Student Teaching: Rolette Public School

Cathie Gladue
Alyza Celine Grant
Ongoing Document

Weekly Reflection Log

Week One: January 4th-8th 2021

My first week of class began on January 4th, 2021, in Mrs. Graber’s fifth grade classroom

was comprised entirely of observation. I met my teacher, Mrs. Graber, as well as my class of 12

students and many other staff members— including the Kindergarten, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, Music

and Title 1 teachers. I met paraprofessionals as well, and some of the high school teachers. Mr.

Heinz, who is the Title I teacher, comes in for math class each day to help the students alongside

Mrs. Graber. At lunch on the first day, I met the elementary principal, Mr. Sherwin. One student

who was in my class this week, would not be there next week, because he is switching to online

learning with another school. I am also told that there is another student who has recently moved

away, and one more student who has been online learning since March and is new to the

classroom just like myself.

I am pleasantly surprised to see the diversity of subjects within the classroom. Social

Studies and Writing is taken into account each day (except Social Studies is four times a week)

with 45-50 minutes and 20 minutes being devoted to these subjects in turn. Each grade, up until

maybe 7th, also has a first recess (40 minutes) and a second recess (20 minutes) in addition to

specials like Gym time, Library time, and Music/Band. Mrs. Graber and I have recess duty on

the first recess for 5th and 4th grades. Mrs. Gilje, whom I see a lot each day, handles second
recess, with the 4th, 5th and 6th graders. The recess duty is divided during different times for

different teachers. I note in my daily journal (written hand) along with most of the smaller

events: Mrs. Graber has told me that the students have an easier time seeing the written words on

a whiteboard versus on the luminescent screen of the smartboard. We have one asthmatic, and

one fish allergy in the class: they belong to the same person.

Week Two: January 11th- 15th 2021

The second week, I began my Social Studies lessons, and also took up morning

journaling— for journaling, I simply load writing prompts to the smartboard along with a date

and read off the prompts for the class t choose from. If they need clarification on something in

the prompts (such as: what is an acrostic poem?) I explain and sometimes model if need be. My

first Social Studies lesson on Tuesday was a continuation of the previous week’s lesson, to start

off slowly. We watched a cartoon series video on the American colonial era— afterwards, I

handed them each an exit slip with instructions to write either something they learned from the

video about the colonial era, or questions they had. We would discuss those later. The second

day (which was Wednesday, because Martin Luther King J. Day had been Monday) we wrote an

“I Am” themed poem with instructions to write it as though the student were a person living

during the colonial period.

The third and final lesson of the week on Thursday (since they don’t have Social Studies

on Fridays) was a game of matching vocabulary words from the textbook. I gave the students

each 3-4 vocabulary cards, and asked them to move around the room and find each card’s

“partner”, which was either a term or a definition. All three lesson plans went over well, and on
Thursday I answered each of their questions from lesson one. All three lessons went over well,

but I make plans to purchase organization tools like folders, binders, sticky notes, clips, erasers, a

stapler and little desk cubbies to help myself stay organized.

Week 3: January 18th- 22nd

My third week was interesting. I had the opportunity to experience new situations in the

school, and I am now getting used to holding class for short periods. I had Social Studies and

Spelling this week; but since the counsellor’s schedule had changed, Social Studies is now down

to three days a week instead of four. For Social Studies this week, I did a popcorn reading of our

chapter in the book, as well as an “Illustrate the Term” assignment. I handled my first Spelling

lesson on Monday (Spelling takes place each day of the week) which was mostly an

introductory lesson into our new Spelling words and Grammar vocabulary. On Tuesday, we had

a Spelling Pretest. On Wednesday, we did the “Travel Guide” group assignment, and for

Spelling, we did a worksheet focusing on proofreading including our weekly vocabulary in the

reading sample.

On Thursday, we did a worksheet for Social Studies and another Spelling worksheet. On

Friday, I did not have a Social Studies class period (which was replaced with Health and Art),

and we finished the week with a Spelling test. I am planning ahead, printing things out and

preparing for next week’s lessons; I find that you just cannot procrastinate in an environment like

elementary school, when you are the teacher. I try to keep everything organized, but my desk is

cluttered even when I have everything put away; the organizations tools do help.
 Week 4: January 25th- 29th 2021

I am feeling better about teaching more subjects this week, and time seems to move far

faster when you are kept busy. I made a mistake early in the week: I thought I’d had everything

done and prepared, but I’d forgotten to copy off one sheet. It was not a huge problem, and was

resolved quickly. This week, we worked on a Scholastic Booklet on February’s “Black History

Month” for Monday’s Social Studies. On Tuesday, we did a worksheet matching historical

figures to their achievements, and on Wednesday, we popcorn read our chapter, then watched a

series of small videos going over our chapter’s information. With it came a worksheet with short-

answer questions. Thursday’s agenda for Social Studies was to read-aloud and then catch up on

previous Social Studies worksheets; this went over well, and we got a lot accomplished. Spelling

followed it’s usual schedule: new word list on Monday, a Pretest on Tuesday (hand back

corrected right away because this 5th Grade class is particular about it) and then another

proofreading page.

