It's a Bittersweet Symphony, This Life....

Wow, I have a lot of catching up to do.  It has been almost a month since I've updated everyone, and now I've reached the end of student teaching!

As my title says, leaving is very bittersweet.  I couldn't be more excited to be graduating on May 1st, but Tuesday (my last day in the school) is going to be very hard.  I don't want to leave my students, and trust me, they don't want me to leave either.  That's all I ever hear from them anymore! "Don't leave Miss Trundle! Do you have to?" It breaks my heart. 

I feel that my students and I have grown a lot together over the past few months.  I have definitely developed as a person; gained more patience than I ever thought I would have, more compassion, and I just love every single child in that class.  I have watched them grow not only academically but also emotionally and socially.

I have 18 girls and 8 boys in my classroom, so you can just imagine the drama that goes on (yes, even when they're only 7 and 8).  One day, the drama between the girls was getting so bad (I got sick of hearing "she was mean to me on the playground!" "She said I can't play with them because I don't have a blue shirt!" etc.) that I sent my 8 boys to art class and kept all 18 girls in the classroom with me for about 20 minutes.  We sat in a circle on the floor (I was down there with them) and I asked them to raise their hand if someone in our class has ever said anything mean to or about them. Everyone raised their hand.  Then, I asked them to raise their hand if they had ever said anything mean about someone else in the class.  Again, everyone raised their hand.  So, I said "if you know what it feels like when people say mean things about you, why would you ever want to say mean things about someone else?"  I let them sit and think about that for a moment, before we moved on.  I let them share times that they felt hurt by someone's words, whether it was someone in the class or not.  Once everyone had a chance, we went around the circle and had to say something nice about the person sitting to their right.  It worked out almost better than I had expected, they all seemed to love the activity and appreciated me caring enough to try to do something about it.  Things have been going much better since.

Even moments like that, I am going to miss.  I went to Fun Night last night, stood in a gym for 40 minutes with a ton of 2nd and 3rd graders running around screaming, and I had a smile on my face every second.  Some people think I'm crazy, but I just can't explain it. Being in the presence of a child can brighten my whole day.

As I said, Tuesday will be very rough.  Every year will be rough, I was only with these children for 3 months, I can't imagine what my first full year will be like (which hopefully will be next year!).  I've made little postcards for each child as a parting gift of sorts, and I know they've made something for me (because they're too young to keep a secret).  I can't believe its already the end, time flew by this semester.  I couldn't have hand picked a better group to be with, and I'll be very sad to go!  I'm hoping to make it through the day without any tears, wish me luck!

Winding Down

Last week was crazy, it went by really fast and left me feeling quite tired for the weekend.  We had parent teacher conferences last Tuesday and Thursday.  They were pretty enjoyable; I liked having the opportunity to meet all of the parents.  Tuesday was a half-day of school for students because conferences started at 1:00pm.  We had a read-a-thon to celebrate March is Reading Month.  Students brought in their pillows and blankets, their favorite books, and we had snacks for them.  It was a great morning, they really enjoyed the read-a-thon.  We're also in the midst of a school-wide competition for reading month.  Students have little slips of paper they take home and for each 20 minutes they read, their parents fill out one slip.  They bring it back to school, and each slip is worth one pony for our class corral.  The class with the most ponies in their corral at the end of the month wins pony rides =)  The students are very excited!  They announced on Friday that we are in 2nd place with 123 horses, and the 1st place class was only 4 horses ahead of us.

Friday was a crazy morning; we had one incident right at the beginning of the day, and then just before lunch I had a little girl staple her finger.  She screamed at the top of her little lungs when it happened... I ran over, pulled the staple out, covered her finger with a kleenex, and took her down to the clinic.  The poor thing was shaking uncontrollably!  I felt so bad for her.

This week, Mrs. Miller will be gone on Wednesday and I will finally be getting paid to sub for her.  It'll be the first day I have the students all alone; any other days she has been gone, there has been a sub in the room with me.  I'm sure everything will be fine, though! 

Only 4 weeks left, but one of those weeks is Spring Break. I can't believe everything has happened so fast!  It's a strange feeling.

It's Been A While...

I don't have a whole lot to write about today, but it has been quite a while since I've posted so I figured it was time.  Things have been going well, and I don't have any serious complaints!  I've really been thinking about life after student teaching, and trying to find a job, which has been quite stressful.  I can't believe I only have a month left already! Time is flying by. 

I'm definitely feeling ready to start my own classroom!  Some small frustrations are caused by the constraints of this not being my own class, but that is all part of the experience and I'm grateful for it.  Today, my boyfriend Mike came in to bring me lunch and say hi to a few people (he attended the elementary I'm working in) and my students were so excited to meet him.  They were watching for him out the window, so when I saw him walking in, I said "There he is!"  One girl in my class said, "Ooh, he looks kinda cute... I'm excited for him to come inside so I can see him!"  Then, when he got to the classroom, she said "He is cute."  She then proceeded to tell him she thought he was cute. =)  It was adorable.  They were very disappointed when they got back from lunch and he wasn't there.

