Breanna Miller

EDR 317
Dr. Selvaggi
8 December 2014

Journal Entries #15 27

Journal #15 Monday, October 20, 2014

Today is the last day there is a substitute teacher, and the day went much
smoother than last week when the substitute teacher was there. I was in charge of
the class the entire morning and it felt very good. I had not planned to, but the
substitute teacher suggested I run morning meeting before diving into the read
aloud and minilesson. It is very rewarding to see how the students respond
respectfully to me. I have carefully been establishing mutual respect between the
students and myself while still getting to know them, but remaining as a teacher to
them and not a friend. After morning meeting, I delivered my first minilesson. I felt
comfortable and natural doing it since I had seen Mrs. DiOttavio (formerly Ms.
Neild) do it many times. It was also a low risk environment since the only adult
there to judge me was the substitute teacher. Therefore, it was ideal for my first
time, but I wish I had been able to receive some feedback.
The read aloud felt strong, but the minilesson afterward felt messy since I
repeat myself frequently. I know repetition and using the same wordage are
important for second graders, but it can make instruction difficult. During the read
aloud, I felt they responded to my questions readily. However, when the
independently practiced the work they seemed to fall apart. I can not determine if it
was a lack of desire to complete the worksheet since they are accustomed to just
spending independent reading time reading or if they were not clear on my
expectations. I am interested to hear what my cooperating teacher has to say when
she looks at the worksheet they completed. As I get to know my students more, I
think I will be able to determine the students who often ask questions to prolong
completing an activity and those students who ask questions to signal to me that I
did not explain it adequately enough.
Journal #16 Wednesday, October 22, 2014
Mrs. DiOttavio is back! We reviewed the Making Inferences worksheet that
I had the class complete after my minilesson on Monday to determine which
students got it and the students who need more practice. I compared my findings
to Mrs. DiOttavios from an inferences worksheet she did with them and we both
identified the same students who need more help. Then, we formed a strategy
group for those students to give them extra help next week. I am going to lead the
strategy group, and we planned the skeleton of my lesson for it. We also decided
that next week I am going to do two read alouds, and she gave me for freedom for
how to do it. The positive side of that is I have freedom to use my own ideas, but the
negative side is it will be more work and uncertainty about my IRAs. Fortunately,
Mrs. DiOttavio encourages me to email her the plan for them, and she looks them
over and provides feedback.

During independent reading time, the students read the classic book The
Snowy Day, and I read it to the ESL student. It is very rewarding to watch his sight
word vocabulary grow and his understanding of English increase. Watching how
Mrs. DiOttavio supports the ESL student has given me many ideas for how to
differentiate in my future classroom. Moreover, working one on one with him has
helped me become for comfortable and confident when helping an ESL student in
the regular education classroom. I also am feeling more comfortable knowing my
way around the class and what Mrs. DiOttavio expects from me. Overall, it was a
long day since I stayed the whole day, but it went smoothly and I am building up my
endurance once again for 8-hour school days.
Journal #17 Monday, October 27, 2014
At first when I had to plan for two IRAs and strategy group minilesson I felt
overwhelmed. But, in the midst of planning it and implementing it today, I am
enjoying it very much. I am enjoying seeing improvements in my IRA and receiving
feedback from my cooperating teacher. After I did my IRA today about story
elements, she handed me a small note about my strengths and weaknesses and we
discussed them. I am glad we discuss them because she always starts out by asking
me what I thought, and then, she clarifies her feedback so I do not have any
questions. I am excited to do my IRA for our class meeting on Wednesday since I
found an incredible book that incorporates the Red Ribbon Week message (they are
celebrating this at GW this week) and Halloween. I love that General Wayne does
weekly class meetings where I am able to practice an IRA and discuss social issues
the students may be facing. I am a big proponent that teaching is not just about the
content area subjects and this provides an opportunity for me to help them navigate
lifes challenges.
Overall my IRA went well, but I need to work on timing, explaining tricky
vocabulary, and talking slower. I think once I nail down timing, talking slower will
come more naturally. One possible solution could be to pick IRAs that are shorter.
Moreover, I will then feel like I have more time to stop and explain vocabulary I
suspect they may not be familiar with. The IRA on Wednesday has some tricky
vocabulary in it, so it will provide me with some practice of explaining vocabulary.
Journal #18 Wednesday, October 29, 2014
I gave my first small group minilesson today. The group consisted of four
students who needed extra help with a thinking strategy, making inferences, the
class had been learning about for the past couple weeks and moved on from. I had
given one of the large group minilessons on making inferences last week, and using
their independent work from the minilesson, we made this strategy group. It was
really cool to be able to follow through with one of my minilessons by offering extra
practice. The strategy group minilesson had positives and negatives. A positive is
two of the four students seemed to have a much stronger grasp on how to make
inferences than before meeting with me. Another positive is my teacher talk and
explanation went really well according to Ms. DiOttavio, who observed me. On the
other hand, a negative is the other two students still do not understanding how to
make inferences. For instance, during the lesson one of them kept responding off

