This section of my blog contains my reflection during the sixth week and submergence into full-time teaching in my mentor teacher's fifth grade classroom.
This week, I picked up English. The only thing that kind didn’t work with this was the crazy schedule in the week and our classes had been working on Friendly Letters from last week and were finishing up this week, but this took up a great deal of time. I was only able to teach with English for one day and then go over the previous day’s work on another. Even then, my time was cut short. I had to teach the lesson rather quickly and did not get to accomplish all of my goals. For this reason, I feel that some of the students suffered. When I was grading their papers for the lesson on Simple Predicates, I discovered that about a fifth of the class had struggled with the part of the lesson addressing that simple predicates may have one or more words, which are called helping verbs. Thus, in the students and my spare time, I pulled the students aside, did a quick small group lesson and provided students with the opportunity to do the work we did orally on paper to demonstrate that they understood it AND redo the Reteaching Workbook page that they had turned in and done poorly on. The small group reteach and the additional work seemed to help that fifth of the students tremendously and it didn’t take up much time. In the future, I think that this is something I will do if I notice that there is a significant number of people that did not understand the concept and need to be re-taught. However, I believe that my shortened teaching time for the lesson played a great deal into this outcome.
Next thing, vocabulary! At the end of last week, I got the students organized and ready to switch classes and when they were ready I asked them what they thought helped them improve so much on their quizzes for the week. The students raised their hands and told me that the station helped and the concept cards as well. I told them how proud I was at their hard work. One student told me thanks for the awesome grade and I had to remind her that she earned her grade and that everyone earns their own grade. I told the students give themselves a pat on the back for all of their hard work and they did! I did the flashcard sets again and the students improved even more! Only this time, I made 15 sets of cards! There are 14 low students (identified and not) all together in my class. I made an extra set just in case someone else wanted the cards. I have decided to continue this system even though it takes a lot of time because I am seeing an improvement. If all of the students show an interest for the cards, I might have to make the cards so many days in advance and allow the students to sign them out for an evening, but I am not sure yet. This is just on an “in the event of plan” for now.
The grades for this week were even better with only ten or less 80s in all, a little more than ten 93s, and the rest 100s and 105s in both classes! I’m still super excited about this. Bethany asked if they were working because she saw me making cards several days in a row and I said yea… so she probably thinks I’m crazy, but I guess if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it… or something like that . Another little thought about the cards was something that one of the students said immediately after the quiz… “Can I have the cards for next week’s words?”… I was like “OMG do these kids realize how much I love them and how much work this is! UGH!” So, I came home last night and made the cards… ALL 15 sets! And I brought home the next three word lists to work on this weekend.
On the agenda for next week, READING! I am picking up actually teaching the story by myself. I am super excited and I switched to Mrs. Morris’s lesson plan format, which makes me excited, but almost inadequately prepared because I am so used to taking hours planning for the I say then they say junk! Either way, I can’t wait because of all of the craziness and excitement from this week!
Look over my comments from last week about trying to ease your work load on the cards. But also remember, if this were your classroom, this would be a one-time "make" and then you could utilize them from year to year if you make them durable and sturdy enough?
Yes! Making the cards for my own classroom would be something that I could do once, laminate and then reuse each year! But since it is working, I have found a way to make them with a process that is working a little bit better than originally. I have each set made a week in advance from the quiz. And, all of the students have the opportunity to sign the cards out before Tuesday. If they borrow a set of cards, I require that they be returned by Wednesday for the students that I prefer to have them/need them the night before the test. This seems to be working very well! AND the students are required to return the cards because if they don't then they are not to be given the priviledge of taking a set of cards home the following week. One of my students forgot his cards at home when his mother was bringing him to school and he had her go home and bring them back because he appreciates the opportunity to study with them so much! This was incredibly exciting to me!