We have been working hard on many different subjects, but I'm really focusing on math and writing.  These were the areas I thought I could have the biggest impact, so I've been trying many new things with the students.  I feel things are going quite well.  The most frustrating part is something I've been told for years that I wouldn't realize until I was in this position - we're told that students must learn certain things, but if they don't learn them in a certain amount of time we're supposed to just move on.  I've gone against the grain for the good of my students during math, and pushed back their test for a week because I did not feel they were ready.  Due to me postponing that test, almost the entire class earned at least a 90% on the test.  That is what I think it is all about; I'm not going to let my students fail just to meet time constraints!

Today is Dr. Seuss's birthday.  Obviously, he died many years ago (Sept. 24, 1991 to be exact) but it is still a fun day to celebrate with young students.  I read them two of my favorite Dr. Seuss books, Fox in Socks and I Am NOT Going to Get up Today!  They loved listening to me read Fox in Socks, because the entire book is a tongue twister.  We had a special visitor dressed in a Cat in the Hat costume that delivered cookies and lemonade, and then we watched the cartoon version of Cat in the Hat while writing our own rhyming poems or stories.  It was a very fun and relaxing morning for them! 

Next week will be all of our parent-teacher conferences.  I've been told it will seem to be a very long week, but I'm hoping everything runs smoothly!  I'll probably post another update at the end of the week!

Half Way There

I can't believe this is true, but I am officially half way done with my Student Teaching already! Time is truly flying by.  I have had a lot of fun with my students since I last posted.  Last Friday, my Granddaddy came into my class to help with math, and then he participated in Fun Friday.  We're still working on 2-digit addition in math, and we have a few that are really struggling.  It's nice to have someone there to help those who are struggling, so I can check on everyone else to make sure they're not making simple mistakes!  During Fun Friday, the students were able to decorate their bags for the Valentine's Day party, and then we went down to the music room.  Granddaddy taught my 2nd graders how to line dance, and they had an absolute blast!  They didn't want it to end.  I'm still hearing about it!  They keep asking me when he's coming back, and were upset with me for not inviting him to the party on Monday.

Monday was Valentine's Day.  I was told to prepare for a crazy day, but Valentine's is my favorite holiday so I didn't really think anything could ruin it.  Fortunately, I was right! I had a blast all day, and received wonderful valentines.  The parents did a great job with the party.  The students played games, made ice cream sundaes, and created little paper love bugs.  They had a great time! 

Week 6

This week has been going pretty well.  During math, we have been using base ten blocks like we did the Friday my supervisor came to observe and of course they've been behaving wonderfully ever since.  It was just a fluke, as I had suspected.  I sent a note home last week asking students to bring in a picture of themselves for a surprise bulletin board I was going to make them.  Surprisingly, all but maybe 2 students brought in a picture.  So, on Tuesday, I stayed after school and created a really cool bulletin board:



When the students came in this morning and saw the bulletin board, it was like Christmas morning.  They were all over there looking at everyone's pictures and talking about how cool it was.  I even had a student shout, "Miss Trundle, you're the best!".  It definitely put a smile on my face!

I have a student in my class who seems to always be in trouble for something - he's not doing anything, he's out of his seat wandering around the room, he's doing everything he can to avoid doing what he is supposed to be.  I've had quite a roller coaster of a week with him.  On Monday, I noticed that he was sitting at his desk doing nothing.  I told him that he needed to have a book out to read or be working on his mystery picture.  He said, "Can't I just play my mind game?" so I asked him what his mind game was, and he explained "it's like a video game that I made up to play in my head when I get bored".  I told him no, he couldn't just play his mind game.  Later that day, when the rest of the class was a little bit rowdy, I noticed that he was sitting quietly in his seat, waiting for directions.  Or so I thought.  I said "Nathan is setting a good example right now".  His response - "What? I'm just sitting here playing my mind game...".  That compliment backfired on me.  On Tuesday, I met with him for a writer's workshop conference.  His story was goofy; it was about how he wanted to play games on the computer but his brother was on it and wouldn't let him have a turn.  However, he included all of the things I've taught them about and asked them to use in their writing. He had an exciting beginning (more than just Today I...), he used dialogue, he had feeling in his story, he had detail, punctuation, capital letters where necessary... I was floored! I couldn't believe he had actually been listening to me that entire time.  I praised him a lot for his efforts, and he seemed pretty proud of himself.  That day was a good day.  Today, however, was a not-so-good day.  The first thing that happened - I walked by the bathroom we have in our classroom, and he was standing in there with the door wide open going to the bathroom.  He turned and looked at me with this huge smile on his face, and I said "Nathan! Why don't you have the door closed!?"  I couldn't believe it, but other students noticed and he was pretty embarrassed by the incident.  Later on, we were working on dictionary skills.  Mrs. Miller told them if they didn't get at least 4 words done, they had to stay in class to finish instead of going to gym.  Suddenly, Nathan came up to the desk and said he didn't feel good.  He didn't look very good either, but when I went over to his desk I saw that he hadn't completed any of his words.  Mrs. Miller sent him down to the clinic, but as I thought about it and how smart he can be, I realized that the clinic is located right across the hall from the gym.  I said something to Mrs. Miller about how I thought he might've faked it so he could go to gym, and at first she said "Oh, no, he wouldn't do that..." so I thought I would go check on him in the clinic.  He, of course, was not in there.  I found him in gym class, running around having a great time.  Needless to say, he was pulled out of gym and forced to sit with his head down for the rest of the day.  He is in serious trouble.  He is quite a trip; I actually enjoy having him because I know it'll never be a boring day!

