Rough Day!

Pink Room

• I spent the first half of the day with my pre-k to kindergartners. They got too competitive with the game where they tossed rope lassos onto pink jugs, so I moved them back to the carpet where I let them lay down or dance to one song. We forgot to give my partner a lunch, so we had to make up for that. 

Orange Room

• I moved to the big kids (1st grade-5th grade). They were taking part in bike day. I got everyone to park their bikes and I got the legos cleaned up (which takes a surprising amount of time). When I told everyone to put their helmets on and get their bikes so that we could park them, some of the children decided to lag behind. We did not have enough children without bikes to grab the toys, so we had to park our bikes by the tree and come back for the toys and cones. I told the children to follow me and to gather in one of the parking spaces so that we could cross the road. So many of the children were lagging behind, off task, or being disrespectful during this time, so we had a class conversation about respect and safety once we got into the room and I allowed every child to get a drink from the water fountain.When we come inside, I always have everyone go straight to the room and I send 2-3 children to the water fountain at a time so that they don't have to be silent. 
• After our conversation, the children got to have 30 minutes of electronic time or free time. I gave them an early warning that it was almost time to clean up. When it was time to clean up, I told the children to put up their electronics, clean up their area, and go sit at the tables. It took so long to clean up. One of the children made a mess at the sand station after they left their station. I made them sweep it because I had just cleaned it. 
• The children designed their own bugs for art. Most of them turned out pretty good. The students who did not listen were mad when I told them that they did not follow directions because they drew something other than a bug. 
• After snack, 3 of the children went to read to the 2-3 year olds. The other students were rambunctious, one of the children does not ever stay where he is supposed to be. Right as I almost got them settled,  half of my pink room children came in and went crazy. Once I got the pink room settled and turned back to my orange room children, my boss came in and had them play Simon Says. I probably could have gotten the situation under control in a few more minutes, but I was happy to have the help so that I could focus on cleaning the tables. 

VBS

VBS

• It was fun leading the VBS games with my family.

1. The Egg Says went pretty well but it was long. It needs to be broken up into 2 groups.
2. Hold the beach ball between your backs and walk. :)
3. Parachute games :)
4. The food relay seems to have went well. 

Peanut Allergy

• It kind of freaks me out that one of the boys in my class has a severe peanut allergy. Today a student had a pb&j sandwich in the bag in his hand and was walking to close to him. The boy with the allergy loves to hug me, I worry about who may have hugged me earlier. 

Behavior

• This is the second day in a row that I had to have my entire group sit down for 5 minutes. They were lined up and behaving until I had to chase another child down. Then, everyone went bonkers and would not calm down.
• The students have quickly picked up on knowing what I want when I count down from 3. 

Purple Room

I take my pre-k children with me to the purple room on Thursdays because the school-aged children go on field trips.

Behavior

• My child who has the most behavior problems had a pretty good day. He had about 3 times when he was up to no good. I was glad that he listened so well. I am learning that he works best when he has options. He even took a nap today even though he didn't have to.
• My students have learned that when I count down from 3, they need to be quiet. 

Giant Squid Craft

• My friend, who is in charge of the purple room, left me an activity to lead with the children. We read I'm the Biggest Thing in the Ocean and then we created squids. Each child got half of a paper plate, a few crayons of their choice, 4 streamers, and 2 eye stickers. They created their own giant squids. Each of child was so excited to show their parents their squids. They loved this activity. 

Phonemic Awareness

• I decided to test my students' phonemic awareness by playing what I called the color game. It started as a way to keep them quiet in the hallway. I said, "I'm thinking of a color and it begins with a _puh_ sound. What color am I thinking of?" The children had to raise their hands to answer. In this case, I was looking for purple and pink. Most of the children liked this game. They showed me their phonics skills because a lot of them answered by saying, "puh is p, purple begins with p."

Pink Room

Reading

• The students really like it when I read to them. I read with a lot of expression, move around, have them repeat after me, and walk around to show them the pictures. I read a few chapters from Junie B. Jones Graduate along with a Rollie Pollie Ollie book today.

Discipline Kids

• I like that the children who are usually in trouble love m slid them onto new e. I generally use the "kill them with kindness" method with them. They hug me when  they see me and generally trust me to be fair. This also benefits me because it helps motivate them to listen to me. 

S'mores

• We accidentally burnt s'mores for special snack. The raped grhram crackersagham crackers were burnt, so we scraped the contents onto a fresh graham cracker. I like that my partner had the kids use chocolate chips. Even though there was a lot of smoke, the kitch still smelled pretty good for a while. 

Organization

• My boss started a binder for summer lesson plans last year. I did not know about the binder so my partner only added my word document that has pinterest pictures and lists of my ideas for the thtemes. When I saw a note on the 8 hour board athat asked everyone to add their lesson plans and newsletters for this year to the binder, I went to the computer and printed off the newsletters and lesson plans from last year to the binder. I also marked each lesson plan by the room color that it was from, this will help my coworkers to find theme plans that were designed for their age group. I also made sure that the lesson plans for each room are together. I finished by adding appropriate science labs that fit the themes because I know that so many of my coworkers do not enjoy planning science experiements. 

Maternity Leave!!!

Because one of the other 1st grade teachers liked my sub report so much, she suggested that another teacher use me for her maternity leave. I will sub from the back to school night until Labor Day. I had never considered working with 1st graders long term before, but now I will work with them for 6 weeks. The interview went pretty well. It made me feel good when I walked in and the guidance counselor (who helped the principal interview me) commented that she had heard good things about me. I'm a little nervous about the behavior management and knowing when to start getting into the academics, but I am very excited for this opportunity!

Pre-K and Kindergarten

This summer, I will be working with kindergartners and prekindergartens. I like my teaching partner. I'm bummed that I don't get to go on the field trips because the pre-k kids can't go, but I get to lead music and movement with them. 

Impromptu Reading Time

We had a good morning at the daycare. We naturally formed a small circle on the floor and I held a book while a kindergartner read to 2 1 year olds, 2 first graders, and a three year old. It was so peaceful and I was so proud of him for being able to read most of the book. The best moments aren't planned.

