Winding Down...

WHOA. 20 days till graduation!

• Rate your overall experience of the week: 5 GREAT week!
• Seven questions to end your week:
• • Observe: I really felt confident in these last few lessons. They were great and the students are so responsive to my teaching. I'm so glad it got to this point, because I have finally learned the relationship level with each student. I have gotten to a point where they respect me as a teacher, not as a friend and it is a REALLY good feeling!
    Reflect: So, this semester has FLOWN by. In every single sense of the word! I have never had anything in my life go as fast as student teaching has gone. I just taught for more than 1/4 of the year and it's GONE. My mind is blown.
    Focus:  Well, 20 days left until graduation, so I'm almost there. Just got to get a few last things completed!Be Productive: Yesterday, I should have completed my video. Although, I did work on it for multiple (and I mean a LOT of) hours, so really, I think I did well!Have Courage:  Starting out, I was really terrified of making this video that I took half an hour just to watch tutorials when I should have just jumped in.Begin Anew: We're almost done, so make this last bit the absolute BEST.
    
    

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help guide your decisions?
• I analyzed the math test grades with my CE. All the 4th grade teachers seem to have had their toughest year this year. The students are not motivated and they are unfocused. But this test had to be the worst outcome that we've seen. Well at least the worst compared to our predictions! We were hoping this would be the easiest test they had taken all year, but it didn't prove to be true. We realized we had a lot to review this week and it was best that she took back over.

• NC Professional Teaching Standards 
• • Standard 1: Finally earning respect from all students in my class, rather than just looking for a friendship. One of my EC students hardly acknowledges my existence, especially after he was pulled from my class and suspended. BUT, this week, he took interest in what I was doing and finally participated to the best of his ability! What a week to end my official teaching on!
  • Standard 2: This week, my CE took back over and I learned a lot about pairings and groupings again. She made a few pairs with very different learners that I would have never thought about it, and most of them worked nicely! I was very impressed with the big differences in ability and differences in learning that they had. They were able to learn from each other and offer different perspective.
  • Standard 3: I learned that I love history. We're reading the book "George Washington's Socks" and it's based out of the time period of the American Revolution and it is SO cool. The kids love it and I've learned that my enthusiasm for learning and teaching this material, directly impacts the way they receive it! Fantastic!
  • Standard 4: The students were getting bored with reading the book whole class, so in order to best meet everyone'e needs and change up the teaching style, I instructed students to break off in groups and discuss then come back as whole group. This offered a perfect chance for differentiation because I pulled some of the EC kids and slower readers to read with me. It was really nice to offer a small group again. This way I knew they were on task and they were focused.
  • Standard 5: I only had a few lessons a week to reflect on, but rather I would like to reflect on students teaching as a whole in a couple sentences: It rocked. My socks.
• Other:
• • What components of your portfolio have you started to complete? Video is almost complete. I just don't know how to add my voiceover... And the video file is too big to send through email... So I'm sorta stuck...
  • What support does your clinical educator need from Dr. Parker? Help with my video voiceover?
  • What support do you need from Dr. Parker? videooooo

Smooth sailing? Uh, not quite...

Well let's see. 3 days. We had a magician at school. We had a cool presentation for cultural day. We had an Easter party. The weather has been FABULOUS. 

Yeah. Definitely a 5 out of 5 week!!

• Observe:  These students love me! And I love them! I can't believe we have to let go of them every year...
• Reflect: I'm SO comfortable with this group of students. I can't believe this is already my completed 9th week of student teaching. I was actually able to teach full on, only me, for 9 weeks! And it's been a success! Yay! Go me!
• Focus: Next week I am taking 2 of my licensure tests.. oh joy.
• Be Productive: I need to work on my portfolio. STILL. I'm scared.
• Have Courage:  Licensure tests this coming week. I can do this. I know my stuff. Buckle down and get through it!
• Begin Anew: Spring Break is MUCH needed. I am overjoyed that it is FINALLY here! And the week after that is my 10th week. My final full week of teaching, just me! Whoa! That's crazy.

NC Professional Teaching Standards

Standard 1: After their math test on Tuesday, I took it upon myself to look at the questions most missed and review those in class the next day. I took this data and turned it into a learning time of "take your time, you don't get a reward for completing your tests, especially not your EOGs, early." (NCPTS 1A1) We had a couple students complete their 35 question test in 25 minutes and even if they did make B's on their tests, some of the mistakes were careless. 

Standard 2: I have really been working on maintaining a positive and nurturing environment for my students to learning and grow in (NCPTS 2a1) by practicing more proximity praise classroom management. I have been moving near to students and if they are doing something well, I let them know rather than point out the students who are not following directions directly next to them.

Standard 3: This past week I related to global awareness by teaching about Malaysia (NCPTS 3c2). We had a speaker come in for cultural day and she was from Malaysia and I was able to give some students background on the country, as well as relate some of this information to the knowledge they already had about the rafflesia (the world's stinkiest flower).

Standard 4: I have been working on monitoring and modifying my lesson plans this week and really honing that skill. I reflect each day after the lessons and write down a few notes I have needed for next week. This week I was able to really modify a lesson. Instead of teach what I had previously planned for math on Wednesday, I almost completely canned the lesson because I realized they weren't completely ready for that judging by their tests the previous day. It was hard to actually can the lesson after spending time to plan it, but I realized that was best for students, so I went ahead and replanned. 

Standard 5: Even though this standard is completely marked off and cleared, I of course continued to reflect on my teaching each day. This level of comfort I have with my students really impacts the way I teach. I have had to make sure that I do not slack just because we're comfortable, but I have had to remind them a few times that I am the teacher and that what I say goes. This is a lesson I have had to keep learning from the beginning. These students in here are not my friends, but they are my students. I should encourage them and teach them, but friendship isn't a privilege we have at the moment.  

• What components of your portfolio have you started to complete? About that... I'm really working...
• What support does your clinical educator need from Dr. Parker? Nothing for now!
• What support do you need from Dr. Parker? Still working with me and my portfolio draft due on Wednesday. I still have a lot to do and licensure tests to study for so.... Yeah. Patience and understanding please!

Number 8.

If I were to great this week, I would probably give it a five out of five.

• Observe:  I've been surprising myself more and more with these ratings every week. At the beginning of the year, I would've said most weeks were around three, if not a two! 
• Reflect: But I've really been learning a lot about myself and I'm realizing that what I have here is good and my students are great. I'm happy here!
• Focus:  I am still focused on completing my student teaching and graduating in May. I'm still working on my PDP and I am going through my professional log to help my learning through teaching.
• Be Productive: I need to work on my portfolio, holy cats.
• Have Courage:  I have been studying my content in science and social studies, but sometimes students ask questions that I would have never considered and I have a mini freak out moment. I need to know that I am learned in what I have studied and if I think about the question logically I can figure it out.
• Begin Anew: Next week is my 9th week!! This in itself is a reason to celebrate!!!!!

NC Professional Teaching Standards

Standard number one, I recognize the importance of being a leader. This week, I haven't only been a leader in the classroom, but I've been a leader with my kids out at recess. Honestly, one of the best ways that I've gotten my kids respect is by being apart of every kickball game we've had. I'm the permanent ball roller for the teams and every single day before we go out, they beg me to be the ball roller. The kids will come in from recess and some might be a little angry because they lost the game (I have really competitive kids) and some will come in with a frown on their face the whole time. Because of my interaction with the students outside at recess, I'm able to pinpoint the matter that exactly messed them up and made them angry and I'm able to talk some sense into them.

