Teacher Bloggers

http://blogs.edweek.org/teachers/unwrapping_the_gifted/

I feel that in our courses we are always learning about how to teach to our students who are below grade level. This first blog caught my attention because I struggle with how I can meet the needs of my students who are above grade level. The teacher who writes this blogs talks about how we shouldn't just forget about the high students and "wait until the others catch up" but that teachers should give them the same devotion and attention that is given to the students who are below the rest of the class.

http://web.mac.com/tomsatter/iWeb/Site/First%20Year%20Blog/First%20Year%20Blog.html

This first year teacher's blog I found very interesting. He is older and yet is going through the exact same experiences those who are barely in their 20s are experiencing. It is really nice to read about his experiences and the reality of putting in a full day in the classroom, having obligations outside of school, not getting to bed until midnight and then having to get up at 5am the next day to do it all over again.

http://mildlymelancholy.blogspot.com/

Though this teacher is not a brand new teacher, I really connected to her blog. She and I are about the same age and both of us are third-generation teachers. She has a very real take on her life and her classroom. Though the language she uses is a little more blunt than I would use, I can really relate to her frustrations and joys with her daily life in the classroom.

Boo! Surprise!

I think the biggest surprise I’ve had about being in the classroom and working with students is how much I really enjoy the grade level of students I have. Much of my practicum and volunteer experience is in grades K-1. I know what Kindergarten and First grade students know, for the most part. I know how to talk to them and how to act around them. I asked to be placed in an intermediate classroom for my internship for a very specific reason; intermediate students scared me! I can barely remember being that age, and without much recent experience with kids in that age range (mostly because I’ve purposefully avoided it) I didn’t really feel like I knew what to do with them. However, now having spent some weeks in this class of Third and Fourth grade students, ranging in ages from newly 8 to 11, I can honestly say that I adore them. I’m still learning how to talk to them, what quality of work to expect from them and what they’re interested in. But, with each day I spend with them I’m becoming more and more comfortable with this age group and it has really surprised me that I am no longer scared.

Salmon Lifecycle

Learning Target: The objective of one of the lessons I taught this week was to get students to understand the stages and lifecycle of salmon. Students were to tell me what they knew about each stage of the lifecycle while we created a class list of their ideas on the board. Then, they would color images, paste them on a chart in a circle, and then color in the rest of the habitat for each stage.

Evidence: Most students were successful in meeting this learning target because they were able to name the 6 stages of a salmon’s lifecycle and discuss what was needed to survive at each stage of life. Students glued in the salmon in the right order, and drew in appropriate environment elements.

Reteach: A few of the students in the class needed a re-teach on some elements of the initial part of this project. I could sit down with a small group of these students and work with them to help strengthen their understanding of the salmon lifecycle and the project elements in particular.

Extend: For the students who successfully met the expectations of the lesson, I could extend the project to have them write a paragraph or a story from the point of view of the salmon. Paragraph writing and point-of-view are two of the lessons students are working on in their Writers and Readers Workshops.

The filling.

Part of being a professional is not just being able to reflect on what you do and how you do it, but it is also taking action to better yourself. Since beginning of the program I have found many resources, several thanks to my mother (a teacher), that have helped, and will help me be a great teacher. In the section "Educational & Professional Development Links" I added a few sites that I have found to be extremely valuable. Check them out, you might agree!

Sign of Personal Growth

One thing that I believed strongly in before starting my internship was that the allotted time, for each of the day's planned tasks, needs to be followed to a "T". Clearly, after spending just a day in a class of 28 students, this idea changed drastically. I have learned that what really matters is that the students are getting the time they need with a subject. It is not beneficial for them to learn something and not get the chance to practice just because the clock says that it is time to move on. Learning to be more flexible is definitely a sign of personal growth.