Standards and Objectives: By fall break, based on the ELA skills for the first nine weeks, students should be able to "write [their] first name correctly." These weekly lessons on individual letters and extra practice with her name specifically, connect to the larger goal of name writing.

Presenting Instructional Content: Clear modeling and support has been provided (Maggie's name on her supply cup and her paper name model). She's also been presented with her tracing name practice and monitored after every assignment (that features her name). The expectation of her (to write her name correctly) has been clearly communicated and scaffolded to help her succeed.

Instructional Planning: Maggie's additional practice with her name and close monitoring of her name writing will inform whether she needs more tracing practice (she needs more worksheets printed) or if she just needs to continue referencing her name tag (no need for additional worksheets that feature her name only).

Assessment: Assignments completed at the end of the week that feature Maggie's name should inform whether she is making significant progress. Once she has mastered writing her name with scaffolding (copying) we can transition out of that by having her write her name correctly solely by memory/recall.

Assessment: Noah's unfinished work and need for redirection acted as an informal assessment that informed his struggle with attention and task completion. His performance resulted in my mentor teacher's decision to adjust instruction by altering the environment and having him work independently (space wise).

Standards and Objectives: Students are still working on their fine motor skills which isn't explictly an objective stated but something we're working daily on (it's some of these kids first time using scissors and glue). The tasks connect to the ELA skill "recognize rhyming words" and the math skill "match quantities to numerals 0-10.

Instructional Planning: I don't think these lessons (specifically the math) were designed to meet the needs of students like Noah, who're constantly needing stimulation and reminders to stay on task, but the rhyming worksheet was intentionally presented in a sequenced, step-by-step manner, which followed a structured process of cutting, matching, then gluing. Math, on the other hand, had no sort of scaffolding, and students were hard-launched into the assignment, but they were familiar with the format of the worksheet. It would probably have been better to have had him and similarly struggling students with content overload do one color/number at a time, find all the matches for that one, and then move on, rather than going back and forth between the same five colors.

Assessment: Noah's incomplete work, slow pace, and need for frequent redirection serve as an informal formative assessment in themselves. His performance shows that he does not struggle with the content but is more so in need of guidance and struggles with staying focused. In the future, Noah is going to need continued support with his attention and task completion, and I wish my mentor teacher would use me as a resource (or consider something to meet his needs) to pull him and work one-on-one with him (ensuring he's staying on task).

My mentor teacher uses a lot of paper and pencil worksheets for formative assessment (independent-based), and this has allowed me to stretch my brain and consider what else students can be doing to learn, especially those that are struggling. Instead, for example, of doing a cut-and-paste activity over and over to match numbers to representations, we should introduce hands-on manipulatives to struggling students who truly are not getting the paper representation.

I was happy to have already been able to get up in front of the class. I’ve had the chance to do some whole-group reading lessons as well as small groups and even got to help lead an experiment. Something I’ve realized that is so difficult is managing a classroom, especially full of kindergarteners! I’d like to think I’m getting better at it, and they’re slowly also viewing me as a teacher too!

Teacher Knowledge of Students: I want to highlight that pacing was appropriate for this activity and students had ample time to complete tasks. Instead of having students complete this task independently with guidance, it was made more meaningful for them, and the use of technology in this instance maximized students' ability to complete the task with ease and master expectations. Of course, Thanksgiving is still a new concept for 5- and 6-year-olds, so allowing them to explore it and talk about it openly displays an understanding of students' interests and connects with them culturally.

Environment: Students were interacted with in a generally positive manner, and the overall feeling I had while observing and assisting students was a lighthearted one. It was evident that students enjoyed the activity. Their final projects were posted on the wall outside of our classroom, so not only does our class see them every time they’re in the hall, but other classrooms see their art, which makes my class feel special!

Engaging Students and Managing Behavior: For this indicator specifically, I wanted to touch on the behavior management tool we use in my mentor teacher's classroom, and that is a dojo point system. Essentially, it is a form of data tracking (point system) where students are rewarded at the end of a set period. One component of the 11th indicator references addressing students who disrupt the class. One common way we address bad behaviors (not following directions, disrespecting peers, being off-task, etc.) is by having students move their "dojo." Students start every day with +2 points, then they can decline to +1, +0, -1, and -2. These points are accounted for at the end of the day. This is the system my mentor teacher uses.

Academic Feedback: When conducting small groups, it was especially important to me and my mentor teacher that students write their numbers correctly. For example, Leon struggled to write his 4s a few weeks ago, so I would have him erase and write them again. I would show him the correct way and also point out where on our wall he could see the number 4. It was tedious, but students only completed their assignment if their numbers were written correctly, so my academic feedback featured a lot of redirecting. I find myself saying things along the lines of, "I really like that 4!" or, "Yes! That is a good 8!"