February 7 This week was a total whirlwind.

On one hand, I realized just how much I'd learned about the daily functioning of a classroom. At the same time, no class work or part time clinicals can compare to being part of a classroom all day, e ery day. I' e learned so much already, and I anticipate learning so much more. One big takeaways for me this week was not to make assumptions about students. I thought, because of our e!tended clinical e!perience, that I was pretty intuiti e about students. I thought I could "uickly pick up on which ones needed more help, which ones might get into trouble, and their well##beha ed counterparts as well. $or the first two days, it seemed that my assumptions were correct. %hile students worked independently, I knew who would raise a hand for help first and who would chat, giggle and distract their peers. I thought I had &with#it#ness& down. Then, my e!pectations began to crumble. $irst, a student got upset and claimed a "uiet peer whom I wouldn't e!pect to cause trouble was talking bad about her. I confronted both students to get all sides of the story and the accused admitted to the insulting comments. I'm happy to say I responded just as I would to a more e!pected troublemaker by telling the student he didn't ha e to like all of his peers but he did ha e to respect them and use kind words. 'e seemed remorseful, but I was still surprised the scenario played out in the first place. The following day, a student's lunch money didn't make it to the cafeteria to be placed in his account. (y cooperating teacher and I were confused because she knew she had put the lunch money in a labeled en elope and sent it to the cafeteria with a trusted student that morning. The situation became clear as we learned that the student responsible for taking lunch money to the cafeteria had purchased an ice cream using a )*+ bill. The teacher confronted the student, and, after an initial lie, the student admitted to pocketing her peer's lunch money. The student had to be written up in a report to the principal as stealing is considered a &,lass - Offense& at $ultondale. At the end of the day, my teacher remarked that students always surprise her. .he also graciously said she didn't blame the guilty student because e eryone makes mistakes. I am learning and e!periencing so much on a daily basis. (y cooperating teacher has been a fantastic e!ample of grace, dedication, and joy. The students lo e her and know she lo es them too. .he is the picture of a teacher who lo es teaching despite the changes she's seen in the profession throughout her career. I ha e high e!pectations for the remainder of the placement and know I can be so much stronger because of it if I really take ad antage of the opportunity. I will try my best to do just that.

February 14 This week reinforced the importance of fle!ibility and preparation for me.

(rs. Thompson and I planned for me to begin teaching math on Tuesday and continue for the ne!t few weeks. I watched her teach on (onday with the In estigations book in front of me so that I could see how she adapted the program for her specific class. This was helpful in my planning, because I was unsure of how to teach with the restriction of a basal program. %ith the guidance of (rs. Thompson, I planned how to most logically structure the material that needed to be taught o er the course of the week and felt confident about using In estigations materials effecti ely. Then, during a schoolwide faculty meeting (onday afternoon, $ultondale's principal got the call that school would be cancelled for impending weather on Tuesday. (rs. Thompson had already planned to be absent on %ednesday, so she and I went back to her classroom to rethink the week's math and write substitute plans for %ednesday. .he sent me home with not only In estigations, but also %onders so that I could prepare to essentially take o er in her absence. %e both thought it would be appropriate for me to take the lead and ha e the substitute play a more supporti e role. .urprisingly to e eryone, school continued to be cancelled through Thursday, meaning we only went in on the first and last days of the week. (rs. Thompson was already behind in (ath because of pre ious snow days and this break put her in an awkward place in reading. .he filled me in on her con ersations with the curriculum specialists downtown about how to continue. /ecause we already knew we would ha e the following (onday off for 0residents 1ay, (rs. Thompson was ad ised to take the day off of reading and pick up the following week to be e!actly a week behind. The decision on what to do in math was left to (rs. Thompson and me. %e decided that I should go ahead and teach the lesson I had planned for Tuesday and continue the se"uence the following week. The fact that (rs. Thompson and I were o erprepared was to our ad antage when we returned on $riday. (any of the acti ities intended for the substitute on %ednesday were implemented on $riday instead, because we needed to skip the regular reading lesson. If (rs. Thompson had not had e!tra acti ities on hand, the time would ha e been wasted on meaningless filler worksheets. Instead, the students did acti ities related to their current position in social studies, and (rs. Thompson was able to take an e!tra grade. At the same time, our preparation had to be tempered by fle!ibility. 2othing could ha e been changed about the weather, so it was in our best interest to make the best of the situation. %e were able to rearrange lessons in math and reading so that subse"uent weeks will continue to flow logically. I'm realizing more and more that preparation tempered by fle!ibility is absolutely necessary in a school e en when there aren't une!pected and e!cessi e snow days in the middle of a week. In a normal day, things can change in an instant due to students not grasping concepts, medical emergencies, or e en fire drills. Teachers must be able to make the best of imperfect situations and ha e enough backup plans to use e ery minute efficiently.

