Week 11

This week was another interesting week at Watson. I feel like every week I come upon a different obstacle in my early teaching career. This week, one of our students had a rough stride toward the middle of the week. Earlier in the year, this student showed signs of being very hyper and defiant. Then, for about the last month, he has been an angel. This week he had a rough day on Wednesday and Thursday, and when a call was made home about his behavior we came to find out that he was out of his prescription. When, I wanted to become a teacher, I didn't realize all of the things a teacher may have to deal with during the year. A second grade student who is a complete 180 without medicine. It's amazing some of the things that I will discover throughout my career that I have already seen.

On another note, I kept going on with my action research. The week before this, I did spelling words every day on spelling city, and with the mimio. The students absolutely loved it, and it showed on their test scores, as almost everyone scored a 100%. This week, I got back to the regular saying each word aloud, and just going over all of the words. The students, I feel, are bored by this, but it still keeps up with my action research as I am doing activities with the students. The scores, as I figured would happen, came back down to earth as only the few consistent students that having been scoring very high scores all year scored very well on this test. I plan on implementing technology one more time to see if anything happens with the scores, or if it was just the words of last week that were so easy for my students. Either way, action research is coming to an end, and I am hoping that I can discover something from my data.

Week 10

Last week was a huge stepping stone in my intern year. Not only do I feel like I am a major part of this class, but it is starting to show. On Friday, we had, what i called a "Fun Friday". It was a learning celebration day for Halloween. There was just one catch to this, Mrs. Decker was out Friday which meant we had a substitute on what was pretty much a laid back eventful Friday. When I was a tutor I had Mrs. Karr, and I can remember asking her, "Why do you always do the same things during each day?" She told me, and I'll never forget, that routine is great for students in elementary grades. Well, on Friday, when the routine was thrown off for our students, I could tell that it was going to be a tough day of managing our class. In the morning, the second grade rooms turned into giant stations for the students as each class switched to a different room every forty minutes. This made me feel as if I was in control of the whole second grade, which tested my management skills. Then, after lunch we had a movie to watch all afternoon, which of course was taking place in our room. The sub and I had to literally move all the desks up against the walls to make room for 75 students, who would have drinks and snacks. I set everything up and talked about the movie. I felt as if it was a big day for me because I felt like I controlled second grade that day. By the end of the day, I was whooped, and ready for a nap, but also excited about how well I did during the duration of this day.

On a separate note for this week, I finally got the chance to integrate technology into my action research, and the students fell in love with it. I integrated a website called spellingcity.com, and it sure paid off. Out of 24 students, 22 of them scored a 100%, which was by far the highest total of 100's through the whole year. Only one student scored under a 70%. Technology seems to be an attraction of these students.

Week 9

Once again I have slightly slacked off in my blogs, but luckily enough I can remember back to the main highlights of my ninth week of my intern year. This was a big week for me since it was the time for my observation by Sarah Steel. I wanted her to observe me doing something that mattered to me, and that was important to me, so I had her observe me during my action research activities. I did a spelling activity in which I used word cards and chalkboard colorful writing to help review the spelling words for the week with my students. The words were contractions, so I knew going in that it may be a struggle teaching this to my students, but I felt like I was prepared for any obstacles that may come in my way. The lesson went very well I thought, and my students were extraordinary and very cooperative. Sarah told me that my classroom management has grown dramatically since the last time she observed me, which made me feel very good. Classroom management is a big part to elementary school instruction, and hearing something like that makes me feel awesome. On the spelling test this week, over half of my students recorded a score of 100%. On the flip side, a majority of the remaining students scored lower than 70%, which showed me further work had to be done in the spelling activities.

