My Internship Experience
Week Five10/9/2020 This week my huge learning was about students need for breaks sometimes. I have one student in particular that gets tired of doing work and then tends to not accomplish anything else. This would make me stress out because then he would act out and wouldn't be learning that day. But I learned that if I give him a couple minutes to put his head down (when he's tired), or to do something else that he enjoys that when his couple minutes are up he will get back to doing the activity with the class.
I also went home Wednesday really stressed out because a lot of the class wasn't catching onto letters and letter sounds or to numbers. Which made it difficult to move on to anything else and for the students who were succeeding in the class. Thursday I came in with a fresh look on things, I knew I needed to stay calm and if something wasn't working for the students I had to keep trying something else and repetition was really helpful. Getting worked up over it wasn't going to help the students catch on any faster so I needed to take it slower and keep changing activities so that the students had breaks from them. We had very low number's this week, we are hoping next week our students start to return. It was a long week but I am very thankful for the learning opportunities, this isn't something I had experienced before. In other classes usually there is a couple students who struggle with the outcomes but in this class majority of the students do. Which isn't the students fault, I just have to find different ways that the students can learn. I am ready for a well needed long weekend break.
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Week Four10/2/2020 I left monday around 12:00 and did not return back to school. I was not feeling well, needed to confirm I didn't have COVID through testing
Week Three9/25/2020 Week three went well, we are focusing on trying to get the students into our routine, and ready to learn. We have to repeat the rules a lot over the day, and constantly have to remind students to pay attention to the teacher. I find it hard to keep focus of all the students and accomplish the desired outcomes of the day. I want to continue on working on student engagement because the students are not going to accomplish anything if they can't pay attention to the instructions and learning. This is even more difficult when students attendance isn't consistant; it is very important for students to come to school every day but many students miss days of school. This is because parents are becoming worried about the growing Covid in the community and because parents aren't engaged in their students learning.
I taught one lesson this week math; it went well and I made sure to repeat the rules of the classroom consistently to try and keep the students engagement. When I am not teaching I am practicing and trying to make notes on Mrs. Badowich's teaching so I will be prepared when I plan and teach lessons to the students. I have learnt a lot about teaching so far; one important thing I learnt was the professional relationships around the school. People are always willing to help when needed, and can be there to support you when things are tough but they need to feel supported and find you friendly. One important relationship is with the caretakers; they do a lot around the school so building those relationships will develop a better school environment. Second Lesson9/23/2020 Tuesday September 22nd- Math AAB Patterns
To start we did a SmartBoard lesson as a whole group and then split into groups to do small group activity. There was a small mix up and the SmartBoard lesson was set to ABB patterns instead of AAB patterns. The students understood the ABB patterns very well, and completed the slides easily. I also created some small movement patterns to keep students engaged during the lesson while on student filled in the SmartBoard activity. I reminded the students constantly about the classroom rules and to keep eyes on the board. Mrs. Badowich suggested I praise students each time they completed an activity so I gave them a sticker and told them great job! I also asked the students to give a thumbs up if the student completed the pattern correctly or a thumbs down if there was a mistake. I noticed during my small group lesson that the students forgot what the core was so this was something I suggested to Mrs. Badowich that we go over again with the students as a refresher. I think overall the lesson went very well. My next teaching days are September 30-October 1 when I will be teaching all day because Mrs. Badowich is away. Second Week9/18/2020 Well the second week of my Internship has now been completed. I have taught on lesson in English during my time at internship so far. I led the group lesson on the letter Ii, I have also been leading a group during the group lessons in both Math and English.