Standard 2: I realize the importance of having a nurturing and caring classroom. I called on one of my students the other day for being good in his seat. But this is a student that never behaves well in class. And when I say never, unfortunately I really do mean 98% of the time he acts up. But during one of my lessons I call out his name because he was sitting quietly in his  attention, and the entire classroom went silent and the only thing he said was "well that's a surprise." I looked at him and I said "yes it is, but it's a pleasant one" and I continued my lesson, with all attention on me.

For standard three, I'm pleased to say that this week has been a very strong week for content. I know decimals well, and I feel I am able to strongly teach this to the class, and I can confidently say that 90% of the class know what's going on the whole time. I know that by my close monitoring, by questions that I ask, met by raised hands, and I know because I don't have that confused look from that one kid in the back of the class and math. 

Standard four this week was met this week by using world maps as a global awareness strategies. Not only was I able to use this map as a brilliant hook, but I was able to educate the children about our world. Students are so enthusiastic about learning about places outside of their little town, and I really do mean little town.

For standard five, once again I am learning the lesson of reflection. I feel that I reflect on most of my lessons very well, knowing my weaknesses and my strengths, but rather than documenting these things I simply hold the knowledge within my mind. I know one of my weaknesses is organization, and fortunately I do think student teaching has helped those skills, because those are necessary to run a smooth and operable classroom.

• What components of your portfolio have you started to complete? Uh, I have a lot to do.
• What support does your clinical educator need from Dr. Parker? They are emailing, so this is taken care of!
• What support do you need from Dr. Parker? Prayer would be good.

7th week down. 3 to go!

• Rate your overall experience of the week: 5!! I ended on a fantastic note this week. It's just truly been a good week :)
• Seven questions to end your week:
• • Observe: I accomplished my 7th WEEK! Wow. After realizing that today, it was a little bittersweet. I also accomplished my first parent teacher conference day (which is a big feat when it actually is... ALL DAY).
  • Reflect: Throughout a few of my lessons, I was able to pinpoint my confidence and pinpoint what I was not so confident about. That was helpful in moving forward with my lessons.
  • Focus:  I will complete my full time student teaching in 3 weeks. That in itself shows me that my long term goal and my short term goal are now pretty much the same thing - GRADUATE.
  • Be Productive: I could have spent less time concerned with the detail of my lesson plans and more time with simply getting my plans together. I can pick them through with a fine tooth comb once their completed.
  • Have Courage:  I felt very confident about everything I taught this week, except a fraction of a number for our tier 1 class. I need to work on clarity when explaining this to the class.
  • Begin Anew: Finish lesson plans would be the first order of business! And realizing, my time here is limited. Do it to its fullest and to its best!

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help guide your decisions?
• NC Professional Teaching Standards (be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer)
• • Standard 1a4: I have been working to be more positive when managing my classroom. Rather than immediately react to my student misbehaving, I have taken the time to recognize the students that have been successfully participating in class and following directions. This offers a better and safer environment for my students as well.
  • Standard 2e1: I know I need to work on communicating effectively to my parents! I'm thinking about sending home a newsletter that updates them when my time is ending as a student teacher for their class, my plans afterwards and how their wonderful children have impacted my life.
  • Standard 3c2: Funny enough global awareness has been one of my favorite parts to integrate into my lessons. I feel that students really do benefit from simply "being aware" and they cling to every word you say about places around the world. I'm hoping that what I share doesn't simply have a daily impact, but that these pieces of information that I am sharing with them is reaching their curiosity and lasts throughout their lives.
  • Standard 4b1: I have been differentiating within my classroom since day 1. Whether I knew it or not, I have been. Now that I am more practiced, I am able to pinpoint exact moments when I differentiated for students. For example, I planned an entirely different language art test for 5 of my students. These 5 EC students would not have ever completed the material on the other students tests due their differences in ability, so I prepared tests with readability appropriate for these students.
  • Standard 4f1: One of my proudest moments this week was today. My students worked as a team, with jobs such as a pirate, an interviewer, or a film producer to create a script that tells us about pirates. These scripts that they created had to match certain criteria and pass the rubric that I gave them to work with. They recorded their video today, dressing up as pirates and wearing professional pants like interviewers would and completed this video. Each person was an integral part of the team and according to their comments on their self and class assessments, I am pleased to say that they recognized that as a big lesson.
  • Standard 5b1: I have been researching the impacts of ADD, ADHD, and medicine on students. Most of my students are medicated in some ways, but I am unfamiliar with what many of these medications are for and what they even mean.
• Other:
• • What components of your portfolio have you started to complete?
  • I have been finishing my website in order to make it the best looking one out there!
  • What support does your clinical educator need from Dr. Parker?
  • Nothing at the moment!

