EDU 5390/6390 Field Practicum

Practicum Journal 2016-17

Name ___Kailey Stayner_______________________________

Please use this form to complete your journal entries and goals for each
week. Continue to add information and submit the entire journal each week
on Canvas in the EDU 5390 course.

Due: August 26th -

Journal entry (How did the week go? What did I do? What did I learn?):

This week was really great at Rolling Meadows. I really enjoy working with

my site teacher and being able to observe her teaching style. I really enjoyed

helping her set up the classroom as well as getting the chance to create my own

first day of school lesson.

To begin, some notes I would like to remember about setting up the

classroom are:

Put the students name on everything! This helps them know which items

belong to them as well as to you because students often times say they

lost stuff, but really they dropped it on the floor and never claimed it. When

their name is on it, then it is easier to keep track of.

The first day of school consisted of doing a lot of conversations about

rules and procedures. It is a good idea to take movement breaks because

students get bored because it is a lot of information overload.

A procedure I really like that Ms. Davis does is called Whole Body. This is

a cute chart that shows students how to use their whole body in order to
 show that they are ready for the next task at hand. (I made a copy and

placed it in a googledoc to look back on)

I also really liked Ms. Davis clip chart. She gives students 1 ticket if they

make it to purple (moved up twice) and 2 tickets if they make it to pink

(moved up three times). At the end of the week she will pull out five

names and those students get a prize. The same students CAN get picked

multiple times within the same drawing so the more tickets they place in

the bin create more chances to win.

For my first day of school activity, I first created a PowerPoint about myself. This

PowerPoint was fun because I would ask students questions about myself and

allow them to answer. This created a game type of activity and the students really

enjoyed learning things about me. After, I wanted to know about the students so I

created a All About Me Selfie. The students were able to write a little about

themselves (Hi my name is then three facts about them) and afterwards add 4

hashtags that give me a little more explanation about themselves. Lastly, they

were able to draw a picture of themselves. The students love the activity and Ms.

Davis and I placed them on the wall for the students to see and enjoy. The next

day we added to this activity by creating 9 apps that tell about themselves. I gave

the students the first 6 and allowed them to create the last three themselves.

1. Favorite sport or sports team

2. Favorite place to go
3. Favorite animal
4. Favorite subject
5. Favorite recess activity
6. What do you want to be when you grow up
Again, the students loved to do this, but I did remind them to draw images that

pertain to them and not what I have done. If they like elephants like I do, they can

draw an elephant, but if they dont like elephants, they should draw something

that they do like.

Goals for next week:

Be engaging and not monotone for the math lesson.

Create lasting relationships with the students so they feel comfortable

coming to me as well as Ms. Davis. Also, so they give me the same

respect as Ms. Davis.

Work on attention getters.

Due: September 2nd

Journal:

During this week, I attempted my first math lesson. I actually felt that it

went pretty well! I was a bit nervous to go into it and it was a little rocky at first,

but once I gained more confidence and more personality, the lesson just began

to flow. It felt really good. However, I found it be a struggle to put my mindset

aside and think like how an 8 year old would think. I had to think what information

they would understand and what information I would need to explain more.

Again, once I started to get further into the lesson, the concept of thinking like an

8 year old began to come easier.

My site teacher encouraged me to use manipulative for my lesson. I

thought they also went really well. The students became more engaged once

they were able to physically use something in order to gain the concept better. I

also tried to use hand gestures in order to hook the students in as well as using
these gestures to remember information. Overall, I thought it went really well and

there are still things I would like to work on, but for the most part it seemed to go

pretty well.

Ms. Davis observed my lesson and gave me a few things to remember, a

few things to work on, and a few things she thought was great.

Things to remember and/or work on:

Possibly bring math books out when you are actually ready to have

students use them. It can be distracting to students if they are out but not

opened. Students begin to play with it because they like to do things with

their hands.
Move around! I remember my brain was saying move, but my feet werent

moving!
Watch students closer. They begin to play with the manipulative.
Make expectations even more clear.

Things great at:

Attention getters.
Think aloud
Planned out very well.
Pointing out students who were on task, on topic, expectations.
Using manipulative.

Goals:

Proximity
Clearer expectations

Due: September 9th

Journal:

This week I taught my first Wonders lesson. I was a tad nervous to teach it

because I did not feel like I was as prepared for it as I wanted to be. The district
does not want my site teacher to be giving out their username and password for

Wonders, so I had to use the demo account. As I used the demo account at

home to figure out the lesson, I had to find things and download items, which is

different than my site teachers program. So, that was a little challenging.

