Student Teaching Journal |
My last three weeks of my last placement were bittersweet. While I was looking forward to completing my degree and the future moving forward, I was also sad to be leaving my student teaching experience behind. My second placement has definitely been a situational rollercoaster due to COVID-19 and the remote learning circumstances. Throughout my placement I felt as though there was a lot of teaching experience I was missing out on. While I acknowledge that there definitely will be things I will have to learn and experience for the first time once I am teaching in a normal year, there are things I would have never learned if it weren't for the unique situation.
I have never incorporated more technology into a lesson before. I used to think technology didn't have a huge place in the art class, but I know have a lot of experience implementing it successfully and in multiple ways. Due to the lack of consistency with the access students have to art materials, I incorporated technology and nature into my lessons which I knew all students could access, and learn that artist can make art anywhere and with anything. Sometimes, restrictions and barriers force us to be more creative and come up with better ideas as a result. This was definitely the case for both me in my lesson plan designs, and the students in their projects. These last three weeks were kindergarten, first and second grade, and I was worried about how they would do with the technology required to even operate Zoom. However, by creating a lesson based around nature and using materials from outside, they were able to get a break from the screen and spend time in the nicer weather. I also found that by communicating with families and letting them know what we would be doing in class, and how they can support their student in the technical side of it created more community and openness to express difficulties or needs.
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These last two weeks I have started to gain more confidence for teaching remotely, with the time constraints and with elementary. I have realized how capable I am for using technology and all the tools that are available to make my lessons more interesting for the students. In week four, I taught my first own lesson that I wrote two 4th graders. I incorporated Zoom, Seesaw, Google Slides, Padlet and Pixton all into one lesson in a way that was interesting and not too much for the students. When there are up to 60 students in one 30 minute Zoom call, it can be difficult to track their progression and engagement. However, I realized that by using multiple tools as a way to check for understanding and check student’s interactiveness, I can better gage where they are at.
I also based my lesson around identity and embracing who you are. By doing so, I was able to feel as though I got to know my students a little better. It can be tricky to build relationships with students because we see up to 120 students from the same grade each day, but only for one week before we move onto the next grade the following week. I also taught the same two day lesson to 5th grade students the following week, and they also seemed to find it really interesting. I asked for student feedback about the technology tools and their opinions on the lesson and it was overall very positive! This next week we are going into Kindergarten which will be quite the jump from 5th grade, but I am looking forward to adapting my lesson ideas for a younger age, and learning what they are capable of. I thought I really wish I had more time than just 30 minutes for each class, I am enjoying it and working hard to get the most out of it and plan lessons that students can get the most out of! These last three weeks have been my first few weeks at my second placement at Westerly Creek Elementary. It is quite the change from my previous placement in multiple ways. The obvious way, is that elementary is much different than even middle school. Through my practicum at CSU, I did not do any work with elementary, so this is a whole new experience fro me. One of the biggest ways this is so different however, is because I am back to being fully remote. Although the elementary school is in person, specials are still remote and at the end of the day. My schedule is pretty unique at this placement. From 11:45am to 12:15pm, my mentor teacher and I teach a remote adaptive specials class to about 10 students in the autism center at the school. This consists of P.E, music, art and drama all within 30 minute classes through a computer screen. The students are in person with the paras and autism teachers, so they have help with the lessons, however it is still extremely difficult to see what the students are doing and engage with them. Then, from 1pm-3pm, my mentor teacher, a part time art teacher and I teach math, science and social studies to 3rd graders who have opted to be fully remote. The school did not was to make the homeroom teachers balance both the in person and online kids, so since all specials teachers are remote, they decided to have them take over teaching the core content to the remote classes. This obviously raises some questions, and quite honestly, the remote students are not getting them same quality of education as in person. The homeroom teachers give the specials teachers the lesson plans, however, it is difficult for art teachers to know the answer to any question a student may ask, or even know the proper language to use for the content at that grade level. Then, from 3:00pm-3:30pm and 3:30pm-4:00pm, my mentor teacher and I teach two 30 minute specials choice classes to one grade level a week. Specials choice means that we introduce the lesson, but the students get to choose how they will do it (art, music, dance, drama, etc.). My first week was 1st grade, so for those two 30minute time periods, we taught a lesson connection to a general idea to up to 60 1st graders at a time. They then log off after the 30 minute, and complete their own activity in Seesaw on their own time. My second week was 2nd grade, and my third week was 3rd grade. I am now on Spring Break, but when I return, it will be 4th grade and I will be teaching my first full lesson. To be entirely transparent, I am a bit disappointed with how this works out. Only seeing one grade level per week, means that for most of the grades I will only see them for one week out of my full time at this placement. Also, with there being up to 60 students per class, it is extremely difficult to get to know them, learn names and build a relationship, especially because they are all online and muted and can’t use the chat being it would be distracting with so many students. I am trying to stay positive about the whole thing, and realize that I am learning good technology skills and adaptive skills through this, however I don’t feel as though I am getting the practice that will have the strongest benefit for me in the future. I am staying open minded and positive about the whole thing, but this is definitely a unique situation.
