Weekly Log and Reflective Questions

1.) How did you spend your time this week? What responsibilities did you have?
2.) What were your most satisfying experiences? What were your most challenging
experiences?
3.) What are the plans for the upcoming week?
First Placement- Eason Elementary
09/12/2015
September 7-11 (No School on Monday)
1.) This week I began the day by modeling the calendar routine for the students. Next week one
student will begin the calendar as their morning job and I will just be a facilitator. After
calendar, I transitioned the students into the journal sharing part of the morning. My job during
this time is to call on students to share a page from their writing journals. The students read their
page and call on two peers to comment or ask a question during this time. The students are able
to share and call on peers with little prompting from me. I mostly regulate the class and offer
positive comments. Next, I transitioned the students into their stations. Last week they came up
with their own expectations for each one, so this week I reviewed the little posters we made to
remind them of what each station should look like. I then dismissed them based on their stations.
While the students were at the stations, I set up for the next shared reading activity. Most of the
shared readings included a read aloud and corresponding activity for the students to complete.
Other responsibilities this week included taking the students to and from specials in the building
and various read alouds throughout the day.
2.) This week the most satisfying experiences for me are when the students are respectful and
transition smoothly for me. Coming into this experience with little whole class instruction time,
I was anxious to see how the students would respond to me as a student teacher. Im still
working on various transition techniques, but feel like I have control of the class and the students
respect me as their regular teacher. Not every transition has been perfect, but overall it makes
me feel more confident and respected as a leader.
The most challenging experiences for me this week were giving clear and explicit instructions.
A couple times I wanted to remind students of certain things during lessons (simplified, easy
directions before dismissing them or various reminders to use crayon or put name/date on paper).
At times I would forget to mention those things and have to interrupt their work or transition.
With continual practice I will begin to fill in those things more naturally.
3.) Next week I will continue to facilitate the calendar routine, journal sharing, various shared
reading activities, and stations. I will begin to create and implement reading lessons for schema
starting on Wednesday or Thursday. I will also start teaching math lessons from the Everyday
Math curriculum Monday to Friday.
09/27/2015

September 21-25
1.) Similar to the previous weeks, I began each day by leading the calendar routine. Following
the calendar routine, I lead the students in their daily journal sharing time. This week the
students began rotating through all blocks of daily 5. My mentor teacher began the week by
helping the students find good fit books for them to pick out for their book boxes based on
their daily 5 groups. Later in the week, she began guided reading lessons during the blocks. I
observed the groups with the intention of taking them over next week. After daily 5 I taught
math lessons each day before lunch. Thursday and Friday were assessment days as Unit 1 ended.
I continued to transition the students to lunch and into their D.E.A.R time after recess. I had less
responsibility in the afternoon this week as my mentor teacher was starting the science units. On
various days, however, I did have a couple shared readings and other activities to do after lunch
as well as taking the students to their specials and recesses.
2.) This week my most satisfying experiences were during transitions between subjects or
activities. Contrary to last week, I felt much more confident and comfortable within my role and
really spent time last weekend reflecting on my techniques and logistical things to help with the
ease of transition. I left this week with a much more positive feeling knowing that practice and
tips from my mentor teacher really paid off. The most challenging experiences this week were in
the area of assessments. The students took a math assessment Thursday, the FAST assessment,
and I have informal assessments of writing done throughout the week as well. The challenge
came from the overwhelming feeling of having a lot of information and deciding where to go
with it in the next couple of weeks. It is hard having limited time left with the students as my
placement ends in a few weeks.
3.) This next week I will be teaching guided reading lessons in addition to math and whole
group reading lessons. Later in the week I will also start leading the science lessons once my
mentor teacher establishes the routines and activities.
10/18/2015
October 12-16
1.) This week I finished my bell-to-bell time on Monday. Tuesday, I still taught a couple lessons
in guided reading and math for extra practice. Wednesday I taught a Wonder Wednesday lesson
from the website Wonderopolis.org. Thursday morning my mentor teacher was absent at a
district meeting, so I taught a couple whole group lessons in reading and math that morning.
Friday I observed all day and got to spend quality time with the students. My mentor left about
45 minutes out of the day where they could choose a free choice activity. The students also
presented me with a class book they had made with reasons why they will miss me. My mentor
teacher read it aloud while I tried not to cry. They also each contributed something to add to
my future teacher supplies which included markers of all kinds, pencils, post-it notes, a new
cup and lanyard and many other various supplies. I was blown away with the class book, let
alone the fact that they had kept it all a secret the entire week. Friday was a very bittersweet day.
2.) The most satisfying experience was on Friday for my last day. It was amazing to see how
much the students looked up to me and valued our time together as much as I did. Although it