However, I was able to download the actually reading portion and go off that, but

the graphic organizer and any manipulative had to be viewed at school before my

lesson.

In the end I felt like my lesson was really good! I worked on my goals and

did much better at proximity than I did last week. I also, got better at stating my

expectations, but I need to be even clearer with expectations. During my lesson, I

felt I had a great amount of engagement from my students. The students were

focused, wanting to learn, raising their hands to answer questions, and following

along. It was a wonderful feeling to feel like my students really understood the

lesson and to know that I did a good job.

My only complaint would be the Wonders program. The program could

really be great, but their time expectations are unrealistic. I used the allotted time

that my site teacher gave me to teach the lesson and it took about an hour and a

half to teach almost the entire section for that day, but the Wonders book says it

should only take 50 minutes to do that entire day. My site teacher even says she

feels it is unrealistic because it goes too fast and she isnt getting the chance to

teach in depth.

Things I did great on:

Proximity
Attention getters
 I like when Pointing out students who are doing what they are told and

raising their clips.

Great voice

Things to remember:

Dont be afraid to move clips down

Using a visual timer may be helpful if giving longer time limits
Make sure after an attention prompt that all students are with you before

moving on

Goals:

Even clearer expectations

Dont move on until everyone is with me

Due: September 16th

Journal:
This week went pretty good. It was the first time where I had the chance to

teach the entire day on my own, without anyone else being there. The students

were excited to have me be there teacher that entire day and to work with me.

Not only were the students super respectful, but also they were also engaged

and ready to learn the entire day. I was glad that my first day teaching full day

and alone went as well as it did. Towards the end of the day I sat with my

students and talked about how the day went and again they were so kind and

said they thought it went well and enjoyed their day.

During Language Arts, I had the wonderful chance of getting some extra

support by having the reading specialist visit my classroom. Afterwards we had

the chance to talk and discuss some things that I could think about or look at

while planning my Language Arts lessons. She was so kind and gave me some

really helpful tips such as, choosing if you want the class to answer as a whole or

one person at a time. By choosing everyone as a whole to answer, it can help

keep students more on task. Also, she said to look at timing. Perhaps activities

can go a little quicker because it isnt a high demand for learning. Students can

grasp the concept pretty quickly. Again, this reminds me of putting myself in an 8-

year old mind. It is a challenge, but once I can master that, then lessons and

thinking on the spot can come a lot quicker and smoother.

Lastly, I tried Oh, my aunt came back with my students and the LOVED

it. They were begging me to do it again, so I told them if we can get through all of

our stuff for the day, then at the end of the day we can do it again. And we did! It

was great. Overall, the day went really well and I got through all of the stuff I

wanted too.

Goals:
Whole group response vs. single response.
Adding more attention getters.

Due: September 23rd

Journal:

This week went really well! I was reflecting on last week (teaching a full

day alone) and relating it to this week. I thought that this week went just as well

and I think it went so well because having that full day with them last week
allowed us to have that time together and build relationships. This week, they

continued to show me that same respect that they showed last week. I have

really started to feel like their teacher.

This week, I taught the first half of the day on Monday and the second half

of the day on Tuesday. This way I sort of had a full day of teaching, but divided

into two sections. Ms. Davis thought that would be a great way to start out so that

it isnt so overwhelming. I agreed and really enjoyed it! However, I do feel that if I

needed to or wanted to take on a full day I could because last week really

prepared me to do so. I really recommend this for the following years. I had a

great experience last week and it translated into this week.

I am gaining more knowledge in the classroom and begin to really get a

handle on management in my class. However, one thing that I still want to work

on is student engagement. I want to work on pacing in lessons. For example, if

something were easier for the students, it would be a good idea, to have whole

class response then move forward, rather then chatting about it for a longer

period of time. This will lose interest in students. At times, I worry that my

students are not grasping the concept or that 1-3 students are not getting it, but

in reality they are losing interest because they have already grasped the concept.

So, I want to work on student engagement and changing positions in the class.

Goals:

Student engagement
 Knowing when to move to the carpet or staying at desks. This helps with

student engagement because they are moving and doing something. If

they are not doing something, perhaps moving will help.

