Madison Morse

1st Grade
Sumner Elementary School
January 2nd-March 21st
Student Teaching Journal

Week 1: January 2nd-5th

Whew a week it has been. It has been such a joy getting to know all of the students and building a
relationship with my CT. But it has been quite a challenge to get used to all the behaviors that occur in the
classroom. I am nervous for when I take over and teach as my CT has a hard time to get students to listen and on
tasks and I feel like they won’t want to listen to me because I’m not their usual teacher. I keep trying to think of
ways and strategies when I start doing lessons, but I am still thinking and trying to gather my thoughts on what ways
to go about it.
On Tuesday it was my first day but also the first day back from winter break for the students. Whew you
could tell that students needed reminders of what is expected throughout the day as they were off task a bit. I
observed the full day getting the swing on the schedule and learning names and building relationships with the
students. They were kind of shy and didn’t want to talk to me if I talked to them but as the day went on, they
warmed up.
On Wednesday it felt better and more like a routine. But I started feeling nervous on how I will teach these
students with all the behaviors that occurs. Wednesday was overall a good day but saw some challenges that my CT
had to deal with. Today I was still just observing and would jump in and help students when needed during
independent work time.
On Thursday it was a better day with the students. I still just observed and helped students during
independent work time. I also helped my CT when students would get off task when she was in the middle of a
lesson. I would give them reminders of what they needed to be doing. I also got to see how students transition to and
from their specials. I also got a tour of the building and saw where things were and how to use the copy machine to
help my CT when needed.
On Friday it was a rough day. Students were tired and worn out from being back after winter break and
knew it was time for the weekend. Students needed more reminders than usual today and I got to see how my CT
handles them when they occur a lot.
Reflecting on the week I learned a lot of things about 1st grade and how the routine works. I am excited for
the weeks to come and get dive more in and do more things then just observing. I know it will be challenging at
times but worth it more than I know.
Response From Supervisor
I wish it wasn’t so, but coming back from break is often like starting from scratch in the fall! It’s a really good time
to go back over expectations as if the students have never heard them before.

Week 2: January 8th-12th

My second week really felt like student teaching and being more involved. I still have only been observing
and helping where it’s needed when students are independently working. The students still needed a quiet a few
reminders of what is expected but they are getting better each day at getting back into the swing of things after
break. I have begun to notice the relationships I am making with the students, and it warms my heart that they are
gaining my trust and coming to me for things when my CT is busy with another student.
On Monday I was relived to finally meet my University Supervisor and connect with her and figure out
what was expected and get a plan in place of when I will start teaching. I took more notes and did more walking
around and helping when students had questions during work time.
On Tuesday I sat through all of my CT’s small groups during reading time and saw how she did them.
Students are placed in group based off their reading scores for them to be able to get the reading support they need
with their learning level. It was neat to see how each group worked. My CT and I talked about the groups and how
she does switch them up when students are progressing. We also talked about possibly doing different small groups
during reading for me to lead or maybe even do some one on ones with some students during that time.
On Wednesday I focused on how the students transition from one subject to the other. Being able to see
how students’ transition is huge as there is a lot of transitioning each day. Overall, the students do very well
transitioning but the biggest one is transitioning from lunch to math. After lunch students just aren’t ready to start
learning right away but with the tight schedule and to get everything done you need to stay on track. My CT does
give 10 minutes right after lunch of quite time which students can put their heads down, color, or quietly read or do
some provided math games. Most students choose the games. When this time is over many students are ready for
math but then there is some that don’t listen and complain of having to do math. Seeing how these students act give
me ideas of things I can try in my classroom one day.
On Thursday students knew it was a 4-day weekend and you could tell they were ready for it. I still
observed but I am learning new things every day that I am so excited to try when I get to teach.
Friday was a staff workday but turned into a snow day for the teachers if they chose to work from home.
My CT worked from home.

Week 3: January 21st-26th

My third week went better than I expected I finally felt like I was a part of the routine, and I am starting to
get things down and feel more confident for when I start to do more teaching.
On Monday my CT was gone and there was a substitute. All I’ve got to say is wow. I was able to do some
teaching alongside the sub, but it was challenging. I was gone last week so I wasn’t able to get any resources from
my teacher and they would have been very helpful. The sub was just a laid-back guy who didn’t really take much
control and I tried my best to use phrases my CT uses to keep them focused and to get them refocused when needed.
On Tuesday I did my first read aloud. It was a spur of the moment decision as we were needing to go to the
library but needed something to do in the library as my CT was checking in the students books they were returning.
Overall, I felt like the read aloud went good but I could use some work. When reading I know that most teachers
make it fun and engaging but I had a hard time changing my voice. This is something I will think about and how to
change and make future read alouds fun.
On Wednesday I helped with some transitions to get the feel of what it’s like to get the students to go from
one thing to the next. It was definitely a challenge as some students don’t listen or stop what they are doing when it’s
time to switch gears. I felt like learning and practicing these transitions will help when I do my 2 weeks of teaching
so I know what to expect and what to do to get students transitioned.
On Thursday I did my first morning meeting. I was nervous but not that much. I felt like the students
listened well and weren’t off task as much as they are some days. I used my CT’s prompt she uses for morning
meetings to keep the students in the same routine.
On Friday my CT was gone again and there was a substitute. This time around I was able to sit down and
plan and get resources to help me since she was going to be gone and this helped tremendously compared to
Monday when I didn’t have any of her resources. It was definitely a learning experience but also very challenging.
The substitute let me do mostly everything following the sub plans. I learned a lot today as the students were very
off task and kept telling us no. This is something the students need reminders on as they aren’t to tell us teachers no
and are to do what we tell them to do. I was able to act as the teacher all day and test out how to handle when
behaviors occurred. Of course, I had help from the sub but she let me do my thing and helped when I needed it.