You can determine their success.

I would rate this week a 5 out of 5!

Even I impressed me with that number. 

• Observe: This week was my birthday, so maybe that started me off on the right foot! I had a great week altogether between friends and students and everything moved so quickly! I can't believe this week is already over!
• Reflect: I honestly am very proud of myself. I did a lot of random planning that I was able to think on my feet and because I am studying my content, I am able to better understand where my focus should be in teaching them.
• Focus:  GUYS. Next week is my 7th week of student teaching and WHOA holy moly, this time moves fast! I remember when I hardly had our schedule down the first week and fumbled through the day. Now, I can repeat back to you our weekly schedule in my sleep!
• Be Productive: Again, I am leaving my lessons for the weekend, and I tell myself every week I shouldn't do that.. So I suppose I could spend less time grading and more time writing plans? I really don't know because I feel like I didn't slack off that bad this week...
• Have Courage:  I need to have the confidence that I know what I am saying. We have some highly intelligent students in our class and sometimes I'm intimidated that I don't know the material as well as some of them do. And then I realize, sometimes they say silly things and I have studied this stuff and I'm not dumb and I do know what I'm talking about. Go me!
• Begin Anew: Plan my lessons and start the week fresh. Not as in it is a countdown, but just realizing that this is a new week that the students need to be successful.

NCPTS 

Standard 1: I could've demonstrated leadership this week by participating more in the dress ups for the school. This week was a celebration of Dr. Seuss's birthday and I didn't dress up for it once. I think participating in a full school activity and celebration like that speaks volumes to those around you. 

Standard 2:  I have had a couple come to Jesus meeting's with my students this week. Not in the I'm yelling at them because I'm angry, but more so the come to Jesus meeting to show them that kindness goes a long way. I try to create my classroom to be safe and orderly for all students and this week I did that by speaking them about being the best that they can be to those around them. I told them that school is hard and that life can be hard sometimes too, but these people in your classes are those that you can lean on.  I looked at them and told them that I know each individual in this classroom and I know that they are great people, but when they use angry words or say unkind things, they are very ugly people. Not in looks, but in person. This is my attempt to straighten out rivalries and make peace in the class after a rather rambunctious kickball game. By the way I'm a permanent roller for said kickball game and I'm a pretty impressive roller, if I do say so myself.

Standard 3: I knew my content when explaining the vocabulary words this week. These were social studies words such as entrepreneurship, productivity, market economy, scarcity, and supply and demand. I brought an article that involved piracy and showed the relevancy between the article and the vocab. Then I related them to our real life economy and the students caught on pretty well. I was very impressed by them, especially since I had to reteach myself these words before the week began.

