Greg Week 7

Well this week just flew by, but it was a very interesting one. Monday was a nice day off which was enjoyed by all. Tuesday and Friday I was right back into it, short staffed but ready to work. The students had a very normal day my cooperating teacher jumped in to help with classroom management, but it was still my room to run.

On Wednesday I had my last observation for this placement, that is cray. I planned my final edTPA lesson and did my last videotaping. We did a rounding up lesson for when you purchase something from the store that built off the previous lessons of counting objects (dollars) and the second one of counting objects in a store. This lesson they were buying the objects from the store and rounding up to see how many whole dollars they would have to pay. My focus student did amazing I was hoping for her to be able to recognize a number (1-5) from a field of three with 80% accuracy and she did it! These different ways of presenting the same topic relates to standard number 5, instructional delivery. I was so thrilled and hope I am able to replicate my teaching trough writing my edTPA.

Thursday was parent teacher conferences so my sit in with my teacher and co-conferenced with her. It was really great to talk with parents and get insight on their kids. I learned so much more about their kids and the things that they wanted them to achieve. Many parents were very happy and thankful for the work we do with their kids. This related to standard 9, specifically advocacy. Not many take advocacy for students with as severe disabilities and thought it is not needed it was awesome to reeve hugs and praise from parents during conferences.

Greg week 6

This week was crazy! I cannot believe that it is already week 6 about to be week 7! This week I was completely in control, my cooperating teaching kept saying “pretend I’m not here.” I had to make a lot of decision on staff management. I never saw myself managing staff as much as I am right now. This week has been a bit challenging when it comes to the staff in the room. I am very used to the students, but the staff have had a bit of drama. After talking with my teacher, she mentioned that one of them is going through some personal trouble and doesn’t want it shared but I feel that it is affecting her mood. Standard number 8 talks about collaborative relationships. This relates here because I had to collaborate with my cooperating teacher about the mood of the staff. I also have to maintain positive relationships with the staff even when there is complex personal issues involved in a classroom. A competent teacher maintains a learning environment, standard 4. In the school setting that I am in there is a lot of different wheels in motion. The students are of course the most important but the staff in the classroom that the teacher manages is also important. Adults can and do have complex lives and sometimes that may be brought in the classroom. The room that I am in has a policy, if you are having a bad day etc. there is an open feelings policy you just have to say hey “hey I’m not feeling great for XYZ, hope you understand” this is a great positive environment to be in, but can be challenging at the same time.

This week I taught a less for my edtpa. It was a math lesson. I was very proud of the lesson and my cooperating teach told me it was a format that she wants to use. The lesson format was the students would pick out an item then there was a predetermined amount of the item need numbers 1-5. Then to practice counting the students would glue that amount of the objects on a piece of paper. Then to assess the students they had to find the number to match the number of objects shown from a field of 3. My teach really lied how the students had to practice the skill. This all relates to standard number 2 because I was able to practice a skill that I was teaching etc. this is all good practice for special education.

Greg Week 5

Wow this week just flew by! It was a great week. I started teaching the class for every lesson in the classroom. A student that has not been at school with us returned this week. I also had my second observation and I stated recording lots of lessons this week. I really feel like I am getting the hang of teaching in the classroom. This relates to standard number 2 content area knowledge. I am understanding the content area knowledge of special education. I have been trained well by my cooperating teacher, the classes I have taken and my previous work experience. This week I taught one of my edTPA lessons and even my class is a special education classes every student needed differentiated instruction. This connects to standard number 3, planning for differentiated instruction. It took a lot of planning to teach this lesson lots of little differences for each student.

The students this week had a bit of an adjustment to make. They had a lot of time off and they welcomed back a student that had not been in school for a month SO this was like coming back from a long break and took some adjusting for me as well. This relate to standard number 1 teaching diverse students. There was a lot of different personalities this week and it was a bit of an adjustment to get back into the swing after such a crazy week and have 6 students instead of 5.

This week my cooperating teacher gave me control of the classroom. She did some prep work for assessments that are coming up. We collaborated on goals for an upcoming IEP meeting for two of the students. This relates to standard number 8 collaborate relationships. Even though. Have taken over the classroom we are still collaborating and working together. What a great week!