Chapter XXX: Improvement!

(Sroll down to the video if you so choose)

Happy day. My lesson was a success.  I've met more than 85% of my criteria during evaluations.  The person who evaluated me is also a teacher who came from Western Washington University.  She's a substititute teacher but she knows her stuff as well as much as my host teacher.  My host teacher was busy evaluating students in preparation for conferences, hence, the substitute teacher.

I did not fumble through this lesson.  Classroom management was much -- waaaay better than the last one.  Alhough you may see children's heads moving around, they were still very attentive and answered questions because in the beginning I talked about keeping their eyes and ears on me while I'm talking.  You can hear children going in and out of the bathroom.  This is typical during a transition.  Transition times are always the hardest for any teacher.  In layman's terms: chaos usually happens when switching from one activity to another.  In my case, the classroom teacher and I switched places; that in itself, is a (minor) transition, but resulted in some chaos.  It wasn't as chaotic as it was before -- it doesn't look as bad as it sounds/looks -- but the teacher and I managed to keep the class under control after too many children decided to excuse themselves to go to the restroom.

There were two things that I did not include during this lesson, which was part of the criteria: praising positive behavior and checking for understanding.  This lesson occurred during the morning part of kindergarten (i.e. AM Kindergarten). After my first evaluation by the teacher, I read it and took note of those missing items.  So, the second time around was much better -- way better as I became aware of what I needed to do.  The substitute teacher evaluated both sessions and told me that there was a significant difference between the two.  I met 98% of the presenation's criteria the second time.  I wish I could have recorded that session, but I was low on batteries by the time I wanted to record my second presentation.  I utilized the same presentation in both sessions

What I love about both sessions is the way I handled behavioral management.  Because I was able to control both classes through wait-time, "do as I do" games, and choral responses, the children were attentive and engaged. I was tickled pink at the end of the day.  It was a successful teaching experience.  I can't wait until this Thursday when my practicum supervisor comes in to observe me. :)

Chapter XXIX: Classroom Behavioral Mgm't. Vs. Lesson Quality

Note: Pre-certs = pre-certified teachers; teachers-in-training; student teachers; practicum students and interns

Here, you will see that I have already lost some of the children during this lesson as I was in tuned on presenting a quality lesson than being attentive to problem behaviors. There were many "blurt outs" or "shout outs", children using the restroom (you can hear the door open/close), and there was a child in the front row who couldn't stop playing with the velcro on his shoes (you can't see/hear it). A few children started wandering and not really paying attention. Had I not been oblivious to their behaviors and nipped it in the bud, then they would have been more alert on the lesson. The person's voice you hear at the very beginning is my supervising teacher or "host" teacher.  A little sidenote: the video is "mirrored" or reversed. I apologize for this silly error. Teachers: I'm still working on the summative assessment (thumbs up/down). Overall, this lesson went okay. It could have been better.

And on the other end of the spectrum...behavioral management was perfect. At the very beginning, transition -- in this case from the teacher to myself -- was a challenge as there were children being dismissed during "specialist" time.  It was a bit disruptive because prior to the specialists walking in unannounced, the children were already settled and ready to learn.  Right away, I caught a couple of children who were being disruptive -- there was a child who took too long washing her hands, and the teacher caught it, too, so she managed to help out with that part. As soon as I gave my little schpiel on why they should be listening, I had their 100% attention throughout the entire lesson.  In this video, you will see that I fumbled through my lesson because I was keeping an eye out on specific children who might be disruptive. They were, in fact, disruptive, but only for a very short time because I caught their behaviors right away and called them on it.

Chapter XXVIII: Assessment Drives Instruction

About last chapter.  I was angry and I'm leaving that post as is. It's part of my life and part of my challenge in going through this program.  Everything is fine now -- or is it. But I am gonna keep on going and not let anyone or anything stop me.  Teaching inside a classroom has always been a dream of mine.  ..By quitting, I am showing my children to give up when the going gets tough.  Right now, I'm showing them that when the going gets tough, get tougher and you will succeed. 

So...back to the subject at stake: my practicum...

I am trying something different.  This is much easier to do.  Pardon the delay -- it must be a blogging-thing.

I did not record the children as planned due to photo restrictions. Here's how my day went: