It was strange that Monday was my last Monday of school! My students were sad from the moment they walked in the door and saw me. All morning long they said things to me like, "Miiiiiss V...we only have you for four more daaaaaays." We talked about making the most of the time I had left and kept on moving. It's satisfying for me to think about the accomplishment of finishing at the end of the week. It's definitely something I'm looking forward to!
On Monday my cooperating teacher and I also talked about future plans. It was a reassuring conversation. It was a blessing to have her reassurance in my uncertainty in career path.
Tuesday I spent some time observing a bilingual second grade classroom. My favorite thing about what I observed was when the teacher facilitated a student discussion. All he did was ask the first question and call on the first student. After that, each time a student shared an idea, he or she would say, "That is my idea. Who else has an idea?" Then the student would call on someone else. The students were eager to participate and call on one another. It was fun to see them have a discussion almost entirely on their own. It was also fun to watch the whole thing in Spanish! :)
Wednesday morning I was able to monitor an NWEA testing session for one of my second grade students who had missed the math MAP test last week. It was a positive experience to see what kinds of questions were on the test and compare them to the skills I know have been covered. It was also a positive learning experience to talk with my cooperating teacher about the results.
I was also able to observe some other classrooms on Wednesday. All the classrooms in the school recently got Apple TVs to use. My cooperating teacher and I have not set ours up yet, but the classroom I observed Wednesday was using theirs. I was able to see how that 3rd grade teacher had students working on their own iPads, and then when she wanted to highlight an activity or a question, she would call on a student to project their iPad onto the screen. I was also able to take that experience back to my teacher and teach her how to set up and project using iPads and the Apple TV (3A). I'm wishing now we would've gotten it sooner so I could've had the chance to work with it!
Thursday morning my cooperating teacher and I brought my class to a "dress rehearsal" for the performance the primary grades are doing for their mothers on Friday. All the primary grades have been practicing songs in music for the last month or two getting ready for the performance. It was really cute to hear them all sing and a good way to practice for the performance! My cooperating teacher and I started talking about plays and performances in schools. She told me about a music teacher at a different school she taught at who used to put on a really well done performance each year. When I started thinking about how many plays and musicals I participated in as a student, I realized it was something I definitely took for granted.
Friday.
It was SO busy. The Mother's Day performance was in the morning and it seemed to throw off the entire day. It went really well, though, and all my students were dressed up! They looked GREAT! In the afternoon my class threw me a surprise party. They had made me a canvas with all their finger prints on it and gave me a class photo. We had brownies and they got to share kind words about me. Four of them sobbed. It was really precious, heartbreaking, and also really encouraging to know I impacted them that much. It's a bittersweet ending to a wonderful semester of hard work, learning experiences, daily challenges, and sweet relationships with wonderful kiddos. I'll miss it more than I ever dreamed I could.
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