Student Teaching Anecdotal Record Spring 2014

Week 1: Date Monday, January 6, 2014 Anecdotal Record It was so good to be back at the school. I was afraid that I would forget a lot of names, but I didnt! I am grateful that Kimberlee is back so that I can have a model and support for teaching social studies since I felt like I didnt have much before the break. We had students fill out sheets with resolutions for themselves, friends, parents, and teachers. It was heartbreaking to read some resolutions for parents. Im thankful that I came from a great home. During art, we had our first data team meeting. I think these meeting are beneficial so that we can see which specific core objectives our students are struggling with during testing. We can then plan our lessons accordingly. I was excited to see Kimberlee teach an introduction to Rome. It was really helpful to me to see how she introduces a unit and how she goes about teaching the geography associated with the unit. In the afternoon, I was surprised to see how well my students and I stuck to our reading routine. I didnt need to reteach process. We all knew where we needed to go and what we needed to do. This morning we had faculty meeting. I was surprised to see how much it was like a college class. We read some chapters for homework and then discussed them, just like school! Today we read the myth about the beginning of Rome. Our monthly language arts focus is to summarize so we summarized the story of Remus and Romulus by using a picture map. I had never thought about using a picture map to introduce summarizing before. In reading, Melissa and I started doing reading tests for individual students. These tests should give us an idea of what strategy or concept students need to work on. Example categories are vocabulary, inferences, and comprehension. Today I saw one of the benefits of teaching three periods. We planned to watch a video in each class and the students would take notes. The video we watched in 1st period looked like it would be a good one, but it was terrible! Luckily, we were able to find a much better video for the other two classes to watch. In the afternoon, I attended my first collaboration meeting. I think this one was a little different than they usually are. I hope to be better prepared to participate in these meetings in the coming weeks. In social studies students were summarizing articles with a partner. I have two students with special needs who know they should ask for help if they need it, but never do (probably to save face). After they read the article they realized that neither of them understood it. They actually asked me if I could help them! I was so proud! I read the article with them and they were then able to help each other summarize key points. This was a big step forward for both of them!

Tuesday, January 7, 2014

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Friday, January 10, 2014

Week 2: Date Monday, January 13, 2014 Anecdotal Record Today all of the social studies classes started to write thank you letters to the principal. We started out brainstorming things she has done for the school, as a class. Most of the kids could come up with a lot of things she has done for the school. The hard part for most kids was thinking of things she has done for them individually. I didnt think the students would have that hard of time coming up with things. After that, we started gathering information from posters about life in ancient Rome. It was such a good day. It didnt start out the best, but I ended up having a great observation with Court. My lesson today was about chariot races and gladiator fights. I used a power point to share information and included a lot of pictures. Kids in all three classes were extremely engaged in the lesson. They loved seeing the video clips I found from Ben-Hur and Spartacus. I was surprised to see the difference in the quality of questions between the high class and the low class. At the end of the lesson I was able to pull up Google Earth to show kids the satellite image of the ruins of the Colosseum and Circus Maximus and pictures that people have posted. I think this was a nice closure for the lesson, especially since my kids love Google Earth. Today we continued letter writing. Kimberlee and I proofread the letters before students could begin their final drafts. I liked reading the letters of a lot of the kids to see what they were thankful for and what they loved about Jo. I was humbled by one student thanking her for knowing her name and how much she loved it when people say her name. Another student thanked her for caring enough about him to buy him an alarm clock so he could get himself up for school. It was amazing to read these letters. In the afternoon, I read a chapter of Percy Jackson to my class. Melissa had the wonderful idea of showing students a video clip from the movie to help illustrate chapter. My students thought it was interesting to compare their ideas of Medusa to the imagery of the movie. In social studies, we worked on gathering information from posters that were made last week. It was interesting to see how the kids struggled to balance working on the assignment with talking to their friends. I knew these kids were social creatures, but I didnt think it would be that much of a struggle to balance talking and working. In reading, my students have been reading, writing, or doing a language arts program for 20 minute periods individually. I was going to end a round and have the kids grab their Percy Jackson books so I could read to them. That idea was met with 30 protesting voices. They all wanted to work on their own for another 15 minutes. It was wonderful to see them so excited about reading/writing. After school, we had a farewell party for Jo. She was an excellent principal and I wish that I could have worked with her more. Today was a student non-attendance day. I was able to grade a lot of myths students had written. I was amazed to see how much students wrote and how great the quality of writing was for most kids. It was nice to help do report cards and chip in our two cents. We were also able to discuss moving some students around. We also graded this months pre-CFA which turned out to be harder than we had anticipated.

