Weekly Reflection 17

Hello,

I can't believe that this was my last week. It has felt like 17 weeks and at the same time it has felt like 4 weeks.
Monday
Today, the students were preparing for their in class writing essay on Wednesday. So, each of the classes were quietly preparing their outline sheets to use in order to organize their papers. I found that the students really wanted to do well on their writing. The honors students seemed a bit jarred at first, because my CT took over the honors classes again. I have found that observing someone for an entire day is draining and definitely not as much fun as teaching. However, you do see a lot more than you would when teaching.

Tuesday
Today, the students were again preparing for their in class writing essay on Wednesday. It was a quiet day all day today again. I helped my CT, catch up on some grading and I was also able to observe another English teacher. She was doing the carousel method in her classroom. She placed the students into groups and they each went to a poster with a different topic and wrote on it based on the prompt. I like how she allowed the students to change and adapt each other's answers based on fact. It was definitely beneficial to observe. One of my students gave me a goody bag full of Christmas treats today; they were excellent! One of the students at the school has terminal cancer, I saw him today. All of teachers, say he is the nicest kid and never complains about his situation. I learned a lot just from seeing him today. Never take any day for granted.

Wednesday
Today, I met with the Principal on my observation! He said I did excellent and he was very impressed. He said four things I should say in my interview that I do well is, I plan effectively, I have great classroom management, I have great repertoire with students, and I love what I do. He said whatever would be my "weakness" would be my lack of experience. He said I needed more time in the classroom to hone my skills. I was really happy, and grateful for the critical feedback. I posted his review on my portfolio. My CT said I got a higher rating than some of tenured teachers at the school. I also collected my students annotations for the last time. I graded all of them so they could get them back the next day.

Thursday
Today was bittersweet. I found that I truly enjoyed my time at my school. It was definitely difficult at times. However, I finally made it! My CT gave me a really cool book that I am looking forward to reading. I gave my CT a vinyl and his co-teacher a Batman poster for his classroom. One of my students gave me a box of cookies, one gave me a water color painting collage of England, and another gave me a beautiful sketch of Harry Potter. I was so honored that some of my students were really interested in seeing if I was going to apply for a job at their school. I will honestly miss all of them. I have learned a lot these past 17 weeks and I am excited about learning more. I find it interesting on how teachers let go of students each year. I really liked my students, I can tell letting go is something I will have to work on.
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Finally, I would say that I met professional teaching standard 5, which states "The competent teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and
self-motivation." I think I did a great job of creating an environment where everyone was safe to learn and grow. One of my students got off on the wrong foot with my CT before I came to their class. I told him my CT would respect him even more if he apologized for his actions, as he had informed me that he felt bad about his behavior in class. I had been telling my student to do this for quite sometime. Today, he finally did it. I was so proud of him for being mature about his actions. I can tell my CT was surprised at his apology and sincerity. It has been a great ride and I found that there are always opportunities to learn and grow even from my students. I am planning on keeping this blog in order to better reflect and learn from my own experiences and future students. Thanks for reading and I will update again as soon as possible.

Thanks,
Courtney