I will miss my first day of student teaching tomorrow - this head cold has finally defeated me.  I have had chills all day and my poor nose is so red and raw I can barely touch it.  I'm headed to the doctor tomorrow morning and will take a day to let my medicine kick in and get rid of this stuff!

Frustrations

Well, the frustration everyone said would accompany student teaching has made its first appearance.  I had my second observation on Friday, and it was horrible.  It was a crazy day to begin with; the students had snow days on Wednesday and Thursday, then came back only to prepare for the weekend.  So, needless to say, they were a little hyped up all day long.  I anticipated this behavior, so I planned activities that would be productive yet allow them to chat with the person next to them.  My supervisor decided he was going to come in for an observation during math.  As I said, I planned light activities for the day, especially in math.  I didn't want to start a new topic on a Friday, only for them to forget what they learned over the weekend and have to start over on Monday.  So, we worked with place value.  They were given base ten blocks (wood blocks made for studying place value; there are single blocks to represent "ones" and sticks of what looks like 10 blocks to represent the "tens").  Knowing this was the first time they had ever used these blocks, they had a few minutes to play with them.  This is something I learned you should do, because if you start teaching right away when they're given objects, they won't listen to you.  I also gave them a piece of paper to fold in half, and they wrote tens on the left side and ones on the right side.  To start with, I just gave them simple numbers to model with the blocks, such as "23".  So, they would put 2 sticks on the tens side and 3 single blocks on the ones side.  We practiced with a few numbers, and then I gave them just a couple addition problems to model on the paper.  During all of this, the students became very noisy.  I tried to quiet them down, using my usual tactics, but nothing was working.  Then chaos broke loose; students were out of their seats sharpening pencils that they didn't even need for the lesson, they were building towers with the blocks, and not listening to anything that I was saying.  It was a disaster. 

So, I met with my supervisor after this was over.  He doesn't really try to sugarcoat things, so I wasn't surprised when he basically told me I don't have any control over my class.  He told me things I needed to change, and how I need to establish my "presence" in the classroom, etc.  He wasn't being mean, just doing his job, but I was extremely frustrated because I knew it was one of those days and it was an unusual situation.  So, I listened to everything he had to say, and tried not to show on my face that I was upset.  He did tell me that he thinks I have great potential and that I have excellent organization skills, but I just need to work on my control in the class. I met all of the goals that he set for me from my first observation, which he applauded.  I suppose it wasn't all bad, but when the first thing out of someone's mouth is a negative, you don't realize the positive things that were said until you've had a chance to calm down and think about it.  He met with my mentor teacher afterwards, and she told him that I have much more control than it seemed that day.  I was glad she felt that way and it wasn't just me.  I'm just going to try to put this in the past, move forward, and have a fantastic week!

Month One complete =)

Okay, so everyone said that student teaching would fly by, but I never thought it would go by quite this fast.  I mean, it feels like I just started but I have already completed 4 weeks!  So lets see, the last time I updated was wednesday.  The end of last week was pretty uneventful; Friday was a half day so all we did was read, take spelling tests, and watch a movie.  After the students left, Mrs. Miller and I spent the rest of the day organizing the room and decorating for Valentine's Day.  The room looks really cute, and I'm going to do a few projects with the students this week to make it look even better! 

Today was a great day.  Mrs. Miller wasn't there because she is still sick, and by law there has to be a substitute.  So, even though I am teaching all day and have complete control, she still has to have a sub sit in the room and basically do nothing.  She was good company, a fellow UM-Flint student who was very curious about the student teaching process. 

I had a great conversation with the building principal today about Math.  He is taking a math course at a University right now, and he has a lot of the same views about math as I have.  He encouraged me to implement the techniques I learned in the classroom, and even suggested making math a half hour longer each day to leave time for these activities.  I hope to lengthen the time slot at least 2 or 3 times a week.  I feel very lucky to be working in a school with such a great principal.  He is very involved and cares a lot about the students, and I can tell that he wants me to attempt new ways of doing things instead of just doing exactly what I see the other teacher doing.  He said to me today, "we don't ask for student teachers just so they can learn from the teacher; the teacher can learn a lot from you, too".  It was great to hear!  I'm very comfortable and happy there.