topic and the other was not paying attention. Overall, it was very good practice, and
I look forward to following through with the two who still need extra practice.
Writing minilessons and preparing for IRAs has become a less daunting and
time consuming task. I am doing an IRA and minilesson back-to-back next week,
and I am looking forward to the new challenge. Also, I feel like I have been able to
catch my breath during the school day, which permits me to chat with students and
get to know them better. I have established a mutually respectful and a professional
relationship with them, and now, I want to get to know them further than on paper.
I am wiped out from the full day of field, but it was a good learning experience doing
an IRA and strategy group minilesson.
Journal #19 Monday, November 3, 2014
It has been a very rewarding day. I met with two of the four students from
last weeks strategy group today to give them extra practice making inferences. By
breaking down the process of making inferences and using a lower level picture
book, making inferences seemed to click for the two students. I tried setting the
seriousness of our small group meetings this time by explaining that this is when we
do our hard work and it definitely helped them stay focused this time around. My
cooperating teacher popped over once in a while and she gave positive feedback.
One thing I would change is not plan too much for them to do, which in the moment,
I nixed one of the stopping points I had planned to do. Also, I need to figure out how
to make the students comfortable while stressing that they need to still work
quickly to make good use of our time. For instance, I had to repeat directions
multiple times and wait patiently while they wrote on their post-it-notes.
Therefore, in the future I could mention at the beginning how important it is to stay
focused so they hear my directions and get down the important information they
need to write.
I also observed Mrs. DiOttavio do an IRA and minilesson introduction to
character traits. This greatly helped me determine how to do the follow up lesson to
it on Wednesday. I am always surprised at how little she breaks down the
information and slowly we move onto the next skill. I have realized that second
graders need repetition and they need to hear me think aloud the steps I do
automatically for my thinking skills. I will keep this in mind when planning a lesson
that is appropriate level and speed.
Journal #20 Wednesday, November 5, 2014
I gave my first back-to-back IRA and minilesson while my teacher was
present, and she told me points to work on as well as my strengths. Her suggestions
for next time were to take a brain break in between the IRA and minilesson since the
students stay on the same carpet for both. Some brain breaks I could do for next
time are stretch or small exercises that involved them spinning and doing jumping
jacks. In addition, she noticed several students were distracted, and she gave ideas
for how to bring them back to the lesson. Small things such as having them all blow
their answers into their hands, a whole brain technique, or implementing a turn
and talk even if it was not planned. These are two things I will keep in mind for my
back-to-back IRA and minilesson next week. My strengths were I was much more

