11/18-11/22

Being placed at North Elementary has opened my eyes to how diversity affects the classroom. Because some of my students are not originally from the US, many of them do not celebrate Thanksgiving. I found it a little bit difficult to help these students connect to this important US holiday. My mentor teacher showed me the lessons she had planned for after Thanksgiving, which is a unit based around multiple winter holidays. The students would learn about Christmas, Chanukah, Three Kings Day, The Korean New Year, and Kwanza. I also noticed just from walking about in the hallways that many of the other teachers do something similar. North is truly a unique school and I am so lucky to have has the experience to teach there.

11/11-11/15

This semester I started a teacher mailbox where students could write notes, draw me pictures,or tell me about their day. I absolutely loved having this opportunity to further connect with my students. In my cases, I was able to help solve a students problem who might have been too shy to tell me them self. Also, this mailbox got the students writing whenever they had the chance. I've learned that it is important to utilize every opportunity as a teaching experience. With this mailbox, students don't realize the writing practice they are gaining. I plan on having this system in my future classroom.

11/4-11/8

For the past 3 months, I have been tutoring one student after school in reading. I work with him for 45 minutes every wednesday. I am very happy to report that this student has shown great improvement in his reading ability. He seems to have learned how to sound out words and look for patterns. I am so proud of all the work he has accomplished throughout the past semester. I hope that I can continue working with this student even after my internship ends. Also from this experience, I myself have learned the reasoning behind why words sound the way they do. It is quite funny what we as adults forget from grade school.

10/28-11/1

This week I had an incident with one of my students who was extremely disrespectful and rude. During writers workshop time, I was trying to help him edit his paper, which was a complete disaster. This student who is in TAG, could not take any criticism and gave me attitude everytime I gave a suggestion. When I finishe editing his paper, I told him to write his final copy and he simply responded back with "No". I was shocked and honestly did not know what to say. I've had issues with this student in the past because he believes he knows everything, which is pretty frustrating. As a punishment I pulled him outside and questioned why he was so rude.He has no asnwer and basically stood in silence. I then decided he has to stay in for recess and write a paragaph on why respect is important. The child wrote a good few sentences. I plan on talking to his mother about the sitiation during parent conferences.

10/21/-10/25

One morning, one of the other second grade teacher's alarm clock did not go off which caused her to oversleep. Due to this, I saw what would happen in this type of situation where a sub is not present. My mentor teacher stayed in the classroom with out students and I went into the other room to help a tag teacher deal with the situation. Luckily the class was completing an activity that was very similiar to the one I would be doing later in the day. I didn't want to feel like I was stepping on the other teachers toes by taking over but I knew the instructions. It is stressful taking over someone elses calss and it was kind of a reality check for when I begin subbing. I did though recognize how well my classsroom is organized; this experience really made me appreciate my classroom that much more!

10/14-10/18

Today I gave a pretest for my action researcg project! My whole project is based around the question " How does Parent involvement affect student achievment?" For this pretest, I gave them 2 sheets about coins. The sheets required them to identify the sides/ pictures of coins as well as adding cents. I was honestly a bit surprised by the scores from the class. After reviewing all the test, I was able to identify 3 main problems that the majority of students has with coins. Firstly, many of them rushed through there work and made obvious little mistakes. The second problem was that almost 80 percent of the class forgot to use units ( the cent sign). The last problem was that students had trouble just identifying which coin is which. These problems will be something I talk to my students parents about tomorrow. Question: Will all parents who RSVP'd to come show up?

Intern Year: 10/7-10/11

Until I had the opporunity to rearrange seating in the classroom, I never realized just how difficult this process it. A teacher needs to consider students that have special needs, students who can't sit next to each other, and other special circumstances. I think I revised my original seating chart at least 2 times to accomadate all students. The first thing I tried to do was seperate students who have bavioral issues away from each other. I think seated students who have special needs or need asstances during instructional time. Lastly,I tried to put at least 1 tag kid at each table to act as some what of a leader. Also, I plan on changing the layout of the seating. In the beggining of the year the students were split into 3 groups of 8. Now, I plan on having 6 groups of 4. I hope because the groups are smaller, this will prevent talking.

Intern Year- 9/30-10-4

On Thursday I believe I had an extremely affective and engaging lesson with my students! For the past week my classroom has been reading a Magic Tree House book about dinosaurs. My mentor teacher has an awesome book of activities to complete with the students that relate to the book. One activity teaches students about multiplication by using "nest" and "eggs", in other words cups and beans. When I first introduced the lesson to the students they were shocked they were going to learn how to multiple using these materials. One little boy even told me it was impossible! During the lesson I could see how exciting my students were, which as a teacher is one of the best feelings. Once my students got the hang of using the eggs and nests to multiple they continued to ask for more multiplication problems! I left school that day feeling excited and eager to plan similar lessons for my students.