Tuesday, January 14,2014

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Thursday, January 16, 2014

Friday, January 17, 2014

Week 3: Date Monday, January 20, 2014 Tuesday, January 21, 2014 Anecdotal Record No school! Martin Luther King, Junior Day. Today we learned about Mt. Vesuvius. We showed a slide show with important information, artists paintings, and computer models of the eruption of Vesuvius. The students were impressed with the amount of destruction. Many couldnt fathom why people would live so close to the volcano or why they wouldnt/couldnt flee. In the afternoon, I experienced the downside of computer testing. When my students logged on to finish the last four questions of their test, more than half of them had several answers from previous sessions deleted. It was a nightmare. My kids were upset, and rightfully so. The passages they have to read and answer questions on are long and extremely boring. I wouldnt want to have to redo them either. This morning report cards were distributed. I think I would have waited until the end of the day to distribute them. It was difficult to get students to stop talking and get ready to learn. Reading was a bit chatty, probably since they knew that Melissa wasnt there. The new principal came in to meet our classes and read a picture book. My students didnt know what to think about the book, but were excited to ask her a couple of questions. They were extremely excited to find out that she has a dog who sometimes visits the school. I think I will like this principal. She seems nice. In social studies we watched a video on Safari Montage about Pompeii. We were going to watch just a clip, but the video was so good we watched the whole thing. This video was informative and laced with reenactments based on documents and artifacts uncovered by archeologists. The kids liked this video so much, second period begged to stay in from recess to finish it. Of course, a few went outside, but the enthusiasm to keep on watching was great! Today was one of the days it was hard to have the higher class first. Kimberlee modeled the activity we were doing and it went really smoothly. These kids understood how to do it right away. When I went to teach the middle class, they didnt really understand and I floundered a little bit thinking of how to adapt. I think I just need to be more confident while teaching, even if I dont know the material as well as I would like to. By third period, I was able to teach the lesson better. In reading we went to the library. It was fun helping kids pick out books. A lot of kids wanted me to recommend books and were excited when I found one for them. It was fun to realize that I knew enough about a lot of them that I could help them find something they would like. After school we had collaboration where we planned out the some preparations for SAGE testing. Then, Kimberlee gave me a bunch of resources so that I can plan social studies/writing for the next week. This is exciting, but Im sad next week is my last week in social studies.

