Name: Keera Tijerina

ST Placement:

Week 1 Reflection (due 1/9)

During my first week of observation I got the chance to see how each day in the
classroom looked as a 5th grade student. The morning routine was already very
established for the students. They would start the day by looking at the board and
completing a word search, or their morning packets or a small task while they got
settled in for the day. Then the class would either watch the news from another
student and a teacher that was recorded on the board, and also go over the morning
packet. Then after that they would then go over the schedule informing the class on
any changes, and to answer any questions regarding the day. Looking around the
classroom there were a lot of posters and wall art for the students to reference or
support their learning. Something that I was unfamiliar with was when the classes
would switch for RTI, and they would be grouped for the level at which the students
were at and all four 5th grade classes would be mixed up. I enjoyed this because it
was an opportunity for me to also engage with the other 5th grade classes and the
students that were in there. I have only observed three days due to us coming back
from winter break, as well as having a snow day one of the days, and especially at
this point in the year the students have their routine down pretty solidly. The
classroom style management that I have observed is pretty relaxed, and my CT for
the attention getters will do a clapping patter for the students to echo back to her for
the classroom when they get too loud or she needs to get their attention right away.
My CT will mainly use the strategy of telling the class verbally the directions, or
redirection a couple times and that seems to work pretty well for this class. The
students in the class are very diverse in race and ethnicity, and the classroom is
majority boys. What is nice is the classroom is really big and the way that it is set up
provides a very spacious area for the students. The desks are in groups of 4 or 5
towards the center of the classroom which provides a lot of walking space around
the desks which is great because the class does a lot of group/partner work.

Hi Keera,
Thinking about the day from a student perspective is powerful; this will help you as
you plan lessons and interact with students as a teacher. You made a lot of great
observations about the classroom organization as far as space, routines, and
expectations. It will be interesting for you to see what attention getters and routines
for giving directions work for you; it’s completely ok if you use something different
from your CT. Having solid routines and expectations takes time and consistency;
consider this as you begin taking over and want to continue the high expectations.
Enjoy getting to know students and observing the little things that make a big
difference. I look forward to seeing you at seminar on Wednessday and visiting on
Friday!

Week 2 Reflection (due 1/16)

Reflecting back on my second week (and first full week) of student teaching I took
this opportunity to continue to observe a bit more since I only had three days the
prior week in the classroom. Something that I have made personal growth in is
starting to create personal relationships with the students, and continuing to get
more comfortable in the classroom. There are things that I am excited to try out with
classroom management wise, with different attention getters, as well as making
some of the lessons more interactive for the students. I really want to try and focus
on making the lessons engaging for the students because I have noticed that
movement seems to be a big part of these students and a way that could help them
learn. I need to personally remember to start slow before getting too excited with
wanting to try new ways of teaching. Remember that I am a guest in the classroom,
and the students have been doing the same routine for a couple months. I am excited
to continue to teach more and more lessons, becoming more comfortable in front of
the classroom as well as getting to understand what I need to work on, and try to
better myself in those ways as well. I am continuing to grow and learn from my CT
on organization, and the different ways to plan and organize myself which is very
helpful to physically see. I taught my first lesson this week, and I was glad that I got
the first go out of the way, so now I can continue to grow as a learner and teacher in
was that I need to improve.
It’s so great to hear you are making personal relationships with students; having
these relationships before academics will help your students. Focusing on making
lessons engaging and getting them moving are great goals. You’re right that you
want to start slow and be very purposeful to have clear expectations and directions
to increase success and learning. It sounds like you’ve had a great relationship with
Andrea that is benefiting you in many ways; keep jumping in, asking questions, and
building your confidence! I look forward to visiting again next week!

Week 3 Reflection (due 1/23)

This week I have had the opportunity to do more teaching and getting more
comfortable in front of the classroom, as well as my own comfort, but also the
students are getting used to having someone new in front of the classroom.
Something that I was made more aware of while getting more opportunities to teach
is that the group of students that are in the classroom I found that I need to be a lot
more intentional about my every step. What I mean by that is during some of the
math lessons, as well as the social studies lessons that I stepped in for I thought that
I had made myself clear in what was needed, but I learned that I need to be a lot
more transparent with my directions, as well as use a lot more visuals and go
through the steps slowly. Especially with math directions and teaching a concept. It
was a really good indicator for me to know how to teach my future lessons on how I
want to approach new concepts especially, and I feel like this experience will help
with how I will pace my unit plans as well. I have also taken notes with what to do
with students missing school for multiple days in a row, and the work that the
student is missing, or falling behind it. The amount of prep that needs to be in
account for students is great for me to know and be aware of. I am still wanting to
learn more on how you really catch those students up on all the material if they have
been gone for 1 week. Especially in math with new concepts that the class is
learning or a read aloud that the class reads everyday. I think that is something that
will be something that I will need to be prepared for in the future with possibly
prepping sub plans and learning how I will carve out time to make sure those
students won’t fall behind.
It’s great to hear you have been reflecting on what is working (and not) for students.
You’re so right that sometimes we, as teachers, think we are clear, but students still
have questions or confusion. Your thoughts about clear directions and going visual
while also going through steps are so helpful for clarity and building independence
and productivity. “Catching students up” after longer absences is tricky; it’s often
helpful to consider the most essential skills/knowledge and focus on that.

