What a busy week with my cooperating teacher at Cary Elementary!

  Since this is a free post where we can discuss any topic we want, I have chosen to share my experiences with my cooperating teacher. This week I have had to do a math assessment interview, science demonstration and a literacy lesson. I really enjoy my 4th grade classroom and have already had some rewarding experiences with them. My cooperating teacher is very wonderful to work with and she was a Meredith graduate so she understands some of the work I am having to do.
  For my math assessment I worked with a very vocal child who loved the attention he received from me when doing the math assessment. It was a pleasure to work with him because he was very bright and told me how much fun he was having the whole time I was assessing him. For this assessment I gave him several math problems that Dr. Gleason gave us to ask them. I had to pay attention to his thinking while working the math problems. I really enjoyed listening to his thinking and explanation of the problems. I learned a lot about his thinking process from watching and listening to his explanations. He was not scared to answer and he was very sure of himself which made me proud to see. I belive Mrs. Shaw is really doing a great job in the classroom with making them feel comfortable explaining and talking in front of their peers about answers. I know I would've had a hard time doing that when I was that age because discussion was not integrated into our activities as much as Mrs. Shaw puts it in her activities. He understod almost all the problems and was able to explain them effectively
  Today during my science demonstration I struggled a little because students had not previously talked about the different types of rocks. I was very nervous so I looked down at my notes a little and did not ask questions while I was demonstrating how to form the different rocks. Other than those few things, students listened to the demonstration well and enjoyed learning about the different rocks and seeing the rocks go from igneous rocks to sedimentary to metamorphic rocks. I believe students understood the different types of rocks because when I asked them questions they seemed to understand. When Mrs. Shaw asked students questions about the different types of rock and the rock cycle they seemed to understand as well. Before I began the demonstration, I told students what type of a rock granite was that they had been studying. This way students were able to see an example of an igneous rock. Overall, this was a good experience!
  My literacy lesson  overall was good. We used a Social Studies book as our nonfiction text and practiced locating information for specific purposes. I really enjoyed this lesson and think the students got a lot out of it. I was much more comfortable teaching to a small group and not being videotaped. It was easier than the Science demonstration. The only problem was that there were some behavior issues. Some students talked while I was talking and while their peers were talking. This was a little expected because some of the students that I worked with had attention deficit disorder. In the end the students were able to successfully complete the evaluation and seemed to understand the concept I was trying to teach. I did realize however, that while teaching you have to repeat yourself a lot and scaffold the students.
  Overall, this week I learned a lot about myself and about being a future teacher. It is not easy whatsoever and you have to be prepared all the time. You never know what comment or answer a student will give. In my literacy lesson one student brought up the fact that you can use the glossary to locate information. I did not know this and so not only did he learn from me but I also learned from me. I am learning some exciting things and can't wait until I have a classroom on my own!