Student Teaching Weekly Reflections

Week of 2/2/2015
Re: First Day of School reflection
by Warner Griffith - Monday, 2 February 2015, 3:58 PM
My first day at Watauga Elementary went extremely well. The class was very enthusiastic that I
will be their student teacher and had lots of questions. I started off with a slideshow that
included pictures of me and family so the students could see that I am "human" just as they are.
They had many questions concluding the presentation. My mentor teacher, Jimmy Marcum, will
be wonderful to work with. His laid back personality resembles mine, which gives me a good
model of how to handle classroom management. He also makes me feel very welcome and
comfortable in his classroom. I read some of the class novel, "where the red fern grows", to the
class and took them through a play for history class as well. I can't wait for the days to come and
to be able to learn from my mentor teacher and class.

Re: 2nd Reflection

by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 5 February 2015, 8:26 PM
Chris, my experiences so far have been somewhat similar to yours. I have been jumping in and
team teaching with my mentor so far. He has been teaching history while I have done the
majority of the language arts. At the moment my classes are reading "Where the Red Fern
Grows." I am currently teaching the unit that he has planned out and will create my own next
week just as you will. My mentor has not limited me in what literature I can use, although he
does suggest that I work on the predicting reading strategy with them. They have covered it
somewhat in previous units, but they seem to struggle with this. I will most likely incorporate
some sort of a social media type bulletin board with my unit, as it seems like it draws the
students in. They don't feel as if they are actually doing work and they are very willing to work
when they are having fun. I will also focus on several shorter stories with them instead of a long
novel. So far it has been a great group to work with and I look forward to starting my Units
within the next week.

Week of 2/09/2015
First Student Scare
by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 12 February 2015, 10:06 PM
This week I experienced my first scare with a student. There was a certain student on the
playground who was threatening to commit suicide. As we were observing recess, a group of
girls came up to my mentor teacher and I, and informed us that one of the students was

threatening to stab a knife through his neck. I have to say that I am very glad that my mentor
teacher was with me to handle this. An incident like this is something that I wasn't prepared to
deal with at this stage of the game. You hear about these types of things happening, but until
you are faced with the situation you really don't know how to handle it. The student was referred
to the principal just as school was over. From now on I will prepare myself for anything that might
happen in the classroom or on the playground.
Better the Second Time Around
by Warner Griffith - Tuesday, 10 February 2015, 8:26 PM
Today I experienced how much more effective a lesson can turn out the second time it is taught.
I had my class do a jigsaw activity with the class novel. I assigned two chapters and split them
up in four groups. Core 1 seemed very confused while we were going over the other groups
sections. I went over the chapter after the groups presented, but they still seemed very confused
and felt like they needed to go back and read the chapters themselves. Core 2 went much
better, and I eliminated the confusion that Core 1 had. I made sure that I went along and
explained things as the group was presenting so the students would get the idea of the section
they did not read. My mentor informed me that this happens all the time and that even though he
has been teaching over 10 years that he still has to go back and make adjustments to lessons
from one class to the next. It is a valuable lesson to learn early on so that you don't get
frustrated.

Week of 3/02/2015
Simple Classroom Management Technique
by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 5 March 2015, 4:25 PM
This week I implemented a new classroom management technique that works! At times it seems
like I am living a dream because it is surprising how well it actually works with the students.
What I have started doing at the beginning of the day is writing the word RECESS on the
whiteboard. I informed the class that I would do this each day and if volume level/ behavior
started to get out of hand, then I would erase a letter. Not thinking it would work too well, I
wanted to give it a try anyway. To my surprise, it is one of the best and easiest techniques I have
ever seen. I usually do not have to erase more than two letters throughout the day because of
the students fear of losing recess. The class self- monitors to the point that you could hear a pin
drop in the classroom if they see me even take a step towards the whiteboard. I never knew that
an eraser could have so much power on managing a 5th grade class. I also enjoy this because I
do not have to raise my voice, which doesn't give the students the sense that I am a "mean"
teacher. All in all this is a fun technique for me to use.

