Maria Ricchio-Noticing blog Week 9

This week I realized how important it is for me to plan out my lessons step by step. Sitting down and looking at how I want my lesson to go, what I want to cover, what I want my students to work on, etc is so crucial. It helps me remember all my objectives and how I plan to model for my students. As much as planning step by step is helpful, I cannot wait until I get to the point where these things become second nature and I can come up with a great lesson on the fly. That being said, I know that comes from experience.
Modeling has become something I focus on a lot. I have to come to realize how important it is for students to have the gradual release of responsibility. When I do this, my lessons go so much smoother and students don't have as many questions when completing their assignment. By modeling and practicing together before students are asked to work independently, students gain more confidence in what they are doing and are more eager to participate. It's amazing to go from talking about it in our classes and then actually seeing it come to life in your classroom. I notice my teacher does a really good job at modeling her lessons before letting students do the activity on their own, so I will continue conferencing with her to improve my modeling technique.

Lewis week 9

Today we held a handful of students back from recess. As simple as it sounds, it was a huge deal.  Some students were understanding of the fact that they had to make up work or finish projects.  Others were not having it. 

One of my male students cried for about ten minutes about how every kid has the right to go to recess and how it was not fair he could not have twenty minutes of the day to just go and play.  He cried that he needed a break and would not be able to focus without his time outside.  As I talked to this little guy his words really struck me.  They way he spoke was so thoughtful and sincere, and I could tell how upset he was about staying in.  After speaking with him, it made me wonder if keeping the kids in at recess was the right solution to finishing the tasks. 

As easy as it is to keep them in to complete work, these students DO live for recess.  Teachers get a break at lunch, so why should students’ breaks get taken away as well?  I have noticed a difference in student behavior based on if they have an indoor or outdoor recess.  After indoor recess, the students are wild and antsy.  Outdoor recess gives them time to move and unwind.  With that being said, students should be able to sacrifice one recess without throwing a fit.  

ERIN MAXWELL noticing blog

One of my male students in my (3^rd grade) classroom is reading at a Pre-Kindergarten or behavioral reading level.  During reading time, this student models reading behaviors, however, when asked to read orally, he can only read three or so words.  He is meeting with a reading specialist as well as in a reading intervention group during the week.  When asked if he wanted to trade books in his book bin for other books at his level, he responded “these are all baby books”.  This student has been involved in a handful of physically violent fights on school grounds.  He is often defiant and uncooperative.  However, today during their poetry time, I noticed he was having a particularly difficult time copying the Halloween poems on the board.  Additionally, he failed his spelling test using variations or roughly eight letters to make up the spelling of the words.  Few of these created spellings were phonetically related to the target word.  Although this student receives services, I asked if I could work with him during a time in the day where he is neither being pulled out no receiving push-in support.  I practiced writing by copying with the student from the board.  We sounded out the words together while writing a sentence on the board.  However, this afternoon while looking through notes from home left in student binders, I noticed this student’s mother had left us a note.  The overall message was that she knows her son must work harder and stay on task and spend less time acting out in order to pass.  She said that she would be working with him at home.  Yet, this note was filled with spelling errors and improper use of words (ie in instead or and, lease instead of less).  This student is receiving support in school and at home, however, his mother may need additional academic supports to help her help her son with reading and writing. 

Behrman: Noticing- Week 9

             Yesterday was my first Parent-Teacher Conference on the other side of the table, and it was an incredibly rewarding and informative experience! I was so pleasantly surprised that someone from each of my 20 students' families came to pick up the child's report card and have a brief meeting with me and my MT. This goes to show that just because one is teaching in an urban school does not mean that the parents are not involved, attentive, or present. While not all of the parents are on top of their child's homework and signing the agenda on a daily basis, the fact that they took time out of their schedules to come and meet with us is definitely a positive sign that they value their child's education.    
            Overall, a trend I observed is that the majority of parents were very eager to ask my MT about what they should be doing at home to help their child with math and reading. MT offered similar suggestions to many of these families. Since these parents are so willing to work with their children at home, instead of waiting until conferences to inform parents about strategies and simple tasks they can be doing, I feel that a weekly, or even bi-weekly newsletter would be a vital tool for increasing communication with parents. When I notice that many of my students could benefit from the same type of assistance, I can include suggestions for parents to begin using right away. I look forward to applying some of the strategies and conversation techniques that my MT employed yesterday during my own solo conferences (hopefully) next year!

