Not Your Average Teacher

Today was my last day with my friends in the 3rd grade. It was a very bittersweet day. Right before the bell rang, I was swarmed by the students – they were asking me if I had to leave and if I could come back next week. It was sad to say bye to them, but it was also a happy moment because I was much closer to the end! I had some enjoyable experiences during my time in the classroom. In both times during lessons, I had some fun activities that the students loved. Last week I taught a lesson and incorporated a fossil hunt which the students loved – I did not think they would be going as crazy for it as they did. Today, we were learning about the Iroquois and their games, so we planned for them to play one game. They had a great time doing that as well. It’s always fun to see the students get into a lesson.

My most challenging experience was dealing with my MT. Every step of the way, I felt like she made things more complicated than needed. She always gave me good feedback, but her grades would not mirror her. I always left her classroom feeling bad about myself and my future. But I can use that; what I’ve learned from my MT is to keep going no matter what, always be flexible, and not let things get to you. Sometimes people don’t like you – she was one of those people. I also learned a lot about myself during my time here; I knew that I am fantastic at this, can make things fun, and that students feed off my fun, vibrant energy! From the students, man, did I learn a lot? I knew that students need constant praise and attention, that all are different, that some struggle while others do not, and that they all want to be at school and learn! I also improved my questions during lessons but could still work on them. This is the only thing that needs improvement or work in the future.

I think I did awesome this semester, regardless of my grade in the class. I loved teaching all my lessons, and I did excellent in them, but if I had to pick one that could improve, it would be my first SS lesson. It was like the third week of my being there, and the students were still getting used to me, so it was a little hectic. They were trying to figure out what to do with me being up there and running the lesson. After this, though, all my other lessons went well! I am still determining if I learned anything about education from my MT. If I could do something differently, it would be for me to have the choice in MTs. I do – my MT ruined my experience, which is sad and upsetting. I can’t wait to get to know my students and teacher for student teaching. I really cannot wait! I am not anxious about anything. I’m in the classroom four days a week this semester. On Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays, I am in a 4th grade doing all the lesson planning, grading, etc., and on Thursdays at Mokena – I am not anxious about much. If anything, just being in a younger grade.

We are getting close to the finish line! Yay!

Today was a good day. I love how the students feel so comfortable around me. Every morning the students all run up to me and talk about everything and anything. I love it. I like that they feel comfortable and safe around me. This morning, I got hugs from all the girls and a few boys – I was so surprised. In the morning, my MT had an IEP meeting, so I taught the meth lesson. It was pretty easy, and the students seemed to understand right away. They have been working on this lesson for a few days, so it was good to see that they are grasping the material. As always, I had them work as partners for the problem set.

Next was my literacy lesson. This went really well. The lesson was on comparing and contrasting two texts. The students had read a story about fossils; today, we read another short story. I thought it would be fun to do something with fossils in the AS – and I was right! The story we read today was about accidentally finding fossils, so I hid them around the class and had the students walk around and accidentally stumble upon them. They loved it! I’ll post a picture below of the fossils that I made.

They were all different, so I had them compare and contrast them with a friend. Then we went into the reading, and I asked a few questions. As we were reading, I constantly restated that I wanted to keep the other story in the back of their minds as we read this one. Think of how these texts are similar and how they are different. After we finished the story, we went over comparing and contrasting. I asked a few questions to prepare them for the activity that followed. We did a hands-on Venn Diagram. I had two hula hoops and had them look like a Venn Diagram. I had the students write an interesting fact or something that they learned on a piece of paper. Once they did this, I had them place it correctly, and then we discussed all of them. The students seemed to enjoy this! After the students completed a worksheet on their own!

Later in the afternoon, we made corn husk dolls. The students are learning about the Iroqiou – we went to the Field Museum last week and saw some exhibits related to this. We learned how corn was very important to them, so we made these dolls. I later related this back to them. These children played with these dolls just like you play with your toys. This is what they had access to. They had a good time making these; some had a difficult time with this, so I had to work around the room to assist as many as possible. I’ll attach a photo of the finished product of these dolls!