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Friday, January 24, 2014

Week 4: Date Monday, January 27, 2014 Anecdotal Record In social studies we talked about the Germanic tribes that took over parts of Europe after the fall of Rome. We completed a map of the territories conquered by these tribes. We discussed the beginning of rise of Vikings throughout Europe. I started the kids on an activity where they had to read about Vikings in a Kids Discover magazine and answer questions. This magazine provides a lot of information about life as a Viking, famous Vikings and discoveries, and archeological findings. In the afternoon I participated in a data team meeting where the 6th grade team reviewed Dibels scores and discussed concerns about individual students reading performances. We also discussed some interventions we were using to help students become better readers. Today we started off with 2nd period. This really threw the kids off. We were in 3rd period long enough to do a quick start before we were called to go an assembly. The message of the assembly was great, but the manner in which the kids were asked to participate was terrible. The presenters expected students to dance for most of the assembly, which didnt go over well with body conscious eleven and twelve year olds. With as little as my students participated in the assembly, I felt that time would have been better spent in class. At least they heard a message about leading an active lifestyle and being drug free. In the afternoon, between P.E. and lab, I had about 15 minutes to teach. I wish there was more time some days, my students and I could really use that time together. Today we finished up our discussions on Vikings and jumped right in to the middle ages. We specifically talked about the feudal system and the distribution of power and wealth. I prepared a fun simulation where students were randomly assigned to be a peasant, vassal, or noble and I was the king. Everyone started off with the same amount of money (Life Savers candy) but I explained that the peasants had life the hardest out of all social classes. They did the most work and paid the most to live on the land. The vassals got to keep some of the money, but had to pay the nobles. Likewise, the nobles had to pay the king. The kids were really into this activity. It was great! In the afternoon, we had a Super Activity which was a movie and then Green Day. We didnt spend any time in the classroom. This was hard for me since I felt like I needed to practice the CFA with my class. Today we discussed the feudal system some more. We drew a pyramid to represent the different social classes and the relationships between them. Afterward, we looked at pictures of a castle/manor to see where the different social classes lived and worked. The students were really interested in this. I also committed myself to make some personal goals regarding my growth as a teacher. I am really committed to becoming a better teacher and putting my best foot forward. In the afternoon during collaboration, we discussed the CFA goal for the next month and how to go about teaching students how to write a five paragraph argumentative essay. Today I started my day early to prepare the classroom. I started each class on a jigsaw activity which seemed to be really good for the kids. They enjoyed reading together and then sharing what they thought was important about their article. The hardest part was helping students divide into their groups since they have never done an activity like this before. Many kids were excited by the prospect of teaching their peers the information they had just learned. In reading, my students finished their math acuity test. I also got to spend time helping students pick out books in the library. I had a bunch of kids following me around grabbing up any book I said I had read. It was interesting to see the influence I could have on their interest in reading. After school I spent a couple of hours planning with Laurie. She and I discussed activities we could do to help teach students about the area of different shapes. We both searched for more ideas and will continue to do so over the weekend. I am looking forward to Monday as a fresh start. I am a little nervous though, because this math is hard!

Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Wednesday, January 29, 2014

Thursday, January 30, 2014

Friday, January 31, 2014

Week 5: Date Monday, February 3, 2014 Anecdotal Record The switch to math went really well. It was a review day because several students were interested in retaking a test. Many kids were proactive in taking notes and doing their best to relearn information. In reading, it was eerily quiet. During independent working time all the kids buckled down and breezed through their work. It was amazing to see the internal switch go off in these students. The substitute was amazed at how well the class worked on independent projects. We had to put off a practice writing for our CFA because several students had been pulled for WIDA testing. We ended up having about an hour to do this writing, which many students didnt think was enough. For those who didnt finish, the writing practice became homework. We started learning about parallelograms and how to find the area. We did a fun activity to show why the formula for a parallelogram is A=bh. We had copied a few rectangles for each student to figure the area, cut a portion off, and create a parallelogram. We then discussed the formula for parallelograms being virtually the same as rectangles. This was a fun activity. This afternoon, many students hadnt done their writing practice homework and were disappointed to see that we had another practice to do. These students were mad that they now had two writings to do instead of one. This was a tough lesson in responsibility for some. Today in math we began learning about the area of trapezoids, whose formula is a little more confusing than the other shapes we have learned about. We had strips with the formula on for each student to practice solving the equation. The students who used the strip to figure out the answers usually had no problem arriving at the correct solution. Students who didnt use the formula strips would multiply when they were supposed to add or forget to multiply by one number. In reading, we did the last writing practice before our CFA posttest. Instead of writing a whole paragraph, we practiced creating our own graphic organizer and creating sentences that were more complex. Today we played with virtual manipulatives to create shapes. We then used these shapes to figure the area. I let the students take the first ten minutes of class to play and create their own shapes and designs on the computer. Many of the creations were incredible! The students were disappointed when we stopped playing and started doing the math with the shapes, but thats life. After the computers, we found the area of some shapes on dot paper. We included a couple of composite shapes. Most of the students were logical in suggesting we segment the composite shapes into shapes we knew how to find the area. This was a lot of fun. This afternoon, we took the CFA posttest. It took most students more than an hour to finish. I dont want to think about next months CFA. Today we took a quiz on the area of shapes. All of the formulas were given at the top of the page. Laurie and I explained where to find the formulas for each shape. It was surprising how many students were confusing the formulas when each shape was clearly labeled. In reading, I read aloud for about twenty minutes. I need to practice reading aloud. It is harder than it looks.