February 21 This week, I was reminded of the importance of being creati e and inno ati e in teaching. I introduced multiplying decimals at the end of last week under the assumption that it would not pose any major problems because the students already knew multiplication. After last $riday, I didn't notice any holes in understanding beyond the natural confusion of learning a new skill. 'owe er, as soon as I began Tuesday's math lesson, I knew it was a different story altogether. I intended to begin my lesson with re iew problems to remind students of the new skill and then mo e forward with new details. The students, surprisingly, were totally lost on the re iew. It was like $riday's lesson had ne er occured and they did not e en know how to begin. I knew immediately that I had to reteach rather than mo ing forward and losing two days of content. /ecause the way I originally taught mutiplication of decimals clearly was not effecti e, I had to think on my feet to present it in another way. I ended up making a connection to a popular song by adding hand motions related to multiplying and di iding. The students acted like they were too cool while I presented it, but I know I saw hand motions coming from their desks during later practice problems. The following day, I was scared to mo e forward with di ision, but I think re ersing the process actually helped them understand more about it. .ome students were e en erbalizing connections to other math concepts altogether. In teaching, it is crucial to anticipate confusion and be prepared to teach to multiple learning styles. Inno ation is key in ensuring e ery student learns the needed information rather than just memorizing or forgetting it. As I plan future math lessons, I am taking into account the multiple learning styles represented in the classroom and appealing to them at a basic le el. 'opefully, students will appreciate the differentiated attention, whether or not they ha e the ocabulary to e!plain it.

February 28 This week, I began my ten days of teaching e ery subject. I ha e learned so much about teaching through classes and obser ations, but nothing compares to standing in front of the class and doing it. I think the true test of preparation is whether one has to consciously think about what to do when thrown into a situation. I was pleased to learn this week that I am prepared to teach. %hen students talked while I was in front of the class or misbeha ed, I didn't ha e to think about how to react. (y classroom management techni"ues came naturally and typically were successful. I did not ha e to think about demanding respect with my demeanor. I just copied the impressi e things I' e seen teachers do and found that hopefully I am on the way to becoming one. One thing I was worried about was lesson planning in the real world. Anyone can teach a forty#fi e minute lesson with se en pages of scripting, but that isn't realistic for a teacher who must plan for se en hours per day. I had to try my turn

at adapting school mandated curriculum for a specific class and writing effecti e lesson plans that didn't take up more than a page. I know that I ha e plenty of room to impro e, but I feel confident in my potential. I asked my teacher this week for suggestions to impro e within this specific placement and with taching in general, and she said I was e!actly where I should be at this point in my career. 'er suggestions were things that she insisted come with e!perience such as learning how much can be completed in a specific time period. .he often repeats that things change e ery single year in teaching because of not only what comes down the education pipe, but also because each class of students is so different. That's why it is so important to know your kids. That's the only way to truly meet them where they are and help them get to where they need to be. I am learning so much more than I could ha e imagined through this e!perience, and I'm shocked by how "uickly it is passing.

March 7 At the end of this week, the topic of assessment is on my mind. I am learning that as much as I want e ery student to make an A in e ery subject, that isn't possible. I am seeing firsthand an illustration of the concept of student strengths and weaknesses. .tudents who perform better in math fre"uently make ,s or lower in reading and ice ersa. 3 en though I am not satisfied with a , in my own classes, I ha e to remind myself that it's a erage for most students. Though the %onders curriculum determined the weekly reading assessment this week, I wrote my own science and math assessments. After grading both, I found that students' scores ended up eerily close to a bell cur e. $or e ery A, there was also an $. I know I should ha e e!pected those results, but it is still difficult to read the responses of students who failed when I know I presented the information, ga e them opportunities to ask "uestions, and read their study guides on which they wrote down the correct answers. At some point, students ha e to take responsibility for their own learning. That's a theme that my cooperating teacher is trying to emphasize to the class before they enter middle school. 'ere in fifth grade, I still feel responsible for student learning. I will still work with students who failed to make sure they grasp the concept and can work problems before the end of the year tests. 'owe er, I'm feeling conflicted because I know in college and e en high school, that won't happen. I'm not sure at what point the responsibility switches from teacher to student, but I can see students already who would be at risk of becoming frustrated and dropping out if I didn't pursue them with my teaching. I like the life lessons that come with fifth grade classrooms, but it's difficult not to take the confusion and frustration home. 4earning students' stories makes me want to lo e on and ser e them e en more. $or the final two weeks of this placement, my best is all I can do and I ha e to remind myself of that.

