Week 4

I did survive this week!  Yay!  Victory!  I didn't just survive though.  I had a rough Friday and Monday but then I rebounded by taking extra time to work on what wasn't working with my lesson plans.  I think I could've set more substantial goals last week, but I really was feeling overwhelmed.  I think that I ended up starting to work on new goals by the end of the week, and I'd like to continue working on them.  One goal I have for myself is to work on transitions.  Another goal I have was given to me by my cooperating teacher Julie.  When students share a piece of writing or something they've done I need to be more specific with my feedback and use positive praise for what they have contributed correctly and creatively. 

One word that would describe my week would be pacing.  I think I've been learning how to pace myself in lessons.  I think timing is everything, and I'm trying to set more concrete time limits so that I'm able to accomplish all my goals, and my amazing cooperating teacher is helping me with this.  I also would say I'm trying to mentally pace myself when it comes to what I have to work on outside of the classroom.  Right now it's a whole lot because I'm doing my TPA project pretty much before everyone else will be.  And since it's my last week of full time teaching, this just seems like it has the potential to become overwhelming. 

I think this because when I get home at the end of the day, I don't just go and sit down at the table and start plugging away at lesson plans.  I've been at work already from 7-430, and 2-3 times this week I was there til 5 or 545.  I'm exhausted, and I don't think it's possible sometimes to just start chipping away at all this work.  I think I have other personal needs that need to be met, and sometimes I need to allow myself to step away from it.  And if it's for an extended period of time, then so be it.  I think it's doable definitely, but I'm kind of letting myself throw the schedule out the window, and I'm handling one day at a time.  I think this one day at a time thing helps. 

I have not videotaped my teaching yet.  Videotaping will be occurring this week.  I don't need to see the video tape of myself to know that I need to work on confidence.  I need to script my introductions because if I don't I stumble over my choice of words.  I don't want my lack of prep time to confuse the students.  The actions I plan on taking to correct my weak areas are to be even more prepared.  Like I said, I'm trying to script my introductions more, trying to create another list of behavior reminders and redirections so that I'm able to continue to manage the students effectively, and I'm trying to find time amidst all of that to get to bed at a decent hour so that I can wake up and have personal devotions (this component is central to it all, because if I don't have a walk with God, peace, and any type of joy, I'm going to be a miserable person for the kids to spend their days with).   My cooperating teacher and I probably discuss my weak areas more than positives, because I usually bring them up.  However, I've made an effort to ask her to give me feedback about what I'm doing right.  She's been taking a lot of notes, and she's made an effort to tell me all the ways that I've been able to manage and teach the kids well.

Our classroom has many procedures to help with classroom management.  I use them every day, and couldn't manage the kids without them.  We have a reminder chart, and after the student gets 1 reminder (which is a friendly warning), their name gets written on a chart and they must talk to the teacher at recess as well as write a note saying how they think they should change their behavior.  The student's parents have to sign the note and it must be returned the next day.  We have many more procedures and tricks that we use, and they are very clear and the students do know what is expected from them, so for that I am very thankful!

I'm still trying to figure out if there are any specifications for the TPA video.  At this point, I have so much on my plate, I'm pretty much going to submit what we tape, (I do know the time limit ) and hope for the best.  I think that it will be fine.  I can't wait until this is all submitted and over with so I can focus solely on my teaching and growing.  The thing that may surprise my supervisor is how frequently I keep going back and forth with not knowing if I want to teach elementary or special education.  It's really been a conflict within me, but one I think I'm going to have to leave with God.  I need to trust that he's going to put me in the classroom that he wants me in.  So, here I am, enjoying my last few weeks at Southwest.  Yeah, I'm probably going to be sad when I leave.  It's been such a great experience, and I feel like I'm leaving it with a friend.  My cooperating teacher is someone who has become a great friend, and it's awesome that we can share a faith in God.