Week 8

As action research continued, I got a little screwed up in my activities this week. I missed school because of illness on Monday, and had second grade planning day all day Wednesday, meaning the only day i got to do activities with my students was on Tuesday. This week, I thought was a tougher week with the words as we were working with contractions. I figured that a lot of my students would struggle with this test, and it seemed like they weren't too excited about spelling this week. Though, the week got screwed up, I thought it might be a good test for my research to see how the students did with only limited help from me. We did have a few absent students who have not completed the test as of yet, but so far 13 students have scored a 100. This amazed me, and kind of has me twisted. Do my students even need my help? Is my action research going to prove to be pointless and a waste of time? I'm not sure of any of this yet, but i believe I will be able to tell in a few weeks. Or maybe I should start paying closer attention to the students who are having the most gain in scores. That IS what my action research is about, trying to see if my activities help the students learn. So, looking at those numbers, as of now, there were only 2 students that scored less than a 70. That makes me feel a little better.

As a little note to put at the end of this post I just want to say that its amazing the things a couple teachers can get accomplished without having students for a day. We had planning all day Wednesday, and I'm pretty sure that the second grade teachers are fully prepared with their plans up to Christmas. All it takes is one day of hard work and determination and you can get a lot accomplished!

Week 7

Action research started this week, and oh what fun it was. I am doing a lot of stuff with spelling, and my wondering is based around the learning of spelling words from my students. Though it may seem difficult for some people to find interesting activities to do with spelling, I found some in my first week that I will use for the rest of my career. The one activity that I loved best,m and I believe all of my students loved best was "shaving cream spelling". We did this the day before the students had their spelling test because I thought that something like this would help the spelling words stick in their head for the next day. I went around to all of the students desks and sprayed a bit of shaving cream, then had them use the hand that they write with to smear the cream all over their desk. I would then say one of their spelling words, and they would have to spell it in the shaving cream with their finger. To ensure that all of the students were paying attention, and spelling the words correctly, I would call on a student to spell the word aloud after everyone had a chance to try to spell it. The students absolutely loved this activity, and it seemed to pay off.

Out of 25 students, 13 of them scored a 100 on the test this week. This was the highest number of 100's that we have had the whole year on a spelling test. One of our students had consistently been scoring in the 40, 50, 60 range, and she scored a 92 on this test. It makes me wonder if my activities actually had something to do with the great success for this week, did the students just get more help at home this week, or did the activities just excite the students about spelling that they tried harder. Whatever the case, they loved the activities, and they all had success on this test.

Week 6

Week 6 has ended, and once again I saw some things, or was involved in some things, that I have never been a part of. This week we had our first faculty-senate meeting of the year. I didn't know what to expect of this because I have never been a part of one of these. Lisa, Ann, and myself were all asked to talk about the Benedum Collaborative Program, and what it has meant to us, and for Watson. The teachers were to take a vote on whether they wanted Watson to continue to be a PDS, or if they wanted to discontinue their collaboration with WVU. The teachers voted 28-2 in favor of continuing their collaboration. I thought this was a big step in the right direction for Watson, and for everyone at Watson. Some people may not realize the importance this collaboration brings with it for Watson. Personally, I would like to find out who the 2 people were who voted against us, and question them on their beliefs about this. Oh well, I will never know, and it is probably better for everyone that I do not any way.

Other than that, the faculty senate meeting was....interesting. I always heard that teaching was a little political at times, and I saw that first hand at this meeting. I never thought I would sit at a meeting in school and here the words, "All in favor say I." I felt like the things on the agenda were all rushed through, and there wasn't much that was actually accomplished. Then, we sat through a presentation in the afternoon, and all I got from it was that they wanted everyone to go out and vote yes for a bond that would enable the building of a new middle school in east fairmont. What that has to do with us at Watson is beyond me. Though I did not find much production in these meetings, it was nice to have the opportunity to talk with Mrs. Decker without the students there. We are all very busy people, and sometimes it is nice to kind of catch up on everything that has been going on.

The week in school was also a little different as it was the end of a unit in reading. The students took a bunch of unit tests, spelling being the one I was most interested in. I wanted to look closely at this one because my action research is based around spelling. After seeing the scores, most of the students performed how I thought they would, while others surprised me. Needless to say, I am excited to see how my action research impacts my students. I start action research tomorrow! See ya next week...

