Day #22

I kept very busy today...which is weird to say because every day is busy. But Mrs. Kester stays in the background more often to let me deal with the everyday matters. Josie got something in her eye and it became very irritated. Eden spilled the contents of her lunch tray all over the cafeteria floor. We were surprised with a fire drill today. The alarm wouldn't turn off though for quite a while and so we had to do seatwork with it on. Ordeals such as these keeps a teacher on her toes! It is no wonder I am so tired by the end of the day.

Day #21

We finally have our literacy centers running smoothly and our reading groups all done up. Consequently, today was our first day of guided reading groups. The students worked out really well in their groups except for one student who already needs to be moved to a more advanced group. There are 2-4 students per group.

Mrs. Kester first did a picture walk with each group, asking the students to tell her what they thought the book might be about and if the story would be fiction of nonfiction. Then each child read the book at their own pace while she helped them decode words. The students have learned enough word attack strategies by now that all she has to do is remind them of the secret story to get their little smart wheels turning.

The students will read the same book all week long. Mrs. Kester will start to ask comprehension questions and such as the week goes on.

It was very helpful to see this done. I was able to observe her techniques and mannerisms that helped motivate her students.

Day #20

It is already Friday again. We pushed the students hard today. We were able to fit a whole literacy and math lesson in. We rewarded the students for their hard work with a cute owl craft before the end of the day. I think the students are starting to get used to the long days and also the fact that they are their to LEARN.

Day #19

I know my weakness in teaching thus far has been classroom management. I have been trying to improve but I know I must step up my game. Mrs. Kester made the comment today that she thinks Cheyenne is afraid of her. She claims that I get to be the teacher while she remains the disciplinarian. Of course she put it in a nicer manner....but I got her meaning. So I really stepped it up this afternoon during the math lesson. I think she appreciated it and I felt like a better teacher because of it. My mantra has always been that a good teacher should be kind but firm. I am finding out exactly how firm I need to be, which is a little hard for me. But management is detrimental to their education and I need to decide now to be a good educator and not a puny one.

Day #17

Mrs. Kester says I am doing such a good job with spiraling the subject matter which means reviewing what has been learned along with teaching the new material. But she has been such a good model to watch. It definitely takes practice but I am really getting the feel for it.

Day #16

Mrs. Kester has started a writing unit on informative essay. The core curriculum requires each first grader to write 3 sentences in a informative essay. I admit feeling quite uncertain about the assignment. But Mrs. Kester has approached the subject with great enthusiasm. Each student has been assigned an animal book that he or she gets to research for new information. They are enjoying their books and I'm excited to see what ideas will get written down.

Day #15

I am starting to feel very comfortable with our routine. I am teaching all of the math lessons and feel very comfortable. I also do a large part of literacy other than writing. Our class of students really is a bright one and Mrs. Kester is amazed with what we are able to accomplish! We feel every minute we have with curriculum and I have loved watching the progress that is already evident in their little brains.

The connections I have made with some of the students are surprising to me. I enjoy learning of their backgrounds....1st graders love to talk about themselves! I always have an entertaining conversation with one or two of them at lunch. I can tell already that I'm going to have a hard time telling them good-bye in 3 weeks.

Day #14

Short-day Fridays are always a whirlwind and a blur. We taught full lessons of math and language arts and then the students started to make their page for the alphabet book. One of the units I've been doing is an alphabet book. I started by reading several alphabet books to the children. Then I started modeling the creation of an alphabet book. This process has been in the works for almost two weeks because their isn't much time allotted for it. But the children have enjoyed guessing what object I've chosen to match the letter. We've talked about the front cover, title page and body of a book, writing in our very best handwriting and such. The students were very eager to start their book. They were assigned a letter today in which they colored the letter and cut it out to paste it to their own large page. Monday we will color the object to for each letter. I can't wait to post photos of it.

Mrs. Kester told the students that this was Cameron's last day with us. She talked about the friendship we've made with him and encouraged the students to remain friendly with him when they see him in the hall. She didn't give specifics such as he will now be in Kindergarten. She just said he was going to be in a different class. Isn't she thoughtful? The students were quite bewildered at the sudden news and quite a few tears were spent on Cameron (who was enjoying all the attention).

