April 19th

The students are all meeting or exceeding their grade level and were able to read me the stories
presented to them. As the day went on the teacher was able to give me more information about
the students. There is only one that is below the second grade benchmark and the rest are
looking good for reading. The students had a really good and fun day today. It was the first day
back from break which made for a lot of high energy however they did great. I am excited to
learn and do more in the coming days as today I did little. .

April 20th
Today I was able to experience my first ever PLC meeting.This is something I have been
wanting to experience and listen to. The teachers were not comparing data however were
talking about the fall and who will be in what classes. They are a MCL group, which does mean
that they know the students in the other classrooms however were able to learn more about the
behaviors and things to be watching for. They were also able to talk about different strategies
that have been working or things that they should potentially look at trying. This meeting was
extremely insightful in learning more about how these meetings work, what is talked about and
how they stay on task.

April 21st
I was able to teach my first lesson plan today. I decided to do it as a small group lesson before I
have my first observed lesson tomorrow. I was able to do this lesson with two small groups. My
first small group had a harder time focusing which did cause there to be more challenges with
the lesson. They would get very distracted and not want to do their math problems. When the
second group came up and joined me I was able to have the group very focused and working
hard on their math problems. I think that overall it went well .Somehtign I learned was to keep
two of the students apart the next time so they are able to focus more.

April 22nd
Today was my first observation and I would say it went very well .The students were extremely
focused and engaged. They were very excited about the lesson as we were going to be making
bird feeders. The students were excited however extremely engaged. They followed directions,
they helped others, and they even engaged with my supervisor Dr. DeGroot as well. After
presenting my lesson, I was so pleased with how the students engaged in the lesson and I was
able to hear how Dr. DeGroot also felt that the lesson went really well. He said he was
impressed with the students as well as my teaching which truly meant a lot. It felt great to lead a
whole group lesson and for it to go so well.

April 25th
While we were learning today, I was able to see how interesting a monday can be. Students are
coming off the weekend and even though most are excited to learn there are a few that just
can't focus on one topic at a time. It was interesting to me on how the teacher was able to
handle this. She showed a great deal in staying calm and showing patience to the students. She
also was able to take charge of the students when needing to. I think having the ability to control
a room is very important at all times but especially on a monday. I was also about to see who
punishments affect the students in a way that changed their behavior. I also noticed what it
looked like over time for students who are on medication to help with attitudes changed
throughout the day.

April 26th
Today was observation number two. I was able to teach a writing lesson for this observation. I
really enjoyed this challenge as it made it so I could see different sides to teaching a unit. The
students did a fabulous job working through this activity. They were excited and engaged in their
learning. They wanted to learn and do more which was great to see. Today I learned how to
capture the attention of a room while doing a not so hands-on activity. This activity got them to
be curious and thinking but was not as hands-on as my one on Friday. They however really
enjoyed the activity and were very engaged even though it was a book they had read.

April 27th
My cooperative teacher was gone today and there was a substitute teacher in the classroom.
This meant that what we did and how it was done was very different from what my teacher tends
to do. The students actually adjusted very well to having a substitute and were very quiet as the
day started and as it went on the students became more chatty to test the boundaries. This day
did end up lending towards me getting to work harder and take a role as a full teacher in the
classroom. Ww noticed how important it was to keep them focused and engaged in the activities
we had them doing. Today I was able to show me what it truly meant to be a classroom teacher.

April 28th
We went on a field trip today at the Oscar Larson Performing Arts Center. We got to watch the
play The Little Prince. This was very interesting and engaging for the students which made it fun
to see them engage in this as well as a learning experience for me. Our group as a whole did a
good job following directions, helping other grades and more. I think for me I was able to see it
from the teacher's point of view which helped me process what it could look like in the future. I
was also able to see how a teacher adjusts to the rest of the day on the spot. I was able to help
give ideas but it was great to see it happen on the spot.

April 29th
Today was my last day in the classroom and it was all kind of a blur. The day went by very fast
however I was able to see more of how the classroom integrates the other grade levels with
MCL. I was able to see how the teachers kept each grade level engaged in their learning while
they also helped the students continue their learning. This experience truly showed me what
being a classroom teacher will look like. It helped me become excited for the future of becoming
my own classroom teacher. Today, I spent a lot of my fay he;ping prepare for an afternoon
activity as well as just observing which I really enjoyed.