Introduction Blog - 03 January 2015
Hello, my name is Corrine Dumas. As you already know, I am a level II intern in the USF Elementary Education program, part of cohort 4 at Trapnell Elementary. Last semester, I interned in a first grade classroom at Trapnell. I feel that as far as accomplishments go, I am proud of myself for getting through the first four lesson plans successfully, considering I had never created or implemented lessons prior to last semester. Concerns I still have at this point are the little things, such as classroom management, preparedness, etc., characteristics that come mostly with practice and experience. My inquiry project went well, minus a few setbacks (including my student transferring schools before my data was completely collected). For this upcoming semester, I look forward to increasing my skills professionally as it pertains to teaching, with preparation being a major goal. As far as ways that you can help me, I appreciate someone who offers constructive criticism and assists with guiding me to achieve my highest potential. I thank you in advance for a wonderful semester!
Hello, my name is Corrine Dumas. As you already know, I am a level II intern in the USF Elementary Education program, part of cohort 4 at Trapnell Elementary. Last semester, I interned in a first grade classroom at Trapnell. I feel that as far as accomplishments go, I am proud of myself for getting through the first four lesson plans successfully, considering I had never created or implemented lessons prior to last semester. Concerns I still have at this point are the little things, such as classroom management, preparedness, etc., characteristics that come mostly with practice and experience. My inquiry project went well, minus a few setbacks (including my student transferring schools before my data was completely collected). For this upcoming semester, I look forward to increasing my skills professionally as it pertains to teaching, with preparation being a major goal. As far as ways that you can help me, I appreciate someone who offers constructive criticism and assists with guiding me to achieve my highest potential. I thank you in advance for a wonderful semester!
Initial Goal-Setting Blog - 14 January 2015
Accomplished Practice 1- Instructional Design and Lesson Planning
Accomplished Practice 2- The Learning Environment
Accomplished Practice 3- Instructional Delivery and Facilitation
For me, two of the important goals to be met are instructional design and instructional delivery. Because I am still so new to creating lesson plans, I know that needs work. My supervisor last semester did assist in editing two of my lesson plans, but I would be open to even more critiquing, something that I would like to see from both my CT and current supervisor, because different teachers teach differently and multiple perspectives are welcomed. In addition, I am okay with the basic structure of a lesson plan and what it should entail, but I need much more practice facilitating them in order to be comfortable with the act. It still makes me very nervous and I still need work with keeping the students on track and focused. I still have some confusion about the actual FEAPs because we did not have to use them last semester. As far as evidence that I have grown mid-semester, I think that will show through my personal confidence as well as reassurance from my CT and supervisor that my lesson plans are strong and I am delivering them well.
Accomplished Practice 1- Instructional Design and Lesson Planning
Accomplished Practice 2- The Learning Environment
Accomplished Practice 3- Instructional Delivery and Facilitation
For me, two of the important goals to be met are instructional design and instructional delivery. Because I am still so new to creating lesson plans, I know that needs work. My supervisor last semester did assist in editing two of my lesson plans, but I would be open to even more critiquing, something that I would like to see from both my CT and current supervisor, because different teachers teach differently and multiple perspectives are welcomed. In addition, I am okay with the basic structure of a lesson plan and what it should entail, but I need much more practice facilitating them in order to be comfortable with the act. It still makes me very nervous and I still need work with keeping the students on track and focused. I still have some confusion about the actual FEAPs because we did not have to use them last semester. As far as evidence that I have grown mid-semester, I think that will show through my personal confidence as well as reassurance from my CT and supervisor that my lesson plans are strong and I am delivering them well.
Interview Blog - 04 February 2015
1. I interviewed Mrs. Johnson, my focus student Ashlynn's Kindergarten teacher.
2. I asked her about Ashlynn's behavior in the classroom, her English ability, her academic abilities, etc. Basically any quick info I could get about Ashlynn's Kindergarten experience.