It was a really nice afternoon in the baby house. We had 5 1-2 year olds, 1 baby, and 2 2-3 year olds. The children were very excited to paint with their hands. 

Awards Day

Today was so special! I got to attend awards day for the class that I student taught. I was lucky enough to find a spot in the front row. I waved to my students as they walked in. When I looked up a few minutes later, I had 31 smiling children waving at me from the other side of the gym. I can't believe that the semester is over and that they are moving on to the next grade! 

I was at the awards ceremony because my youngest niece goes to the same school as the one that I student taught in. She is also in the same grade. I am so proud of my niece for making it through this year, it has been a tough one for her. 

Aide Sub

It is still really weird to sub as an aide.

I began by subbing for a sub who was subbing for a teacher. The teacher had to attend a conference meeting and the substitute teacher had to go to her son's awards ceremony. I figured out that when I have to give instructions, I like to have them already typed. The sub plans said to have the students write a letter to a future 4th grader about at least 3 ways to survive the 4th grade. I came in during snack time just before the time for them to write the letter, so I did not have to do very much to help the students with the letter. I gave the instructions and walked around to get the students on task after they finished their snacks.

I spent a few minutes in a kindergarten classroom.

I ended up being an aide sub in the first grade class that I teacher subbed in last week. The teacher told me that she loved how detailed my sub report was. Today, I was mainly responsible for a student who has autism, but I was also partially responsible for a child with behavior issues. It can be tough to be a sub for an aide because you don't know how strict to be, what the child's abilities are, or exactly how the real aide works with the child. It is important to keep routines while working with people who have autism. I wasn't sure when to let the child take a computer break.

The picnic was fun.

A former student who had moved to Alaska with his aunt, who was his new teacher, came to visit the class for the picnic. After the picnic, the boy and his aunt used the document camera to show pictures of their adventures in Alaska while they discussed what happened and how they felt about it. The students were very excited to learn about Alaska. 

6th Grade

Today was great! I subbed for a 6th grade teacher while he helped with a talent show.

I like how the students copy the assignments at the beginning of the day. It takes the place of morning work and saves time at the end of the day.

The students did pretty well with typing their papers about how they felt about 6th grade. I was surprised by how honest they were in the paper. I was also surprised by how much they focused on the field trip. 

Kindergarten Field Day

• Today was my first time subbing as an aid. My former classmate was also subbing as an aid in the room. My cousin's adopted son was also in this class, which was pretty cool because that cousin doesn't come to many family events anymore. It was a pretty fun day. 
• I learned how ending the school year looks like. We hole punched the alphabet book that the children began in September. In my future classroom, I would work on portfolios during the last week of every month. 
• The teacher asked us if we had any suggestions for her classroom, her room looked fine. My only suggestion was to have less toys out at a time so that she did not have to work so hard to manage the toy area. 

Field Day

• Inflatable Obstacle Course
• Dancing
• Bouncy House
• Free Choice Outside: jump rope., chalk, corn hull, toss the ball in the bucket, and toss the bean bag through the hole. 

Free Lunch

• Our class got to eat outside.
• They didn't make the aids clock out. 

Fun in the Classroom

• Extra indoor recess
• Watched a movie with individual brown bags of popcorn

6th Grade

Today I went to a different school in the district that I had not been to before. I had 6th graders. It was cool that the student switched between rooms for the subjects.

Very Professional Desk

• I love how the teacher's desk was themed with gold items. 

How You Spend Your Day Pie Graph

• This activity was pretty cool. 
• At first, we did not notice that the circle counts to 12 twice because there are 24 hours in a day.
• I like that we had to estimate what percent of their day was spenting doing the activities. I learned that each hour counts for a little more than 4% of the day. The students were surprised by how much of their time is spent sleeping or at school. 

Writing Choices

• The students got to guide their own writing. They had options of assignments that they had to do. 
• Letter about their previous field trip. 
• Letter to another student that was coming to the grade. 
• Free write, which could include poetry.
• Scrapbooking
• It was tough keeping them focused, but I like that they always had another option to complete.

Fire Drill

• The class did fairly well with the fire drill. I like that they celebrated a good drill. 

Discipline

• A student did not take their medicine today. They kept talking to the people around them and distracting them. I could tell that one of the other students was already having trouble focusing, so I asked the student if she would like to move to a seat by herself or if she would like to go to the cubicle. She chose to go to the cubicle, but still talked once she got there. 
• I like that if a student misbehaved, then they had extra homework to do on top of their names being reported. 
• I am constantly surprised by how students from different schools do not all have the same quiet signals. I always take for granted that students know to repeat your claps or to go to level zero. I've subbed at two schools where the students did not know what to do when I led those signals. 

Good Review

Tonight, while I was at an event for my nieces, I saw the lady who calls to request me for subbing at one of the schools. She told my mom and my sister about how great of a sub I am. It felt great to hear what she said. She told them that she checks with teachers to see how I did and that the teachers gave me great reports. She was also proud of how well I handled my first lunch duty the other day. I really hope that if I ever apply in that district that that lady is on the hiring committee. As a new sub, I am a little unsure of myself. I think that I do fine, but I am still learning. This feedback was exactly what I needed to hear. 

1st Grade

I knew that subbing for first grade would require more energy, and it did. I respect those people who prefer the primary grades, I was wore out by the end of the day.  I had to constantly redirect a few of the students. It was interesting subbing today because the directions were a little vague, but all of the materials were laid out in order. The folder looked big, but we went through all of the papers. In my future classroom, I will keep my sub plans type up with specific routines. I will update the plans each time that I need them.

Library Summer Reading Program

• They were pretty good, I had a student sit next to me because I figured out that he was very talkative. 
• The library gave me fliers to send home, but I accidentally forgot to pass them out.

ELA Worksheet 27.8

• They did well with this worksheet, but they do not know what gloomy means.

Tests

• The teacher left me answer keys for the tests and asked me to grade them while he students were in art class. This was interesting because I know that each teacher has her own style of grading. It helped me know how I did with the test review. 
• They did alright with the comprehension test.
• Some of the students did not do well with the phonics test.
• A few of the students forgot to answer a few questions on their tests, so I drew an arrow to the questions and passed the tests back out at the end of the day.
• The class did well with not talking while most of them had the test, but it was harder to keep them quiet towards the end of the testing time.