Compensating For Short Class

by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 5 March 2015, 4:18 PM
One of the things that I have experienced this week is the importance of being able to
compensate for unexpected things on the fly. On Monday, the students had DARE with an officer
from the Washington County Police Department. This was supposed to have taken place on a
different date, but due to snow it was moved to Monday without time to accommodate for it
in planning lessons. It also ran over the allotted time which was supposed to only be one hour.
The program ran an hour and a half leaving me less time than expected. Instead of panicking to
try and get everything in that day, we simply got done what we could and finished on Tuesday.
My mentor teacher informed me that I did a good job of not panicking and said that these things
happen on occasion. When teaching, it is good to get comfortable being uncomfortable because
you never know what you are going to face day to day.

Week of 3/09/2015
Grade Group Meetings
by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 12 March 2015, 7:59 PM
Today I got the opportunity to experience a grade group meeting with the principal. I am glad
that I got to experience this, because it wont be as much of a shock to me when I get my own
classroom. I liked the fact that the teachers talked about the struggling students and tried to plan
for what they could to in order to get them on track. This also made me realize that no matter
how good the teacher is, sometimes certain students just wont get it. I'm surrounded by great
teachers at the 5th grade level and some students are still failing their benchmark tests. This
tells me that if it happens to me when the time comes, that it isn't the end of the world and I
should not feel like a failure.

Sometimes it takes longer than planned

by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 12 March 2015, 7:55 PM
This week I am learning that when you plan a unit, it does not always work out the way that you
intended it to. The material is going very well, the time that I allotted for the unit to take is not on
track. I figured I would take seven days on my unit on the first five presidents. The final project
for this unit is the creation of a newspaper article of a president of each groups choice. The
students are having a blast with this, but it is also taking much longer than I anticipated. My
mentor teacher told me that this happens all the time and things take them longer than you
might think it would. This is a good learning experience for me.

Week of 3/16/2015

Grade Group Meetings

by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 19 March 2015, 8:18 PM
This week I was able to experience grade group meetings. It was interesting to see what the
teachers discuss during these meetings and gives me a taste of what I will have to do when I get
my own classroom. The thing that seems to be of most concern at this point in the school year
is, the benchmark and SOL testing. We mainly discussed which students were at this point not
ready to pass the tests, and what needed to be done. The students were given a practice SOL
test this week which was the SOL test from last year. In each class six students failed this which
is a very high number. As I can now see, stress of the SOL testing is rising for the teachers. I am
glad that I got to experience and be a part of planning on how to address these struggling
student issues. This experience was very beneficial for my future as an educator.

Re: Cutting the textbook?

by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 19 March 2015, 8:14 PM
Sarah, we do the same thing in our classroom! The first time a student asked me if they could
cut a picture out of their book and glue it in their notebook, I was speechless. I had never heard
of a student allowed to cut pictures out of their textbook and thought they were pulling my leg.
After talking with my mentor teacher about it, I found out they do this on a regular basis. It does
make their history notebooks look much better and more interesting to read. I will probably use
this in my classroom if I end up teaching history and if the budget allows to get new workbooks/
textbooks each year.

Week of 3/23/2015
Actions of Kindergarten
by Warner Griffith - Wednesday, 25 March 2015, 9:22 PM
Yesterday after recess, I was able to experience how my mentor teacher handles certain issues
with Kindergarten students. When the students came inside from recess, one student told
another that he was going to shoot him with a gun because he did not play with him as long as
he would have liked on the playground. While this statement is rather alarming, my mentor
teacher handled it by telling him how disappointed she was in him. The student felt awful for
saying this to the other student and apologized. The rest of the day he sat on the rug and had
tears in his eyes because he had disappointed his teacher whom he loves very much. I would
say that this issue is not something to pass by, but again the student is in Kindergarten and
doesn't quite understand that he should not say things like that. I think my mentor teacher
handled it well, but I was just wondering if the incident should have gone further than the
teacher because of the content of the statement.

