Week 2

     Looking back at this past week at student teaching, I can say that I learned huge amounts about my classroom, about teaching, and in my interactions with the other teachers and aides in the class. Starting off on Monday, I was able to do some helping out with small group instruction in our reading class. This reading group only consists of a few students, usually about 3-5. I found out on Monday that one of the students in my reading group had recently been evicted from his house, while another's mother had lost her job which was the only source of income in the household. This is an example of some of the socioeconomic situations that some of the students in my classes need to go through and what happens in some of their daily lives. These situations were surprising to me, even after getting to know the students. I think it's very important to notice that sometimes the teachers in the classes need to focus on whether the students in the classes are eating and getting nutrition over whether their academic pursuits are going well.
    I was also able to teach a reading lesson this week on a last-minute basis as my teacher was suddenly called to go pick up her daughter from her school because she wasn't feeling well, because of this I was able to take over a lesson last minute which was really sudden but it went well and it was nice to teach a lesson, even if it wasn't one that I was able to make up.
    Tuesday I was able to go to an IEP meeting and a re-evaluation for one of my students after school which was quite a long process but it was really constructive for me in my learning to see an IEP meeting happen in person and see how the parents reacted to that and to that process. I was surprised by how many people attended the meeting but also just how well they worked together and what their interactions together looked like.
     Throughout the rest of the week I was able to learn about how to interact with paraprofessionals more and how to interact with aides. I think that I learned more about the paraprofessionals and about their lives and backgrounds with the students as well. I think that I also have been growing in my respect in the classroom with the students and other adults with each day, which is important as I get closer to more and more teaching.
    Friday my cooperating teacher was gone for the entire day as she was at an inservice to learn about a new alternative assessment that will soon be used. Because of this, we had a substitute teacher but I was able to teach two lessons during the day which my teacher prepared for me. I was able to teach a reading lesson, which was basically just review and worksheets on a story that the student read earlier in the week, give a spelling test, and then do our daily reading time, where I read the students a few chapters from the book "Despicable Me". These lessons went well and I think that I was definitely helpful for the substitute to have in the class as I knew the students well and some of the daily functions in the classroom.
   Classroom Confidential
1. I think that I have definitely learned about behavior in my classroom thus far, mainly that behavior changes happen each day and that behaviors may be classified in one way one day and completely different the next day. This happens in my students as I may hear very bad things about their behaviors, but then not see those behaviors at all for a few days, then all of a sudden the next day see those behaviors manifest themselves. I think that I knew already that it is important to be proactive with behaviors, but I have learned how to apply this a bit more and the importance of this.
2. Eptness is the capacity for students to be interested and excited in what they are learning and to work in what they are learning about. I have learned about some ways to use eptness in the classroom, this may be encouragement, as well as the importance of a positive demeanor in the classroom. Often, it is easy to start getting negative with the students in the classroom and feel that nothing you do will work with them but it is important to stay positive and to work to incorporate encouragement into your practices.
3. I think some behaviors I will use will be using cooperation in the classroom between students, classroom work, and responsibility for actions. The first two will be used because there does not seem to be much interdependent work between students in my classroom from my point of view and I think that they could work together more readily in many ways. It may be difficult for some students to communicate with one another and interact with one another, but I think that it is very important that students work together and learn some collaborative skills. I think it is also important that students get some jobs in the classroom and take some responsibilities in what they they in the classroom and in their work as well.