Tuesday, February 4, 2014

Wednesday, February 5, 2014

Thursday, February 6, 2014

Friday, February 7, 2014

Week 6: Date Monday, February 10, 2014 Anecdotal Record Today we continued to find the area of shapes. We focused mostly on finding the total area of composite shapes. The students did well in segmenting the composite into simpler shapes. They also did well in finding the area of the simpler shapes as long as they were using the correct formula. I wonder if creating posters with the formulas would help the students. In reading we began our new CFA focus, writing argumentative essays. We know that we will need to break things down into small steps for this concept. Today we focused on defining arguments and evidence. We discussed that arguments dont carry much power without evidence to support them. That night was SEP night. I was disappointed that only a handful of my students came that night. It was interesting to meet parents and learn a little more about my students. We started discussing the coordinate plane. We reviewed the x axis, y axis, ordered pairs, and vertices. We then found missing vertices for certain shapes and measured the distance between points. That afternoon, we started our new small group rotation based on the IRI testing Melissa and I have been doing for a few weeks now. Each small group is broken down into reading level comprehension level, word recognition level, and skills to improve. I think I will like how these groups work. I expect to see good results from them. Today we continued talking about the coordinate plane. I gave students points to graph, connect dots, and name the shape. We then did simple translations, moving the shapes around the plane. We then did a reflection and used our knowledge of shapes to check to make sure we did the reflection properly. That afternoon, we continued doing first meetings with our revamped small groups. The groups did their DAZE practices and then practiced the skill that is the focus for the group. The group I was observed teaching, practiced finding details in texts. I was pleased with how this group participated in the activity. Laila usually doesnt participate in anything and she willingly gave answers and suggestions multiple times. To finish out the day, we watched a video where we had a claim and needed to find evidence to support our claim. This practice will help us when we move to reading articles and need to find evidence in the text to support our claims. This was good practice for using facts and putting aside opinions. Today in math, we introduced nets. We discussed how they are composed of simpler geometric shapes that can be folded up into a three dimensional figure. We talked about how they looked similar to composite shapes, of which we know how to solve for the total area. Each student received a net for a rectangular pyramid, solved for total area, decorated and folded into the three dimensional object. These pyramids are on display hanging from the ceiling. In reading, we continued our discussion about an argument needing to be supported by evidence. If it isnt supported by evidence, it is only bickering. We had our Valentine party today. Most students were very kind to include everyone in the class. One kid didnt receive very many cards or candy. Later, a couple other kids came up to tell me that they saw how little he received and they were angry about it. They decided that they would each give him a handful of their candy while he was at lunch. These were kids who never hang out with him or really talk to him. They both vowed to make sure he wont get picked on in the halls in junior high. It was very heart warming. No school! Teacher comp day.

