"There are two mistakes one can make along the road to truth... not going all the way, and not starting." -Buddah

I have had so many thoughts going through my head as the semester comes to a close. 
My first thought is "Wow, I did it." I can't lie... I had many moments where I thought I would never see the end of this semester. Every time I had one of those moments a smiling, enthusiastic kindergartener would remind me why I was going to make it. 

Student: "Miss Brailov, I need you."
Me: "What do you need?" 
Student: "I need you to help me."
Me: "With what?"
Student: "I need you to help me learn! Teach me something!" 

(and this moment was perfect)

Today I taught my first FULL GROUP LESSON !  I DID IT! All morning I was very nervous about it. I was teaching place value to kindergarteners. Not only was this a math lesson but it was place value... to kindergarteners... oh the common core standards... 

I kept reading through my lesson plan, scanning the SMART Board presentation, reviewing my game, counting my supplies, reviewing my partner list. I was very nervous. 

Once I turned on the SMART Board, took a deep breath, put on my biggest smile and finally said "Today we are going to look at place value and I PROMISE this will be fun!" I looked out at my students and saw 17 smiling faces and knew I would be okay. 

And I was

It all came naturally after that. I felt calm, excited, and motivated all at once. 

One of the students I was very worried about comprehending the lesson answered the most difficult question with ease and explained himself perfectly. 

I did it. He learned, they all learned.

I watched them play the game I created to practice identifying the tens place and the ones place for numbers 11-20 and showing these numbers with base ten blocks. 

They did it. All 17 of them. 

Not only did they do it... they helped each other, they explained their thinking, they tried new methods. 

My 17 kindergarteners learned how to demonstrate the tens and ones place in numbers 11-20 with base ten blocks and could explain why it worked. 

SUCCESS! SO MUCH SUCESS!

The kindergarten teachers loved it so much they took my lesson plan, SMART Board activity, and game to use again! 

And after all of this... I knew I was going to be okay because I was doing what I was meant to do. 

I was meant to teach. I want to teach. I want to help students learn for the sake of learning. I was to see those light bulbs go off. I want to watch students work through their struggles. I want to see students grow. I want to help them find their passions. 

I have never felt so good about what I was doing with my life before today. 

In practicum, teaching has never been difficult but it never felt easy either. 

Today... it felt easy. I felt so natural and prepared. Best of all, my students learned. 

Tomorrow marks a new beginning. I will be finding out where I will be student teaching in the fall and what grade level I will be working with. 

STUDENT TEACHING?! Isn't that the last thing you do before you are a fully licensed teacher?! Yep... I made it. 

It is going to be another incredible adventure with another class of amazing students. A whole new group of individuals to get to know, a new school, and new grade, everything will be new again. 

I am scared but excited. 
- Scared to start over
- Excited to teach

I guess these feelings are normal. 

On Sunday I graduated from my sorority. We did an activity where we sat in a circle and freely talked about the seniors, paying honor to their 4 years in the chapter. I listened to many different people tell me how important my presence has been to them in recent years. It really made me feel good. But here was what made me feel the best... 

One of my fellow seniors looked right at me and told me that I have grown so much over the past 4 years and she is proud of everything I have done for myself. She said she remembers meeting me as a goofy freshman who would do anything to make people laugh and smile. She then watched me turn into a responsible, passionate, mature adult. She then told me I was a role model to her and the rest of the chapter. She also said that my future students will be so lucky to have a teacher who genuinely wants the best for them and will stop at nothing to make that happen. 

I didn't even know what to say back. Those words will stick with me for the rest of my life. That was the first time I had a peer take the time to really tell me something like that. It felt really good to know that I haven't just been demonstrating these qualities in the teacher education program, I've been demonstrating it to everyone. 

I know I've grown up a lot. Especially in the past year that I have been in the college of education. For the first time in my life, I feel ready to do something bigger than college, bigger than sorority, bigger than working at camp. I am ready for a career, a career in something that makes me feel like I am doing something that will have an impact on someones life. Something that I will be happy to wake up for every day. Something that I will put my whole heart and soul into because I want to. 

I am lucky to have found something to do with my life that makes me feel that way. 

So I am ready to start the next chapter of my life as a future teacher... student teaching. I know that will fly by and soon enough I will be applying for my first real teaching job. I cannot wait. 

DON'T WORRY! I WON'T LEAVE YOU HANGING! You are all coming along too!
Yes, I am going to continue this blog. I will blog every Sunday once student teaching begins. This will probably be my last post for the semester and summer but I PROMISE I will be back in late August. :) 

A now a special shout out to my Literacy Learning and Teaching III teacher, Wendy, who I know is reading this... :) 

Thank you for making me do this. Being able to express myself in writing has helped me learn so much about  myself as a future teacher. It has helped me realize what I value in education, in students, in myself, and what I am truly aspiring to be as a teacher. The weekly vent session I have on here has been the continuing force in what has kept me grounded when everything got tough. I cannot wait to look back at my old posts one day and see where I started while in my teacher education program and where I am now as a teacher. I am sure my family is also grateful to be able to 'get inside my teacher head' once a week so I am sure they thank you as well! 

