My last week in my PDS

This week was my last week in my PDS for the semester. I can't believe how much I have changed in the past 16 weeks. When coming into this classroom I didn't know what to expect. All summer I dreaded coming to fifth grade, because I thought I preferred the younger students. As I entered into this classroom I instantly fell in love with each and everyone of these students. I have learned so much about my teaching as well. I realized that you don't have to run the classroom how others do and it's ok to think outside the box, because that's how students learn. I've also learned the various levels of attention students need, and that changes everyday. Finally though this internship, I feel like I am prepared to walk into a classroom and teach... I finally feel like a teacher!

Teaching Out of the Box

My class has been reading the story "A Week in the Woods". In this story a fifth grade student moves to a new school. He learns that the end of the trip is spending a week at a state campsite where the teachers teach about nature, and the students learn. Since it is my last week full time teaching I wanted to go out with a bang! I started thinking of things we could do in the classroom to connect to the story and then it hit me... flash light day! I told my mentor teacher and she loved the idea. She began looking up ideas and we decided to have flashlight and camping day! We then came up with many ideas. The special education teacher said that he could get a parachute from the gym and hang it from the ceiling. We then asked the principals if we could pass out a snack. They showed us the approved list and we decided on popcorn for the kids' treat. Yesterday was our camp out and I have never seen students so excited to read! I figured we would have a little silliness from the students, but they all came in, sat down, and listened to directions. We ended up reading and discussing over two chapters of our story. I never understood why teachers don't do anything exciting in the upper grades, I had 97 students hooked on reading just by turning off the lights and having them read! This was definitively the highlight of my student teaching career. I can't wait to plan and carry out things like this in my own classroom!

Research

This was my seventh week of implementation of my research. I'm researching the use of cooperative learning pairs inside the classroom. This week my focus was on a student created project. When students arrived in the classroom they talked with their partner about what book they wanted to complete their book report on. Students then read the story and began discussing how they plan on presenting the book to the whole class. I put up certain things that the students had to have in their report; title, characters, setting, what happened, how they liked it...etc. As I walked around I could hear students discussing how they were going to carry out this project. I heard that students were going to make a poster about their book, act out their book, and even rap about the book. What I really noticed was that students were extremely engaged in what they were doing. My teacher education coordinator was observing me and she even commented on how nicely the students were working. On Friday my students were starting to carry out their projects. I had materials that students had requested laid out and students got right to work. I have never seen so much work happening in the classroom. Each student was busy doing what he/she needed to do to complete their report. Sitting in class I hear my peers talk about how terrible their research is going.... in reality mine is going better than I could have ever expected!

RESA visit

On Thursday our students had a half day and teachers had to go to a meeting. The topic of the meeting was getting the results from our September RESA visit. The results showed everyone what we already see. No administration in the classroom, weak co-teaching model, and lack of technology use. I see the lack of administration in the classroom just because there is so much to do in the office. Between student problems, parent problems, and just the natural administrative problems I don't see how anything gets done. The principals "pitched" an idea of how they might make more time for them to come into the classroom to see what is going on. As for the lack of technology use, I think that teachers are unaware of how to utilize the technology. Many of the teachers at my PDS are older and I think that they may not have a education on how to use the technology. I think that my school would benefit from a professional development on how to utilize the technology in their classroom. Another reason teachers aren't using the technology in their classroom is because it doesn't work! For example, in my mentor teachers classroom we do not have a cord to hook up the SMART board so we can not use it. We explained this issue to the appropriate person at the beginning of the school year, and nothing has been done, and now it is November. You can't use the technology if it doesn't work. Another thing that is lacking at my PDS is the co-teaching model. I think this is because one party gives more than the other. If both teachers had time to sit down and discuss lesson plans and expectations then this collaboration would work much better. I think that if my PDS can fix all these suggested improvements, then it will be a truly great place to work and learn.

Busy Week.