Spelling Sentences

• We still had a lot of time left when we got to the spelling sentences, so I asked students to finish the sentences for their lists and then to start the other sheet. They complained about this.
• One student needed a lot of guiding, but she made it through this assignment.
• Another student accidentally hurt his hand with his pencil. Originally, I had him wash his hands and put on a Band-Aid. I sent him to the nurse to get a second opinion during lunch.

Lunch

• They ate lunch outside, Jennifer was with them.
• Someone from another class felt like she was going to vomit during lunch. This started a chain reaction and Patel of my students ended up vomiting too.
• The class was very talkative after lunch.

Recess

• They were on the track because the weather was nice, but the ground was wet.
• Two students got into trouble during recess, they owe 5 minutes during recess tomorrow.

SSR

• Two students were not reading during SSR, they were sitting at the table pretending that the whisper phones were cell phones. When I asked them why they weren’t reading, they said that they were waiting to take a reading counts test.

Math Meeting

• One student saw me setting up for the math meeting during SSR time and was very helpful in explaining how math works in this room. (he had finished his book that he was reading.)

Art

• The art teacher said that they were well behaved in art today.
• They were talkative in the hallway. I had to threaten to take away recess time (for individuals) to get them to be quiet.

Math Lesson

• At first, it was difficult to keep them quiet during the math lesson, but they eventually fixed their behavior.

Random Notes

• I love how the teacher decorated this room. 

General Behavior Notes

• Two students were not well behaved today. They kept getting out of their seats and talking. I even asked one of them why she was up and told her that she needed to sit down.
• One student usually fell in between being behaved and acting up today. 
• Three students were very helpful.
• I did not notice the behavior chart earlier, or I would have used it more today.

6th Grade

I really enjoyed subbing in the sixth grade.

I love how this teacher organized her classroom. I would love to set my classroom up like this one day.

Dojo

• The students were really good, I only had to move two of them down. I moved students up 16 times citing participation.
• Dojo was easy to use. I like that it calculates behavior as a percentage. I had worried about using it due to FERPA, but I wouldn't mind storing the records, it is worth it. I will probably use Dojo in future classroom. 

Math

• During math, students go to different classrooms for differentiated instruction my group was the lowest group. I let the other teacher teach the lesson while I walked around to help. I like that she brought laminated sentence strips to help the students with adding and subtracting integers. After the students had time to figure out the rule for themselves, we let them know that minus means to do the opposite. 

Reading Group

• I really liked The Tiger Rising book that they were reading, I would love to read it one days the students did pretty well with this book, I think that it was a great level for them. Because the chapters were so short, we got through three chapters. We stopped to summarize after each chapter. We also summarizing before and after we began reading today. 

The Giver

• The students looked forward to the movie all day. The DVD was still brand new. When I popped it in, there was an awkward vampire moment at the beginning of the first preview. The kids all teased me about that. I made sure to turn off the SMARTboard and the volume until I made it through all of the previews.

Sub Report

• There was not enough room on the sub plans for me to comment on, so I typed an outline with my comments on it. I like how this turned out and I intend to continue this in my future subbing adventures. 

Art Teacher

Today was my first official day as a sub.

Reading Intervention

• I began the day with a reading intervention group. I think that the students were reading a book which was at their frustration level. They spent so much time decoding the words that they probably did not comprehend what they were reading. I used a whiteboard to break the words up for the students to help them decode the words. I think I like it better when they read at their own pace and I just listen in on where they are at than when they take turns reading because taking turns may slow down a reader who knows the words. But it is also helpful to notice when a student cannot decode many of the words in the book, buddy reading may help students like that.

I was extremely nervous to sub for art because I am not very good at drawing. A lady from the office walked me to the room and set up Netflix and told me that usually subs have student free draw while they watch a movie on sub days.

Teaching

• When my first class came in, I finally saw the sub plans while said that I could either have the students free draw or I could use one of the lesson plans. I let each class vote on a movie to watch. I chose a few of the ideas from the lesson plans and told students that they could draw their imaginary locker or free draw if they wanted while the movie played. I let them whisper.
• The sixth graders were rolling newspaper tubes to create baskets with. I think that this project sounds pretty cool.
• I admit that kindergartners and first graders are not my forté. I enjoy older kids who stay on task and follow directions more easily. I knew that I had to change my voice and my style with these younger children.
• The first graders were supposed to create flower-shaped sun catchers, but the teacher did not leave out the proper supplies, so I had them color the pictures.
• I taught the kindergartners to draw themselves. I am not the best person to teach this lesson. We ran out of paper from the free drawing, so I had to adopt the lesson from drawing their family to drawing themselves. Because I'm not good at drawing, sometimes my pictures did not look right. When this happened, the students laughed because they thought that I was joking, so I just played it off. The pictures turned out alright.

Managing the Room

• I walked through to make sure that the room looked nice after each class left. I think that this helped set the expectation that the room needed to be clean when each class left because I was able to point out that the room was clean when they came into the room. At the end of the day, I swept the floor and made sure that each marker had a cap. I love how she stores the art supplies. 

The students made me a few gifts, they made me a bow and a paper swan.

Graduation!!!

I had so much fun graduating. I sat next to my best friend Alison E. We hung out for a while before we lined up. We took a cohort picture, but Kelly was late, so she didn't get to be in it. All of the teachers applauded us as we walked to and from graduation. It brought my IUS experience full circle because they also applaud you as you walk by during freshman and new student orientation. I accidentally decorated my hat upside down, but it still looks cool. I plan to hang it on my wall in my future classroom to encourage students to reach their dreams, graduating college has been a personal goal of mine since I was 5. My good friend Anthony was our class representative, he owned his speech! After the ceremony, Farrah kept stealing my cap so that she could wear it. Farrah and Autumn were really proud of me. We took so many family pictures! I am so glad that everything worked out for my graduation.

Gifts

• We went to Taco Bell after the ceremony. I saw my friend Sherry there. My family gave me gifts. My dad gave me $100. My sister's family gave me an Oh The Places I went Journal because she knows how much I love my Oh The Places I'll Go book from my student teaching class. My brother gave me a tassel frame and $50. It wasn't the party that I wanted, but it was a good party.

