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https://www.edglossary.org/stakeholder/
This first link defines what stakeholders are in education. I did not know what this term meant until I did a little bit of research, and this website really helped me out!
With that being said, I believe that collaboration with stakeholders in education is beyond important. Having a team to work with allows educators to come up with new teaching strategies that will benefit their students and the well being of the school in general.
https://www.gettingsmart.com/2018/02/3-ways-to-model-collaboration-and-partnership-in-schools-and-classrooms/
This link provides examples that model collaboration and partnership in schools and classrooms. Some examples for teachers include trading classrooms for an hour, co-teaching lessons, and organizing school wide projects. A way to get the community involved is to invite community members to serve on committees and board meetings. Overall, these websites gave me a lot of insight as to how collaboration works in the school system and how important it is to have it.

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Week 12: Creating an Engaging Physical Space for Future Students 

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Week 12: Creating an Engaging Physical Space for Future Students 

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https://www.cultofpedagogy.com/upgrade-classroom-design/
This is a great blog post/website I found on how to organize a classroom. The process of setting up my future classroom has been something I have always looked forward to, even as a child. I am a very organized person, so I know that I can give my students a classroom environment that is clean and ready to go each day. I want my students to feel comfortable in their classroom and this blog post points out that as teachers, we should ask students how they think the classroom should be set up. The author also stated how important collaboration is for students and the way the classroom is set up has a large impact on how well students work with others. I also liked how the post mentioned to keep the perimeter of the classroom in mind. I definitely will have my own desk and this will be the only space in the classroom that the students do not have 100% access to. The rest of the classroom is their space. The blog even mentioned to utilize hallway space for meetings with students, which I found super interesting! Overall, I loved this website and I want to incorporate everything I learned from it in my future classroom.

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Week 11: Managing Stress for Teachers and Students

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Week 11: Managing Stress for Teachers and Students

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https://www.goguardian.com/blog/safety/handling-teacher-stress/
This blog post provides tips for relieving stress as an educator. One tip that really stuck out to me is to establish realistic goals. As a teacher, you want to set goals that you can reach rather than ones that will take a toll on your mental health for long periods of time. I also think it is important to partake in activities that relieve your stress such as working out, spending time with friends and family, and relaxing when it is needed. These are some of my favorite ways to relieve stress of my own.

https://www.accreditedschoolsonline.org/resources/student-stress/
This is an article that discusses the causes of stress for students at all different age levels. It also provides ways that teachers can help minimize stress in their students' lives. Some of the tips that stuck out to me are to keep children moving and to limit homework overload. Excessive amounts of homework tend to cause burnouts in students, as well as it causes large amounts of stress for students. Also, students can benefit from movement during the school day by getting up and out of their seats, especially when their engagement is falling short. These little changes can give students a great amount of relief when it comes to their mental health and their education.

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Week 9: New Concepts and Ideas from Classmates on Differentiation and Engagement

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Week 9: New Concepts and Ideas from Classmates on Differentiation and Engagement

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One concept that I read about from one of my classmates' resources on engagement was the strategy of "filling dead time" during a lesson. I found this super interesting for the teacher's point of view because there is no time to waste in the classroom. If the students are left without something to do during a short period of time, they are most likely to get off task and become disengaged from the lesson. The website listed some great ways to fill in time while you are passing out paper, waiting for the internet to load, etc. by having students do a quick write, what I know already, and/or a think-pair-share activity. I would love to incorporate the "what I know already" activity during my CTTC project because we will be reteaching math lessons that the students have struggled on in the past. This will be a great activity for the students to complete while we are shifting gears during the lesson because we will get a better idea of what the students already know from their own perspectives.
One concept that I read about from another one of my classmates' resources on differentiation was the strategy of "tiering assignments" during or after a lesson. The website uses the example for a reading lesson, where some students are writing a paragraph in response to what they read, while others are completing projects based on the reading. I think tiering is great for any subject because it gives students the ability to demonstrate their understandings in ways that best suit them. This would be great to use during my CTTC project because each student is at a different level in math. Our group could allow students to complete their work in response to the lesson in formats that best suit their learning styles.

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Observations Week 8: Differentiation in Instruction

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Observations Week 8: Differentiation in Instruction

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An opportunity that I observed in regards to differentiation in instruction was during the in-person session. Our classroom teacher has an ESL student who does not speak any English. In order to work with him, our classroom teacher provides him with a Chromebook that is programmed in his home language and she also has pictures of words/phrases on his desk. I have also noticed that our classroom teacher makes sure to point at the questions projected on the white board so he knows exactly what she is teaching. The student does very well in math, but she has him use his response paddle (a handheld whiteboard) to share his answers during this time and during other lessons that other students do not need response paddles for. The differentiation in instruction is crucial for this student in particular so that he can participate during the time that he is in the classroom with his peers. I found this website strictly discussing differentiated instruction for English Language Learners:
https://www.colorincolorado.org/article/differentiated-instruction-english-language-learners
I think it is a great resource for teachers to use when they have ELLs in the classroom. There are also videos within the article that talk about differentiating instruction for ELLs.

