Student Teacher Weekly Log

Name: Janice Miller

Week 6-March 7-10

1. How did you spend your time this week? What responsibilities did you have?
This week I started bell to bell teaching. This week was a literacy unit assessment, so the
comprehension lessons all week were review. Two small reading groups continued working on chapter books,
though one group did decide to abandon Tuck Everlasting. I was really proud of how well they did with the
book and the challenging vocabulary, and was quite surprised by which students wanted to abandon it. This
week was also a CFA in math on equivalent fractions. I again had lunch and recess duty this week, as well as
PLC and an hour of professional development on Wednesday morning
2. What were the most satisfying experiences? Greatest challenges?
The most satisfying experiences this week was being able to participate in the Meals from the Heartland
packaging event at Southeast Elementary. The students were so excited to have the opportunity and showed
genuine concern for those the program assists. It was really nice to see. Also satisfying was the consistent
focus and effort from one student regardless of all the challenging situations going on at home, which children
this age should not have to deal with. The greatest challenge this week was the continued monitoring of one
students behavior. Its challenging not from a standpoint of the behavior or child itself, but instead the fact that
its gone on for a couple of years now and there apparently does not seem to be any forward progression
towards support for this student. Also challenging is how very serious some of this students behavior really is,
yet it does not trigger any additional steps.
3. What are the plans for the upcoming week? Best times to observe?
Spring break is all next week. However, after that the same times will be the best to observe. School is
back in session on Monday, March 21st. The best times to observe would be between 8:15 and 10:00, between
10:00 and 11:15, or between 12:30 and 1:15.
Future teaching:
Going forward I will work harder to consistently reinforce good choices on my one student with a point
sheet in an attempt to discourage the negative. This will also include specific documentation on this students
behaviors and ensuring I am completing the point sheet this student has accordingly. I will also continue to
challenge my reading groups, specifically focusing on those who are deficient in fluency to try and get them
where they need to be. This focus will be as simple as daily motivation to them to encourage as much reading
at home as possible to reach their goals.
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Student Teacher Weekly Log
Name: Janice Miller

Week 8-March 28-April 1

1. How did you spend your time this week? What responsibilities did you have?
This week I continued bell to bell teaching. Our literacy focus this week was describing historical
events through the use of sequencing or cause and effect features in informational texts. The students spent 3
days working on a text features poster that they all loved doing! I am working on updating the classroom
website for April, and am planning to upload pictures of these to that. I again had lunch duty on Monday and
Friday, with recess duty on Thursday. We had a fire and tornado drill this week as well. I spent half of my
Thursday in PLC plus with the other 3rd grade teachers. This was led by Laura Ryan, Southeasts instructional
coach, and focused on math intervention strategies. I am excited to see what other trainings we receive for this,
as it is the focus of the PLC for the remainder of the year. On Friday, we had a schoolwide 3rd-5th grade PBIS

celebration assembly. Each grade competed against each other, according to teachers with all students shooting
wadded paper balls in to a recycling bin. Our own version of March Madness. I happened to attend the PBIS
committee meeting this week which came up with the idea for the celebration activity. It was fun to watch the
kids have so much fun, and our class won for 3rd grade!
2. What were the most satisfying experiences? Greatest challenges?
The most satisfying experiences this week was the demonstrated growth of my 8 students who are being
progress monitored with FAST for reading! They all did a fantastic job and saw great growth, some even close
to year end goal! The greatest challenge is how to reach those students who are seriously struggling in math,
while not holding up the rest of the class. There are serious gaps in math background for quite a few students,
and it is hard to pinpoint exactly what the issues area. Another challenge was having a couple of students who,
even after 6 explicit instructions, still do not understand how to complete a graphic organizer on a CFA. While I
can only imagine it is also challenging for them, it leaves me puzzled as to what to do for them. At first I
questioned if it was my teaching, but now I can see there are other things going on. It will be interesting to see
how it plays out the remainder of the school year.
3. What are the plans for the upcoming week? Best times to observe?
Next week the comprehension focus is on cause and effect and sequencing as related to historical events.
The best times to observe would be between 8:15 and 9:45 between, between 10:00 and 11:15, or between
12:30 and 1:15 any day of the week. Fridays are generally assessment days, so not a lot of direct instruction
takes place.
Future teaching:
My focus for the upcoming week is going to be additional time spent working with small group-s during
math to provide additional support, as well as creating challenges to those who are demonstrating mastery
quickly. Small groups are going to focus on basics, such as ensuring these students understand math specific
vocabulary. This is crucial going forward in their education and I encourage all students to use content specific
vocabulary in all content areas. I am also going to provide these students with a slower pace of game play
associated with the skill we are working on in an effort to help them understand the strategy the game focuses
on. For those students who are needing to be challenged, I am going to work on daily problems for them which
require deeper level thinking in an effort to push them even further.

Student Teacher Weekly Log

Name: Janice Miller

Week 8-April 4-8th

1. How did you spend your time this week? What responsibilities did you have?
This week I continued bell to bell teaching. Our literacy focus this week was retelling stories, including
fables, folktales and myths and determining the central message, as well as the characters, setting and problem
and solution. We read a variety of stories throughout the week followed by an activity completing a
corresponding graphic organizer. The students had a lot of fun with the variety of stories, and working with a
variety of classmates throughout the week. We also did vocabulary work during vocabulary, with students
working together to complete a colorful Frayer model with one of the vocabulary words. Each partner group
shared their poster with the class on Friday. We also had 21 different administrators in our building on Tuesday
observing classes. Math we spent the beginning part of the week reviewing for our unit assessment we had on
Thursday afternoon. All but one of the students earned Fun Friday this week, so from 2-2:30 the students
played a variety of games. We ended the week recording data points in data binders.

2. What were the most satisfying experiences? Greatest challenges?

The most satisfying experiences this week was how well the students had done on the text features
poster from the week before. Several received their first Es and it was great to see how proud they were of
their work! The greatest challenge was a situation with a behavior student who was making bad choice, hurting
himself and being disrespectful to me by ignoring my instruction then running away with his fingers over his
ears. It was the first time I believe Ive actually been concerned that a student would hurt other students.
3. What are the plans for the upcoming week? Best times to observe?
Next week the comprehension focus is on asking and answering questions before, during and after
reading. In math we will start a new unit by taking the unit pre-test on Monday. It will also be my last full
week of bell to bell teaching, as the following week my mentor teacher and I are transitioning back to her
teaching. The best times to observe would be between 8:15 and 9:45 between, between 10:00 and 11:15, or
between 12:30 and 1:15 any day of the week.
Future teaching:
Next week I am going to ensure I am providing students with explicit instructions for all tasks and
conveying my expectation of their behavior during those tasks. Some students have not been completing things
with the amount of detail and quality I know they are capable of, and I want to confirm that it is from lack of
effort, and not lack of quality instructions. I am also going to be cognizant of varying instructional methods to
maintain engagement of all students. For the comprehension strategy next week I am going to really focus on
modeling how good readers ask questions before, during and after reading to convey the great importance of
this strategy to my students. And to demonstrate to them that they are already doing this, but just do not
necessarily think of it all the time while they are reading. I have chosen books to read next week which are
going to spark some great conversations and invoke a lot of questions so I am really looking forward to sharing
them with the students.