WEEK ONE– Jan.

17th

As Dr. Shoff said in class, it’s the beginning of seeing the light at the end of the tunnel as

we are so close to graduating. This week at Portage Elementary, I spent time observing other

teachers in the school building while focusing on the routines and procedures that Ms. Thomas

completes in her third-grade classroom. As I would say I was “getting back into the groove of

everything. While doing that, I completed two of the three observations which help to see and

identify other classroom management and procedures that other teachers use. Seeing how

different teachers manage the learning environment is very important, as it is a critical part of

teaching as it falls under Domain 2 of the Danielson Framework. Each learning environment

displayed different methods of organizing the space for learners. For example, in the 4th-grade

classroom observation, the teacher had plastic drawers at each desk group that had materials

and supplies that were necessary for instruction. In addition, the plastic drawers also provided a

space for students to keep important papers such as notes or uncompleted work.

In addition to Domain 2, I also diligently began to learn more about the methods that Ms.

Thomas utilizes for lesson planning and preparation. A lot of this information came from

conversations during prep period and lunch which is when we discussed the units and lessons

that I would be taking on during student teaching. Learning the ropes of preparation and

planning in Ms. Thomas's classroom made it evident that she displays much from Danielson

Framework– Domain 1, Planning and Preparation components. In addition, I also attended my

first teacher’s staff meeting which takes place every Thursday morning before the student goes

to homework. Having weekly staff meetings is a way that the principal is able to inform the staff

of events and important topics in the education system.

In the classroom with the students, issues with behavior do not tend to arise due to Ms.

Thomas’s management skills. However, I did notice this week that some of the students in the

classroom lack the motivation to complete their work or be engaged listeners in classroom
discussions. My goal for the next seven weeks is to help them find the motivation or energy to

complete their work by making lessons engaging for them. Overall, I am excited to see what

these next seven weeks will have in store while gaining skills and knowledge of what it takes to

be a successful teacher in the classroom.

WEEK TWO– Jan. 23rd

Week two of student-teaching involved a lot of growth and experiencing much of the role

of a teacher that happens when students are not in the classroom. Being involved in a data

reading for the new reading instruction group as well as discussions on IEPs. In addition, I

continued to form relationships with the students so that I am able to teach to my fullest

potential and earn the respect of each of the students. Gaining the respect of the students while

I respect them falls under Danielson Domain 1 under “Knowing and Valuing the Students'' as

well as Domain 2 under “Cultivating Respectful and Affirming Environments''. My goal as a

teacher is to create a classroom environment that is balanced between respect, positive

behavior, and high expectations of my students. This will allow for a positive learning

environment as well as a foundation for collaborative learning.

During the second week, I took on the role of teaching the subject of spelling to the

class. The focus in spelling for the week was inflectional ending such as add -s, -ing, and -ed.

To help the student we discussed what each ending is used for such as -s making a word

present tense or plural, -ing making the verb present tense, and finally -ed making the word past

tense. To engage the students, I switched up the methods of completing worksheets and

practice book pages. For example, working with partners, completing them together as a class,

and working independently and checking as a group. I also incorporated some fun spelling

activities such as the spelling review game called “Sparkle”. “Sparkle” allowed the students to

work on spelling the words and listening skills. After completing the game, I realized the

students need more listening activities in the classroom to practice some necessary social skills.
Teaching one subject this week allowed me to be introduced to some practice with Domain 3 of

the Danielson Framework which involves the Learning Experience. The components in this

Domain is the engagement of the students learning and reflecting the mission of growth and

vision of the school. Within the Portage Elementary School, they focus on the “One dream, one

team” mentality. This encourages the students to embrace the working together mentality to

achieve great things. Knowing this mission, it is important to allow opportunities for teamwork to

happen in the classroom.

WEEK THREE

In the classroom, teachers are faced with making decisions that can be both easy and

difficult. However, many of the decisions made in the classroom are based upon what is ideal so

students are getting the best education possible. These last two weeks allowed me to

experience how decisions are made to better a child. Making decisions that better the students

allowed me to better understand Danielson’s third domain that's component focuses on

“responding flexibly to student needs.”

