Week 3

 

• Rate and explain your overall experience of the week: 1 - Very difficult to 5 - Great week
• I will rate this week as a 4. It was a hard start to the week but was better as the week moved along. The workweek was fine, but all the extra assignments really makes the week feel very long and stressful. We had parent-teacher conferences this week which makes it a long week. Having 2 conferences each afternoon makes the days very long. My lessons went well this week. We ended the week with our yearly Pastries for Parents. This is a yearly morning when the adult in the student's life comes in and the child serves them a pastry and juice. Then the parents stay for an hour so that the students can show their parents the work they have been working on at school. It's a fun event. It is nice as a teacher, but difficult as a parent and teacher because I don't get the full amount of time to visit my own children's classroom. We were able to make some new goals for some students this week and we completed a lot of intervention work this week as well.
• Response to these questions to end your week:
• • Observe: What pleasant surprises / accomplishments did I achieve this week? I was pleased with one of my cultural lessons. I made some new materials to go along with the lesson and the students seem to enjoy the follow-up work. I gave some Stamp Game addition lessons the students are really taking off with it. I feel they had a good foundation of place value with the work they did with the Golden Bead material. I was pleased that I was able to turn in my assignments on time this week even after staying after so many days at work.
  • Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week? I think my lessons about leading both communities every day this week are that I need to be sure I remember to remind the students of activities that are coming up in the week. I typically only do them a few times a week. I only mentioned who had share on Friday on Monday so some students forgot about it. I had put the date in the Monday letter (our parent communication), but I wish I had reminded them on Thursday. A few things we reflected on this week were making sure we were specific with the expectations and being sure our friends with ADHD understood well the expectations. We also worked hard on looking at the data and making changes to the intervention plans we had in place already. I was glad I made time for time for my education groups this week. Also, it was nice to see my book club groups requesting more follow-up work for their book club and my writing group using their writing goals throughout the week.
  • Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned? My short term goals are to just keep checking off all these assignments so I can graduate in May which is my long term goal.
  • Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing? I don't think I could have done any more this week. I would have liked to have spent less time on assignments and more time with my family. I understand why the assignments are there for students that are not working, but I feel like a lot of them are a waste of time for those that are currently working. It is very stressful to have all this extra work on top of working and taking care of my family.
  • Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do? There were a few times this week where my work was taken credit for by another person. I don't think on purpose, but it did hurt my feelings and I did not appreciate it. I didn't say anything and I don't think it would be appropriate to say anything at that time. When you are a partner and a team working together the comments should be at least "we".
  • Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear? I would like to get as much work done today as possible so I can work on the edTPA. I have not been able to work on that any and I have not even started the portfolio.

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions? I administered another post level SPIRE assessment and the student passed. I analyzed that assessment to see if the student was ready to advance to the next level. We have been looking through our fluency scores and discussing re grouping out book club groups based on this new data. I observed student work and saw students that needed a Task Force Lesson on adding fractions. I gave them a new lesson on this using the fraction insets. I also observed a student that needs a new stamp game lesson and that student will receive that lesson on Monday. This would be dynamic addition using the stamp game since they mastered the static addition.
• What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers? Stay organized and plan ahead. I use a daily planner to list interventions, lessons, things to do, task force lessons, and what needs to be addressed at community. This has been very helpful for me.

• NC Teacher Candidate Standards (Be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer.)
• • 1c. Teachers lead the teaching profession. This week I was discussing and looking into some of the professional development that is offered at our school. A few of the teachers and I were discussing plans about what development opportunities we would like to ask for in the future. We also were discussing the observation template we use when observing the other classes. On the agenda for next week is my room partner and I are going to look over our Fundamentals and discuss our goals for improvement on some of the areas. 
  
  
  • 2e. Teachers work collaboratively with the families and significant adults in the lives of their students. This week was optional parent teacher conferences. We examined data and planned some conferences that we needed to have based on the data. We were able to collaborate with families to discuss the classroom interventions that were taking place and the new interventions we had implemented. We also worked with these parents on some plans to better help their students. The parents were active participants and involved in the process.  
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• 3c. Teachers recognize the interconnectedness of content areas/disciplines This week I gave the Types of Rocks lesson. I was able to integrate writing into the lesson. I taught the students how to use a graphic organizer to organize their thoughts while they were researching each type of rock using an informational text. Then they were able to write their research from the graphic organizer. 
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• 4b. Teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students. Our level has been working analyzing student data and the NC Standard alignment to our Montessori math curriculum. We have been organizing the scope and sequence based on this data. We are making notes and observations throughout this year and will meet at the end of the year to finalize the sequence. This is because we implemented a new Montessori Math program and we have to align the lessons to our You Can Teach it all plan and how many weeks we have in school. This week we noticed that the lesson for Products of Factors using th ebead bars came too late in the sequence (this week) so we plan to move that lesson earlier next year.
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• 5c. Teachers function effectively in a complex, dynamic environment When planning my lessons these past few weeks I have been able to look at the independent work we have and make changes to it if the change will benefit the students. I was able to make new works for the Types of Rocks lesson and incorporated writing into the follow up. I also presented the students with choosing a writing goal for their writing this week. It was so nice to see a student get the 10 minute sand timer and write for the whole 10 minutes. Their goal for the week was to write for the whole 10 minutes. They had a post it note with their goal they chose for the week from the writing lesson. I think I will keep this goal making in the lesson for the next few weeks of writing lessons. 