King Week 9

For the most part this week has been pretty uneventful, that is, until today. Today was our first field trip. It was a half day field trip. The entire 4th, 5th, and 6th grades walked from Ray to The Logan Center at University of Chicago, which is about 8 blocks away. Based on the students' typical behavior in the classroom, I was very nervous to see how this walking field trip was going to end. I am happy to say I was pleasantly surprised. The students walked quickly and safely down the street and when I asked them to hurry up to cross a street or wait to cross a street until the next walk signal they did without complaint. During the viewing of the movies of the International Children's Film Festival students behaved appropriately and were quiet and respectful. Walking back to the school was, unsurprisingly, not as smooth as walking there. Students had been sitting quietly in the dark for an hour, so they had built up energy that they were given a little bit of room to release, so they tried to run with it. With the help of my MT, the other 5th grade teachers, and the parent chaperones we were able to keep everyone on track and safe getting back to school.

Having the field trip in the morning made for a very interesting afternoon in terms of academic time, but overall things went pretty smoothly. I think I was able to use the little academic time I had wisely to ensure the day wasn't a complete academic waste. Today was a great exercise in classroom management outside of the classroom for me and now, looking back on the day, I think I did really well. I think I could have done a few things better, especially in terms of communication with the other teachers.

Delise Week 9

One thing that I noticed this week is different ways to make assessments. Normally, when we assess the students for social studies or science, we give the students a paragraph of information that is not new to them. It is information that we have gone over that week, and the goal of the assessment is to see if students can extract information from the reading to answer the questions. This week, we gave the students a sumative assessment on our Mexico Unit. Before the assessment, I played a review game with the students. Each question that would be on the assessment was in the game. The questions may have had the same wording, or in different words, however, the students were able to tell me the correct answer when I gave them choices. For this sumative assessment, students did not have a paragraph at the top of their assessment, as the formative assessments had, but just questions with fill in the blanks and a word bank at the top. I first read the choices of words in the word bank. Then, I read the sentence and gave the students time to write in the answer. About half of the students did well with this, however the students who struggle with reading did not do well with this. I walked around to students and read the sentence. When it came time to the blank, I read a few words from the word bank, with the correct answer in the words I said. The students had no problem finding the answer this way. 

For future assessments, I feel as though it would be beneficial for students to have multiple choice assessments, until they are able to read the whole sentence and word bank words on their own. This is a case of changing the way we write assessments, to see what is better for the students. By writing our assessments like this until the students become better readers will ease the students from having to choose between ten words in the word bank, especially when some students are unable to read the words to begin with. Having these assessments would also help prepare students for standardized tests in the future.

McCormick Noticing Blog

This week I noticed how important it is to model what I am teaching students before I expect them to complete the lesson on their own. I had the students complete a scavenger hunt in Scholastic magazines to search for nonfiction features and write their purposes. I explained what I wanted students to do, but I did not model it for them on the first day. Students were confused and were unsure of how to complete the scavenger hunt chart. The next day, I went back and modeled three features and filled them in on my chart so that students could see. Then, I asked the students to do the same. Students completed the worksheet with much more ease the second day after I had modeled the sheet for them.

It's important that I went back and modeled the information for the students, but it's also important that I readjusted the next day's lesson so that I could essentially reteach the scavenger hunt lesson. I noticed that the lesson does not always go as planned, therefore, some information has to be retaught the next day. I can understand that I did not model the expectation the first day, so I had to go back and redo the lesson the next day. This is a case of me being able to catch my mistake with failing to model the chart for the students and going back to redo the lesson. This helped my students to be more successful with the lesson. I was happy that the lesson went much better the second day. I learned that modeling is extremely important, especially with first graders.

Cosmas Noticing

Lately in my class I have been noticing and observing how student’s behavior changes greatly depending on whether they are on time or late to school.  Each morning I like to greet my students individually with either a high-five, hand shake, or some type of greeting.  From that first interaction in the morning I get a great insight into whether the student is having a good or bad day so far and how their attitude will be during the day.  I especially notice that when students come in late, it really throws off their attitude for the whole day.

              When the students come into our classroom, the first thing they do every single morning is go to their seats and take their homework folders out.  It is amazing to me that students who come in even just five minutes late totally forget to do this.  As an adult, I would think that no matter how late or early you come into the classroom, that you always do the first things first.  However, I am noticing that if students arrive late it’s as if they forget about all our morning routines and just put their stuff wherever they feel like it.