3/29/2021 0 Comments 3/1/2021 Weeks 7 & 8 My final two week sat McAuliffe Middle School were filled with many successes and emotions. In the last two weeks I finally felt as though I had built relationships with each student as individuals and felt more confident in my relationship with them as a teacher. I felt as though I was finally mastering some of the goals I had set for myself. By the last two weeks, my pacing for lessons was effective and on time, I was keeping instruction concise and clear, and I was able to step into a more authoritative role. During the last two weeks, I spent a lot of time reflecting on my experience as a whole. I realized my strengths in being able to adapt and learn quickly. In just 8 weeks I felt like I grew tremendously. I also realized that I am going into the right field for me. I was able to have a very positive experience at McAuliffe. A big part of the reason why my experience was so positive is because of the school’s general climate and future. McAu;iffe holds their students to high standards, and have structures in place throughout the entire curriculum that help students take responsibility for their own learning. The also have a super supportive staff that works together as a team, and my mentor teacher effectively balanced helping me to ease into it, but also pushing me to try hard things and challenge myself. I know that McAuliffe is unique in its school climate and culture, and that not all of my future experiences will run as smoothly and will challenge me in new ways. However, I am extremely grateful that this was my first experience because it showed me what is possible and make me excited and motivated for the future. The most impactful part for me was my relationships with the students. In just 8 weeks I felt as though I had built an individual relationship with 300 students both online and in person. My last day was super special as I got to hear from the students that I impacted them too. I will never forget those students or my time at McAuliffe. I now understand why teachers do what they do, and how students can change teachers’ lives just as much as the teachers change the students’. I look forward to taking my new knowledge onto my next placement and everything in the future.
2/22/2021 0 Comments 2/22/2021 Week 5 & 6The last two weeks were by far my most challenging yet, but also the most rewarding. Now that we are in the thick of my first student teaching placement, and students have been back in person for over a month, there are classroom management related things that I have had to handle. There have been days where it feels like everyone in the class is talking during instruction, not listening and distracting each other. During these days I have had to learn to be authoritative and address both the class as a whole and specific individuals to redirect. I have found timers, counting down from 5, pausing my instruction with silence and using wait time to get 100% attention. However, there are still times it feels like nothing works!
