with for the whole year. This went relatively smoothly except for one boy who decided that this would be the perfect time to become defiant. He was not sitting in his chair correctly so I did not invite him to the rug for the first part of calendar until he decided to sit correctly. He was very frumpy but he sat there. After a little bit, I said he could come to the rug and he said "No, I dont want to". I told him once again to join us on the rug and even told him where to sit so he wouldn't get in more trouble and he continued to defy me. Luckily, my co-op saw I was struggling and had a talk with the boy on how to behave. After that, he came to the rug and we continued calendar without a problem.
The next part was the math lesson, the concept being dimes and pennies and how to buy things. For this lesson, each student had a cup of dimes and pennies and I had objects with prices on them that the students had to pretend to buy. To sum up this section, it was a mess! I dropped a couple cups of dimes, the kids kept jingling the cups, they didn't want to listen, I had to stop 10 different times to get them to be quiet, one kid went back to his seat because he wasn't behaving....it was just insane. Somehow though, we got through it and I taught the lesson the best that I could. I still had to teach a worksheet, but my co-op said that she would do that while I talked to my supervisor. For this I was kind of glad, I was tired, so Marilyn and I went to an office and had a conference, which I really thought would not go well.
To my surprise, Marilyn thought I did a great job! She completely understood what was happening in the classroom and how and why the kids were behaving the way they were and she thought I handled it well! I was shocked, I did not expect such a rave review. She did give me some pointers to work on and some tips for working with manipulatives. My third and final observation in Maria's classroom is next Tuesday, the 15th during a reading lesson, focusing on questioning tactics. I cannot believe I am a third of the way done student teaching already!!
Sunday, January 9, 2011
And so it Begins...
I am going to be student teaching tomorrow.
As I type that sentence, my brain is looking at it saying "What? No you are not! You still have years til that, what are you talking about?" But no, its not years or months from now. It's here, now! I have been preparing for what seems like forever for this, but at the same time I feel that I am not yet ready. Where have these last 3 1/2 years of college gone? Wasn't I getting ready for prom just last week? It just doesn't seem like a reality to me.
But it is a reality. Tomorrow morning, I will be walking into a first grade classroom as their student teacher for the next 7 weeks. And boy what a crazy 7 weeks it will be: Learning all of their names and traits, slowly teaching all of the lessons, making plans, putting up bulletin boards, grading homeworks and tests.
It's not fear that I am feeling; I feel prepared from my classes and I will know how to teach these kids. I have worked in a classroom before, many times, but I guess it just wasn't under as much pressure as this is. Maybe it is just a mix of nervous and excitedness, finally being where I have been working towards for years now. I am really not sure how I am going to feel walking in there, but I will walk in with confidence and ready to begin this semester!
Let me end this post with the beginnings of what will be my Student Teaching Shenanigans postings. These will be the little stories I have from my time student teaching. This first story is from the first grade room that I am beginning in tomorrow.
My first day in the classroom, I was standing in the classroom with the Paraprofessional waiting for the children to come in. The teacher, Maria Natalie, was running late, so we were going to greet the children and have them unpack as we waited for her to arrive.
The students started coming in, including this adorable little curley-haired girl. She stopped at the door and looked at me with a very puzzled face. She then immediately walked to the para, Ms. Fio's desk and began to cry.
"I do not like substitute teachers" she said through tears. My heart broke for the girl and Fio and I could only look at each other and laugh. She gave the girl a hug and assured her that I was not a substitute and that Ms. Natalie would be arriving soon. I walked over to her and bent down to say Hi and told her I was just visiting and that after Christmas, I would be helping Ms. Natalie teach so that I could learn to be a teacher like her. Once she heard this, she immediately calmed down and proceeded to be my shadow all day, wanting to hold my hand in the hallway and help me with anything that I needed. She even gave me a hug as I left the classroom that day.
Wasn't even in the classroom for five minutes, didn't even say a word and I made someone cry, that must be a Student Teaching record of some kind! Well my little shadow will definitely be welcoming when I walk in tomorrow morning!
As often as I can, I will be posting stories about my experiences in the classroom, as well as keeping up on my Disney news. With some good planning, I am hoping to keep on top of my updates and not fall in to the unorganized trap I have seen other student teachers fall into!
Send your Pixie Dust, this is the beginning of my entrance into the real world!!