This week has been a crazy mixed up week! The first thing that threw everything off was that we had Halloween parties on Thursday. The way my PDS does this party is that students have the option to go home and change into their costumes and then parents bring them back to school at a certain time, they parade around the high school football field, and then they come back inside for the party. The fifth grade teachers decided to just show a movie in their homerooms because students would be leaving at 11. My students watched a movie and worked on some crafts we were going to use to to decorate the classroom. The students were extremely crazy, so it was nice to have some "down time" for them. On Friday, due to the weather and power outages, our county was operating on a 2 hour delay. This was also supposed to be 5th grade career day. We worked it out that some parents would come on Friday as planned, but some would also need to come on Monday too. Now our Monday schedule is messed up because not only are we having parents coming in the morning but our PTA also rented a "dome theater" and our students are going to view a program in the afternoon! Thursday next week is a two hour early dismissal, so next week will be messed up too. As a student in elementary school I loved these disruptions but as a teacher I find them annoying! Hopefully soon our schedule will settle down, and we can get back into the learning process!

Field trip

Today was our first field trip of the school year. We went to WVU for a day on campus. When I was in elementary school I remember being so excited for field trips because it was a day out of school. Now as an educator I look at it as an opportunity to extend students knowledge and motivate them to what to achieve something more. When I found out our trip was to WVU I became extremely excited. Many of my students show interest in everything WVU and many have dreams of going on to college. However when we arrived at WVU my dreams were crushed. We saw several things and did many activities but everything was so rushed. The saying "less is more" is completely appropriate in the situation. Students felt so overwhelmed and before they could adjust to their new surroundings they had to leave again. I suppose this is where I assume the "teacher" role. I just see these opportunities differently now that I am on the "adult" side of the situation.  Students should be given every opportunity they deserve and I think today didn't live up to that.

Parent/ Teacher Conferences

Today was parent/teacher conferences and it seemed weird being on the "teacher" side of things. The other Intern at my school and I set up a Professional Development table in the hallway and she stayed at the table for most of the night, because I had conferences. My mentor teacher told me that I needed to be at all the conferences because I have been with the students for the same amount of time she has. During the conferences my mentor teacher would look at me and ask if I had anything to add to what she was saying or if I should explain what she was trying to say in a different way. In one case, the student responds better to me, and I have somewhat taken this child "under my wing". During this conference my mentor teacher said "I think Ms. Kulchock can explain the situation because she is dealing with him the most". This really made me feel like apart of the classroom and like what I had to say mattered. In another conference, the mother said "oh you are the famous Ms.Kulchock, that's all my daughter talks about". This made me feel extremely important and truly apart of the classroom. Throughout this whole night all I could think of was how in my tutor year I didn't feel like I was a part of the community at all, and now I feel like this is the only place I belong!

Standing my ground.

While teaching my math RTI class, my students were being extremely loud and talking over me. I began by giving them warnings, starting out my voice soft but affirmative. Next I tried giving them another warning just a little more loud and harsh. After, my students continued to talk and ignore me. I then made students clean up the game we were playing, right in the middle of it. Students seemed confused and began to give each other odd looks. As I walked around collecting student materials many of them tried to talk with me. As hard as it was I just ignored them (my mentor teacher had done this in the beginning of the school year). Students then got somewhat more quiet but some were still talking. I then went over and picked up the worksheets I had run off for "emergency" situations. I then passed these out and began doing something else. Students became very confused. Students began calling out "can we work with partners" and I just continued to ignore. At the end of time I explained to students that they needed to hand the worksheets to me on their way out. Many students handed me their worksheets and said "I'm sorry" and one student even said "it makes me sad to see you sad". At this moment I knew I had "accomplished" my goal. As much as it made me sad to ignore my students and to stop playing a game in which we were all having a good time, it was something I had to do. My students were not responding to me being nice and giving them gentle warnings so I had to take action. My mentor teacher even told me my actions were completely necessary. I'm truly glad that I was able to stand my ground... I have a feeling these students are going to be much more complient with what I am asking.

Teaching all day!

