Week 4

We made it, one month into classes and its going fast. I think my proudest moment this week was building my ecosystem. This weekend I finished the project. After constructing my terrarium and aquarium, I went into my backyard and collected leaves, soil, and a cricket. I then went down to the creek behind my house and found a crawfish, earthworm and snails. I must say the entire thing came together very well. So far my ecosystem is doing well. This week in science we discussed our water cycle project. I found a couple of good resources on YouTube and have shared them with my group. I learned from the video that areas of  precipitation grow in size generating storms that generate heat that rise up into the atmosphere. As the storms move they help distribute heat between the equator and poles. This shapes the wind patterns throughout the world. These storms can become the hurricanes we have been experiencing here in the United States. This week I've struggled to keep on task. It is difficult to juggle school, home, and work. I'm going to try and create a document listing everything that is due each week in all my classes. On to the tweets of the week.

My first tweet is a helpful for classroom management. In the article it gives different hand communication signals for bathroom and other concerns. Also, it has a calendar to keep organized.

My next Tweet is about slowing down the pace and even allowing time in your class for silence. I call it "Enjoy The Silence" a little Depeche Mode humor there.

For my last tweet I put out an article about 6th grade middle school students to help my peers who will be teaching middle grades. It discusses how to better understand 6th graders and restructuring the schools.

This week in my clinical class it was more classroom management. I still have several students who are still having difficulty following the classroom rules. You may remember my discussion about the young boy in class who was giving me a hard time. He is now one of my best students. I even had him assist me this week as team leader. I assigned him the role of team leader at a table where two students were having difficulty getting along. I asked him to keep his group on task and report any issues to me. At the time the two at the table were acting out I was assisting another student with math. She needed guidance on several equations and I had to keep stopping to intervene at their table. I also had several students who kept interrupting me. I was able to redirect them to their seats but the table kept having trouble. Once I told the group that he was team leader they all fell in line. Id like to ask if your think this was the right choice? I also had the opportunity to meet with my CE this week to discuss my lesson and unit plans. I don't think it went as well as I anticipated. I believe some of the edTPA terminology is intimidating to teachers who have never seen it before. She has assigned me to teach Landforms & Bodies of Water, The Solar System, and will assign my ELA and Math next week. For my proudest moment in her classroom Id like to say it was encouraging a student. I did a mini lesson in estimating with a struggling student as instructed by my CE. When she seemed frustrated and ready to give up, "I told her to take a deep breath." I then told her "Your doing great, take your time I know you can do this." The best part was she did it. She got a perfect score and was so excited. It made me feel really good that I was able to help her. I believe this experience falls into NCPTS Teachers Demonstrate Leadership. I believe that inspiring her and giving praise helped empower her. I also think that Standard 4G Teachers communicate effectively. I spoke clearly and listened to her concerns to help her work through the equations.