The Case of the Smellies.

Monday presented a few challenges. The kids were a little crazy today during the math lesson. We worked on subtraction with regrouping. Because we had already been over this subject, the majority of the students completed this lesson with ease. Like always, I introduced the lesson by recalling previous information.  I made sure the students were telling me how to solve the problems. I went over the first page with them, one problem at a time, while asking the students to help me, step by step, solve the problem.

Weaknesses: The students were pretty rowdy so it was difficult to maintain the attention of the class. When the noise level became so that I became frustrated I had the use the "d" word. I had to tell them I was disappointed in them. After that the class seemed to settle down; the started paying attention and either decided to work on old homework or read a book.

Lunch happened. (Yay mental break!)

Today began my first week in charge of the writing portion and we completed thank you notes. Last week all of the students received beanies with our school pride on them so we focused on thanking the people who helped make them possible.

Because it was my first time working with the students on writing, I was unsure about their content knowledge. So I put the assignment in their hands by asking them what made up letter writing. I asked the students what made up a letter and they answered:

"You need the date."

"You have to start with dear."

"Don't forget your capitals."

I had the students guide my entire lesson by telling me what they already knew about writing letters.

Teacher Read:

Tomorrow I will be using this book as the writing portion of the class. It's about a man who eats magical figs that make all of this dreams come true. My writing prompt will be something like, "If I had a magical fig..." (Still in the works.)

On another note, today the super students were able to take off their shoes during class time...

...and someone had really bad gas.

Smelly day.

Friday Funday?

Let me tell you a little story about Friday.

The Room from Hell

At my school every class has a partner class. As second graders we have been partnered with a kindergarten class. We do everything from art projects to mitten exchanges. Today we needed to help our buddies with a research project. The kindergartners needed to pick an animal that they wanted to learn more about. So we met them at the computer lab. After we were done having all the second graders pick out their computer we led the kindergarteners into the room. They lined up against one wall and one by one they found their assigned buddies.

Using the computer proved easy, as my class had already had previous experience using them. All of the students successfully decided on their animal and printed out the required text. Then we decided to switch rooms. *DUH DUH DUNNNN*

Now, here's the thing, we had 40 elementary students so we needed a bigger room. We wanted the students to read through the material and highlight some important facts. We needed a big room. So we had them line up with their buddies and their newly printed sheet and lead them to the art room. NEVER. AGAIN.

The room has this nifty way of making anything anyone says echo. So you can only imagine 40 elementary students in this classroom. Holy potatoes.

After that, my master teacher was exhausted. So that is a testament to how environments can effect the lesson. Word of advice: never use the art room.

Lesson I Taught

I had a chunk of time to complete an art lesson with my class. We decided to complete a bubble letter project. This is what the finished product looked like:

Step 1: Have students write their name on the big sheet in pencil. Remind them to write lightly as they will need to erase later.

Step 2: Introduce block letters and have them outline their name. I also displayed block letters on the smart board so they could see what the final product would look like.

Step 3: Make sure that each student has a box of crayons and a large eraser. I showed the students my final product and had them answer a few questions about them. I made sure they students understood the importance of outlining the entire letter. I suggested using different colors for each letter while encouraging them to be creative.

Step 4: Provide students some time to start outlining their letters. I had the students use their eraser *very carefully*  to erase the inside of their bubble letters. Then I showed them my final product again. I led a discussion about the different patterns that were inside each letter. I asked if anyone had any of their own ideas for the inside patterns. Students responded.

Step 5: Have students creatively complete their patterns and names. Have them raise their hands when they are done. After they have finished coloring in their name

*Make sure the students color pretty hard with their crayons because they will be painting on them.*

*Also, check their work and give them positive feedback and suggestions, if needed.*

Step 6: Paint over the name. I had students paint in groups of three. I provided three different colors to choose from; gold, silver, and blue. Be careful with darker colors. If the student chooses a darker color remind them to really spread their paint out so their name doesn't get completely colored by the paint.

Step 7: Enjoy!

We are going to use their completed projects as the front cover for their art portfolio.

Das alotta tickets!!!

Day 3.

Because Mrs. C, my master teacher, has allowed me to take over the math portion of her class I taught the math section again. Today we focused on subtraction with regrouping, only instead of the questions being set up in a vertical equation they were laid out in a horizontal line.

I started by asking the students to remind me what we worked on yesterday. I emphasized the key term “regrouping” by asking several students what they had learned from yesterday's lesson. They each gave me the “subtraction with regrouping answer” including my Superman.*

“Subtraction and borrowing”

“Minus and regrouping”

“Subtracting with borrowing”

*I'm not sure if I've mentioned Superman before. If not, here's a quick recap. Superman is an amazing student who we believe to be slightly autistic. He has trouble paying attention in class for long periods of time and struggles with articulation. Superman has the ability, and when prompted and constantly reminded, he completes all of the expected work. He has an amazing heart but tends to get frustrated with himself. At the beginning on student teaching he had little to no desire to complete any work. Today he surprised even himself.

