Week 4

Monday and Tuesday we did not have school because of temperatures below zero degrees.  Wednesday was our first day back after a VERY long weekend.  After having a professional development day on Friday, my cooperating teacher introduced a new daily phonics program.  I thought the way she introduced it was great, explaining not only the purpose of the program to the students, but also that it was new for her too.  She explained to students that the program is supposed to help them with reading even when they are as old as she is, telling them that she still has to stop, think, and chunk some words when she reads to decode them.  I loved that she modeled being a learner to the students (4I), showing them the value of being a learner.  Another thing I thought my cooperating teacher modeled well on Wednesday was learning by doing.  She had the students make paper airplanes as a class to introduce a writing assignment in which the students had to write directions for how to do something.  After they made a paper airplane together, they began writing directions to teach someone else how to do it.  The students were engaged and motivated to participate.  As I plan lessons in the future I want to remember this lesson and the risk my cooperating teacher took by letting the class get slightly out of control.  Her risk still produced effective learning, and I'd like mine to do the same.

On Thursday, two of my students got pulled out of our morning classes to take the ACCESS test, a language assessment I was familiar with through my ESL classes.  I was confused as to which students were taking it and why, so my cooperating teacher and I talked about some of the mess around the test. She explained that she thinks one of the students was wrongly assessed in preschool because she wouldn't respond to questions.  Even though her parents speak English as their first language in their home, she is required to take the ACCESS test after being deemed and English Language Learner in preschool.  This conversation sparked a conversation about philosophies of teaching ELLs.  My cooperating teacher talked about a teacher who used to work at the school in the bilingual program who believed the "English only" philosophy and we talked about how hard that is for preschoolers and kindergarteners.  It was an interesting conversation to have with my cooperating teacher about valuing language but also about the difficulty that arises when different teachers in the building have different philosophies.  I was glad to have this conversation with her and know that we are on the same page when it comes to valuing language diversity in the classroom (1A).

On Friday my cooperating teacher asked me to call students one by one to the reading data display next to the reading corner to add a sticker at their new reading levels.  They already had stickers representing their levels at the beginning of the year, after 1st quarter, and we added their middle of the year levels.  The students were SO excited to see where they moved on the chart, even though many only went up a level or two.  Their smiles were priceless and in those moments of congratulations, I knew they were more motivated to keep reading than they had been all year.  This sparked a conversation with my cooperating teacher later in the day about data displays.  She told me that she used to be against them, especially in younger grades because it was hard for students to handle the pressure and it was hard for students who were at a low level.  I agreed with those challenges, but then we talked about their responses today and how encouraged they were by it today.  It's required by CPS to have the data on the wall, but it was good for me to reflect on my own thoughts about it.  Having these conversations with my cooperating teacher is bringing up practices I'll be forced to abide by or think about if I'm a teacher in the future.

Schmidt chapter 2 talks about and defines eptness.  I learned that in a culture of eptness, students' full potential is valued.  It sees "every child is capable of learning, teaching, leading, and becoming an expert" (Schmidt, p. 25).  The success of the class and benefit of the learning environment is dependent on all people involved.  The class is thought of as a community that benefits from both the achievements and failures of all individuals.  Students are involved in decision making, use real-world knowledge and skills, are willing to struggle to clarify their thoughts and words, and feel valued within the community.

Schmidt talks about 10 behaviors the promote eptness.  One I want to make sure to incorporate into the classroom is feedback.  I want to use it to be specific, but more importantly, to motivate students.  By physically pointing out or repeating where students are achieving and where their efforts are effective, they see their success and can be motivated to be successful again.  I want to practice using feedback to motivate students in this way.  A second behavior I want to use is to model risk taking.  Schmidt talks about letting students know if you're trying new things and talking about whether or not they worked in your classroom with your students.  Thinking about a semester of student teaching, I know that many of the things I try in the classroom may not turn out how I plan them.  I want to try modeling risk taking by letting students in on the fact that some of my lessons are risks.  Finally I want to model being a learner to my students.  Often when students are as young as mine are, I think it's easy for them to think the teacher has all the answers.  When students ask questions, the teacher is often able to answer them without looking things up or struggling to explain concepts.  This semester I want to practice modeling my learning to students by wondering aloud, posing questions, and showing students that I am also a learner who does not have all the answers.