Due: September 30th

Journal:

This week went well, however there was one point in which I felt a little

discouraged. This week I created my own lessons rather than lessons from

Wonders or Go Math. These lesson went really well and I thought they were so

much fun! I had great student engagement (my goal) and that felt awesome. The

reason why I felt discouraged was due to the timing in which my site teacher

decided to critique my lesson. I am totally cool with getting feedback and running

with it, but it is challenging when I get feedback while my students are at recess

and I have to finish the lesson when they get back. I just felt like it was bad timing

because Im getting feedback and then have to finish the lesson. I felt that I didnt

get that time to process the information; instead I heard it and then had to just

continue with my plan. I understand that as teachers we must think on the spot

and redo, reevaluate, and move forward, but I also felt like I wasnt ready for that,

in that moment. My site teacher did apologize and realized it wasnt the best time

to go over my lesson, but she just wanted me to know that she wanted to push

me to the next level of teaching. She stated her last student teacher took the

entire year getting management down, but because Ive done really well with that

she wants to push me to a higher level in teaching. Due to wanting to push me,
she wanted me to know how to move along the lesson a bit faster and

understanding when students understand the information and when it is good to

move forward. After talking about it and thinking about it, I now have the chance

to reflect and learn for next week.

Goals:

Timing. When to move forward or when to hold back for students

understanding.

Due: October 7th

Journal:
This week went much better than last week. I thought this week went

really well and I feel like I am beginning to get more student engagement and

being able to create more fun and interesting lessons. This week, I tried a social

studies lesson where I taught the students cardinal directions. It was a fun lesson

because I was able to get the students out of their seat and moving around. This

created a great student engagement because students were able to move

around and they wanted to participate. I have found that sometimes creating

engagement like this is challenging because there are times where it is more

difficult to leave their desks. I have been struggling with making math more fun,

but I think going forward that will be my goal for my lessons.

This week, my class gained a new student. I have noticed that this student

may be a little more challenging because he is possibly on the autism spectrum.

However, he has not been officially tested for it, but my site teacher says he does

show signs of being autistic. I noticed that when doing math, he was very distant
from other students and not willing to talk to them during a pair conversation, but

in social studies, he was really engaged due to being up and moving around.

Going forward, this will be a thought in my mind so that I can reach learners like

him in my class. It will be different to begin to always think this way, but I also

think that it will be great for me to do so and become a stronger teacher through

it.

Goals:
Thinking deeper into making more student engagement. I find reading is

easier to make student engagement, but math I want to really focus on.

Creating activities were students are still learning math by using

manipulatives or getting out of their seats in some way.

Due: October 14th

Fall Break

Due: October 21st

Journal:
This week went well. On Monday, I taught during the first half of the day

and I thought it went really well. One thing that made this day so great for me

was, it gave me a chance to teach multiplication facts of 2s and 4s and it gave

me a chance to see what students understood and did not understand. This was

great information for me to use for Tuesdays lesson. On Tuesday, I taught

multiplication facts of 5 and 10s so, it was great to know what my students will

grasp quickly and what they may struggle on because I taught a very similar topic
the previous day. I really enjoyed teaching the same idea/subject for two days in

a row.

On Tuesday, I did get the chance to teach the entire day and this was

super fun. It amazes me how time flies when you teach the entire day. I also had

the chance to teach writing for the first time on Tuesday. It was a little

challenging, but what was nice is that the writing program we are using now,

gives you the PowerPoints you will use for your lesson and these are awesome!

They are interactive, easy to follow, and simple to use. You cannot get lost!

However, you will need to make sure you look at it prior to teaching the lesson,

but it really doesnt take a lot of time to look at it and understand it.

Lastly, Carol and I went over my midterm evaluation and she said some

really nice things about me. She made me feel like I am doing really well at this

point in my learning/teaching. I was really pleased with everything that happened

this week. Overall, it was really great!

Goals:

Learn the writing program better

Adapt to students needs. If they are getting the subject, do a quick

assessment to make sure they understand it then move on.

Exit slips or Kahoot could be a great way to do a assessment.

Due: October 28th

Journal:

This week, I really wanted to take the time to focus on my students who

need some extra time to grasp and understand new concepts. In order to do this,
I tried thinking of areas where they would get lost as I went through the lessons.

