Week 2

I noticed that I am feeling more comfortable in front of the classroom. I have noticed that I have been taking charge more and really just having fun. Even though, I was introduced as Ms. Rosnick on the first day of school, students still refer to me as "Mrs. Starkey's helper." I am not sure why this is so. I feel like there was never any type of indication that I am not of the same status as Mrs. Starkey. I hope that when I start teaching more the students will realize that I do have the same authority as my mentor teacher. So far this week, I have been teaching a lot of Reading. I am extremely excited to take over Reading on Monday! I will be starting the book The Summer of the Swans and I hope to do some really cool things with it. I have been working hard on my lesson plans and hope to finish the book in about 4 weeks! I have gotten to know the students pretty well and am learning more and more about them each day. I really enjoy having different students in and out throughout the day because it allows me to get to know many different groups of students. This week we have been working on separating WESTEST scores; it has been a painful experience, to say the least! Going through all 180 students in 6th grades and picking out each individual student, writing down their scores, and then putting them in the right teacher's pile has been a challenge. As much as I detested doing this, it really helped me understand the WESTEST scores and how they score. The experiences that I have had these past two weeks are things that I could have never learned by sitting in a classroom. I am so thrilled to be able to experience everything that I have.

Week 1

On Monday, August 16th, I started at Bridgeport Middle School. We were required to attend the beginning of the year teacher meetings. I thought it was very exciting because it made us feel like we were more a part of the school community. Also, we were able to hear the same things that the other teachers in the building were hearing. On Wednesday, we had Open House and the Back to School Bash. Although, we didn't know what kids we were going to have in our classrooms come Thursday, it was still nice for the kids to get a chance to look around and become familiar with their new surroundings. Thursday was a half day and boy was it crazy. The sixth graders stayed in their 1st period classroom all day so that we could go over the rules with them and get them used to the school and routine. Then, came Friday. Friday was a disaster. We found out that we had to redo all of our teams schedules! It took us all day to get our 79 kids into the classes they needed to be in. Although Thursday and Friday were pretty stressful, I am really enjoying being in 6th grade!

Artifacts and Characteristics of the Novice Teacher # 6

For characteristic # 6, in-depth knowledge of content, I chose my America Unit that I am teaching from my mentor teacher's lesson plans. This unit applies to kindergarten. In this unit we explore several themes, such as America, the flag, George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and the Presidents and voting. Students are actively engaged in these lessons and are encouraged to participate in all activities. We have begun learning The Star Spangled Banner, which has proven to be difficult for some students, but they understand that it is our national anthem and that we must show respect for our country when singing it. Students are still struggling with the concept of what the name of our country is, but we talk about it each day and discuss how we live in the United States and in our country we have 5o states and we live in one of those states. We have also been talking about how our flag has changed over the years and that our country wasn't always as big as it is today. Each day of the unit, builds on each other. For example, we talked about how we must show respect to our flag, just like we show respect for our country by singing the national anthem. Also, we talked about how our flag represents our country, just like the national anthem does. Students seem to understand these concepts as they build upon each other because we refer to them constantly. By doing this unit, I feel as if I am understanding more and more of how students in kindergarten learn and how repetition is key in developing these concepts. Also, it is essential to get students interacting with each lesson and this is what I have been doing. Each day, we have a song that we sing that has to do with our theme and we talk about how these songs reinforce what we have been talking about. Because most of these songs are catchy and easy for students to learn, I often hear them singing them at stations. Many of the concepts discussed in this unit, such as justice, respect, and caring, are all character traits that students have learned about. These students are able to relate these concepts to what is being taught to them in the America Unit.

Artifacts and Characteristics of the Novice Teacher #3

For Characteristic 3, professional, moral, and ethical enterprise, I chose my Character Education lesson from Education 401. I believe that this lesson shows that I want my students to act in a way that is morally and ethically accepted. Throughout this lesson, we discussed ways to show that we care and respect others. The character trait for February in my classroom was Caring. I thought this is a very important trait for kindergarten age students to learn. In my classroom, the students learn that everyone in the classroom is their friend and no one is to be left out. The word friend is used multiple times a day. For this lesson, we read the book, Care Bears Caring Contest by: Nancy Parent. The students loved this book. Throughout the book, different ways the care bears showed they cared about each other were discussed. The students were able to recall this information from the text in a later discussion. Throughout the day and the rest of the month, students were encouraged to show ways that they cared about their classmates. Also, we talked about ways to extend this behavior beyond the classroom. I think that this lesson is particularly important because as teachers, we want our students to grow up and be caring adults. We want our students to be accepting of others, no matter the differences between them. By teaching students to be caring, we are instilling these values within them.

Artifacts and Characteristics of the Novice Teacher #4

For Characteristic 4 of the Novice Teacher, facilitator for all learners, I chose to use a lesson I created based on my students' DIBEL scores. We did a small reader and worked with word families. The students were broken up into four groups: two medium, one high, and one low. To start off the book, we only looked at the pictures. I covered up all of the words and asked students to tell me what was happening in each picture. When it came time to read the book, I made adjustments based on the group I was working with. In my low group, I read the page first. Then, students were asked to echo me. Next, I asked students to read the page back to me. We continued to do this throughout the book. Finally, students read the book to me individually. In my medium groups, we read the book together. Students were also asked to read a page back to me. Then, students were asked to read the page back to me. I then asked students to read the book to me individually. In my high group, one student read each page. Then, the students echo read the page. I also called on other students to read the page individually. Finally, I had the students read the book individually to me. The variations in the way I approached this lesson, worked very well for each group. I did not have any problems and almost every single student was able to read the book to me individually. There were a few students who needed some help in my low group, but they were not serious issues. This lesson also allowed me to get to know my students on a more individual level because I usually do not work with them on reading. I was able to identify their individual abilities and their needs.

Susan-Do you think there is something else I could have done in the groups that would have worked better? Is there anything you learned in your SPED classes that would be more effective?

Artifacts and Characteristics of the Novice Teacher #7

For characteristic number 7, effectively integrate content and pedagogy, I chose my CHPR 301 Unit Plan. For this Unit Plan, I chose to do a unit about Personal Health for first grade. I believe that this Unit Plan effectively integrates content and pedagogy for several reasons. First, I have a limited background in health; therefore, this unit plan has enabled me to know what and how to teach about personal health. This unit was planned based on the knowledge of content and curriculum goals for health. A variety of resources and materials are used throughout the unit to engage the students in the learning process. Each lesson within the unit is different; different instructional strategies are utilized to meet the varying needs of the students. At the end of the unit, a formal assessment is planned that tests students on the content taught.