I was planning on starting to introduce my work stations through mini-lessons on Monday. So, I worked all weekend on getting my management board perfect, getting materials ready, and preparing myself mentally. However, I still felt uneasy about starting on Monday. There were just many more things that I needed to prepare for the lessons to go smoothly. But, I came in Monday morning planning on getting started. As Marjie and I observed the students that morning, I noticed that they were still getting used to the classroom schedule and expectations. We also noticed that they were struggling with some concepts we originally thought they would excel at. In addition, the plan for the week was all screwed up because of DIBELs testing and times when the teacher would be out of the room. Therefore, Marjie and I made a last minute decision to put the stations off until next week. Honestly, I am very happy that we made this decision. It gave me more time to observe the students, get a more keen sense of their abilities and interests, and prepare better for this. I, actually, changed my lessons and the activities in them several times throughout the week (sorry Marjie). haha I wanted to make sure that the students would be interested in what they were doing, and the activity was simple enough for them to do while we introduced this new concept. I hope Tuesday goes well, and I'm not introducing too many new things at once. I am planning on doing the activity as a whole group, and then giving them a chance to do it in their work station groups. Throughout this week, we also decided on our differentiated groups. I'm surprised how well I was able to guess these by just knowing the students for three days. Marjie and I worked together to look at the results from the DIBELs testing, as well as their performances in class to decide on these groups. Then, I was able to put together the work station groups. It was actually a fun process to try to figure out who would work well together. I decided to keep the students in ability groups for the time being since I will be differentiating the materials in the stations. When we feel the students are ready, we might introduce mixed-ability groupings. But, as for now, differentiating the materials to meet their individual needs seems like the best choice for our students. I'm hoping to take on more responsibility this week, while I introduce my stations. When you're not teaching during the week, things can get kind of dull. I'm just one of those people that likes to be constantly doing something. Whether it is teaching, grading papers, preparing lessons, or preparing materials, I hate to just sit there and do nothing. So, hopefully we can find more things for me to do this week, and we can get me into more teaching in the next couple weeks. I'm definitely looking forward to this.
I was planning on starting to introduce my work stations through mini-lessons on Monday. So, I worked all weekend on getting my management board perfect, getting materials ready, and preparing myself mentally. However, I still felt uneasy about starting on Monday. There were just many more things that I needed to prepare for the lessons to go smoothly. But, I came in Monday morning planning on getting started. As Marjie and I observed the students that morning, I noticed that they were still getting used to the classroom schedule and expectations. We also noticed that they were struggling with some concepts we originally thought they would excel at. In addition, the plan for the week was all screwed up because of DIBELs testing and times when the teacher would be out of the room. Therefore, Marjie and I made a last minute decision to put the stations off until next week. Honestly, I am very happy that we made this decision. It gave me more time to observe the students, get a more keen sense of their abilities and interests, and prepare better for this. I, actually, changed my lessons and the activities in them several times throughout the week (sorry Marjie). haha I wanted to make sure that the students would be interested in what they were doing, and the activity was simple enough for them to do while we introduced this new concept. I hope Tuesday goes well, and I'm not introducing too many new things at once. I am planning on doing the activity as a whole group, and then giving them a chance to do it in their work station groups.
ReplyDeleteThroughout this week, we also decided on our differentiated groups. I'm surprised how well I was able to guess these by just knowing the students for three days. Marjie and I worked together to look at the results from the DIBELs testing, as well as their performances in class to decide on these groups. Then, I was able to put together the work station groups. It was actually a fun process to try to figure out who would work well together. I decided to keep the students in ability groups for the time being since I will be differentiating the materials in the stations. When we feel the students are ready, we might introduce mixed-ability groupings. But, as for now, differentiating the materials to meet their individual needs seems like the best choice for our students.
I'm hoping to take on more responsibility this week, while I introduce my stations. When you're not teaching during the week, things can get kind of dull. I'm just one of those people that likes to be constantly doing something. Whether it is teaching, grading papers, preparing lessons, or preparing materials, I hate to just sit there and do nothing. So, hopefully we can find more things for me to do this week, and we can get me into more teaching in the next couple weeks. I'm definitely looking forward to this.