See you all in August! More adventures ahead.... :) 

"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -Elbert Hubbard

TECHNOLOGY. 

Where do I even begin with this topic? There is SO much to comment on. 

Lets start with this... I consider myself to be a pretty 'techy' person. I'll admit I am attached to my phone and probably use my laptop at least 5 hours a day. 

(Granted most of those 5 hours are spent lesson planning ;) )

Technology does have its major pros and cons, especially in terms of education. It is actually funny this topic came up this week. Just this past weekend I had a conversation with my grandma about how technology impacts students. My grandma volunteers at a museum and sees her fair share of students come in and out for field trips. She told me a story involving a couple interesting situations. The first story was about a group of parents on a field with students who were constantly on their phones while the field trip was happening. 

As a future teacher this is SO frustrating to hear about. Field trips are a pain in a half to get approved and to plan as a teacher. Between the agenda, transportation, permission slips, funding, lunches, locations, etc. this is not an easy job to thrown onto someone who is already spending their free time planning for the next day or week. Field trips may seem like a small excursion for the students but I can guarantee the teacher planning this 'small excurison' would not feel the same way. The least students, chaperones, and other teachers can do while on these field trips is to be on their best behavior. Parents. Put down the technology. 

1. You are setting a poor example for your children about how to behave on field trips. 

2. You are not doing your job as a chaperon if you are on your phone instead of watching the children. 

3. Teachers love and appreciate any support and involvement they can get from parents! Parents who want to read to the class, plan a holiday party, work a school wide event, buy extra folders, or chaperon a field trip are taking an extra special interest in being apart of the classroom and their child's learning experience.  A teacher will never turn away any parents who wants to be involved. So cut out the phone and be helpful! It wouldn't hurt to do a little learning on this field trip along with your child! 

As a future teacher I know I will be making an extra special effort with the parents of the students in my classroom to be connected and involved in their students academic life as much as I can. I want to have regular communication with parents as much as I can and have them truly be apart of the learning experience that school year. 

ANYWAY

Technology, technology, technology. 

Another instance my grandma told me about was that a group of students came into the museum with iPads. These students did not need directions or instruction from anyone who works in the museum because her and the other docents were told that the students "knew what they were supposed to do on their iPads." 

Hello 21st century learners!

My immediate thoughts to that situation... 

Awesome! Letting students have the options to explore on an iPad, that's really great! Technology is pretty incredible for giving students so many experiences they cannot have inside the four walls of their classroom. With all the Apple and Google applications that exist for iPads and Chrome Books the world of education has exploded with technology. Teachers now have SMARTBoards instead of chalk board and white boards. Doc cameras replaced overheads. 

As a tech savy young adult, I am personally very pleased with what technology can offer me and my classroom of future students. I'll be able to show them things and give them experiences that can only be brought to life through technology. Why wouldn't I want to take advantage of that?

'take advantage of that' is the key phrase I just used. 

That is the fine line that teachers need to watch. Technology should not replace the authenticity of a teacher. These options cannot be the excuse for short cuts beings taken in education for the teachers OR the students. Doesn't a real book still have some special effect on the reading experience? I wouldn't know anymore... I own a kindle. 

I believe that technology should and has the ability to enhance a typical lesson. Another key idea, 'enhance the lesson'. (I.e. the lesson already exists in it's ready to teach form, technology gives it an extra edge). I firmly believe that technology cannot replace what a teacher can do for students. A piece of technology cannot genuinely deliver information, it cannot truly interact with its users, it cannot monitory your progress taking in all aspects of the individual. 

It's kind of scary to see how many things in life are being replaced by technology. Jobs have been replaced by technology. We do seem to be heading in a direction in which schooling might be done a lot more often online, especially for college courses. I really hope teachers never need to deal with losing jobs over technology. 

 With all this being said, technology is great for schools. Students are not only having new experiences but they are truly learning how to interact within the technology filled world we live in today. We would be doing our students a huge disservice to deny them of technology. We want our students to learn, grow, and become the best people they can be in this world. Technology is apart of the growing up experience today. We know technology will be apart of our classrooms. It is something we as future educators will need to learn how to balance along with everything we seem to be juggling. 

I am a future teacher who has an iPhone, iPad, iPod Classic, iPod shuffle,Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, Kindle, and MacBook Pro. Yes, I am pretty addicted to all of my little pieces of technology. But I am also a future teacher who promises to not let these things run me, my teaching, or my classroom. 