• Other:
• What components of your edTPA and portfolio have you started to complete? Only Taks 1. I need to start on Task 2 commentary, but there is no free time to do this.
• What support does your Clinical Educator need from your University Supervisor? None
• What support do you need from your University Supervisor? None

Week 2 1/20/23

 

• Rate and explain your overall experience of the week: 1 - Very difficult to 5 - Great week

  I will have to rate this week as a 3. It was very hard adding writing these weekly edTPA lesson plans to all the work I already do each week. We had a teacher workday, but that was filled with 2 meetings and working on our report cards. We have 2 report cards. One is our Montessori Lesson report card and the other is called Habits of the Mind which details the student in various areas such as executive functioning and behaviors. Our students do not receive letter grades until Secondary 1. This doesn't leave time to do catch-up type work in the classroom on the teacher workday. It would be nice to have an actual teacher workday without meetings and report cards. We also found out our Directress suffered a stroke and was in the ICU. She is recovering well and just has been moved out of the ICU. Prayers are appreciated for her recovery. It was a bit difficult to try to mix the Montessori lesson into the edTPA format for some of the lessons.

• Response to these questions to end your week:
• • Observe: What pleasant surprises / accomplishments did I achieve this week?
• I was able to finish my weekly lesson plans on time in the edTPA format. We also reviewed some of the procedures that the students must have forgotten over the long weekend.
• Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week?
• My experiences just lead me to be sure I am well prepared. My classroom partner and I are also trying some new ideas with some of our students and resisting some things in the classroom.
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• Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned?
• Being prepared is going to help me, in the long run, to not become burned out. Reflecting on myself and being observant of others including my students will help me become a better teacher.
• Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing?
• I need to work on my other assignments. The edTPA weekly lesson plans took up way too much time this week.
• Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do?
• I think indecision and last-minute changes to the weekly lesson schedule had an impact on what I was able to complete this week. I kept second-guessing my lesson plans. I will be very excited to go back to my all Montessori lessons when student teaching is finished.
• Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear?
• I need to get some rest and breathe. I would like to dedicate more time next week to edTPA Task 2 and begin checking off the assignments due next week.

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions? As the students finished MAPS testing we have been analyzing data and revisiting our intervention groups. I gave one of my students a post-level SPIRE assessment today and that student showed so much growth. I did find out this student needed to go back and review welded sounds which is what we will begin tomorrow. I have been working with some students on passing their current timed math fact and I had 1 that passed and 1 that came very close this week!
• What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers?

• NC Teacher Candidate Standards (Be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer.)
• • Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
• In standard 1 it states that teachers demonstrate high ethical standards which include honesty and respect for others. Treating students with respect while also enforcing school rules and following the behavior policy across the board to all our students is demonstrating a high ethical standard. Our behavior policy and consequences are clear and transparent. Following the policy in the handbook is demonstrating a hight ethical standards.
• Pick an element from standard two of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
• Standard 2 has a section that's says teachers encourage and environment that is inviting, respectful, supportive, and flexible. We great every student in the morning with a handshake and address students by their name. This establishes an inviting and respectful day right from the beginning in the morning. I was able to support my students today by introducing them to a new math computation lesson that they were ready for! They had just mastered the Exchange Game with the Golden Beads and were ready for this next lesson. This is an example of me encouraging and supporting my student's needs. 
• Pick an element from standard three of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
• In standard 3 its says teachers know the content appropriate to their teaching specialty. I had to know the content for the next lesson after the Golden Bead Exchange Game. I also had to know how to relate the new Montessori material to the Golden Bead material.
• Pick an element from standard four of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
• Standard 4 states that teachers plan instruction appropriate for their students. We have been re organizing our math scope and sequence so that we are able to plan instruction that is at appropriate times for our students. We re did some of the math materials this year and have been using this material to plan the new scoper and sequence for math while also keeping the Montessori teaching schedule from You Can Teach It All training.
• Pick an element from standard five of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element.
• This standard has a part that says teachers function effectively in a complex, dynamic environment. Observation and reflection is a big part of Montessori. We observe our students, other classrooms, and other levels. We are currently on a observation rotation. My classroom partner observed the other day and came back with some ideas we implemented to try and a few on a list to think about. I am looking forward to upcoming observations. We reflect many times during the week in the afternoon about the day and lessons. We usually don't have time to check in during the workcycles so we do try to have short meetings to reflect as needed on classroom needs.
• Other:
• What components of your edTPA and portfolio have you started to complete? I have completed Task 1 and would like to start Task 2 this weekend.
• What support does your Clinical Educator need from your University Supervisor? None
• What support do you need from your University Supervisor? Is there a timeline example for working on and not getting behind on the portfolio? Where can I find the teacher standards evaluation tool?