Week 4 Reflection (due 1/30)

As I reflect back onto my 4th week of student teaching I am continuing to grow with
the relationships within the classroom. I am also becoming more comfortable
teaching, and trying out some different teaching styles myself. It is really rewarding
to see the students enjoy my activities that I do, or are fully engaged in something
that I am teaching. I think the students are also becoming more comfortable with me
being that “go to” person, or see me as someone they go to for assistance instead of
always my CT. Which to me that is a small victory in itself. Something that I think I
will continually work on both in person, as well as make mental notes, is my
classroom managment style and how I am still trying to figure out ways to
incorporate classroom community. In doing so, I have many ideas that I want to try
for classroom management, but it might be something that I will have to take notes
on and wait till I have my own classroom to try. Because I need to remember that
these students have been having the same routine for months now, and too much
switch up in the day might end up becoming more work on my end. That is
something I think I am struggling with in how I incorporate that, and have the class
try to possibly continue that growth of building relationships with one another, if
there is any growth to go from in general. I am also learning how to use my
resources effectively, and fully understand the material I am teaching. I am currently
teaching fractions in math, and I am honestly humbled by the fact thinking I am
teaching the most effective concrete way, but then realizing that the class is still not
confident in knowing their multiplication factors, and having to take a step back and
re-evaluate. So I am understanding how to take some steps back with having to
review skills I may have assumed were mastery skills in order to move forward, but
also regocnizing that I still need to teach the material in a way that wont confuse
them and will make the best sense. I think overall I am becoming more confident as a
teacher, and I always know there is room for growth and improvement within that as
well. Something that I have reflected on are ways that I want to organize my lesson
plans and myself in general. I appreciating the opportunity to know if I can organize
myself better with planners and paper, or if electronically is also more efficient for
myself.

It’s so great that you are building relationships with students, and they are coming to
you as their teacher! Kudos for trying different strategies to engage students in their
learning; it’s all about the students and their learning, so finding ways for them to
see the relevance and get excited will help them learn more. Keep it up! It’s a great
idea to keep track of classroom management or other ideas you have; incorporating
them strategically to be able to be consistent often makes all the difference. You’re
so reflective about how your students are responding to instruction and what you
can do differently to help them all learn; this is a great asset to have that will help
you and your students! Finding an organization system that works for you can take
time, AND it will greatly benefit you with all the moving parts of being a teacher (and
a person outside of teaching.)

I highlighted one part in your journal that I wasn’t completely sure about; please
elaborate and tell me more. I’m so curious to know what you’re thinking around
relationships and your students.

I think what I was trying to elaborate on is wanting to build more classroom

community with the students and one another. Because right now there is little to no
classroom community, or classroom pride within the classroom. I want to continue to
try and incorporate.

Week 5 Reflection (due 2/6)

I am starting to teach half time and taking on the majority of the teaching especially
in math. Right now we are learning fractions and fiding common denominators,
decimals into fractions, and mix numbers. Right now I am workshopping things that
work and don’t as well as trying to find the right type of flow, and way to teach the
curriculum that makes most sense to the students. For example on Friday I made up
this fraction basketball game where the class was split into four teams. I
incorporated adding fractions, finding common denominators, and then at the end we
had a basketball tournament in the center of the classroom. It was really rewarding
because the last two players in the tournament were students who usually keeps to
himself and is more reserved, and the other student was a pretty outgoing one. It
was awesome to see the class cheer on for both students, and the more introverted
student ended up winning the whole thing. It was awesome to see all the students
engaged with the lesson, and they are excited for math to see what more I have for
them. I want to try and do more classroom building activities, but dont know if I will
necessarily have time, or should focus on that right now, and if I should focus my
attention on lesson planning and incorporating team building games within the unit.
I think my biggest reflection is on how important classroom community, and how I
present routines and expectations are so important to have a classroom run
smoothly. Especially in terms of being able to focus on academics because you
maybe dont need to necessarily focus as much on the social emotional aspect of
things because you have that established. I also recognzie that I learn with every
given day on the things I want to do better within my teaching and what things work
and what didnt. Like for a math lesson I thought was going to go really well and
made sense to me, I was quickly humbled at the fact I was not explaining it in a way
that majority of the group got it. So it was a learning experience that I need to
reevaluate how I approach the subject and try it again tomorrow.