Today I really learned to go with the flow. The math was sprung on me as well as a few other things. I learned to be flexible, as this is VERY crucial when it comes to being a teacher.

Another day in the classroom! Today was an exciting day – a lot was going on. First, I taught my math lesson, and it went well. This lesson was on interpreting measurement data from various points on a plot line. This lesson was #6 within the chapter, so the students had previous knowledge and were knowledgeable about the information. I had no idea how the students would do in this lesson. When I talked with my MT, she worried about my teaching because she was unsure how the students would grasp the information. I think the students did awesomely! They were blasting through the lesson right with me. They knew so much more than I thought they would go into my teaching day. I had tried to ask questions before my lesson to gauge their knowledge to see how much they knew right away. I had a blast with this lesson. Math is usually dull, and it was, but the students seemed to be enjoying my teaching! I think I did a good job with this lesson. I’ll attach some photos of the student’s exit tickets!

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In the afternoon, the 3rd-grade class had a visitor. There was a student teacher about 20 years ago who is now an author, so he was invited to come and talk with the students. This was so cute to see. The students were acting like he was a crazy movie star or something!

Hi, it’s me! I’m reporting on another week in the books! This week was a good week. I had a lot of fun in the 3rd grade classroom. To start off, I taught my first literacy lesson and it went well! I taught the students about character traits and how to find them within a story. This lesson like I said went awesome. All the students paid attention and were really respectful of themselves and each other. They listened well, did everything I asked and then some! My MT was also really impressed with my lesson. She said that she could not have taught a better lesson, so this made me feel really good! I did a lot of teaching this day as well. After this I led a guided reading lesson. I pulled a group of lower level reading students and we read a leveled reader. During this time I led a group discussion as well. It was really fun and great experience as we had a guided reading center activity due in one of my other classes. After this, I led a phonics lesson again and assisted in the social studies lesson too. I was really in a groove and had a great time leading the classroom today!

I’ll attach some of the student work from my literacy lesson on character traits!

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Hello, my readers! I hope you are all doing well! This week in the classroom was a little bit boring… I ONLY say this because my 3rd graders were testing. So, for the first half of the day, I could not interact with the students. I tried to keep myself busy instead by assisting my MT with things. I graded many papers and caught up on a few other things for her. I couldn’t complain, though. After their testing, they had the chance to stretch – which was very needed. I noticed a few of the students bouncing around in their chairs or kicking their feet while taking the test, so it was nice that the teacher noticed this as well and let them get that energy out. We did a few stretches and had our snack as usual. While the students were doing this, I was talking with my teacher. We both noticed that the students finished testing very early, and we were joking that we weren’t sure if that was a good or bad thing!

Next on the agenda was math! The students had a sub the day before, so my MT was a little confused about what the students went over the previous day. There was a mix-up where the sub went over the content meant for today, so today, we had to go over the stuff missed from yesterday and a little refresh. As usual, I assisted where I could and helped some students with their exit tickets.

After math, we did not have much time for reading, so we did what we could! Just a short little activity reviewing what we’ve been working on for a few weeks. After this, we had lunch and then phonics! I led the entire phonics lesson today! It was a bit nerve-racking as I’ve never done this before, and using the supplied slides on the smartboard was confusing. Bless the teachers because I was struggling, but it was funny because the students were helping me out. They would raise their hands and tell me I should be on the next slide or that I skipped a slide. At first, this was a bit annoying, them all correcting me, but I eventually realized that it showed me that they were really paying attention!

In S.S the students made paper mache globes last week. This week we focused on adding the equator to their globes. My MT has no idea how she would add the equator, and I suggested a few things and eventually concluded that string or yarn would work best. So we pre-cut pieces and gave them to the students to glue and/or tie to their globes. I helped one girl, and the next thing I knew, a huge line formed! So, next week we are working on gluing our continents onto the globes – I’m interested in seeing how that works out!

I could not stay away from my 3rd graders! I decided to come in during my spring break! I had the day off, so why not spend it with my 3rd-grade group!? I have discussed this with my MT, and she liked the idea. Upon arrival, my MT told me she wanted me to be extra involved today. First thing in the morning, I assisted a few struggling students in finishing their biography project. They were to present the next day, and a few still needed to complete. I did what I could to help those students, and when I was done with them, I pivoted to the ones who were done.