 I have one 2^nd grade boy in particular who comes to school late pretty much every day of the week.  He has been with my MT for a year already as a 1^st grader and is well aware of the classroom norms and procedures yet he insists on putting his backpack and coat wherever he wants.  I find I completely infuriating that he can’t seem to follow the rules or even try to remember but I also try to keep in mind that it is not his fault he is late every day.  His mother admits that she has no urgency in the morning to get him to school on time, so of course he is going to be off once he arrives. 

The same happens later in the day when the students return.  Every day they go to a special, lunch, and then recess before coming back for the afternoon.  When I go outside to pick them up from recess they almost always ask, “are we lining up in line order?”.  The answer is yes.  Every single time we line up to go somewhere we line up in their line order so it is so puzzling to me that they think recess is an exception, especially since they do it every day.  It seems that whenever they walk away from the normal classroom setting they forget what is expected of them until they are reminded. 

Week 9 Bode

          On Friday my MT was out taking a personal day. She didn’t create any sub plans since she knew I would be able to handle the class that day and teach all the material even though we would have a sub in our room. I feel it is awesome practice to be in charge of the classroom and have to teach the entire day as if I am the teacher (not just math and literacy for our unit plans). Although I am the student teacher in the classroom and a substitute may be “in charge” more than me, I am the one who knows the classroom and our daily routines/lessons. I feel it’s an uncomfortable position to be in as the student teacher when a substitute is in our classroom for the day. Having had some experience in the classroom and definitely feeling prepared to teach the material, I cannot be the classroom substitute and that’s frustrating. I feel as interns we have gotten much experience just in these several weeks as well as over the course of our undergraduate, we should be able to sub for our mentor teachers when they are absent. Having a sub in the classroom makes it uncomfortable for me because they do not know the classroom norms, management strategies, lessons, etc…I do so I want to step in and help. When I am given the lesson plans for the day to teach rather than having the sub teach them I felt I put the sub in an awkward position, kind of like just an observer in the classroom.

            What is important here is that as student teachers we are faced with uncomfortable positions: being the young “teacher” in the classroom and gaining that authority, taking charge when a sub should, etc. I’ve learned that I need to know when to “step up” to the challenge or “step down” for those who have more authority in the classroom than I do. This is a case of perfecting your professionalism and checking yourself as a future teacher. Maintaining the professional attitude of being that helpful hand in the classroom but not over stepping and stepping up to the plate are the most challenging things to decipher in this year so far. Maybe being able to substitute for our mentor teachers would give us, the student teachers, a new level of respect from the students and also challenge us as to whether we are ready for the full time teaching challenge.

Montague

       This week I have noticed how important it is to have math centers that reinforce what the goals of your lesson are and to make sure to allow students time to explore these centers. Lately, we have been very limited on time but it math centers is a time that I feel like cannot keep getting cut. This time is important for the students as well as for the teacher because this enables the teacher to pull different groups of students based on their mathematical level. This allows for differentiated instruction which can be very beneficial for the students. We were able to do our first math group today and I saw how much more effective this can be. With 36 students, it is hard to get a lesson that is perfect for all types of learners and to be able to teach it to them all the same way.
      The use of the centers allows me to be able to differentiate my instruction. For example, I worked with the lowest group who normally spends a lot of time sitting there not knowing what to do. This was helpful because I got to see that she could not recognize her numbers therefore, a lot of the activities that we were doing were not even close to what she is capable of doing so far. This will help me when I continue to create math lessons (I believe my MT is going to have me continue with the math) so that I can create stations that pertain to each level. Her level will be working with numbers 1-10 where as other students will be working with bigger numbers. She is also one of the students that still does not have the 1-1 correspondence down when she counts therefore, having centers for her to go to that aim at 1-1 correspondence when counting would be very beneficial for her. Overall, I noticed that centers are important because they can be a way to differentiate your instruction and give you time to work with smaller groups of students and focus in on their particular needs in a much greater way than otherwise would be possible. I think that this is a case of knowing when to differentiate your instruction and how beneficial it can be. It is also important because I did not realize how easily I could make time for differentiated instruction in math like this, it is sort of like the guided reading groups that we do that is why I love it so much! 

Markert-Week 9

Noticing Blog 9

Time Constraints  

This week one of the prominent issues I noticed was timing, and the lack of time. This week has been hectic with GLT but also very exciting. I have found that keeping track of time, and fitting all of my ideas into the given time limit can be somewhat of a circus act. Even with the extended school day I am not sure how teachers find time to fit in all given subject (for the most part they don’t.) It is almost impossible to fit all core subjects into the time block allotted with preps, specials, transitions, and bathroom breaks etc. I spoke with my MT about this issue because when I was teaching I find that I have to speed through the end of my lesson because the time is running out. I asked her if she finds problems with this or if it was just because I am still figuring it all out. She comforted me in saying that timing is always a struggle. She even admitted that’s why it is so difficult to fit science and social studies into a day.