While I explained what is expected and worked through some problems with the class I also gave out tickets using positive reinforcement. “Oh my word, Miss Dots*, thank you so much for staying on task and working quietly.” In doing so, it prompted other students to get back on task and reminded them that they had things to accomplish.

*Miss Dots: Adorable young lady who asked to sit next to me yesterday. I call her miss dots because she is my girly-girl of the class. She loves anything and everything girly and pays me at least on compliment per day on my outfit.

In my opinion, my lesson went smoothly and I engaged all students for the majority of the time. I was very proud of Superman because he was consistently on task and completed ALL of his work. He earned 9 tickets today for all that he had accomplished today. He even passed his timed math, which made my heart happy because I did not see the disappointment that I normally see at the end of the testing period. I'm sure he's very proud of himself and after school I made a point to tell his father about his accomplishments. Superman light up while I was talking about him. **Happy Dance**

I found the ticket system to be highly motivating. I also found that when I am stern and the students know what I expect of them it is easier to motivate them to complete work. When I try to be the “best teacher” by being a friend to everyone, then nothing gets done. I think I am beginning to find a good balance.

Friday's schedule is a little different. I will not be teaching a math section, but this weekend I will be preparing to take over the writing and language arts section as well as math. I will be teaching a pretty big portion of class time for only being in my second week of student teaching. I've said it before and I will say it again. My master teacher is awesome.

Favorite Moment of the Day:

During the math lesson I asked if anyone could tell me how they knew, during a subtraction problem, if they needed to regroup. Miss Dots raised her hand and answered with an extremely well put together solution to my question. I made my “OH MY GOODNESS” very impressed face as I walked over to pick up my roll of tickets. While Miss Dots was still explaining her answer I slowly unrolled the tickets. All of the students were watching and gasped at the amount of tickets I handed Miss Dots.

I'll be honest, the amount probably only totaled about ten or eleven...but the reaction was priceless. And to the kids "Das alotta tickets!!!"

Miss Dot's answer prompted me to share some of their math homework from yesterday that I was able to grade and the few answers, given by students, that I was very proud of. The question was “How do you know in a subtraction problem if you need to regroup?” Now, I can only imagine how hard that question was to answer and there were 4 students out of the bunch that really stood out. During the math lesson I pulled out their homework and I shared, with the whole class, the four students that I was extremely impressed with. Loved seeing their smiles as I shared their answers.

My outfit today!

"Miss Megan, you look like a carrot today." - Mini Sky

Wish me luck,

Megs

It's a takeover!!!

Second day down!

"This isn't my class, it's our class". -Mrs. C.

Today I was asked to start implementing my own form of classroom management. I decided to first focus on my reward system. Because I have had the opportunity of observing many different teachers who all have their own reward system I was pretty excited to piece together different aspects of my favorite reward systems.

I chose a ticket system! Yay!

I explained that I was different than Mrs. C. so my reward system was going to be a little different. Then I pulled out my giant roll of tickets and received the reaction I was expecting. TOTAL CHAOS. The students were so excited. One student even fake fell off his chair which led to an eruption of laughter...I'm sure other teachers can relate. I then explained to the students how it would work while I passed out 4 tickets to each of them.

My Ticket System: 

Students receive tickets for multiple reasons such as; good behavior, extra credit completed, using manners, not missing any homework, basically anything that I deem "ticket-worthy".

Students write their names on all of their tickets and can place them in the bucket at the end of the day right before the raffle. 

At the end of the day (Monday - Thursday) I draw 3 names from the bucket and they have a 50% chance of being able to choose a treasure from my master teacher's bucket. Prizes include; snacks, bouncy balls, visors, etc.

If their name is drawn the student has a chance to win a prize by throwing a giant plush dice.They chose whether they think the dice will be even or odds. They state their selection out loud and all the other students are very excited if they win. If they win they get to choose from Mrs. C's treasure chest. Everyone is involved and very excited about the raffle. 

On Fridays, I select two winners from the tickets that they have been accumulating all weekend and they get to choose from my own bin which includes; necklaces, silly putty, glow sticks, stuffed animals, books and all sorts of amazing toys.

The response from the students are so much fun. When it becomes raffle time, the entire class falls silent while they wait to hear who has been selected. They are all very excited about the opportunity and they are happy when their classmate wins.

During the math section that I taught today I gave one student five tickets at a time and the whole class went a little crazy. Everyone straightened up in their seats and about ten hands shot up wanting to answer the next question.

Normally, or so I'm told, the master teacher will wait for the first couple weeks before allowing the student teacher to take over a lesson. Well, here's the thing, my master teacher is awesome and she won't be having any of that nonsense. She has already allowed me to take over the entire math section.

Following recess the students all started working on the math worksheet that was placed on their desk. After most of them were halfway done I began working through the sheet using the smart board. I called names of students using the popsicle sticks.

Then we started on timed math. -- Tomorrow I need to remember to dismiss them four at a time to grab their timed math worksheets. Hopefully tomorrow it will be an easier transition.