Standard 4: This week, I was teaching the students about heat energy. During this lesson, I wasn't really expecting myself to bring in global awareness, but I recognized an opportunity and I took it during the lesson. We have a world map that is hanging up on the back wall and when we mentioned the heat transfer of radiation, I related radiation to what we knew about the word. I told them a little bit of the background of Pearl Harbor, when the Japanese sent in an air raid on our military base in Hawaii. One of the students made the statement "wow they traveled a really far distance just to bomb us." And I took this opportunity to show them that our world is indeed not flat, it's actually round. I showed them how Hawaii was actually pretty close to Japan and how this was easy for them to come and do this on a Sunday. I continued to tell them that the United States lost a couple thousand people that day. And then I said we demanded that Japan surrender or we come out and nuke them. This got the students really riled up. Then I explained to them the situation. We were angry and we were hurt, so when the Japanese did not surrender, three days later we sent the first atom bomb. When Japan still refused to surrender we dropped the second. This was the first and last time the atom bombs were ever used in warfare. And those bombs killed millions of people and left many deformed due to the radiation that was left afterwards.. Some of the students actually started to celebrate and saying we won the war.. I was shocked at their reaction. I looked at them and tried very hard not to sound harsh, but I looked at them and I said "you realize that you're celebrating millions of deaths of innocent people, right?" This really got their attention. Maybe two in the class had even heard of Pearl Harbor and one was able to actually give me a description and a detailed experience of what happened, but everybody else in the class this was new information for them. I'm really glad I took this opportunity to share with them a little bit around the world and history of our country that they didn't know before.

Standard 5: This is a little more on the positive side of things. I've use my reflection in teaching multiplying mixed numbers by whole numbers and I have used my reflection upon those lessons in order to impact the way that I teach the next day's lesson.  Students are having a hard time knowing that it's a multi step problems, first changing a mixed number two or improper fraction and then multiplying, and then simplify. Although I contribute a lot of it to laziness, some students just are making the connection that I need to do all the steps. I took a couple extra days so that students better understood this material.

Here is to learning through teaching.

Sincerely, 

Brittany Kertesz

I like it okay.

• Rate your overall experience of the week: 4
• Seven questions to end your week:
• • Observe: So a pleasant surprise would be that I realize that I DO have control over the classroom. This week I have been on-my-own (for the most part) for 3 days! I have been able to lead my students in lessons and through transitions; we got everywhere in a timely manner, and everyone survived! I also observed that when the going gets rough, I can rely on my principal and vice principal to help me out. On Wednesday, my CE wasn't in the room and I could not control one of my students. The days he is on his meds, he is fine. When he's not, it's as if all hell breaks loose. He was uncontrollable and I felt way out of my comfort zone. He made me feel uneasy and for a while I was actually afraid he was going to hit one of my students. I called in the principal and he came into the room, pointed to the student and said "pack your bags, you're going home." Turns out he was near suspension anyways. He was wild on the bus and from my complaints, that last straw tipped the scale. It was awesome to see that my administrators had my back! See you in 3 days, buddy.
  • Reflect: I have learned that the more thoroughly you plan, the more you'll find that you still actually missed. I felt prepared for this week, yet it came and went in what seemed like a heartbeat.
  • Focus:  WEEK 5 IS COMPLETED WHOA. this realization just hit me like a really nice brick covered in chocolate and yummy smelling flowers. This is wonderful that I am halfway through... My that means I have 5 more to go... Oh man. Keep my head down and keep trucking.
  • Be Productive: Well I haven't watched a full season of Grey's Anatomy since student teaching started, so I'm doing okay in that department. However, I did watch 3 episodes last night and my lack of preparedness for next week's lessons is showing.
  • Have Courage:  I realized I should have called the office sooner for my suspended student. I was trying to keep my classroom under control for too long it took away from the lessons being taught in the classroom. Have courage that just because you're a new teacher, that doesn't mean everyone thinks that you're incapable of teaching or controlling your kids. What that student was doing in your room could have (and has) happened to anyone.
  • Begin Anew: Start fresh with students and realize that this week is NEW. This means we have turned over a new leaf and they have an opportunity to grow. So do I!