3. I loved talking to Mrs. Johnson because I learned that Ashlynn came to Trapnell like many other migrant students with little English skills, but I became very excited and proud to hear how much she blossomed in the year she was in the class. She began with one of the lowest reading levels and left Kindergarten reading on one of the highest in class. Mrs. Johnson confirmed my assumptions that Ashlynn was just as quiet and reserved in Kindergarten as she is now. She had no behavioral issues and Mrs. Johnson loved/(s) her.
4. From here, I still have questions about Ashlynn's progress specifically in Kindergarten, including test scores and how she progressed throughout the year. I also would like to know more about Ashlynn's social interactions. Right now, I only really see her speak to classmates when she has to do groupwork, and even then she's quiet.
5. Because of the time constraint, I had to take mental notes in the quick interview I was able to get with Mrs. Johnson; she was in the middle of her class while her students were doing an activity.
1. I interviewed Mrs. Johnson, my focus student Ashlynn's Kindergarten teacher.
2. I asked her about Ashlynn's behavior in the classroom, her English ability, her academic abilities, etc. Basically any quick info I could get about Ashlynn's Kindergarten experience.
3. I loved talking to Mrs. Johnson because I learned that Ashlynn came to Trapnell like many other migrant students with little English skills, but I became very excited and proud to hear how much she blossomed in the year she was in the class. She began with one of the lowest reading levels and left Kindergarten reading on one of the highest in class. Mrs. Johnson confirmed my assumptions that Ashlynn was just as quiet and reserved in Kindergarten as she is now. She had no behavioral issues and Mrs. Johnson loved/(s) her.
4. From here, I still have questions about Ashlynn's progress specifically in Kindergarten, including test scores and how she progressed throughout the year. I also would like to know more about Ashlynn's social interactions. Right now, I only really see her speak to classmates when she has to do groupwork, and even then she's quiet.
5. Because of the time constraint, I had to take mental notes in the quick interview I was able to get with Mrs. Johnson; she was in the middle of her class while her students were doing an activity.
Week Six - 11 February 2015
Thus far, I have conducted the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey with my focus student along with questions that further probed her feelings about reading. I also have helped my CT by administering a math test with Ashlynn. In addition, I administered the Yopp-Singer Test of Sounds in order to see her phonemic awareness. Week 7 is when I plan to meet again with her individually to administer the Spelling Inventory and Running Record. I also intend to collect any information I can about Ashlynn's prior test scores and background information.
Thus far, I have conducted the Elementary Reading Attitude Survey with my focus student along with questions that further probed her feelings about reading. I also have helped my CT by administering a math test with Ashlynn. In addition, I administered the Yopp-Singer Test of Sounds in order to see her phonemic awareness. Week 7 is when I plan to meet again with her individually to administer the Spelling Inventory and Running Record. I also intend to collect any information I can about Ashlynn's prior test scores and background information.
Week Seven - 18 February 2015
This week, I conducted the Spelling Inventory with Ashlynn. I learned that her teacher had administered it in December and she scored almost identically, which was no surprise to her teacher. Below is her test and the results. I did not have time for her Running Record, but I will administer it next week. I also have assessments to administer with her for my ESOL course, which I can post about next week as well.
This week, I conducted the Spelling Inventory with Ashlynn. I learned that her teacher had administered it in December and she scored almost identically, which was no surprise to her teacher. Below is her test and the results. I did not have time for her Running Record, but I will administer it next week. I also have assessments to administer with her for my ESOL course, which I can post about next week as well.
Mid-Semester Goal-Setting Blog
Accomplished Practice 1- Instructional Design and Lesson Planning
Accomplished Practice 2- The Learning Environment
Accomplished Practice 3- Instructional Delivery and Facilitation
These FEAPS are areas on which I have chosen to work because they are areas upon which I have wanted to improve this semester.
For me, I have already improved this semester on the first accomplished practice because my supervisor was extremely helping in improving my lesson planning. I can still stand to use much more improvement, but I am happy to see that I am finally getting feedback. In addition, the cohort is taking the course Instructional Planning, which is starting to become helpful with this accomplished practice, now that we are working on creating a lesson. My CT has also been particularly helpful in bettering me with instructional design and delivery, as I have been picking up tips and tricks from throughout the school year.