Week 4: January 28th-February 2nd

On Monday I continued with morning meeting. I am gradually feeling as if this is natural, and I have been
doing it since day one. Morning meeting is different everyday as we have a new focus message. For example, we tell
the students we are going to focus on being kind to their peers and then have the partner share ideas of ways to be
kind. Then I have a few students share out and write their ideas down for everyone to see. I think doing morning
meeting this way and it being different everyday helps the students understand that we focus on many things in
school. I also did some transitions; I transitioned the students to reading for Madi after I got done with morning
meeting. It went okay but could be better. As soon as the students know morning meeting is done, they start talking
and get off task even though they remain on the carpet where reading will take place. Next time this happens I might
do a movement or breathing break to get them calmed down. I also picked the students up from specials and this is
still a work in progress for me as they talk none stop even though they know they aren’t supposed to and I show the,
what is expected by doing a silent signal and most students just choose not to do it even though I’ve asked and I do
it with them.
On Tuesday I was sick; I will be making this up.
On Wednesday I did my first math lesson with the class. Overall, I think it went good and a plus is I didn’t
feel nervous at all. There is more than enough room for growth and things I’ve taken away from this lesson to use
for the future. Being able to reflect on this math lesson with you was great as I got to hear feedback from someone
who isn’t a teacher in the class and doesn’t see the routine we have going in here. I also think that over time with
learning how the students interrupt during math I will be able to get a routine down on how to keep them focused.
Being my first lesson and being observed right away I feel pretty good about it!
 On Thursday I did another lesson while being observed and I think this went okay but it could have been
better. On Wednesday with Madi not observing me she was able to help with behaviors and students off task but
today I felt it all for myself and had to keep them under control while she was watching. She obviously helped when
needed for big interruptions, but I did the minor ones. I felt like I handle it well but next time I would like to use
some different tips Madi provided me with to help the students that weren’t focused. Reflecting with Madi about this
lesson really helped me see things that I know she does, but I didn’t have them in my mind when I was teaching. Its
almost like all I was focused on was delivering the lesson, but I now know I need to step back and use all the
resources and even stop the lesson and wait for students who can’t stay engaged and let them know I just won’t
continue without their attention. I can’t wait for my next observations to see if I can take these tips and use them.
On Friday I went to the edTPA workshop in Winona. I learned lots of good things for the edTPA but I feel a
little stressed from the information over load and feel like it going to be hard to juggle being in the classroom every
day and doing things for the class during the evenings but also trying to complete my edTPA to succeed.

Week 5: February 5th-9th

On Monday I did morning meeting and the math lesson. Both things are just becoming a routine to me as
I’ve been doing them both for like a week. I love doing morning meeting as it’s a fun routine to get the morning
started with. We always start with saying good morning and going over the day and date. Then we talk about
something positive and how the students can act today to be a kind student. I like doing morning meeting like this
and think I will implement it in my classroom someday. The math lesson is starting to become a routine, but I still
think I can use some work. First grade math is obviously easy math to comprehend for us adults but being able to
find the best way to teach it to students is tough but I’m doing my best to spend lots of time on my lesson planning.
On Tuesday there was another sub. But today was different then all the subs we’ve had. I got to do basically
everything. I followed the sub plans including all the transitions and got to have a feel of the full day. It felt good to
do so I can have a feel what it’s like when I do my 10 days of teaching. It was a challenge since this group of
students is tough but overall, it felt good, and I learned a lot.
On Wednesday I did the first half of the day as my CT was gone. Again, it was a great learning experience
to have. The students were pretty well behaved for me, and I felt like it went better than Tuesday.
On Thursday I stuck with morning meeting and the math lesson. I’m still pretty iffy on doing reading
without being guided through it as there is a lot that goes on for reading. I need more practice on the stuff in the
curriculum book and what I need to teach the students. Phonics is also another part of reading that I’m still trying to
learn as I have never been taught phonics besides a small part in one of my Winona classes.
On Friday it was a tough day. The students were good in the morning, but the afternoon just went downhill.
It’s almost like any little things makes them upset and complain about not wanting to do it. But I see lots of great
tips to use in my class for when I will be alone and have to deal with the social emotional behaviors. I did my usual
of morning meeting and math. But today for math we did stations! I loved this way of math. I got to interact with all
the students on a personal level at my group. We were reviewing for a test they will take on Tuesday so at my group
I had students adding tens and ones with regrouping with math manipulatives. The students really enjoyed my
stations I had some tell me “This is fun”. I loved hearing that. For the students who struggled in my group I was able
to walk them step by step how to do it while the other students were independently working on the answer.

