So here's the thing- I've been putting off making this blog for the past 2 semesters because I had fully convinced myself that you had to have some magical, superhero powers to pull off something as creative and organized as the blogs I've been stalking for the past couple of years. But I've also been wanting to share my journey as a student teacher with you all not only through posting pictures on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc but through a combination of my words AND pictures. So what better way to do that than on my very own blog!
Alright, let me catch you up on my crazy, hectic, dramatic, BUT wonderful life as a student teacher. I am officially a senior at The University of Alabama (ROLL TIDE ROLL). Well, I like to refer to myself as a SUPER senior seeing as how this is my 5th year of college. ANYWAY, I am placed in a 4th grade classroom this semester at Big Sandy Elementary. Two words: life changing. The Lord was definitely looking out for me when he placed me in the hands of Kimberly Poe. What an amazing mentor teacher for me to learn, grow, and bond with.
So, I know you are biting at the bit to see what I've been doing in my classroom since the beginning of September.....so, I'll just show you.
Week 1:
I met my sweet, sweet 4th grade friends with excitement and of course nerves. Introduced myself with a "Get to Know Ms. Counsell" PowerPoint (I'll try to post it soon....if I can figure out how.) The kids LOVED that I actually did cool things like play sports, watch Duck Dynasty, eat Mexican food. The real shocker was that I had a family....yes, my students were amazed that I had three brothers and a mother and father. I'm starting to learn that students think teachers live this mysterious life that never makes its way out of the classroom. "Yeah guys, I'm just like you." I was biting at the bit to get to know my students as well at this point, so we played two truths and a lie. Over a month later, we still haven't finished the game. (I've learned that as a teacher you say "Oh, we will get to that later" or "We will have to see if we have time for that" ALOT) The rest of the week I observed and got my feel for things.
Week 2: I taught my first lesson. (WOOO!) I was required to do a lesson on classroom community so I chose to focus on self-esteem. I noticed early that my students lacked self-esteem. We did self-esteem cards as our activity. The kids each had an index card with their name on it. In theirs small groups that passed their cards in a circle and wrote one compliment on each person's card. After this activity, I had my students brainstorm ideas in their small groups of how we could improve our classroom community and boost our self esteem. I was very proud of the thoughtful, creative ideas they came up with.
Week 3:
Week 4:
Week 5:
I did not get to see my students this week due to being trained for AMSTI. (I am now certified to teach 3rd grade AMSTI math and 5th grade AMSTI science!!!) LOVE AMSTI Missed my children terribly.
Week 6:
I started my small unit on expository writing. Wednesday I introduced How-To writing. I had
