Third Week

I feel them most valuable part of my week was seeing the flexibility needed to be a teacher; I had two snow days (Weds. and Thurs) and then had a "lock-down" drill that lasted the first four periods when we returned to school on Friday--no one was allowed out of the classroom for the entire drill. On top of the two days off, the lock down drill threw any chances of having a normal back-to-school-day. It showed me that plans change, days change, and you need to keep on your toes and roll with the punches.

I also learned the most valuable part of my week was to stay positive. Weeks won't go as smooth as some previous ones, but I'm reminding myself to keep my head up no matter what obstacles I come across.

If I were to change an aspect of the past week I would have filled my Weekly Teaching Schedule out correctly. I didn't follow directions properly by writing that it was a working day on the day I got observed; it was the last day students were allowed to finish up existing PowerPoint projects in the class before we went onto Excel -- some students were working on PowerPoint and others were finished with the projects and were browsing the Internet, playing games etc -- needlessly to say it didn't look so good for me to be a day to be observed on. I learned many great points that day and plan to use them throughout the rest of the semester.

Second week of class

I found that teaching was the most valuable part of my week. I feel all of our previous classes' material made my first week's lessons go smoothly and effortlessly; I was completely prepared. Throughout the past two years I would often ask always questions like, "why am I taking classes that teach me about how corporations train their employees...when am I going to learn how to teach?" This past week everything fell into place and somewhere throughout my two year journey of grad school I learned how to teach. I noticed I was more nervous teaching in last semester's prof. dev. class then I was throughout the past week...everything went smooth.

Another aspect that I feel was valuable to my week was being pared with such a wonderful co-op. My co-op goes out of her way to make sure that I am comfortable and has helped me tremendously.


Pertaining to being in the classroom, everything went great this second week but if there was something I would change it would be asking for student's understanding. I taught my lessons and asked the students a lot of questions but failed to ask if everyone understood the material.

Another aspect I would have liked to change and found it the most stressful part of my week would be my wardrobe. All of my ties have stripes and flashy colors and my shirts have lines on them so it's really hard to get an outfit that doesn't look like a clown laid it out for me at six in the morning. I went shopping and got some solid colored shirts and solved the problem. Great week!

Jonny

First Week of Class (Jan 12-16)

1. What aspects of your week did you find most valuable?

I found it very valuable finally being in a school district. When I was doing my field experience I knew I would only be there for 30 hours so it didn't seem as much as a real experience. Now being at Crestwood, it feels nice knowing that this is the real deal.

I also found seeing alot of the the ins an outs beneficial. It was also cool that I am being treated as a real teacher and have real teacher responsibilities.


2. As you reflect on the past week, would you have modified or changed an aspect(s) if you had the chance to start the week over.

No. Everything went smooth. My co-op is really nice and made my first week completely stress free and we work well together. I am really happy with the layout of the first week of not having to teach a class; it gave me ample time to feel relaxed in the classroom and begin to meet the students. I am quite doubtful, but I hope the rest of my student teaching goes as well as the previous week.