I have a student in my class who is very intelligent.  He is slightly immature as far as behavior; he is out of his seat a lot and talking when he shouldn't, but the things he says are sometimes amazing.  For example, today we were reading a Time for Kids magazine that highlighted major events of 2010.  One of those events was the trapped miners in Chile.  I asked my students if they knew what/where Chile was, and most of them didn't even know it was a country.  Noah raised his hand, and said: "It's in South America.  That's directly below us.  It's by other countries like Brazil".  I was amazed!  He has so much knowledge.  I just know he'll go far in life.

The upcoming "snow storm" is all people are talking about around the school.  I personally wouldn't mind a snowday on Wednesday, it is my birthday afterall.  A day to sleep in would be fabulous! =)

Beautiful

Why did I choose "Beautiful" as a title you ask? Well, it is because that is the first word that comes to mind when I think of today.  Reason being, the students had to write sentences using certain words today.  One of those words was "Beautiful".  One student (my new favorite!) wrote the sentence "Miss Trundle is very beautiful".  My heart melted!  That isn't the only reason this word struck me today, though.  There were many students who wrote "My mom is beautiful" or they would name their friends in class, one girl even wrote "I am beautiful".  However, one that was very bothersome to me was a girl who wrote, "I'm not beautiful".  Of course, I think every child in my classroom is beautiful because I've grown to know and care for all of them.  This little girl is a gorgeous blue-eyed blonde, and it really scares me that at 7 years old she is writing something like that.  I know it could've been meaningless, but I'm afraid to ignore it in case it is a cry for help.  When I corrected her paper, I wrote "Yes, you are!" next to her sentence, but I am going to start paying much closer attention to what she says and writes. 

On another note, I was not in the classroom for the first 2 hours of the day today because we had a 2nd grade data meeting.  This meeting was to discuss the reading/writing levels of our students, and to place them in groups with other students who are at roughly the same level.  They call this RTI, or "Response to Intervention".  So, those students who are lower level get help in the area(s) they need, and the children in the higher levels continue to work on comprehension and fluency.  There are a few children in 2nd grade who are high level, but have behavior issues.  They are all in the same group, and with them are a few students who are always well behaved to serve as role models almost.  None of the teachers wanted to take that group (we have RTI for a half hour each morning).  I'm not talking small behavior issues; one student has had almost 20 referrals and a couple suspensions already this year.  So, I volunteered to take that group today.  I sort of got a look from some people who were wondering if I was crazy, so in response I just said "I need the experience and a true challenge".  So, I'm hoping that I can work with them and "wow" some people ;)  I'll be working with them until I'm done student teaching!  I'm actually looking forward to it.

When Mrs. Miller and I returned from the meeting, it became clear to me that the students are finally starting to realize that I am their teacher right now.  I had at least 6 students jump up and greet me with hugs, saying "We're so glad you're back! Our sub didn't know how to do anything".  Being a sub myself, I made sure to leave her a very detailed note and I'm sure she did what she could, but children are creatures of habit.  If you throw one little thing off balance, it drives them crazy.  What made me smile is that they came to me with their concerns, and not Mrs. Miller.  It felt great! 

3 weeks down, 11 to go!

I have finally put a management procedure in place that works!  I was beginning to wonder if they'd ever listen to me as well as they do Mrs. Miller, and classroom management is my main concern going into my own career.  However, during my seminar, I heard about a technique in a Harry Wong video that I thought just might do the trick.  I hold up my hand, and each finger stands for a letter.  I say, "SALAMe!" (pronounced salami) which stands for Stop And Look At Me.  They love it because they think its funny, and so far it has been extremely effective.  It could be super loud in the room, and as soon as my hand goes up and I say one word, its silent.  I'm loving it! I've learned that it takes time to find a procedure that will work, and you may have to use a different one every year, but that's okay.  As long as you find one, you're in good shape. 

Yesterday was a fairly routine day, I can't think of anything off the top of my head that was too exciting.  Today, I gave my students a math test.  When they finished, I had 3 different coloring pages laid out for them so they had something quiet to do while they waited for everyone to finish.  I was given about 6 pictures at the end of the day! It was really cute.  One girl wrote "Happy Valentine's Day Miss Trundle, you're the best teacher ever!"  It made my day!

I have moved further in my Writer's Workshop overhaul.  I am now conferencing with 3 students per day to help them find their mistakes and help them see how to make their writing better.  They seem to love this new form of Writer's Workshop.  I even had the other 2nd grade teacher ask if she could make copies of the "Self-Editing Checklists" I created for my students because she wants to use them in her class! What a compliment.  I plan to have the students give me the final copy of their first story that went through the process and hang them up in the hallway =)  They'll love it, and I want them to feel a sense of accomplishment and purpose when they're writing.