On Thursday morning I got an unexpected call from my mentor teacher. She had explained that she injured herself and would not be at school that day. She couldn't get ahold of the subisute that is usually in the classroom when my teacher is out, so there was a new substitute when I arrived in my classroom. She asked what parts of the day I was teaching and I explained to her what I was teaching, but that I felt comfortable enough to teach most of the day if she would like me to. She was much appreciative and allowed me to teacher the whole day. I realized how appreciative I am of my mentor teacher because she is so organized. Every night before she leaves work she gets out the materials that she is going to need for the next day. She also opens her lesson plan book so it is right to the next day. Also, my mentor teachers lesson plans are so detailed that it paints a clear picture of what she was thinking about doing that day. I think it also helps that I have been in the classroom since day 1 so I have a full understanding of how the day runs. I think this is an extremely important quality to have when teaching. You have to be organizesd and prepared for anything that could possibly happen from day to day. When you leave your classroom for the night, anything could really happen. You just never know what will happen before the next morning arrives. If you are prepared for anything to happen, then having to call off unexpectantly isn't so horrible for the person coming into your classroom.

PDS Visitors

On Thursday my PDS had some visitors in the hallways. RESA and the State Department were in the school observing because my PDS was named a focus school due to the gap in achievement in special education students and general education students. These visitors were observing the whole day and then they will take what they find and make suggestions for how the school can improve. I see how this can be helpful for my PDS but I also see how people could get the wrong impression of how our school is run. For example, we knew that these people were going to be in the building on Thursday; so everyone had the opportunity to plan "exciting" lessons, put art on the walls, and dress professionally. I think if they wanted a clear picture of how the school is really run, they should have come on a day in which the teachers didn't know what was going on. During the day we had people coming in and out to observe teacher and to interview students. Each grade level was required to meet in one specific room during their planning period. A representative came in to interview everyone. This person asked many questions about how my PDS is run and what teachers would like to see change. Many of the teacher expressed that they really do like the way things are run and that there is a good administration/teacher relationship. Everything was running smoothly until the topic of Special Education was brought up. Not everyone was "happy" about how inclusion is run in the 5th grade. However, everyone just pointed fingers at the special education teacher. I agree that the way this person does things isn't the greatest, but I also believe that if you do not like the way things are going then you should have a conversation about it. Instead, this particular teacher was thrown under the bus. I'm really nervous how this all "plays out". The RESA people are going to give a report to our administration and then they will give staff the information in November. I think that this is a good thing for my PDS but I just think they way people went about their concerns was not the most professional. If you aren't happy with something then I believe you should take proper steps in order to make the situation better. Throwing co-workers under the bus isn't the most appropriate way.

Lunch "Friend"

Today was an early release day at my PDS. This means that in fifth grade, the students rotate through all of their classes in the morning. Usually the students have three classes, then lunch and recess, and then a final class. On a normal day my homeroom is the last class. When my homeroom students arrived into the classroom for class today, I noticed that one student was not acting like herself. This student was quiet and seemed extremely upset. Before class began I asked her what was wrong. She explained to me that she did not do very well on her math exam, and earned a D. At this point I asked her what would help and she said that she needed a hug. I gave the student a hug, and she broke down crying. I then asked her if she would like to go to the restroom to clean herself up. She agreed and left the classroom. The special education teacher that was in our classroom told me that if I wanted to go talk with her I could use his classroom. I went out into the hallway with the student and asked her if she would like to go talk in the classroom with me; and she said yes. When we arrived in the classroom I found her some tissues and began asking her questions about the test she had failed. She explained to me that she had studied for the test, but since it was a timed test she just ran out of time. After a brief conversation, I found out that her next test was tomorrow. Then I asked if she would like me to practice some multiplication facts with her; she answered yes. She explained that she was upset and did not feel like being around people, so I asked if she would like to bring her lunch into the classroom and she wanted to! So at lunch time, I had a friend. At first, I thought this might be a little bit awkward for the both of us, but it was truly a great time! We just talked, and I learned so much about this particular student. She really opened up to me and I feel like I understand her so much more now that I had this opportunity. This made me think if I had the time to do this with each student, I may understand them so much more than I do now. I think that this student and I both have a new respect for each other; and I'm hoping this carries over into the classroom. If students see you as a real person, who cares, then I feel like they will be so much more likely to open up to you. I think that I learned something today from this student, something that I will truly never forget. All this student needed was someone to show that they cared; and today, that person got to be me!

