Wow! What a week! I would give this week a 4 1/2. If I had all of my edTPA completed, I would have given it a 5. This week started with me being observed by my principal on Monday morning. She came in the last 15 minutes of Letterland and stayed for my writing lesson. I know YIKES! Writing is not my strong point to teach and this lesson was poetry. I will have to admit it was stressful. Teaching poetry to 1st graders. I had my post-ob Wednesday morning. She said the lesson was great and the kiddos were very engaged. That was a load off.  The sun finally decided to show her face and my kiddos got to go outside and run around. We all needed that. Then on Thursday afternoon, I got my first dose of the vaccine. I feel as if a weight has been lifted. I am at a good point with my edTPA. Just cleaning up some Tasks. My goal is to have everything reviewed one last time and backed up by Sunday night. Then, I just have to wait until Thursday afternoon to submit. I feel like I am in a good place. 

The only assessments that I gave this week were of the informal kind. Several quick checks to see how they are doing with the new standards that we just started in math, literacy, and social studies. I did notice that a few of my kiddos are having trouble with math. I have planned to work with them in small groups next week. On Wednesdays and Thursdays, four of my students are pulled out during math and I am left with only three students. This is a great time to really focus on those math skills. Two separate Cohorts means that I am able to work almost one on one with my students. 

I would have liked to have spent more time this week just listening to my Cohort A students reading, however due to a couple of changes in schedules, I did not get the opportunity to listen to all of my students. This coming week we will be back to a normal schedule and I plan to listen to all my students read. 

This coming week is Read Across America Week. We have a lot of fun activities planned for the students. I am so excited about that. Our Superintendent is coming by on Tuesday to read to my class. I love when he drops by. My kiddos always ask really great questions often putting people on the spot. We will see how this visit goes.

Standard 1a: Teachers lead in their classrooms. This past week saw my small group lessons running smoothly. By reviewing quick informal assessments and small classroom sizes, I am able to focus in on what the students need to work on.

Standard 2a: Teachers provide an environment in which each child has a positive, nurturing relationship with caring adults. One of my students had a rough two days this week. She spent most of Wednesday and Thursday sitting near me. On Thursday afternoon, our school counselor took her out to just talk. She returned to the room acting more like herself. Sometimes students need time with someone. Stability is something a lot of my kiddos need.

Standard 3a: Teachers align their instruction with the North Carolina Standard Course of Study. This week I introduced poetry in writing. I was able to tie our science unit on habitats to writing poetry. I had the students to close their eyes and picture one of the habitats that we learned about. They had to use their senses to describe the habitat. I modeled what I see, hear, feel, smell about the Arctic and wrote a short poem based on my senses. My kiddos did a great job using their senses to write a poem about the habitat that they picked.

Standard 4b: Teachers plan instruction that is appropriate for their students. Going back to what I wrote above, I planned my poetry lesson around habitats. My students really enjoyed learning about habitats and used what they learned to write a poem. 

Standard 5a: Teachers analyze student learning. Through reviewing informal assessments from this week, I was able to plan small group instruction. Knowing which students need more support and which students need more of a challenge is important when planning effective lesson plans.