Another great use of feedback has come from my peers, through peer coaching. For instance, my peer coach pointed out that when I go around the classroom to help students, I crouch down to their eye level and she said that is a great method. Doing this is something I do subconsciously, and having someone point it out is nice because it shows me that I am at least doing certain things right and that gives me some confidence, with which I have struggled.
My focus student has been doing very well this semester academically, and I have yet to notice any behavioral issues. I am getting to know her better and I love working with her because she is very excited to work one-on-one. I personally am learning so much about all my students and that makes me happy because when I have my own classroom, I want to make personal connections with each and every one of my students.
For future, I intend to continue seeking ideas to create great lesson plans and execute them in a way that reaches all the students, keeping them interested and helping them to truly learn. I intend to do this by continuing to observe other excellent teachers as well as my peers who have been finding their own personal methods that have been successful.
Accomplished Practice 1- Instructional Design and Lesson Planning
Accomplished Practice 2- The Learning Environment
Accomplished Practice 3- Instructional Delivery and Facilitation
These FEAPS are areas on which I have chosen to work because they are areas upon which I have wanted to improve this semester.
For me, I have already improved this semester on the first accomplished practice because my supervisor was extremely helping in improving my lesson planning. I can still stand to use much more improvement, but I am happy to see that I am finally getting feedback. In addition, the cohort is taking the course Instructional Planning, which is starting to become helpful with this accomplished practice, now that we are working on creating a lesson. My CT has also been particularly helpful in bettering me with instructional design and delivery, as I have been picking up tips and tricks from throughout the school year.
Another great use of feedback has come from my peers, through peer coaching. For instance, my peer coach pointed out that when I go around the classroom to help students, I crouch down to their eye level and she said that is a great method. Doing this is something I do subconsciously, and having someone point it out is nice because it shows me that I am at least doing certain things right and that gives me some confidence, with which I have struggled.
My focus student has been doing very well this semester academically, and I have yet to notice any behavioral issues. I am getting to know her better and I love working with her because she is very excited to work one-on-one. I personally am learning so much about all my students and that makes me happy because when I have my own classroom, I want to make personal connections with each and every one of my students.
For future, I intend to continue seeking ideas to create great lesson plans and execute them in a way that reaches all the students, keeping them interested and helping them to truly learn. I intend to do this by continuing to observe other excellent teachers as well as my peers who have been finding their own personal methods that have been successful.
Peer Coaching Blog - 25 February 2015
I had the pleasure of having Lisa French come into my classroom to observe me working with my focus student. It was great having feedback from her about my teaching style as well as what I could do to help improve my student's spelling skills. During testing this day, I also got to work side-by-side with Ms. French in her intern classroom so we got to observe each other at this point as well and she complimented my ability to work effectively with the students.
I had the pleasure of having Lisa French come into my classroom to observe me working with my focus student. It was great having feedback from her about my teaching style as well as what I could do to help improve my student's spelling skills. During testing this day, I also got to work side-by-side with Ms. French in her intern classroom so we got to observe each other at this point as well and she complimented my ability to work effectively with the students.
Week Eight - 25 February 2015
Today I completed the CCMP video with Ashlynn for our Math class. We did an activity together, working on adding numbers through a drawing model that helped Ashlynn to see how you can regroup the ones in order to carry to the tens. I also obtained her information from the Viewpoint database, including things like test scores and absences. Today I also conducted a Running Record to assess Ashlynn's reading level. I tested her at a level 18. I will test her next time we meet at a level 20 because she resulted as independent.
Today I completed the CCMP video with Ashlynn for our Math class. We did an activity together, working on adding numbers through a drawing model that helped Ashlynn to see how you can regroup the ones in order to carry to the tens. I also obtained her information from the Viewpoint database, including things like test scores and absences. Today I also conducted a Running Record to assess Ashlynn's reading level. I tested her at a level 18. I will test her next time we meet at a level 20 because she resulted as independent.