Even after 3 weeks, I'm still in Heaven and loving every day that I'm there! This truly is my calling.

The Fun Continues

Well, the past couple of days have been fun but rather exhausting, which is why I haven't written anything in a while.  My University Supervisor observed me for the first time on Thursday.  He observed Writer's Workshop, which I just started doing on Monday, so I was slightly nervous.  I was more nervous about my control over the class, because the children are still learning that they need to listen to me as well as they'd listen to Mrs. Miller.  So, I explained to them that we would have a visitor and that they should be on their best behavior, but not to acknowledge that he was there.  I'm not sure if I was supposed to, but for the first observation I figured I would explain why a random guy came into our class.  So, they were a little chatty in the morning and I was trying to figure out what I would do.  They students understand that their behavior would impact my "grade", so I wasn't sure how they'd act.  I was pleasantly surprised when he entered the room, and about 4 students said "Shhh! He's here!" and they all fell silent and sat like perfect angels.  When I called groups to come to the rug, no one said a word when walking from their seat, they didn't talk to each other on the rug, they didn't fidget, it was amazing.  The lesson couldn't have gone any better.  Only one thing was a little frustrating to me: I have a student who asks all the time what things mean.  Even if she knows the answer, she'll ask.  So, when I said something about writing a draft, she said "What's a draft?" and when I talked about editing (both words they've been using for quite some time) she said "Whats editing?" and so on.  I wouldn't be surprised if this girl came up to me and said "Whats water?", but when I met with my supervisor afterwards he told me to choose different vocabulary when I'm talking to them because they don't understand.  I just said "okay", but knew that everyone else sitting there did know. Oh well.  Other than that, he had nothing but good things to say.  He was impressed with my lesson plan and my lesson plan book, and even kept a copy of my lesson as an example.  He seems to be pretty particular with lessons, so I was really excited about that!

Today went by quickly, which was a good thing because we were all ready for it to be the weekend.  Mrs. Miller and I were both sick all week, and we've had at least 4 or 5 kids out every day because of illness.  I hope everyone is back to school and well next week.  I planned "fun friday" this week.  The kids helped me make a new bulletin board by coloring a hot cocoa mug however they wanted, gluing some marshmallows to the top, and putting foam sticker letters spelling their name on the front.  They turned out really cute, and the kids loved them!  I'll attach a picture of the finished board to the bottom of my post.  It was a great week, but I have a lot of planning ahead of me this weekend!

Days... I've lost count.

I know I haven't updated everyone in a few days, but that was because not much was happening until today. 

Friday, I was on campus all morning for our large group seminar, in which the education department just managed to make everyone angry and then tell us to go teach.  So, I had lunch and then off I went to the elementary school in time to read to them after lunch.  I taught a math and a phonics lesson that afternoon, and then they went to Gym.  Mrs. Miller could tell I was really stressed about all of the lesson plans and everything, so she sent me home about 10 minutes early.  It just was one of those days!

Monday, the students had the day off but I had to attend an all day Professional Development meeting.  I was sick with a head cold all weekend, and still felt pretty miserable that day.  I made the mistake of taking PM medicine Sunday night, and my alarm went off for an hour before I even heard it.  So, needless to say, I was really rushed. I had 30 min. to shower, get myself ready, make my lunch, and get out the door.  Believe it or not, I did it and arrived with a few minutes to spare.  The meeting was divided up by grade levels, but we met with all 2nd grade teachers in the district. It was nice to meet other teachers and see the professional side of things.  However, both 2nd grade teachers from my building were sick and didn't go, so I was the only person from Dieck in the room.  It was a little awkward at first, especially because they were discussing things that I couldn't contribute to, but I made myself comfortable.  I felt bad about not contributing, but I personally learned a lot about what my future is going to look like!

Today we were back to the routine.  They came in and completed their morning work as they are supposed to do.  Then, we started sharing.  Lots of students went to the Shrine Circus this past weekend, and loved it.  They all had interesting things to share.  Until we got to one student.  His story during sharing time was this:
"This weekend, I went to the mall and went bungee jumping, and you have to put this harness thing around your belly and it goes around your legs.  Wanna know what I screamed when I was in the air?  'This hurts my nuts!'".  Clearly, this is extremely inappropriate.  So, I jumped right on it and said "Oh, I really think that is something inappropriate to say in school.  Next time please re-think your word choices."  And we moved on.  The other kids didn't really react; some of the boys snickered, and the girls didn't understand why it was inappropriate.  He was talked to in private after the fact, because apparently this isn't the first time he's acted this way.  Once we moved on from that discussion, another student proceeds to tell everyone that he watched a movie this weekend that was a true story and was about how the world is going to end in 2012.  The rest of the students were freaked out, and looked to me to explain this to them.  So, I told them that the Mayans were a group of people that lived in Mexico hundreds and hundreds of years ago, and sometimes they would create theories or make predictions about things in the future.  To them, the year 2012 was a looonng way away, so they predicted the world would end that year.  There isn't any proof, and I told them that I was sure that wasn't going to happen.  They were still a little skeptical, so then I told them that a lot of people thought that would happen in the year 2000 too, but we're still here and everything is fine.  I told them this thinking it would ease their little minds, but instead they wanted to know why everyone thought the world would end in the year 2000 and why it didn't.  Mind you, this was in the first hour of the day.