Within my classroom, there are five students who are pulled out for learning support in

mathematic and reading instruction, However, one of the students have shown to be more

advanced than the others in mathematics, so the learning support teacher, my co-op, as well as

myself have had discussions with transition this student back into the regular classroom for

math class. The student began the transition this past week due to the class beginning fractions.

The first two days went spectacular and he seemed to enjoy and comprehend the lessons and

learning objectives. The rest of the week however, we ran into some issues the last three days

of the week. Learning and observing how to manage situations such as a child not responding

to the learning experience and supporting the student’s well being was very beneficial.

Developing skills such as how to better the learning process and well-being was crucial to gain

so that I can be proficient when I have my own classroom one day.

had to learn to change approaches in the classroom to better the learning process for the class.

For example, this week object pronouns was a struggle for the students to understand through

worksheets after just learning about subject pronouns the previous week. Therefore I took the

opportunity to change the style in which my co-op typically takes. I reviewed and revisited some

of the challenges they showed so I designed a fun game for them to play. As another week is in

the book, I am gaining so much knowledge and understanding some of the information and

approaches that were discussed in my undergraduate classes.

Week 4

After completing the fourth week of student teaching, I experienced some of the

problems and issues I will face in my future career. One of the biggest take-aways from this

week is understanding as a teacher that not every lesson will be a success. However, it is

important to step away from those unsuccessful lessons and reflect on “what can I do better to

make sure the students fully understand the task at hand.” It is vital to complete a reflection

upon one’s own teaching to make improvements in the methods and procedures within a

lesson.

This week as I began teaching my unit on Comparing and Finding Equivalent Fractions, I

experienced what it felt like to walk away from a lesson realizing how very unsuccessful it was.

Although, fractions is a difficult topic for students to comprehend, I realized some of the methods

and procedures that I incorporated into the lesson were not the best options for my group of

students. By realizing this and experiencing this, I was introduced to Danielson Framework

domain four component A (Engaging in Reflective Practice). This domain and components

covers the ability to gain professional growth and student success by reflecting on the impact of

the lesson and what the students are learning. When a teacher reflects on their teaching it
allows them to critically evaluate the process of teaching and think about the lesson from the

lens of the student.

In addition to experiencing the importance of reflection and reevaluating a lesson that

was unsuccessful, I believe I grew in the area of behavior management in the classroom. As a

young student teacher, it was difficult for me in the first two weeks to manage the behaviors in

the classroom as I didn’t want to be mean or upset any of the students. But as the first three

weeks went by I realized the importance of correcting the same disruptive behaviors. Although,

the behaviors were very minor such as not raising their hands or talking when work was

completed. These small behaviors can affect not completing all the work that was expected to

be completed and can also disrupt the other students who are hard at work. As the weeks go by

I am focusing on being more cautious and consistent with these behaviors so that the students

can get the most out of the day. Overall this week was very beneficial to experience and really

helped me to grow and see that not every day or lesson will be successful but you cannot let

that carry on to the next day and that it’s important to evaluate your own teaching skills and

lessons.

Week 5

As weeks go by the weeks seem to go faster. This week I completed my fifth week at my

first placement and it will be filled with excitement due to the holiday celebration within the

classroom. Much of what went on in the classroom this week introduced me to Danielson’s

Framework with domain four, Principled Teaching. Within domain four, it is focused on reflecting

on the educators and their practices beyond the classroom. When teachers teach beyond the

classroom, they realize the importance of the community around them as well as the interest of

the students, and are actively involved in the organizations within the school or district.

Within my co-ops classroom, I have seen what it means to present principled teaching

first-hand. Jen Thomas serves as union representative for the teacher of Portage Area and also
is an officer of the PTO. This week I had the opportunity to see her in action during preparation

periods and the short time after school organizing upcoming events for the students that PTO

was sponsoring. For example, the Father-Daughter dance that took place this past week, the

upcoming Mother-Son Events, as well as working on the plans for the Mobile Agriculture

Education Lab to come to the school in April. Being involved in the community as well as

organization within the school, allows connections and experiences to be made that can be

used to educate the children on knowledge outside of academics.