Week Nine - 04 March 2015
This week the University was on spring break, so we did not visit the classroom. For my personally inquiry purposes (along with literacy portfolio development), I began putting together the portfolio on Ashlynn, which consists of all the above documents I attached in previous blogs, minus the math work. I will be uploading this at the end of the semester when it is complete and polished, but I am excited about the results thus far. My current wonderings about Ashlynn are as follows:
This week the University was on spring break, so we did not visit the classroom. For my personally inquiry purposes (along with literacy portfolio development), I began putting together the portfolio on Ashlynn, which consists of all the above documents I attached in previous blogs, minus the math work. I will be uploading this at the end of the semester when it is complete and polished, but I am excited about the results thus far. My current wonderings about Ashlynn are as follows:
- In which subject does Ashlynn struggle the most?
- How can I help her to achieve higher in this subject?
- In which subject does Ashlynn struggle the least?
- How can I ensure she continues achieving highly in this subject?
- What is her home life like?
Week Eleven - 18 March 2015
Today, my class had to go over the practice SAT test for the first part of the day and the rest of the day consisted of lesson planning with my CT while her co-teaching partner taught math. For this reason, I have nothing to report again. Unfortunately, next week will be the same because the SAT tests will be administered and we are not allowed to be in the classroom during that time. I will try to talk to my CT about Ashlynn after the testing has ended and pick her brain about my inquiry questions from week nine.
Today, my class had to go over the practice SAT test for the first part of the day and the rest of the day consisted of lesson planning with my CT while her co-teaching partner taught math. For this reason, I have nothing to report again. Unfortunately, next week will be the same because the SAT tests will be administered and we are not allowed to be in the classroom during that time. I will try to talk to my CT about Ashlynn after the testing has ended and pick her brain about my inquiry questions from week nine.
Claim Blog
Claim - working in small groups with material that is on level for a student will help increase the student's self confidence among peers.
Evidence - My focus student enjoys school and does well in all subjects. She does not face academic or behavioral issues, but what became apparent to be is that she is socially not blossoming as much as I would like to see in a student close to the end of first grade. She keeps mostly to herself and is quiet. Whenever we work together one-on-one, she seems to favor this type of instruction. However, in order to help her socially, starting her off in small groups seems to be helpful. She is soft-spoken in both settings - alone with the instructor and in a small group. However, students who understand the material and are comfortable sharing their knowledge are confident, and that is the intention of utilizing this small group setting.
Claim - working in small groups with material that is on level for a student will help increase the student's self confidence among peers.
Evidence - My focus student enjoys school and does well in all subjects. She does not face academic or behavioral issues, but what became apparent to be is that she is socially not blossoming as much as I would like to see in a student close to the end of first grade. She keeps mostly to herself and is quiet. Whenever we work together one-on-one, she seems to favor this type of instruction. However, in order to help her socially, starting her off in small groups seems to be helpful. She is soft-spoken in both settings - alone with the instructor and in a small group. However, students who understand the material and are comfortable sharing their knowledge are confident, and that is the intention of utilizing this small group setting.
Final Goal-Setting Blog
At the beginning of the semester, I set my goals for improvement in the areas of instructional design and instructional delivery, which are the Accomplished Practices I and II. I had said this because I still felt new to creating lesson plans, especially since we only just took Instructional Planning this semester, and I honestly do not know how much help that actually was. In addition, only implementing four lessons in a semester is not very much practice and that can become concerning.
This semester, I collaborated more with my CT for lesson planning. She is always eager to provide assistance, opinions, materials, etc., and has quite a few years under her belt of excellent teaching. I also have worked hard at transitioning from small-group instruction to whole-group. It intimidates me, but I have been putting forth my best effort. Also during lesson planning this semester, I received much more feedback from my supervisor and, in turn, had much better-written lesson plans with extensive notes. Last semester my supervisor was accepting of under-developed lesson plans that stated the bare minimum, so that was a challenge to overcome.