I began teaching Writer's Workshop today, which means I am now teaching all subjects =)  I am going to sort of re-vamp the Writer's Workshop in the classroom; I made it my own project for myself.  It was the area I could see myself doing the most good, so I figured I'd try it while I had the chance.  I began by introducing them to "peer editing" so they now have writing partners who will give them helpful suggestions.  I explained that they shouldn't only help with grammar and punctuation, but they should also give each other suggestions on how to make the story better. So, they could suggest details to add to the stories or a better beginning thats more catchy, or any sort of content suggestion.  They worked with their partners for about 35 minutes today, and I was floored by the growth I witnessed.  One student loves to write, but he writes really fast because he has so much he wants to say.  His partner suggested that he takes his time when he is writing so everyone will be able to read it.  So, he took it upon himself to happily re-write his story on a different sheet of paper.  I was amazed.  I walked up to his desk and gasped because I couldn't believe his handwriting and neatness!  I was very proud at that moment.  Eventually, once they have the peer editing down, they will begin to self edit.  I will also introduce "teacher conferences" which will include me creating a sign up sheet for students who feel they're ready to meet with me regarding one of their stories, and I'll meet with one or two students a day.  Lastly, I will be implementing Author's chair.  Students will not have to be completely finished with their story to share it with the class; they may also choose to share if they need help figuring out what to add.  After they've read their story, their classmates will give them "Two Stars and a Wish".  In other words, 2 people will tell the author 1 thing they liked about the story, and a 3rd person will tell the author something they wish would've been included in the story.  I'm very excited about it, and cannot wait to see how it progresses in the classroom.

Even though that only describes my morning, I think that's about it for today.  Hopefully tomorrow's sharing will go a little bit better, and I'll have an easy going day! =)

Day 9

Compared to yesterday, today went pretty well.  We've had a lot of students out sick this week, and they were all back today.  Its amazing what a difference a few kids can make! It seemed very busy in the room.  The group was chatty again, and it really felt like a friday.  I don't know what the deal is! 

We did a few phonics pages today, and I was very impressed.  It was a type of assessment, to see where the kids are and if any of them need extra help.  The entire class did well enough not to need extra help!  It was very exciting for us.  It makes life so much easier when everyone is on the same page.  After phonics and snack, we practiced our Dictionary Skills.  This is when the students are given 6 words to find in the dictionary.  They have to write the guide words, page number, definition, part of speech, and a sentence using that word.  Its pretty time consuming for them, because even though they've done it a few times they are still trying to grasp the concept of alphabetical order, what the purpose of guide words are, etc. 

We had an assembly today, which was sort of comical to me.  They are trying to raise money through fundraisers to buy new playground equipment, and they're getting ready to start a magazine sale for a fundraiser.  So, today they brought in this guy to explain to the kids how "easy" it is to earn money for their playground through magazine sales.  He even told them "if you sell 1 subscription, you'll get a Webkin!" This is a big deal to them.  It cracks me up, because I remember this when I was little... they sucker the kids into wanting to do something, who in turn sucker their parents into doing it.  I'm not knocking the fundraising part, and I'm all for new playground equipment, I just think its funny how these companies know exactly how to make it seem exciting to the students.

After school, I spent a couple hours creating a poster for the class.  The 2nd grade is just starting to take A.R. tests, so I made a posterboard that says "Our A.R. Stars" and whenever they get all of the questions right, or just one question wrong, they'll get a star by their name.  I posted a picture of the chart below! =)

Day 8

Well, apparently the excitement of a new teacher in the classroom is starting to wear off.  The children were sooo chatty today, it was crazy! They couldn't even handle getting a book out of their desk without talking.  I tried everything - turned off the lights, they were quiet. As soon as I turned them back on, they were talking.  I said, "Marshmallows!" (which is when they hold their breath, their cheeks puff out and it looks like they have marshmallows in their mouths... its a technique to make them stop talking haha) which usually works like a charm - not so much today.  So, finally, I just stopped in the middle of my lesson, and said "I'm going to tell you guys something.  I have a professor in college right now that will be grading me on my teaching.  He will be coming in to watch me teach, and part of that grade is how well I can keep you guys on task and listening to directions.  So, when he is here watching me, if you are talking and not paying attention like you are today, it will make me get a bad grade.  I am going to try my best to be your teacher, but I need you to try your best to stay on task and follow directions."  After that, they looked like they felt really bad and were silent for the rest of the lesson.  One boy came up to me about 10 minutes later and said, "Miss Trundle, thank you so much for teaching us."  My heart melted! It was so sweet.  I truly do love my class already, but it was just crazy in there today! Hopefully tomorrow will be better. =)