Getting to know the students

Today we had a presentation in the afternoon, at 1:30. This is usually when we have our 4th period so my mentor teacher and I had just assumed that we would miss 4th period and have double time on Monday during skills (skills hasn't started yet). This morning the other teachers said that we would just have shortened periods making all four periods squeeze in before lunch. The teachers made a huge deal that students would not get recess in so they would have to have a shortened one and stay inside. Fourth period came and went and my class was ahead of schedule. My mentor teacher looked at me and said "wanna go outside for a long recess". Being that it was Friday and an extremely beautiful day we went out. Just by looking out onto the football field you could tell this was exat,y what they needed. Some girls asked if I would walk along the track with them so I agreed. I'm so happy I did this... The kids really opened up to me. You could tell they didn't see me as an intimidating teacher but just a friend who truly wanted to get to know them. Lasted today there was a misunderstanding with one of my students and the school counselor. After, I could tell the student was upset so I asked him what was wrong... After many try's the student would not yet me know. I finally told him that be could come to me no matter what, and whatever he said to me would always just stay with me. The student then opened up and let me know what was wrong. In both these cases I am so happy that my students feel comfortable around me, and I'm so glad I'm getting to know them. I think doing this outside the classroom will help the students respect me inside the classroom.

Riding Bus #99

For one of the "get to know your community" activities on the final rubric, I decided to take a ride on a school bus after school. I brought this idea up at our PDS collaboration meeting last week. The principals thought it was a great idea and said they would make all arrangements. They only question they had was what bus I wanted to ride. Before this meeting I had done some research and decided that I wanted to ride bus #99. This bus travels to the lower income area in Bridgeport and has many students with behavior issues who ride it. I told the administration that I would like to ride this particular us and everyone in the room literally laughed at me. They said that this bus was rough and they high discouraged it. I brought up the fact that this bus heads to the lower income area of our school. Everyone agreed that it would be good for me to see. So the assistant principal set it  and yesterday I rode bus 99! When I got on the bus the bus driver greeted each student and sat them down in seats. Then she told the kids the rules; sit in your seat, if you put down a window you need to put it up before you leave, no loud voices, and no food. After we went to the middle and high school and the bus driver did the same things; greeting them, seating them, and rules. The bus driver began her route and only had to talk to children about 5 times. As I was looking around the bus I did not see much misbehavior. As I looked out the window I was expecting to see horrible leaving conditions, because of what everyone warned me about. What I saw was apartment buildings, houses, and mobile homes. I was kind of confused as to why everyone was making it a huge deal. When I arrived back to the school my principal stopped and asked how it went and I told her exactly what I saw. She responded with "isn't that horrible?" I think I had to pick my jaw off the floor. To me, those weren't awful living conditions. This puzzled me all night. Finally it hit me. My PDS has an extremely high SES... So to the people that have never seen horrible living conditions apartments and mobile homes probably look terrible. It made me see how people really think in that school. I grew up in a low SES school and some of my classmates had no running water. I just think that to really see where students are living you have to go back through off the road to see the true conditions.

Week 2- Focus School Meeting

On Wednesday I had the opportunity to attend a meeting at Bridgeport Middle School about focus schools. My PDS was named a focus school this year. At first I was unsure what it meant to be a focus school but after attending the meeting I feel like I have a better idea. My PDS is a focus school because the gap between the "low" students and the core group is too large. When teachers were talking about this during the in-service days at the beginning of the school year I  thought that people from the board of education or the state was going to come in and "take over". At the meeting they said that a group called RESA will be coming one day in September. At this time their "team" will observe classroom, interview students and teachers, and really just get a feel for what it means to be a student/teacher at Johnson Elementary. They will then take this information and make recommendations on how we can bring our low students up to the high students.  The county has assigned one person for each focus school to help with planning and implementation of anything new. At the beginning of this school year, I thought that being a focus school was a terrible thing and the "vibe" at my PDS would change dramatically, but I really feel like it is going to benefit everyone, but mostly the students. Being in a special education inclusion classroom currently, I fully understand this "gap" but that doesn't mean we should lower our standards so that the "low" students achieve, we should give them support so that all students succeed. By attending this event my view and attitude about being a focus school has changed completely. I only hope it truly benefits everyone!

The start of the Internship!