I received feedback on my first lesson that stuck with me. I realized that, because I was being observed, I had chosen a lesson that was already mastered by the students, which made for a dry lesson where the students knew everything already. I was too afraid to do something new with them where they failed and I got poor feedback. I have tried harder to challenge my students, though I admit I am still afraid to fail. My CT has been so instrumental in the lesson planning and preparation that her feedback was minimal, since she already knew prior to the observation what she would be observing. My supervisor still has another observation with me next week, and I am hoping for more feedback.
Spending an entire year in the same classroom has been great because I have gotten to watch many of my students grow. I worked with multiple focus students due to the high rate of transfer of students in this community, and it is always exciting seeing them succeed. As for myself, I feel I have definitely grown this semester, though I still unfortunately feel nowhere near ready for final internship. I have gotten more comfortable in my class because I know my students and they like working with me, much until I felt at the beginning of the school year. Starting in a new classroom will likely start that process all over again, which is another goal I will have to set for myself.
Practice, practice, practice, is what it takes to improve. In order for me to improve on lesson planning and instruction, I have to create more lessons and implement them more in the classroom. In the fall, I hope to be able to have lessons at least once a week, just not observed. I am always open to feedback and constructive criticism from my CT and supervisor, but I want to practice a normal, day-to-day lesson so I can gain experience with that and feel as comfortable as possible when I have my own classroom.
Below are from all the lessons I have completed with this student, David (pseudonym). I have done multiple whole-group, and he did a small-group math lesson with me. He is a great kid who is improving academically and I have loved watching his progress.
At the beginning of the semester, I set my goals for improvement in the areas of instructional design and instructional delivery, which are the Accomplished Practices I and II. I had said this because I still felt new to creating lesson plans, especially since we only just took Instructional Planning this semester, and I honestly do not know how much help that actually was. In addition, only implementing four lessons in a semester is not very much practice and that can become concerning.
This semester, I collaborated more with my CT for lesson planning. She is always eager to provide assistance, opinions, materials, etc., and has quite a few years under her belt of excellent teaching. I also have worked hard at transitioning from small-group instruction to whole-group. It intimidates me, but I have been putting forth my best effort. Also during lesson planning this semester, I received much more feedback from my supervisor and, in turn, had much better-written lesson plans with extensive notes. Last semester my supervisor was accepting of under-developed lesson plans that stated the bare minimum, so that was a challenge to overcome.
I received feedback on my first lesson that stuck with me. I realized that, because I was being observed, I had chosen a lesson that was already mastered by the students, which made for a dry lesson where the students knew everything already. I was too afraid to do something new with them where they failed and I got poor feedback. I have tried harder to challenge my students, though I admit I am still afraid to fail. My CT has been so instrumental in the lesson planning and preparation that her feedback was minimal, since she already knew prior to the observation what she would be observing. My supervisor still has another observation with me next week, and I am hoping for more feedback.
Spending an entire year in the same classroom has been great because I have gotten to watch many of my students grow. I worked with multiple focus students due to the high rate of transfer of students in this community, and it is always exciting seeing them succeed. As for myself, I feel I have definitely grown this semester, though I still unfortunately feel nowhere near ready for final internship. I have gotten more comfortable in my class because I know my students and they like working with me, much until I felt at the beginning of the school year. Starting in a new classroom will likely start that process all over again, which is another goal I will have to set for myself.
Practice, practice, practice, is what it takes to improve. In order for me to improve on lesson planning and instruction, I have to create more lessons and implement them more in the classroom. In the fall, I hope to be able to have lessons at least once a week, just not observed. I am always open to feedback and constructive criticism from my CT and supervisor, but I want to practice a normal, day-to-day lesson so I can gain experience with that and feel as comfortable as possible when I have my own classroom.
Below are from all the lessons I have completed with this student, David (pseudonym). I have done multiple whole-group, and he did a small-group math lesson with me. He is a great kid who is improving academically and I have loved watching his progress.