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Before student teaching, I looked over the syllabus religiously. I knew that the first subject I taught in the classroom was going to be the first subject I would have to be observed in. I could only rely on myself to decide what I wished to discuss with my CT to be my first subject to teach. I soon began to wonder what subjects she did teach. As always I began to overthink it because I really wanted my observation to go well and decided I would decide based on process of elimination. I knew that math and science were probably my least comfortable subjects, so I decided that I would ask my CT to do anything besides that.

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When I finally ended up going to the school for the first time, I was ecstatic and couldn't wait to take over my first subject. I met with my CT, and she asked me which subjects I was most comfortable with, as well as which ones I was least comfortable with. When I told her I was least comfortable teaching math, she told me that it would be best to take that up as my second subject. She said that jumping in was the best thing to do so I would have more practice with the subject. She also said she'd be there to guide me through the process. We ended up deciding that reading would be the first subject I should teach since that was the one I was most comfortable with.

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I spent a lot of time observing my CT during the guided reading groups and vocabulary lessons because I would be taking up both in my second week. She talked with me through the process of using their workbook to introduce new vocabulary terms each week. She also explained how each reading group was, in terms of fluency and reading comprehension. My first week was probably my hardest because I feel like I was robotic in how I followed the teachers copy of their vocabulary workbook. I did everything the book told me to do and it made me feel like a puppet. When I began taking up the first reading group, I feel I might have spent too much time with fluency instead of comprehension. With more time and advice from my CT, I was able to come up with my own ideas myself. My CT had encouraged me to come up with my own activities and assured me I didn't have to follow the suggestions in the teachers handbook. I was also able to figure out that I was focusing too much on fluency as I saw the students uninterested in the book. I adjusted my future lessons by creating guided reading questions that would allow them to interact during readings as well help with discussions once we were done reading. By my third week, I was doing vocabulary with the students and working with two reading groups, and I had also begun teaching math. I continued to do all this through my 4th week in which I finally had my first observation.

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4. Deciding on my first observation date

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4. Deciding on my first observation date

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Figuring out when my first observation would be was pretty easy. My CT was very flexible and told me that whichever day worked best for me would be alright. And luckily, I was also okay with any date as well. I already knew I would be doing a reading group, so I wasn't too worried because I had been working with that group for about 3 weeks then. I was glad that my observation ended up being in the middle of the week because it left time for me and my CT to discuss how far I had gotten with working with both groups. I know that both groups had really begun to enjoy the books we were reading, because since we only read a couple chapters each week, they always asked me if we could read more. I loved how both groups were enthusiastic, but I eventually chose the first group I worked with because I had spent more time working with them. Their group also consisted of four students, unlike the other group which only had two.

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After my first week, I spent a lot of time writing up my SOLAMP shorts for my first subject, reading. I consulted a lot with my CT to make sure I would be covering everything that needed to be covered. Although SOLAMP shorts are meant to be "short" I preferred making them a bit long as it helped me really plan out what I would be doing with each lesson. Since I had a lot of practice over the couple weeks before my first observation, I think I really got the hang of writing them efficiently and I began to enjoy writing them. This practice with writing the SOLAMP shorts overall helped me write my SOLAMP long. Although I spent such little time on my SOLAMP shorts, I spent a while with my SOLAMP long because I was unsure on certain academic terms such as syntax and discourse, terms I hadn't used before. The online resources provided on BB were helpful in figuring out the differences between these terms. I think understanding how to properly use these terms could really help me improve my lesson planning. Although, I believe I may have to revisit those terms more to really understand how to use each one properly.

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I had spent a lot of time imagining how my first observation would go. I prepared everything the day before, but alas not everything goes as planned. The day of my first observation started off hectic because I had overslept. While I usually arrived at the school at 8am, I woke up that morning at 7:50am. I rushed my morning and ended up arriving at the school around 8:30am. This kind of threw me off, but I was still hopeful that the day would go alright. My supervisor arrived just on time and I called over the reading group. To my surprise, the presence of my supervisor didn't really faze the group. They were focused and engaged a lot throughout the guided reading. I tried to act as I normally would, but I couldn't help but feel a little nervous with my supervisor's presence. I think as the lesson went on I became more relaxed. I tried to spend enough time on questions that would engage the students and made sure to praise them on their reading.

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After my lesson, my supervisor and I had a quick meeting to discuss how my lesson had gone. I was relieved when she began to list a lot of things she thought I did well such as provide the student with a lot of praise on positive feedback after they read aloud. She also said she thinks I was able to engage the students well with the guided reading questions I asked. Some advice I really took away was to not be afraid to veer off a little. She said that there was a point where the students became intrigued with the cover of the book and maybe I should've spent more time with that as it was a teachable moment. I don't know I didn't think to do that. She also said that the nervousness I felt would go away with time and experience. I really appreciate getting feedback from someone other than my CT. Although I really enjoy getting feedback from my CT, I will always be willing to get any feedback from anyone willing to give it as I know it will help me become a better teacher.