Week 5

Well, even though this blog is entirely late, I still have a good bit to say about week 5. The one thing that I want to talk about the most for week 5 is our class getting a new student. It was nothing new for me to be introduced to a new student, because it seems like every year I have met new students that have come from all different places. This new student though, was in the middle of the year, and that has not happened very often to me while I have been in any classroom throughout my student teaching. I remember last semester when I was doing my 5-9 placement at Mountainview, our fifth grade class got a new student, but I did not like the way that he was introduced to our class. It was pretty much like, "Ok class, this is _____, and he is a new student to our class." This year though, Mrs. Decker impressed me to no end. The student was brought back to our class at the very beginning of the day, even before the students got there, and it was a Friday. She was in tears, and I could tell that she was not very excited to be with us. Mrs. Decker talked to her like it was a daughter of her own, which is no surprise as Mrs. Decker always tells me how she treats her students as she would treat her own whether it is discipline or love. We took this new student on a tour of the school to get her relaxed, and Mrs. Decker even got her breakfast. The one thing that I loved the most about Mrs. Decker, and the way she handled the situation, was that she made this student feel included from the time she entered our room. She talked to her about her family, about where she came from, and how excited she was to have her in our room. I was truly astounded by the way Mrs. Decker took this child into her room, and life.

Another thing that impressed me about this was how the students treated our new student. When we took her to breakfast, a few of the other girls in our class were introduced to her, and they acted like it was their long lost friend. They were so excited to me her. Then when we got back to class, and started our morning, a few of the students gave our new student some things to greet her. This included a homemade bracelet from a girl, and a pencil from one of our little boys. I thought this was a very special moment to be a part of in my student teaching, and I learned so much from this experience.

Week 4

The fourth week at Watson lived up to all of the expectations I had for it. I wanted it to be as great as the first three were, and I believe it may have been better. I feel as if a lot of my students are starting to respect me more and more as each day passes. One thing that I think is a strong point of mine is, in a way, getting on the students level. I like to think of things from their perspective when I am teaching. What would they like to be doing in math? What spelling activities could work for them? etc.. I think that students learn best when they are interested in what they are learning. I have said this since I started training to be a teacher, and I will live by this for the rest of my career. For my action research I want to implement spelling activities into our classroom to see if that helps with some of their spelling test scores. Every day I try to see what the students are interested in. Do they like hands on activities more, or technology, or maybe even paper and pencil? I want to see what works for them, so I can help them to the best of my ability. I am excited to get started on my study.

As for other things that I have been noticing in Mrs. Decker's room, I really like the way that we select students to answer questions. Mrs. Decker has a mug filled with popsicle sticks with each students name on one. While working through our lessons, we select volunteers to answer questions by pulling out sticks. I have always wanted to try this, but I never have, and I have never seen it used in a classroom. I absolutely love it, and these popsicle sticks are my best friend when I am teaching. It keeps every student on task, and paying attention while they work. You would think that it was magic the way this works. I am very happy that I got to see Mrs. Decker use this strategy so I could implement it into my lessons. Week 5 starts tomorrow, and my teaching load increases a little more, so needless to say, I'm very excited to get going again.

Week 3

I wanted to start this blog by talking about a conversation that I have had with a few of my education friends. We were talking about how different this year is from any other we have had, and how it seems like it is going to be forever before it ends, but it also feels like the year is flying by. I kind of laugh to myself when I think about it because those impressions of this year are totally different. I think we are all just used to going to school for a half of a day, and for only 3-4 days a week. It has been quite a shock to me being in school all day every day, but I have enjoyed every second of it. Hence the impression that the year is flying by. I am having an awesome time with my teacher and ALL of my students.