Since time is such an issue I do find it interesting to see how teachers plan their little time. Clearly math and language arts take priority since they are always scheduled. Sometimes I feel that I am just racing with the clock to get through my lesson instead of figuring out what the students are learning and absorbing from the lesson. I find that is a balancing act between the two that I am still trying to work out. Sometimes I feel that the students are grasping what I have planned and we can move on, but other times it is the opposite. One of my biggest adjustments that I need to make is not trying to fit everything I planned into the lesson. Sometimes I over think or over plan (not always a bad thing) but then I feel that I have to make time for it.

This week in particular I am noticing the time more since I am doing most of the teaching. For my writing workshop unit I am allotted 45 minutes to have my mini lesson, guided practice, writing time, and author’s chair. In this subject in particular I feel that it is a race to get through everything in the little time period I have. Before I know it I am trying to quiet the students down so the author of the day has time to share before racing off to lunch. I feel that sometimes there just are not enough hours in a day. I need to work on condensing my mini lesson and guided practice so the students have more time to go back and write before I am asking them to pack up. It seems that working with the clock is a challenge but one that I will attempt to master. I am very interested to see next semester when we add social studies and science to our teaching because these subjects tend to be put on the back burner. I feel that because of the time constraints it is even more important to ensure that you try to encourage cross curriculum as much as possible. For example having literacy work with social studies can ensure that the students will be getting a little bit of both subject matters. In my first grade classroom social studies is about our communities, rules, and laws so far. These topics could be integrated into writing or reading lesson to allow the students to learn about social studies while still covering the literacy and writing workshop requirements. This may not be an everyday solution to the issue but on days where time is pressing it could be helpful.  

Feedback from principal on teaching

I waited to write my entry for this week as I wanted to write about my meeting with the principal, Ms. Watkins. Ms. Watkins has come into the classroom several times as I have been teaching different lessons throughout the school year and told me she wanted to meet with me to go over what she has seen and introduce me to the program Reach.

I was very nervous to meet with her but very excited at the same time. I could not believe she was taking the time to meet with me and provide me with feedback since she has a whole faculty she has to take care of as well. Yesterday morning, Ms. Watkins came in the classroom and told me to join her in the multipurpose room. When I got down there, there was a gentlemen at the table and said Ms. Watkins would be on her way. He was from CPS and he asked me questions about where I went to school, where I was from, how I wound up in Chicago, how I like inner city, what I am certified in and what I have experience in teaching back in Michigan. As I was talking he was writing everything down and it made me very nervous however, I kept reminded myself to calm down and just go with it.

Then Ms. Watkins walked in and began reviewing my performance. She handed me a copy of Danielson's rubric and went over each category explaining to me what I did well and gave me exact examples of things I said in the classroom that showed each category. Overall, she said I did a great jon and she was thoroughly impressed, she said I was in proficient for each catagory and did not place me in basic for any of them. Then finally at the end she said the two things I could work on were to have the objectives clear for my students. (They are in the back of the classroom because that is where my teacher decided to put them at the beginning of the year however, I have since talked to my teacher and we are planning on putting them on the beginning of each slide for the lesson so the students can make the connection and now understand why they are on the back of the board). The other thing she told me to do more was to circulate the classroom more and monitor the students, I do try to do this however, sometimes my nerves get the better of me and I stay in front of the classroom. As well as my mentor teacher is circulating around as I am teaching.

Overall, this was an amazing experience and I am so thankful that she took the time to do this for me. Not only did she make me feel apart of the faculty but it really gave me a boost of confidence in my teaching ability to hear all the wonderful things she had to say about me. I could not have been more happy after that meeting and happy to have had that experience. It will really benefit when it comes to being observed next year, if I have a job as I will already understand the process and be familiar with it.

