Take a look at this beauty:
My birthday isn't for a few weeks, but since I moved into my first apartment in June and am starting my first year teaching next week, my parents decided they shouldn't wait to give me my presents since I kinda need them! My dad bought me the printer and my mom got me a microwave and other kitchen essentials. I didn't have a microwave until a couple weeks ago...the struggle :) FYI I have the greatest parents on the planet earth and miss them every single day. Why do Kansas and California have to be so far apart?
My first project was printing out the pages for my teacher binder. My goal this year is to be as organized as possible, so I decided to create a teacher binder of my own.
Here's the cover
And here are a few of the pages for the different sections I have.
And of course..with me being me..that's all I could print because I don't have any more computer paper. Ha! I'm super proud of it though and hopefully it helps me throughout the school year.
Now for Part 2 of this post, a Linky Party!
(Sorry if it is too small to read)
I can honestly say that I had an incredible student teaching experience. For the first half I was in a 1st grade classroom and the second half I was in a 3rd-5th special education resource room. I really lucked out and got placed with two amazing teachers. I can't really just pick one "best time". I loved the kids that I got to work with and I learned so much. Luckily, I got hired at the school I did my student teaching at so my wonderful cooperating teachers are now my colleagues :)
Although there were some tough days where things just did not go as planned, I could always take away something from every lesson. The worst day overall was probably when I was being observed and one of my students decided to crawl under the table in the middle of my lesson and refuse to come out. Any student teacher just wants things to go perfectly, so of course I immediately got flustered and didn't handle the situation in the best possible way. Although it was a bad time, I'm actually glad it happened. It was a learning experience for me. Now I look back on it and think about all the ways I could have defused the situation.
My advice for student teachers: ASK QUESTIONS! I grew up afraid to ask questions because I didn't want people to think any less of me. As I got older I realized that if I want answers, and if I want to become a better teacher, then I better ask. I wrote down questions constantly, so I'd remember to ask my cooperating teacher. Another tip is making copies of everything you use and write down successful lessons. Get involved in the school. First off, it means a lot to the kids to see you at their plays, concerts, etc. Also, it will impress the principal to see you at every event even though you aren't required to be there. My last piece of advice is don't try to be perfect, because you won't be. Everyone has a lesson go wrong, or has a bad day. Student teaching is all about learning and becoming better every single day!
Whew! That was long! I'll end this by saying Thank you to Kylee and Carla - the best cooperating teachers in the world :)
Ahhh... Thanks Shelby! It was such a fabulous experience for me too. I have been so fortunate with the 2 student teachers I have had. I am a bit afraid to do it again :-)
ReplyDeleteSo so excited to have you as a colleague now! Anything you need, I"m right down the hall!