Culture Shock
by Warner Griffith - Wednesday, 25 March 2015, 9:16 PM
This week is our first week in our new placement. I just finished with 5th grade and am currently
in Kindergarten. Needless to say, this is a huge culture shock for me. Going from the oldest in
the school to the babies of the school is going to need some adjusting. So far it has gone
smoothly, but In my opinion Kindergarten will be more of challenge. I will have to change my
teaching style to go over every detail that is possible in a single lesson in order for the students
to be able to understand. Another thing that is a big difference from 5th grade is the way in
which the teachers handle classroom management. In 5th grade I could simply write RECESS
on the board and erase a letter for the class to get quiet. In Kindergarten this such strategy will
simply not work because the students will not understand what is going on. My mentor teacher
says grab a bubble and they become quiet. I feel that if I talk to kindergarteners the way I did
with 5th grade, that It might be a little too harsh. I will get adjusted I am sure by they way things
run by the end of the week. I am ready for the challenges ahead.

Week of 3/30/2015
Kindergarten Excitement
by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 2 April 2015, 10:40 AM
Yesterday I was able to experience how chaotic a day in the life of a Kindergarten teacher can
be sometimes when there are events going on at the school. There were quite a few things that
added to the excitement that Kindergarteners already have. They had a "mega party" which
consisted of multiple blow up objects to slide and bounce on. This was done for the fund raiser
they had at Watauga and the students could not concentrate on anything else due to this
excitement. The students also had an Easter party that they knew they would have food and see
some of their parents. To top the day off, the power went out which you can imagine the
combination of these three things make for a pretty chaotic day. It was good to see how my
mentor teacher handled this and kept the students calm and involved and I was glad to be a part
of that. There will be things when I become a teacher that will throw myself and students for a
loop. I will have a better idea about how to handle situations like this and keep the classroom at
bay.

Re: EXPLICIT instructions

by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 2 April 2015, 10:34 AM

Molly, I have noticed the same thing since I have been in Kindergarten. I am used to teaching
fifth grade and am still in the mode of speaking like my students are fifth grade and they are not.
I think at times when I am teaching, I am way too broad for them and have to remember how old
they are. It has been an adjustment for me and I have to think before I say anything to the
students. I am finding out there are a lot more details involved in teaching Kindergarten than in
fifth grade. I like what your teacher does for your class. These might be some useful things for
me to consider with my Kindergarten class as well.

Week of 4/06/2015
Fun with science in kindergarten
by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 9 April 2015, 8:19 PM
This week in my kindergarten class, I have been teaching about the life cycle of the butterfly. I
have done a series of hands on activities with them, paired with stories and an instructional
video. Today, I started an activity where the students have the chance to grow their own
butterfly. We have a kit in class that contains caterpillars, food and containers. Today i had the
students place the caterpillars in cups with food and in a day or so they will form their chrysalis.
Once they have formed this, we will move them to our netting, which will house the butterfly's.
They will be able to actually experience the process and life cycle of the butterfly everyday when
they come into class.

Kindergarten PTA
by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 9 April 2015, 8:13 PM
Tonight I was able to experience my first PTA program. I have to say it was an interesting
experience to be a part of. Over the past several weeks, my students have been going to the
gym during their encore time to practice for their physical education program. It involved a series
of dances to different songs. It was fun to see how into the program all of the students were.
Tonight, they were extremely excited to see their parents sitting in the audience and perform for
them. I think it is good for all student teachers to see the effect that PTA has on a school. It is
great for parental and family involvement with the school.

Week of 4/13/2015
BMX Bike Show
by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 16 April 2015, 10:22 PM
Today was one of the more interesting days that I have experienced during student teaching.
Starting at 9:30, there was a BMX bike show for the school wide fund raiser that they had. Each

student in the school was able to attend to watch the stunt team. During the show, I was voted
out in front of the school to lay on the ground to be used as an obstacle for the BMX stunt team.
The students loved this, and I have to say I did too. Aside from the bike show, it was a good
experience to see how I will handle my lessons around assemblies like this. I got in what I could
and determined what was more important to focus on during the short instruction time that we
had.

The End Is Near

by Warner Griffith - Thursday, 16 April 2015, 10:25 PM
This week will be my last full week of being in charge of my Kindergarten class. Next week I will
hand it back over to my mentor teacher and fill in when I am need with small group instruction
time. I will be carefully observing what my mentor does and taking notes in case I am to teach
Kindergarten. I will also try and go watch some of the other teachers that I might not otherwise
get to see In action for my professional benefit. It is good to see a wide range of teachers at
different levels in case I were to be put in that position at some point.