About FS... just lots of things really... we can save that for another party night out or something! :)
This week, I picked up English. The only thing that kind didn’t work with this was the crazy schedule in the week and our classes had been working on Friendly Letters from last week and were finishing up this week, but this took up a great deal of time. I was only able to teach with English for one day and then go over the previous day’s work on another. Even then, my time was cut short. I had to teach the lesson rather quickly and did not get to accomplish all of my goals. For this reason, I feel that some of the students suffered. When I was grading their papers for the lesson on Simple Predicates, I discovered that about a fifth of the class had struggled with the part of the lesson addressing that simple predicates may have one or more words, which are called helping verbs. Thus, in the students and my spare time, I pulled the students aside, did a quick small group lesson and provided students with the opportunity to do the work we did orally on paper to demonstrate that they understood it AND redo the Reteaching Workbook page that they had turned in and done poorly on. The small group reteach and the additional work seemed to help that fifth of the students tremendously and it didn’t take up much time. In the future, I think that this is something I will do if I notice that there is a significant number of people that did not understand the concept and need to be re-taught. However, I believe that my shortened teaching time for the lesson played a great deal into this outcome.
ReplyDeleteNext thing, vocabulary! At the end of last week, I got the students organized and ready to switch classes and when they were ready I asked them what they thought helped them improve so much on their quizzes for the week. The students raised their hands and told me that the station helped and the concept cards as well. I told them how proud I was at their hard work. One student told me thanks for the awesome grade and I had to remind her that she earned her grade and that everyone earns their own grade. I told the students give themselves a pat on the back for all of their hard work and they did! I did the flashcard sets again and the students improved even more! Only this time, I made 15 sets of cards! There are 14 low students (identified and not) all together in my class. I made an extra set just in case someone else wanted the cards. I have decided to continue this system even though it takes a lot of time because I am seeing an improvement. If all of the students show an interest for the cards, I might have to make the cards so many days in advance and allow the students to sign them out for an evening, but I am not sure yet. This is just on an “in the event of plan” for now.
The grades for this week were even better with only ten or less 80s in all, a little more than ten 93s, and the rest 100s and 105s in both classes! I’m still super excited about this. Bethany asked if they were working because she saw me making cards several days in a row and I said yea… so she probably thinks I’m crazy, but I guess if it isn’t broke, don’t fix it… or something like that . Another little thought about the cards was something that one of the students said immediately after the quiz… “Can I have the cards for next week’s words?”… I was like “OMG do these kids realize how much I love them and how much work this is! UGH!” So, I came home last night and made the cards… ALL 15 sets! And I brought home the next three word lists to work on this weekend.
On the agenda for next week, READING! I am picking up actually teaching the story by myself. I am super excited and I switched to Mrs. Morris’s lesson plan format, which makes me excited, but almost inadequately prepared because I am so used to taking hours planning for the I say then they say junk! Either way, I can’t wait because of all of the craziness and excitement from this week!
BTW—Not a fan of Faculty Senate today!
-ME
Look over my comments from last week about trying to ease your work load on the cards. But also remember, if this were your classroom, this would be a one-time "make" and then you could utilize them from year to year if you make them durable and sturdy enough?
ReplyDeleteI'm curious about your FS comment...
Yes! Making the cards for my own classroom would be something that I could do once, laminate and then reuse each year! But since it is working, I have found a way to make them with a process that is working a little bit better than originally. I have each set made a week in advance from the quiz. And, all of the students have the opportunity to sign the cards out before Tuesday. If they borrow a set of cards, I require that they be returned by Wednesday for the students that I prefer to have them/need them the night before the test. This seems to be working very well! AND the students are required to return the cards because if they don't then they are not to be given the priviledge of taking a set of cards home the following week. One of my students forgot his cards at home when his mother was bringing him to school and he had her go home and bring them back because he appreciates the opportunity to study with them so much! This was incredibly exciting to me!
ReplyDeleteAbout FS... just lots of things really... we can save that for another party night out or something! :)
Glad you're working out a system for something that is obviously worth everyone's while! Work smarter, not harder!
ReplyDelete