Exit Interview

The meeting went quickly and was very positive. I met all of the requirements to graduate. I scored proficient on my IMPACT project. I had already predicted their advice for my behavior project. They suggested that I sub in the local school districts, I was already signed up to sub in the district in which I student taught. They also suggested that I take the licensing exams for secondary education, they believe that I would be a great middle school science teacher. I am going to look into that as a back-up option. I am one of five people that they suggested secondary education to. I gave Dr. D a firm handshake. The meeting went so well!

Field Trip: Kentucky Science Center

Passing out Mother's Day Cards

• Yesterday, I was self conscious about the cards that I wrote with the children. When I saw the final pictures, they all looked really nice. The cards that the students made out of the signs also turned out well. I would definitely repeat this activity in my future classroom for the holidays. 

Behavior

• I was so glad that my boys behaved so well! I set my expectations with the boys before we walked in. I told them that we were going to have a great day and that they had to walk inside. I let them know that I expected them to listen to me, and if they didn't, I would make their decisions. The boys were fantastic until the end of the day, when we were into the play room at the science center. That room was very chaotic and almost every child in there was running, so I don't hold that against the boys. I did not like that room at all. I am glad that the boys kept checking in with me. Some chaperones could not find their students, I almost always knew where mine were. The only times that I did not know exactly where my boys were were if they were climbing or going through the pool noodles; it was difficult to keep an eye on the boys in those locations. On the way home, I asked one of my boys if he took his medicine and he said that he had. That medication made a major difference in his behavior.

Student Choice

• I told the boys that we had to do one floor at a time and suggested that we choose areas that do not have too many people so that we would not have to wait in lines. I let them choose where to start and where we should go next. If there was ever a question or a disagreement, I asked the boys where we should go next. 
• They wanted to create a rocket, but they did not want to devote too much time to creating the paper rocket to launch, so I suggested that we all work on one rocket. I differentiated by giving the easiest part to the student with the shortest attention span, giving the medium area to the other student, and I cut the hardest part. The boys took turns putting the tape on while I held the rocket together. Each of the boys got to take a turn launching the rocket. I thought about keeping the rocket so that I could take a picture of it, but one of the boys asked if he could have it, so I let him keep it. 

3D Movie

• The 3D movie was great. Many of the children reached for the items that appeared to come out of the screen. It was funny because the boys were convinced that one of my boys actually hit the orange, because it went flying in the appropriate direction after he swatted at it when it went to him. I am glad that the boys decided to sit in the back row because I did not have to worry about one of my students standing up during the movie. The boys commented that the movie was boring, but one of the boys kind of liked it. 

Lunch

• It was weird because one of the museum staff members thought that I was the main teacher. As I was walking in, she saw my teacher sticker from the museum. She told me that they would give us a 5 minute warning to finish eating and that we had to wash our own tables, but they would sweep the floor. I was sure to tell the other teachers about what she said. It made me feel really good that I passed as a teacher. 

Bus

• The boy who originally did not want to be in my group because he wanted to be with his friend, asked me to sit with him on the the bus. 

It was really nice getting to see my block 3 class one last time. I liked getting to go on this field trip. 

Coming Home

Coming Home

• It was an interesting morning. I came back to the school where I did block three. Apparently everything was not set up for my visit, but the principal allowed me to observe my old classroom. When I came in, all of the students got really happy and excited. They slowly said, "Miss Lynch" together. I'm glad that they did not forget me. I had to brush up on a few names. We lost one student and gained two more since December. 

Mother's Day Card

• I love this idea where students hold a card stating why they love their mother and they get to take a picture with the sign. I know that a lot of classrooms use this idea, but it is still cute. I was nervous because I had to write why each child loves his or her mother. My handwriting is decent and the marker was going out. One of my students has two mothers (step-mom situation), so I made two signs for him to use. I pulled a similar picture of this activity from Pinterest. 
• After they took the pictures, students got to folder the sign in half to make a mother's day card out of it. That was a very creative use for the sign. 

Derby Education

• The students looked at pictures and watched a video of the derby. It sounded like they were at the Derby. When they were finished, they completed their horses, completed a Derby booklet, and created their own silk design. 
• One of my boys was not on task. He kept asking to get a drink (just to get away from his desk). I thought about the Polk website that we used for our behavior management project. I tried to think of what they might say for something like this. I decided to set miniature goals for him and to bribe him. Every time that I passed him, he got a high five. When he finished each quarter of the silk design, he could get a drink. This worked for the most part, but he snuck onto a computer before he cut it. 

Field Trip Tomorrow

• I get to chaperone a field trip to the Louisville Science Center tomorrow. I am a little nervous. My teacher gave me two students to watch over during the trip. One of them does not listen very well, he is highly impulsive. The other student is very well mannered. I hope that we have fun tomorrow. 
• My teacher pointed out that I am very calm and that I did well with him today. I have had quite a few teachers refer to me as being calm this semester. 

Daycare: Election Day

I enjoyed getting to see my daycare kids today. The school that I was supposed to be at was closed for election day, so I worked at the daycare instead. I don't get to see those children very much, so it was nice getting to spend the day with them.

Voting

• We held an election for the Student Council. Each child in the aftercare program got three votes. The candidates gave speeches and only three of the six children could be on the council. This was a very real experience for these children. I am glad that they have a student council. I was going to start one last year, but then my class schedule changed and I got moved to the baby house. 

Parade

• We invited my Kansas cousins to go to the parade preview party with us. They pointed out that they do not have many parades near them. Their parades are mainly floats which have graduating classes from the past on them where they ride on hay bales in a wagon attached to a truck. When I discuss parades in the future, I might have to check my students' schema. 

The Final Class

The Rubric

• I love that our teachers had us rate our knowledge of what we were evaluated on. We rated our knowledge of each item on a scale of 1-4 and had the chance to comment about where we learned out that, where we should have learned about it, or any other comment that we had it. The issue with long rubrics is that some people do not take them seriously. I learned that same lesson when I was the president of Collegiate 4-H Volunteers at Indiana University and was trying to revive the club. I made surveys to see what everyone wanted or needed. Often, people would only include short answers if they even answered the questions. 