March 14 I cannot belie e that my time at $ultondale is almost o er. I ha e learned so much about teaching in practicality from this e!perience. I' e grown closer to my students and cooperating teacher than I could ha e anticipated, and I know I will miss them when I lea e. I ha e high e!pectations for my second placement too, but I don't know how it will top this one. .ome of the big things I' e learned were relating to students, accommodating for different needs without I30s, and being realistic with planning. %e learned o er and o er that students would learn more if they related to and liked their teacher. I knew that factoids about myself should arise naturally in con ersation and that I should make efforts to understand the li es of my students outside of school. I found that in actuality, these things happened simply because I wanted to know more about my students and they wanted to know more about me. They asked me "uestions about where I li ed, what college was like, what I liked to do for fun, and so much more. In turn, they told me about where they li ed, what their e!periences in school were like, and what they did for fun. /y applying these factoids to school, I was able to connect content with daily li ing in efforts to make it more memorable and rele ant. %hile none of the students in my class had I30s or recei ed 3.4 ser ices, they still had a wide range of needs. 4earning how to appropriately differentiate for these needs without specific directions was and continues to be a challenge for me, but I grew in this skill throughout the placement. Inter ention time can pro ide more intensi e instruction for each subject, not only reading. I often found myself following up math lessons with small group practice at a conference table so I could monitor more closely the needs of certain students. I learned to anticipate which students would struggle with new skills in which subjects so I could plan more indi idual attention for them. I learned how to ary my "uestions and whom to go to when students worked independently. I know I am still impro ing in this area, but I think I'm on the right track. In teacher education, we learn to o erplan e erything. $rom scripted lesson plans to making materials days in ad ance, any teacher who prepared for full days like we do would not ha e time or energy for anything else. I knew this would not be a practical approach to student teaching, but compromising the time I spent preparing for indi idual lessons while still being abundantly ready was tough. 2ot scripting made a huge dent in the time it took me to get ready for a lesson. Additionally, I was pleasantly surprised to find that I' e been trained to think through each step of the design for learning in my planning e en if I don't type it out as formally. Adapting school mandated curriculum programs was different than typical planning as well. I' e been fore er impacted by this placement. I know the things I learned will stick with me throughout my teaching career, which could perhaps 5hopefully6 begin at $ultondale. I am making efforts to be at the forefront of the principal's mind when teaching positions for ne!t year become a ailable. I lo e the

atmosphere and demographic of $ultondale, and I could see myself being ery happy there as full#time teacher. %e will see7

March 21 I cannot belie e I ha e completed my time at $ultondale7 3 en more surprising to me is how attached I' e become and how much I will miss the students, my cooperating teacher, and the school in general. Today was bittersweet for all. I was showered with handwritten cards and drawings which I will treasure for years to come. There was a side hug around e ery corner, and I was e en in ited to sit with the students at lunch, a learning e!perience in and of itself. (y time at $ultondale has been more than emotionally filling8 I ha e learned so much from the e!perience. I benefitted from my teacher's e!perience through obser ation and the things she told me. The lessons that will really stick, though, are the things I learned from jumping in. I had taught isolated lessons in clinical placements before, but nothing compares to teaching multiple full days in a row. I saw firsthand how much planning it takes to be sufficiently prepared and then how much things change as soon as the students walk in. Teachers need so much fle!ibility not only in lessons but also in interacting with people. Teachers are constantly surrounded by students, other teachers, curriculum representati es, and administrators and successful ones put on a smile for each of them. Teachers must stay true to their beliefs but be willing to consider and understand the beliefs of others. As much as we emphasize collaboration for students, it is totally necessary for teaching as well. I am so glad I was in (rs. Thompson's class7 The things I learned will be a foundation for my own teaching career, and I sincerely hope to be the kind of teacher she is one day.