Getting in the Groove

So far so good! My student teaching is still going well and I am feeling more and more comfortable every day. I have been teaching full-time for about 2 weeks which has been a great experience. Busy, but great.

I started off teaching literacy which is the first 3 hours of the day. It is nice having the curriculum to follow because the structure makes it easy for me to plan. For about 45 minutes of that time is "Walk to Read." During that time I work with a leveled group on comprehension strategies, high frequency words, phonics, and fluency. The other portion of the literacy block is with the homeroom class. During that time I teach writing, phonics, and reading comprehension.

I am now also teaching math which has gone smoothly. The kids are working on subtraction with regrouping. The math curriculum is definitely effective, but very traditional. I don't think it has as great as an impact as Investigations. There is definitely not as much communication between students. It is however easy to assess and the curriculum provides worksheets for re-teaching and enrichment.

In science, I am teaching about rocks! I am trying to be enthusiastic about this unit. :) The kids are very into it though, which is great. The students rotate to different classrooms on Fridays for "Enrichment" (science or art), so I see a different group of kids during that time too. Since science is only on Fridays, I am trying to get 3 Foss lessons into one hour, so the writing portion gets eliminated. The management is also trickier, especially when I am still learning the new groups names!

During the last half hour of the day I have been reading Because of Winn-Dixie, which the kids enjoy. They have been drawing pictures of the characters/setting as I read and responding to discussion questions in their journals afterwards. We have also been learning about China and celebrated Chinese New Year on Monday. Friday I squeezed in a valentine project! Hooray for February!

All I have learned prior to moving to Sunset is really paying off. Getting right into full time has really allowed me to apply what I have learned. I am not having to think as much about transitions, or delivering my teaching point because it is becoming more natural. I am getting better at incorporating prior learning into new learning and explicitly identifying how what we are doing will help us as learners. I am able to put more of my energy into getting used to the curriculum and getting to know the kids. I am no longer writing full lesson plans for everything I teach :), except for when my supervisor visits. He has been coming every week because he is taking a break in February, but so far all of my observations have gone great. I am definitely getting more comfortable and my heart doesn't race every time I teach a lesson.

I definitely miss the kids at Sumas! They sent me letters which absolutely touched my heart. I was laughing out loud as I read their letters. They are so sweet and all wanted to know about my new fiance. :)

I miss you all and hope you are enjoying teaching! I am crossing my fingers for us as we apply for jobs in the next few months. With all of the budget cuts, I am thankful that subsituting will always be an option!

Happy February!