Meeting with My Supervisor

• It was nice to get to read her review of me. She gave me some nice advice about what to work on. We talked about my confidence. I love how she finished the meeting with a hug and a (Hershey's) kiss. That idea was so cute and I will definitely steal it. 

Traditions

• My cohort always has a pitch-in lunch and a family picture during the last week of class. As always, the food was amazing. I was glad that one classmate was able to come back for this experience. I wish that another classmate could have made it. It'll be weird graduating with them, but I know that they will graduate in the Fall. I have so much respect for them. Health issues and deaths in the family happen. It was fun getting the other cohort slightly involved with the pitch-in, I wish that someone would have thought to take an extended family picture which would have included both cohorts and our teachers. It has been a great semester and we have all bonded so much. 

Legal Issues 

• I always love when Dr. Fankhouser comes to talk to us. I always learn so much about the legal issues that surround education. I wish that there was an undergraduate course about legal issues. We manly used role play to learn. We got very heated about how we could get into trouble for not sticking to the curriculum, this could be extended to so many circumstances. 

Interviews & Resumes

• Dr. D gave us some awesome tips. It was difficult to keep up while I was taking my notes. I want to practice using his method to answer interview questions. 
• One thing that I've learned over the semester is that my teachers always have a method to their madness. They discussed showing videos of us teaching. I thought back to the topics that we had to record for our IMPACT projects. My teachers always have our backs. 

Discussing the IMPACT Project

• As Dr. D was talking, I could think of a few changes that I would make if I could complete the project again. He said that students earned basic and proficient scores, I am proud that I scored proficient. I can't wait to see my binder on Friday.

Exit Interview

• I have a few things to complete before my exit interview. I am a little concerned about printing the receipt for my course reviews because I don't have a printer at home and would love to complete the surveys at home. 
• I hope that the conversations go well. 

My Final Day

Getting Surprised

• The teacher in the next room caught me on the way to my classroom and asked me if I had been to the lounge yet. She informed me that they had purchased doughnuts for my last morning. When I went in there, I saw that they had put a yellow table cloth on the table and that there was a gift and a balloon for me. I was so happy to have this send off. For the gift, the teachers gave me spare school supplies and they placed them in a Thirty-one bag. I am so happy to have this start for my future classroom. 

Running the Classroom

• My teacher was at a PD called "Finding the Leader in You," so I got to be in charge of the classroom for my last day. We ran behind, but it was a good day. 

Collecting Money 

• I can't believe that the students ordered 48 bags of popcorn and 6 pickles. My teacher was right, it took forever to collect everything. 

Spelling Test

• The students did pretty well on the spelling test, but for some reason, they forgot to split their words into syllables. This really brought their grades down. Eventually I stopped scoring the tests so that my teacher could decide to have the students break their words apart. I usually check the tests to make sure that the students split their words, but I was running behind today. If this were my classroom, I would pass the tests back out for the students to split the words apart. 

Morning Meeting

• We were behind schedule and it was snack time. I knew that a child had brought in Fun Dip for everyone. I told the students that they could have the Fun Dip for snack while we had morning meeting if they promised not to make a mess. They did a great job, the janitor only found half of one of the dipping sticks. The only downside was that they did not clap as much. 
• In honor of my last day, I allowed the students to pass around my class ring during celebrations. There are a few IU fans in the classroom, they were very excited that it said Indiana University. 

Poster Math

• I gave the students a problem about combinations. The students used their grit as they worked through the problems. Only one group came up with a different answer. The posters can be found on the classroom blog. I will use poster math in my future classroom. 

My Going Away Party

• My teacher was so nice for providing cookies for my going away party. My students had asked me to open the gifts all day, but I told them to wait until my party. One of my students brought a giant chocolate bunny for me. My teacher/class gave me three books and a card. The card and First Day Jitters were signed by everyone. The students even wrote messages inside the cover of the book. I thought that this was appropriate because the book is about a new teacher and I know that I will also have jitters on the first day. I really wanted Oh The Places You'll Go for me graduation, my class gave me that book, the card and the gift card also followed that theme. I love that I have this gift card to help me buy some of the excellent books that I read during this semester along with others that will help my future classroom. The final book was Don't Let the Pigeon Stay up Late. I just read that book to the students during the introductory lesson for persuasive writing. The students gave me a group hug. I hugged three to four students at a time. 

Detention

• I only had three students for detention. Surprisingly, they still tried to talk to each other. Because no one owed the full recess time, I had part of the recess to myself. I used that time to sort some make up work for math. Even though I was not able to gather all of the make-up work, I knew that it would still make a difference. 

The Final Hug 

• The students usually hug the teacher or give or a high five. I requested that each student hug me goodbye. 

Leaving

• It took a long time to leave. I commented on the sub plans, graded the spelling tests, took pictures of the poster math, cleaned out my desk, and made sure that I did not have any loose ends that I wasn't thinking of. 

Observing Others Classrooms

Goodbye Party (Part 1)

• My teacher was really nice and brought in doughnuts and milk as a going away party for me today. She also bought blue sugar cookies for tomorrow even though she will not be there. It was so surreal as everyone hit the table in preparation for my ceremonial first bite, which was followed by cheering. I am really going to miss this class. I am glad that I will get to check on them from time to time as they grow up.

Turning Mixed Numbers into Improper Fractions

• When the students came in, I was copying an anchor chart onto a fresh piece of chart paper. One of my girls came up to me and said, "you messed up, didn't you." I replied with, "yeah." She comforted me by saying, "it's okay, everyone messes up." This conversation meant so much to me. Even though I was not too upset about messing up on the original anchor chart, it was nice to know that she supported me. 
• This lesson went pretty well. I like the anchor chart that I found. It is easier to remember the steps when using the acronym MAD. After I went through the steps, one of my boys asked what that improper fraction would look like as a model. After I drew that on the board, a lot of students seemed to suddenly get how this lesson connected to what we learned yesterday and they seemed to feel more confident. Because it was so helpful, the students suggested that I draw that model on the anchor chart. I love how involved these students are in their own learning. I am really happy with how this lesson went. 

