:)

My observations with my 4th grade friends continues to go amazingly. I know I have said it already, but my mentor teacher is amazing!!! Several of the girls who are in my education classes right now are always talking about how horrible their mentor teacher is. This past week while I was doing observations, my mentor got a phone call from her husband and she needed to go and run by the house to get something. At the time we were doing Learning Zones which is an opportunity for the teachers to work with a small group of 3 students while the rest of the students are taken by an instructional assistant to activities such as library, a lesson with the counselor, and computer time. She left me with the small group while she ran to her house and I worked with them on a language arts skill. I was very nervous, but it ended up going really well. I took it as a big compliment that she already felt comfortable leaving me with her kids alone. 

For my Curriculum and Instruction class we are doing an Action Research Project. We are supposed to be doing research on a classroom management problem that is solvable and that we might actually see in our future classrooms. Do you all have any suggestions for me? My thought was to do something about the student who constantly blurts out in the classroom because I have one of those in the classroom that I will be student teaching with. 

In my Methods and Management class, we are doing these presentations that have to be between 30 and 40 minutes on a certain topic. My topic is on the use of portfolios in the classroom. Do you use portfolios in your classroom? Any good websites that you would like to share with me that you use for portfolios? 

I promise to get into a better groove of blogging on this blog, I am hoping at least twice a week. Hopefully everyone's school year is off to a fabulous start!

My Mentor Teacher is Amazing!!!

I went to observe for the first time this past Wednesday, and I have to admit that I was quite nervous when I walked in. I had talked to my mentor teacher before, but she is one of those people that comes across as rude when you just see her. I cannot begin to even tell you how much I love her and how great she was to me on my first day. She told me that she was really excited about me being with her, but after being in her classroom, I could truly tell how excited she is really is about having me. 

My mentor, Mrs. I, teacher 4th grade inclusion. She only has 17 kids which will be quite nice when I start teaching in the spring. Technically there are 18, but she is pretty sure that the one boy who is ED will never be coming to the classroom. All of the kids were so well behaved while I was there, and they were also very excited when Mrs. I announced to them that I was going to be spending the spring semester with them this year. 

During CAMP (Computer, Art, Music, and PE), Mrs. I and I finally got to chat without 17 kids around us. I asked her about her teaching background because I knew that she had not been doing it her whole life. She actually used to work with an Alternative Certification Program and she was responsible for educating the teachers and she then also observed them out in the field. I think that this will be a huge help for me and she will also know what sort of things to expect of me. I am already looking forward to going back to observe this next week, and I cannot wait for the spring. For a while it seemed like my student teaching experience was not going to be a very good one, but I am 100% sure that it will turn out to be great and I am going to learn so much from Mrs. I!

4th Grade

I found out on Tuesday that I am going to be in 4th grade after all and I am so thrilled about it. I am going to be working with a wonderful teacher who is also the 4th grade inclusion teacher. Mrs. I, who is my mentor teacher, told me that she has a really great class and a good mixture of lower and higher kids. The Special Ed. teacher is also in her classroom about 75% of the time which will be nice to have too. Just from the little bit that I have gotten to talk to Mrs. I, I can tell that she is really excited for me to be a part of her classroom. I think that was one of the things that I was most nervous about, but she has already really made me feel welcome. I will be observing her this fall which I think will be so helpful because the students will already be used to me and I will know their names compared to walking into a classroom for the first time in February. 

Have any of you all ever worked in an inclusion class? Any suggestions or things that you have used in your own classrooms with inclusion kids?

Help!

What would you do if you were given a mentor teacher for your student teaching experience that you knew was not the best? I am in that situation. I received another e-mail today saying that my mentor teacher was Mrs. S in 2nd grade. I have a feeling I was given her because she is the grade level rep, but that is because no one else wanted to do it. It is also important for you to know that she was moved from 5th grade to 2nd grade because of poor student performance. I am trying to stay optimistic, but I am having a very hard time doing so right now. I am worried that I am not going to get the best mentoring from her and that my student teaching experience will not be as helpful as I would like it to be. I texted the 2nd grade teacher who I help all of the time just letting her know, and she actually knew before me and she was quite upset about it. She was going to talk to the principal tomorrow about it because she did not think it was going to benefit me. I am just worried about burning my bridge before even walking on it. I am subbing at the school on Friday so I have a feeling that the principal will be stopping by and talking to me which could be interesting. what are your thoughts on the situation? What was your student teaching experience like? Did you have a good relationship with your mentor teacher?

Wish List

Just a few things I would love to have in my classroom in August, who knows maybe I will luck out and get a few of them as graduation gifts.

an electronic hole punch

a purple cow personal laminator

a chair for read alouds

A Cricut, isn't this like every teacher's dream?

Just a few things that I think would make my job a little more fun/easier. What is your wish list item that you would love to have in your classroom?

Reading Academy

Have you all ever heard of the Reading Academy? This is the second time that we are required to do one for one of my reading classes, but I wanted to share them with my teacher friends as well. There are several choices and it is a great way to earn CE credits while not having to go somewhere to earn it. The best thing about it all is that you can do this at your own pace too. I have already completed the kindergarten one and will be doing the 3rd grade one this time. I have a feeling that I will end up doing them all because it will look great on my resume and I know that I will learn some wonderful things about reading that I can use in my future classroom. 

You can find the Reading Academies here. Has anyone else ever completed one of the academies?

4th Grade It Is!

Today was my last first day of undergrad school ever! It is so hard to believe. Before my afternoon class, I went to talk with Mrs. Backor, who is my advisor at school, and she is also in charge of Field Experiences and is the one responsible for setting up our mentor teachers and observations for the year. While I was in her office, she informed me that she had just gotten an e-mail from the head of the HR department where I am planning on Student Teaching. The e-mail was about my mentor teacher and they wanted me to be in a 4th grade classroom. Well, that was the only grade that I did not have a mentor teacher requested in. When Mrs. Backor first told me that, I think that my jaw might have hit the floor because I was so shocked. She informed me that she had e-mailed him back with the list of mentors that I had given her the other day. I was a little worried about what the HR guy would think about that. Fast forward now about 4 hours to this afternoon. I am walking into the gym for the volleyball tournament and low and behold, guess I who I saw in the concession stand...the guy from HR. His daughter plays on the JV volleyball team here so I was not that surprised. I stopped and chatted with him for a while and told him that I would be just fine being in 4th grade and he even told me who my mentor teacher was going to be and she is the best one in 4th grade. I am okay with this and I cannot wait to get into the classroom! The best part is that I even will get to teach Texas History which is my favorite!!!

Any 4th grade teachers out there, what are some great websites that I can start looking around at?