Intern Posting 12

This week I was more in control of the classroom than ever. My mentor teacher had to take half of the day off on Monday and Tuesday and she also took all day off on Thursday. Although I really like my mentor teacher and love to have her in the classroom, there is just always that little bit of excitement knowing that the class is really mine for the day! I definitely still need my mentor teacher's guidance but knowing she's not there to help me is challenging and exciting in that manner.

On Monday when my mentor teacher left for the afternoon, the students were surprisingly well behaved. I think they are just so used to me doing math in the afternoon that this was not anything out of the ordinary for them. However, one child did receive a demerit and neither I nor the aide new how to properly fill out the form. On Tuesday morning, the students were very loud and didn't seem to want to listen. I had to be more stern than usual, but after a while they became better behaved.

Although I have a lot of practice in the classroom, I believe that being alone with the students provides me with greater insight into what my first year of teaching will be like. I must admit, after Tuesday I was a little overwhelmed so I know I still need more help. However, I love being in the classroom and love to learn more each and everyday!

Intern Posting 11

This week was a shorter week due to a holiday on Friday, but it was also one of the first weeks that I really began to feel like I was getting into the swing of things. I feel so much more comfortable with the organizational system my mentor teacher has set up in the classroom and I even think I might adopt her system in the future! I also have figured out how to plan for entire weeks. Although I still get a lot of help from my mentor teacher, I now know when to get material ready and I have found it easy to create weekly lesson plans. Planning for 100% of teaching was difficult for me but I am surprised at how easily I have adapted!

Along with getting into the swing of things, I have finally realized that my time in kindergarten is quickly coming to an end. The thought of leaving the classroom in just a few weeks is very hard for me to handle. I have been a part of the students' lives since the second they walked through the front door. It is difficult to realize that I have to leave halfway through the school year and I know I will miss everyone very much. However, I am already looking forward to the chance to come back to the classroom during my contract hours. I have learned so much from these students and know there is much more to learn!

Intern Posting 10

I am well into my action research by now and have found myself as interested as ever. At the beginning of my research I was still uncertain of what paths to take or what data to collect, but today was one of the first days that I realized I am right on track. I have spent about 5 weeks collecting data. So far, my data collection has been extension and I realized that I have a huge amount of data. I have at least 5 different letter recognition assessment scores for each student, at least 5 different writing examples for each student, Benchmark test scores, learning preference observations and assessment scores, and also information from my mentor teacher in the form of notes. Today was the first day that I realized just how much data I have collected.

When I turned in my approval form to my small group facilitator, she made a note of how my action research seemed like a lot of work. I will be honest and say that at the time I did not understand why she thought this research would require a lot of work. However, now that I am deep into my research, I realize what she was saying. I may have collected a ton of data, but I needed to and I also need to collect more. With my action research I am looking at learning preferences, teaching styles, letter recognition, and writing skills. Although I am interested in all that I am researching, I now understand that I am taking on a lot of work.

I am pleased with all that I have completed to date and will continue my research as planned. I do know that I will have to make some adjustments. Some students have mastered letter recognition so I need to focus my participant portion of my action research paper solely on the students who have not mastered letter recognition of all 26 letters. Also, the students are rapidly progressing with their writing skills because they are writing everyday. I may need to realize that because writing is used daily, I may not be able to collect accurate data because I won't have time to collect each writing example. Some of my findings may be inconclusive at the end of my research. Although I want to be able to conclude something from my research, I am still very interested in what I am researching and will be happy with whatever outcome.

Intern Posting 9

This week was the first week of teaching 100%. Although I was not adding much more teaching material to my 75% of teaching, I was nervous about teaching Reading on Monday. On Mondays from 10:00 to 11:50, we introduce the new story of the week, review new high frequency words, and discuss our new letter of the week. I had never experienced those activities with the students and I had only watched my mentor teacher do those activities a hand full of times. On the few occasions that I did get to watch her teach these activities, I took notes on the order of which she completed each task so that I would be better prepared when I was doing the teaching.