Intern Year-9/23-9/27

One of the classes I took as a participant taught us how to plan and create literacy workstations. This year is the first time where I've seen a teacher use this teaching strategy, which I've found exciting. The first thing I learned was that creating the workstations is extremely hard work. A teacher needs a variety of teaching resources, materials, and space. What was very interesting to me was that my mentor teacher's guide for creating these stations came from a book I've worked with before. This allowed me to be a part of the planning process, which will help my greatly when I have my own classroom. In my classroom we first created an "I can" list for each station that gives students a variety of activities to complete. We then modeled each station for the students, which I felt was very important. Once we felt the students had a grip on how stations worked we allows them to try one station a day. I learned quickly that creating all the station is completely worth it in the end. My students absolutely love going to each station. Almost everyday the students ask when it is time for stations and are eager to start. This is definitely something I want to implement in my classroom.

Intern Year Post #5- 9/16-9/20

This week I attempted to teach my first lesson which allowed the students to use technology. The goal of my lesson was to have my students become more familiar with the laptops, so I created a "laptop scavenger hunt". I assumed because my students went to a "basic skills" computer class once a week so they would have background knowledge to contribute. To my surprise, I was completely wrong and my lesson did not turn out the way I had expected. First, some of the students had trouble logging onto the computer. Then some of my students couldn't read the directions. But, to top it off, the websites were not working properly which caused a great deal of confusion among the class. Once the lesson wrapped up I was very disappointed with how the lesson went. In all my college courses my teachers are stressed the importance of incorporating technology. I keep asking myself, how can this be done when students aren't familiar with how to use it. After this lesson, I am very fearful to use the laptops again.

Intern Year- Post #4 9/9- 9/13

Something very interesting that disturbed me a bit last week happened on 9-11. When I went into school on Tuesday I had anticipated that 9-11 or at least patriotism would be talked about on the morning announcements and throughout the class day. To my surprise, the topic did not come up once and was never mentioned on the morning announcements. At the end of the day I felt a bit disappointed and confused by my mentor teachers approach to the subject. Even though the students were not alive when this event happened, I felt as though they should be reminded of the tragic event that so greatly affected our country. After a few days of thinking, I finally decided to confront my teacher on my curiousness. Without any hesitation my teacher explained due to the large population of middle eastern student, it would be inappropriate to discuss the subject. She further explained that the school did not want to make those children feel uncomfortable or unwelcome. As I listened to my mentor teachers' explanation I began to understand a bit more. Although I do agree it would be completely inappropriate to make students uncomfortable, I do believe the topic should be discussed in some way.

Intern Year Post #3 9/3-9/6

This week I began to take over teaching math everyday. Throughout the past 2 years, I have found teaching this subject has always been difficult for me. I also have worried that I am not explaining the content properly, which results in no student learning. Luckily for me, my mentor teaching specializes in math and science. For math instruction I use the standard manual given to every grade level teacher that lays out each lessons from beginning to end. Sometimes I find this useful because it sequences how the students should learn properly. Other times I feel as though some of the teaching requires certain skills the students may not have already. Something I find very interesting about my second graders is their love for math. On the first day of school my mentor teacher simply asked the class who liked math. To my surprise the entire classroom raised their hands. At first I believed the students just wanted to impress the teacher on the first day, but after teaching this subject I can tell it was not a lie. For the majority of the 90 minute period, the students are activity engaged and always eager to share an answer. I have noticed that almost every student struggles with counting coins but can easily count dollar bills. We use many hands on materials on my classroom such as paper money and plastic coins. It will be interesting to see the students progress while I teach.

Intern Year Post #2 8/26-8/31

(Sorry this post is late.. my grandmother passed away during this week.) Something important that was brought to my attention this week was the idea of differentiation. In the other grades I was placed in at North elementary, students of different skill levels switched classes for certain subjects. In second grade, students do not switch classes for any subject with causes the issue of how can lessons help every student? During my participant year, i completed an assignment of writing one differentiated lesson. I though these lessons were only created every now and then during certain subjects. I now feel that I need to differentiated every lesson plan so that all students will benefit and learn the information. When discussing this idea with my mentor teacher she also stressed how she attempts to differentiate every lesson for her student. In my second grade classroom are children who range from below grade, ESL, TAG, and on-grade. Due to this is is critical to make sure lessons are hard enough yet doable and can be understood by all students.

