Student Teaching
My student teaching placement for the Spring of 2017 was at a local Primary School in a first grade classroom. This was my first experience with such a young primary grade, beyond kindergarten PE. I learned a lot during my time as a student teacher. First grade is a challenging year for students in which much growth is required so I got valuable experience with teaching reading fundamentals as well as foundational mathematical concepts to my class.
I also practiced classroom management during my student teaching experience. I read the book "Teaching With Love and Logic" by David Funk and Jim Fay the whole semester and got great practice with applying their techniques for helping students take charge of their behavior. Read my final reflection for specific examples of Love and Logic at work.
In addition, my particular class was a very diverse group of students. In the class we had 7 ELL students, including one who was brand new to the United States, had never been to school, and new no English at all. Teaching such a diverse group gave me great practice with making lesson and assessment accommodations. In fact, this experience is what encouraged me to go back to school to get my Masters degree in ESOL.
10 Consecutive Days
Every intern is required to plan and teach a total of 20 days in the classroom, 10 of which must be consecutive. An intern's "two weeks" of teaching is consider to be on of the most difficult challenges throughout your student teaching. I learned a lot about how to effectively manage a classroom and how to organize and stay prepared for teaching multiple days in a row. It was the closest I'd felt to being a practicing teacher. Take a look at the weekly plans I developed for my 10 consecutive days of teaching.
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A little fun with phonics sounds
for the week -- Ouch!
Professional Work Sample
At Auburn University every graduate is required to complete a professional work sample (PWS) for their specific discipline during their internship. For Elementary Education this entails developing an integrated series of lessons that combines two subjects and spans at least three days. Their must be an included form of assessment and evidence that the assessment was used to analyze student learning related to the learning objectives and standards and to reflect on personal teaching practices.
My PWS combined science and math to teach measurement and characterstics of the sun simultaneously. The science portion of my lessons was adapted from a first grade Project Lead the Way science module on the Sun, Moon, and Stars. To learn more about Project Lead the Way science click on the link below.
Music in the Classroom
I also incorporated music in my teaching this past spring during my internship. The McGraw Hill Wonders Curriculum focuses on an essential question in reading every week. One week the essential question was "What sounds do you hear? How are they made?" Of course this was a perfect opportunity to break out my UKULELE!
I brought in the ukulele and engaged the class in a discussion about the ukulele and its different parts. I asked them how they thought it makes sound? (strings/vibrations) Then I played a few cords to show them how it makes sound when you strum. Lastly, I played them a song and we all sang together. In honor of their recent Wizard of Oz themed first grade musical we sang somewhere over the rainbow:
