Week 1: Check!!

Week 1 of student teaching is officially COMPLETE!! This week has proven to me how fast this semester is going to go...pretty soon I will be a "real teacher" having to figure things out on my own!! But as for now, I have the world's GREATEST cooperating teacher who has already taught me so much about what it takes to be an effective teacher. She is the most energetic teacher I have been with while at KSU, and I feel like our style of teaching is really similar so it should be an easy transition for the kids when I become the teacher! (Some of them have already asked me when I am going to start teaching...that makes me so happy and excited to actually begin teaching lessons!!)

The physical layout of my classroom is AWESOME!! It is bright and colorful and so inviting for the kids...I snapped some shots today of some of my favorite ideas in the classroom :)

 Here is a shot of the front half of the classroom

Here is a closer view of the front board where there are posters for their weekly vocab words (the words the kids study in their reading book), plus the Daily 5 posters. On the right hand side of the board you will see a picture with some writing below. The kids began a writing project on Harris Burdick by Chris Van Allsburg this week where they use a picture from the book and create their own stories. It allows the kids to be sooo creative and they LOVE the freedom they are offered...they can make their story about anything!! (3rd grade appropriate of course :)

 Part of the 3rd grade Social Studies curriculum is studying the different regions of the US. To celebrate this, the kids are encouraged to bring in postcards from different US attractions (ie: The Arch, Wrigley Stadium, Mt. Rushmore, Golden Gate Bridge, Statue of Liberty, etc). The kids adore this and get so excited to share any postcards they receive :)

 I love the discipline system my teacher uses. Each kid has a number and a pocket, and in each pocket is a slip of paper labeled A+, A, A-, B+, B, B-, etc. Each time a kid misbehaves or is acting inappropriately in class, the child cuts of a letter. By the end of the week, they have the letter grade of how their week was. As you can see, the kids all had a wonderful week....I see lots of A's!!

 This is a simple idea but I loved it! On the cabinets are different posters that have numerous genres with a description and pictures of popular books that fit that genre! This could help students understand the different types of genres when choosing books to read!

This is such a great idea!! My teacher uses a plastic pocket chart to keep all of her copies for the week. This way, if we have some extra time there are plenty of worksheet/activities to pull out! Love this and it's an efficient use of space for organizing papers :)

 Here is my cute little desk that my teacher supplied for me :)

After a rewarding, but tiring first week and a 2.5 hour student teaching meeting, some fellow student teacher friends and I decided we needed to kick back and grab some dinner and discuss our first week! Off to Talk of the Town we went...

 

I had an AMAZING first week and I am so excited to start teaching this upcoming week (we don't waste any time!!) On Monday I am going to begin doing some Kim Sutton math (the kids are working on 11 times tables) and I will be teaching Social Studies (we are currently focusing on the Midwest!!) I am giving an introductory lesson in which my clinical instructor will be watching, so many exciting things are coming up for this upcoming week!

My lesson plan notebook....it has already begun!!

For now, time to enjoy the rest of the weekend and cheer on the Cats (yikes, it's 29 to 16 right now :( Have a wonderful weekend and get some much needed rest!!

Happy Teaching!

Brittany