Technology will help me become a better teacher for my students. It will not replace my skills and talent and passions. 

"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -Elbert Hubbard

This quote reminds me of students. Students that I will teach someday. I want my students to be thinkers, dreamers, and learners. Is someone who is fully dependent on technology any of that? Can my students really be extraordinary if I let technology run my classroom? 

Technology is just one piece to the learning puzzle... a really big piece at that. 

"Knowledge and skills are undoubtedly important. But true education- real teaching- involves helping students think, reason, comprehend, and understand important ideas." -Claude Goldenberg

For those of you who don't know... I am the education intern at the Pomerantz Career Center. I have held this job since August! I absolutely love it. I have the opportunity to do work related to education without directly working this kids, which I find pretty unique for an education major. I typically spend my time creating materials for the education section of the career center website. I've made documents from guides about how to use Hire A Hawk or Skype interview tips or excel spread sheets loaded with information about Iowa City area school districts. 

This past week I made myself (or I was kind of forced into) participate in an education mock interview. In the words of my boss, "Since you work these events all the time, you may as well participate in one!" I'll admit... I was incredibly nervous and all around not interested in making myself do this. But of course the more I thought about it I came to this realization... You only don't want to do it because it sounds scary and because you think it sounds scary that is the BEST reason to make yourself do it. Look at that... more mature adult thinking kicking in... 

Long story short, this was one of the best experiences I've had! I learned so much about what interviewers in schools look for when talking to prospective teachers. One of the questions that stuck with me was, "If I were to walk into your classroom what would I see?" I naturally answered with something along the lines off, "You would see students doing things together. I wouldn't be at the front of the room lecturing about something. My students would be working together, interacting, and doing things. I would be walking around the room getting in on these conversations but the students would be the ones having the conversations about the topic at hand."   

Coincidentally in my Literacy Learning and Teaching III we have just been talking about instructional conversations which seems to go along with my snap shot of my classroom. An instructional conversation in the article Instructional conversations: promoting comprehension through discussion by Claude Goldenberg is described as conversation looking something like this, 

"Teachers and students are responsive to what others say, so that each statement or contribution builds upon, challenges, or extends a pervious one. Topics are picked up, developed, elaborated. Both teacher and students present provocative ideas or experiences, to which other respond." (Goldenberg) 

Essentially, the point of an instructional conversation is to have discussion in a way that everyone involved in going beneath the surface ideas. We want students fully engaged in a way that they are asking questions, making connections, agreeing with others, disagreeing with others, etc. We want truly meaningful conversation. 

I know what you might be thinking... isn't this what all conversations should be like in the classroom? That is what my first thought was. How is this different from any normal expectations we should have of our students? 

Here is what I see as the main difference. The instructional conversation should only be introduced and slightly led by the teacher. All the deeper meaning and higher order thinking should be done by the students, between other students. As teachers we want to help our students get to a point where they can have these conversations without our help. We want them to be naturally making this connections and having these thoughts. 

Just like in the quote title of this weeks blog, "Knowledge and skills are undoubtedly important. But true education- real teaching- involves helping students think, reason, comprehend, and understand important ideas." (Goldenberg)

I love this idea. I really do. It relates directly back to my teaching beliefs. I believe that students should have experiences and have opportunities to make their own meaning and creating their own sense of understanding. 

I think seeing my students have such purposeful and deep conversations would feel like ultimate success as a teacher. I want my students to want to talk about these topics. Not feel like they need to because I prompted them with my discussion questions. Isn't it easier to talk about something you are genuinely interested in than to force yourself to come up with reasons to talk about it? 

I believe as a teacher it will be my job to provide my students with the experiences, materials, ideas, and lessons to get them to want to have these instructional conversations. I would want nothing more than to be able to watch my students teach and and learn from each other with these conversations. I also believe that students at any age can have these thoughts and opinions through instructional conversations. Some of the ideas and thoughts that have come out of my kindergarteners blow my mind. They are so creative and thoughtful when they are talking about something they are truly interested in. 

I am making is my mission to make those light bulbs go off and passions ignite so my students can reach this level of thinking on their own. This is what I think learning truly is. 

"The only source of knowledge is experience." -Albert Einstein

Late night blogging edition.... this is the first week that I am working on my blog at night! I usually save these for Sunday mornings at Starbucks but lately I have been on too tight of a schedule to enjoy my Sunday morning blog session with my chai tea latte. 

I wanted to go to sleep on the early side tonight because I know have 4 lessons plans to write tomorrow but alas what is sleep when you have four weeks left of your senior year and nine projects and four exams within those four weeks... 

Every time I tell people how stressed out I am people try to tell me that I will miss this once I have a full time job. They say I'll wish I had only nine projects to do when now I need to worry about grading homework, creating lessons plans on the weekends, teaching for seven hours, staying at school for another three prepping for tomorrow, creating bulletin board displays, working with parents, attending meetings, etc. 