I started my "internship" last Tuesday and it couldn't be going better! Going into the first couple days at my PDS you could tell that the "vibe" of the school has changed. A lot of the older teachers have found a different positions or retired, and the new teachers coming in are a breath of fresh air. From the moment we walked into the building it seemed like everyone was really happy to see us! We had our own packets of papers to look at during teacher meetings and the principals really tired to incorporate us in everything they did. My mentor teacher moved from first grade up to fifth grade and needed a lot of help I was more than happy to give! I know that she was extremely appreciative. Once the students came it seemed like a rollercoaster! The first days of school are a little crazy! I realized how much work it really takes to open a classroom and  to have students the first few days. Since the first meeting my fellow intern and I have had to ask our administration many things. For example we wanted to be put on the teacher email list and right away we were put on! We also had to ask if we were allowed to be put into the teacher sign in system and without any questions... it was done. I think the moment that made me really feel like I was apart of the school "community" was when teachers were given a slip of paper about how Harrison County was going to purchase T-shirts for all staff members. My mentor teacher wrote a note on her slip asking if I was able to get one too. The principal came down to my teacher's room and said that she was going to give me my own slip for a T-shirt but couldn't find me! That made me feel so good! I really feel like apart of the classroom and more importantly the school community! I really feel like this is an awesome start to my internship experience and can't wait to see what else comes from it!

Inquiry Celebration- Blog Post 3

I was unable to attend the Inquiry Celebration due to being ill. As a result I asked one of the Interns from my PDS to send me her Power Point so I could look at it. I really relate to this inquiry because it was based off of the  classroom I am now placed in. From looking at this Power Point I discovered that the intern looked at sight words and how they are best taught. Sight words are extremly important in Kindergarten because they are the beginning of reading. This intern worked on sight words through various physical activities. What my intern found was that the more physical the activities were the more words students learned. I think this is extremely important because many teachers just sit and read students words and the students may do activities with them, but most of the time they don't. I think that in my future teaching career I would like to use physical activities to teach sight words as well as many other things!

Blog Post 2

The first Characteristic of the Novice Teacher I would like to explore is characteristic number four; be a facilitator of learning for all students. I think that the big idea of this characteristic is that all students in the classroom are different learners. These students bring different learning styles and abilities when they enter your classroom and as their teacher you must adapt curriculum and activities so everyone can be successful; no matter what the ability level is. As a teacher you must consistently evaluate students work and how you teach to be sure that each student has the exact opportunities for success. I think a good artifact for this characteristic would be the differentiated lesson plan we had to write for SPED 460. This assignment was to write a lesson plan and then take the same lesson and differentiate it by learning style, ability level, and the product the students created. This directly links back to the characteristic because by adapting a lesson plan for learning style, ability level, and product you are making the lesson accessible for all students to have success. The second characteristic I would like to explore is Characteristic number eight; be a reflective practitioner. I think that the big idea for this characteristic is that a teacher must always be reflecting on what he/she can do differently to ensure the success of the whole classroom. This means that after a lesson, activity, or situation the teacher thinks about what he/she could do differently next time or what went well. This helps the teacher because the next time he/she is faced in a similar scenario the teacher will know how to handle his/her actions. I think a really great artifact for this would be our teacher researcher notebooks. We have to reflect on our experiences in the classroom everyday that we attend our PDS. This strongly agrees with the characteristic because it shows that we are constantly reflecting on how we can become better teachers.

Blog Post 1

The first Characteristic I am going to look at is “have a commitment to and skills for lifelong learning”. This characteristic describes how teachers need to always be willing to learn new “tricks” and they need to be committed to always making their teaching experience better for their students. I think that a good artifact for this characteristic would be a screen shot of a Pinterest board that I have created related to teaching and the classroom. I think this is a good example of this characteristic because it shows that you can go online and research new ideas. It also shows when you have researched these ideas and that is an example that a teacher is always looking for new ideas.

The second Characteristic I am going to look at is “be an effective communicator”. The big ideas in this characteristic are that a teacher must have communications skills to effectively communicate with various people in the school and community. A teacher must be able to orally communicate to people but also respond through written pieces and technology. One artifact that can be used with this characteristic is our parent letter home we were required to send out in Education 401. This letter was sent home to parents to inform them about who we were and what we would be doing in their child’s classroom. This would work for this characteristic because it shows that teachers need to be in contact with parents at all times. Parents need to feel like they can trust you and by having effective communication with them you are opening the lines for them to trust you. 

Test

Test =)