Tuesday, February 11, 2014

Wednesday, February 12, 2014

Thursday, February 13, 2014

Friday, February 14, 2014

Week 7: Date Monday, February 17, 2014 Tuesday, February 18, 2014 Anecdotal Record No school! Presidents Day. Today we had a bunch of nets cut out and had students fold them, name the base, number of faces, shape of faces, number of vertices, what the shape looked like, surface area, and define the shapes. There were a lot of interactive pieces to this lesson. In the future, I would spend more time finding surface area as a class since that is what students had the hardest time doing. In reading, we continued to do small group rotations. We have only been doing these groups for a couple of weeks, but I can already see benefits. We also finished filling out a graphic organizer for our argumentative writing. Today, Laurie and I changed everything about how we run the class. It was a little confusing for me. I think with a little more practice I will get the schedule down. We went over the worksheet about nets and three dimensional figures. Students had to work together to check their definitions against the solid figures. We then did a lot of book work with students turning nets into solid figures and solid figures into nets. In reading we started a new article and practiced filling out the graphic organizer for argumentative writing. This is the first step toward reaching our CFA goal. In math we took some large cognitive leaps. We went from finding surface area of unfolded nets to finding surface area of a solid figure. I had a lot of physical examples to help students make the connection between a drawn figure that was 8x5x3 to this face is 8x5 so this face must also be 8x5 and this face is 5x3 so this face must also be 5x3 and so on. The students were able to make the connection after using the physical box. I also gave them the strategy to draw each individual face and find the area of individual faces. That helped a lot of students. In the afternoon, we were working on argumentative writing. Our article was really engaging for students. They were so into forming their arguments and finding evidences that it was a struggle to get them to go to lab for collaboration. In collaboration, we discussed our last CFA goals and finished correcting work. We also spent some time trying to find good resources for our argumentative essays. In math we had a quiz. A lot of students struggled on finding the area of a trapezoid. I will add a bunch of these to the quick starts for next week. Students were then given time to complete projects for any of the classes. In reading, Melissa had to play the bad guy. Nearly half the class showed up without their homework complete. The students who did complete their homework did well on the assignment. They will have no problem with the pre-post-CFA. The students who didnt complete it have a second chance to finish. After school, we went to school wide collaboration. We discussed the direction we would take in using two articles instead of one to teach argumentative writing.

Wednesday, February 19, 2014

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Friday, February 21, 2014

Week 8: Date Monday, February 24, 2014 Anecdotal Record Today we finished up surface area and moved on to volume. Students remembered the formula for volume from previous years, but didnt remember much else. We talked about the definition of volume and did a fun activity. We made small boxes and filled them with cubes. We discussed cubic units and formed the base. We talked about the formula for base and compared it to our box. We then finished filling the box with cubes and counted how many cubic units there were. We then discussed the formula for volume, figured the answer with the formula and compared it to the amount of cubes that filled the box. When we started the book work, we ran into some trouble. Students were still trying to do surface area. They were looking at the top and bottom, front and back, and sides instead of just length x width x height. In reading, our students began writing a new argumentative essay. They began reading and filling out the graphic organizer in pairs. I continued to teach about volume today. I showed a power point presentation where I included examples of times volume is used in real life. I also found an animated model that shows a shape being filled with cubic units. I was able to talk to the class about volume while they were seeing the shape being filled. I think this really helped students solidify the fact that volume is the space that is occupied. Students had a much easier time with the book work this time. In reading, students continued to fill out their graphic organizers. The students were having a hard time keeping their arguments and their evidences separate. We began talking about statistical questions today. I introduced vocabulary such as data and statistic. We discussed that a statistical question is one that can have varying answers. I gave several examples and nonexamples of a statistical question. We then asked our own statistical question and collected data from classmates. After we had asked our question How many people are living in your house?, collected our data, we discussed the fact that our data varied. We then did an activity where we had to determine if questions were statistical or not and defended our answers. This afternoon, we continued to work on our argumentative writing graphic organizers. Today we talked about ways to describe data. We discussed attributes, means of measure, units of measure, and observations. To introduce attributes, I had a picture of a shark/pony hybrid and had students list different attributes this sharkony had. I then had students pair up and gave them a baggy full of stuff (things from the manipulatives closet that were different shapes, colors, etc.). I gave students five minutes to come up with as many attributes as they could sort their stuff by. I was impressed that some students had a list of 20 attributes! We then discussed how to look at data and determine what the attribute being measured was, what the means and unit of measure were, and how many times the data was observed. My students had the hardest time remembering the difference between means and unit of measure. Today we revisited the data we had collected earlier this week about how many people were living in the houses of our classmates. We took our data and created a dot plot. We discussed frequency and used our dot plot to determine which amount of people per household was the most frequent and which was the least frequent. In reading, we discussed the elements of a five paragraph essay. We then gave students time to finish their graphic organizers and begin writing their introductory paragraph. Having students work in pairs is working out really well. Students are able to bounce ideas off each other and make their writing better.

