Month: March 2023

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!

Man, oh man, is this getting fun! Every Thursday, the students are growing academically, and I can see it with my eyes. From my first day, the students were a little timid with me (I do not blame them) and did not want any assistance, but today things took a turn for the better! The students ran up to me in the morning, saying hi and giving me big hugs. Seeing them getting more comfortable with me in the classroom is nice.

Let’s start here with the beginning of the day. For the first 30-40 minutes of the day, the students work on their biography projects. The students are putting on a wax museum event at the end of March. They all picked one person to research, and they would dress up as that person and recite a few facts about that person. I love the idea; it will turn out adorable. As I said, the students spent a reasonable amount of time researching their people and filling out a basic worksheet. I wonder if these students learned how to research or if they were shown how to do it. The students were tasked with writing down some interesting facts about their person from their early life, adult life, and so on.

While assisting the students, I read a few of the points they had written down. Some of these ‘fun facts’ were not interesting at all. One student wrote down that their person lived on Greenfield Street. I decided to help this student; I asked how this was an important fact and wanted to see their explanation. Who knows, maybe they live on that street too, and they thought it was interesting, but no, the student just said, ‘I don’t know.’ From here, I decided to become more involved and help them with research. I tried to go from one student to the other, read a few of their facts, and help them research.

In addition to this, I went to my MT and decided to talk to her about this. I wanted to see if she had modeled how to research for facts about people before. I was hoping that she picked a person and showed the students good websites to use and how to choose interesting facts, but she said that she just briefly brushed on all of that. They are given about 30-40 minutes daily to research and complete this project so I plan on helping them throughout the time I’m here.

I had taken on a little more today than I had in the past. I assisted and co-taught a math lesson with my MT as well as helped with other subjects – they have a S.S project that they have also been working on so I tried to be very hands-on and assist where I’m needed.