Reflection Log: Week of February 16th

1) This week, I began teaching bell to bell on Wednesday. I independently planned my small group instruction and collaborated with the other third grade teacher to plan large group math and reading lessons. I began implementing my writing unit plan this week, and so far it is going very well. The students are still in the "pre-writing" stage of the writing process, but I hope their efforts continue, or even increase as they begin drafting their personal narratives.I also attended parent/teacher conferences on Wednesday evening. It was an enlightening experience. I found that, even though I already felt very invested in the success of my students, meeting the people who love them most made me feel even more determined to do my best to support them

2) My most satisfying experience this week was receiving such positive feedback at my midterm meeting. As much confidence as I can generate on my own, it is always such a weight off my shoulders to receive affirmation from others and confirm that I am doing good things.My most challenging experience this week was changing my lesson plans when my afternoon schedule was disrupted by a fire drill on Friday. I think I did a good job of managing the class despite the change in schedule, but managing my own control-freak instincts that did not like my plans being disrupted was a challenge. This was a good challenge for me to face because I know that flexibility is a hugely necessary skill for teachers to possess. I will continue to work on "going with the flow."

3)This week, I will continue teaching bell to bell. I am glad that I started on a Wednesday because I now don't feel quite as intimidated coming in on a Monday. I will also attend the second Wednesday night of conferences. I think it will be both a tiring and rewarding week.

Reflection Log: Week of February 23rd

1) This week, I taught bell to bell all week. It was a challenging and rewarding experience. I learned a lot about flexibility this week as I had to adjust my lesson plans many times due to outside factors (like technology not working) and to students progressing faster or slower than I predicted. It was a good lesson for me to learn, and it made my planning for this coming week a little easier I think. I am getting a better idea of how to plan for the time I have. I am also less attached to my perfectly crafted (ha!) plans and willing and ready to change at a moment's notice.

2) My most satisfying and most challenging experiences this week were directly related. I had a rough day on Tuesday. The students were squirrelly and unruly and I was not doing a very great job at giving positive reinforcement or at implementing calm discipline. At the end of the day, I was frustrated with the students and even more frustrated with myself. On Tuesday night, I reevaluated my management toolbox and added some new tools to use on Wednesday. I wrote myself a note that says "Tomorrow is always a new day... with no mistakes in it." and placed it on the front of my planner so that I would see it often. I listened to positive/encouraging music on Wednesday morning and I went into class with my game face on. With my renewed energy and plan for positive classroom management, I had a fantastic Wednesday and the rest of the week went very well. It was a satisfying triumph after a very defeating day.

3) This week will be my final week of bell to bell teaching. I am looking forward to helping students revise their personal narrative writings and learn how to peer edit. Hopefully, students won't be too tuckered out from their reading Unit tests on Wednesday and Thursday mornings to work hard during writing time in the afternoon.

I also have a mock interview with my principal tomorrow afternoon (Monday). I am nervous but excited and I know it will be a good experience.

Reflection Log: Week of March 2nd

1) This was my final week of bell-to-bell teaching at Phillips Elementary. It is a bitter/sweet feeling: I feel quite accomplished and confident, but it is going to be hard to turn the class back over to my mentor teacher. I can't imagine how hard it was for her to turn over the reigns! I also met with my principal for a mock interview on Monday. It was a different experience than I had expected, but very valuable. She told me upon entering that she "hated fake interviews," and that she could score me on the elements I was supposed to be evaluated on based upon her observation of my teaching and upon her interactions with me in collaboration. Instead, she said, "I have an exercise that I think will be more useful to you." She pulled out the list of stock questions for Des Moines Public Schools Interviews and had me go down the list and make a check mark next to any question I felt unsure about or did not have an immediate answer. Then we went through and discussed those questions and how I could answer them. It was really a great exercise and I am so grateful that she took so much time out of her busy schedule to help me prepare for my job search!

2) My most satisfying experience this week was being able to help my students prepare to deal with someone who has experienced a loss. The special education teacher for third grade, who also has regular interaction with all of the third grade students at recess time, lost her husband last Friday night. She was absent all week to deal with the practical and emotional stresses of his passing. Our principal came to the classes to explain what happenedand facilitatea brief conversation of what to say and what not to say to the teacher when she returned. After this conversation, I gave the students time to create cards to be delivered to the teacher. I had some very interesting conversations with students about the teacher's loss. One student who works frequently with this teacher (he has autism) was struggling to make a card and refusing to work. When I sat down to talk with him about it, he finally was able to say "There is nothing I can say or do to fix this..." I was blown away by his insight and depth of feeling.I could tell the students needed something else to help them communicate with the teacher when she returned, so I taught them a song to sing for her. Tomorrow morning, they will be performing "You've Got a Friend in Me" from Disney/Pixar's Toy Story. It felt good to be able to use my musical abilities in the classroom and to do something that will hopefully generate some good feelings and be a way to "break the ice" after this teacher's week long absence.

My most challenging experience this week was having to re-evaluate the direction of math instruction. The students are currently learning about fractions for the first time. Understanding of even basic concepts (ie. What is a denominator?) seems shaky across the board. I felt at first like it was just me that had caused the misconceptions, but I found out that it was a problem grade-wide. We were supposed to test this chapter this coming week, but there was simply no way the students were going to be ready. The third grade team met and developed, instead, a probe to be administered to students on Monday so that we might evaluate where individual students are failing and what we can do to reassess instructional needs. We then met with the principal, who also acts as the math instruction specialist and she discussed with us how to improve our probe and to use the data we collected from the probe to create instructional groups and re-teach.While it was frustrating to feel like my instructional efforts were not succeeding, it was an excellent learning opportunity and I am very interested to see what steps will be taken after students complete the probe tomorrow morning.

3) This coming week, I will be relinquishing control of all subjects except small group reading, which meets both in the morning and the afternoon, and writing instruction. It is going to be so strange not teaching the full day and I expect I will feel rather antsy. I will also be going to Summit Middle School in Johnston on Monday afternoon to conduct one of my observations with a sixth grade language arts teacher.On Wednesday evening, I will be making up parent-teacher conferences that were cancelled due to an overblown snow forecast (pun intended).