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

Wednesday, February 26, 2014

Thursday, February 27, 2014

Friday, February 28, 2014

Week 9: Date Monday, March 3, 2014 Anecdotal Record Today I started my rotation in science. It feels really good to be in the same classroom all day long. I have been looking forward to returning to science for a long time. In science today, we learned the acronym My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nachos (and Pizza) to help us learn and remember the order of the planets in our solar system. Then we did a cool demonstration about the distance between objects in the solar system where we folded a piece of paper in half over and over until we had all of the planets on our scale model. During reading, we went over how to write the body of an argumentative essay. We then let the students get with their partners and write. We have been having success with letting them work in pairs for this first practice. Today, we reviewed the order of the planets. After that, we did a readers theatre about the planets. We had parents visiting our class during those two parts and they really liked those activities. After the reading, we started a planet research project. Students are asked to find things such as the size, distance from the sun, surface description, moons, etc. of each planet. During reading, we continued to write the body paragraphs of the essay. Students were able to correct a lot of errors while working together. I think that the quality of writing is better than if we had modeled this whole practice CFA. During language lab, we were able to see the student preview of SAGE. I think this worried my students a lot. The writing prompt had four articles for students to read, highlight, and cite from. This is why we are practicing using multiple articles for this months CFA. Today we did a Friday schedule so that we could still have time in reading classes, since the Super Activity would take up the entire afternoon. In science students continued their planet research. During reading we did a ZAP (Zeroes Arent Permitted) hour. Students had the hour to work on and turn in any missing assignment from the quarter. We are having a problem with students not turning in work and not taking responsibility for missing work. This ZAP hour helped a lot of kids get to go to the Super Activity who otherwise wouldnt have been able to go. This also allowed some of the student council to catch up on work since they had been performing Dr. Seuss skits for the school. The afternoon was full of fun games and activities. In social studies students have been working on becoming knights and ladies. This was a culminating activity. First, we made and decorated crowns. Then, we catapulted marshmallows onto targets. Next, we had a crazy game of musical chairs. And finally, we had the strangest archery competition ever where we threw rubber pigs to pop balloons. It was a crazy, fun activity! Today, Melissa had a formal observation. Since we didnt know when it would be, she planned on teaching scale models the whole morning. This gave me the opportunity to plan out the next two weeks, find resources and lesson plans, and relearn some material. This planning time went by really fast! In the afternoon, we spent time decorating our door with a Dr. Seuss theme for a school-wide competition. Then we read Percy Jackson for a while. Students were expected to take notes and then write a summary of what was read. During collaboration, we discussed the next step for our CFA and how to prepare for SAGE. During science, students continued to work on their planet research. In reading, we continued to read and work on summarizing. With the remaining time, students finished working on the body and conclusion of their essays. During planning time, I finished planning for next week and presented my game plan to Melissa. She gave me a few resources to help me out. I am really thankful for such a wonderful site teacher!

