Week of Reflection March 19, 2021

 

• Rate and explain your overall experience of the week: 1 - Very difficult to 5 - Great week

            5. This was an amazing week!! We set leprechaun traps on Tuesday and found that he had come and messed up our room on Wednesday morning. We even caught a piece of his shirt and a hat! No leprechaun though. Maybe next year. My favorite part was Friday. We were able to have our first Fun Friday of the year since it was the first week of having students there 5 days. We had been learning about St. Patrick's Day and Rainbows, and next week we start learning about the weather, so I did a rainbow-themed day. We started with an experiment where the students got to shine a flashlight through a cup and make their own rainbow. They even got to hold it in their hand!! Our next experiment was placing skittles in a bowl and pouring warm water on them. The color travels from them into a spiral shape. The last experiment that we did was the walking water experiment. We placed 6 cups in a circle, and put red, blue, and yellow water in three of them, skipping a cup in between. Then we placed paper towels between each cup and let the colored water travel. The color mix and make all the colors of the rainbow. I had my students keep track of it all in a rainbow book that they made.

• Response to these questions to end your week:

• • Observe: What pleasant surprises / accomplishments did I achieve this week? Fun Friday was definitely my pleasant surprise. I was able to plan a day full of activities that my students enjoyed and considered fun, but that were still purposeful for them.

  • Reflect: What lessons did my work/experiences teach me that I will build upon next week? I planned and implemented my first set of math centers this week. I enjoyed it and I look forward to doing an even better job with them next week.

  • Focus:  How are my short-term efforts and my long-term goals still aligned? My short-term efforts are to be the best teacher I can be while completing all of the components of my portfolio. This is aligned with my long-term goals of graduation and being a great teacher.

  • Be Productive: What could I have spent more or less time doing? I can't think of anything that I could have spent more time doing this week.

  • Have Courage:  How did apprehension and indecision impact what I did and didn’t do? I can't think of anything for this week.

  • Begin Anew: What is the first logical step(s) for next week? What mental clutter can I clear? I want to complete several parts of my portfolio this weekend so they are off my plate.

Adapted from: Cernoff, M. (2013, August 7). 7 Questions to End Your Week With. . Retrieved July 21, 2014, from http://www.marcandangel.com/2013/08/08/7-questions-to-end-your-week-with/

• What were some data you analyzed this week and how did it help inform your instructional decisions? My CE and I gave a few assessments this week, letter writing, shapes, and sounds. This will help us to plan some interventions for students who may need some help with these things.

• What is one piece of advice you can share with other student teachers? It is possible to have a lot of fun with your students and still keep the activities meaningful. It may take a little extra work, but it is so worth it.

• NC Teacher Candidate Standards (Be sure to reference activities from your lesson plans to solidify your answer.)

• • Pick an element from standard one of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. I lead in my classroom this week by making sure that my instruction was inclusive for all of my students and helping them to succeed and grow in all areas.

  • Pick an element from standard two of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. I embraced diversity this week by helping my students to understand the reasons that we celebrate St. Patrick's day and planning lessons that taught about the culture in Ireland.

  • Pick an element from standard three of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. I incorporated many different content areas in my Rainbow day on Friday so that my students were using literacy skills and math while learning the science behind rainbows.

  • Pick an element from standard four of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. I helped my students develop critical thinking skills as we did our rainbow experiments on Friday. We talked about any questions or thoughts they had, and I encouraged them to try the experiments with their families in different ways this weekend.

  • Pick an element from standard five of the evaluation tool and explain some activities/strategies you implemented this week to increase your rating for the element. My CE and I analyzed student learning this week to help us plan our instruction over the next few weeks.

• Other:

• • What components of your edTPA and portfolio have you started to complete? I have started working on all components of my portfolio at this point.

  • What support does your Clinical Educator need from your University Supervisor? What support do you need from your University Supervisor? None at this time.