Grace Furlong's Student Teaching

2/20-2/23 What Happened  This week was a little more back to routine than previous weeks. In phonics we were working with the final schwa + r words. This set of phonics words helped me to build of students answers and have peers build on one another responses. Some students were able to see that all the words ended in r. Then another student realized that they all rhyme or have the same ending sound (example: cougar and flavor). Another student noticed there were ar words, which led to other students seeing the er and or words too. With all these conversations and building on one another we got to the pattern and it was a much more meaningful process than if I just explained the pattern to them. As we discussed in many of my courses, it is very powerful to have students construct their own knowledge.  The students moved on from the comprehension skill of determining importance to the skill of inferencing. Students struggle with this comprehension skill especial...

2/12-2/16 What Happened This week was a busy one. I did my EdTPA taping this week. I was originally supposed to finish this week. However, I assessed how my class was doing and decided to shift the learning segment from 4 days to 5 days. Due to an institute day on Friday, I will teach the 5th lesson this coming Tuesday. I did order of operations for my EdTPA lessons. Throughout the segment, students were at varying levels of understanding. Therefore, I determined that it would be most beneficial for the class to be split into small groups. I chose to do this because I had a mix of students who understood and were bored, but I also had students who were unsure of what was going on. I found that things went much better once we split into small groups. I was able to guide more practice with those who needed extra support and those who were understanding were able to have further independent practice. The lessons definitely didn't go as planned. However, I definitely think it w...

2/5-2/8 Classroom Confidential ` This chapter caused me to see my relationship with parents as similar to a teammate. We are working together to help their student do their best and thrive. It helped me to see that parent communication is not just me shooting information and events at parents. Parents are a necessary resource to reaching my students. They have important information that I do not see in the classroom. They can communicate with me things about their students that may or may not work from what they have noticed at home. I also learned that like students, not every parent is the same. Therefore, communication with each parents is not going to be a one size fits all. It is important that I individualize communication with each parent.  In Novice Teaching we discussed parent-teacher conferences. However, I feel that I learned some more helpful tips from this chapter. I feel better prepared in that I know that it is a good idea to send out an information sheet....

1/26-2/2 Classroom Confidential Chapter 2 I didn't have any prior knowledge about eptness. Therefore, I learned a lot. Mainly this chapter caused me to realize that each class truly does have its own culture. Often times the classroom can become a room full of routines and going through the motions. When I think about my student teaching I realize that morning work, reading logs, problems of the day, and other similar routines take the unpredictably and excitement out of learning. Eptness caused me to reassess how I think about the school day. I find that often times I forget that I am not the only one capable of making decisions in the classroom. My students deserve responsibility and voice in the classroom. Students then see school as something they are apart of instead of just a bystander. A culture of emptiness in the classroom also rids the classroom of mindless activities and routines by replacing them with meaningful activities that students see a purpose for and conne...