Observing a reading lesson in another classroom

• Another teacher was kind enough to ask me if I would like to observe her teach a lesson. I brought it up to my teacher and she supported that idea and agreed to take over teaching while I went. The teacher gave me some resources to help me in the future. I like her powerpoint and how it had text features to discuss each text feature. As I observed the students completing their work, I also checked their understanding and helped a few students. 

Observing Read 180

• It was like a giant guided reading time. I like that they have software that is specific to Read 180. I had always wondered what went on during Read 180. I am glad that my teacher sent me down there while the students were taking the ISTEP+ math portion. 

Recess Drama

• I had to take five students to the principal during recess. A girl from another class caused a few fights. I did not see the first incident, but as one student was telling me about it, I noticed what looked like a rough game of tag followed by some swinging. I could not tell if the swinging was real or not so I asked the students. One girl in my class said that they were playing. I told the girls that we don't play like that because it could turn into a real fight. I tried to talk the situation through with the two original girls, but quickly found out that the situation was more complicated than what I should handle on my own as a student teacher. As I got to the other teachers, the office used the radio to request that the girl come to the office to go home. I told the teachers a little about the situation and they suggested that I take the girls to the office. The girl told her dad and the principal that she had been in a fight. While she was in the office, she dropped more names so I had to fetch more children. In the commotion, I also found out that one of my students had threatened another one of my students. I felt sorry for the principal for having to deal with all of this. I hate this part of spring fever. 

Mock Interviews

• I did pretty well overall tonight. My main suggestion for improvement was to be more specific with details about what I am talking about. I tend to get lost in the question or I get anxious to get to the end of the question. I was more relaxed than I figured I would be. I am really glad that IUS offered this event.

I'M GRADUATING!!! 

• Thank you to everyone who helped me learn and grow this semester. 
• I have been wearing my class ring for the past few days. It is nice to know that it has the right year on it. 
• When I talked to Dr. D. and Terri tonight, they told me that I am definitely graduating this semester. Dr. D. also told me that I will be very happy with my Impact binder because he loved my presentation as well as my binder. I scored a proficient. Then, he shook my hand and I was so excited that I gave him a very firm handshake and smiled. 

Visualizing Music

PLC

• We discussed what we want our representative to say during the meeting with other schools to decide how similar the curriculum maps. The school does not want to have to use the same resources as the other schools. Even though they feel this way, the 4th grade teachers would love to have a shared assessment for the units. This reminded me of my time at a GCCS school. The district takes the same quarterly assessment. The assessment is sent to the teachers at the beginning of the unit so that they will know what to teach and the data is compared across the district after the tests are completed. 

Fractions Chart

• I am really glad that I found that fraction chart and notes section. They really helped the students to learn about fractions and mixed numbers. They wrote the mixed number, drew the model, and wrote the improper fraction. Two of my students informed me that they do not think that they understand this subject. Most of the class seemed to understand the lesson. I can handle this for today, I will work harder tomorrow to close the gaps and I will keep an eye on those two students. 

Visualizing Reading

• The students seemed nervous about drawing what they visualized while they listened to "Pictures at an Exhibition," but they did pretty well. We discussed the mood of the music to help the students think about what they should be visualizing. At the beginning of the lesson, I physically modeled what I was visualizing. I am pretty happy with how this lesson went. 

Pattern Blocks/Mixed Numbers

Using Pattern Blocks to work with Mixed Numbers

• After we decided how much each piece was worth, this lesson went pretty well. I was surprised at how this was not obvious to the students. 

Visualizing Reading

• The students liked drawing their visualizations while I read a short children's book to them. They did a good job with this activity.  

4th Grade Team Meeting

• Mother's Day: The teachers discussed Mother's Day projects. I got excited to see their ideas. I would love to share my pinterest boards with the teachers because I think that they would enjoy my ideas. 
• I love how much we laughed. 

The end of ISTEP+

Hopes

• In the future, I hope that my class's schedule falls so that the class is with a special area that is led by a specialized teacher. Not only do they probably know more about the subject than I do, but I really appreciate having that time in the middle of the day to check in homework and enter grades. I don't like having computers on Mondays because the classroom teacher has to lead computer time.

Fractions Test

• The students did not do so well on the math test today. The average score was 75%. The unit went a little faster than I had hoped and I needed to focus more on vocabulary. In the future, I would like to design the test before I teach the unit. The students did well with comparing fractions using butterfly math, but they forgot how to create equivalent fractions. 

Visualizing

• I was surprised by how literal the students were when I asked them what they might see or feel when they read. This allowed me to really hit on how much visualizing really connects to making inferences because the reader has to use their schema to fill in any gaps left by the author. The students thought that it was funny when I used my ogre voice to model how I use the hearing part of visualizing when I read. 

ISTEP+

• The class finished the ISTEP+ test today. I am glad that they do not have to worry about the test anymore. 

Entering Grades

ISTEP+/ Entering Grades

• We took all three of the Language Arts section of the ISTEP+ today. It took a while, but we are happy that we only have the science portion left for next week. 
• While the students took the ISTEP+, my teacher taught me how to enter grades into Infinite Campus. I was able to get most of the grades in. I have two more assignments to finish grading before I can enter the rest of the grades. I did pretty well with entering grades, but I forgot to change the dates and I accidentally listed a grammar assignment under spelling. I am glad that I was able to have this experience.

Social Studies Poster

• We gave the students a choice for how they wanted to spend their time before recess. When offered the choices of poster math or finishing their social studies posters, the class chose to finish their social studies posters. I was surprised, but I am glad that I can finally move onto the next social studies lesson on Monday. 

Planning

• I was nervous about planning this week because it includes some topics that are a little more complex to plan. I was able to plan most of the week. I am most excited to teach the lesson about making fractions into improper fractions. 

