"You can do it!"

I must say, week 5 went by pretty fast. On Monday, we had a much needed day off due to Presidents Day. On Tuesday when I got to school, I heard word that the stomach bug is going around the whole school. Another third grade teacher left school on Thursday with the bug, and couldn't even come back until Friday of this week. I am praying that I do not get the bug, so I'm drinking lots of O.J.

Tuesday, Ms. M got word that her son, who is in third grade in the next district over, was running in and out of the bathroom with diareah all day. After school, we planned for Wednesday in case she had to call out. Well I got word that night that she did have to call out, and the next day I would be taking over the whole day. I was actually pretty excited about this so I could get a preview of what the upcoming weeks would be like. The only thing I was worried about was which sub would I get?

I went to school pretty early on Wednesday to make some copies and organize the day. A few minutes later, Mr. M the building sub walked in. I was so happy, because I knew him and knew that he was a real down to earth kinda guy, and would help me through the day without problems. Overall, the day went really well. The students didn't act out, well any worse than they usually did, and the lessons all seemed to go over well. I don't know why, but for some reason I felt more comfortable and confident in front of Mr. M then I did with Ms. M, maybe because he's not giving me the grade?

Friday, the students had "bio's in a bag" due. The theme for this was African American Heroes. What the students had to do was get a bag, decorate it with information and pictures of their person, and out props in the bag that help describe their person. I love this idea of bios is a bag. It's a cool way to digress from the old, boring paper book reports.

Since they were just going to be presenting their projects during reading and the later social studies and extra reading block, Ms. M told me that I could just work on my bulletin board I was creating for PSSA. Let's say that I jumped on the opportunity, since I knew it would take a lot of time, and I would rather start it early and get done at a reasonable hour Friday night, instead of staying until 8pm.

For my bulletin board, I decided to create a board that made the PSSA test look not so scary. I decided to use a crayon theme, and use the phrase " We're the brightest crayons in the box". I made a bunch of plain crayons on bright card stock, and had the students write positive phrases or messages to their classmates about the PSSA's.

This was the board. It really wouldn't have been that long of a project, but since it was at the entrance to the stair case, and the windows were glass, I had to put it on both sides of the archway, otherwise it would have looked incomplete.

The inspirational messages below were so cute! They had saying such as "You can do it!" "You're great!" "Rest for the test, and let your brain do the rest!". It was nice to see the kids saying such kind words about themselves and their classmates, because I know that a lot of students really doubt how well they can do.

Next week I am taking on Science again, and starting the next Math unit, and doing half of the Reading block. I was really starting to worry about how much teaching I was taking on, but Ms. M reassured me that I am doing fine, and that the fact that she can flop me between all the subjects throughout the week means that she's not worrying about me not succeeding. She also reassured me that once PSSA's were over, it would pretty much be like she's not even there. I was starting to worry, but I guess I feel a little bit better now. And I mean, it's not even the midway point yet. I still have 8 weeks left!

New Beginnings

It is finally here! The thing that I have worked for 4 (in my case 5) years to get to, is finally here. Although I am going into my fifth week of student teaching, I decided I wanted to blog about the final 10 weeks. Through this blog, I hope to see my progress throughout this experience. Let me just break down what has been going on my first 4 weeks:

WEEK 1:

I started student teaching on a Wednesday, so the first week was short. I was super nervous waking up this Wednesday morning. It's one of those Christmas morning feelings, where you really can't sleep the night before, and you wake up super early without an alarm. Apart of me was probably so nervous about oversleeping, so that could explain the waking up in the middle of the night a bunch of times. But the morning was here. I had my outfits all picked out, my Vera Bradley stuffed with all materials ready to go, and my lunch packed and in the fridge.

I got to the school and was well aware of where I needed to go since I had visited in December. I got into the classroom, and my cooperating teacher wasn't there yet, but I was already aware of this. I took the quiet opportunity to explore the room, looking at the desks and name tags on them, looking at the various bulletins and posters on the walls. The classroom is small, but its welcoming, and suites the students well. The bell finally rings, and the students come in. Most of them greet me by saying " Hi Miss. Dailey!" as if they have known me for years. The feeling of this is overwhelming, and something that cannot be described, only felt.

During the first 3 days and the week after, I mostly observed the class, their routines, and my cooperating teachers way of doing things. I got a grasp on the curriculum (which I won't lie, I had been studying it for weeks prior). I learned the ways of taking attendance, lunch count, where all of the specials classrooms were, the lunchroom, etc.

WEEK 3:

I started taking over the reading block this week. The program used is Story Town, which is a scripted Language Arts Program. Although it is scripted, Myers is pretty laid back with following it to the T, so there is room for creativity, as long as all objectives are covered.

I must say, my teacher has warned me about taking on Reading first, since it is the longest block, and the most confusing, and she was right. It definitely took some time to get used to. No matter how much you plan and layout what you think you are going to teach during your lesson, it never turns out exactly that way. My biggest problem is time. I plan these lessons, and give them exact amounts of time, and I always end up going over, which prevents me from getting other things done.

WEEK 4:

My supervisor came Monday to observe me for the first time. I was a nervous wreck. My co-op kept telling me to relax, and that I am fine, but that just doesn't control nerves. No matter how confident you think you are, or how well prepared you think you are, those nerves can always get the best of you. I must say though, the lesson went great. 75 minutes of talking went by in a flash, and after the initial five minutes of butterflies fluttering around my stomach, I completely forgot my supervisor was there, and taught the lesson as planned. Except for time of course, which I ran out of. Again, my biggest problem which I hope to conquer sooner than later. My supervisor, however, had nothing but positive, enlightening things to say about me. I was very excited, and that definitely gave me the confidence boost that I needed.