Madisyn Kleinschmit

Weekly Reflection
Week 3 Student Teaching

Monday:
My memorable moment from Monday was reading the students responses to their
whiteboard question of the day which was what is your favorite subject and why? When I read
through the responses math and science got the winning votes out of what their favorite
classes were. The reasons, however, were very surprising. Many of the students said because it
was interesting, they got to do fun things (experiments), the lessons are fun. Now although that
seems normal, it then allowed me to watch the rest of the days lesson go through and see their
reactions when they reached writing or reading, and their attention dropped, and they got less
and less excited. This made me eager to start taking over these two subjects very soon because
these two subjects can be very fun and interesting when approached in such a way that grabs
the student’s attention.
Learning Outcomes:
 Teaching/Learning styles: an understanding of the impact of multiple intelligences and
teaching/learning styles on the teaching/learning process.
 Developmentally appropriate curriculum and design: the ability to plan, select, and
design developmentally appropriate learning activities, materials, and assessments.
Tuesday:
This day was my observation but also it was the Science introductory lesson I had
planned, and I was super excited for. This lesson was received very well by all the students and
even went over a lot better than I had previously thought. The moment I want to refer to as
being memorable or “ahah” is when I was demonstrating the Alka-Seltzer and vinegar process, I
had one student raise her hand during partner discussion time and say “I know why we are
doing this, it’s because it shows the process of weathering which is breaking something down
all the way into nothing.” I was so excited to hear someone make that connection during my
teaching because that helps me know that what I’m doing works and they are responding to it
Learning Outcomes:
 Teaching/Learning Styles: an ability to identify his/her personal strengths and
limitations.
 Politics, ethics, and professionalism: an understanding of the personal integrity,
professionalism, and ethical behavior essential to the role of teacher.
Wednesday:
My memorable moment from Wednesday was our Classroom Book A Day discussion. On
Wednesday January 28, 2021 it is National Holocaust Remembrance Day. The book we read was
The Tree in the Courtyard which is a picture book showing the view outside Anne Frank’s
window in the annex her family lived in during the holocaust. This book prompted a
conversation between the students, Mrs. Pifer, and me about why the holocaust happened and
why we still talk about it today. It prompted many of my students to ask questions and realize
that some of their past relatives may have lived during this time. The many of the students had
connected so much with the conversation that they asked for more books to read and even to
hear more about Anne Frank and her story.
Learning Outcomes:
 Diversity, Culture, & Climate: An understanding of the diverse social and cultural factors
that influence, challenge, and provide opportunities for enriching, the teaching/learning
process.
 Developmentally appropriate curriculum and design: the ability to plan, select, and
design developmentally appropriate learning activities, materials, and assessments.

Thursday:
My memorable moment from Thursday was having the entire afternoon from lunch to
dismissal being under my control as the substitute watched from the front desk and helped
when she felt it was needed. Being able to take the students through the entire afternoon
which includes 4 uninterrupted hours of content, made me very confident moving forward in
the student teaching schedule for when we are entirely on our own. The students were very
respectful and listened to the direction as well as followed those directions the entire
afternoon.
Learning Outcomes:
 Leadership: The ability to work collaboratively with other educators to develop
communities of learning.
 Politics, ethics, and professionalism: an understanding of the demands that are placed
on educators.
Friday:
My memorable moment from Friday’s half-day was opening the day with a very
important “class meeting” about accepting responsibility for one’s actions and creating a
sincere apology note. During the previous day, the students had consistently not been following
directions and talking while teachers and the playground guard were talking. This caused them
to lose some recess privileges as well as receive a conversation in class about how we need to
start being respectful. I was able to run the class meeting that morning due to Mrs. Pifer being
away for the first half hour of school at an appointment. The students were very receptive to
the conversation and by the end the entire group was writing apology letters to the recess
guard. We also had a discussion following the reading of a book titled “Sorry” and how you can
continuously say sorry and it loses its meaning. The students then began to notice that they had
been doing that all week and realized how wrong it was of them and their behavior turned
around.
Learning Outcomes:
 External social forces: an understanding of the influence of major social forces on the
lives of preK-12 students.
 Developmentally Appropriate curriculum and design: an understanding of the
intellectual, social, physical, and emotional stages of development of PreK-12 students.

Journal Prompts:
 What classroom procedures have you observed and what effect have they had on
classroom and behavior management?
o The first procedure I have noticed really work in the classroom, is the morning
routine procedure. This is a step by step layout of how the first half hour of school
should look for the students and what they should be working on right when they
get to school. Although we have some students who are quite chatting and forgot to
finish morning math and waste more time talking then turning papers in and putting
backpacks away normally this process runs very smooth and many students follow
the directions.
o Another procedure for the students that the students do well but could improve on
as it does affect behavior is lining up/walking in the halls. The students tend to do a
lot of talking during the hallway procedures which then affects the way the
classroom behavior looks they are normally extremely chatting in the class which
makes reigning them all back together a bit harder.
o The next procedure I have witnessed is breaking off into groups which sometimes
not all the time does not go according to plan and has a large effect on the student’s
behavior. When the students pick partners that are their best friend it creates a lot
of side conversations, arguments between groups of three friends who can’t all be
partnered together, and then loss of attention during instructional time. This
behavior is being fixed, by no longer always allowing them to pick their partners but
still allowing them to be partners with someone they get along with.

What criteria are being used in your classroom to determine instructional grouping?
1. The first criteria we follow when grouping for instructional purposes depends on what
we are covering for that particular lesson. For example, our group of students work very
well in partner pairs when working on their reading teacher’s worksheets as they
require a bit more thinking in which usually one partner knows more than the other and
helps the other understand.
2. Another criterion we follow when grouping students is based upon their attention for
that day. If we notice the students are a bit more talkative today, we will normally bring
them in whole group as that allows us to gain the attention of all the students rather
than sending them off on their own to perhaps lose track of their learning,
3. The next criteria we use to group students depends on whether we think the students
are capable of picking their own partners and get work done that day or if we notice
that it would better aid the students if we pick partners by either pulling name sticks, by
height, matching card partners, shortest vs. tallest line, etc.
4. Sadly, doing small groups with a teaching is extremely hard due to covid-19 restrictions
however, if I notice a group of students would benefit more by sitting up front with me
to focus or ask questions, I will call the students up and offer the option to them every
day.

Based on your observation of classroom procedures, what would you add, change, or delete in
your own classroom and why?
o The first classroom procedure I would like to add in my classroom is the morning
routine procedure. I think Mrs. Pifer has created a good schedule that allows the
students to come into school, see their friends, and get themselves ready to learn. It
is not a very strict procedure nor is it hard for the students to follow. I have seen the
response to it be very positive and can see how well it works when all of the
students are “on”.
o Another classroom procedure I would like to add into my classroom is the hallway
procedure Mrs. Pifer has created. She has made “pitstops” on their walks to certain
places known which is where the students take a stop while walking to recheck their
voices, masks, and behavior in the hallway. By doing this every time the students
walk it gives them a chance to correct their behavior without being told to nor
interrupting other classes in the hallway to have the discussion as to why their
behavior is not the expected one.