After timed math I introduced the math lesson for the day. We worked on the following:

Favorite moment of the day:

One of the students, I call her Miss Dots, used her free seating coupon to sit next to me. My heart melted. 

Room for improvement: During my lesson I had two students who were consistently blurting out during the lesson. It was very frustrating. Tomorrow I will be watchful of those students.

Outfit of the day. Also, my dogs are both models.

And I'm grading papers at home.  I guess you could say I'm an adult now. 

Wish me luck! 

Megs

I'm only a day smarter than my students.

Holy. Cow.

"Don't get overwhelmed, you only need to be a day smarter than your students." 

My first day of student teaching has finished. I have never, not once, in my life been as tired as I am at this very moment. It was honestly a whirlwind of information, students asking me questions, working hands-on with a few students who needed it, learning about my master teacher's classroom management, and everything in between. My eyelids should be taped up at this point.

I've decided, as this information is public and out of respect for my future career and my students, that everyone that I work with will be anonymous. I will be changing all of their nicknames that I've given to them based on their personality, that way you can feel as if you are in my classroom.

Our daily schedule is broken into blocks. I'm not sure if it is organized the same way at all elementary schools, but I sure appreciate the frequent breaks. It allows the students a bit of a mental break...and let's be honest... the teachers as well.

Schedule:

8:00 - 8:20- Morning Work
8:20-9:00 - Reading
9:00-10:00 - Reading /P.E.*
10:15- 11:30 - Math
12:15-1:00 - ELA / Writing
1:15-1:45 - Science/ Social Studies
1:45-2:00 - KBAR/ Clean Up
End of Day! (In other words, WE DID IT!!!)

*I really appreciate this section because it allows the children to be broken up into smaller groups at their reading level and the teachers have the opportunity to work with each student. Such a great way to connect with the students and to monitor their academic progress.

Today, as it was my first day, I was observing as much as I could. I walked around the classroom monitoring student's work, answering questions, and helping with some classroom management. I was slightly involved with what the students were working on at the time but mainly observing.

However, I did have the opportunity to help with some of the math lesson. My master teacher introduced subtraction problems that needed to be regrouped. Most of the students had a difficult time understanding what they needed to accomplish so Mrs. C had them work individually with us helping them. It was a little overwhelming. I have been asked to lead the math lesson tomorrow. So please 110% be praying for me. Yikes! 

Favorite Moment of the Day:

Mrs. C asked me to read to the students from a new chapter book. I was able to read to them for ten minutes and I absolutely loved every second of it. We read Franny K. Stein: Mad Scientist. I love love love this book! It was so fun to read and the content kept all the students engaged. Very fun read.

This was my outfit for my first day! 

 Without my giant blanket with sleeves. I get super cold. 

Above: Story of my life. One of my kids, I'll call her Miss Sky, asked me why I look so ugly in pictures when I'm pretty in real life. 

Below: Our new seating arrangement! Yay!

Wish me luck! 

Megs

Technically, Blogging is my homework.

Tonight was the student teaching orientation. 

I am absolutely overwhelmed and encouraged at the same time. I'm not exactly sure if I can do this. 

One day at a time. 

Few mentionable moments: 

• "Look for the positive."
• "The only bad day is one in which you did not learn anything."
• "Did you have a normal day today?" -- "Define normal."

Tomorrow begins the first week of student teaching. 

I need to be there at 7a.m. It's ok. Who really needs sleep anyways?

If working as a barista has taught me anything, it's the importance of being prepared and the importance of sleep. 

I'm already showered, smelling great, my first outfit is picked out and ready, and I WAS fully planning on being in bed by 8. 

Blogging was calling my name. And you know... it's technically an assignment. I need to keep a daily log of my activities. So I will be blogging everyday about my classroom experiences. 

Also, you should know, I'm currently watching The Bachelor and cuddling my dog. 

Wish me luck tomorrow! 

Megs

Just call me Miss Megan

2014.

Ok. This is the year of change. This is the year I begin student teaching. This is what I've been preparing for my entire college career.

I'm ready. (Nope, no I'm not.)

It's Saturday and I'm in bed, cuddling my dog and panicking about what Monday brings.

Monday begins my first 9 weeks of student teaching.

I'm ok.

I know that I can accomplish great things. I trust myself to finish out this credentialing program.

I'm still panicking.

Alright, now instead of rambling on for the next 40 or so lines I'm just going to explain my first placement.

Second Grade.

My master teacher is a wonderful woman who has been teaching 10+ years. She is gracious and is great at what she does. He classroom management is impeccable and the students all love her. I have had the privilege of helping out from time to time. I know the students and the students know me.

Her classroom is messy and fun. It is bright and welcoming.

Her classroom is exactly what I would want mine to look like.

***I'm assuming all of my readers will either already be teachers or will be aspiring to become one.***

Therefore, it's safe to say that we've all had teachers that have inspired us and teachers that we will never forget.

She is one of them.

 My boyfriend's mom got me this cute teacher mug. 

"Teachers are a gift, they touch our hearts forever."

This is a preview of my master teacher's classroom. 

Obviously, more to come.

Wish me luck, 

M.