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 "prewriting" 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 happened and facilitate a 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 reevaluate 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).