Week 8

Monday was my first day teaching the majority of the day.  I'm interested to see this week how my students react to me teaching the majority of the day instead of my cooperating teacher.  Even though we have been working up to me teaching a significant portion of the day, they still seem to be testing my management.  Multiple students have been acting out, but my cooperating teacher has been good support.  Today we took recess away from three students because their behavior ended on "consequences."  As we talked about it, my cooperating teacher told me she thinks they need to understand that their actions have consequences.  Hopefully tomorrow they will begin to understand that again.  
Monday we also tried something new in math.  They had never done station work before, but I introduced four new stations to the first graders and had them follow a rotation.  It worked better than expected, but if I could do it over, I would make sure that at least one or two of the stations were things they had already done before.  It was difficult for them to do four new things in one day.  They did, however, work harder and more quietly than I expected, which was great.  I think it's because we talked about voice levels while working alone and with a partner, so they were reminded of the expectation before they began. 

Tuesday I led all three guided reading groups after talking with my cooperating teacher more about how she plans for reading groups and how she keeps records.  She showed me her more detailed record sheet for guided reading and I was able to plan for specific students.  I worked on keeping running records for a portion of each student's reading, took notes about attitudes, posture, responses, connections, comments, and fluency.  I also noted decoding strategies for the lower reading group.  Today was the first time I felt really successful in leading a guided reading group.  I was able to meet the needs of all my students at their level as well as allow myself to continue to plan at their level.  The records I took in guided reading will inform my planning for the next time I lead guided reading, which is a pattern that will continue (Standard 1H).  I'm looking forward to working with guided reading groups daily to monitor progress and watch students grow.  

Wednesday I had a more significant conversation with my cooperating teacher about behavior management.  During math my students did not respond well to the behavior plan in place.  We talked about how I was consistent and followed the behavior plan, but it seemed like my students' behaviors didn't change.  Instead, they continued to participate in the behaviors I had previously addressed.  We talked about how the clips they have been using don't seem like as much of a reward anymore.  We talked about other reward options, such as starting to use table points or rug row points so students can earn something like the reward of being able to use gel pens on an assignment during independent work.  

Wednesday we also talked about the idea of rescheduling the math block to cater to the students returning from RtI.  They always re-enter the class when whole-class instruction is almost finished and are then expected to complete independent work on a topic they didn't receive instruction for.  Usually I spend time with them in an intensive coaching session to explain the topic they missed, but am then unable to assist other students or monitor progress as effectively as I could.  We talked about doing a review game or activity during the 15 minutes they are gone and then starting whole group instruction when they return, followed by a short independent activity time.  I'll have to try a new schedule like the one we discussed and see it if helps the block run more smoothly!  

Thursday I had the chance to practice my whole-class management while my cooperating teacher was in a meeting for the entire afternoon.  I had both groups for math together since she was gone, and their full attention since she was out of the room.  Having the class on my own made me feel more confident in my interactions with students.  It was also a good experience to have both groups for math and have to enforce quiet independent time while providing the other group of students with an engaging activity to do.  We talked about time during the math block and students were much more engaged and focused than I expected.  It was a positive experience and made me even more confident going into my first week of full time teaching next week. 

Friday I led the math portion of the day using a "problem of the month" my teacher gave me.  Students had to figure out how many stickers I would need if I was going to give each student in the class 3 stickers.  We talked about problem solving strategies as a class, then they worked on it with a partner for about 20 minutes and had to write down how they solved it, and finally we acted it out as a class.  Then I asked them how we would figure out the same problem if I was going to give each student 4 stickers.  I was surprised at how they worked through the problem.  They came up with great strategies and the discussion was deep and beneficial for all the students.  I was proud of how hard they worked and how much fun they had trying to figure it out.  I know my class likes a good challenge, and they took to this one well.