was a sad day to leave them, I can look back on all of the lessons, work, and fun times we had to
remember what we had accomplished together. The most challenging thing this week was the
entire day of Friday. Leaving the students was very hard, and I tried to keep it together the best I
could. I also wasnt feeling too well on Friday. I had a major headache, body aches, and started
getting the chills. I knew I couldnt miss the class party and saying goodbye to the students, so I
toughed it out the best I could. It was a long day, however, and a bummer that I was not 100%
on the last day with the first graders.
3.) Next week, I will be starting my second placement at Adel Elementary with Karen Nielsen in
second grade. The first week I will be observing and learning the school culture as well as
getting the know the students names within the first couple of days.
Second Placement- Adel Elementary
11/01/2015
October 26-30
1.) This week I spent a lot of time getting to know the students and learning the
schedule/routine. Adel schools did not have school on Monday due to Parent-Teacher
Conferences later in the week. The school also had early outs on Tuesday and Thursday. Even
with the atypical schedules I increased my responsibility in the classroom as I took over spelling
tests/activities, began teaching math lessons, a health unit, and the opening routines. I also took
the students to and from their specials around the building. Every Wednesday morning, the 2nd
grade team meets to plan upcoming units and discuss or brainstorm ideas for struggling students.
2.) The most satisfying experiences have been the overall welcome from the students. It is hard
for a new person to come into their already established routines, but the students have been
responsive and respectful during the transition. I feel as if I already have a good understanding
of their classroom culture and have gotten to know the students well. The most challenging
experiences have been using the Love and Logic behavior plan in the classroom. At first I felt
really limited or restricted as to what I could say to the students. After talking with my mentor
teacher, however, she reassured me that I could use whatever works for me while keeping the
main idea of Love and Logic in mind. She has been great with giving me tips or ideas on how to
phrase certain redirections.
3.) Next week I will continue to implement spelling, math, and health while beginning to work
with 3 of the 7 guided reading groups. I will also participate in a staff meeting one morning and
a professional development day on Wednesday afternoon.
11/22/2015
November 16-20
1.) This week I continued with all seven guided reading groups, math, spelling, and the
integrated unit (grammar). I also began taking over the reading workshop lessons as well as the
writing workshop lessons midweek. Although Adel schools had an early dismissal Wednesday
afternoon, I began the responsibilities of my bell-to-bell time. Wednesday morning during our

2nd grade PLC time, I was able to offer input for a few struggling students in our classroom as
well. I feel as though my time spent in reading groups and lesson throughout the day has really
provided me insight to some of the students learning habits and obstacles.
2.) I continue to enjoy teaching the guided reading groups the most. I have seven different
groups, but usually meet with 5-6 (sometimes 7) depending on the schedule for the day. I feel
most relaxed and successful when working with the guided reading groups. This week the
challenging experiences were outside of the classroom. The three standards for my portfolio due
this week as well as other various tasks that need to be completed before graduation put a little
extra stress on me in terms of time management. Fortunately, we have recess and specials
throughout the day to plan for upcoming lessons and I did not know have to do much work for
the school day after school.
3.) Next week we have school on Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving break. I will
continue my bell-to-bell time and continue into the following week. I will continue to teach
guided reading groups as well as reading and writing workshop lessons. In math, I will be
reviewing place value and story problems. Integrated Unit I will be teaching a couple of lessons
on prefixes.
11/29/2015
November 23-27
1.) This week I continued to teach bell-to-bell. Adel schools did not have school in session
Wednesday-Friday, so the week only consisted of two days. My mentor teacher helped me to
plan certain lessons for reading workshop, which ended up being review lessons about character
traits. For math, I taught a review lesson on place value in which the students and I played a
Bingo-type game with pre-made questions. For integrated unit, I continued teaching grammar
lessons on the topic of prefixes. This week I also continued teaching all 7 guided reading groups
and finished each groups current book before the holiday break. For writing workshop, we
began a new set-up to ensure each student was getting the proper attention and focus during his
or her writing time. The past couple of weeks my teacher felt like she wasnt able to meet with
each student enough to conference with them about their current books, so she split up the
students into 4 separate groups. One group would meet with her during writing time, another
with me, and another the associate in the room (4 students in each group). The last group (8
students) was compromised of students who could work independently at their desks. During
these small groups, we were able to focus on each students book and hold them accountable for
their particular area of focus. Some members in my group were working on handwriting, staying
on task, illustrations, and spelling. The purpose of the small groups was to keep each student
working at the expectation level set at the beginning of the year. In the past month or so she has
tried to meet with each student a few times a week, but felt like that wasnt enough to keep the
students really focused and able to complete work on their own. Through the small groups I
have seen great improvement on the quality of writing as well as the time spent on task during
writing workshop.
2.) This week was very short, so not many things presented a challenge. If I had to pick one, I
think I would say that dismissal time before a holiday break/weekend seemed to be the most

challenging part of the day. The kids are so excited to have a break and get to spend time at
home that the end of the day can be somewhat hectic. My mentor teacher and I planned a read
aloud at the end of the day, which they did great listening to at the time. Once I began
dismissing kids, however, they were just too excited telling each other Happy Thanksgiving
and telling the teachers good-bye. I think if I were to have my own classroom I would have
certain techniques prepared for days before break. For example, having the students get their
bags packed before the read aloud or get stickers beforehand to dismiss students sitting quietly
first. Something little like that would make an impact with this particular class. I did turn off the
lights, which seemed to help as well. The most satisfying moments this week were getting to do
more read alouds with the whole group. I really enjoyed that aspect in my first placement, and
seem to do it less in 2nd grade. We picked out some Thanksgiving themed books just to simply
enjoy together without a purpose. I also have been enjoying the read aloud at the end of the day.
We started reading Charlie and the Chocolate Factory aloud, and its been fun starting a book
with the whole class.
3.) Next week I will continue bell-to-bell teaching the whole week. It should be a normal week
with no early dismissals or days off. The second graders do have a music concert next week that
I will be attending, so they will have extra music practice this week. I will be starting a math
unit on telling time, continuing with character traits for readers workshop, all 7 guided reading
groups, and the small groups during writing time. For integrated unit I will start an economics
unit. We will also have PLC on Wednesday morning at 7:30.