comfortable reading, which allowed me to spend more time focusing on reading

with expression.
Another thing I tried was conferencing with a student during Writing
Workshop after having watched Mrs. DiOttavio conference with students during
Readers and Writers Workshop for weeks. Using the Confer App, I felt very
confident being able to record my notes from the conference on it quickly.
Conferencing is a tough part of workshop since it is recommended to only last one to
one and half minutes, and it is essentially teaching on the fly. Practice will help me
become better, but working one-on-one with students is something I enjoy.
Therefore, I look forward to the opportunity to meet individually with the students.
Journal #21 Monday, November 10, 2014
The two students I have been working with on three separate occasions during
small groups to practice making inferences finally are ready to stop meeting with me. It
is a very satisfying feeling knowing that I have helped two students catch up with the rest
of the class. My cooperating teacher said my strategy group today went very well, and
she noticed I seem totally at ease in the small group setting. I also led a shared reading
today, which is when I model reading a poem aloud with prosody and fluency. Then, the
students read it with me. It is tough to read the poem off the Smartboard and check the
make sure the students are all reading it with me. Some students I noticed at the end
were not participating. Teaching a task while also keeping my eyes on all my students is
a multi-tasking skill I hope to get better at since it is a crucial skill a teacher must master.
I marvel how during independent reading time Mrs. DiOttavio can sit down and
conference with a student while still maintaining classroom management seamlessly.
I saw how to handle when a student lies. A student erased a point that a group earned
on the white board (group with most points gets a treat at the end of the week). Instead of
yelling or scaring the children, Mrs. DiOttavio appeared very concerned and sad to show that
she was hurt by the poor decision and she stressed that she hopes it never happens again. She
discovered who did it by having them writing on a sheet of paper and the student admitted it,
which is good. It showed me that it's necessary to treat this seriously and address the issue
even though it took time away from the class. This week during our class weekly meeting, I
am picking an IRA that teaches the lesson of lying upon my cooperating teachers request. I
am interested to hear the students discussion.
Journal #22 Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Today was a very encouraging day. After doing my interactive read aloud
and minilesson, my cooperating teacher had mostly strengths, which indicates my
improvement. Some strengths are the chart I created to help the students organize
the characters traits and actions to support the trait. I had found the chart on my
own, so it was rewarding to see it help the students meet the objective. Another
strength is the IRA was well received by the students, and I feel that we covered the
topic of lying fully. Something to work on is keeping the lesson concise and flowing.
Therefore, it will not run too long, which is what happened today and I saw their
attention drain quickly. In addition to keeping lessons short, I am learning ways to
sustain their attention such as doing quick stretches, turn and talks, or simply telling
them I need them to show me they are paying attention and engaged.

In the afternoon during work word, I saw the power of technology unlocked
with the iPad through an authentic experience. I have been told over and over again
that it is possible to use it to enhance learning, but I actually witnessed it today. The
ESL student in my class is able to read on Level D right now, but he has become
noticeably bored of reading sight words on flashcards and reading the same books
on tape. After doing a word sort with his word list, Mrs. DiOttavio showed him an
app that gave him practice with the short vowel sound words he has been working
with. There were various activities such as writing the word, unscrambling, and
putting the word in a sentence. Hearing the student laughing and seeing him smile
as he did word work was exciting to watch. The iPad certainly can transform some
tasks in school that become monotonous.
Journal #23 Monday, November 17, 2014
I had my second observation and my second back-to-back IRA and
minilesson today. It was a very busy and rewarding day. While doing my IRA and
minilesson, I felt confident in the moment interacting with the students and
explaining the content. I was amazed by my students use of high-level readers
workshop vocabulary such as: schema, inference, actions, and dialogue. I truly
believe in Readers Workshop because I can see the results in the way my students
are enjoying learning how to become a better reader and they are developing these
higher order thinking strategies. They brought their prior knowledge to my
minilesson today and used it to learn the new objective. I was astounded. One of
my goals this semester has been to become better at receiving feedback, and I am
proud of myself for exposing myself often to constructive feedback from my
professor and cooperating teacher. It is one of the most important lessons I have
learned since my time at college, accepting positive and constructive feedback.
In addition, I determined the days with Mrs. DiOttavio I will be coming to the
elementary school over winter break to stay connected. I do not to regress
whatsoever from the place of comfort and confidence I have right now in her
classroom, specifically in Readers Workshop.
Journal #24 Tuesday, November 19, 2014
I had a welcomed break today from instruction today, which allowed me to
observe Mrs. DiOttavio and help around the classroom more. When I came in, she
had kept the post-it examples I wrote during the minilesson Monday and printed out
the pages I had scanned from the book we examined. She wanted me to create a
poster for her to hang up in the classroom. I felt as if I was permanently making my
mark. It feels really nice to look around the classroom and see my products,
whether it is physical or it is the affect I have had on a child and his or her ability to
understand what he or she is reading better. It is a satisfying and encouraging
feeling.
During the Brian Collier assembly this morning, I noticed how well behaved
Mrs. DiOttavios class is compared to other classrooms. Perhaps it is due to her
having more amicable and obedient students. However, I believe the time she took
in the beginning of the year to painstakingly go through routines and expectations
over and over again is paying off. It is clear Mrs. DiOttavio is not viewed as friend to