Week 6: February 11th-16th

On Monday it was a fun party day. All of Sumner celebrated the 100th day of school today. The students
were so excited and had so much fun. It was great to see the students excited and engaging in the fun activities. In
our class my CT did station style activities. We didn’t do much of the curriculum besides reading. We started reading
off with the new unit and introduced the story and made connections within it. Then we started the first set of 4
activities in stations. These stations were 100-piece puzzle, 100-day crown, write 100 words, and read 100 books
then after it was time for recess and lunch. For math the students did four more stations and these ones involved 100
bead necklaces, making a 100s chart, making a tower with 100 cups, rolling dice and coloring in the number of
boxes you rolled and adding on each roll. Everyone enjoyed all the stations. At the end of the day the students had
one last 100-day activity and this had some math to it, but the students got a “place mat” with 10 circles and they
need to put 10 snacks in each circle making 100 snacks!! It was such an enjoyable day with the kids, I helped where
it was needs when the students had questions. I did start the day off with morning meeting and added two new things
to my morning meeting. One was a 2-minute hello before starting the message part to out meeting. This allowed
students to say good morning to as many peers as they could in 2 minutes. Then I added in a fun interactive game
called caught red handed. We stood in a circle and one student stood in the middle with their eyes closed while the
circle passed around 3 objects when the student in the middle counted to 10, they opened their eyes and got 3 tries to
figure out who had the objects. They loved this and it added a little fun to morning meeting.
On Tuesday there was a sub just for the morning. I continued with morning meeting and tried another new
game with the students to add a little fun to morning meeting. Morning meeting is a routine everyday but switching
it up and adding things always has its plus side to start the day. I went ahead and did the reading lesson for the day.
I’m still trying to get the hang of how to make sure I hit everything in the curriculum book for the reading lessons.
The sub did help during reading a little bit as the students weren’t giving me their full attention and were off task.
I’m starting to feel better were transitions during the day, I’ve been using Madi’s phrases to get the students to stop
what they’re doing and clean up. During math we did a practice test for review for test day on Thursday. After the
practice test, I planned an activity which was place value bingo. The students got with a partner and flipped through
cards that had addition problems with number and words and they had to figure out the answer. The students had a
fun time with this activity and enjoyed it. Adding in different activity makes the day fun.
On Wednesday morning meeting was a little hectic as we had some behaviors that had to be dealt with right
away in the morning, but I took the lead as Madi handled those and tried to keep the students focused to let them
know about our day. We did our routine of our morning message and then we ended with another game that the
students love and a breathing activity to get everyone ready for reading. During reading I did a read aloud and then
helped where it was needed during independent worktime. For math it was test day. In the class we do testing as a
whole group where I read each question aloud so the students could comprehend them better. I really like this way of
doing tests and plan to do tests in my future class this way. After the test the students worked on a solve and color
worksheet.
On Thursday we went to the dome right away for the 100 day of school wide celebration. The students
were very excited. At the dome there were 6 different stations that the PE teacher put together for the students.
Students got to participate in each station and have a fun time moving their bodies. Once we got back to school from
the dome the students had a hard time getting into the swing that it was time to learn. We took about 30 minutes of
quite time to calm the students down. It was then time for recess. For math we did small groups. I was at one of the
stations where the students did a pretest for our next unit. I then went over the vocabulary with them for the next unit
to get them introduced to the words they will be seeing and used visuals to help them picture what we would be
learning. The other two groups were independent work. One group was a math add on their iPad reviewing simple
math they already know, and the other group was a solve and color worksheet with addition problems.
On Friday was a staff professional development day. At Sumner the teachers attended a training at the high
school in the morning and then came back to Sumner for some other trainings. The trainings were very
informational, and I got to learn some good things about the educational apps they use. The end of the day we ended
at Neveln with a grade level meeting. The 1st grade teacher all came together to work on some lesson plans for some
lessons in the math curriculum that aren’t in the chapters and how they would implement them in their classroom.
Week 7: February 20th-23rd
On Tuesday I recorded my first edTPA lesson. It didn’t go how I hoped it would, but I have two days to
improve. I felt as almost since I was being recorded, I couldn’t get my words out and didn’t give the best lesson I
could. The students were also very off task and I had to do a lot of redirections and stopping to get some students to