Witnessing a Parent/Teacher Meeting

One of our first graders, Cameron, is very low on the academic scale. We don't know much about his background other than he is from Arizona and this is his first year at Naples Elementary. It didn't take long to determine that Cameron doesn't recognize many of the numbers or letters of the alphabet. He is very small and actually quite young for a first-grader. After her observations, Mrs. Kester called his mother to set up a meeting regarding his academic standing. She also invited the principal, Mrs. Chattam, to attend. I was also eager to attend to see how a meeting of this magnitude proceeded.

One of two things was to come about from the meeting. First, Cameron could return to Kindergarten and thrive in an academic environment of his level or two, he would finish the first grade this year and repeat it again next year. Mrs. Kester was hopeful that the mother would choose the Kindergarten option as he is quite frustrated with the level of first grade.

Mrs. Kester started the meeting by asking the mother to tell us about Cameron. This first step his critical to a successful meeting. The student after all, is her child, and she knows him best. She gladly told us his background, how he struggled learning letters and sounds, how he spent some time with an RTI specialist and how he had to switch schools midyear. She said it was a rough year for him. Mrs. Kester then told her the observations, the options, and showed her some of his tests. Although Mrs. Chattam did not say much, she did say she supported the teacher's findings.

Cameron's mother said she wanted what was best for him. She wasn't surprised because she also had been watchful of his lack of spelling and reading abilities. She urged the school to put him into a Kindergarten class.

Everyone had Cameron's best intentions at heart and felt that the final decision was for the best.

I am grateful for the opportunity to see such a successful parent/teacher meeting. I know how hard it is for a parent to hear of her child's struggles. I thought Mrs. Kester performed professionally while maintaining an air of genuine concern. This meeting gave me great knowledge on how to conduct my own meetings next year.

Day #12

We have started teaching the students Writer's Workshop! I am so excited about this element in our classroom. I've never really seen this in a classroom although I have read about it. With the new common core being implemented this year, all teachers are pushing writing more.

Mrs. Kester modeled her illustration, labeling and one sentence. The children were not overwhelmed this way. The room is perfectly quiet for ten minutes except for calming music. This is the time the students are to write. Afterward, they can still write but are also allowed to sign-up for sharing and conferencing.

I love being part of this process.

Day #11

Mrs. Kester and I discussed her observation of my lesson. She had many good things to say and pointed out a few suggestions. She was kind to tell me the sort of things that I will need to be aware of for the J-Pass next year when I am a teacher. We had a really good discussion and I feel better prepared for Thursday when Dr. Foley comes to observe me.

Suggestions:
1. I need to keep all my students busy, even when I ask just one student to help me with a question. This can be done by having them write the answer on their knee or in the air while the one student is answering.

2. Students should raise their hand to answer a question or talk. I've been letting them all shout out the answer which is a big no no.

3. My read-alouds are too long. Although predictions are good, I need to do less. I am starting to value time more and I see the teacher's desperate need to keep all things on a schedule.

Day #10

I keenly observed Mrs. Kester this morning in her literacy lesson. She has added some new elements such as "Make A Word" phonics and the DOL. I am to start teaching most of the literacy part of the day so I enjoyed my observations. It's amazing how smooth and easy she makes teaching seem. Yet I stumble along when I do it. She observed me today in my word family lesson. We ran out of time to discuss her observations but I'm anxious to hear her comments. I know she will have some good insight in which ways I can improve.

The students are finally learning each others' names. Mrs. Kester has not implemented much of a community atmosphere. As much as I love Mrs. Kester, I know her class is lacking in this area. She doesn't celebrate their birthdays are allow time for personal interests. Yet I know she is bombarded with district timelines. How can I foster a community environment while meeting all the timelines?

Another item that surprised me was the allotted time for science and social studies; ten minutes for the both. Now I see why we were taught integration. Good grief!

Day #9

Today is Friday....and I'm looking forward to the weekend. I played Sparkle with the students twice before their spelling test. I find games to be the best motivator for students. This game really helped them remember their words for the test.

I enjoyed my prep time on Friday afternoon. The students leave at 12:30. I had the rest of the afternoon to plan for upcoming lessons. I made word sorts for literacy, dot cards for the next two math lessons and worksheets for mountain math.

