Wednesday, November 16, 2005
Well, I have some time to update. Our troubled child has finally gotten the attention he needs. After spending the whole day with the superintendent, there was an emergency meeting on him and he was placed in a self-contained classroom to wait until he is tested and classified. I can actually teach now! He was such a distraction to everyone. He's only gotten worse each day. The students know he is no longer in our room, but they are more relaxed and eager to learn. This week was TAKE OVER WEEK! Guess what? I have Bronchitis AND Sinus Infection, AND it was parent/teacher week. So I HAD to be in school, because I'm now the TEACHER, yay! I am doing all the planning, all the lessons, and have comand of the classroom. They're my kids :) My last evaluation was much better than the one before that (I was sick with a migraine that day) and I'm feeling more positive and confident. The students listen much better with only me in the classroom. I just finished my lesson plans for next week. Now the task before me, a huge one, is getting my Portfolio in order for the college and one that will be suitable for interviews.
(1) comments
Monday, October 31, 2005
Unfortunately I have not had any time to work on this Blog. School and lesson plans take up all the time.
(0) comments
Wednesday, October 19, 2005
too busy and too much to write on this blog
(0) comments
Monday, October 03, 2005
I am so exhausted. I'm feeling much better,
but still coughing a lot which hurts my chest. I'm so
fatigued and having to be observed first thing in the
morning was not fun. My cooperating teacher was out
today, she was out Friday too. But since I wasn't
observed last week, my Supervisor wanted to come
see me teach today. The children were very chatty
today. I told them my teacher would be coming in to
watch me teach. They were happy to see me and a few
asked how I was feeling. I was very nervous and more
anxious about the anticipated outburst of our one
student, he didn't disappoint. In the middle of my lesson,
when we sat down to draw S-things and color them, he
screamed, stamped, cried, stabbed his paper with his
pencil. I rushed over to him with the white-out and
told him this was his only white-out and he would have
to think before he colors, if it is going to mess up how he
wants it to look. He ranted and raved, he was angry
and he seems to be getting more physical. I was so
embarrassed. The substitute got him to calm down
finally, only to have a repeat of the morning in the
afternoon at snack time. My supervisor watched
me teach two Reading and Language Arts lessons.
(to be continued, dinner time)
(0) comments
Wednesday, September 28, 2005
Bronchitis: I was supposed to have my first supervised
observation tomorrow. I went to the Dr. cause my chest
has gotten worse and I have bronchitis. He said, "You
aren't to return to the school until Monday, you will
have to reschedule." *sighs* My supervisor understands,
as does my coop. but I'm bummed, because I am so
prepared right now and ready to do the lesson and now
I have to wait, not just for Monday to come, but maybe
even wait to be observed the following week-twice.
My coop. won't be there on Monday and my super.
doesn't think it would be fair to make me do the lesson
just when I'm getting back and feeling better.
Super. isn't going to be around from tues-fri,
so coop. left it up to me. *sigh again*
(0) comments
Tuesday, September 27, 2005
My Morning Meeting is flowing better each day. I try
to remember the sequence and go with the flow. Although,
because the Question of the Day is taking the students
forever to think about (sometimes 15 minutes time),
we are working on either doing the question during
Kindergarten News, or finding a different time
to do it, or way to get the students moving faster.
Today I taught my first Science Lesson. It was only
an introduction lesson, but I had to incorporate
reading a book about the Five Senses and teaching
a song called "You Will Surely Know." During the story
my coop. remembered that she had a Senses chart
and she brought the chart up as a visual. The children
seemed to grasp the concept and understand
what part of their body they use when they use
their sense of: sight, hearing, taste, smell, and
touch. The song was supposed to be to the tune
of "The Farmer In The Dell," but the cd sure
didn't sound like it. Anyway, I had the students
tell me what sense was being used, as I pointed
the pictures out. They listened to the song
as I used the pointer to point to words. Then
I played the song again, this time telling the students
to touch the part of their body that performed
each sense. So they touched their eyes for sight/seeing,
ears for hearing, wiggle their fingers for touch, etc. We
concluded with a review of the Five Senses. Tomorrow,
we start Sight.
My coop. asked me how I thought today
went. I told her I felt it went smoother
and I was more comfortable. She agreed
and said "I think you did great. You were
thinking on your feet. You realized that teaching
them hand movements would keep them interested
and you added that in. Sometimes that happens,
one thing might not work, or something you hadn't
thought of or planned for might be what you need.
Great job. I'm really proud of you, keep that up." YAY! :)
SO...Weekly Reader Disaster is in the past. I am
showing improvement and getting great
constructive criticism and advice, which I will
continue to follow.
(1) comments
I'm still sick, but I'm on antibiotics and I went to
school today. There is too much I have to do to get ready
for my supervised lesson. I needed to observe my coop.
teacher working from the Reading manual. Friday I did
our first Weekly Reader with the children. It was about
sharing and caring, which are two pillars of Character
Education. I had already cut the pages and made them into
booklets for the students. I put the big copy on the board
and read the story to them. I should have asked the students
to follow along with their finger and I should have gone
around to make sure they were on task with me. I was
nervous. The activity in the back could have gone smoother
if I had used a darker marker to demonstrate and given
more time so the kids could understand sequencing. After
the Weekly Reader I had the students stand up and follow
me to the rug. I had the Child of the Day be the line leader
and had them line up to march around the room. I had
forgotten that there were directions and words in the song.
When it was time to switch to another movement you
couldn't hear over their giggling. I had to actually hold the
Child of the Day's hand and walk her around with me, with
the other students following. The second time around went
better, we could actually hear the music and the words. I was
just thankful it was time to line up for special. I was exhausted
and a bit disheartened.
My coop. asked me how I thought it went, I sighed. She
put her arm around me as we were walking down the hall
and said,
"You gotta tighten up. You need to get their
attention and keep it."
I said "Yeah, I figured you were
going to say that."
She said "But remember, you are learning
and classroom management takes time." I told her that
in Methods Class we were told that Classroom
management was probably the most challenging
thing to accomplish. She agreed and said it is sometimes
a game of trial and error, of trying new things out
and if something doesn't work, try another
approach.
So I will take her advice and stop beating myself
up over it and move on to the next lesson-in school
and in life.
(0) comments
Monday, September 26, 2005
Sick! :( Strep is going around the school, left early.
Actually I think I was getting sick last week. Back to bed.
No Strep, but sore and red throat, have antibiotics hope
to knock it before it gets worse. My first supervisor
observation is thursday, have to be energetic by Thursday.
(0) comments
