Day Two

A large portion of my day was spent doing data entry for student's IEPs. I knew there was a lot of paperwork involved, just not the extent and receptiveness that exists! However, I was fortunate enough to go back to the reading class in the morning. The class as a whole seemed better today, maybe just because it's Tuesday. There were still some issues with the same child from yesterday. I tried choices once again like in Love & Logic, which he liked. However it did not last long. He would get off task and talk with peers which was not a part of the teacher's rules. I asked if he would rather read his book quietly or put his head down on the desk. He said read so I allowed this to happen. When he got off task, I put my hand out and he knew to place the book in my hand. I pointed at the table and he put his head down. I told him he had one minute and after that we would discuss it further. When the minute was up I asked if he was ready to sit quietly and read or talk with his teacher. He sat quietly and read his book without anymore problems. In the midst of our conversations I knew I had to remain calm or it would just give him more drive to act out. I am hoping by the end of the week he and I will have established some rules in our relationship so I can work with the students who need it most. Always fun and always a learning experience for sure!

First day as a student teacher!

Well today marked the first day of my student teaching! How excited and nervewrecking was that! All went well. I am seeing the beginning of the mainstreaming work its magic in the classroom. Our first class was a first grade classroom during reading. There are two of our students in the classroom. All students were split into three groups (previously designated). My ST and I began with reading a short story and asking questions. There was another group at another table making quite a bit of noise. As my ST asked, I went over to work with them/quiet them down, espeically knowing two of our students were there. There was one child who seemed to be the ring leader of it all so I went to him first to get him back on task, but the moment I stepped away, he went right back to it. I began thinking about the love and logic text. I knew he was very intelligent, but I also knew he loved attention. So I sat to work with him for a few minutes and was able to make him share the letters they were using and write what needed to be written. He did not however, want to put away the 20 letters he had out. So in order to get him to do so I asked him to pick a word he wanted to put back. He did with some hesitation, but then I let him pick the work I would put back at the same time, which seemed to make the process go over more smoothly. Although he was not completely calm, it did suffice him for some time and he seemed to listen to me for the rest of the hour we were in the classroom. Although I wasn't able to directly work as much with our particular student as much as I would have liked to, I felt that I had to gain the trust of the ring leader to get him focused in hopes of keeping our student that way.