Blog Post 3

I cannot believe I only have four days left at my current school which is bittersweet. I have loved my time spent there, my cooperating teacher has been the absolute best, I have learned so very much, and the students have been great as well. I feel good to know that I have fulfilled my past two goals and continue to learn from them and improve upon them. I have made the greatest efforts towards my lesson planning; making sure I have focused on including the district's art standards and most importantly I try to make my lessons fun and exciting for the students.The students have been really enjoying the lessons, when it is time to clean up they always mention that they wish art class was an hour long and they never want to leave. When I hear those things it truly makes me so happy and it warms my heart. I think to myself, "wow, they are really enjoying what I am teaching them and they are loving art more and more each time they come in. I have made some progress with those students who have had trouble focusing or accomplishing the project at hand. Through talking with my cooperating teacher and researching I have found that celebrating the small accomplishments has helped those students want to do more and stay focused. I have tried breaking up the steps for the project even more and I have witnessed that it has made a difference. The end result has been very positive for the student(s) and myself. I will continue to research other techniques and continue to utilize the ones I have put into practice. I am happy to have had the opportunity to work through this obstacle and provide these students with a feeling of success.

For the following two weeks I will be working on becoming familiar with the best practices for learning. As suggested by my supervisor, I will be including a section in my lesson plans where I will list 2-3 best practices I will be utilizing within my lesson. By doing this I will be more comfortable with the teaching language. I will be able to identify which practices are more successful, refer to them when speaking to colleagues, principals, or on an interview. I know I have been implementing quite a few if not all of them at some point in my lessons but now I need to work on integrating them into my teaching vocabulary. My second goal will be to become acquainted with my next cooperating teacher at Willow Springs. I will be sad to leave my current cooperating teacher but I am excited to learn from the art teacher at my second placement. Also learning about the next school's culture and meeting the students. I look forward to observing her teaching style and taking notes on what I like and which techniques I would like to implement in my future classroom.

 This past week has been rewarding!

I have tried to provide the students with a clear plan for the day each time they come to art class. I find that stating the "art plan" for the day at the beginning of the class and after my demonstration of the project. It has been extremely beneficial for the students; they stay on task and I have noticed they have a clear understanding of what needs to be done to complete the project. Each grade has 3 classes and come to art class one after the other. During a 5th grade lesson, I did not provide the students with clear directions for the project. As a result I had many students ask questions about how to start the project and some stated they were confused. I took the time to provide those students with better directions and I made several adjustments when providing the next class with more of detailed "art plan". By doing this the students were able to accomplish a lot more and I had very few students ask about how to start their project. I now know that the more direction I provide and the more concise I am with those directions the students accomplish more and they feel confident about what is being asked of them. It has made the class run a lot smoother and their progress has been evident.

• For the effective teacher, recording what and how well students are doing is essential in assessing and helping each student reach maximum learning capacity. 
• Classroom management consists of the practices and procedures that a teacher uses to maintain an optimum environment in which instruction and learning can occur. 

I will begin working on accomplishing Task 1 part A. I will be completing the TPA project during my second placement which will begin next Monday, February 25th. I will be discussing the project with my next cooperating teacher during week 8. I am a bit worried about the project but I know I can accomplish it.

I would appreciate feedback on the best practices section I will be including in my next lesson. I do want to improve upon this aspect.

My college supervisor would be surprised to know that I have been observed by both principals of the schools I am currently student teaching at. 

Blog Post 2

This upcoming week will feel very fast paced because I will be starting my 10 consecutive teaching days this Thursday, February 7th. I am looking forward to teaching full time! 

As far as my goals from the past two weeks, I fulfilled one of the two. I wanted to be prepared for my very first two lessons and I feel they were both a success, however before the students walked in I felt extremely nervous and my mind went blank! As soon as I saw their smiling faces, my nerves disappeared. Both 2nd and 1st grade LOVED my lessons which made me very happy. My cooperating teacher gave me a lot of positive feedback and complimented my style of teaching. She loved my excitement! She said it was evident that the kids really enjoyed the lesson and had a lot of fun.  It was very reassuring to know my cooperating teacher thinks I am doing very well. My other goal was to continue learning the student's names. I have learned the names of a few classrooms but I am still working on them. It is nice when I seem them in the hall and they say hi to me. 

My goals for the next two weeks are to continue to put my best effort into my lessons because it shows in the student's work. It is important for me to incorporate the art standards into my lessons and make them enjoyable for the kids as well. It is so awesome when the kids say they love art or when they do not want to leave the classroom because they want to keep working on their project. It puts a huge smile on my face! My other goal is to continue researching behavior management strategies and techniques. There are a few students who I have trouble helping get on task and staying focused. They become distracted and I feel like I am not doing something right but my cooperating teacher was supportive by saying that that sort of thing happens from time to time and to not get discouraged. 

The past week has been a blessing! 

I learned that giving the students the opportunity to voice their ideas, knowledge, and interests is extremely positive and self motivating  for them. Also having a positive attitude and being excited to see the students and about teaching radiates throughout the time spent with the students. I noticed that when my cooperating teacher or I relate a lesson to the student's lives or interests they become actively engaged. If they see that we are enthusiastic about the project and content they look forward to beginning the project and get excited about showing us their progress. Making it known to the students that everyone can create a work of art gives them confidence and a feeling of success. 

My cooperating teacher always encourages the students to try their very best and always tells them they are capable of creating a work of art. If students seem uninterested or do not want to complete the assignment she speaks to them one-on-one which shows the student they matter and what they do in the classroom matters, I hope to continue to follow this particular expectation. 

• Greet your students as they enter the classroom. One of the most successful techniques is to meet and greet your students at the door as they enter the classroom or line them up in an area for your greeting and instructions before entering the classroom. 

• If you do not structure your classroom, the students will structure the classroom for you. 

I will be working on the TPA project during my second placement. I have decided to pick a grade level from K-5th because I will be seeing them twice a week rather than the 6th-8th graders. I plan on speaking to my next cooperating teacher about the TPA project during my first week with her (week 8) or perhaps send her an email about it. 

At this time I do not need help with anything specific but I do appreciate her feedback during her first visit. It was helpful in the aspect of how to prepare for her second visit. After her second visit I will be looking forward to her feedback on my TPA lesson and teaching style. My supervisor would be surprised to know that the assistant superintendent and principal have expressed interest in observing me during one of my lessons. My cooperating teacher spoke highly of me to them and agreed that they should take the time to observe me. It is very exciting to know they want to observe me which is an amazing opportunity, I feel very blessed!  

Any advice on how to further prepare for their observations would be greatly appreciated.