Fairy Apolo

Teacher Log
RED 414-Fall student Teaching
August 22-September 30
Woodson

Day one 8/22/2022 (Monday)

Today I met with Mrs.Larson(my Cooperative teacher) and Mrs.Biley(Para for the classroom).
Mrs.Larson introduced me to the principal, the front desk, and every teacher that was in the
building. Mrs.Larson showed me around the school and where everything is at. Right away
Mrs.Larson showed me how to use the printer and how she set up the room for her class. I helped
with cutting the names of the students and placed them in a box. I helped with setting up the
room. After we finished setting up the room, we started planning for next week's lesson. While
we planned the lesson, I was confused and stressed, however I learned the process of how she
planned her lesson/day.
I am grateful that Mrs.Larson made me feel welcomed. By letting me do everything, I learned
how it felt to set up a classroom. I learned how much time and effort it took to set up a
classroom. Being included in everything made me confident and encouraged to be in the
classroom. Mrs.Larson answered all my questions and everything I am cerioused about. This was
a great start to my student teaching.

Day two 8/23/2022 (Tuesday)

Today we finished lesson planning for next week and had an all staff meeting. During the
meeting we learned about “As a Teacher What Are Our Values?” The goal for the meeting is for
us teachers to be reminded of what our mission, vision, and values are. During the meeting we
also talked about how to build a collective teacher efficiency is to build, create, interpret, and be
involved. The second part of the meeting we learned about conscious discipline. We talked about
safe spaces for students. In my opinion this meeting was very helpful and I learned so much from
it.

Day three 8/24/2022 (Wednesday)

Today I helped set up the boost up room, had a meeting with the technology committee (which
my cooperative teacher is a part of), and a conference. There were 16 students that came to the
conference. During the conference I learned and observed how Mrs.Larson talked to the parents.
I became nervous every time I talked to the families. I was worried that I might mess up when
talking to the families. I observed the students as each walked in through the door. I noticed that
they were timid, outgoing, happy, and scared to be there.
Throughout the conference, I learned that it is alright to go by the flow. At first we were doing a
routined of showing the student around and later we learned that it takes longer. We then sat the
parents down and talked them through the folder and then went around the room. Overall, the
conference went well. One thing I want to work on is being more confident in how I talk and be
confident in what I do.

Day four 8/25/2022 (Thursday)

Today we finished the six conferences that we had left from wednesday. During the conference
there was one family who spoke Karen. I was able to help with this conference. Mrs.Larson
asked me if I wanted to take over because I knew what to do. I declined because I was not
feeling confident. This is something I needed to work on, being confident in myself. I am afraid
of making a mistake but I need to remember that making mistakes is perfectly fine. After the
conference we went to the high school where the whole district came together. We listen to a
speaker. One take away for me is that this generation asked “why” a lot and this generation, if
they want something they will go for it. Growing up in this generation myself, I know that it is
very true.

Day five 8/29/2022 (Monday)

Today was the first day for the students. Many students came in shy and scared. We had a student
who cried right away. I observed how the teacher made him calm down. After he saw someone
he knew he felt better and stopped crying. I learned that on the first day do not be surprised but
made sure that students can be safe and feel safe. Multiple students were shy and they didn't
want to talk. I learned to be patient and be there when they are ready to open up. The first day
was more how setted the routined for the students. They were taught how to line up, use the
bathroom, talk in their quiet voice, and learned how to keep their hand to themselves. They
learned the classroom rule, the recess rule, and the bathroom rule. The first day was a lot of
repetition for the student. They were introduced to what room is what.
One thing that went really well for me is being able to go with the flow and knowing how to help
my cooperative teacher.
One thing I want to work on is being confident with the students. I am not sure how or what to
do when students want to go to the bathroom or go get a drink. I do not know if I am the place
where I can tell them to do that. I do not want to step over the line when working with my CT.

Day six 8/30/2022 (Tuesday)

Today was another day of repetition and going through everything slowly. Students were
introduced to using another playroom (play center B). Today letter B was introduced to the
student. Some know how to write their letter B, however some do not. I was able to do small
groups and during small groups we worked on letter B. I interacted with the students and I was
able to learn about them. For phonics we worked on rhyme. This class had students at all levels.
Some learned faster than others. Some already know their alphabet and some do not know their
alphabet. The pros of today is that I talked to Mrs.Larson and she mentioned that it is okay for
me to let them use the water and bathroom when they ask me. One thing I know I need to work
on is being more prepared and being ready for anything. There were a few students that I noticed
that I needed to keep my eyes on. Little by little I learned how to work with students and what to
do and how to interact with them.