Planning for next week

Spelling

• Sort 19: Long -a patterns in accented syllables
• Monday: Word Sort
• Homework: Write words in Planner, Write words three times each
• Tuesday:
• Homework: Sentences 1-12
• Wednesday:
• Homework: Sentences 13-24
• Thursday:
• Homework: Word Pyramids
• Friday: Spelling Test

Writing: Persuasive Writing

• Tuesday:
• Anchor Chart: Writing Stems
• Wednesday:
• Graphic Organizer
• Model how to fill out a graphic organizer
• Prompt: Should the school day be extended? 
• Homework: Submit graphic organizer for topic check
• Thursday:
• Work on graphic organizer
• Homework: Submit graphic organizer for editing

Math:

• Monday: 
• Fractions Test
• Slight introduction to mixed numbers
• What is a mixed number?
• Math antics video?
• Repeat the demonstration
• Tuesday:
• Mixed Numbers
• Concrete: Pattern Blocks 
• Need to use the document camera
• Write the definitions in math notebook
• A mixed number has a part that is a whole and a part that is a fraction of a whole.  
• Groups:
• Pattern block practice
• Wednesday:
• Improper Fractions
• Representation: Chart in notebook: Mixed #, Picture, Improper Fraction
• Thursday:
• Converting from mixed numbers to improper fractions
• Algorithm: MAD Anchor Chart

• Stations: Complete more examples on your chart. 
• Friday: 
• Poster Math: Sandwich Problem

Next Week:

• Homework for converting between mixed numbers and improper fractions

Reading: Visualizing

• Comprehension Connections: Bridges to Strategic Reading
• Pages 89-102
• Monday: 
• Mini Lesson: What is visualization
• Anchor Chart Thinking Stems
• Toilet Paper Roll Tubes with interesting items around the room.
• Tuesday: Mini Lesson: Visualization
• Model while reading The Little Mouse, The Red Ripe Strawberry, and THE BIG HUNGRY BEAR
• Wednesday: Music 4.8.2 Interpret aural musical examples using dance, drama, art, or writing. 
• Listen to a piece of music and draw your visualizations. 
• (I used Music 4.8.4 Sing songs to support learning in another discipline outside the arts such as creating new verses for “Weevily Wheat” using additional multiplication tables, or reading The Drinking Gourd by F.N. Monjo and learning the song, “Follow the Drinkin’ Gourd.” during my IMPACT project)
• Stations
• Comparing Visualizations Sheet
• Miss Lynch Guided Reading
• Monday: Blackout
• Tuesday+: Creating Pictures in your Mind and A Rainy Day Rescue
• Various passages of poetry for students to draw their visualizations using Mental Images Sheet. I might switch to Adapting Mental Images Sheet later in the unit.
• Rainbow Crow?      
• Inferring text
• Word Sort (options 1 and 2) (copy front and back)
• Story Board Summary
• (Rhyming Poetry) Fluency: You'll Read to Me, I'll read to You: Very Short Fairy Tales to Read Together
• Cinderella, Little Red Hen, Billy Goats Gruff
• Read it once in your mind, once together, and once while taking turns
• Boggle
• Summarize and respond to reading
• Handwriting?
• Computers

Reading: Poetry

• Awesome Classroom Website about Teaching Poetry
• Thursday: Poetry: 
• Read aloud: Opening Days: Sports Poems
• song?
• Friday: Poetry: 
• Read Aloud: Walt Witman?
• Langston Hughes?

Extra Books:

• Emily Dickinson
• Figurative Language and how it works with poetry?
• Somewhere in the World Right Now
• Edgar Allan Poe

 Social Studies

• Monday: 
• Unit 1: Lesson 4: Pages: 34-38, 39 
• Homework: Page 7
• Due: Famous Hoosier Selection Choices and Visit Indiana Poster
• Tuesday:
• Unit 1: Lesson 5: Pages: 44-49, 50-51 
• Homework: Page 11-12, maybe 10 as well, but I do not like page 10 as much. I'm only considering it because it talks about diverse people, which may hit home with some of my students. 
• Wednesday:
• Unit 1: Lesson 6
• Music 4.9.3 Identify and experience music of renowned musicians throughout Indiana history.
• I have a YouTube playlist that goes with this. I already played Joshua Bell for the students. I also have a famous guitarist and the Jackson 5 on the playlist.  
• Thursday: 
• Review Day 
• Homework: Pg. 14-15
• Friday:
• Unit Test

Flying Nearly Solo

Today went pretty well.

I got to teach on my own for most of the day. I was very excited about this.

Persuasive Writing Introduction

• The lesson went pretty well. I was surprised that only a few students had used the OREO model, but a few of them had used the hamburger method. I forgot to point out that it was called the OREO method because the letters spell out OREO. I am glad that my teacher pointed that out, because that went over their heads. I modeled how to go through the outline two times and my teacher modeled it another time. We read The Pigeon Needs a Bath, we analyzed how the pigeon and the flies used persuasion. 

Prime and Composite Numbers

• This lesson went alright today. I used the chart, which is the same way that I learned about prime and composite numbers. I feel like the students get this concept about 75% of the way. The sheet that would have been their homework if we did not have ISTEP+ tomorrow is going to be their morning work. I was surprised that a few of the students did not have the definitions in their math notebooks. I would like to follow up this lesson with a short lesson where we review the definitions and classify certain numbers as being prime or composite. 
• My teacher helped me format my math test today. She said that it looked pretty good, but my instructions were not worded in the way that she usually words them, so we fixed the directions. 

Making Inferences

• I used a poetry book called Would I Ever Lie to You? for today's lesson. The students had apparently already read this book, but we still made inferences together in a way in which helped them grow. They had a few misunderstandings about the book. We used siblings/family experiences as schema to base our inferences on as we read the book. When it got to an exciting part, I had the students pause and discuss their inferences with a partner. This would have gone better if the students had not already read this book as a read aloud at the beginning of the school year. 
• I liked reading the book. The poetry flowed well, which helped my expression. I even saw some of the children jump or get nervous, even though the book wasn't that scary. I liked seeing how engaged the children seemed with this book. I might just have to buy a copy of this book for my future classroom. 
• My teacher pointed out that the students are still struggling with using their inferences for mysteries this morning. I asked the students if any of them watch mystery shows such as Criminal Minds, Castle, or Scooby Doo. Quite a few of the students raised their hands. I got a little excited and let them know that they naturally used inferring skills when they watched those shows because they probably wanted to know who did it. Making inferences is just like being a detective (which is why I drew magnifying glasses on all of my anchor charts for this unit). 