Day 7

Before this week started, I went to Barnes and Noble to look for a few books I wanted to read to the kids.  I was so excited when I walked into the clearance section, because one of my favorite books from school was on sale for only $6 - Amelia Bedelia.  Its funny, and a great book to see if they are comprehending the story.  If you're not familiar, Amelia Bedelia is a maid who is extremely literal.  For example, when the home owners left her a list and one of the items read "Dust the Furniture", Amelia Bedelia put dust all over the furniture.  When it said "draw the drapes" she took out a piece of paper and drew the drapes.  So, its a very silly book but it also gives so many opportunities for me to say "now, why on earth would she do that? What do you think she should have done instead?"  I ended up reading that book to them on Tuesday morning.  They absolutely loved it, and I noticed that when they came back from the library later that day, many of them had checked out Amelia Bedelia books =) 

Most of you know I have a tattoo on my foot - 4 flowers that represent my mom, dad, brother, and me.  I made sure it was okay for it to show, especially since I cannot wear tennis shoes.  Today was the first day one of the kids noticed it.  It was when most of the class had gone down for their bathroom break, so there were four students talking to me.  The first one asked, "Why do you have a tattoo?" So, I told them basically because I wanted it, and then explained what it meant.  I was shocked when another girl said, and I quote, "Do you get to tell the tattoo artist exactly what you want and where you want it?" hahaha... It was so cute, but I couldn't believe she actually knew the term "tattoo artist".  I guess I shouldn't be so surprised with all of the tattoo shop shows on TV though.  I was very careful about what I said to them, and made it seem like it wasn't that exciting, because I didn't want them all running home at 8 years old asking for tattoos!  They seemed to fluff it off though.  One girl even told me "My mom got a tattoo once. My dad was maaad at her."  It was definitely an interesting conversation!

After lunch on Tuesday, I did a math lesson with the students using M&M's.  They are having a hard time understanding fact families, so I was hoping that if they were able to visualize it they would understand it better.  They knew all day long that I had a special math activity planned, and they were dying to know what it was.  They couldn't have been more excited when I gave them each a cup of M&M's.  I was shocked at how well behaved they were throughout the lesson.  They listened, they were understanding, and when I told them to finish the rest of the problems on their own, I saw some of them actively using the candy to help solve the problems. It was wonderful!
 
Another post to come for Wednesday!

Days 5 and 6 =)

I didn't post anything last friday, and I've heard a few people ask about it, so I figured I better include friday on today's update.

Friday was a pretty uneventful day.  I read them a story for making meaning that was about trees, and they had to close their eyes while they listened and tried to picture the story in their minds.  Then we discussed the differences and similarities in the images everyone pictured.  We talked about size, shape, color, etc.  It was pretty interesting!  Then we had a "guest reader" (a.k.a a 3rd grade student) who brought in the longest book ever to read to the class.  We didn't want to cut her short, but we had to start pulling spelling groups out to take their spelling tests.  She read for a half hour, and still wasn't able to finish the book.  It was a little funny, because Mrs. Miller and I just kept looking at one another like, oh my gosh, when will this book end?!  After lunch, Mrs. Miller gave the students a spelling test that will tell us what level they are and if anyone needed to be in different spelling groups.  Then it was time for Fun Friday, which actually ended up being the quietest part of the day because they started watching the movie Shiloh.  I think that movie is so sad, but all the kids love it.

Today was much more exciting.  Over the weekend, I figured out that the student teacher I had in my 4th grade class works at the school I'm working in right now.  I mentioned it to her, and she actually had a photo album in her room of her time there! I was in a few of the pictures, and we had fun looking through them.  As far as the actual day goes, I read them "Voices in the Park" this morning.  Its a very interesting book that has a lot of meaning and purpose behind the text and illustrations; stuff that could be way beyond their little brains.  However, I wanted to show them how stories have more than one voice, and we discussed how the pictures portray the moods of the characters in the story.  Its a beautiful book, and I think I'll be using it again for a writer's workshop lesson in the future.  They did independent reading while Mrs. Miller worked with a reading group and I wrote lesson plans for next week.  Then they did a writing prompt during writers workshop time.  After lunch, I read them a chapter out of the book we're reading right now (Stuart Little). Then we moved into math, which I also taught.  They're just learning how to subtract.  I will be using M&M's as manipulatives tomorrow, which should be interesting on a behavior/listening level! I'm testing my own classroom management tomorrow.  After math, we worked on poetry.  Basically, they have a poetry book which we read a poem from each week, and they get to illustrate the poem.  They are able to listen to music during illustration time, so I turned on a CD for them.  The first song was Hakuna Matata, and they were all giggling as I sang and danced to it =)  Finally, we moved into Phonics.  We were able to stay on task and accomplish 3 pages, which is a big deal! They were glad they didn't have any homework. 

