Blog two

February was a short month but this month was a month of huge growth for me personally. I am so thankful for all of the time I get to spend in my clinical placement because this is the time I can make the connections between what I am learning while doing the learning experiences, class discussions, and other assignments. We had to complete the leadership and collaboration project, as well as our rough drafts for our edTPA learning segment. Completing the leadership and collaboration project directly links to standard one of the NCTCS because to complete this learning experience I had to locate data about the school I will be student teaching at to help inform my future instruction. I was able to look at the school improvement plan (SIP) and the goals the school improvement team set for the whole school. Looking at these goals helped me to see where my class is at in terms of this goal. The first goal of the SIP is to increase 20% on iready reading and goal two was to increase 20% on iready math. During the project, I selected a goal I wanted to reach for parent involvement because I realize that parent involvement has a huge impact on my students learning. My action plan is to have a Kindergarten parent night and this will take place when I begin student teaching in the fall. The goal of the parent night is for the students and their parents to come to the school to play games with the teachers as well as learn some strategies to help their students with learning at home. This connects to standard two of the NCTCS because I am establishing a respectful environment for the students to learn in by involving the significant adults in my students lives. Writing lessons one through five was very beneficial because I know I will be writing edTPA next semester during student teaching. The goal of my learning segment is for the students to be able to correctly identify main idea and the key details within the story that support the main idea. To help my students achieve this goal, I included multiple strategies for my students to ensure I reach every type of learner within my classroom. For example, in one lesson I give the students "main idea bags" with different items in them and they have to look at the items to decide what the main idea of that bag is. Doing things like this will make the learning more concrete for the hands-on learners in my classroom. Another example from my lessons include the students coming up to the SMART board to play a game that is about main idea and key details. My students were born in 2012, which means they have never known a world without technology. Integrating technology within my lessons allows for these 21st century learners to achieve the learning goals. Catering to all of my students needs connect to standard four of the NCTCS which says that teachers facilitate learning to their students. By using technology and activities for each students learning style, I have provided an opportunity of learning to each student. In my clinical placement, I was able to attend a field trip to The Schiele Museum of Natural History with my class. While on the field trip, I was walking with students and reading some of the displays to them to help them understand some of the content within the museum. They attended a skit about the earth and how things work such as water, plants, and animals. For the students to be able to see this skit, I think it allowed them to understand what the characters were talking about. In my future classroom, I will use things such as a skit to help my students understand a topic that they may be struggling on. This month was Valentines Day as well as Presidents Day. My teacher used these holidays to help facilitate learning within her classroom. On valentines day, the class read a book about hearts, did a math activity using hearts, and created an art project using hearts. For Presidents day, the students read a magazine about George Washington and Abraham Lincoln and then they had to sort the facts into a Venn diagram. Using current events to engage your students is  brilliant way to relate learning to real life for the students. This connects to standard four of facilitating learning to your students because relating the learning to real life engages the students  to make connections with the content. This month's character trait is kindness and each class was given strips of paper to write kind things that happened in the classroom for a whole week. The classroom with the longest chain won a prize and every classrooms chain was hung at the front of the school above the character trait Kindness. Ensuring kindness within the classroom directly connects to standard two of the NCTCS which is establishing a respectful learning environment. I was able to assist my CE and her TA in testing the students on their uppercase and lowercase letters, phonemes associated with the letters, numbers 1-20, and sight words. In January when I began going to my clinical placement, I was able to help with the testing as well. It was really cool to see just how far these students have come in just the short amount of time I have been in the classroom. It also helped my CE to determine her guided reading groups, what she may need to re-teach, and who needs extra assistance. Testing the students allows the teacher to reflect on her practice which is standard five so she can see what her students know and what they need assistance with. For my outside learning and research, I have been researching classroom management strategies to help my teacher limit the distractions in the classroom. One strategy that the EC department utilizes for behavior is having a "reward chart" and at the start of every day the student who is misbehaving is allowed to pick a reward for that day and all day they have to work toward their goal so they can receive the reward. The rewards are things like extra recess time, getting to go see the EC teachers Guinea Pigs, getting in the prize box, sitting in the teachers chair, etc. This system has worked wonderfully for this student and has lowered his number of outbursts drastically. In my clinical placement, there are some students who struggle with letter-sound recognition so I have been researching activities I can use at my guided reading group to help these students learn that every letter has a sound that goes with it. One activity I found was to allow the students to use play-doh to make letters and then say the letter, and the sound it makes along with a word that starts with that letter. For example, I say the letter B and they will make the letter with their play-doh, write the letter three times on the line and then I will ask them what sound the letter makes, and then they should tell me a word that starts with B such as butterfly. I like this idea for my current and future classroom because it allows every type of learner to be engaged. I can't believe we are almost halfway through the semester and before we know it we will be student teaching. For now, I am excited to be able to learn new things every week in class and be able to apply them in my clinical.

