And it Begins...

Wednesday we will all be heading to our second placement...
I can't believe the time has come so quickly! Second semester just flew by...
I am definitely excited to meet my students and my new associate..
I think it will be difficult to adjust at first - my first placement was just so fantastic it will be difficult for my second placement to live up to it
I hope I will be able to manage my students - I have heard they are a handful.
I'm up for the challenge - it will be a good learning experience I think.

My Block II Goals:
1. Use a variety of assessment methods in my lessons - I lacked in this area during my first block and our assessment teacher definitely provided us with NO pertinent info on the subject..so disappointing
2. Develop effective class management techniques
3. Get involved! extracurricular, maybe a music play or club
4. develop a really cool unit! - Being in a grade 1 class last semester, I really did not get the chance to do this
5. Learn about what a level 4,3,2,1 should look like!

My First Board Interview

I have my first ever board interview for Niagara Catholic on Sat March 1st at 9:30 a.m.
I'm pretty nervous, and have begun preparing a lot for the questions - it is difficult to anticipate what will be asked...
I suggest to everyone to read Education for All for their interview preparation - it is an amazing document..
I was very surprised/worried to see that I had an interview so soon, but now am glad that it will be over and done with before Block II begins.
If anyone wants to know what they asked me, feel free to ask!

Also, definitely going out on Saturday nite...the only thing I am looking forward to at the moment!

Block II

Found out our placements last week...
I'm at St. Alexanders in Fonthill..
Grade 4 class, Mrs. Bellantino...
very excited I didn't get a class higher than Gr. 4 - Gr.5 & 6 make me slightly nervous.
Kinda sad I've been split up from most of my posse at St. Vincent - REPRESENT
I'm definitely looking forward to meeting my class - I've heard they are a challenge!

Bring it!

First Block Over!

I've been neglecting my personal blog - time for a new post.
I really miss my Grade 1s at St. Vincent ....
I wonder if anyone has had another "accident" ...
Side note: if a student needs to go, let them go!
I hope my Ninga Turtle can now differentiate between letters and words...
I wonder how learning centres are running without me, also wonder if Mrs. Capp is still wearing her STOP sign ..haha..
I also often think about how Mr. Kelly is doing..sigh....

I really enjoyed my experience in Mrs. Capp's Grade 1 class ... I loved my students and the EAs that work in my class. I learned so much about literacy centres and group work, and I really feel that I will be implementing centres a lot into my future classroom, especially if it's primary.

I will be going back this week to pick up a reference letter from my teacher and visit!

First Week - Done and Done!

I felt the first week of my Block went really well ... I taught about 2 lessons per day in language arts and math, and also did several fiction and non-fiction read alouds. The biggest challenge I felt this week was class management. I am finding that I am concentrating so much on my lesson and what I am saying that I am not paying enough attention to the class' behaviour. I found Friday's lessons to be the toughest because I think the students are just tired, restless, and anticipate the weekend. One thing I noticed was the amount of distractions throughout the day and how they really affect the students' attention. I now realize why my teacher gets so stressed with the constant phone calls, pages over the PA, or EA's talking/moving throughout the classroom. Tomorrow I will be introducing my own classroom management strategies so that the students have a clear idea of my expectations of them. Overall, I felt that my first week was successful and I am excited to take on more responsibility this week!

Tomorrow it begins.....

Tomorrow is the first day of Block...I can sense a lot of nervousness from people in our group... I am more excited then nervous right now...tonight I will spend prepping, I have to go buy some coloured ink, stickers, coloured highlighters to colour coat everything... I will definitely be in the mood for some drinks however! Anyway, tomorrow I am just doing a read aloud because literacy and math centres began today, so I will be actually starting teaching on Wednesday... I am actually sad to say that I will be missing my fellow peers who are at different schools them me... I am hoping that we can all get together a few times throughout the block to rehash our stories! I wish everyone all the best...lets go CG7!

Microteaching

On Friday, 7 of us at St. Vincent de Paul School did our microteaching. Although it took all day, it was exciting to watch what my peers had come up with. I really enjoyed all of the lessons; I felt that each one of us was so unique with our lessons and the outcomes really showed how much time and effort we put into the planning. I was very nervous and had to wait until the afternoon to present. One of my biggest fears was that the grade one students I had chosen would be either too shy to participate or too hyper. Despite my fears, I felt my lesson went really well. I managed to teach everything within the time frame allotted and my students were extremely receptive. A weakness that I had, however, was that I was quiet throughout the whole lesson. I felt that I had an appropriate tone when teaching my students, however my peers and counsellors had difficulty hearing me. I tried to create a calming atmosphere, which my associate teacher suggested, considering it was Friday afternoon at 1:30. Despite my tone of voice, I was very happy with my first time teaching and am really looking forward to being in the classroom everyday in November!