With that being said, the students in third grade had the opportunity to listen to three

speakers on different career opportunities such as a mining engineer, a game warren, and a

African Safari guide. The african safari guide also introduced the students to a culture outside

the United States and understood the importance of travel and experiences. He even discussed

the many different animals that are found within his country of Namibia. By allowing the students

to listen to various speakers is allowing them to learn about things beyond the classroom and

realize there is a world of opportunities for careers and life. All of which is one of the most

important things when it comes to domain four and being promoting “principled teaching.”

Week 6

Week Six of student teaching involved huge growth in professional development in

teaching. This week I took on the role of teaching all the major subjects as well as the other

subjects (teaching full time). On top of teaching full time, I also got to experience what goes on

during a teacher’s in-service day. Additionally, my co-op took a personal day so I got to

experience teaching in the classroom with a substitute teacher. All of which help me grow in my

teaching experience.

Since Monday was President’s Day, Portage Area School District made this day an

In-Service day for teachers while the students had off. Experiencing an in-service day allowed

me to better understand and see how teaching professionals grow in the area of professional
development. Professional development is a key part in Danielson’s fourth domain component E

which includes developing cultural competence, enhancing knowledge and skills, and seeking

and acting on feedback. Majority of the in-service day helped me develop a better

understanding of “Enhancing my Knowledge and Skills' ' due to the one presentation focusing

on school-safety and how to handle an active shooter. The presentation was led by a local from

Blacklick who served as a detective for mass shootings in the eastern states. Much of the

discussion helps to better understand methods that should be used to survive and keep a

classroom safe during an active shooter in a school building. In this day and age it is vital for

professions to keep up to date on the content of safety within the classroom. While the

in-service day helped me deepen my professional development, I also grew professionally by

taking on more responsibilities within the classroom.

This week I took on the responsibility of teaching all the subject areas. Additionally, I also

had the opportunity to teach the class without my co-op being there during the school day. As I

taught all the subject areas through this week, I also realized how short of time during prep

periods teachers have to plan lessons during their school day. Meanwhile, teaching all day I had

more responsibilities to handle disruptive behaviors with the students. As weeks continue to go

by, I continue to grow as a teacher and in my professional development.

WEEK 7

This week was an exciting week in 3rd grade at Portage Elementary! The students got to

celebrate Read Across America Week with special guest readers, fun activities, and spirit days.

From this week I gained a lot of insight on the importance of planning fun activities as a teacher

for your students. Although it can take up a lot of time, seeing the enjoyment on the students'

faces makes it well worth it. As I experienced the excitement of Read Across America Week, I

also continued to teach all day in every subject area.

helped to show me the importance of Danielson's third domain and component C of Engaging

Students in Learning. When it comes to being an educator, it is important to include time

especially in the elementary grades where students can have fun while learning. This is a key

aspect to engage students in lessons and information that is critical for them to understand. But

while having fun lessons in place, it is also vital that educators maintain the same classroom

expectants to keep the students focused and limit behavioral issues. For example, this week I

planned a lesson called “The Adjective Bag” . The activity and expectation were modeled when I

introduced adjectives to the students on Thursday. For the activity all the students received a

brown bag on Thursday and for homework was to place an idea in the bag and write an

adjective to describe the idea on the front of the bag. Then on Friday each student got the

chance to stand up in front of the class and read off the adjectives. This allowed the students to

work on presentation and public speaking skills a while the teachers (Ms. Thomas and I) were to

formally assess if the students understood what words are adjectives. When a student didn’t

have a correct adjective we would step in and help them create a new adjective for the item.

After the adjectives were read, the student presenting got to pick three students to guess the

item. If no one guessed correctly then the student would open the bag and show the item they

picked to the other students. This was a fun activity that engaged all the learners on the topic of

adjectives. Overall, I also grasped an understanding through discussions with my co-op that

sometimes depending on the group of students in the classroom, fun engaging activities such

as “The Adjective Bag” won’t always be a success. However, with the group of students in my

3rd grade class, they understand the expectations and maintain positive behaviors during fun

activities such as this one.