pay attention. I also noticed that when I had the students go get their math books and bring them to the carpet that
they wouldn’t focus on me and only doodle in their book. Which isn’t ideal because my next two lessons I planned
to have the students use whiteboards throughout my lesson and feel like that is going to be a big mistake because
they will do the same thing and doodle. I also did a small group reading and this went well. The group of students
were well behaved for the most part with few reminders. But I felt good and the lesson and my instruction as the
students were successful for our learning target. For the small group lesson today, we just did a book walk and the
student’s made inferences on what they thought would happen in the story. I enjoyed hearing the student’s making
inferences because they had good ones. After making inferences I had the students start reading each student would
read a page rotating. I chimed in and helped with words they didn’t know or recognize. Overall, the lesson was great
and after reading I talked to the students about the characters and how they might have felt in the situation that
happened in the story from the beginning and at the end.
On Wednesday I did a small group reading and was observed. I felt good about the lesson and my
instruction as the students were successful for our learning target. Some things to improve on would be using other
resources like vocabulary cards. Having the learning target written for students who learn best visually. I also would
like to improve small groups by offering more one on one with the students so they can’t get the work done as I did
have one student who wasn’t able to focus and finish. Talking with my supervisor about the lesson really helped me
see the resources and ideas I could add to my small groups to help my students learn deeper and more visual. I also
recorded my second edTPA lesson and it was a learning experience again. Like I mentioned in my Tuesday notes I
planned for the students to use whiteboards as a tool to show me that they were understanding as I would briefly
check their answers as they held their boards up. Like I said I figured they wouldn’t focused and that is what
happened. I gave reminders of what was expected but also felt like I didn’t give enough because I was recording and
didn’t want to ruin my video by lecturing at the students. For the future I am going to set my expectation high and
just stop what I’m doing and wait until they are ready to show me what is expected.
On Thursday I recorded my third and final edTPA lesson. I felt as if this was the worst one out of the three.
It had been a tough day prior to math, and you could tell during my lesson. I felt like I didn’t even get any of the
students to understand what we were learning. The whole lesson was interrupted by students not listening and
talking to their peers and not having a calm body. It got even worse when I had them grab their math books to have
them do the guided practice with me as they just went ahead by their self and didn’t pay attention to what I was
teaching them. There were even times I would ask a question and want students to raise their hands, but I had
nobody raise their hands because nobody has heard me ask them the question. Going forward for my 10 days I will
be doing my math lesson differently and won’t be having much of the hands-on tools for them to be able to get
distracted. After reflecting on this lesson with my supervisor I got some great feedback as to what to do in these
types of situations and how to handle it to make it a successful lesson. I also did my first whole group reading lesson
on Thursday which I felt like it went well, but I have room to improve. The reading curriculum is complex and has
many different parts and they even spilt the reading into two parts, and I feel like it’s hard to give a good lesson with
not enough time. Madi and I talked about the lesson, and she gave me a few pointers to use going forward!
On Friday it started off as a pretty decent day I did morning meeting. I talked about the next two weeks
with them and how I expect them to give me their all and attention just like Madi would expect from them. I also
made it clear that we will be following the expected behaviors for when I say signals for transitions and what not.
They seemed excited I would be teaching for 2 weeks. I hope it goes well but I know it’s going to be a learning
experience with this group. I also did the whole group reading. This is where the day kind of went a little bad.
During our second half of whole group reading the students just had no patience to sit and learn they kept
interrupting. I tried using tips and things Madi does, but nothing was working. Eventually I said ill just wait and
you’ll only waste your time for recess. Then they finally allowed me to do the lesson. After recess and lunch, they
had an extended quite time which they did pretty good with. But after they got back from Art it just went downhill. I
again did the math lesson and had no focus from anyone, Madi was out of the room for a meeting so the
instructional coach was in there in place of her and she noticed my struggles and how they just wouldn’t listen, so
she jumped in and told them that I asked them several times to pay attention and do things and they just wouldn’t so
she did some breathing with them which I had done 5 minutes prior to her jumping in. We eventually got the lesson
done but I was very defeated because I just feel like I’m failing but I’m trying to remind myself that this is a very
tough group and that I’m not the only one who can’t get them to listen.