Discussing Discipline

• I talked to the children about how they need to be respectful and not talk while I'm talking because I am trying to help them learn.
• I started a new discipline method today. If they talk in the hallway, they have to walk by me. When we reach the destination, they have to go to the end of their group's part of the line. After I did this once, I decided to also have them clip down from now on. At first, the children did not think that it would be so bad, but they figured out the truth fairly quickly. 

Late Morning Meeting

• We moved the morning meeting this morning. We had to have it in the afternoon and we couldn't have every student present. The students were unhappy to exclude some of their classmates. I told them that I knew how much they loved the morning meeting and that I wanted to make sure that they could get it, even if we could not include everyone. 
• I learned that one of my girls may have scoliosis and will have to wear a back brace until she is finished growing. She is an athlete, so I am sure that this is going to be hard on her. 

Colleagues

• I don't think that my colleagues know why I wasn't at school yesterday, but they showed a lot of support today. I don't think that I will tell them any details, but it was nice to know that they care. One of them told me all of the 4th grade teachers are my net and they care about me. I told them thank you. I am glad that I was able to get so close to so many great people this semester. 

Array City

Time to Select Books

• The students were testing in the computer lab for a few hours, so my teacher allowed me to leave the room for a while. First, I tutored a girl who was not taking the test. We used the Brantton metod to create spelling flash cards. I had her read the cards to me a few times and place the cards in alphabetical order. Then, she read Don't Let the Pigeon Drive the Bus to me. We read the cards one more time. When a pull out group entered the room, I returned her to the testing room to play educational games on the class iPad. My teacher allowed me to take some time for myself, so I decided to check her classroom library for any resources for my next units. I wish that my iPad had wifi and that the class had a Good Reads account, because I would have scanned in the books to help me plan future lessons. While I looked through the books, I also reorganized the classroom library. The children do not always put the books back into the bin that they got them from and I know that that kind of bothers my teacher. I am excited because I found some good read aloud books for my persuasive writing unit. I also checked in any late work. 

Lunch

• My class had lunch during the fifth grade time. It was interesting to see how they felt about fifth graders. Most of the students were intimidated by fifth graders, but a few of the students had friends from that grade. Because the fifth grade does not usually use the back of the lunchroom, I had to eat lunch with my students. I knew that two girls had already eaten lunch with the fourth graders due to testing accommodations and that they were with another teacher, so I sat at their table. I was pleasantly surprised when some of the boys sat at the girls table because they wanted to sit with me. It was a nice lunch time. They boys even asked me how college is going. I told them that it is going well, but I am nervous about my mock interviews on Thursday. 

Array City

• It took hours to prepare this project and the students finished it very quickly. They were very excited about this project and were actively engaged. I had to keep telling them to be quieter. When I noticed that four students were still working and everyone else was finished, I called everyone who was finished to the carpet to talk about their buildings. I tried to relate the project to our anchor chart from yesterday to make it more meaningful for the students. Every student showed their building and told what their factor pair and product were. 

Joshua Bell

• While my teacher was introducing the famous Hoosier project to the students, one of the boys looked at me excitedly and said, "Look Miss Lynch! Joshua Bell is on here!" I was so proud of him for remembering who Joshua Bell is. A few weeks ago, I played a Joshua Bell video while the students worked on their homework. I explained that Joshua Bell is from Indiana and that he is my favorite violinist. He grew up in Bloomington and took private violin lessons at IU as a child. I saw him perform twice during the Dr. Gingold tribute concert while I studied at IU. This boy should also enjoy the sixth lesson of this unit in the textbook because it also lists Joshua Bell. 

Regardless of Culture, Girls still Play with their Hair

• I was surprised when some of the girls said that our girl from the Middle East was playing with her hair in the restroom. She wears a hijab, so I figured that she wouldn't be so concerned with her hair. The girl told me that her mother had braided her hair this morning, but she wanted it to be in a bun so she fixed her hair. I like how open this student is about discussing how her hair relates to her culture. This semester has been a nice learning experience for me. 

Making a Tough Decision

• It took a few hours, but we worked out a plan to help for the rest of the school year. 

Sharing Personal Narratives

Sharing Personal Narratives

• I was glad that my teacher allowed the students to share their personal narratives today. I was surprised that so few students volunteered to have their personal narratives read out loud. The students stayed mostly on task as they walked around to read each other's personal narratives. 

Inferring

• While checking through my Good Reads account, I came across Officer Buckle and Gloria. I loved how my trade books teacher read the book. I remembered inferring my the students were so excited for the safety speech and knew that the students would enjoy the book. I knew which areas I wanted the students to infer at. They did pretty well, but they did not have any inferences at one of the places that I had hoped for a response. I was hoping to give them a test over this unit this week, but now, I don't think that they are ready. I never would have thought that it would be so difficult to teach students how to make inferences, I think that we naturally make inferences all of the time. 

Speaking Spanish

• At the end of the day, some of my Latino students started speaking Spanish. They were a little surprised when I knew part of what they were saying and laughed when I didn't understand all day. I heard todos and knew that that meant "all," but I somehow didn't hear the dias part. I told them that they had to speak very slowly and understand that when I was in high school, I was barely at a preschool level and that it has been a long time since I've spoken Spanish. They decided to try to speak Spanish to one of their peers, but he thought that they were talking about him. I told them to never lose their Spanish, because it will get their feet in the door for a job when they are my age. 

Planning

• My teacher and I found a few cool anchor charts over the weekend. After school ended, I created a few of the anchor charts that I want to use this week. 
• I am glad that my teacher gave me a math workbook to assign homework from. These worksheets have more space for students to work. Although I have found some pretty good homework assignments online, I am very happy with the workbook homework assignments. 
• It is weird how I've stayed up until 11:30PM or midnight for the past week while planning. I never would have thought that my every waking moment during the week would be spent on work. I wonder if this will improve once I have my own classroom for a while. 

Array City

• I was really excited when my teacher gave me permission to have the students do array city because we are learning about factors and multiples. I spent 4 hours cutting out the pieces. If I ever lead this activity with my own classroom, I will have my students use rectangular stamps to create the windows. I hope that the students enjoy this lesson. 

Sub Permit

• My substitute teaching permit for this district came through today.