bizarro world? maybe.

bar with the CT's
FI at apt.
bowling in ugly holiday sweaters
karaoke with the local crowd...including Elvis. words cannot express.

Serenaded by 8 year olds

So I walked out to get something from my car near the end of my time at school today (my last day till February), and I come back into the classroom and my CT is saying something about today being my last day and that usually, when you serenade someone, you serenade them with a song they LIKE. I knew what was coming.

Yes.

Ring of Fire.

Ring of Fire while third graders practice their cursive lowercase j's. Awesome? Yes. And when they finished singing the first time, they yelled AGAIN AGAIN.

Love it.

procrastination of course

I have 2 Science lessons and 2 Science assessments due tomorrow. I'm mostly done...and now avoiding the rest of it.

Today I met with the coordinator of my program, the principal of my school, my CT, another CT, the director of teacher education, and a guy from a foundation that wants to maybe be involve with the school of ed here. I like these kinds of gatherings. I got to hear three + really great minds talk about how they think and why they do the things they do that then make it possible for me to do the things that I do. The CT's also talked about how outstanding the program I am in is. I felt like a sponge, it was great.

It's freezing here. I've been told that my apt. will be less cold if I get the windows like saran wrapped from the inside. Um no. Not classy. So I bought a space heater.

I thought I was going to come in here and do some large reflection on teaching, but I can't right now. Maybe later.

pretend interview

So I have to do a pretend/practice job interview esque thing tomorrow and I thought I would write out my answers to the questions on here for some reason.

First question: Tell me about how you manage a classroom...

I think it is crucial to spend a considerable amount of time establishing classroom routines early in the school year. This pays off greatly later in the year, as you will have to spend less time clarifying where you put your Math workbook when you are finished throughout the year.

My cooperating teacher and I worked hard this past year to establish things like where to put worksheets and other classwork when students are finished and establishing that when students finish any type of assignment, they are to "make a smart choice".

By establishing these routines and protocol early, we save students' time from having to ask "what do I do with this when I'm done" or "what do we do when we are done" and save ourselves as teacher the aggravation of being asked those same questions over and over again by students.

Second Question: "Tell me about how you meet the needs of all kids in the classroom..."

I think it is very important to be in tune with all of your students and get to know them as people first. Knowing them as people can give you a better understanding of what they need

I take opportunities to pay attention to students' individual interests and engage them in conversation about those interests. For instance, in a recent math lesson, we were discussing map scale. I went around and surveyed students about where/if they had traveled far for Thanksgiving. I used some of these responses as examples for measuring distance using scale on a map. One of the students was one who is not normally very engaged in Math class. He perked right up and showed interest that day. I believe that this is because I showed that I cared about him as a person and wanted to tap into that in order to engage him.

By making efforts to get to know the individual students and their interests, I believe I can have a better understanding of their individual needs and can use this information to better meet those needs.

now to record it. woo.