Your comments about finding the right flow and right way to teach the curriculum
show that you are very student-centered and want the lessons to be meaningful to
their learning. This is so important! The basketball tournament sounds like such a fun
way to motivate students and make math hands-on fun! Way to go! Your reflection
at the end shows just how important it is to be flexible and responsive to students;
it’s not about us as the teacher and what makes sense to us… it’s about our students.
You are very student-centered, and it will benefit you and your students greatly!
When thinking about team-building activities, consider the WHY. I’m curious if you
are feeling like you want to do more team building because you are new to the class
and want to build relationships with them or because you are seeing needs that team
building might help with. Having a positive climate with a strong sense of belonging
can be an investment that helps increase student learning in the end.

Week 6 Reflection (due 2/13)

This past week I have been teaching a lot more in front of the class. Which is making
my teaching experience a lot more comfortable, as well as the students being more
comfortable with me up in front of the class. Something that I have noticed about
myself is I am slowly but surely getting more comfortable with having better wait
time and making sure to pause after each transition, or when I give directions to
pause. Another thing that I have also taken note of is understanding when I teach a
lesson, (specifically in math) in a unit is to know when I can really move on, or if I
need to go over things or certain skills from the lesson that the class might not have
gotten. I am also trying to find in my teaching understanding the needs of my
students as I am getting to know them better. For example, some students need a lot
more one on one time in math to really explain each concept because it is really hard
for them, and then other students get the concepts right away. So knowing how I
find things to have every student in the class be as productive in the time as possible,
and not have the students sit there and be bored. I think myself, I am trying to also
teach fractions in an interactive way, which I am trying to brainstorm. It is really great
to see the students have fun in a lesson while getting the material. So, that is really
my motivation with each lesson to have all the students engaged. But at the same
time, I am working on finding my main focus in teaching a lesson whether that be
wanting the main focus to be discussion, partner work, ect. Today I made it a point to
have my main focus be discussion in my reading lesson because the theme was
talking focusing on discrimination and bullying within the chapter. It made me feel a
lot more organized within my lesson because I knew that I wasn't going to get to the
writing in the packet or focus on the vocabulary that day. Me making that decision
and being intentional about what I wanted to focus on in my lesson I felt had a better
flow. As for the classroom community aspect of teaching, I am more wanting to do
so, not necessarily for my own rapport with them because I personally find ways to
do so within my teaching and break times, but for the students to be able to work
with one another if they are paired up, and knowing how to handle if they are paired
up with someone in the class that maybe wasn't their first choice. Because for my
classroom one day I definitely want the students to feel a sense of safety, belonging,
and pride within their classroom.
I also noticed that you are being intentional with your pause, and it made a positive
impact on students being able to chunk and process information. You hit on a key
aspect of determining which skills need to be at mastery and which skills are more of
an exposure; if you haven’t seen the 5th grade math mastery map, ask Andrea to
show you. I would be happy to show you and talk through it next week when we
meet too. You are so responsive to students and work hard to get to know them in
order to figure out what methods will help each of them to be successful. This
mentality will help you build relationships with students which will help students
feel comfortable taking risks and be willing to continue trying. WOW! You were
quick to implement ideas from our discussion, and it’s great to hear you felt better
about having a more narrow focus to go deeper. Keep it up! It will come more natural
to set a focus and be flexible the more you do it. Having a sense of community within
the classroom is powerful and takes time; you’ve acknowledged it’s something you
value and will invest time to do. Keep being you!

Week 7 Reflection (due 2/20)