Wednesday’s lesson plans involved more practice with their words (and I’ve gotten good

at several things concerning spelling, such as list-writing, and puzzle-creating. Thursday is more

practice, and Friday is the post-test. This week, I also had Reading: which is fairly simple, and

only involves reading with the class to develop fluency, and then comprehension quizzes

afterwards. The book we’re reading currently is called “The Watsons go to Birmingham— 1963”

which is about an “odd” African American family living in Michigan. The story is interesting,

and intertwines well with both Black History Month, as well as the topic of Martin Luther King

Jr., who the class is studying this week during writing. I enjoy reading it, and they also seem to
enjoy it, because it has a consistent undertone of humor. However, I think I find it funnier than

they do while we’re reading. Next week I will take up Science as well and I look forward to it.

Week 5: February 1st-5th

This week I also took on science and grammar, in addition to art, which only takes place

on Fridays, for thirty minutes. Each morning begins with morning announcements, as well as a

song they play over the loudspeaker; each announcement accompanied by a little bit of

information about each day (for example, “Today is National Green Bean Day/National Be Kind

Day”). I find it something to look forward to each morning, and throughout my experience as a

student at TMCC, I have never seen any other school start the day out like this. During my first

week of teaching science, which we have only two days out of five (Mondays and Wednesdays)

I have tried actively to connect prior knowledge as well as to ask relevant questions throughout

the reading of the text.

I took on the Journeys curriculum in order to teach grammar, just like I did when I took

on Spelling. Mrs. Graber asked me if I’d like to use their regular grammar curriculum, which did

not come with any guided instruction. She also suggested Journeys curriculum for grammar, and

I decided to go in that direction because of the guided notes in the teacher's manual. An

experienced teacher like Mrs. Graber would be able to teach from the normal fifth grade

grammar workbook (which had no teachers manuals for guidance) and although I am

comfortable with the subject of grammar, I didn’t feel completely comfortable using a book

where there is no guided instruction for the teacher. This, I believe, would connect to INTASC

Standard 4: Content Knowledge, because I have now found a tool that is most beneficial for me
to apply my knowledge of the content area. One thing I learned early on in my student teaching

is that it is standard to use guided curriculums, and that the curriculums used in schools often

have a variety of different and useful methods of teaching the same lesson. It gives teachers

further tools for differentiation.

Week 6: February 8th - 12th

As I continue with my student teaching, and take on more aspects of the classroom, Mrs.

Graber begins leaving the classroom more often. I notice a difference in myself as I am left alone

with the students more; during the beginning of my student teaching, I was apprehensive about

being left alone in the classroom with the kids, but as the days go by I am getting more and more

comfortable with keeping the classroom in check by myself. Our parent-teacher conference was

supposed to take place this week, but was moved to next week, so new notes will have to be sent

home with the kids. I’m looking forward to meeting with the parents of the class, and getting a

better grasp of what they need from both me and Mrs. Graber.

Week 7: February 15th - 19th

I continue with the routine I’ve set in place for myself and the students throughout the

week. We continue to read “The Watson’s go to Birmingham '' throughout this week, and I am in

the process of creating a new Kahoot for the kids to play on the book; this fifth-grade class loves

Kahoot. We’ve gotten into a rhythm in our spelling as well: Mondays, we have our new words,

as well as a worksheet to sort the words by suffixes, prefixes, and root-related categories.

Tuesdays we have less time for spelling, and take a pretest; there are twenty questions in total

Wednesdays. I give them more spelling practice with proofreading and word-finds, as well as
word scramble sheets. Thursdays are more of the same with little variation, and Fridays are the

post test.

Something I’ve learned about this class is that some of them get quite anxious to have

any part of their routine changed. One student in particular knows the schedule to a T and asks

each day if we’re doing something new the next day. I want to branch out and be creative with

projects and assessments (which I have, to an extent) while also ensuring that the students are

comfortable with what we’re doing. This practice will relate to the INTASC Standard #5(e),

wherein the teaching candidate will by creating meaningful opportunities to employ a variety of

forms of communication that address varied audiences and purposes.

This week we had our parent-teacher conference, which lasted from 4:00 pm to 9:30 pm.

The long night this week was made easier by the many parents who showed up according to

schedule (and, some who were not punctual) and it was quite interesting to see what kinds of

backgrounds the students came from. This experience will also add to my exploration of the

INTASC Standard #3: Learning Environments, which details the experiences between teachers,

colleagues, the families, and the learners.