Day #8

Today was my third day of teaching math. This math program is very thorough with many little parts. I'm starting to wonder if I will ever remember every little detail. I'm working hard but it seems that Mrs. Kester always reminds me of something I'm forgetting. But I do enjoy the program because it corresponds very well with what I was taught in my math methods class. I just need to teach it better. I am making some good connections with the students and overall, I know I'm making progress. But I will not deny....it is hard to teach to all levels of students. It's overwhelming! I am thankful for the practice.

Day #7

I enjoyed the meeting with Dr. Foley. It was nice to set some goals to strive towards. My goals are to first, observe Mrs. Stewart teaching math so that I might learn her strategies at helping students understand new concepts. Second, learn new techniques to transition the students more smoothly from one activity to the next. Third, to participate in a teacher/parent meeting.

I had the opportunity to observe a meeting between Mrs. Kester and the principal, Mrs. Chattam. Mrs. Kester is concerned about one of the students who doesn't seem to be academically, developmentally or socially ready for 1st grade. She thinks that he needs another year of Kindergarten. She informed Mrs. Chattam of the circumstances before her meeting with the parents. She needs the full support of the principal before undertaking such a task. I thought Mrs. Chattam did a good job of considering both sides of the situation. We will meet with the parents next week.

Day #6

We came back from the long Labor Day weekend and the children looked so sleepy. Mrs. Kester was wise enough to have them stand up and go outside to walk around the whole building. The fresh air and exercise did everyone some good. The students were much more alert and ready to learn.

Now that we have learned short A and long A, we are starting short I and long I. The students absolutely love the stories that go along with each vowel. They beg for more but they must be patient. It seems as though the more they learn the more they yearn for more. I've only been in this class for six days and I can already see much progress in some of the students. It is so invigorating!

Day #5

Today was the first spelling test. One little girl that sits on the front row is quite low in her learning abilities. Her grandma sent a note explaining their efforts to study for the test. But their efforts went sour. I could tell the girl was exasperated because when Mrs. Kester announced the test, she started crying. She had a melt down. But here is the thing, I knew she knew the rule we taught about /a/, turning can into cane. She knew the bossy momma E story well. So I asked Mrs. Kester if I could take her and a couple other struggling students to another room to do the test. Mrs. Kester was more than happy to let me do so.

The test went much better for these students because I was able to give them individual attention. This little girl went from having a meltdown to actually feeling successful. I was so excited to see this transition. I was also excited to apply some of my knowledge from my special Ed class I took last fall. I love applying what I've learned!

Day #4

It constantly amazes me at how very basic I need to be with these first graders. I now understand why it takes so long to teach a new procedure or activity. As a mother, I was often impatient with some timelines...but oh how I understand now. I taught a math game today to the students and was reminded of this very thing. I'm starting to wonder if a teacher can ever do enough modeling and explaining.

Mrs. Kester is starting to teach her centers; today she started with computers. The other four centers were very simple. She did this so she would be able to spend all her time teaching proper protocol at the computer table. This is the kind of information that will be so valuable come next year with my own class.

Today went by much more quickly. I am starting to settle into a routine...thank goodness. I'm also starting to feel much more comfortable with the 1st grade team.

Day #3

I observed Mrs. Kester perform leveled reading tests on several of her students. She was wonderful at handling struggling readers. She remained extremely patient and helped them feel smart about their reading. Words cannot describe how amazed I was with her technique. I am grateful that I learned these techniques from her. She told me what to listen for in speech articulation difficulties, reading strategies to look for and questions to ask to check for comprehension. Then I performed a few of the tests while she observed me. I really enjoyed doing the tests!

I had a wonderful compliment today that I want to share. Mrs. Kester asked me to do a read-aloud of a Dr. Seuss book. She asked me to help the students make predictions and ask deep-ended questions. So I did a pretty thorough job while having fun with the book. Afterward she told me I did a great job and asked if I noticed the other woman in the room. I told her I had but didn't know who she was. She proceeded to tell me that the woman was over literacy for the district and that she had complimented my read-aloud. I was extremely elated!

I've been tickled to perform Words-Their-Way spelling tests. Dr. Broughton taught me how to do these very tests last March. I feel so blessed to know what to do! I'm also excited to have the opportunity to watch the eventual progress the students will have because of this program.