This week I have felt that I am improving on the flow of the daily schedule and the
routine of things throughout the day getting more comfortable with each week with
not only my teaching but also knowing my student's needs. Something that I got to
experience this past week was a field trip to Quarry Hill to learn about microscopes,
and the students got to look at microplankton and other creatures from the lake
under a microscope. It was really awesome to see the students (especially the ones
that sometimes think they are too cool for activities) really getting involved and
excited. It was also great to see that when the students found something under their
microscope that they wanted to share it with all the students around them. Seeing
that sense of community between the students was really awesome. Something that
I really want to have my focus on this week is the review for the math unit test. It is
my first assessment having taught the students from the beginning until now so I am
feeling a bit nervous to see the concepts they might not get because I know the
students struggled with fractions a lot. I am also trying to see this opportunity as a
learning moment for future experiences to know how to incorporate a re-teaching of
particular concepts that the students might not have gotten from the unit, with still
being able to move forward with their learning. Overall, it is wild that we are almost
done with student teaching in general and only have a couple more weeks left.
It’s great to hear you feel like you’re getting into the flow and getting to know
student needs. Building relationships and getting to know what your students need
individually will help you to differentiate to help them grow faster and feel
successful… keep it up! Field trips are awesome!!! Yes, sometimes these experiences
help some students bloom and really show another side of themselves… consider
how you can bring experiences into the classroom that might also peak their interest
and engagement in different ways. It sounds like you’ve done some meaningful
reflecting on incorporating re-teaching; consider the checks for understanding you’ve
done throughout the unit and how you might use those to reteach throughout the
unit as opposed to all during review week… you’re likely doing more than what you
realize. Enjoy the week… only 3 weeks left!

Week 8 Reflection (due 2/27)

This week was a short three-day week due to two snow days that had taken place. It
was really great coming in on Friday, and how excited I was to see the 5th graders
after not seeing them for two days. We are finishing up unit 5, and I am eager to see
the student's testing scores after this unit. Just because I think it would also show
some reflection on my teaching, how the students are absorbing the information, or
what skills I need to be reviewing. This past week my CT and I also have done a
couple of parent-teacher conferences. It was interesting to see how very few parents
signed up for conferences, and how short they seemed to be. My CT explained to me
that usually, these conferences go by pretty quickly because it's closer to the end of
the year, so it’s more of a focus on next year, and if the parents have any questions or
concerns about middle school, that is where they usually would ask. My CT didn't
have a whole lot of material to hand back because she usually sends it home
throughout each unit. It was a good experience for me to see how two teachers that I
have had the privilege to learn from and how they do conferences and the
differences and similarities between them. It was a great experience for me to learn
from to see how I can one day organize my own conferences. To also understand
that not all parents will be present for conferences and you can only do so much
with communication, and have to accept that sometimes the student's families don’t
communicate with the teacher, or reach out. My CT explained to always keep them in
the loop with everything that you do, but to not always expect every single parent to
be receptive.
You’re very reflective to think about as assessment being a way to gauge
understanding as well as reflect on the effectiveness of your own teaching. It’s great
to see you have the mindset that your actions have a significant impact on students’
learning, and it’s not just on them learning it or not.

It’s great that you had a chance to be part of conferences! Andrea is right that you
can only do so much to get families to come to conferences. There are many factors
at impacting this. Having ongoing positive communication and helping families to
feel valued and welcomed goes a long way to have a partnership approach to
supporting students.
Week 9 Reflection (due 3/6)
As I reflect back on the week that I was gone, and coming back this week with
continuing full-time teaching it definitely was an adjustment for both myself and the
class. I think that when I was starting to consistently teach with the class it gave a
sense of consistency for the students and the way that I taught lessons. Then being
gone for a week sort of put a setback in the consistency and this week I could really
tell that the students were not only pushing boundaries with me, but adjusting to me
being the full-time teacher again, once they had my CT for a week, and then me was
an adjustment. I think that it felt really good when I came back and the students said
they missed me and my lessons. That made me feel that they were not only listening
but engaged as well. It was also great to hear my CT share with me that some
students' parents had emailed her about my lessons and the engagement. It felt
really rewarding to know that the students were engaged with what I was teaching.
Coming back with the students it felt like they were being reintroduced to some of
the simple expectations of the classroom, or whole group learning of listening, and
not talking while I was teaching. This week has really tested my classroom
management skills, and I have really been practicing how to deal with individual
behaviors while whole group teaching, and how to redirect the student in the best
way possible. I am a big believer in not having to yell, as well as I try my best to not
call students out in front of the whole class when they need to be redirected. I have
tried to remember to practice my non-verbal redirections, as well as pausing to wait
for the class’s attention. In all, I believe that this week has been a really great growth
period for me because it has also shown me that students want to have structure,
rules, and routines in their day. And ask much as it may not seem like it at the
moment that the best thing is to follow through with consequences because I have
noticed when I have done that, and then follow up with the student later the student
really reciprocation the situation and what had happened. I also think that its
important for the students to know that I am not here to take things/privileges away
from them permanently. I really believe that if students are able to show me they can
handle a task, or situation appropriately they will have the opportunity again to earn
that privilege or special request. In all I think it is wild just how quickly these 10
weeks have gone by, and how much I am going to miss this 5th-grade class. They
have really taught me a lot about myself, and teaching, as well as I have made great
connections with each student. This experience has taught me a lot about how I
want my own classroom one day to run, and just how important establishing a
classroom community early on can be.