Hello again everyone! This week was another short one, which made it go by very very fast! Monday I taught all of the classes, which was overwhelming because it was one of our marathon days and it began too soon after Erin had the baby! It snuck up on me, and though I was prepared, I felt really anxious on Sunday, like I had a lot of things to do and wasn't sure how got about getting them done. Once Monday was over, it made the rest of the week seem a lot more bearable. On Monday, the 2nd graders were really crazy, which made my project that I was doing with them really difficult. We were trying to figure out the form of "Never Smile at a Crocodile" and then make a listening map of the song. The kids figured out the form quickly, but truly struggled to follow directions afterward. I talked to Alissa about it a little and she reminded me that I need to have them all stop what they are doing and look at me. Otherwise they will just keep working and miss my directions. It seems simple enough, but it was really hard for me to do in the moment for some reason. I guess it is a skill I will continue to work on.
Tuesday was a slower day, but I got observed again, which put a little more weight on my usually easy day. My supervisor observed my 4K class, which has never been my strong suit. I can never quite gauge what they are capable of doing or what will be too easy for them. I did a lesson on pitch exploration where they identified pitch representations through lines and created the lines themselves. It was a good lesson, but again, I underestimated what they needed to be successful. I used a piece of paper with 6 boxes on it at the end of the lesson for them to draw what I did with my voice. I wanted some kind of formal assessment to see who was understanding, and I thought this would be the best choice, until I realized that they are four years old. I wondered to myself as I was passing out the papers, "Do they even know how to use pencils?" How could I have not thought of this before!? I pass out all of the supplies and we begin the activity, and I also realized I had not put any indicator in the boxes where they should start, so the kids started in any box they wanted... not so great for my formal assessment. I walked around and got to see what they were doing, and it was good practice for them, but I immediately threw all of the assessments out after the lesson. I'll try the assessment again after I put some kind of numbers or something in the boxes to help them out. My supervisor didn't seem too concerned and appreciated that I was self-reflective, but too bad it was during the lesson and not anticipated before! Lessons learned, I suppose!
Wednesday was a half day for the kids, so the day seemed to fly by. There were teacher meetings in the afternoon, but I am taking on all of the classes again next week, so Alissa let me stay in the room and work on stuff. I was really grateful because I got a lot done! I also started "Peter and the Wolf" with 1st grade, which is apparently a staple in the 1st grade curriculum. I can see why! It is such a good example of theme and the kids love it!
Thursday I taught 4th grade and 8th grade in the morning, but I left school at noon to come to Oshkosh for a rehearsal. I am singing at this Saturday's (today's) graduation ceremony as well as walking, so I had to rehearse with the other singers. The morning flew by, as we rehearsed with the 8th grade all of the songs for the musical and helped them feel much more secure in their pieces. Friday, Alissa took a personal day and told me to take one too to get ready for graduation. I'm so grateful, because boy am I stressed! I can't believe I'm graduating today. It feels too soon, but at the same time, I feel too old for all the youngsters that go here and I'm sick of taking classes. It's a strange feeling, but I'm sure I'll feel accomplished once I walk across that stage. Unfortunately, the big ending ceremony is for naught because I still have 4 weeks left of student teaching! So it is the end of my time at UW-Oshkosh, but not really. lol
Thanks for continuing to catch up with me and see how I'm doing. Your support means a lot to me. I've gotta go graduate now! Woo!
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