Berger- Week 8

This week, Walsh has been on a fall break so I have been observing other classrooms and working on my lesson plans. For the first few days I was pretty much just continuously working on the lesson plans throughout the day but on Wednesday, I was able to visit Molly's school, Pershing West. While I was there, the students were working on their Bullying Data poster, where they were putting together all of the information that they have gathered throughout the past weeks. This included a bar graph, line graph, line plot, nonfiction summary, and bullying facts that the students have researched. I was able to go around an help the students with their projects, helping them finish their charts & data or helping place the information in the instructed manner. The students were very good and thoroughly enjoyed that fact that my name is Ms. Berger, while their student teacher's name is Ms. Iberger. They were convinced that we were sisters or cousins, because we had the same "style" and nail polish color. I was also able to visit my friend's classroom who teaches in a school in Lansing, which is part of the National Heritage Academies. It was very interesting to see her classroom and all of the classroom management techniques that she had instilled. The environment was a lot different, but it was very interesting to see her teach. I am very excited to get back to school on Monday, and I'm excited to start my lead teaching in math.

Noticing Blog: Week 8

          Although Walsh does not have school this week, I have been keeping note of the happenings around my classroom. Last week was a short week for us, as it was the end of the quarter and the students had a half day on Friday afternoon. As I have been digging deeper into the literacy and math resources in my classroom for my guided lead teaching, I have noticed the lack of authenticity in basil programs such as StoryTown and Math Trailblazers. These programs are used in Walsh, and although the administration does not want the teachers to use story town, in my classroom, my mentor teacher uses it occasionally. 

          Math Trailblazers is a basil math program that we are using in my classroom. I remember using Math Trailblazers when I was in second and third grade. When I was a student, I remember this program being monotonous, with the same characters and same theme for the year. The activities in the math curriculum are boring and do not get student attention and interest. Although I do like how this program allows higher level thinking, I think the tasks need to be more authentic and centered around academic needs, knowledge of the students it serves, and hands-on activities for kinesthetic learners.  These aspects are very hard to cover and incorporate when using a basil math program such as Math Trailblazers. I have noticed when working with this program that my students are not understanding the complicated procedures and many times activities that are sequenced in an order that makes concepts much more confusing. My mentor teacher wanted me to use Math Trailblazers when I planned for guided lead teaching, but as I was going through the lessons, I realized only one lesson correlated to the Common Core State Standards. I was able to use this program as a basis for my work, but I incorporated many other authentic tasks that cater to my students and more CCSS. 

Maria Ricchio Week 8

     This week I have been really focusing on structuring my lessons using gradual release of responsibility. In writing, I have been working on capitalization and punctuation with my 2nd students and they have been doing great. They enjoy interacting with the material, so during morning message I left out all capital letters and punctuation and they had to help me fix the errors. This was a great activity because it helped them see how important it is to write a proper sentence and help ME see that they understand what a letter/sentence SHOULD look like. I had 2 students tell me, "Miss Ricchio, these sentences look funny!" They were excited to participate and give their answers because they were onfident with the material. This shows me how important and beneficial the process of gradual release is. The more practice they get with watching me model and working together as a class, the more they are able to accomplish tasks on their own. However, my students struggle with staying on task when they are in small groups or partners, so this is something I know we need to work on in order to get better/more efficient.
       Another thing I have noticed this week in my class is how important it is to adapt to new situations, new guidelines, rules, etc. This week my mentor and I began using different techniques to work on our classroom management and it is has made a huge difference. My teacher does a count down system that they really seem to be enjoying which makes our transitions quieter and quicker. As a teacher, I need to remember that something that works one year might not work the next. It's important if you see something not working, that's your cue that changes need to be made. I'm really happy I get to see what that looks like and how to approach certain issues in the classroom.

Marie Lewis week 8

Throughout 401 and 402 our teachers always stressed the importance of making lessons meaningful for each student.  In order to do this, we must choose texts and activities that interest and motivate them.  Today as I spoke with my mentor teacher, she brought up a dilemma regarding this idea: it is extremely difficult to make lessons meaningful and connect when students do not have the background knowledge to relate.  The past few years my mentor teacher has taught “Number the Stars”, a story focusing on the Holocaust, Judaism, and mass execution.  During guided reading groups, my students had no exposure or understanding of the experience of jumping into a murky lake from a dock.  These simple things to me are unheard of to my students. My mentor teacher explained how hard it was to teach about this text because the student had trouble using schema to connect. I am wondering what I can do as a teacher to create meaningful lessons, while still introducing the students to new ideas, themes, and experiences.  

As I approach my literacy unit revolving around Greek Mythology, I am open to ideas to creating a connection with the students while holding true to the theme and new ideas that will be introduced.  How do we teach knowledge we take for granted to students who are completely unaware of certain things.  I look forward to challenging myself to explore literature while making a connection with my students and their understanding of the world.