Assignment #4

These are goals that I posted at the beginning of student teaching. There are various ways that I have gained the feeling of accomplishment for each goal set. "I would like to establish a rapport with my students." I have made very deep connections with my students. They come to me with issues they are having, stories they want to share, exciting news, and help. They trust me, are comfortable around me, and believe me. These are all ways that I know that I have built a relationship with each of my students. The last day of student teaching was the hardest. None of the students wanted me to go, all of them hugged me and made cards asking me to come back.

"I would like to become more familiar with the curriculum used in various ways." I taught out of the school's curriculum for 11 weeks. I did one week of observation, and week 2 I picked up Science and taught it until the end. Later came math; between the two subjects I became more acquainted with the books and how they wanted them used. At times I followed the book's lesson exactly, and other times I added my own thing to it. One example of using the basal, yet adding something would be when I pulled up the library of virtual manipulatives on the SMARTboard and built spinners with the class. This was a cool experience and it really enhanced my lesson. The basals are nice to have and use, but adding your own teaching style is important as well.

"I want to become familiar with grading techniques and programs used to keep records." I did A LOT of grading in the 12 weeks. I graded math, science, tests, writing. There were always stacks of papers needing grading on my desk. The program I became most familiar with using during my time was GradeBook. It already had a class list, I would create a new assignment, assign how much it would be worth, and set it so parents could see the grades. Then, it allowed me to easily enter grades for each student into the grade book. It did all of the work as far as calculating grades, and I could print reports about which students were missing what assignment. GradeBook was not hard to learn, and very user friendly.

"I would like to develop better classroom management skills." Though I really never had problems in the class, I was not too confident in my classroom management skills. Then, one day Jeff was gone, and the sub was going to be late. The principal stopped by (when I was in the middle of something and didn't notice). The next day, Jeff came to me and told me that Principal Tom was impressed that when he poked his head in, I had full control of the class and we were working like we should be. This was early in my student teaching and gave me more confidence to do what was needed in regards to classroom management. The card flip system that Bemidji school district has seemed to work nicely in the classroom. Students responded to it and knew that what the consequences were.

"I want to become more familiar with my school, support staff, and colleagues." When I set this goal for myself, I did not know many in the building. Now when I walk into the building, I am greeted by any passing teacher and it feels like home! I stop in the office, and they love to see me. I've always been told that you should make friends with the janitor and the secretary. These people have been very nice, open, and helpful! Elaine, in the office, was very helpful with the copy machine when things went wrong, or when I forgot the attendance (woops!) and we became comfortable enough to joke about those things. Lincoln and it's staff are all wonderful. It's a great place to be, and would be an awesome place to work, just because of the people that work there!


Meaningful Experience:

While student teaching, there was a student that announced that he would be moving in about a month. For that whole month, he talked about it and how he was not going to be going to school there anymore and he started missing a lot of school and not trying to catch up because he was "moving anyway." Well, the date of "moving day" came, and Jeff found out that his mom was going to be moving him to Cass Lake. He also found out that they didn't have the money to make ends meet with utilities and what not. Immediately, Jeff contacted people in the community he knew helped with these situations and got the family assistance. Not only that, but he also arranged so that the boy could stay in school at Lincoln and he would stay at Kids and Co. when needed and 21st Century on the other days. The buses can take the students almost all the way to Cass Lake, so transportation would not be as hard for the family. This was all in the best interest for the student. He had already transferred once this year, and he had been showing many improvements throughout the year, and Jeff felt that this would be the best place for him to continue success for the year. This experience was VERY meaningful to me because it was another way that I, as a teacher, will be caring for the students in my class. This student and his mother were almost homeless, and by the teacher utilizing resources in the community, it did not happen. As teachers, we are there to care for those students, meet their needs in any way we can, and make educated decisions with their best interest in mind. This experience modeled what teaching should really be, and allowed me to see how things can be handled instead of writing a kid off and just allowing their whole world to change for better or worse.