Week 8 October 8-12, 2012

This was my last week at my middle school placement this semester. I wasn’t expecting on being so sad, but once all the students started saying good-bye to me and my mentor teacher and other 6^th grade teachers wished me well, it hit me. I didn’t realize that spending only 8 weeks in the classroom would have such an impact on the students, and that they would have such an impact on me! When the students told me they would miss me, it really made me think about the impact I had on them and how much they really looked up to me. It was probably one of the best feelings I have had while teaching. 8 short weeks proved to be enough to gain the respect of my students and have them look at me like a “real” teacher. I will really miss each and every one of them. My mentor teacher and the other 6^th grade teachers really opened their classes up to me and made me feel like apart of their team. I hope that the school I teach in has a staff that is so close and works so well together. They asked for my opinions and really taught me how to deal with all the stresses that come along with teaching.

On my Monday of this week, we had an ISE day. There were no students, but the teachers had to report, including myself. The first two hours of the day was spent doing parent conferences. My mentor teacher was not able to make it into school that day, so it was my responsibility to fill her position and actually take part in all 3 meetings we had with students that day. Mrs. Atkinson and myself act as one of the student’s homeroom teacher, so I didn’t have much to share other than her SR and ABC record. I had to show the parents her chart and tell them what she had received an SR/ABC for.  The second student was in my math class. I had to give my opinion on how he behaved in class because this particular student has an issue with talking back to teachers. I had experienced this before with this student so I was able to tell his mom what I saw from him in the classroom. The third student is also in one of my math classes. As his teacher, I didn’t see the many behavior problems like some of the other teachers have seen. He is respectful for the most part, the only issue we had with him in our classroom is his inability to sit down and raise his hand when he needs something. He had trouble getting his homework in at the beginning of the year, but this has improved. Since he has had so much trouble in school, with suspension and fighting, his meeting was really long. This was good for me because I was able to see how the other teachers dealt with the parents and all the parents! I was so nervous during the meetings because I have been with the students all year up to this point so it was my responsibility to tell them how their children have been doing in my class since I was the teacher in charge for a few weeks. Talk about stressful!! After the parent meetings, we had Faculty Senate meeting with all the entire staff. They discussed issues in the school and other items that were happening in each of the grade levels.  It was nice to see the whole staff working together to make the school a better place for them and the students! I was glad I was able to be apart of this ISE day.

My mentor teacher and I, along with a SPED teacher, collaboratively taught a math class this semester. I really like collaborate teaching and I think all classrooms should have this regardless of if there are students who need assistance in the classroom. Mrs. Atkinson and I worked really together, which shows me you need to be compatible with the collaborative teacher if you are going to teacher successfully together. Collaborative teaching is something I am fully open to and would like to do in the future! It was so nice having 3 teachers in the classroom; this helped all the students in the class, not just those who needed the special educator. We were all 3 able to bounce ideas off each other and add things to lessons that may help different students in different ways.

I was so hesitant to be teaching 6^th grade, but I quickly learned that 6^th grade is definitely a level I would be willing to teach! I like the structure and schedule of middle school. Although, I found it hard to make lessons new and exciting, compared to the fun arts and crafts you get to do in the elementary grades all the time. The one thing I liked about 6^th grade is that I can take what I have learned in all my English courses in college and apply them where as this is harder to do in the primary grades. I actually really like this age group. For the most part, many of them are still excited to learn and want to do well! It may have been that I had an awesome mentor teacher and literally, all the students LOVE her, which made my experience so grade, but I also had great students to work with as well! My experience in the 6^th grade has been invaluable to me. I am glad that I was able to broaden the grade levels I have student taught in, this makes me confident to apply for middle school positions in the future. 

On Monday I will take on the 2nd grade as the final step in my internship, I am excited to work with my mentor teacher and also start my research study!!