The truth is... I won't miss this feeling of worrying about my nine projects and four exams. I'll take that stress of the "big and scary full time job". Actually, lesson planning for my own class all weekend sounds fun! Bulletin board displays? I've got ideas already! Being a full time teacher? That's the only thing I want right now. 

When I have thoughts like this, sometimes it scares me. When did I become so excited to grow up? I really don't know.... but it makes me feel good. Everyday I spend in my practicum classrooms I leave with a smile because something awesome always happens. 

One time it was because a student told me they wrote a story about me as the main character. Another time it was because a student told me skip counting was too hard and he could never do it skip counted by 2's, 5's, AND 10's after a math lesson with me. All of these little moments remind me that I have so many more awesome experiences ahead of me. I cannot think of a better career for myself than teaching. I think the best feeling in the world is when you're working with students and you see the "light bulbs go off". I am SO lucky to be finishing off a degree in something I am truly passionate about. 

I could rant for days about why I think teaching is one of the best professions in the world. But I've also had days where I ran out of the school because of how poorly my lesson went. Right when I get upset I remember that this is all an experience. As much as I can plan for what I will be teaching that day, something will change in an instant. That's just how school works! Teachers alone makes hundreds of decisions on the spot everyday. If I spend too much time worrying about everything going according to plan, I will drive myself crazy! It just won't happen. 

"The only source of knowledge is experience." Albert Einstein 

This quote not only applies to students but it also applies to teachers. Students need to experience things for themselves to truly learn. This is one of my teaching beliefs! A teacher cannot just spew information and expect learning to occur. Students need to be apart of their learning process. 

Teachers need to have experiences as well to really learn something. If I didn't have lesson plans go poorly, how would I ever learn to deal with failure in teaching? If all my students behaved and followed directions, how would I learn how to deal with a child who just couldn't sit still during school? 

Experiences we have teach us more than anyone else could. I believe this because when you experience something for yourself, you remember how it felt emotionally and physically... and then you really learn something. 

Let's think about writing in schools. 

This past week I gave a writing assessment (along with a partner) to five kindergarteners and five second graders. We both taught mini lessons about sequences in stories. This included having stories which include a beginning, middle, and end. Along with a problem in the story and a resolution to that problem. After teaching the mini lesson we helped the students through templates which had them think about writing a story which included all of those components. Finally, they were asked to write their own story including all the sequencing events we had been discussing.

Between the two grade levels there were some consistent trends. One being that almost all the students masted the idea of organizing their story with a beginning, middle, and end. This is great! Having a logical flow to a story is something that tends to be complicated for younger writers often times because they have so much to say!

Something else that was a trend was that the idea of presenting a problem within a story was not very clear to students. Along with that resolving that problem and having a clear ending was also difficult. 

Was their stories lacking something because they missed those components? No, not at all. In fact I read some beyond creative stories that demonstrated more understandings beyond what we taught. I saw students using quotation marks, having titles, character names, establishing locations, etc. These were not things we asked for, they just did them. 

So yes, they didn't all exactly achieve the learning objectives. That is okay! Learning is an experience, you can only learn as much as you try. I feel like this holds especially true while teaching writing. It would be an disservice to the students to tell them they needed to write in a specific way. Every student is an individual and should be treated as so. (Another one of my teaching beliefs!) We need to let them EXPERIENCE writing in their own way. Let them try a writing style and realize they don't like it and then let them try another one that works really well for them. 

If I learned anything from giving a writing assessment it was the following:

1. Assessing writing is difficult and seems unfair. 

How can I say that student A wrote something better than student B? They didn't turn in the same story... how can I ever fairly put a number or grade on that? This is going to be a tough dilemma in my future... 

2. Students deserve to write what they want to say in the way they want to say it.

I can expect a general form of writing to be done such as asking for a narrative or a persuasive essay. But I cannot tell them in what words they will chose to express themselves  and in what format they chose to actually create their piece of writing. 

3. Writing is an experience, it cannot be taught and be expected to be demonstrated immediately.

Okay, I just taught kindergartens how to write with a beginning, middle, and end. Fair enough, they can try that. I also taught them how to include a problem and solution to that problem. 

Problem: We forgot popcorn at the movies

Solution: I bought popcorn 

Seems like a GREAT effort to me for someone who has NEVER done this before. Gosh, we should probably let them have time to try this before we assess it huh? 

Experience seemed to be the theme of todays blog post. When teaching gets crazy and stressful I just need to remember that this is all an experience, a learning experience at that. I wouldn't have come to this realization if it wasn't for the writing analysis assignment. This should also remind me that everything I will be doing in the next four weeks has a purpose and I will learn something from it. 

Except for my geometry class... I'm still not sure about that one.