Assignment #4- Comprehensive Reflection

I can't believe that my student teaching is ending! I have had so much fun at Nisswa Elementary School with the students and staff. Lots of memories were made. As I look over my goals I can see that I have accomplished many of them. They are as follows:

• Goal #1: Form a personal relationship with each of my students.

Coming into student teaching I didn't know anything about any of my students. I was scared to death to take this adventure at Nisswa. To top it off, I had two classrooms of students to get to know, not just one classroom which made me even more nervous. In the first weeks of student teaching I thought that I would never be able to remember the student's names, let alone get to know each student at a personal level. I didn't know how Mrs. Olson and Mrs. Baker did it! Come to find out, as every day went by I was finding more and more out about each and every boy and girl. This was so neat!! I loved learning about my students families, hobbies, interests, and friends. It made teaching so much easier for me by forming these personal relationships! As I began teaching more and more I would incorporate the interests of the students into my lessons making the lessons more engaging for the students. It was such an amazing site to see the "light bulb" come on when the students were grasping the concepts being taught. I can honestly say that I have formed a personal relationship with each one of my students throughout student teaching. 

• Goal #2: Have successful communication with the parents of my students throughout student teaching.

Communication with the parents of my students at Nisswa is such a key factor I have come to find out. I had the pleasure of meeting a ton of great parents throughout my student teaching experience. It is very hard to get in contact with every parent of my students, especially those parents who are divorced. At the beginning of my student teaching I sent home a letter introducing myself and informing the parents why I would be in their child's classroom. I felt that was a good way to introduce myself to hopefully all of the parents of my students. Throughout the twelve weeks in Nisswa, my teachers and I had a few students who were missing their homework or not getting their agenda books signed on a regular basis. We had to contact the parents of these children and inform them on what was expected of the students and what we should do to change the habits that were taking place. Sometimes these phone calls were interesting and other times they went great! I can successfully say that I had communication with the parents of my students at Nisswa Elementary. 

• Goal #4: To be able to help students who are struggling. 

Throughout my student teaching I have learned so much about students who are struggling with a certain topic. I have also learned how discouraging for kids when they don't understanding something. In third grade they get upset and are very bothered. During my student teaching, for math, we split up our students into two levels; the kids who can be pushed and the kids who need a little more time to learn topics. I taught the kids who struggled with math throughout my student teaching. What an eye opener for me! Mrs. Baker and I talked about the methods that she uses for students who need a little more help. Every other day the students are given math homework. When those math homework pages come back to school I would correct them. If I noticed a girl or boy who was having a hard time understanding their homework I would take those kids, one by one, into the side room and go over their math homework with them. We went over the problem and then I gave them other examples of the same kind of problem that they were having trouble with to give them some more practice. To reinforce these struggling students, we have parent volunteers and aides in our classroom every day. The kids are also getting pulled out by these ladies to get more practice. I have learned that the lower level math kids just need much more time practicing and more examples than the other kids. A helpful tip that I learned from Mrs. Olson and Mrs. Baker is to use highlighters when going over problems with the students. Highlighting the important parts of problems shows the kids what is the most important and what they should pay attention to. Also, just keeping the students positive and having fun when teaching a topic shows the kids that learning is fun! If it is fun from the beginning, then the kids will be able to have a harder time getting discouraged. I have learned so much from helping the students who are struggling.

• Goal #6: To develop a strong relationship with my co-workers within Nisswa Elementary School.

During my time at Nisswa Elementary School I have had the privilege to meet so many nice staff members. Everyone at Nisswa is friendly and always willing to help in any way they can! I can say that I have developed a ton of new friendships and had the great opportunity of observing many of the classrooms throughout the school. I can't wait to come back and volunteer at Nisswa Elementary.

• Goal #7: I want to be able to prove to myself that I can reach my goal of teaching the whole school day with much success.

I set the goal of being able to teach the whole entire school day with much success at the beginning of my student teaching. I can say that I was able to reach my goal! It was very stressful at times, but I am so happy to prove to myself that I can teach a full classroom. It was a great feeling to be able to achieve this goal.

Meaningful Experiences:

My student teaching at Nisswa Elementary School has left me with so many memories and experiences that I will never forget!

