Friday, September 21, 2012

Student Teaching: Week 5 Log

*Note--names have been changed to protect privacy.

What was a positive highlight in your teaching week?
Many of the students are starting to seek me out for extra help outside of class. Although I’m very busy during lunch and after school, I love seeing students take responsibility for their learning and put more effort into learning biology. It’s been very rewarding to foster the teacher-student relationship between myself and the kids.

What was your biggest challenge this week?
Having enough time in the day to do everything! I’ve been swamped with homework, grading, lesson planning, parent phone calls, 504 meetings, and extra classes this week. I can feel myself starting to come down with a cold. I just hope I can get all my assignments done this weekend, even though I have class all day on Saturday (and that I don’t get sick).

What aspect of teaching do you hope to work on or refine next week?
I’m ready to start taking on more responsibility. I would like to try presenting content to the class. I want to prepare ahead of time so it goes smoothly. I know it won’t be perfect but that’s the whole point of being a student teacher.

Additional responsibilities required reflection.
Note: I got to attend my second 504 meeting this week. I also met with the ELD coordinator at my site to discuss differentiation strategies for ELL students in my classes. Finally, since the 1st progress reports are due Friday, I learned how to enter grades from my classes into the school’s computer system. I also called parents of students receiving a D or lower in the class. The one parent I was able to contact was very appreciative of my phone call and discussion of strategies to improve her son’s grade. I also learned how the school site contacts parents who speak another language other than English. After filling out a form, our ELD coordinator has a translator call home for me.

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