Day seven 8/31/2022 (Wednesday)

Today we still worked on the routine with the student. The goal is to have all the students
memorize the routines. This was another day of observing for me. The students were excited but
timid. There were a few that started to talk more than others. We introduced letter C to the
students. Some know how to write the letter C, some do not. Some find it hard for them to write
the letter C. Mrs.Larson focused on rhyming words with the students. There were less students
who understood the rhyming. However, overtime I will be keeping track of how fast the student
starts to understand what rhyming is. On the positive side, I am builded relationships with the
students and multiple of them are getting comfortable with me. I communicated well with my CT
and she helped me with everything that I needed. One thing I need to work on is being more
confident in what I do. I feel like I am not making much progress. Everytime I fix a student I
kept looking at my CT to make sure that I am doing everything right.

Day Eight 9/1/2022 (Thursday)

Today I was more exhausted for the first time. When I was in the classroom it felt like I was
floating. I was not the only one who was exhausted, I also noticed the students were also
exhausted. Today we did the same routined. We had a morning meeting (weather, calendar, and
season, greeting one another). After that Mrs.Larson reintroduced the rhyming with clapping,
making different noises, and asking which letter rhymes and which one does not. Letter D was
also introduced to the class. Same as before some students had troubles with writing their letter
D. I worked with a small group and during this time I had them trached the letter D. After they
were finished, I let them color. Everything was still slow and everything was repeated. I am
getting more comfortable with working in a small group. One thing I need to do is take more
pictures of what we do each day. Today I took only two pictures. I am still working on how to
find how each student learned just by observing them.

Day Nine 9/2/2022 ( Friday)

First week finally came to an end. The student today was tired, exhausted, and they were ready to
be done. Today Mrs.Larson started them off with a morning meeting, introduced letter E, and
rhyming. Today felt like everyone wanted to be done and ready for the week, (the students and
the teacher). The students finally received their party by earning enough critter cards. This is to
show them that if they try hard, be good to friends, and be a helping hand they get rewarded. I
still observed the classroom and how my CT taught. The positive thing is that I learned alot from
my CT, how to teach a class, how to get the student engaged, and to be flexible. One thing I am
really proud of myself is offering to do an activity for my small group for upcoming tuesday.
However, I want to work more on being ready. I keep feeling like I am not ready. When my CT
asked me if I wanted to do anything I kept telling her to wait a little more.

Day Ten 9/6/2022 (Tuesday)

Today I started the morning meeting. I was nervous, scared, and excited. My CT was there and
she filled in anything I missed. The students listened to me well and they understood what I was
doing. I tried to do everything the same as my CT, but there were times when I did things a little
differently. After the morning meeting my CT took over. Letter F was being introduced to the
student. During a small group I created a worksheet for the students to work on. They had to
identify the F and color them as they finished. I created three worksheets for different level
groups. Today was the first day that the emotional zone was being introduced. Emotional zone is
very important to me. Having the students learn and know that they can express their feelings is
very important in my opinion. Besides my first day of doing the morning meeting, the first day
of creating the worksheet for my small group I also did a math test on them. Testing them was
harder than I thought it would be. It took longer to get all the students to be on the right pace.
One thing I want to do better is when testing the student I want to create a test that does not take
long and get students to be at the same pace.

Day Eleven 9/7/2022 (wednesday)

Today I took control of the morning meeting. I performed better, however I missed a few items
that the students were reminded about. I was happy and feeling good about the students being
flexible with me and they understand that I am a student teaching. After the morning meeting
Mrs. Larson took over and I did more observing. During the small group I work with word
counting. Sentences were given to me and I created the worksheet for the students. During the
small group, some students worked fast and some worked slow. During math time, we learned to
count and shade the number in. We also learned about bus safety, what to do and what not to do.
Overall I do think that I am getting better, but I do make mistakes.
There are multiple improvements that I needed to work on. I was still feeling nervous and
scared. I am not confident at the moment. I am always afraid of making mistakes. I noticed I
wanted to pay attention to all the students at the same time but it was hard for me to do. These
are the improvements that I need to make.

Day Twelve 9/8/2022 (Thursday)

Today I introduced the morning meeting again and I do think that I did better than yesterday. The
students were well behaved and they all listened well. After the morning meeting Mrs.Larson
took over again and I did more observing. During a small group, I created the game Ka-boom for
the students. During my small group there were a few times where the student finished early.
After that I created another game at the spot using the sticks. The students loved the game and
they were being flexible with me.
There was a student who was using the tools inappropriately and at the end of the day
Mrs.Larson had to call the parents to let them know. During that time I learned and processed
how teaching deals with behavior like that.
Improvement that I needed to make over time is having a smooth transition. Making sure that the
students can hear me and making sure that all the students pay attention is another improvement
that I needed to make. During the small group I have to work better on making sure that my
groups are not being too loud.