February 26th-March 1st

Monday: Today was my first day of my ten days of teaching. Madi was gone so there was a substitute. It
went better than I expected it was going to go. Starting off with morning meeting we went over some expectations
and what I expect them to do at times. I reminded them when we do “hands on head, eyes on teacher” that it means
to stop what you are doing right away and for them to give me their attention. We use this for all transitions. We also
went over what is expected during math, I talked about the struggles we had last week during math and that I would
like them to do their best and be good listeners and have their voices off unless it was time for them to talk. During
morning meeting, I did do a reset and it helped tremendously they listened to what I was expecting and when we
tried to get in a circle for the activity a second time everybody was showing me the expected behaviors. Going
forward I will use stopping and starting over as a strategy so they can see that they need to always show expected
behaviors. During the first half of reading the students did great and participated showing they were learning. But
during the second half they struggled a bit and I had to start a timer to get them to realize that it was time to work
and that they would be wasting their own recess time. We did get the work done that we needed to, but they
accumulated a 3-minute timer, so we sat and waited for the timer to go off to go to recess. Using this strategy also
shows the students that they can’t just be goofing off and get away with it. I’ve also been making it a point to let the
students know who aren’t showing expected behaviors that their friends who must wait for them as well don’t like
waiting and that they need to respect their friends. After recess and lunch, we transitioned to math well but we they
did need some reminders to stay focused. I felt like math went good today compared to last week. I didn’t have them
bring their textbooks to the carpet today and did more of raising hands and having them tell me answers and coming
to write them on the board. I felt much better about the lesson and like they learned from my teaching. After they
had their specials, it was time for writing. They have been working on an opinion writing and today they were
piecing their ideas they brainstormed together. It was a struggle because they don’t know how to spell completely
yet, and they also don’t really understand how they should write their sentences. I want to do small group writing
once this unit is over to work one on one with like a group of 5 students rather than trying to help the whole class.
After writing it was science/WIN time, which is a choice time, but they are grouped at a certain station with
different choices they can choose from within the station. I almost had to take this away as the transition was very
hard and many of the students wouldn’t show me expected behavior, but I gradually called one by one of the
students who were ready, and it made the other students see that they needed to stop talking and listen for them to
get to go to their station. Overall, it was a good day and I feel great about the day.
Tuesday: Today was my second day of my ten days of teaching. It went pretty good but not as good as
yesterday. I had a lot more redirection and waiting to do as the students would just not stop talking and pay attention.
I would point out the expected behaviors but that didn’t even help some of the off-task students. As time goes on, I
hope to be able to ask for their full attention and that they’ll just listen, but I don’t have high hopes because in first
grade it is hard to listen, and they are still learning themselves. Morning meeting and reading went well. For reading
we had a spelling check and I conducted this by reading the words aloud and sounding each letter out. I really like
this way of doing a test because then I can have each student on the same pace. I will do it like this or in small
groups in my future classroom. After recess and lunch, we jumped right into Math after a 5-10 minute quite time so
we could stay on schedule. Math went well again today but could have been better but again I didn’t have them
bring their math books, so I think this will be how I do math going forward with my ten days, no math books!! I just
have more focus since they don’t have a distraction in their laps. After math it was collaboration time but Madi did
this only because this is new as of January that the teachers had to teach it so she agreed that her doing it would be
better. I am thinking about trying to do the one next Tuesday. After collaboration we went out for extra recess as a
reward that the students got from earning a Starbuck last Friday. This helped some students because on Tuesdays
they don’t have any specials, so they spend all day in the classroom. They were able to get their bodies moving and
interacted with peers which always helps. We then came back in and start finishing up their opinion writings. Some
students aren’t all understanding this but like I said in yesterday’s journal I would rather do it in a small group to
give a smaller group all my attention rather than trying to give 20 students my attention. After writing it was time for
science/win and today I was going to let them have free choice of the stations but they couldn’t get settled after
writing there was a bunch of behaviors that happened so I decided it would be easier to keep them grouped and pick
their station, so it didn’t cause any other things to happen.
Wednesday: Today was my third day of my ten days of teaching. Thankfully we had another decent day!
We of course had behaviors from the students who have them every day, but Madi has been helping a lot with these
as they have new strategies and things in placement to help these students. We had a little of a longer meeting which
went pretty good but still hoping to improve my morning meeting every day and elaborate more on what we talk
about in morning meeting to take up some time as well. For reading it was a test day so we started off by going over
the test with it projected on the white board and reminded students what they need to do and that they need to listen
to the stories thoroughly so they can answer the question confidently. After we went over the test the students went
to the table and started their test which is taken on their Ipads. Once students are done, they are allowed to go on a
reading app while waiting for the rest of the students to be done. After the test I gathered the students back to the
carpet it was a little hard transition but after noting the positive behaviors students followed. I have found that this is
the best way to get other students to pay attention. After the test I had the students, flashlight read this is when we
turn the lights off and the students read the decodable book independently or in a group. Unfortunately, it was not
going as expected so I had made them put the books and flashlights away and I read a story to them. During math
we did a Nearpod. This is a way to make a lesson interactive. It’s basically a PowerPoint because you make slides,
but Nearpod allows you to do a live participation, so the students go to the app on their iPad and type in my code