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Thursday, March 6, 2014

Friday, March 7, 2014

Week 10: Date Monday, March 10, 2014 Anecdotal Record Today I continued in science. I had a great presentation ready about comets, meteors, and asteroids. We started off looking at pictures of all three and tried to define them by looking at the pictures. It was difficult to do so because they are so similar, but it got students thinking about how they could be different. We made a flip chart for vocabulary and notes in our notebook. I then had a power point presentation that had information about and pictures of comets, meteors, and asteroids. I included a lot of pictures and had some interesting videos, unfortunately my videos didnt work. These videos had information and questions attached and would have been really engaging for students. In the afternoon, my reading class started our final CFA practice. We read the articles as a class, which was good because it was freaking the kids out that there were seven pages of information. We also practiced making our own graphic organizer in preparation for SAGE. Today in science we had a work day. We did some research on astronomers tools and early astronomers. The students had started a page about astronomers early in the year, but never finished or revisited it. When students finished those research activities they worked on finishing their planet research from last week. In reading, we continued to work on our final CFA practice. For the most part, students are really getting the concept of finding evidence to support claims and arguments, only a few students need extra help. Today we started a discussion about constellations. I showed students some easy dot to dots and asked if they could make out a shape. I related this to how people in ancient times saw groups of stars and thought they resembled something. These are called constellations and most have stories behind them. We read the myth of Orion and used the program Stellarium to bring up a sky map so we could look at the constellation. We then began building a model of Orion using beads and string. This activity took a long time to do so we didnt get to finish the lesson, but it will be great to carry over tomorrow. In reading, we did some daily 5 and worked on our final CFA practice some more. I was getting a lot of attitude today from some kids and we, as a grade level team, discussed how we can improve our behavior plan. In science, we finished up our discussion on Orion. Talked about how some stars were closer to earth than others even though we look at them as if they were on a flat plane. We then watched a cool video on YouTube that showed the Orion constellation from all different angles. We then started an assignment where students will write their own myth and create their own constellation. In reading, my class worked really hard on their CFA final practice. After working for an hour straight it was clear that we needed to take a brain break. We played a few rounds of Blow the Roof Off to help relieve stress. In collaboration we discussed SAGE and acuity testing as well as how to move forward with our next CFA of understanding tone and figurative language. Today was crazy busy. In science we passed back the tests from the last unit and went over them. Then, Melissa went over important science fair information. By the time we finished that, there was very little class time left. With the remaining time, we finished up our graphic organizers and began writing our myths. In reading, it was obvious that playing Blow the Roof Off paid off. Students got right down to business writing and earned the privilege of playing another round before lunch. Overall, it was a pretty great week.

Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Wednesday, March 12, 2014

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Friday, March 14, 2014

Week 11: Date Monday, March 17, 2014 Anecdotal Record Today in science, we discussed circumpolar and seasonal constellations. We used Stellarium to show the shift of the constellations visible in the sky from month to month. We discussed that this was due to the revolution of the Earth around the Sun. I think this was a little confusing for my kids to understand so I used the center of the room as the sun and I was the Earth. I asked the kids which direction I would be facing if it was night. They indicated that I would face out toward the wall. I then began orbiting the sun and asked students what I could see in front of me. If it is January, what can I see? The file cabinet. Now it is February, what can I see now? The cupboard. I continued this around the whole room until I was through the whole year. Next year, I would have the students complete an activity like this from the beginning. I think this would better solidify the concept. In the afternoon, my students began their CFA. I hope that they do well. Once most students created their own graphic organizer, they appeared to be doing fine. Today we discussed some major constellations seen in the Northern Hemisphere throughout the year. We discussed when we see certain constellations and the myths surrounding many of them. We then began a graphing activity. I liked the idea of integrating math into this science lesson. Students were given certain points to graph and were then asked to connect the dots. They were able to use a power point on Mrs. Trujillos website to help them connect the points. I liked the activity except for the fact that all of the constellations overlapped. This was far more confusing for my students than I had anticipated. In the future, I will use several small sheets of graph paper so that students can clearly see the constellations they graph. In reading, my students continued on with their CFA. There were a few who finished early and were very happy for the opportunity to have Daily 5. Today we went on a field trip to Clark Planetarium. We arrived at the school early so that we could catch the UTA bus. We took the bus to the Trax station, and took Trax to The Gateway. I think this was a great life lesson for students as many of them may need to rely on public transportation in the future. Besides, the kids thought it was the best part of the trip. At the planetarium, we watched an Imax movie about the Hubble Telescope. It was cool for my students to see the function of an astronomy tool we have discussed in class. We also got to see a star show. The man who presented it asked my students many questions about moon phases and constellations. I knew my students would do well on the questions about moon phases since we have been working on them all year, but I was nervous to see if my students could answer his questions about constellations. I was relieved to hear them answer every one of his questions and try to answer questions he wasnt even asking! It was a very fun day. Today was a work day. We finished up our graphing constellations activity and used the rest of class time to work on our constellation myths. In reading, most students finished up their CFA. We took a brain break toward the end of class and read Percy Jackson. In collaboration, we discussed behavior expectations for SAGE and options for the next CFA. Today I passed out a constellation questionnaire to my students. It was somewhat like a test, but I just wanted to make sure my students were on track with knowing what they need to about constellations. They seemed to do pretty well. I was very disappointed that the majority of my students did not turn in their myths even though they have been given a lot of time to work on them in class and the due date has been posted on the board all week. I worry that when I have my own class I wont be able to motivate students to turn work in.

