Yesterday was my last day of DT (Student Teaching) and last night I filled out my graduation form! On my degree portal, my term is registering me as 100% done and graduated! I will receive my diploma and official transcripts within the next two weeks! I know I have not updated my thread in a while so here are a few tips I would like to end it on.
A FEW TIPS FOR STUDENT TEACHING
The first two weeks of school things will be hectic and crazy! However, they are extremely important for laying down procedures and expectations for the rest of the school year and for getting to know your students
The key to student teaching is chunking it up! One strategy that I have been using to "chunk" my student teaching is focus on the week I was in and take Friday evening off with my family. I know that sounds crazy but it sure beats worrying and calculating how you are going to get through next week let alone 4 months! I have also been counting the weeks and marking on my calendar when I was 1/4 of the way done, then 1/2 and then 3/4 helped me be able to celebrate "accomplishments" along the way. It will seem overwhelming that first month I will not deny!
One tip I will share is it is perfectly okay if your host teacher wants you to spend the first month acclimating to the classroom and getting to know the kids. I know from the WGU stories it sounds like you hit the ground running from week 1. But For me that was not the case and I am so glad my Host Teacher allowed me to use that time building rapport with the kids before teaching my first lesson! Take on the classes when your HT thinks you are ready, and when you are ready. My HT was fabulous and she allowed me to pick my first full class and teach it solely for two weeks before taking on other classes. I was initially scheduled to take over the other two classes after teaching that third period class, but I felt I was not ready. I told my HT and she was perfectly fine with giving me another week to hone my classroom management and teaching strategies before taking on the other classes.
You will have a limited bit of a life on the front end. Some evenings I was able to watch movies with family, go out to eat on Friday evenings, or relax. However those first two months I was really living week by week. I will be honest and say that there were roughly 8 weekends where I did nothing but Lesson Plans and edTPA all weekend as well as used up almost all of my two week fall break to finish my edTPA.
Grant it, in my situation, I lived an hour away from my school so I was commuting two hours out of each day. Many mornings at the front end, I would get up at 4:30am every day and be at school till 4:00pm. Your situation may be different, but make no mistake, this is time intensive and a major commitment!
However, my advice is do not stress out and take everything in stride! This experience is only for a season that will come to pass. I remember what it was like the first week of school thinking I had fifteen more grueling and crazy weeks ahead of me. In the end I adjusted and each week was less and less crazy/grueling. Be prepared to have maybe an hour a day at most for yourself on the front end, but it will get better!
Another Tip, you have to be okay(humble) with making LOADS of clumsy dumb mistakes and correcting them over time -even if its your first/last day of school! I remember that horrible first day I was so nervous! (Funny first day story!)At lunch I was eating a salad with cherry tomatoes and when I poked my fork into one of them it sprayed tomatoes juice on another teacher's dress! She was standing with her back turned talking to another teacher at the time and did not realize she had tomato seeds and juice plastered on her gray dress. I was horrified (first day and all) just sitting there dying of embarrassment! My Host Teacher saw the mess (She didn't realize it was me who had done it) and pointed it out and helped her clean up... I thought I could never show my face there again! The SPED Teacher assistant sitting beside me had seen what had happened and she was laughing her heart out but she never told on me. Later, I went back and apologized... Thank God that teacher had a excellent sense of humor even after teaching 28 years! I am just glad some days are behind me!
But back to my tip. In my situation, my HT was present in every lesson I taught which at first was kind of nerve wracking! I was really nervous that she would see that even though I loved the kids and had great rapport built with them, I was terribly unorganized and soft-spoken at first! I was especially that first week! But over time, I realized that when she would jump into my lessons it was not because I was not teaching "good enough" but she was providing a different way of looking at problems which sometimes was better than the way I was teaching it. I came to really appreciate her contributions and being there in every lesson for me and the kiddos.
Yesterday, I walked out of the classroom for the last time as a student teacher, I thought I would be exuberant and happy for graduation, but like a lot of people told me, it was one of the saddest moments as you say goodbye to the kiddos and teachers who made graduation day possible for you.
Over the four months you are there, You grow to love and enjoy them and the many good memories, embarrassing moments, learning experiences and milestones you shared together. I will really miss them!
Tips for EDTPA
This is not a comprehensive list but a few helpful tips from my experience.
One of the best resources I had during edTPA was the use of two exemplars submitted and passed by Pearson's to study for writing my own edTPA. These examples gave me an idea of the length and depth of writing expected by Pearson's and when coupled with the rubrics really helped me get mine done!