and they follow along answering the questions. I can see their answers and see when they are done to move on to the
next. This was a review for the test that is one Friday. The students really enjoy doing Nearpod’s but some like to
race to see who can answer first. At the end I added in a “game” which isn’t the best to do because then it really
creates a race, and you have to make sure you set expectations and let them know that it is okay if they don’t “win”.
The game has series of questions the students have to answer in so many seconds and the faster they answer and if
they correctly answer the better chance they have to win. After they had their specials, it was time for writing. Since
it was a test day for reading and the unit was over, I made a fun writing prompt. I had the students do an opinion
writing about their favorite thing they like to do after school. I went over what to do before hand and provided them
with a sentence frame “My favorite thing to do after school is…… because”. They were all able to complete this
writing activity which made me feel good about it. Then it was time for science/win, and this was the usual of they
are in a group and at a station and chose what they do within their group.
Thursday: Today was my fourth day of my ten days of teaching. To be honest it was a very tough day. I
honestly felt like I had just failed. It was the start of a new unit for reading. Which included introducing the topic the
unit is based on and doing multiple things to go along with the unit. But then it also meant a new phonics unit as
well. And if I’m being honest, I still know very little about phonics and how it works and it honestly makes me
embarrassed to say. I know I have time to learn and grow but I just don’t feel like I’m getting the guidance I should.
I also struggled introducing the sights words because since I don’t know phonics that well it’s hard for me to know
the right sound each letter makes to break apart the words and this is an activity we do. The students have a chart
with many boxes that go along with how many the sounds the word has and then we write the words in the boxes to
visually see the words broken apart. I pretty much winged this part and did the best I could. After getting passed
reading and reflecting how it went, I just felt like it set my mood for the day, but I tried to not let it affect my
teaching. On Thursdays the students get picked up for music from lunch, so I had prep right away after lunch I took
this time to get set up for math stations. During math I chose to do math stations as another review for tomorrows
test. The math stations went well. I was at a station and the students took a practice test with me and then the other
two stations were independent. One was a worksheet that consisted of the students surveying 10 peers making a tally
chart and then a bar graph. Then the other group did a learning palette which is where you can put cards with
questions on them, so I did ones with bar graphs and picture graphs since they were in the unit. Then for writing I
did small groups as it was a new unit, and the topic is how to writing. With my first group today, it went good and
the student’s brainstormed things that they know how to do and next we will be planning our step by step on how to
do the topic they chose. After reading it was time for our science/win time. But then it was also school store day, so I
took the students who brought money to that which was all but 4 kids. It felt bad for the 4 kids because they were
sad, they didn’t bring money and it breaks my heart for them but I reminded them that it was okay not everyone
bring money for these types of things and that there is always next month.
Friday: Friday was my fifth day teaching all day. It was another tough day. The morning started out decent,
but it was definitely a Friday, and you could tell the students were ready for the weekend. At the end of morning
meeting is when I noticed the attention was not going to be there today. I went over expectations of things as we did
them and even had the students tell me what the expectation were, and they could tell me the expectations, but they
wouldn’t follow them. They requested to do a would you rather movement break and I went over the expectations of
how we don’t get silly and have calm bodies but before we even go to it I had to call it off because I asked for the
students to wait quietly for me to get it ready but I had about half of them not listen so I said will try again another
day and did a breathing activity. This made them upset, but I wanted to show them that we don’t get to do things if
they can’t listen. The first half of reading went alright but it could have been better. The second half of reading
didn’t go as planned. Madi was observing me, so I stuck to a lesson plan which consisted of reading a story talking
about the past, present, and future schools as the unit is all about the past. During this lesson there were many times
for them to talk with peers and about the story as we were trying to pick out key details in the story. During the turn
and talks the students didn’t talk about what they were supposed to so then when I asked for answers nobody has
any. I felt very frustrated but stayed as positive as I could. Now for the afternoon it took a bigger turn they came
back from lunch, and we had our “quiet” time. It was longer than usual today because of how the schedule is set up
on Fridays. They go to art after quiet time so we don’t start math as it would be hard to fit in anything to get them to
learn thoroughly. Madi left before art so then I had a sub in the room with me. After art the students took their math
test which was good. But then after math we got into writing and Madi shared her writing groups with me and
somehow, they got switched up and had the wrong groups and everyone just started yelling and saying no it’s not
right and I just told them mistakes happen and so I switched to day 3 instead of day 2 like we were supposed to be
on to at least be able to do writing. During writing I sit at the back table with a group and the others work
independently on stuff that they know they are expected to do such as a book reflection, a handwriting page and
seesaw which has stuff for writing on it as well. But nobody followed direction, so it was hard for me to teach the
group I was working with. Needless to say, it was very stressful. After writing they know its choice/win time, but we
always do our transition by cleaning up and meeting at the carpet before moving to our next thing. This was a very
hard transition it was to the point I called the office asking for the principal to come down because I just couldn’t do
it and they also wouldn’t listen to the sub. But before the principal came the nurse walked in because I failed to
remember we had a scheduled presentation with her. The students did decent for her presentation and then showed
me they fixed they’re mistakes and that they could handle 10 minutes of choice time.
Reflecting on my week there were many highs and lows, but I feel relieved a week is done and that I can grow more
during next week and hope it is a much better week. But teaching will never be the same you can control what
happens but at the same time sometimes you just can’t when no matter what you do like take away things or ask
students to stop and pay attention.