Blog one

My first few weeks of 435 and SSED 307 have been stressful, but very rewarding with all of the information I have learned. I am placed in Kindergarten with Mrs. Stone and it has been very beneficial to spend time in my placement to see a glimpse of how life will be next semester and the years to come. One thing I have noticed is how many teachers don't recognize the importance of starting social studies in kindergarten. During my time throughout the semester and during student teaching, I will work hard on integrating social studies within my lessons to not only teach the students but to also show the teachers how simple it is to integrate into literacy and math. This connects to the fourth NCTCS which states "teachers facilitate learning for their students" by integrating social studies into my lessons, the students will gain a well-rounded education even though they're only in Kindergarten. The first two topics we have discussed in 435 are classroom management and collaborating with other adults such as other teachers, administrators, and your student's parents. Learning about my teachers classroom management strategies has been helpful because she uses more than one thing to hold her students accountable for their actions during class and outside of the classroom. Attending my first PLC meeting was really cool because they did things during the meeting that I have learned about and completed myself in my time here at Gardner-Webb. To see the connections between what I've learned at Gardner-Webb and what elementary schools are doing is beneficial for my learning. They discussed a PDP for the whole kindergarten grade, and collaborated to ensure their lessons are lining up so all students are on the same level. They were all proud that I could keep up in the conversation with them even though it was my first meeting (Thanks, Gardner-Webb!) Attending PLC's and collaborating with other teachers directly correlates to standard one of the NCTCS which states "teachers demonstrate leadership." Effectively collaborating with co-workers demonstrates leadership not only to my principal and professors, but also to my students. Modeling collaboration to my students will allow them to learn to effectively collaborate with their classmates. During my placement, I have been working hard on developing relationships with my students to create a respectful environment within the classroom. Sitting with the kids at lunch, reading books with them, and answering questions raised by the students while the teacher is busy have helped me to become closer with these student's. Forming relationships is important when first entering a classroom because the children have no clue who you are and you want them to feel their most comfortable when talking to you. This connects to standard two of the NCTCS which is "Teachers establish a respectful classroom environment for a diverse population of students." So far, I am pleased with how much I've learned in just a short amount of time just by simply being in my placement as much as I can be. Being in my placement helps me to learn what strategies work best for certain students in relation to classroom management and when teaching a lesson. For example, some students enjoy dancing, singing, games, etc. I can use these interests to help plan engaging lessons for the students that need extra support on a topic. Knowing how my students learn best is a great example of showing leadership within the classroom. There is a child in my class who sometimes becomes disengaged in a lesson and when the teacher tries to redirect him back into the lesson, he begins back talking by saying "you don't tell me what to do" or he covers his ears to show he is not listening to her. Last week, this happened but something set him off and he began destroying the classroom by throwing chairs, buckets, supplies, or anything he can get his hands on. For my outside learning, I have decided to do a little research about behavioral issues and how to prevent them in the classroom. First, I need to learn about what makes this student meltdown, it could be a particular subject, another classmate, or the assignment the students are tasked with. Once I know what causes the meltdown, I can prevent them from happening. Praising a students good behavior will motivate them to behave like they are supposed to because they enjoy being complimented by their teacher. This child gets pulled out some during the week and they allowed me to walk him to his other teacher and while we were walking, I had a discussion with him of how proud I was of him for being so good this week and that it makes me and Mrs. Stone very happy. I could see the sense of accomplishment and pride on his face just from me saying that. This goes back to standard two of creating a safe, respectful environment not only for that student but for the others as well. Being in my placement has allowed for me to really start thinking about my future classroom and what kind of teacher I want to be for my students. Creating a respectful environment and relationships with my students is something I will always do in my classroom. If a student is uncomfortable, they cannot learn to the best of their ability and having all my students succeed is the goal for an effective classroom. Something that will follow me into my career are the relationships I form with my students. Talking to them during lunch and recess, finding out what they like and/or don't like, and learning how they learn best is something I will always use in my teaching career to help my students achieve greatness. Overall, these first few weeks of class have taught me a lot because I am able to learn the material during class or through assignments, then I can apply my learning in my student teaching placement.