Reflect & Connect 9/23

Dear Powerful Teachers,

This week I have become in charge of my own center! I am very excited to start practicing fluency with my group of learners. I am teaching my group of student’s phonics, fluency, and am giving them a weekly reading conference. I started my own group of centers by giving a mini reading conference to my students. I took notes and made every interview a little bit different by asking the student I was working with a new question based off of his/her answer. My favorite part of my center is listening to them read and answering any questions they may have. I found out one of my students does not like to read because he is "forced" to at home. My goal for this individual student is to teach him that reading is fun; it is not something you have to do. I am going to be using some research theories I learned from Emergent Literacy. For example, seeing if he is interested in what we are reading aloud, find a more challenging book, and help him find a book he is very interested in. 

I have realized this past week during my intern class, that teachers have a lot more power than we think. With these students I am working with, I have the power to improve their reading attitudes and levels. I am nervous and excited at the same time. Having power is very important. Your students can take anything you say the right or wrong way. For example, I learned a teacher's tone has a lot of power because depending on if it is high, low, or sarcastic, a student may be hurt by the wrong tone for the whole day when the teacher thinks s/he has gotten the point across. As a teacher I feel as if it is important to always have the same tone and voice level when giving instructions and directing students but not having a monotone voice while reading aloud or during lessons. I want to practice this upcoming week on being more cautious to my student’s reactions and focusing on what type of power my teacher enforces. 

Sincerely,

New Center Teacher

Connect & Reflect 9/16

Dear Scared Student Interns,

This past week has been a wild ride in 2nd grade. First thing Monday morning, my class got a brand new student! I was very excited but also scared because I had no idea what to do! My collaborating teacher and I had no idea she was coming into our class. That made me feel as if we were not prepared or ready for her. My collaborating teacher told me that this happens all the time and to make sure you always have back up materials ready. Then she gave our new student school supplies and continued class as usual. I have worked with her throughout this week to make sure she feels comfortable and understands the classroom procedures. I have learned from my Classroom Management class, what to do when a new student enters the classroom. I had to stop myself from always talking to her, telling her what to do, and instead I observed my class help her out. I loved seeing my students become friends with our new student and teach her the procedures of the classroom. It really helped out my CT and I because we cannot stop our lesson plans to teach our new student the procedures that the other students took over a week to learn. On Monday I was scared and nervous about how our new student was going to learn the rules of our classroom but by Wednesday I have thought of my own "new student solution," (my plan for when a new student comes into my classroom). My "new student solution" includes ideas from my professors, my readings, and my observations from my class. I will have extra school supplies ready for my new student and extend our morning meeting to introduce my new student to the class. At the morning meeting,  will go over a few very important procedures and tell my class my expectations for how they will treat and teach our new student. Then I will give our new student a new "buddy" everyday to help them out with classroom rules and procedures. I think my "new student solution" will be a great transition for them to feel safe, comfortable, and confident in my classroom.

Sincerely,
Not-as-scared Intern

Connect and Reflect 9/9

Dear Passionate Teachers,

These last two weeks I have begun my student teaching journey! So far it is amazing and I love every, stressful minute of it. I love being apart of USF/HCPS Urban Teacher Residency Partnership Program! I realized a lot more goes on behind the scenes, about teaching, then I previously assumed. I thought every teacher has their own one way street teaching with classroom management and the curriculum. These past weeks I have learned from my readings and experience in the classroom, that what I assumed is 100% wrong.

My readings and professors have taught me that research is key in education. I do not know why but this has never crossed my mind before. I always thought that research was only used for science, not teaching. But boy am I so happy that we have so much research in the education field! I feel as if without research teachings would be boring and very repetitive. In the book, Classrooms That Work, they talk about doing different studies to find out how effective teachers are so effective and why their methods work compared to other teachers. Reading chapter 1 from this book made me realize that all of the components of an effective teacher really makes a difference. I connected this with my internship by observing different teachers in different grade levels to see what their difference in teaching styles. From my ESOl I readings, I have learned that every student has their own culture and it is my duty to look into their background to find the best teaching strategies for them to succeed in my classroom. After I finished the reading I went on Google to research the backgrounds of my students. It was really beneficial that I did my research because the next night was open house and there was an arab women who is one of my students mother. I knew when I met her not to shake her hand unless she put out her hand first for me to shake. I knew not to shake her hand because my research shared with me that Arab women have a choice of their own if they do want to shake hand or not. Also, they shake with only their fingers. I decided not to put my hand out for a polite shake because I did not want to make her feel uncomfortable. Now when I am working with my diverse students, I am more cautious of their background and what norms they have. Researching has helped me everyday in the classroom and I am so excited to learn more! To be the most effective teacher that teacher must be full of passion for teaching because I learned there is a lot of research to do and teacher must be passionate or they will not do it. My PRT has taught me that every teacher has their own teaching philosophy. I know what mine is exactly, but I do know I want it to include that latest, successful research for effective teachers.

Sincerely,
Miss Intern