In those areas, I tried to create more engaging hands-on activities for my

students. For example, during math we got to a part where either my students

were going to really get it or they were going to need a little more instruction. So,

I created a Kahoot, so that if they got it, we could just do the Kahoot as a fun and

engaging activity. However, in class I felt when we got to this section, that my

students needed a little extra help. So, rather than doing the Kahoot, I allowed

my students to do this section in partners and reviewed it together as a class. I

really didnt want my students who did not get it, to fall behind. Later in the day

when we had a little extra time, we did the Kahoot game and they had a blast. I

really wanted to work on reading my students needs. I have some really gifted

students in my class and some students who can fall behind easily. My goal was

not only to be engaging, but to also do quick assessments in order to read where

my students are. I felt that I achieved that goal this week and was able to reach

the majority of my students.

Goals:

Teach two consecutive days.

Due: November 4th

Journal:
I thought this field week went really great. I was a little worried at first

because Halloween was on Monday and I was teaching all day Tuesday. I was

worried that my students would be so hyped up on sugar that it would be hard to

rein them back in. However, they actually were not that bad. On Halloween, we

still did some curriculum type things, but very fun and geared towards Halloween.

I started the day off with a mid-chapter math test and afterwards we did a

multiplication scavenger hunt that had to do with Halloween. The students loved

it. Throughout the day, they did more Halloween things, but what was the most

fun was ending the day with a class Halloween party. Our room mom was so

wonderful and came up with fun and creative games for the students. You could

see that she had put a lot of work and effort into it and it totally paid off. The

students had a blast! I took tons of pictures!

Tuesday was not as bad as I thought it would be. In the morning, my

students were a little chatty, but once I had them retry a transition, they were

super good and back too normal. I thought Tuesday and Wednesday were really

great. I actually taught both of those days. I knew going into the week that I

should take two full days, so I decided to take to consecutive days because I am

normally there Mondays and Tuesdays, those are consecutive days and it would

make more sense to do that. However, for Thursday and Friday I had the chance

to do some other teacher items that Carol does in her free time away from

teaching. It was nice to get to see both sides. I was able to grade tests and see

how my students are doing in math, gave a spelling test, observed 3 rd grade

collaboration, staff meetings, and even sit back and observe new subjects to me

like Social Studies.

I wish I could be at Rolling Meadows for full weeks instead of two days a

week this semester. I feel like I learn so much more and that I dont miss so
much. I hate coming in on a Monday and having to play catch up because I

missed three days of things that theyve been working on. Also, I noticed that my

students gave me full respect and really treated me like their teacher. Not that

they didnt before, but it felt more apparent this week if that makes sense? I

even had one student draw me a picture. It was really cute and a good feeling to

get. Overall, I thought that this week went really well. I really enjoyed it and I am

already looking forward to being back there next week. I love getting the chance

to be with my students and find more creative ways to engage my students and

enhance their learning.

Lastly, I did videotape myself this week, but I have not gotten the chance

to look over the video yet. As soon as I do, I will add comments about it or add

comments to next weeks journal.

Goals:
Continue to be engaging and create even more student response.

Due: November 11th

Journal:

Similar to last week, I taught for both days. I have really enjoyed teaching

for full days because you are accountable for the information that is being taught

those days and how you choose to present it. I have been exploring different

ways in which I can show/ share information with students. For example, this

week Carol showed me a fun way to teach students their multiplication facts of 9.

So, I gave it a try. First, we started with using the distributive property then we
transitioned into how you can use your hands to solve for 9s. It was not only fun

and informative, but it was also really engaging for my students. To continue the

engagement throughout the day, I tried to come up with different activities

students could do or where I want them to sit in the room and this really helped

the day to flow smoothly. I thought overall this week went really well and Carol

also said she thought it went well.

Also, this week I taught a Social Studies lesson about the Iroquois in the

Northeast Woodlands. I not only taught this for the first time ever, but I also

taught it to another class. Last week, I was able to watch Carol teach it last week

and this week I tried it. During this time 3rd grade does Social Studies rotations

and I was able to teach the same lesson, but to another class while my class

went to another teacher and learned about a different region. It went great!