I had them practice their speeches with me. Most of them were well put together! I was happy to see them all excited to share what they would say with me. After this came math. I assisted my MT with teaching the lesson. This has become a regular thing where she starts the lesson, and I jump in to finish it. Lately, in my math lessons, I’ve been asking many questions. When we have word problems to complete as a group, I read the question and ask the students what the problem calls for. I ask them to underline essential parts of the question and ask them what they think we should do first.

Sometimes when I’m modeling, I purposely do something wrong and see if the students can catch what I did wrong. Most of the time, they do, and they seem to enjoy it when I do/write something wrong. It also shows me that they are paying attention and understand the math concept well enough to see what I did wrong. Whenever I give them problems, I usually pair the students up. I let them work for a few minutes and brought them all back together. After I asked one group to share what they did. I then ask if anyone has completed the problem another way. There are multiple ways to solve any problem, and I like to see how they come to the correct answer. If I know of another way to solve the problem, I will also model it for them. Right after math was reading, my MT finally decided she wanted me to the lesson. I had no problem with that. It threw me off as I did not expect to do the lesson myself.

Regardless, I pulled myself together and completed the lesson. My MT handed me the teacher’s manual, which helped with the flow of the lesson. We read an informational newsletter. I had started the lesson off by asking the students about P.I.E. The students learned about the acronym the other week so it was fresh in their brains. I also made sure they knew what an informational text consisted of. I told the students right away what were were going to Regardless, I pulled myself together and completed the lesson. My MT handed me the teacher’s manual, which helped with the flow of the lesson. I started the lesson by asking the students about P.I.E. We read an informational newsletter. The students learned about the acronym the other week, so it was fresh in their brains. I also made sure they knew what an informational text consisted of. I told the students what we would do (read the newsletter and determine the author’s purpose). I had students point out and discuss different nonfiction text features throughout the reading. I had them look and think about these features – most of them helped us decide/figure out what that section of text was about before reading – they gave us clues. After reading each section, I would ask specific questions about what we had just read and then have them think if the author was trying to persuade us, inform us, or entertain us. Overall it was a long lesson with lots of information and thinking!

After the lesson, my MT said I did a great job! She said she liked the questions I asked during the lesson and at the end and a few other things. I did not get any critiques which I like because then I know what to do/not to do in the future. I’ll attach the pages that I did the lesson on below. Overall, this extra day coming in was successful and pleasant. It was funny, though; as soon as the students walked into the class, they all ran over to me and asked what I was doing there – it was Tuesday, and they were used to me coming in on Thursdays.

Today was a busy, busy day! First, in the morning, I assisted students with their biography projects. The students have been working on these for some time now. Each student picked a famous person to research, and then the next week, the students put on a wax museum and dressed as that person. I pulled a few students individually to review their projects and what they would say come wax museum day. I told the students they wanted to pick out interesting facts about their person for this project. If they are performing as them, they need to keep the viewers interested! My MT appreciated the assistance; she said the students are still in progress, and the museum will be soon. After this, I helped with the math lesson. First, we did a quick math, where students had 2 minutes to solve 25 questions. After this, we dove right into the continuing lesson. This lesson was comparing fractions, and then the students had to draw/sketch what the fractions are like.

I also, with my MT, reviewed a few problems as a whole class, and then we broke off and did group work. Here, I helped many groups as they needed clarification with the directions and how to do some things. When we were working, I tried to let them figure it out without me giving too much of my two cents. I wanted to see if they could get themselves unstuck. I had them re-read the problem and restate it in their own words. I then asked them to underline or circle important terms and information. Then we were able to work through it more. It was a good feeling to help them see how to work out the problem. After this, I returned to the class and taught a little more. During this time, I tried to ask many questions. I want to challenge them with my questions.

