Journal Entry #6

The past two weeks of my student teaching experience have been increasingly more
challenging as I completely took over Ms. Garrett’s first grade class. The third week began my
progression of taking over each subject. On Monday, I became in charge of reading and math
small group instruction, word study, and whole group reading. For reading, first grade is
focusing on how to discover the theme of fiction stories. On Tuesday, I also took on the whole
group writing lessons. These next couple weeks, our class is working on an animal research
project. The following day, I also took on whole group science instruction, which this unit
focuses on the parts, needs, and properties of different plants. By Friday, I had complete control
of Ms. Garrett’s classroom including transitions, behavior management, and whole group and
small group instruction.
The most difficult aspects I have found in this placement are time and behavior
management. Time management is difficult, especially in the morning, because of all the content
students need to cover before lunch at 10:45am. By taking over for Ms. Garrett, I need to
complete Power-Up instruction for a small group in the morning, which works with students
struggling in either math and reading. After this instruction, students need to be ready for
announcements, work on word study, read and discuss for our whole group reading lesson,
complete multiple reading worksheets, and be ready for their reading centers. While these
students are at their reading centers, I need to work with three small reading groups during this
time, and teach writing before lunch. I have noticed at both of my placements, that there are
never enough hours in the day to complete every aspect of instruction, so teachers prioritize
certain subjects over others depending on their students’ needs. My past placement would push
reading groups to the next day if need be, while this placement we push writing instruction
depending on the day. However, I have improved this skill by setting timers throughout the day
and practice the lessons for the day the night before.
Behavior management has also been increasingly difficult due to extreme student
behaviors. Luckily, I was able to make a breakthrough with one student using techniques Ms.
Garrett has given me to positively reason and encourage the student. Ms. Garrett and I have
different teaching styles, and has taught me to instead of trying to mimic her own way of
teaching, find a system that works to my personality so students can genuinely respond to it. I
found this helped a lot last Thursday and Friday of my placement. To encourage the students, on
top of allowing them to move their color up and giving out dojo points, I also appointed a single
student as my designated buddy for the day to help me choose the best behaved students for
lunch, give out points to their classmates who are on task, and be able to sit beside me in the
class and walk with me in the hallway. I also have students earn “Pizza Points” so I can award
them with a pizza party before spring break if they’ve kept their color at either blue or green
throughout the week. I’ve still had extraneous cases with students with very severe behaviors
who actually have received suspensions, but I hope to encourage them again once they return.
During my placement, I have been witness to many PLC meetings as well as a very
inventive “Break-Out” activity that combines multiple content areas. During one specific PLC
meeting, multiple teachers had opposing ideas about a recent practice benchmark that was given
to students. One teacher argued that these benchmarks should be given to the students at the
beginning of the year to prepare them for when they have to take benchmarks in second grade.
However, another teacher argued that benchmark tests are not developmentally appropriate for
beginning first graders, and would serve better results to practicing them near the end of the year.
It was very interesting to see how strongly these teachers felt about assessment preparation. The
“Break-Out” activity, which explained more thoroughly in my most recent competency paper,
was a leprechaun activity to celebrate the end of March. My teacher, another teacher, and I all
dressed in green, decorated the classroom in St. Patrick’s Day, and gave students the opportunity
to practice STEM concepts, counting money, sight word fluency, and reading comprehension.
The verse that got me through these past two weeks was Romans 12:2 “​Do not be conformed to
this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what
is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.​” This verse encouraged me to not
fall into temptation of giving up on students who just do not seem to connect with the
information or maintain good behavior. Instead I need to renew my mind through God and
constantly brainstorm ideas to help students stay on task and find a way that works for them
while still reflecting principles in His Word.