Other days, it feels like I am teaching to an empty room, and it is a struggle to get participation. For this, I have found that using turn and talks to get students thinking, and then using cold call to ask “What did you or your partner share?” Despite these challenging days, there are also super rewarding days. I am feeling so much more confident using my teacher voice and giving instruction effectively. I also feel like I have stronger relationships with my students now which is one of the best parts in my opinion. I also feel much more confident now if talking to students who are struggling either academically or behaviorally, and having a conservation to either help them understand, or ask what is going on and what would help them to stay engaged. Having these conversations also helps me to plan lessons with these students’ needs in mind. These two weeks have really emphasized the importance of building relationships with students and how rewarding and effective it can be. However, I have also learned that no matter how great or strong of a relationship you have with your students, there will still be days where it is challenging to get engagement or attention. These last two weeks of my first placement, I really want to continue practicing classroom management skills, and having conversations to help my students. 2/8/2021 0 Comments 2/8/2021 Weeks 3 and 4In my third week of student teacher, I started to gain a lot of confidence and build relationships with the students. In a normal year, the school operates on a block system with alternating red and white days. However, since being back in person, we have had to operate on a two week system due to Covid safety guidelines. Because of this, my 2nd and 3rd week were both white weeks, where we were seeing the same class periods everyday for 2 weeks in a row. Since my 3rd week was with the same group of students, I really started to get to know them. I learned names and started to build individual relationships with each student which ultimately helped my confidence. This also came in handy when grading, because I had a better understanding of each individual student’s abilities and background. One challenge with this however, is that I do not get to build the same relationship with the students who are remote. It is difficult to build personal relationships with them and see their process. However, grading and getting to see their portfolios of prior work did help me get an understanding of their skills and personalities.
In my fourth week, we switched to red weeks. I had met the red day students only twice in my first week when we were fully remote, but it was over Zoom so the majority had their cameras off and I did not get much interaction with them. This meant learning names and building relationships all over again. However, having taught in person for two weeks already gave me the confidence to jump in and know how to interact. Therefore, I quickly learned names and build relationships with students. In addition, a new group of students meant I was teaching the same lessons I had already taught two weeks ago. Therefore, teaching was a lot smoother and I was able to make adjustments based on how it went with the white day students. One challenge was that after having been in person for two weeks already, not only was I more confident, but so were the kids. Although they were not in art class for those two weeks prior, they were still in the school building taking their white day classes. Thus, they came in much more confident to push the boundaries and speak out. This was a benefit in the sense that we were able to have more engaging whole class discussions, and it was easier to understand students’ unique personalities, however, it proved challenging when they would be off task or talk while I was talking. This showed me that I need to work on my authority. Students will test what they can get away with and if I don’t set those expectations right off the bat, it will be harder to manage in the future. I am going into my 5th week now, and it is my second week with my red day students. For this week I really want to get better and getting 100% before giving instruction, using wait time, and using my teacher voice to get attention. 1/25/2021 0 Comments 1/24/2021 Week 1&2These first two weeks of student teaching have been a rollercoaster of stress and excitement. During my first week, the students were all still 100% remote. Through the course of the week, my mentor teacher introduced me to the systems she uses for remote teaching, and slowly let me take over sections of the lessons to teach to the students. It was easy to grasp the remote teaching systems, however I found it very difficult to get to know the students. At least 2/3s of every class period did not have their cameras on, and only the same 3-4 students in each class would share out. As a student teacher, it made it feel like a very daunting task to build relationships with the students or even learn names.
During week two, we moved to a hybrid model, and were able to have the majority of students back in the classroom. Although that brings new anxieties of COVID-19 safety, it was so nice to be able to interact with the students. I quickly learned names and started to get to know my students. It also just reminded me of how much I love middle schoolers since I was now able to hear their comments throughout the class and talk to them one on one. During the second week, I also planned and taught my first two solo lessons. The first day I was extremely nervous, but as the day went on and I practiced more with each period, I felt more confident and by the second day it felt much more natural. One challenge is that while there are students in the classroom, there are also students on Zoom at the same time. Finding a way to give attention to both groups simultaneously, and try to give both groups equal education is difficult. I find that while giving instruction, it is helpful to check in with the online students frequently, asking if they have any questions or want to share. It is also important to remember that when a student in person shares something or asks a question, I need to repeat it back so the students online can hear it. I think the biggest thing for me to continue working on is just gaining confidence, and being authoritative, both of which I believe will come with practice. I still find it difficult to redirect students or call for all students’ attention. I look forward to practicing more and more leading lessons myself, and again confidence. I also look forward to getting to know my students but also am nervous that as they get to know me more, they will act out more frequently, so I feel that this next week will be very important to build respect so that doesn’t happen in the future. |
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May 2021
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