Tuesday, March 18, 2014

Wednesday, March 19, 2014

Thursday, March 20, 2014

Friday, March 21, 2014

Week 12: Date Monday, March 24, 2014 Anecdotal Record Today we began SAGE testing in our school so we began a long set of crazy schedules. We started with reading classes first so that Kimberlees and Stacies class could do their first round of testing. It was really nice having reading first thing in the morning. It almost felt like having a normal, homeroom class. This week, I have decided to take the opportunity to observe some awesome teachers in the school. I went to Laura Orsingers class and saw how she uses technology to give her students an extra boost in math. It was cool to see students on Success Maker, iPad apps, and more. The rest of the day we cycled through first, second, and third period. In science we helped students plan out their science fair projects. After that, we went to reading again to continue SAGE. My class did some comprehension activities and read Percy Jackson. Today was another crazy day. We started with reading again. My class got started on daily language and comprehension activities. I went to observe Paulina Beller, a first grade dual immersion teacher. I saw her use the Daily 5 program for math. That was incredibly interesting. I had never thought to use this program for anything other than reading. I wish that Stacie would have taken the time to come with me to see the application of this program to math. Then, my class went to do SAGE testing, but the system crashed. My students were mad because they were pumped up to do the test! During first, second, and third periods we continued to work on science fair. When we went back to reading, my class went back to do SAGE testing. Luckily, everything worked out fine and my students were ready to write. For the last hour of the day, I got to substitute for a fourth grade class across the hall. Whitni had been taking care of the class for most of the day, but I was the fifth or sixth person to watch over them that day. The kids were really unfocused and missing their teacher, but I couldnt blame them. Today we started out watching Connie Charboneau teach a lesson on fractions. I liked that she played the I haveWho has game with fractions. I then had the opportunity to teach science for the rest of the morning. I showed a video about gravity. It helped answer a lot of questions my students were having when we first started learning about planets. I then had students do an activity where they calculated how much they would weigh on each planet and an activity where they would calculate how far they could jump on earth and other planets. In the afternoon, we had a Zeroes Arent Permitted day. Students with missing work got to make it up, while students with everything turned in got to watch a movie. During this time I watched Shanna Nielson teach language arts using Daily 5. She does a phenomenal job teaching. I really enjoyed watching her. It also gave me hope that if she can do this program so well as a first year teacher, maybe I can next year, too. Today was another crazy day. Each class had another round of SAGE testing, each at a different time. I spent a lot of time in Lauries class so she could observe another teacher. Students got to make up work that they were missing. It was really hard to say goodbye to all of the classes, but especially to my reading class. It wont be long before Im back there. Today, I went to another cognitive rigor training. It was interesting to learn about depth of knowledge and how to engage students in meaningful activities. I finished up grading myths and had a really hard time saying goodbye to Kimberlee, Laurie, and Melissa. Im lucky to have had Melissa as a mentor.

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Wednesday, March 26, 2014

Thursday, March 27, 2014

Friday, March 28, 2014