• NC Professional Teaching Standards (be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer)
• • My leadership could have improved by putting more effort in talking during my grade level meetings on Tuesdays. I kind of just sit there, but I'm not really sure how to be more engaged without just constantly questioning. So I usually ask questions afterwards to my CE about what was going on.
  • Recognition to prevent stereotypes within my lessons and within the classroom would be fantastic practice and evidence for my students. 
  • I know my information! I study often and continuously prepare myself for this math. Especially when it comes to math. However, I need to study to prepare for the general curriculum test. That 6th grade math might be quite a surprise.
  • I realized that I had to be strict Ms. Kertesz. Upon reflection and talking with Mrs. Suttle, I could have a gentler approach with more positive affirmation, rather than pointing out those doing the incorrect thing.
  • Reflection isn't a problem for me. I do it freely and often. However, putting what is gained from the reflection into practice is something I need to work on. The reflection does me no good if it just sits on my paper. Let it be something beneficial for my growth, for my teaching, and of course that all leads up to my teaching.
• Other:
• • I've been fine tuning my resume to get in on tip top shape! There's a lot more that goes into a resume than I thought. Also, I hadn't made one in probably 4 years. Things have definitely changed.

Short Week.. Yeah right.

This week has been very interesting. And I feel like I start on my blogs that way, because it's actually true every week. Monday was a planning day, Tuesday was supposed to be a regular day back to school, which turned into a three hour delay, which then turned into a closing day due to snow. Teaching in the south requires flexibility and adaptability to change and change that happens quickly.

By the way, I would say we're at a 7 out of 10 this week. 

Waking up at 5:45 in the morning never feels better than when you add a head cold runny nose sore throat and upset stomach with it too. When you're not feeling well, kids get on your nerves faster, you lose energy rapidly and it just seems that you are moving at a turtle's pace. Which is already a problem for me.

I had some excellent constructive criticism from my CE. She sat me down after school on Thursday and we talked about my lessons from the day, we talked about my classroom management, we talked about my pacing during lessons, and we talked about my overall tone when instructing. She usually is full of compliments but this was the hard truth that I have to learn by the end of my fourth week of student teaching.

We finally recognized what's been obvious since I first started teaching. And that is my classroom management skills. I came into the classroom in the fall and wasn't in a position of leadership or in a teacher position really. I came in as a friend. And ultimately that has messed me up the semester. I think it was very beneficial in plenty of ways, but if I'd simply come in and asserted my authority from the beginning, I would have as many problems with behavior as I do now. For example, a student called me Brittany to my face at lunch the other day. This got under my skin skin more than I thought it would. It was a blatant disrespect for my authority and when I asked her to stop she just giggled and said "well, it's your name." This shows me that they're trying to get away with what they can and I've been letting them, so why would they not? My leadership in the classroom (NCPTS one) need some help.

Also, I have had a hard time with teaching to one of my students. He just doesn't understand. And on days he doesn't take his meds, he is out of control. It's unmanageable and it is frustrating for all those around him. I had full classroom control for almost all of today. My teacher had to leave due to family issues that came up around 10:15 and she left for the day. 

I had mixed feelings. 

So a pro was that I got to try out the strategies she suggested yesterday.
And a con was that I got to try out the strategies she suggested yesterday.

In many ways, what I did today was effective. The students and I had a come to Jesus meeting. TWO TIMES. Both times, I had their attention and I was even called a strict teacher (behind my back of course, later told to me by one of my "faithful" students). Not that this was the goal, but it was about time that I maintain control over them. I asked them to get in line quietly and THEY DID. One of the 4th grade teachers said she walked by my class and checked on me and she was shocked by their compliance and quiet of the room. I WAS PUMPED. I was excited to know I was capable of creating an atmosphere good for learning (NCPTS 4).

I study my content more and more everyday and I try my best to get ahead.

Oh and how does that fix my stack of papers? Well, good question. Those papers that need to be graded are at an annoying high... As usual. I feel like I constantly have papers to grade and things to do, no matter how proactive I have been. 

Another thing I have noticed was my quickness to complain. Next week, I will begin my transformation of becoming my happy, bubbly self again. Can't wait!

To the old me, 
Brittany Kertesz