One tip I learned from Cohort Seminar is bring your video camera, iPhone, iPad in and start recording yourself and your class as soon as you can. This will get you and your students used to the camera as well as help you work out the technical side of where you need to place it for the best audio/picture quality.
Second tip: Video every lesson in your learning segment. I had planned to use my second lesson for my video on the edTPA but had my Cohort Facilitator suggested that we record the entire learning segment as a backup. Its better to have too much footage as opposed to too little. On the first day I planned to record, I found out the video camera I was borrowing was broken and I didn't have time to replace it =(. But I was able to improvise with an Ipad for videoing and an mp3 player microphone! Sub-tip Have a backup!
Third tip, include pre-assessments in each lesson to do either of two things: assess your students learning of the previous day's lesson objectives or readiness to engage in that day's lesson by assessing prior knowledge. The edTPA is all about you instructing and assessing your students for mastery of the learning objectives.
Fourth tip: (I wish I had done this!) Include daily exit tickets to give you daily data on each of your students progress, identify misconceptions, errors in reasoning, or in problem solving skills.
For those who are not as familiar with edTPA, you are given windows to submit your edTPA on. You have to submit them on those dates exactly. I submitted mine on the second window (October 25th). At that point, I was three months into DT. However, the first month of DT (August), we did not have our updated handbooks or templates, so I didn't really get started on my writing till I was in my second month of DT (September). I don't recommend waiting three months into DT just in case it comes back and you have to revise or re-film, but sometimes that's just how things work out =).
For those who are completing the edTPA in the next term, here is one of the edTPA examples I used when completing my edTPA. (I passed mine with a score of 49. Passing is 37 in my state). This is Task 1
A FEW TIPS FOR STUDENT TEACHING
The first two weeks of school things will be hectic and crazy! However, they are extremely important for laying down procedures and expectations for the rest of the school year and for getting to know your students
The key to student teaching is chunking it up! One strategy that I have been using to "chunk" my student teaching is focus on the week I was in and take Friday evening off with my family. I know that sounds crazy but it sure beats worrying and calculating how you are going to get through next week let alone 4 months! I have also been counting the weeks and marking on my calendar when I was 1/4 of the way done, then 1/2 and then 3/4 helped me be able to celebrate "accomplishments" along the way. It will seem overwhelming that first month I will not deny!
One tip I will share is it is perfectly okay if your host teacher wants you to spend the first month acclimating to the classroom and getting to know the kids. I know from the WGU stories it sounds like you hit the ground running from week 1. But For me that was not the case and I am so glad my Host Teacher allowed me to use that time building rapport with the kids before teaching my first lesson! Take on the classes when your HT thinks you are ready, and when you are ready. My HT was fabulous and she allowed me to pick my first full class and teach it solely for two weeks before taking on other classes. I was initially scheduled to take over the other two classes after teaching that third period class, but I felt I was not ready. I told my HT and she was perfectly fine with giving me another week to hone my classroom management and teaching strategies before taking on the other classes.
You will have a limited bit of a life on the front end. Some evenings I was able to watch movies with family, go out to eat on Friday evenings, or relax. However those first two months I was really living week by week. I will be honest and say that there were roughly 8 weekends where I did nothing but Lesson Plans and edTPA all weekend as well as used up almost all of my two week fall break to finish my edTPA.
Grant it, in my situation, I lived an hour away from my school so I was commuting two hours out of each day. Many mornings at the front end, I would get up at 4:30am every day and be at school till 4:00pm. Your situation may be different, but make no mistake, this is time intensive and a major commitment!
However, my advice is do not stress out and take everything in stride! This experience is only for a season that will come to pass. I remember what it was like the first week of school thinking I had fifteen more grueling and crazy weeks ahead of me. In the end I adjusted and each week was less and less crazy/grueling. Be prepared to have maybe an hour a day at most for yourself on the front end, but it will get better!
Another Tip, you have to be okay(humble) with making LOADS of clumsy dumb mistakes and correcting them over time -even if its your first/last day of school! I remember that horrible first day I was so nervous! (Funny first day story!)At lunch I was eating a salad with cherry tomatoes and when I poked my fork into one of them it sprayed tomatoes juice on another teacher's dress! She was standing with her back turned talking to another teacher at the time and did not realize she had tomato seeds and juice plastered on her gray dress. I was horrified (first day and all) just sitting there dying of embarrassment! My Host Teacher saw the mess (She didn't realize it was me who had done it) and pointed it out and helped her clean up... I thought I could never show my face there again! The SPED Teacher assistant sitting beside me had seen what had happened and she was laughing her heart out but she never told on me. Later, I went back and apologized... Thank God that teacher had a excellent sense of humor even after teaching 28 years! I am just glad some days are behind me!