During my time at internship so far, I have learnt how many small things a teacher has to do in a day, besides all the planning and teaching. Such as in the morning I will go through each home folder, and give the students new books; making sure to tally how many books the student has read so far. This doesn't seem like a much but it is time consuming when the students are sitting in their seats waiting to learn so if Mrs. Badowich was to do it the students would be waiting for a bit and would be missing out on learning time. I have also learnt how hard of a life some of my students have; which is very important to consider when trying to teach these students. They may have breakdowns or just need some support because they are not use to receiving this at home. This can be hard to do when you have a class full of other students waiting to learn but it is very important to consider the needs of all the students in the classroom to make sure they can be successful and supported in not only their learning but also their lives. This can cause things to be challenging and cause teachers to have difficult jobs because its hard not to feel for the students that are in the classroom. I have to take the students life's in consideration when planing lessons and make sure I can give them the supports when needed. My experience has been great so far; but definitely a learning experience. I can't wait to plan lessons and spend some more time in Mrs. Badowich's classroom. First Lesson9/17/2020 Today was my first lesson, I taught the students the letter Ii. We had 9 students to start the day, half an hour before my lesson 2 more students showed up and then during my lesson two new students joined the classroom. This made for a very crazy lesson, and had Mrs. Badowich occupied for a lot of it but I think over all the lesson went well and that I kept the students focus even during all the activity going on around them. Mrs. Badowich and I didn't have time to meet to discuss her thoughts yet so I will comment more when I receive her comments back.
I asked many students to come help with the activities on the board. There was one student that became distracted with her pencil crayons so I called her up to help on the board to keep her focus on the lesson. I also told students to make sure they had quiet bodies to start the lesson and told them to make sure their hands/ table tops were clear so they didn't have any distractions. I also reminded students to use their quiet hands when they wanted to ask a question or answer a question. I brought the students back a couple of times by saying eyes on me and calling on the students who became distracted. I selected many different students to help me at the SmartBoard so that I was keeping everyone's focus. To start groups I reminded the students where they needed to go, and got the groups started with each activity and then led a group going over sightwords. The sightword was it, I would help them sound it out and showed them to how trace them with my magic writing finger. I made sure students stayed on track with their work and reminded them they needed to work on their sightword. I sat next to students who needed the extra support and made sure to have some fun with the students by joking around so they didn't become tired of their work. I think this lesson went well for my first lesson, obviously there's always room for improvement especially as a new teacher. Classroom management will be something I will continue to work on throughout my internship but will be a main focus over the next couple of lessons. First full day9/15/2020 Monday the 15th was the first full day of school. We had 12 students that showed up. The schedule was very similar to the staggered start days.
To start the day we did calendar activities where we went over what the date was. Then we did a writing block were the students wrote their names and counted how many letters were in their name. After that page they continued on and started working on who their teachers were but we didn't finish. Next class was Physical Education, the students had outside time and had free play on the playground. After the students came in they came to their desks and had snack. The next class we learnt the letter S, first we started with group activities on the SmartBoard and then the students went into groups. There was four groups; one met with the teacher, one did ipad work, one made an S with their playdough and the last group did sight word work. We did not have enough time for the students to make it through all the groups though. The students went out for recess and then came back inside for lunch. After lunch we have a movement activity where we dance to gonoodle. After we learnt about patterns, first together the students did pattern activities as a group on the SmartBoard and then they were put into the same small groups to do math activites. The first group met with the teacher, the second group did Ipad work, the third group made patterns with blocks and the fourth group made patterns drawing on their letter s. To end the day we read a short book and then packed up for the day. The day went well, and we will continue to work on our time management as it is different having a class full of students instead of a smaller amount. I haven't taught a lesson yet but will be teaching on thursday. I have led one of the small groups and sometimes a couple of the small groups depending on the support in the room. First week9/14/2020 My first week of Internship has passed by fast, it was a great first week I feel. I have not taught a lesson yet but have been busy assisting students who need it and getting to know the students in the class.