During our weekly planning time, Carol and I talked about implementing

bathroom passes in our class. I had the chance to talk to her about when it

becomes to much to have table points, bathroom passes, class parties, clip

charts, etc. I walked into another 3rd grade teachers room and it is her first year. I

was overwhelmed by how many reward systems she had going on in her

classroom, so I thought it would be a good idea to ask Carol. I really liked Carols

advice about it. She said, if you were going to do these reward systems, you

would need to be able to follow through on each and every one of them. She

suggested that after awhile you switch it up. Try reward systems that can hold

students to themselves and as a whole class. She currently has one of each in

our class, but after the holidays she switches up the reward system for the entire
class reward, but keeps the clip chart because she likes that it makes students

accountable for themselves.

Video Reflection:

I thought videoing myself was very informative. I was excited to see if

there are any habits I do or if students were doing things that I may not have

noticed. Overall, I thought I did pretty well. I liked seeing some of the big eight

items coming in. For example, I would have the students repeat page numbers

back, use snapping to show that they are listening, and count downs, etc. I feel

confident in my management skills thus far but also feel that there is still always

room to grow, but I am proud of my progress. Lastly, one thing I noticed in my

video that I do is, while I walk around the room, I tend to follow the same pattern

as I teach, but when students are working I do use proximity to reach everyone.

Going forward, I want to work on proximity as I teach. I think it is easier for

subjects like language arts where you do not need the board as often, but in

math it can be difficult because everything is up on the board. Also, when I feel

more confident in the subject area or the lesson, I tend to move around more

because I dont need to rely on the board as much, but I also feel like that will

come with time. Again, I think I did a pretty good job and I am looking forward to

your feedback.

Goals:
 Language Arts has recently been divided a little different. First, we were

going week by week, but now we have changed it to taking the time to

spread one week over a two-week period. So, before I was always doing

day 1 and 2 of each week and never really saw days 3-5, but now

because we are spreading it over a two-week period, I have the chance to

teach those days. My goal is to learn these days as well as I have learned

the other days and make them more fun and engaging for my students. I

have found these days are a little difficult and slightly boring, but I bet I

could find a way to make it better.

Due: November 18th

Journal:

This week my focus was to create student engagement in language arts. I

thought it went really well. My students stayed with me the entire time and were

able to complete the graphic organizers that went along with our reading. This

week our reading was on three different poems, but the challenging part is

having them do a graphic organizer that goes with each reading. So, to help

make it more fun we read the poems a couple times to understand what it was

about then I showed them video clips to help get a better understanding of what

the poem was talking about. To give a little background the poems were talking
about a helicopter and how it flies as well as an ornithopter and how that flies. My

students knew what a helicopter is, but not an ornithopter so, I read the poem

again and showed them what it was through a video and they loved it! I like that

using a visual helped them to understand the material even better.

For next week, my big focus is going to be how to quickly assess students

comprehension during a math lesson. If they do not understand, what can I do to

help them understand better? If I have a few students who really understand

what can I do to help deepen their thinking? Carol showed me some resources in

Go Math that can help with this. She also said that my management skills are

down and that to help me become an even better teacher, that doing quick

assessments and planning out parts in a lesson that students could use extra

guidance will help them to comprehend better and for me to become an even

better teacher. I am looking forward to learning and applying this in my lessons.

Goals:

Quickly assess students comprehension of a lesson.

How can I help them relearn or create even deeper thinking?

Due: November 25th

Journal:

I am grateful my family and for being so lucky to have the life I have. I have great

parents, a wonderful husband, and Im so lucky to get their help and support in

my education as well as a loving home. I am so thankful I have the people I have

in my life.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Goals:

Due: December 2nd

Journal:

This week was a little different. Carols sister passed away over the break

so, I had a sub with me this week. However, it wasnt bad because I am used to

teaching full days anyways, so it wasnt much of a change. My students did

understand the reason why Carol wasnt in class this week, so we made her

cards. I loved reading through the cards and seeing how sweet and sincere my

students was in their cards. It warmed my heart knowing that although they are

young and they did not know the person who died, they were very sweet and

thoughtful of Carols feelings. Overall, it was a different, but good experience.

This week, I created a math review game for my students and a game to

learn to vocabulary words. It was great to see them so engaged and wanted to

participate. We had a blast this week with our learning! Also, it was great to have

the sub keep saying that I have such a well-behaved class. It made me feel like

my management skills were pretty good to have them be so good and have

someone notice it. It was a pretty good week despite the sadness of why Carol

was not there this week.

Goals:

Continue going through the month of December.

 Be ready for my observation in December by continuing working on good
management skills, doing quick assessments, and being a super
awesome teacher!