Math is one of my favorite subjects to teach. When I was teaching math during my student teaching, I had the kids who needed a little more time to grasp the topics. Every other day the student's were given a math worksheet to do at home to check for comprehension on the topics that were being taught. When the student's turned them in the next morning in the homework basket I would go through them and correct them during my prep time. I would take the worksheets of the students who didn't seem to understand what was going on and put them in a separate pile. Once I found out who didn't get the concepts I would pull these students out one by one during the morning work time and go over the math problems with them. I had a little girl who being pulled into the side room by me every day because she never understood what was going on. She told me she hated math and that it was the worst subject ever. She didn't understand why we had to learn the things that we were teaching the kids and she said I'm never going to use this math again. I talked to this little girl a lot and found out that she didn't have anyone at home helping her with her school work, she just did it all by herself. I told her that I would go over her math with her every morning and make sure she understood what was being taught until she didn't want me to anymore because she was understanding the topics. After this little girl and I had lots of time to bond I began to tie in things that she liked to do into her math problems. She was so excited to find out that she could actually figure it out if it was about something that she was interested in. We continued to meet every time there was a math worksheet due, until one day she came up to me and said, "Miss Larson, look at what I can do!" The little girl showed me how she was understanding everything in math that was on her worksheets. She told me that she took my advice and changed the problems into something that she was interested in doing. When I saw how happy this little girl was I knew that I had picked the right profession. This was so neat to see as an educator, I truly love what I went to school for!

Last week I had my final day of teaching my 3rd grade students. On my last day of teaching, the students came into the classroom and got started on their morning work right away just like they normally do. I was walking around checking agenda books when one of the little boys in my class came up to me with an envelope and said that it was for me. I asked him if it was alright for me to open it right now and he said yes of course and that he wanted to see what my reaction was. We both went over to Mrs. Olson's desk in the classroom as I opened it. On the outside of the envelope it said To: Miss Larson. I opened it up and inside I pulled out a piece of paper that was cut around the outside with the fun zig-zag scissors. The note read: Miss Larson, You are the best 3rd grade teacher I have ever had. You make Science so much fun. I am really going to miss you when you are gone. I hope you can come back and be a sub for our class very soon. I had tears in my eyes when I read this letter. He gave me a huge hug and said "I'm so happy you are in our classroom." After reading this letter from this little boy, I realized how much I am going to miss my students and what an impact that they had made on me. Science has always been a weak subject for me as a student, so I was very happy to hear that I was successful as a teacher to my students. Later on in the day I saw this little boys mom, who was subbing in the DCD room. She told me that her son did everything in this letter all by himself, just asked how to spell one word. It was all his idea. She informed me how her son would come home all of the time telling me how nice and fun I was as a teacher. It was such an amazing feeling hearing this from that little boys mother. I am truly going to miss my students at Nisswa!

Final Week!

I can't believe it's my final week of student teaching!! My last day of teaching my 3rd graders was Friday, November 12, 2010. I am now observing other classrooms which is SO interesting! I am learning a ton of new tricks for my future classroom. Every day I am continuing to take things in like a sponge. :)

I am beginning to get notes from my students saying how much they are going to miss me. They make me smile, but very sad at the same time. Today I received a note from a little 3rd grade girl giving me her phone number and address in case I wanted to see her again sometime in the future. How cute is that! I am sad to say that my student teaching is coming to an end...

Assignment #3- Analysis of the Instructional Process

Assignment #3

Only 1 Month Left

Monday is the start of week number nine and I can't believe it!! The time is flying by for me at Nisswa. I have been experiencing so much and taking it in like a sponge. :) I have been with a substitute teacher three times since I've been at Nisswa due to my teacher's being gone at a conference. It is such an honor to be able to take over when they are gone. I feel like an actual teacher! Everything is falling into place and I couldn't be happier. I am realizing all of the work that goes along with teaching. All of the things that I am experiencing are making me a better person and teacher for the future. Today we had our Halloween party which is a huge event at Nisswa Elementary. We have an actual parade throughout the school and the town of Nisswa. The kids look forward to this day all fall! Here are some pictures of our Halloween Party. Enjoy :)

One of my classroom's all dressed up!

My second classroom all dressed up!