One the first day (Tuesday) we had 7 kids, Wednesday we had 4 kids, Thursday we ended up with 10 kids (one came late) and on Friday we had 5 kids. For the full week we worked on teaching the students the classroom routines and worked on reviewing last years learning. This allows us to check the students knowledge and helped review skills needed to learn Grade 1 or Grade 2 learning. It is also great to review because some students haven't learnt anything since March when schools shut down. After learning about some students home lives, I know that it is going to be a unique and sad experience for my Internship. This experience will teach me so much, it is a different community than the school I was raised in and will give me more of an learning experience for when I am a teacher. I think the best thing I can do for these students is make those connections with them, and help them enjoy school because their home situations may not be the best. I believe this is even more important than the curriculum content (although it is still important), we have to make sure the students feel love and supported. First Day9/8/2020 It was a busy first day, getting the students back into a school routine, doing first day activities and starting to build relationships with the students. We had seven students today but it was a great amount to start, very busy day but I was able to talk to each student and ask them a little about themselves which is very helpful to build relationships. To start the day we led students to their lockers and helped them put their stuff away and get ready for the day. Then we went into the classroom where I helped the students learn how to wash their hands correctly and when they were done washing Mrs. Badowich took everyone's first day of school picture. After we were finished Mrs. Badowich introduced herself and I. For the students we gave them playdough (which is kept in their desks now) and they were asked to make something that showed what they did this summer. The students pictures were great representations of summer things, some were swimming, playing hockey, talking to their mom and ect. Once the students had time to create their playdough masterpieces we asked students one at a time to introduce themselves to the class by saying their name, grade and then explain their picture. The students also went on a tour of the school, this year Dr. Brass has many new students plus the Kindergarten room has a bathroom so most of the students didn't know where the bathroom was even. Doing a school tour allows the students to be familiar with the school, and the staff in the school plus it hopefully allows them to be more comfortable in the school environment. In the morning we also had snack time, I went around to each student and helped them make a healthy snack choice. Mrs. Badowich has a rule of yogurt, fruit or vegetable for morning snack. During snack the students watched "The night before First grade". Which is all about a child getting ready for a new beginning in Grade 1. After snack Mrs. Badowich covered the rules of the classroom, and the students also brought up different rules they knew about because of COVID. Another first day activity that we did was measuring the students with string and then taping it on a First day of school sheet so students and Guardian's could see how much the students grew.
Before recess, students watched many videos on germs, how to wash their hands and how to properly take off their masks. Going over these guidelines not only help the students learn and give them a refresher but it also helps us as teachers follow the guidelines. The students then went out for recess and I had my lunch. After recess, it was lunch time where I helped the students find their main course and the magic school bus was put on for the students to watch. Which I would like to point out that they changed that so much from when I used to watch it. After lunch students cleaned up and then Mrs. Badowich went over the daily morning routine. They use the smart board to learn about the date, how many days we have been in school, ect. For the month, Mrs.Badowich also asked students how many syllabus did September have, and what day is it? What comes before 8 (all the way to 1) & after 8? When going over how many days we have been in school she asked if 8 falls in the hundreths, tenths or ones place. Each student was able to or had help reading today's date off of the Smartboard. The next activity was to measure the students hands on their first day; the teachers went around the room tracing the students left hands and then right hands. Students than were asked to cut them out and glue them on sheet with a write up about the first day. This activity is a great keepsake for guardians but also helps work on the students fine motor skills (cutting, writing their name). The last activity of the day was a reading of "The Kissing Hand". Once done with the reading (which some students asked to listen to it again because they enjoyed it so much) the students glued a pre-cut poem onto a blank piece of paper and then were assisted with painting their hand to leave their hand print. On Thursday the next school day for this class we will be putting hearts on each of the student's palms (painted hand print). To finish the day; Mrs.Badowich went over her take home folder's and the students stacked their chairs in the back of the room. We finished early so we took the students outside to get some playtime and time to meet classmates. Very busy day but it helped the day move very fast. All seven students seemed to enjoy the day, and they were all pretty good listeners. The students also seemed to know more than we planned for them to know because of COVID shutting schools down. I already enjoy my students so much and can't wait to learn beside them throughout my internship. Preparing for a Covid School year9/3/2020 This school year led to many different changes inside the school and classroom due to the pandemic. The desks have been arranged in rows facing forward unlike past years when they were in groups. The desks were also suppose to be spaced 6 feet apart, which wasn't possible in our classroom because of the amount of students and the limit of space so our desks were about 3 feet apart.
Around the room; we have also put up posters to remind students of ways to stay safe during COVID school days. Having these reminders around the classroom will help students remember these new practices that they should use around the school and out in the community. Although, this school year is very different than past ones; there will be a great learning experience for myself when dealing with COVID guidelines and also because of how long students have been away from school. AuthorMy Internship is at Dr. Brass Elementary School Archives
December 2020
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