Blog Post 4

My goals for the last 2 weeks were to transition smoothly out of my placement at Marist and to get my feet wet quickly at Parker. Overall, I thought I met these goals pretty well. My last week at Marist allowed me to observe other classes, as well as tie up any loose ends in terms of grading pretty well. I was concerned that I'd be leaving right in the middle of a unit, but the timing of the transition actually worked out pretty well. It was good to spend some time with my students on my last day and express my appreciation for letting me work with them. More than that, I especially enjoyed giving my thanks to my two cooperating teachers as they were tremendous resources for me. So far, my transition to Parker is going well. It is definitely different teaching 8th graders, but I am blessed to have students that are eager to learn and welcoming of someone new into their classroom. I am very excited to work with my new cooperating teacher, and the other people in the building are very friendly. I feel very welcome where I am and it will be a great opportunity to spend the next two months there. One word that would describe my past week would be "new." Everything is new to me at Parker, so there is certainly an adjustment period, but I look forward to the challenges that lie ahead. I feel that I am in a good place mentally going forward.

I was actually able to step up and lead a Constitution lesson this past week. My cooperating teacher wanted me to get in front of the kids a bit, and the Constitution was still fresh in my mind having taught it at Marist. I worked very well with the students, and I felt like they were very receptive to my teaching style. There was some nervousness in terms of working with new kids, but overall I felt very comfortable. This was something I reflected on, as 2 months ago I would have been terrified to step in front of kids I had never met and taught them material. Now, I am able to work with any students with the confidence that I can educate them. I feel very confident right now, and I love that I have the chance to work with new kids.

Two aspects of the TPA Project that I see are important are the need to assess, both in terms of instruction and student learning. Assessing instruction is important as it allows you to go back and evaluate what worked in a lesson and what needs some retooling. This will ultimately help the students as the lessons are being tailored to suit their individual learning needs. It is also important to assess the students because it gives you an idea of what is being learned or what needs to be focused more on. In doing this, you can also help students set goals and then devise a strategy for meeting their goals. This will hopefully guide students to do better, regardless of what their performance level is. There is always room for improvement! This was actually going on this week at Parker, so it was good to see my cooperating teacher work with students on setting and goals and then creating a plan to meet their goals.

In terms of things I need to communicate with my college supervisor about, I think the one thing that is difficult is the schedule. I was used to a set daily schedule at Marist, but Parker has a rotating schedule where you do not see each class every day. This was very confusing for me at the beginning of the week, but I'm starting to get the hang of it. This was something else I was able to reflect on; before I had to adjust to everything being new, plus getting in front of students. Now, the biggest adjustment I have to make is knowing which class comes to me when. Once again, I feel like I am in a great position to succeed.