But back to my tip. In my situation, my HT was present in every lesson I taught which at first was kind of nerve wracking! I was really nervous that she would see that even though I loved the kids and had great rapport built with them, I was terribly unorganized and soft-spoken at first! I was especially that first week! But over time, I realized that when she would jump into my lessons it was not because I was not teaching "good enough" but she was providing a different way of looking at problems which sometimes was better than the way I was teaching it. I came to really appreciate her contributions and being there in every lesson for me and the kiddos.
Yesterday, I walked out of the classroom for the last time as a student teacher, I thought I would be exuberant and happy for graduation, but like a lot of people told me, it was one of the saddest moments as you say goodbye to the kiddos and teachers who made graduation day possible for you.
Over the four months you are there, You grow to love and enjoy them and the many good memories, embarrassing moments, learning experiences and milestones you shared together. I will really miss them!
Tips for EDTPA
This is not a comprehensive list but a few helpful tips from my experience.
One of the best resources I had during edTPA was the use of two exemplars submitted and passed by Pearson's to study for writing my own edTPA. These examples gave me an idea of the length and depth of writing expected by Pearson's and when coupled with the rubrics really helped me get mine done!
One tip I learned from Cohort Seminar is bring your video camera, iPhone, iPad in and start recording yourself and your class as soon as you can. This will get you and your students used to the camera as well as help you work out the technical side of where you need to place it for the best audio/picture quality.
Second tip: Video every lesson in your learning segment. I had planned to use my second lesson for my video on the edTPA but had my Cohort Facilitator suggested that we record the entire learning segment as a backup. Its better to have too much footage as opposed to too little. On the first day I planned to record, I found out the video camera I was borrowing was broken and I didn't have time to replace it =(. But I was able to improvise with an Ipad for videoing and an mp3 player microphone! Sub-tip Have a backup!
Third tip, include pre-assessments in each lesson to do either of two things: assess your students learning of the previous day's lesson objectives or readiness to engage in that day's lesson by assessing prior knowledge. The edTPA is all about you instructing and assessing your students for mastery of the learning objectives.
Fourth tip: (I wish I had done this!) Include daily exit tickets to give you daily data on each of your students progress, identify misconceptions, errors in reasoning, or in problem solving skills.
For those who are not as familiar with edTPA, you are given windows to submit your edTPA on. You have to submit them on those dates exactly. I submitted mine on the second window (October 25th). At that point, I was three months into DT. However, the first month of DT (August), we did not have our updated handbooks or templates, so I didn't really get started on my writing till I was in my second month of DT (September). I don't recommend waiting three months into DT just in case it comes back and you have to revise or re-film, but sometimes that's just how things work out =).
For those who are completing the edTPA in the next term, here is one of the edTPA examples I used when completing my edTPA. (I passed mine with a score of 49. Passing is 37 in my state). This is Task 1
CLEP:College Comp. w/essay, A & I Lit. w/essay, College Algebra, US History 1 & 2, Biology, Human Growth & Development DSST: Foundations of Edu. TEEX: Cyber Security 101 & 301 Sophia: Developing Effective Teams The Institutes: Ethics & CPCU Prof. Code.
Straighterline: Intro to Religion, Intro to Com., Western Civ. 1& 2, American Gov, PreCalculus, Intro to Bio Lab
Study.com: Personal Finance, Edu. Psychology, Classroom Management, Special Edu. History & Law, Geology, Civil War & Reconstruction, History of the Vietnam War
2018 WGU BA Mathematics Education (5-9 licensure)
Current Work: VIPKID ESL Teacher and Substitute Teacher
Straighterline: Intro to Religion, Intro to Com., Western Civ. 1& 2, American Gov, PreCalculus, Intro to Bio Lab
Study.com: Personal Finance, Edu. Psychology, Classroom Management, Special Edu. History & Law, Geology, Civil War & Reconstruction, History of the Vietnam War
2018 WGU BA Mathematics Education (5-9 licensure)
Current Work: VIPKID ESL Teacher and Substitute Teacher
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