Wow! It is already week seven! This week has been amazing! It is only Wednesday, but I wanted to begin this blog. I have been teaching whole group instruction for weeks now and have not felt as confident as I currently do. I feel that I know my lessons, they are more involved, and I see students viewing me as their teacher more and more everyday. Mrs. Blickenstaff is always encouraging me and this keeps me going.
This week has been a prepartation for the student's unit test. This means that students do not begin a new story, nor do they begin new grammar and spelling lessons. Our planning day last week was used for creating inventive lessons to get the students reviewing and very involved in their lessons. I have enjoyed the lessons I have chosen for this week. We are using sentence games online (with our new whiteboard!), drawing and labeling plants, graphing, and experimenting with celery and dyed ater to find out how food travels through plants.
All the interactive lessons sound fun, right? Well, the best part of this week hasn't even been mentioned. I have one special needs student in my classroom that I have a hard time getting to work with me when she is in the classroom. This week I gave her a plant sheet to cut out and paste by the matching plant part, instead of drawing and labeling the plant. She did this without a second thought! Yesterday she created a pop-up with Mrs. Blickenstaff in Reading, and later she filled in her sentences vs. fragments sheet with my assistance. Each lesson I create now, she pops into the back of my mind-this is great for me!
Another student who I see struggling with reading and writing astonished me this week, too. Student X completed a full paragraph using three spelling words. She even asked me if she could use a fourth! Her story gets better. I am currently using a blog in reading stations. The students go online, find their student number, and write the story for the week. Student X has not had the chance to complete one of her blogs. Yesterday she wrote more than some students who have done this for three weeks now!
I have worried about my teaching and if I am reaching the students' learning needs. The more I teach, the more I learn. I will be using more modified lessons and continuing to grow as an educator. This week has shown me the joy in teaching.
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Teaching is a difficult job but, you will fall in love with it. I have been at it for 34 years. Each year is a learning experience. It will bring you joy and tears when your heart is right. You will find yourself up in the middle of the night with some idea that you didn't try with a student that might work. Sometimes there are those reflections of the day and your mind is thinking of things to do that will be better for particular children the next day. It is a job that never ends. It comes home with you.
ReplyDeleteWhen Lynn writes about teaching for 34 years, I can't imagine how she's done it. You DO have to love what you do. Life's too short to do anything you don't like. It's a good sign that you're worried and concern - means you're paying attention, so this is a good sign. I like how you are writing specifics about students. These blog entries can be useful to provide the context for your weekly teaching in the AR. Interns grouse over the blogging, but I continually read very interesting stories about internships. This is the time to think and act like a teacher. This is your time. Trust your host teacher/ask her questions, and try to help out the participants when you can. keep going! see you soon!!!
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