Mrs. Baker and I
Twister and Doctor

Jena Larson- Nisswa Elementary

Assignment #2- Unit of Instruction

Unit 3- Linear Measures and Area

2 Lessons from the Unit

1. Math Lesson 3.2

Useful Resources

Student Reference Book

            -Page 138

            -Page 144

Workbook Pages

            -Page 58 (Low Quality/High Quality)

            -Page 59 (Low Quality/High Quality)

2. Math Lesson 3.3

Useful Resources

Student Reference Book

            -Page 148

            -Page 141

Workbook Pages

            -Page 60 (Low Quality/High Quality)

            -Page 62 (Low Quality/High Quality)

*Analysis of Student's Work

Assessment

-Unit 3 Test (Page 1, Page 2, Page 3)

-Workbook Pages

More Fun Useful Resources

http://www.funbrain.com/measure/index.html

http://harcourtschool.com/hspmath/ca/topics/measurement.html

Making Progress-Week 4

Wow, I can't believe that it's already week four of my student teaching!! It's been a little over a week since I've posted, things have been very busy at Nisswa Elementary School. Everything is going great, I am so happy with my placement. Like stated before, I am very fortunate to be able to be split between two classrooms for my student teaching. The benefits are fabulous-57 students vs. the typical classroom of 28 students. I can't go wrong with that!! I am now teaching the whole morning at Nisswa Elementary School, except for Reading which will come in the next week or so. In the afternoon when I switch to Mrs. Baker's classroom I am teaching the full afternoon! I never thought that by week four I would basically be taking the full school day over, but everything has been going so smoothly I couldn't turn it down. Overall I am teaching the basic subjects of Science, Social Studies, Spelling, Writing, and Math. I am so happy with my profession choice. I love going to school each day of the week :)

For those of you who don't know, Nisswa Elementary School is actually considered to be a part of the Brainerd school district. It is located in Nisswa, MN in a small community that is very well known for the beautiful northern Minnesota commodities. I feel that due to the smaller, welcoming size of Nisswa that everyone is very close. Our elementary school has classrooms in grades K-4, with two classrooms per grade. No matter where you are in the community and/or building everyone is so friendly and couldn't be any more helpful. It makes this experience so much more exciting to take part in.

Mrs. Olson's classroom has a total of 28 students, 12 males and 16 females. Mrs. Baker's classroom consists of 29 students, 13 males and 16 females. Throughout the school day many of the students in both classrooms are taken out for special assistance. Along with students being taken out, there is at all times one other helper/volunteer in our classroom besides the teacher and I. I have never seen so much help within a classroom, it is so nice for the students!

Today our students switched classrooms for the first time for Math, Science, and Reading. My teachers and I have decided which students may need a little more help in each subject and have split them accordingly. The reason is unannounced to them of course. This is giving me such a great opportunity to see different levels of student success, and it is teaching me how to adapt accordingly. At this point in my student teaching I have two concerns. The first concern is how to reach every single student in the section for math that need a little more assistance than the other students. My second concern is how to form a personal relationship with the parents of each of the students. I have started writing hand written notes to one student each day letting their parents know how proud I am of their son/daughter. I find this to be very rewarding, when the students realize that I am proud of them. I am looking forward to being able to know each student on a more personal level. It makes them happy when I know things that are interesting to them. I am looking forward to teaching the rest of the week-I get observed by my supervisor for the first time on Wednesday! Wish me luck :)  

Meeting with Paul Tesdahl

Another great day was held in my classroom at Nisswa Elementary. I was able to lead Holly Olson's class today with their morning work routine and it went very well! It feels good to actually be infront of a classroom teaching :) In Sarah Baker's classroom in the afternoon I was able to teach a few things as well. I led and went over Rocket Math with the students, as well as their agenda books for the day. Everything went great! After school was over I met with my University Supervisor, Paul Tesdahl. This was a very successfull meeting and we got a lot of material covered. I have a better understanding about what is expected and Mr. Tesdahl was kind enough to hand out some helpful tips for the weeks to come. We also set a very important date for me in the next two weeks. Wednesday, September 29, 2010 will be my first observation done by Mr. Tesdahl. It will take place in the afternoon at 1:00 pm and he will be observing me during a mathematics lesson that I will be teaching. I am very excited, but a bit nervous!! Over all, the meeting went great today. I'm very happy to know that I have a great University Supervisor that I can get advice from at any time.