Right before Social Studies, I talked about and read a book about Sandra Day O’Connor to the class. The students are working on their biographies, so this was perfect, and it was suitable to celebrate and allow the students to investigate International Women’s Day! While I read and discussed Sandra Day O’Connor, I tried to ask some questions to the students. I tried my best to relate the story and experiences Sandra went through to the students or the lives of the people they were researching for their biographies. I thought this went well – I got some notes from my MT that were helpful. It helps me see what I am doing well and what I could use improvement on. I allows me to know that I am doing good and I should keep it up. There are times where I feel like I did not do as well as I had wanted so seeing that I am doing okay makes me feel good about myself.

Today is a new day! I came in feeling better than last week. At the beginning of the day, the students were given more time to work on the wax museum biographies. Again, I walked around and helped students fill out their worksheets with exciting facts. The students each have one book about that person as well as online resources to use to research. Some students were done with their worksheets and were tasked to pick two interesting facts from their worksheets, whereas others were still trying to research facts about their person’s adulthood. I walked around and helped students as they raised their hands. I also had a few of them practice what they would say at this wax museum. Their facts and information are better than what I saw a couple of weeks ago, which makes me happy. I’m glad I went up to my MT and said something beforehand because what they have now is miles apart from what they thought were exciting facts a few weeks ago.

After this short work time, we moved on to math. I stepped in and taught the first half of the math lesson. I worked with the teacher in the second half, and we both co-taught. This lesson was interesting. They were learning about plotting fractions on a number line, so this was fun to teach. I did not know that I would teach this; I was asked a second before and said, of course! I did not have much time to review the manual, but the lesson was self-explanatory. After the lecture, I divided the students into partners to complete the assigned page in their workbooks. Here, I walked around and assisted when needed or checked to ensure the students were on track.

Next, I co-taught the WIN lesson. We read two short informational texts and completed a diagram comparing and contrasting the two texts. I asked my MT if we should read the articles as a group and then break them up into groups to comp[lete that chart, but she said these students could handle reading it all on their own in their groups. Time was almost up, and some of the students were not done with the reading, and it was here that my MT said that we should have read it as a group first and then broken it up. I laughed and said something about how reflecting on your teaching is essential! She saw where she went wrong and will make changes now and in the future.

Lastly, I taught the S.S. lesson as well! Today was a jammed packed day! The students are learning about the seven continents as well as the hemispheres. In class, I touched on maps and the continents, and we read and did a worksheet on the hemispheres. I read and lectured to the entire class, and then my M.T. and I split the group into two and worked with our smaller groups. This was a great idea, and it switched things up a bit. The students did well in these groups as well. The students in my group behaved well and listened well. I was surprised, and so was my M.T. teacher!

Overall, I’m taking on a more prominent role in the classroom and here for it! This has been a great experience thus far, and I’m excited to see where it goes and how many more lessons I can lead!

Today is the day. My first official teaching day! I was nervous about this, but not nervous at the same time. I’ve taught before; I’m currently a sub and taking over a 4th-grade class on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays – so I’m not nervous about being in front of the kids, but nervous about my teacher watching me! I got through it, thankfully. It went well – a major crisis was averted as well. There was a sub in the classroom the entire week before I taught, and a few students could have handled the change better, so this frustrated one student. A few things happened in this class, and the next day when my MT returned, she filled me in on what had happened just the day before. Hearing the details of this also made me nervous, so I was a bundle of nerves. Anyways, I was told I did a good job, but I’m not going to lie… I am not very happy with the grade I received. I’ll leave it at that.

In the last article, I talked a little about the S.S project – the projects were finished today and the students presented them to the class. The students were learning about grids and map grids. They learned what a map grid was and how map grids work. They also discovered a very elementary version of a map key, coordinates, and column/row. Once they learned how to use a map grid and locate things and read off where things are, the students, as a culminating project, were tasked with creating their map with a group.

They all named their maps different things and could make them about anything. They only had to include an array of different features such as a body of water, trees, forest, etc. They needed to add a map key with each of these features. It was fun to see how the different groups mapped their map grids. One group named theirs ‘Food Paradise’ and named all the streets on their maps after different types of food. For example, they had a Pasta Place and Candy Court. Once all the map grids were completed, the students could share their creations if they wanted – and EVERY group wanted to! I loved seeing their creativity flourish!