March 4th-8th
 Monday: On Monday it was my sixth day of my ten days of teaching. It was a decent day but still hoping
for some growth throughout the week for transitions and getting the students to pay attention during lessons. We
started morning meeting off with going over expectations and what I expect from the students. Many students could
tell me what I was expecting from them but throughout the day they just don’t do what they say they will do. The
first half of reading went well. The second half was a little frustrating with the lack of participation but after talking
about it during my post observation I felt like I learned some new things to try to get more students to participate.
After reflecting on my lesson, I felt better being able to walk away with things to try next time. Throughout the
afternoon we had some good and bad transitions but that’s always a given depending on what is going on before the
transition. Some students just don’t like to stop what they are doing. Today was the first day of a new math chapter. I
started the lesson off with a “am I ready” this shows teachers where the students stand with the content we are going
to be working with. For the most part the students did well with the “am I ready” but did have some students
struggle. After doing that we got into lesson one. The lesson went well the chapter is on length and time. The only
thing I wish I would have done differently is the way I delivered some of the ways to label things for length. The
book had us look at three things and say if it was long, longer, or longest. So essentially the shortest one would be
labeled long but this really confused students. I didn’t really explain that as it didn’t pop in my head until after the
lesson as I was going through thoughts on why students were confused. So, for lesson two I’m going to make sure to
better explain the different ways of lengths. In the afternoon the students went to their specials. When picking them
up from PE, it was hard. I’ve been trying things to get them to be quiet in the hall but when the PE teacher lines
them up, he doesn’t let them know to be quiet I open the door and they are just talking so I must try to talk over
them to tell them were entering the hall and we need voices off. Sometimes it’s as simple as me showing a silent
signal and some student will follow but many wont. I can’t wait to set expectations in my own classroom from the
start because 2 weeks just isn’t enough to set those boundaries for the students to follow. After PE we came back to
class and did a quick breathing to get settled in for the rest of the day. This helps most kids but it’s hard because we
can only take a few minutes until we need to get into writing so the time to get all focused is just not there. Madi
provided me with her writing slides but didn’t tell me I would need to change them up and I thought I could just do
them as is. Well, that was a mistake so my writing stations were messed up for day 1-day 5 of writing and this really
threw the students off but I just winged it and did the best I could and made sure I was going to be at least meeting
with every student on different days so we could go over the writing for the unit. Today was overall a good day but
many areas of growth are needed. I know overtime and in my own class things will be okay.
Tuesday: Tuesday was my seventh day of teaching. Tuesdays are always hard. We have no prep so this
leads for students to be in the class all day long besides lunch and recess. It’s hard for the students because they need
that ability to get out of the classroom more during the day. Morning meeting started off good as usual where we
talked about our goals for the day and what I expected from them while we are on the carpet. Going over this every
day and having the students tell what they need to do was helping instead of changing things up. I liked to keep it
the same as when Madi did things just to keep them on a routine. I plan to always keep a routine in my own
classroom because change is hard for kids. During reading we read a story about how people got around in the past
and the students were well engaged and interested in the topic. We then had the students draw how they get around
today and seeing their imaginations draw different ways of getting around such as biking, walking, planes, and cars
was cool. After independent work time we read a story about the white house and summarized what we found out.
The students had high interest for learning about the white house so I found a white house tour video for kids so they
could get a better idea of what the inside looked like. This was a suggestion for Madi on how to extend the lesson so
the student could learn beyond then what the curriculum book has to offer. During math we had some high school
students observing for a class their taking. They were strictly observing the students on how the students learn. This
was a very good math lesson. The students were quite the whole time, participated and were very engaged. I almost
wish they show that amount of engagement every day instead of just because the high schoolers were there. I was a
little nervous it wasn’t going to go well but it went very well, and I felt like my lesson was very to the point and
students understood as everyone was able to do their independent worksheet with no help. After math we had
collaboration, this is once a week on Tuesdays. Today the school counselor came in a taught it, but she only comes
in once every three weeks. I sat on the carpet with student during her lesson just because for the first 15 minutes so
many students were being disruptive and not listening to her. Once they students saw that I was paying attention to
what they were doing they began to listen. I didn’t have to do this, but I felt it was right to do so because it’s not fair
that the counselor was trying to teach as many weren’t listening. On Tuesday during choice time, they got to pick
what stations they wanted to go to. But when I announced that, that was what was happening students got a little too
silly, so we had to sit and wait and they waisted some of their choice time. I reminded them that this was on them
and that they need to do what is expected to be able to do fun things. Picking their choice time activity was a
learning process as some students didn’t show they earned it. They weren’t following the directions. I think it’s great
