March Madness

Well spring break is officially here and I couldn't be more excited! Overall, I'd have to rate this week a 4. My students were excited about getting a break so things were a little hectic, but overall, we had some really good experiences this week.

On Thursday, we had our PBIS reward which was a dance. My students have been looking forward to this all week and were really excited about it. Since it was PBIS sponsored, every student had to make a certain Dojo percentage in order to go. All but one of my students made their goal. My pleasant surprise from this week came when I saw how well he handled the news of not going. He really understood what prevented him from going and later told me that it was his goal to get to go to the last one at the end of the year. It really made me proud to see how much he has grown throughout the school year. The dance was also a really great opportunity to spend some time with my students just having fun. It really showed me some of the talents my students have that I didn't know about. In this way, I demonstrated standard 2: teachers treat students as individuals.

This week in reading, I tried to make my instruction relevant to my students by making it all about basketball and March Madness (Standard 3). We read stories on the history of basketball as well as different influential players. One thing I did with this was create a new classroom management strategy. What started out as just a fun part of my lesson turned into a way to help keep students on track throughout the crazy week. Students were in teams based on the way their desks are set up and I gave them each an opportunity to pick a team name. Whenever I saw that team on task, following directions, or being respectful throughout the day, I gave them a tally on the board. At the end of the day, the teams got to try to shoot a beanbag into a basket and however many tallies they earned was the amount of shots they got to take. This gave my students responsibility inside the classroom and helped them work in teams (standard 4). It was also a way for me to show leadership in the classroom by implementing a new classroom management strategy(standard 1).  My students LOVED this and it was also a way to have better class management which is one of my PDP goals for this semester. I know going back after the break, I will have to think of another creative way to keep students focused.

When I come back from the break, things will really begin to take off towards preparing for the EOG. In terms of looking at data, I have been able to reflect on my teaching by reviewing RTA scores with my CE in order to determine where the focus needs to be when it comes to reading. In math, there are still a few subjects needing to be taught before reviewing but I also feel confident in my students to be feeling prepared when it comes time!

Right now, my CE and I do not need any support but feel prepared as we go into my final week full time (as unreal as that seems!) Over the break, I plan to work some more on my portfolio. This week I have really tried to record as much as possible. I think I have plenty of footage but I would also like to have the problem of having too much versus not having enough! My CE completed her last observation on my teaching this week as well so I will be reflecting on that over the break to see where I can make more improvements. Overall, it has been a fun week in the classroom. There isn't much that I feel I should have spent more or less time doing as I think my time management has gotten much better over the course of the past semester.  As we go into spring break, I hope everyone has a relaxing week! We all deserve it!! Have a happy Easter everyone!