As I type that sentence, my brain is looking at it saying "What? No you are not! You still have years til that, what are you talking about?" But no, its not years or months from now. It's here, now! I have been preparing for what seems like forever for this, but at the same time I feel that I am not yet ready. Where have these last 3 1/2 years of college gone? Wasn't I getting ready for prom just last week? It just doesn't seem like a reality to me.
But it is a reality. Tomorrow morning, I will be walking into a first grade classroom as their student teacher for the next 7 weeks. And boy what a crazy 7 weeks it will be: Learning all of their names and traits, slowly teaching all of the lessons, making plans, putting up bulletin boards, grading homeworks and tests.
It's not fear that I am feeling; I feel prepared from my classes and I will know how to teach these kids. I have worked in a classroom before, many times, but I guess it just wasn't under as much pressure as this is. Maybe it is just a mix of nervous and excitedness, finally being where I have been working towards for years now. I am really not sure how I am going to feel walking in there, but I will walk in with confidence and ready to begin this semester!
Let me end this post with the beginnings of what will be my Student Teaching Shenanigans postings. These will be the little stories I have from my time student teaching. This first story is from the first grade room that I am beginning in tomorrow.
My first day in the classroom, I was standing in the classroom with the Paraprofessional waiting for the children to come in. The teacher, Maria Natalie, was running late, so we were going to greet the children and have them unpack as we waited for her to arrive.
The students started coming in, including this adorable little curley-haired girl. She stopped at the door and looked at me with a very puzzled face. She then immediately walked to the para, Ms. Fio's desk and began to cry.
"I do not like substitute teachers" she said through tears. My heart broke for the girl and Fio and I could only look at each other and laugh. She gave the girl a hug and assured her that I was not a substitute and that Ms. Natalie would be arriving soon. I walked over to her and bent down to say Hi and told her I was just visiting and that after Christmas, I would be helping Ms. Natalie teach so that I could learn to be a teacher like her. Once she heard this, she immediately calmed down and proceeded to be my shadow all day, wanting to hold my hand in the hallway and help me with anything that I needed. She even gave me a hug as I left the classroom that day.
Wasn't even in the classroom for five minutes, didn't even say a word and I made someone cry, that must be a Student Teaching record of some kind! Well my little shadow will definitely be welcoming when I walk in tomorrow morning!
As often as I can, I will be posting stories about my experiences in the classroom, as well as keeping up on my Disney news. With some good planning, I am hoping to keep on top of my updates and not fall in to the unorganized trap I have seen other student teachers fall into!
Send your Pixie Dust, this is the beginning of my entrance into the real world!!
Wednesday, November 10, 2010
The Student Teaching Journey Begins...
Going to step away from the Disney part of the blog for a moment and talk about a journey I am beginning in my educational/professional life. Yesterday, I got my official letter from my Senior Seminar class saying who my cooperating teachers would be for student teaching! I have received my first choice, which is Claymont Elementary School, a school that is about 5 minutes from my house and where I went from 4th through 6th grade.
The principal there, Jim Grant, is the principal my mother worked under at Darley Road Elementary before the school closed down and my two cooperating teachers are women that I know and have worked with before from Darley as well! My regular education placement is with Maria Natalie in her first grade classroom where I will be from Jan 10th to the end of February. My special education placement is with Rachel Goldwasser, a teacher in the Delaware Autistic Program and she teaches Kindergarten through 2nd grade.
I am really honored and excited that these teachers are going to let me become a part of their classroom family and I cannot wait to meet the students! Now that I know my placements, my next step is to go to the classrooms and spend at least 5 hours in each and write a paper on my experiences. I am planning to go to Mrs. Natalie's classroom next Friday to visit and will see Ms. Goldwasser's room after Thanksgiving.
I am still deciding how I want to blog about my experiences. I know I will be updating with big events, but for smaller updates, I am possibly thinking of doing a video blog update. Not sure yet though, I will have to see as they year continues.
 |
| My Official Letter!! |
I am really honored and excited that these teachers are going to let me become a part of their classroom family and I cannot wait to meet the students! Now that I know my placements, my next step is to go to the classrooms and spend at least 5 hours in each and write a paper on my experiences. I am planning to go to Mrs. Natalie's classroom next Friday to visit and will see Ms. Goldwasser's room after Thanksgiving.
I am still deciding how I want to blog about my experiences. I know I will be updating with big events, but for smaller updates, I am possibly thinking of doing a video blog update. Not sure yet though, I will have to see as they year continues.
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