to give students a choice occasionally, but they need to know that they have to earn it and how to earn it. If I had
another day of teaching where it was, they day they got to pick I would be reminding them throughout the day that if
they can’t show me, they deserve it we wouldn’t be doing it just so they know I can take fun things away due to the
lack of engagement for what we need to do.
Wednesday: Wednesday was my eighth day of teaching and by this day everything just came so easy. We
started morning meeting off talking about how Friday was going to be a fun filled day, but we wanted them to earn a
star buck. A star buck is when they get 10 tokens and then they get a reward. They were very excited and determined
to work hard. We came up with 5 things as a class that we needed to do to earn one. These 5 things were whole body
listening on the carpet, working hard during work time, quite in the hallway, hands on head, and lining up without
any arguments. This class has a very hard time lining up as they are always “cutting” in line and wanted to be first.
The students can also earn tokens in lunch and their specials. I held them to these 5 things and reminded them each
time before we did one of them that if the whole class participated, they would get their token. I was able to give
them 2 tokens on Wednesday which made us 4 away on Thursday. Math was very hard. I had very little engagement
and participation during math, and I felt very frustrated. I did my best to get through my lesson the best I could. In
the middle of math, we did a page in their worksheet that allowed the students to get up and use manipulative to
make the lesson more interactive, but I felt like if I didn’t do this, thing would have been different since their
wouldn’t have been any interruption of having to get them back on the carpet. After talking with you and Madi about
this lesson I felt better and again got some things to use going forward. Going over my final evaluation and talking
through my experience made me feel good and that I was at least going in the right direction. I know I have plenty
of room for growth and things to learn but as a teacher we are always learning new ways as things pop up from day
to day.
Thursday: On Thursday it was a decent day. We continued to work hard towards a star buck and earning
tokens throughout the day. During reading we did a spelling check and I really enjoy doing these spelling checks the
way we do them because I feel like it’s very beneficial. The students sit at their tables, and I walk around with the
micro phone sounding out the words so they can hear each letter sound. I also have them put their pencil in the air
after they are done with each word so we can move on as a class and not forget anyone who is still writing the word.
The students went straight to music after lunch. They came back and had earned the last 2 token we needed for a star
buck so they were all very excited we would be getting a reward tomorrow. Our afternoon went on like it always
does with math, PE writing and then choice time. They came back from PE very amped up, so we took some time to
get settled back into the class to have a good afternoon. During writing today since my slides were messed up, I met
with the students I needed to meet with but then the rest of the students all worked on the same writing prompt of
what their favorite thing to do in the spring is. I provided them with sentence frames to help them write their
sentences and wrote some spring words on the board that they could use. Madi was also helpful during this time
since I am at the back table working with a group so it’s not easy to help the whole class. After choice time we ended
a little early to vote of their star buck reward. I allowed the students to come up with reward ideas and then we
voted. They all must have been hungry because we had 5 options to choose from and the last one to vote for a was a
snack and everybody’s hand went up as nobody else voted for any of the 4 other things. So, I promised I would
bring a snack and we would have a fun day Friday as it was the day before spring break.
Friday: Friday went way better than I could have ever imagined. The day before spring break is usually
always bumpy since the kids are ready for the week but certainly ready for a break. Friday was a “fun” day as we
had lots of things planned. It started off in morning meeting with me allowing them to do a “would you rather”
movement break and I figured what better way than to let them get this for my last morning meeting with them.
During reading they did well, and I had lots of participations and the students also had movement to go do a favorite
game survey on five peers as our reading is about games in the past. After our small reading it was time for phonics.
Madi did her last observation on me today and it was for phonics. I felt good during this lesson and how I modeled it
to the students. After learning the phonics, the students did a spelling dictation. But this one was more of a we do
because for our long e vowel we are focusing on the students saying where they hear the sound rather than having to
spell the word their self since there is many 2 letters that make up our long e. They did a really good job during
worktime and working hard. After we then did our whole group reading and I did another anchor chart with finding
the main topic and key details. Again, this one went way better than previous, and I had more participation and I
made it more interactive by using sticky notes and allowing students to put key details on the anchor chart. Our
afternoon was a laid-back day. The students had art and then when they came back, we did about 20 minutes of math
to get a “check my progress” going over the 4 lesson we did this week. After math I put together a little spring craft.
We made a windsock!! After this it was time for their Starbuck reward. They worked hard Wednesday and Thursday
to get to 10 tokens so we could have a reward today. Yesterday we voted and everyone voted for a snack. So, I
brought in rice Krispie’s and after the craft we had snack time. Also, this week was unified week so to end the day
we had half of a 3rd glass classroom come into our room to have free play where all the kids got to play together.
Overall, it was a very good day, and I expected it to go the opposite. Now to reax a little on spring break but crank
out my edTPA.