I try to be as prepared as possible for any new experience in my life so when gathering materials to teach this for the first time, I made sure I had plenty of examples and activities to work on with the students. I also made sure I had back-up material available in case I had extra time toward the end of the lesson. While preparing for this lesson, I even made sure to practice what questions I was going to ask the students as well as determining discussion topics beforehand. I believe that, because I was so prepared, my lesson went very well for a first time.

Before actually beginning the lesson, I was nervous but not as nervous as I thought I would be. I moved right along from technology aspects to the reading aspects, but did struggle a little when introducing the new high frequency words. I do wish I would have spent more time reviewing the old high frequency words. However, my nerves quickly vanished and I became comfortable. I realized that it was just like teaching everything else, it's only a different topic. I loved having this experience and can't wait to have more fun with it next Monday!

Intern Posting 8

Now that I have been in school full time for several weeks, I think it is important to describe how I have grown or changed as a teacher so far. I have had a lot of experience with young children during my field experiences and my summer jobs up until now, but being in a structured classroom everyday undoubtedly allows a person to change as an educator. Almost every day I witness something I have never seen before and each day I become more comfortable and take on more responsibilities. I love that I get to be in this type of environment for those reasons alone.

In previous field experiences and even during the beginning of this semester I always knew that I needed to work on my "teacher voice" and setting expectations with the students. I had the most trouble finding my "teacher voice" because I was uncomfortable correcting another teacher's students. However, I am so comfortable in my new kindergarten classroom that I find myself well on my way to having a great "teacher voice." I now correct students right away and have even managed to correct students without disturbing the rest of the class or my teaching.

I am so happy that I have made it to this point of my teaching career and can't wait to see what else is in store. I think I still struggle with allowing students too many chances at times and I am not always quick to change their bees when necessary. I am working to become better in that category and believe that if I have made it this far, I will not have any difficulty reaching that goal in the future.

Intern Posting 7

Today was the first day that I began teaching 75%. I'm lucky because my mentor teacher and her aide are extremely helpful and provide me with a lot of great ideas for my lessons. I like that my mentor teacher is very organized and has everything done a week in advance. I'd consider myself organized too, but I probably was not as organized as she is. I like that she is providing me with a routine and organizational skills because she is an experienced kindergarten teacher and knows how to make the classroom run smoothly. I am slowly catching on to her routine and it is more than helpful.

I was not as nervous about teaching 75% as I thought I would be. I've been teaching for a while now and was confident that I could handle 25% more. I have noticed it takes longer to write lessons and it takes longer to plan, but the concept is still the same. The one thing I have had the most difficulty with is getting all of my materials together and my lessons separated from one another. Once I write my plans for the week I find it difficult to gather my supplies and depend on an aide to create everything for me a week ahead. I love the aide's help and I need help, but for some reason I'm finding it difficult to organize my supplies a week ahead. However, I love being organized a week ahead and am sure I will get used to it!

Intern Posting 7

Monday was my first kindergarten parent-teacher conference. I have previously attended a third grade parent-teacher conference, but there were some differences between the two. One thing that stood out to me was that kindergarten conferences often acknowledge student behavior instead of just student academic achievement. This makes sense because kindergarten is a time when social skills are learned and behavior is carved to meet the needs of what is expected from structured classrooms. I just found this interesting and it is something I definitely want to make a note of for my future classroom.

Another difference I found between the two and something that I really enjoyed was that my mentor teacher gave each parent examples of the students' work and showed them all something they could work on with their children. She gave great examples of how well the students were doing, but made sure to give ideas of how each child could improve. I just thought that was a wonderful way to get the parents involved as well as looking out for the success of each child.

At both conferences I have attended my input was welcomed and valued at the same time. I'm really starting to feel like everything is coming together and I am growing more as a teacher each day. Monday's conference was a big eye-opener for what next year could look like for me and I am glad I had this opportunity. I will without a doubt take what I learned on Monday with me forever.