It was a great day. I'm so blessed to have such wonderful students, and I'm still just so excited to be there! I literally smile all day long.  It's so nice to know I've chosen the right career path for me, and that I'll be happy for the rest of my life! =)

Day 4

Yet again, I had a wonderful day.  I hope this continues to be the trend!!  I led the morning discussion again today, which is always fun because I love hearing the things the students have to say.  Then, I read them a story called "Leo the Lightning Bug".  It was a cute story, and we were able to learn valuable life lessons from the story.  Leo couldn't get his lightning bug light to light up, and the other lightning bugs made fun of him.  He tried and tried, and finally just before he was going to give up, his light lit up.  So, we discussed with our partners a time when we had to try really hard to accomplish something and how it felt once we did it.  Then we shared with the large group =)  (Do I sound like a teacher yet??)

So far, I've been able to share cute/funny things that students have said to me each day.  Today, a student said something quite entertaining, but not so cute.  He came up to me, and said "Is it just me, or do you look fatter today?" he wasn't trying to joke around, he was dead serious.  So, I just said "I'm not sure" and he proceeded to say, while demonstrating size with his hands, "well normally you look about this fat, but today you look thiiis fat." So then I just told him he needed to pay attention. haha  I wasn't offended, knowing that children don't really understand how things sound sometimes, so I just laughed it off.  Silly kids!

This afternoon, I led our science lesson for the first time.  Science is what I would consider my weakness, I was never a big fan.  Granted, they aren't doing anything too difficult (today we planted seeds in little cups), but I was still nervous.  I asked my cooperating teacher throughout the week how she normally would do an activity like this, but she didn't give me a whole lot of detail.  She just kept telling me to do it however I wanted, so I knew she didn't want me to do exactly what she does.  It was a little scary, but I survived.  Seeds are planted, journals are decorated, and it wasn't a complete disaster!  I know there are things I can do differently next time, but for my first full lesson, it was okay. =)

Day 3

Today was a pretty great day. I was able to lead the morning meeting, in which the students sit in a circle on the carpet and are able to share one thing with the group.  The kids really love that time in the mornings.  I tried to comment on all of their stories and interact with them.  Once sharing time was over, I read them Alexander and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day.  We worked on comprehension, understanding, and clearly explaining our thoughts.  They were wonderful listeners =)

As I was going through their writing folders, I was surprised with a story one of the students wrote about me.  It was so cute, my cooperating teacher made me a copy to keep. Here's what she wrote:

"Yesterday Miss Trundle came into the classroom for the first time.  She has blondesh brown hair and she has a sweet voice.  That sounds so sweet I want to keep her forever! She is super nice to me."  Along with it was a picture of me that she drew.  It was so cute! I loved it.

Tomorrow I'll be taking over the science lesson.  I'm a little bit nervous, because I have not observed science yet, but I've been told numerous times that it'll be fine.  I'm hoping it goes well!

Days 1 and 2

Well, I've begun my final, and probably most difficult, semester at UM-Flint.  I've started student teaching at a local elementary school in a 2nd grade classroom.  The age level scared me at first, because I'm used to upper elementary children, but I've already fallen in love with these kids.  I've only been there for two days now, and I already know all of their names.  The staff members in the building are all amazing, and welcomed me with open arms.  I think I was more nervous about meeting all of the adults than I was the students, so that was a huge relief!

This first week is meant to be pretty simple for me.  I am mostly just observing and doing small things here and there.  Tomorrow morning I will be reading them a story and working on comprehension; Thursday, I'll be teaching a science lesson and planting grass seeds with them.  The first subject I'll be taking on is Math, which I'm very excited about.  I feel the most confident with Math and Language Arts, and know that there are many different activities I can do with the children that relate to math.  I cannot wait!

As we all know, kids say things sometimes that can be quite entertainning.  Right now, they're all trying to get to know me as much as I'm trying to get to know them.  So, they often come up to me to tell me something completely random.  For example, on day 1, a girl came up to me to say "I was working out on my Wii Fit last night, and I burned 153 calories!"  Later that day, a boy came up to me and said "Wanna see my muscles?" as he flexed his arm.  I said "wow, impressive!" So, he then asked "Wanna see my pushups?" and before I could respond, he was on the ground doing pushups.

So far, it seems like I'm going to have a wonderful experience.  I cannot wait to get in there and get my feet wet!