Whole Class The class adjusted to the change of a student teacher taking over the daily lessons and

activities fairly smoothly. Behavior was one of the biggest impacts that occurred during that transition period. The students wanted to see how far they could push the limits of the rules with me. While I would be teaching a lesson the students would want to shout out or talk to their neighbor, so I started writing N ! on the board. If the students continually kept shouting out or talking to their neighbor I would erase a letter. If the students lost all three letters before lunch the whole class would have silent lunch. The students reali"ed I was being serious about having silent lunch the first time they lost three letters. #rom then on out they were much better about talking while I was teaching. To help the students stay on task and focus we started using Think. air. $hare. partners. This allowed the students to discuss the topic at hand with their neighbor, who was their partner. When calling on a student I would ask them what their neighbor thought about the topic. This helped with the students shouting out and getting off task. %t the beginning of the semester, I noticed my class worked better when they were actively engaged in the lesson with movement or songs. #or e&ample, every 'onday we would introduce the story of the week to get the students moving I would have them move to the carpet and sit in a big circle. This allowed the students to move from their desk to the carpet. (nce they were at the carpet they were not able to lay their head down and they were allowed to sit with their friends as long as I noticed they were not causing a distraction. This small

movement helped the students focus more on the story. $imple things like that really helped my class focus more during the day. )uring the second nine weeks we started dancing between writing fle& groups and guided reading groups. This allowed for a better transition for the students who were coming from other rooms in the school back into our classroom. This was not just free dance time it was organi"ed dances that also helped the students. 'y cooperating teacher asked what I thought would be a good song to start the students off with. I told her that we should start out with the *+ha +ha $lide, created by )- +asper. This would help the students with listening and following simple directions as well as helping them learn their left from their right. This was a success with the students. They loved being able to come in and dance before transitioning into guided reading. $tudent teaching has taught me a lot about more about being in the classroom than any of our other clinical e&periences. I was able to learn more about my students spending each day with them. I believe this made me a better teacher. It is not all just about knowing the content/ it is also about getting to know your students and being personable. If you truly know you students you are able to plan instruction time that will work best for them. If you have a group of students who are kinesthetic learners and you lecture them all day they are not going to learn to the best of their abilities. Three Individual Students (ne of the higher students in the classroom has high e&pectations from her parents. They want her to work hard and strive for the best. This shows when she is completing her work. $he takes her time to complete assignments and

does not rush through them like several of the other students in the classroom. This is the student you have to try and challenge on a daily basis, because if you do not she is reading while you are teaching a lesson. $he has taught me a lot this year. If I ever needed anything this was my go to girl. The average student in the classroom had support at home, but he was one of several children. 0is parents would make sure his homework was complete. They did not always check to see if it was correct. 0e would complete his work in class always trying to be the first one finished. 0e did not take his time to complete all of his work. This showed in several of his grades, especially math. 0e was able to do the work when you made him slow down and look at his answers. (nce he started rushing through the assignment you would think he had never been taught how to complete it. 0e has the potential of being one of the higher students in the classroom. This student is more of the social butterfly of the class. The lower student in the classroom did not have the best support system at home. They were trying the best they could though. %t the beginning of the year his reading level had dropped below where they need to start at in second grade. (ver the semester we spent a good bit of time one on one with this student trying to get him back up to a second grade level. 1ight before I left for the semester we reached our goal. 0e had moved up three levels on the )ominie reading levels. %s long as he is willing to work hard the rest of the year he will be much closer to being an average student. The main thing that is holding him back is his will to do his best. If he does not feel like doing the work at hand he won2t

try his best even if it is information he already knows. I just hope he keeps trying his hardest. Professional Development )uring my student teaching e&perience, $partanburg )istrict (ne schools were going through +lemson +ommon +ore training. Through these trainings I learned more information about the +ommon +ore $tandards that I did not already know. #or e&ample, I knew that the $outh +arolina $tate $tandards had support documents but this year I learned that the +ommon +ore $tandards also have support documents. Through the past years the $outh +arolina $tate $tandards support documents have been very helpful in preparing the lesson I have taught. I am e&cited that +ommon +ore $tandards have these documents as well. 'y goal is to continue learning information about the +ommon +ore $tandards. %nother professional development goal I have developed is a desire for higher education. 'y cooperating teacher has been teaching for many years and was the school2s teacher of the year. I learned a lot of information from her in the classroom. The way she teaches ama"es me. $he makes it look like it is second nature. %s a teacher, I want to be like that. If something did not go as planned you just have to go with it and act like it was planned that way. #le&ibility is one thing I learned that will be e&tremely important when I have my own classroom.