During the third week, I started into my transition toward being the full-time teacher. I took over a portion of math to get integrated into being the teacher for our students. All week I did calendar math with the students right after lunch. I feel that Mrs. Decker and I chose a great starting point for me, and for the students. While doing the calendar math, I go over the day of the week, the date, the weather, choose a number of the day (which is usually the date, or the number of days we have been in school), and then I have the students count the number of pockets they have on the clothes they are wearing. This pocket activity was introduced to me by Mrs. Decker, and it is great for the students. The count their pockets, then I record a tally on the board for each student, then we count the total by fives at the end. We also compare the number of pockets for that day to previous days to add another element of math.

All of the students seem to be doing great work while I am teaching. There are still a few students that struggle to either get on task, or stay on task with me, but i feel that is just because of the change in the system in our room. One student will not do any of his/her work for me. It is not a behavior problem with this student because he/she does not disrupt the class, but this student will just fiddle in his/her desk and not work with the group. Since Mrs. Decker and I have noticed this we have tried to help this student get started with us, so this student can stay on track.

Week 3 was a big week for me since I took over some of the teaching in the room, and the weeks to come I hope are just as great as week 3 was!

Week 2

Well, I'm a little bit late posting for week 2, but it's alright, I have been wanting to post this for a few days now. Week 2 was another good week for me. I felt as if the students were more accustomed to me being one of their teachers, rather than just an observer in the classroom. I must say that I am blessed to have a very good group of students for my internship. I can already tell that they are going to be great listeners all year, and are very good at following directions.

As for my lesson plan writing, I haven't written any of my own lesson plans as of the second week of school. I have still be doing a lot of observing, and getting used to being back in a second grade classroom. Mrs. Decker has been great in helping me get integrated into her lesson plans, and having a part in the teaching when possible. She is still doing something that surprises me, and that is focusing a lot on behavior management, and not worried about jumping right into the curriculum. Thought I am surprised by this, I think it is fantastic. One major way to make student's learn at their highest potential is to have them understand what you expect of them from the beginning of the year. Mrs. Decker expects our students to be quiet listeners, respectful of others, and to follow ALL directions, to say a few. At times it seems magical the way the students respect her as a teacher, and I am amazed at times at how she gets all of their attention at once.

One other thing that I have been doing so far that is probably different from all other interns is that I have not only been helping Mrs. Decker, but I have also been covering for the other two second grade teachers. The way that the lunch/recess schedule is set up for us in second grade makes it hectic for all of us teachers to eat lunch at a manageable time; so I have been covering all of the classes at different times to allow the other teachers to eat their lunch. I have mainly been administering worksheets, or leading small discussions, but the experience is great for me. It has allowed me to feel like a true team member of the second grade team, and I have learned a lot about not only my students, but about all of the second grade students.

Week 3 is obviously underway, but I will talk more about it after it is complete. I am loving this year so far!

Week 1

Wow! What a start it has been to this new school year. I am glad to be back at Watson for my internship, since this is the school that I am most familiar with. Watson has changed since I have been gone with a lot of new faces in new positions, and a lot of new attitudes. The faculty and staff at Watson are trying to make changes for the better, starting with a new behavior management plan. It has been interesting to see this plan in affect for its first few days, as the basis of it is positive attitudes toward everyone. The students seem to be benefitting from it so far, as most of them want to be great students and do not want to be called out by a teacher for bad behavior.

The students in my second grade class had a great first week back to school. It has been amazing to see the difference in how students look at you when you are in their room all day, everyday, instead of for just a few hours, and a few days a week. It seems to me that they feed off the presence of the people in their room, and as an intern I feel like a big presence in their room. Mrs. Decker has been more than a big help so far this year. I have learned more from watching her this first week, than I may have learned in all of my last two years. She has total control in her classroom, and it's amazing to see how well the students listen to her.

I haven't had an opportunity to teach from my own lesson plans quite yet, but Mrs. Decker has allowed me the opportunity to establish a leading position in the classroom. I can't wait to start planning lessons by myself, and with the help of Mrs. Decker. I hope we have as good of a second week as we did the first!