Saturday, September 15, 2012

Wow! Where did I go?

Oh my goodness, I have been MIA for weeks now! I will be starting my 6th week of Student teaching this coming Monday and the weeks have flown by. My extra time is filled with lesson planning, finding/making things to use in the classroom, and now my Seminar 1. Phew. 
Everything has been going wonderfully in the classroom. It feels great to be back working with children, and I stepped back into the roll with ease. The first week was just observing the teacher and her style so I fell back in to para pro mode. I must say that it is weird being called by my last name though. For ten years as a para pro I was known by my first name; Miss Michelle. I have been caught still referring to myself by that title. 
Each week I have added a new lesson to what I will be teaching. This coming week I will be teaching math, oral language, grammar, phonics, and middle (on) level small groups. We also use Daily 5 as a transition/break-up of the Reading block. I have made/found games to use in the Daily 5 that focus on the weekly skills. I made a Boggle board for our door (I have received so many compliments from the other teachers), iPhones to practice spelling words, and last week I made a spinner game for our word endings -s, -ed, -ing. This week I am looking for -all word games, something for learning asking sentences, and contractions n't and 's. 
I had my first unofficial observation the third week and my midterm observation last week. Wow!
My one main hurdle is the schedule. Every day is different. It is crazy. I found out last week that I do not need to write the detailed lesson plans that I have been writing (woohoo!) but coming up with a simple 5-day template is almost impossible because there is no common structures to the day. The only thing that does not change is breakfast and lunch