Week 8: February 22nd - 26th

As February draws to a close, we prepare to move onto a different book for our novel

studies in Reading: I choose “A Wrinkle in Time” from Mr.s Graber’s list because it’s a great

book that I read when I was their age. I soon come to find that this book has more complex

themes and a wider vocabulary than I remember it having. Nonetheless, the students plow

through the first chapters and seem to be engaged in the beginning of our story. They seem to
find the character relatable, though they get confused fairly often on the bigger words in the

book. Later on in the week, I decided that it would be best if I read to them and readily clarified

where they needed clarification; we have a considerable amount of time dedicated to reading, yet

it was spent startlingly quick with how big the chapters were, and how the worksheets had us

assessing the students. I see how it’s a good idea to create some assessments of your own, or

make modifications, as Mrs. Graber often does math.

Week 9: March 1st - 5th

Math this week is quite an experience for me to be teaching. This is the subject I was

most worried about teaching, but it has gone by fine with the help of Mrs. Graber getting me on

track prior to the actual teaching. When I first began teaching math, we worked on multiplying

fractions (which I never thought I’d be competent at teaching) but I consider myself to be doing

alright! We are currently learning about area models and how to find the area of a model by

taking apart two mixed numbers and multiplying them, finding a common denominator, and then

adding them in a specific manner. The kids were a little overwhelmed with this lesson at first,

but came to realize that it’s just a lot of steps...and once they got into the formula, they did quite

well.

The first day I went over the area models, we only did the problems together, because

they took so long to get through. The rest of the week that followed focused on building their

knowledge on the formula for multiplying mixed numbers to find the area, and then practicing

themselves. I come to find it’s pretty standard for us to take a week per chapter, although Mrs.

Graber and I do eliminate certain lessons that she sees as unnecessary for the curriculum
(perhaps smaller chapters they aren’t tested on). We’ve also eliminated several of the models the

book provides, because there’s simply too many of them, and the students are constantly asking

what to do in those parts, or if they need to do that part of the worksheet.

At the end of the week, I get started on my door decorating duty, and finish it within

three days of work. I ended up staying late some of those days; so late, in fact, that I was the last

person in the school a few times. Mrs. Graber’s daughter has kindly informed me not to stay past

midnight, because the school is haunted. Also, we finally finished our dream catcher art project

and have hung each beautiful dream catcher in the hall. It was a hassle more than anything to try

and “teach” them to spin the web (I did 80% of the work for them in the end) but I’m still very

proud of them for completing the project, because each of them displayed a great interest in it

and a willingness to learn. It’s hard to teach a whole class how to create the web, even with a

thick string and hoola-hoop, but they’d been trying to make dream catchers prior to me coming

to the school, so it was very rewarding!

Week 10: March 8th -12th

This week we’re going over the KCF (Keep, Change, Flip) method of dividing fractions

(we turn them into multiplication problems). This chapter is so repetitive that Mrs. Graber and I

decided to cut the last half, because the students were flying through it so fast, and no new

material was really being introduced towards the end of the chapter. Mindful of the class’

fixation on keeping a routine, I branched out a bit during reading this week and last, so as not to

seem so monotonous with the same worksheets and readings. We are now doing a new reading

assignment having to do with identifying different parts of long paragraphs and articles: for
example, identifying different types of conflicts (man vs. man, man vs. nature, man vs. society,

etc). Once we identify these, we color in the spots which match the designated conflict. We’ve

gone over other parts of writing, which include main ideas and types of accounts. This variation

in assessment tools that I’ve gone over in Reading this week relates to the INTASC Standard #6:

Assessment, which details a variety of assessment tools being employed in the classroom. I also

consider myself to be proficient in varying assessments in other areas of the fifth grade’s day as

well, such as spelling, math, and science.

Week 11: March 15th - 17th

This week, being so short due to Spring break (Rolette gets the 18th and 19th of February

off) is focusing mostly on Math and Reading. The week seems too short to focus on spelling

words or science labs, so I focus on covering their new math chapters, with some of them being

eliminated. We focus instead on making test corrections for the last chapter, and using the Mid-

Chapter Checkpoint as a final test for this chapter. For the areas of Reading and Grammar, I

introduce the class to Irish poetry and different Irish poets. We read some out loud, watch some

videos on Limericks and W.B. Yeats, and I give them assignments based around the holiday of

St. Patrick’s Day. The poetry unit goes fairly well, and some of them surprised me (specifically,

which students had trouble with the poems, and which students had no problems rhyming in a

certain pattern).

I made a “Scramble Poetry” assignment out of it, and cut out a bunch of little words and

writing prompts for them to use as the basis for their poetry. Most of them were keen on the idea

of using the prompts, and for one assignment, the scramble words were a requirement to fit into
the poems. I plan to print out their work and hang them in the hall next week after we take out

completed dream catchers down. Most of the poems were quite funny to read, and although most

of them make fun of their own writing, they are also mostly on board with the poems being

displayed.

Week 12: March 22nd -25th

As I