Week 1

 

• Rate and explain your overall experience of the week: 1 - Very difficult to 5 - Great week
• I would give this week a 4. We had MAPS testing in the classroom this week. I do not mind the testing weeks. The kids worked hard on the tests. The weather was nice and recess was great this week. I had 8 hours of Crisis Prevention training this week as well and finished that certification. It was interesting training but meant I ended up staying in the classroom longer after work preparing for the next day. I taught some Montessori lessons and my regular small group intervention groups for reading and math which I really enjoy. We have report cards to do so I know it is going to be a busy day tomorrow afternoon and the teacher workday Monday. 
• Response to these questions to end your week:
• • Observe: What pleasant surprises/accomplishments did I achieve this week? I was surprised at myself for actively participating during the crisis prevention training. I am typically pretty shy and quiet in meetings. My goal has been to participate more and I was proud of myself for speaking up in the discussions. 
  • Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week? My experiences this week taught me some tools for preventing and handling crisis situations. I hope I do not have to use any of the crisis-handling skills next week. I do want to keep the reminder of staying soft-spoken and speaking to an upset child from the side, not the front. 
  • Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned? My long-term effort is to graduate. My short-term efforts of working on the edTPA and the lessons plans check things off the list of what I need to graduate. 
  • Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing? I could have spent more time working on report cards, but that would have been a lot to pack into the days since the training ran after school hours. 
  • Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do? I do not think either had to do with what I did not get finished. There just comes a point when you have to stop. The to-do list will always be there regardless. 
  • Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear? Maria Montessori always says be prepared. The environment and guide should always be prepared. The logical choice would be to finish the edTPA and type lesson plans for student teaching. Then I also have to prepare for my Montessori lessons next week and work on report cards. Our report cards are very different from traditional school report cards. 

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions? I analyzed some SPIRE assessments and MAPS data. It showed me that the interventions in my group are working since they showed growth and showed me who to add to that groups now that the school changed the SPIRE intervention pull-out schedule.
• What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers? I would advise them to stay prepared and organized. 

• NC Teacher Candidate Standards (Be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer.)
• • Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. One element of standard one is to use data to organize, plan, and set goals. I was able to look at our new MAPS testing scores and add to my small group intervention. I saw that the students were ready for new digraphs for one of their interventions so will be moving on from the current list. This past week I saw that my intervention group had mastered Golden Bead Addition and were ready for the Exchange Game with the Golden Beads so I presented that lesson. 
  • Pick an element from standard two of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. An element in standard two is "encourage an environment that is inviting, respectful, supportive, inclusive, and flexible." I encouraged a positive environment by being prepared and having a positive attitude. Greeting the students each morning at the door by name is a way to start their day on a positive note and helps them develop appropriate social and emotional skills.
  • Pick an element from standard three of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. An element of standard three is to "develop literacy skills appropriate to specialty area". I chose a book I have been wanting to read for a long time aloud and have been implementing think-aloud during read-aloud to review story elements. 
  • Pick an element from standard four of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. An element from standard four is "know how students think and learn". I know that my students need their lessons prepared and organized. They like to stick to our schedule and I was specific with the schedule changes with testing so they were prepared. 
  • Pick an element from standard five of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. Standard 5 in one element says "participate in continued, high-quality professional development." I completed my Crisis Prevention Training this week for the certification and this is a high-quality professional development. 
• Other:
• • What components of your edTPA and portfolio have you started to complete? I have Task 1 almost completed and have my lessons already videoed. I have not started the portfolio yet. 
  • What support does your Clinical Educator need from your University Supervisor? She does not need any. 
  • What support do you need from your University Supervisor? I am not sure if I used the correct information for the teacher standard section above so would like feedback to be sure it was correct.