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Observations Week 7: How Classroom Teachers Engage Students 

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Observations Week 7: How Classroom Teachers Engage Students 

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This week we focused on how classroom teachers engage students. I included notes of the multiple ways my classroom teacher engaged her students via in-person and Zoom instruction.  As I explored resources for more ideas I would like to implement in my classroom to keep students engaged, I found a website with a few great examples. https://www.edutopia.org/classroom-student-participation-tips
I love the idea of dedicating a time for students to get up and move for a brain break to regain focus. I definitely will incorporate this in my teaching so that my students can get all of their wiggles out. I truly think this is a great way to keep students engaged in the classroom, whether that may be in-person or virtually!

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Observations Week 6: Inventory of Experiences

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Observations Week 6: Inventory of Experiences

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I really enjoyed working with the students to discover some of their funds of knowledge! The students we talked to seem to enjoy talking about the things that contribute to their identities. This can be impactful to me as an educator so that I know more about my students' interests and can use some of their experiences in my lessons. This will allow students to make a connection with what we are learning and it will keep them engaged with our curriculum. I would love to gather this information from my future students by having a "student of the week" each week. Each student will have a poster to fill out with questions for them to answer and spaces where they can include pictures of themselves, friends, family, hobbies, pets, etc. Then, each student will have a week dedicated to themselves and they will have the opportunity to hang up their poster and present it to the class.

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Observations Week 5: Student Engagement Notes

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Observations Week 5: Student Engagement Notes

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We made it through our first week of clinical observations! It has only been 2 days and I already feel like I have learned so much. The experience is definitely something to get used to, but I am happy to be apart of it. As I was observing, the biggest thing I noticed was that it is truly difficult for the students to stay engaged during both in-person instruction and virtual instruction. The situation that we are in is certainly not ideal at all which has a large impact on the way that the students are learning. I hope that these notes give a little insight as to the type of student engagement behaviors that I observed this week! :)

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Week 1 Observations Student Engagement Notes

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The "Guess Who" activity is a great way for you to get to know your students, as well as for your students to get to know each other. I would have students fill out their own "Guess Who" card on the first day of school. Then, I would gather my students and read 2-3 cards per day. The students would guess which classmate each card is describing after I read the clues. Once we finish all of the cards, I will know my students a little bit more and my students will know a little bit more about each other, too!

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The first week of school can be a daunting time. Not only are you getting a brand new group of students that you need to get to know, you are dealing with paperwork, classroom organization and management issues, AND your specials usually haven't started yet. This means that getting into a routine can be T.O.U.G.H. I have five activities that can help make that time a little bit easier.

To get a packet of printables for these activities, either we can email it to you, or you can download it from the 'Files' section of our Create-abilities Teacher Community Facebook Group. If you haven't joined the group yet, it's a great way to stay up-to-speed on everything Create-abilities, including product announcements, sales, freebies, live broadcasts, giveaways, and more!
1. Guess Who?
This is a fun activity to get to know your students and create a safe space in your room. Pass out a Guess Who? card to each student. They fill out each question about themselves. Then, you collect the cards and mix them up. Begin giving clues about the student without saying their name. Their classmates have to try and guess which student you are talking about. I usually did 2-3 at a time (or a day) so it wouldn't become tedious.
2. Classmate Scavenger Hunt
This is another fun icebreaker. Each student must walk around the room and find a classmate that fits the criteria inside each box. That student then writes or signs there name inside each box. The goal is to fill up each box with a different student. It really gets everyone talking!
3. My-Phone
This activity is not only highly motivating for our students, it also makes a really great hallway display. Students create "apps" that represent them. They can draw real apps or just make some up to fit their personality.
4. I Can't Funeral
One of the phrases that teachers often hear is "I can't _____." When a child believes they can't do something, they feel defeated. They might feel stupid, inadequate, or foolish. I started each year by having an I Can't Funeral. I had my students write down their main "I Can't". Then I collected those strips and we put them in a container. We would dramatically have a moment of silence for our I Can'ts. Then we threw them away.They can no longer say they can't do something! Learning is supposed to be a productive struggle!

There was a sixth grade teacher in my building that did something similar. He actually went out and buried the can of I Can'ts with his kids. He later went back and dug them up without the kids so he could reuse the can and the spot. It was very powerful!
5. Dear Me
This one seems simple, but I've added a twist to make it more interesting. In Dear Me, Students write a letter to themselves at the beginning of the year. They write about the goals and hopes they have for their upcoming school year. They can also give themselves some advice. Then, you measure each student with a piece of yarn that is measured to be exactly how tall they are. You roll up the letter and tie it with that string.

On the last day of school, the students get to read their letters. They can also use the string to see how much they've grown! I had one student (pictured below) that grew over a foot in one year! Wowza.

Using these ideas can help make your first week run a lot smoother!
PEACE, LOVE, AND STICKY NOTES

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5 Activities for Your First Week of School

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The first week of school can be a daunting time. Not only are you getting a brand new group of students that you need to get to know, you are dealing with paperwork, classroom organization and management issues, AND your specials usually haven't started yet. This means that getting into a routine can be T.O.U.G.H.