the students. Instead, she is something much better. She is highly respected, and
the students fear disappointing her. Her patience and firmness have produced a
class of students who possess discipline. Her strategy is one I plan to model off of in
my future classroom.
*No journal for 11/24 or 11/26
Journal #25 December 1, 2014
My time spent in the field this morning went very quickly. The most valuable
thing I observed was Mrs. DiOttavio doing a strategy group with the higher-level
students. I am not sure which is more challenge, working with lower-level readers
or higher-level readers. With the emphasis on ensuring everyone is on grade-level
and understanding the concepts, I think it is easier for me to forget about the
students who are reading above and beyond. But, I was reminded today how
important it is to give them extra work too, especially since I saw the enrichment
only takes 5-10 minutes. It is encouraging working with the higher-level readers
who clearly love reading and desire to become better and better readers. I briefly
conferenced with two students today who have just began reading chapter books. I
remembered to emphasize to them how exciting it is that they are reading chapter
books before diving into the teaching point. We discussed how to remind ourselves
to write down our noticings on post-its when reading chapter books by putting a
post-it at the end of each chapter. Therefore, when they reach the blank post-it, they
will be reminded to pause and write down a thought. I have observed Mrs.
DiOttavio give this teaching point numerous times. I am doing an IRA on
Wednesday, and I am finding that I need less and less help from my cooperating
teacher and it takes less time for me to write them. I am very excited that I can see
the improvements I have made over the semester.
Journal #26 December 3, 2014
I feel very ready for student teaching. I felt completely at ease doing my IRA
today, and Mrs. DiOttavio did not even have to give me constructive feedback. Mrs.
DiOttavio liked that I showed the movie trailer for the movie version of the book I
was about to read to help them get to know the character better. I used my iPad
again during Word Work to work with an ESL student. He is sorting and spelling
words more than the other students, so the break from the mundane task of Word
Work was well received. I used the app Build-A-Word by selecting the word list he
was working on this week to learn, practice, and test the words. I think this is an
app that would benefit all the students, and I wish iPad Word Work could be an
option for the word groups to choose. This may be something I implement when I
am student teaching, and I take over this classroom.
I am doing a back-to-back IRA and minilesson on Monday, which Mrs.
DiOttavio will not get to see because she has a meeting. But, she said she completely
trusts me taking over for the morning. I will be essentially running Readers
Workshop. I think it is the perfect way to end my Reading Practicum by proving that
I have become a competent literacy instructor. I am looking forward to working on

the transitions between the activities. My goal is to practice engaging them and
remembering to give them breaks when they seem to be losing focus.
Journal #27 December 8, 2014
It is the last day in the field, but not for me as I will be back in the class for
student teaching. Today revealed all I have learned so far since I was able to take
over the class including all the transitions from the start of Readers Workshop to
the end of it. It was exciting to have power over the whole time and be able to know
how to troubleshoot difficulties I ran into since Mrs. DiOttavio was at a meeting
during most of it. For instance, her computer logged out, so I had to come up with a
back up plan in case I could not use the SmartBoard for my minilesson. Fortunately,
the substitute teacher was able to contact her and she came back to solve the
problem. During the morning routine, I was able to help the substitute with any
questions or uncertainties she had. I truly felt like I conquered the toughest part of
the school day, and I now feel very confident in my ability to take over the classroom
eventually during student teaching.
Overall, I feel confident in the connections I have made with teachers,
especially my cooperating teacher. I feel confident in the respect my students have
for me. I feel confident in my knowledge for the best practices of teaching literacy
instruction. This course has been the most empowering class as far as instruction
goes. I cannot wait to jump back into the classroom come January. I am happy I got
to read over the EFEE form since even though I got 2s or higher on everything, I
know what areas I can focus on during student teaching to become above and
beyond exemplary in those areas.