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The past two weeks have been easy in the classroom because last week was Halloween and they had some-what of a free day. They did a packet with random math facts, reading passages, and word searches. Even though the did not have any formal instruction they still had facts they were reviewing. This week school was out for Election Day and yesterday Mrs. Orvis was out for training, so the kids had a substitute. It is challenging to keep the students on track when there is a substitute in charge because they think it is a "free day." I tried my best to remind the students that even though there is a substitute they are still responsible for following expectations of the classroom. I think next week I start teaching part of the social studies unit in order to prepare for my ITE week!

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This week at my internship Katie let us walk around to other classrooms. It was a good experience to see other classrooms and how their routines influence day to day learning. I was able to sit-in on a Kindergarten, 1st grade, 2nd, grade, 4th grade, and 5th grade class during my "classroom walk." I enjoyed watching the Kindergarten teacher start their day and witnessing how she transitions from different activities. I do not think I would want to teach Kindergarteners but that teacher seemed to have a great class. The 2nd grade class was similar to the 3rd grade class with just a smaller concept range. The 5th grade class was a great experience to see because I have experienced working with a 6th grade class but 5th graders are still in the mind set of learning and wanting to learn. I was thoroughly impressed by all of the classroom routines and expectations. It's only a few months into school and their routines are tight and well-worked. This week went very well and I was happy with everything that I witnessed.

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One of the best parts of teaching is the relationship you build with your students. You quickly realize how important you are to them , even the ones who may act like they don't care, they do...building that trust yet firm with high expectations is a crucial part of achieving success with your students.

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This week has flown by already. This week I was able to sit in on a first grade classroom and a fourth grade classroom because my mentor's students were testing. Since the interns are not allowed to be in the room during testing I used my time to pop in on other classrooms. First grade is definitely different than 3rd grade. Fourth grade was almost like an extension off of 3rd grade so I found very subtle differences. I really enjoyed having the opportunities to see other classrooms besides the 3rd grade one. After testing on Wednesday the kids in the classroom I am normally in asked, "how did you like first grade? how did you like fourth grade?" I responded with that I had a lot of fun and they taught me things I didn't know. A few of the kids said "no fair! you're only allowed to have fun with us! You're our teacher!" Of course that melted my heart when they said that. I think after this semester it will be hard for the kids to transition into a routine where I'm not there and I feel a little bad. But everything will work out the way it is supposed to!

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Claire, that's great to hear. The writing prompt combined with  the craft  sounds like it was a good flow of different activities that kept them motivated and engaged. Learn from what you did that was successful. : )

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Claire, that's great to hear. The writing prompt combined with  the craft  sounds like it was a good flow of different activities that kept them motivated and engaged. Learn from what you did that was successful. : )

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I taught the next two health lessons and the first went alright but the second one was fantastic. The kids were participating in the group discussion. They were excited to share stories about their families and how they interact. They were also extremely excited and happy about the activity we did! It had the writing prompt but also a craft to go along with it. It went great and the feedback I was getting from the kids while they were working was also great! It was definitely a confidence boost!!

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The lesson I did was on tattling vs telling which was a good lesson to get the students thinking. The parts I had trouble getting them to grasp was that telling is sometimes a good thing. It’s good for us as adults to know what is possibly going on when we’re not looking at everyone at the one moment. They all thought that by telling the teacher anything was tattling and they didn’t think it was good to tell the teacher. getting them to think about real situations instead of hypothetical may have been a little challenging

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Claire-Its natural to feel like maybe you didn't do a good job. Its not easy to jump in and teach just one lesson.  Have confidence in your natural instinct to teach, practice is everything its how you learn what works and wasn't doesn't. We can chat at seminar , I'd like to know what you felt wasn't being effective. 

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Claire-Its natural to feel like maybe you didn't do a good job. Its not easy to jump in and teach just one lesson.  Have confidence in your natural instinct to teach, practice is everything its how you learn what works and wasn't doesn't. We can chat at seminar , I'd like to know what you felt wasn't being effective. 

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This week I taught a health lesson about tattling vs telling. It was probably one of the hardest lessons I’ve had to make because for young children everything sounds like tattling. It wasn’t hard to deliver this lesson but I thought I didn’t do the best. My mentor teacher gave me an observation sheet she filled out on how I did. Even though I thought I did a sub par job she thought I did a great job! She reminded me that the lessons I teach will flow better over time. She also pointed out that it is a good thing that I am reflecting and criticquing myself after I teach a lesson because she thinks that’s the sign of a good teacher. Someone who strives for improvement everyday. I’m excited to teach next weeks health lesson!

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Yes you are right it does get easier to juggle once you have gotten to know your students and you'll be surprised at how fast that happens. Their strengths and needs become apparent quickly. Yes you must have your rules and expectations set day one. The more detailed your routines are , the less time you need to spend reminding them and addressing behavior each day. Set high positive expectations.
Great reflection

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Being an effective teacher isn’t an automatic assumption of what to do and teach. It is a process of learning and polishing what methods you are using while you are teaching to be considered an effective teacher. In order to have an effective cohesive classroom you need to know your student’s interests, dislikes, strengths, weaknesses, how they learn, their prior knowledge, and what methods will work best for you to instruct them. Over time it will become an easier task of juggling all of these factors at the beginning of the school year. This is also an ongoing process. There are new methods or strategies to teach certain subjects and certain types of children. Teaching does not have a grid that you must follow to an exact clone. Students learn differently and teachers will always teach differently. In deciding how I will become an effective is a never-ending answer to the question how will you do it in your classroom.

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Hi Claire, I got it! I'll respond by Monday !

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Hi Claire, I got it! I'll respond by Monday !

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This is was the first week with my mentor teacher. I went to meetings and looked through my teacher's lesson plan books. It was a good experience how to set up a classroom, the basic lesson plans, and grade level meetings. It was also nice to experience the school before the halls were filled with students.

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This was the first week of school for everyone. The first day of school gave me reference of how chaotic a classroom could be without structure. My mentor teacher had several lessons on classroom etiquette, procedures, and organizational requirements of the students. I think it is important to establish these classroom procedures because it sets the standards for the rest of the year. If the children know what is expected of them and there is structure in place then learning can occur in a productive manner. I am excited to see how the rest of the semester goes!