Intern Year: Week 1 8/19-8/23

During my first week in my second grade classroom I observed and noticed many interesting, funny, and insightful moments. Something that has really impressed me so far is the passion and drive my mentor teacher has for her profession. From day 1 of my internship it was obvious to me that my mentor teacher was excited and eager to begin the new year. I could tell that she had worked extremely hard over to summer to create new lessons for her students as well as collected books to add to the classroom library. After a few days of the planning the children arrived. One of the first things my mentor teacher told her students was how much she cared for them and that she will love them all like they were her own family. I instantly noticed a change in the student behavior; they seemed to feel more "safe" and many of their personalities began to shine through. After seeing this I realize how important it is to tell your students how much you care. Also, I realized the more passion and love you have for teaching will eventually result in better lessons, projects, and student learning.

Blog Post #3-Inquiry Celebration Reflection

As a tutor last year, I do not believe I fully understood the reason why interns were participating in this research; I left the celebration feeling overwhelmed and confused. Interestingly enough, I had almost the complete opposite reaction to the Inquiry presentations. I found myself feeling eager during every presentation to find out the results of each interns study. I truly wanted to know if their research question showed any interesting data and results. It almost felt like a light bulb clicked when I realized as a participant I was doing a mini version of this for my Education 600 class. This year I decided to attend two intern sessions both dealing with mathematics. I felt this would be most beneficial for me since this is one subject I struggle to teach. One thing I learned from many of these presentations was the effectiveness of math work stations. Many Interns found that these stations were a fun and helpful way for students to learn math. This would definitely be something I would use in my classroom. One presentation I found extremely interesting was based around teaching math lessons around the three types of learners. This Intern taught a lesson a day in a different learning style. Her results were quite interesting; she found that the kinesthetic was the least effective way for students to learn. This intern noticed that students were more focused on playing with the materials rather than learning the concepts. Overall, I believe the Inquiry Celebration as a Participant was extremely helpful and interesting. After leaving the Inquiry Celebration this year at Lakeview Resort, I can honestly say I feel extremely excited for the upcoming year.

Blog Post #2

1. Identify the “big ideas” embedded in 2 Characteristics of the Novice Teacher of your choice One characteristic that caught my attention was the fourth which explained that a “novice teacher should be a facilitator of learning for all students. The big ideas of this characteristic are basic; make sure all students can learn your lessons. This means make accommodations for students during lessons or assignments who need them. The other big idea that goes along with his characteristic is that teachers should be able to facilitate learning, meaning being able to teach the information clearly and effective. The next characteristic that somewhat goes along with the previous one is number 6, which states that a “novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of content. The big idea for this characteristic is that teachers should have a deeper understanding of concepts being taught. This includes having multiple ways to explain problems, word meanings, etc. 2. Describe an artifact that addresses each of these 2 Characteristics An artifact that addresses the fourth characteristic is the Differentiated lesson plan made in education 460. This lesson plan is designed to teach specific content area in which all learners can gain knowledge. Adjustments are made throughout the lesson according to learning level and style. An artifact for characteristic six is a lesson-completed education 430. This lesson required the teacher to develop multiple ways to solve a problem as well as construct ideas about how students may answer questions. 3. Describe how the artifacts connect to the Characteristics The artifact that addresses characteristic four, differentiated lesson fits perfectly. This lesson describes how a teacher is facilitating all learners by making adjustments during the lesson as well as modifying assignments. The artifact connected to the sixth characteristic, math lesson, shows that the teacher has an in-depth knowledge of content by being able to predict student responses as well as develop many ways to solve math problems.

Blog Post #1 (2/11/13)

The first characteristic of a novice teacher that i recognized the "big idea"for is the first one which states "Have a commitment to and skills for lifelong learning." For teachers this generally means that they should always be opening to learning new strategies, information, and techniques in education; also, their education about education should continue throughout their career. The second characteristic which states "be an effective communicator"is such a key aspect of being a teacher. One can interpret the big idea as the teacher has a responsibility to relay information to her students so they can learn. This can also be interpreted that the teacher has the responsibility to find out how her students are doing outside of school life. Artifacts that address the first standard include self reflecting after lesson plans, attending seminars on new teaching strategies, and new certifications in content areas. All of these examples revolve around the teacher learning new information, learning from prior lessons, and more. For the second characteristic, examples of artifacts are dialog journals, conferencing, student interviews, and how teacher journals. This examples of artifacts connect to the characteristics with the idea that the teacher is using positive, creative, and meaningful ways of communicating with her students.