Day thirteen 9/9/2022 (Friday)

Today was a short day for me, but I learned so much in a short period of time. As before I
introduced the morning meeting. Talking about the weather, the calendar, and the day. After that
we went to our ten frame which I did not forget this time. After I finished my morning meeting,
Mrs. Larson just so happened to help another teacher because there was a sub. During this time I
learned to be flexible. I read the students a book, for the very first time. I was nervous while
reading the book. However, the students loved it. After that we did go noodle. As a teacher, you
have to learn to adjust quickly to your surroundings. During the small group I created a
worksheet for the students. The worksheet took longer than expected. I learned that the next time
I create a worksheet it should be more simple for the students to do. One thing I really need to
work on is my “teacher voice”. I just have a hard time speaking loud, I do not want to yell but I
want to talk loud enough for the students to hear me.

Day fourteen (9/12/2022) (Monday)

Today I started the morning meeting for the class. I learn to be more creative and more active
with the students. I still observed how Mrs. Larson taught the phonic lesson part. As I watched
her I also observed the students. During my small group I was working on rhyme, cutting and
gluing. I noticed that it took longer than I expected it to be. One student acts like he doesn’t want
to do it but explained to him if he gets this done he can do other stuff. He then started on his
cutting and he was the first one to get done. One thing that I am proud of myself for doing is
being flexible with the students and helping them understand the task of each assignment. One
thing I really want to work on is making assignments easier for the students. I noticed that when
I created the assignment for the students, it was more for first and second grade level. My goal is
to make my assignment more at a kindergarten level.

Day fifteen (9/13/2022) (Tuesday)

Today I taught phonics. I started out with my regular morning meeting, then transitioned into
phonics. I tried to have a smooth transition however, as I stood up there my mind went blank.
After that I moved to syllables, I also messed up during this lesson. I was feeling super nervous
and scared. Thought came to mind as I taught in front of the class. Thoughts such as will I be a
good teacher? Will the students learn at all? Will the students understand me? What if I messed
up the CT plan? What if the students don't want to listen to me? All the worries came to me at
once. The second portion of the lesson, I read to them and have them turn and talk. This portion
of the lesson went more smoothly. During my small group we finished our cut and glue. Most of
the students finished the cut and glue but some did not. I finished my day with bus duty. I
enjoyed taking the students to their bus and giving them a high five. I noticed that I needed a lot
of improvement in my teaching. I need to be more confident. I need to learn how to do a smooth
transition. I need to learn how to grab students' attention. I need to learn how to keep students
focused.

Day sixteen (9/14/2022) (Wednesday)

Today was my second day of teaching phonics. I ran a little bit over time during my phonics
lesson. My CT had to remind me that it was time to go to another activity. She also reminded me
that it happens sometimes, but there are parts of the day where you can be flexible and there are
parts of the day where you can not miss. For example, going to the play center or gym or boost
up those are the places that we have to be on time. Like teaching the phonics and lessons of the
day, that are in our classroom we can be flexible. For our small group I finished up with my
cutting and gluing assignment. Overall I think I did good but I know that I needed a lot more
practice to be confident and be more prepared.

Day seventeen (1/15/2022) (Thursday)

Today my morning meeting and my phonics transaction went well and better than yesterday.
However, the student listening and attention span was short. It was hard for me to keep them
together. While being up there, many thoughts also came to mind, such as how do I get students
to listen to me? How do I get students interested in what I am doing? How do I get all the
students' attention? As they became less interested in what I am doing I began to worry. While I
was doing my morning meeting I had a feeling I am missing something. I soon realized what I
was missing and it was my activity for the small group. On the positive side I was able to create
an activity right on the spot for them. One thing I need to work on is being more prepared and
getting everything ready. I need to work on my time management.

Day eighteen(1/16/2022) (Friday)

Each day you grow and learn. Today I learned how smoothly my CT taught her class because I
paid more and focused more on how she brought the class together. Today she introduced a new
topic, the way she taught the class, she made it enjoyable and the students were focused. As I
watched her, I said to myself that I wanted to teach like that. Today was not my best day. I was
feeling sick and tired. From not having a good sleep each day it really affected me in ways that I
did not know. My CT reminded me that if I needed to go I could go because my health is
important. Because I did not feel well I let my CT take control of today. Before leaving for the
day, I had a student tell me that another student called her fat. I talked to the other student and he
admitted that he did call her fat. I asked her why and said that he did not know. After that I talked
to him a bit more about why it is not kind to call another person fat or names. I then ask him to
apologize to the girl. One thing I was very proud of myself is that I handled that situation well. I
did not make a big fuss but yet I was able to do what a teacher would do. One thing I need to
work on is coming up with activities that I can do in a small group. I want it to be educational
and a learning tool for my kindergarten.