September

4, 2015

*Waukee started Monday August 24th, this log will contain information for both last
week and this week.


1. This week I spent my time observing for most of the time. I did work one on one with
students on their beginning of year math assessments. The students were asked to
count to 120 by 1s, 2s, 5s and 10s to determine where they were at on first grade
expectations.

2. I do a lot of hanging posters, making copies, laminating. I help out with finding
morning work sheets for the students to complete as they come in each morning. I go
out for recess duty, guide lines to specials and lunch, give permission to students to use
restroom, attending PLC meetings. Work one on one with students who raise their
hands to ask for help or need a question answered.

3. My most satisfying experience this week was getting to work one on one with one of
our special Ed students during writers workshop. We worked on filling in the
blanks(sight words only) in a sentence. He was only to try and get the beginning and
ending sounds. He really struggles for motivation but after some convincing by the last
word he needed to write he spelled "my" correctly. He was so excited when I told him it
was correct.

4. The most challenging experience this week was probably something simple but
at curriculum night one of our more talkative students parents asked how he was doing
and he is so sweet and his mother adores him. It broke my heart to tell her that he likes
to chat a lot and needs lots of reminders to get his work done then he can chat with
friends. I know this seems like such a little challenge but it was hard for me to tell his
mother. After telling her she said it's a pretty normal and she has to do the same at
home. So this definitely made me feel better.

5. Next week I plan to continue what I have been doing but I will be taking over morning
meeting and calendar. I'm excited and feel very comfortable with this task. I love the
school, my mentor teacher and the students. All is great so far!

Have a great weekend!

Julie Rabe


September 13, 2015

1. This week I spent my time doing a lot of the same things that I have been doing.
Working one on one with students who need extra instruction, hanging student work,
making copies, creating documents needed for class. I also took over morning meeting
this past week. During this time students greet each other with a different greeting
picked by me each day. Then one student is picked to come up and do calendar. During
this time we say the days of the week, add the days date and say the month. We also
keep track of how many days the students have been in school with straws. Then the
students are asked what coins would be used to make the number of days we have
been in school. (Ex: 14 days. one dime and 4 pennies; two nickels and 4 pennies etc.)
Last we play a quick game before our day starts. These games are picked by the teacher
each morning. Instruction is given and the students spend about 10 minutes playing the
game.

2. Working one on one with students who need extra instruction, hanging student work,
making copies, creating documents needed for class and morning meeting. As well as
recess duty.


3. One of my most satisfying experiences this week was hearing feedback from students
on the games and greetings we did in morning meeting. I used the Internet as a
resource to come up with different games and greeting the students had not performed
yet. We had so much fun with our What's up greeting and playing Frogger! They asked
to play Frogger everyday!

4. One of my most challenging experiences this week was having to deal with a couple
of student who can be pretty chatty during our carpet time. I had to give them a
warning then they continued to talk so they had to write their name in the notebook
that means they owe 5 minutes of recess. One little boy in particular was so upset when
his 5 minutes was up he didn't want to leave his spot. He just continued to cry. So I had
to sit down and talk to him about why he had to give 5 minutes and that it's going to be
ok. I also told him to take notice of his feelings and to remember this feeling next time
we are at the carpet and he gets a warning. I personally do not like taking away recess
time as a punishment. Some just think well it's only 5 minutes and then I get to play.


Julie Rabe

November 1, 2015

1. This week I spent my time observing Ms. Sheldon, working with small reading groups,
teacher read aloud, and teaching area and perimeter in math. I'm starting to feel much
more comfortable in the 3rd grade classroom as I adjust to their schedule and
curriculum.

2. My responsibilities this week include planning and teaching perimeter and area in
during the math block. Checking papers, managing small reading groups to work on
strategies to help them become stronger readers.

3. Some of my most satisfying experiences this week was teaching Area successfully. I
was really nervous to teach math this week because of the content but after seeing their
work and homework it showed me that most if not all of the students got it. The third
grade students have not learned multiplication yet so it is hard for them to understand
area. We let them use their multiplication tables to help them get answers. So students
practice multiplication at home but others havent started it yet.

4. This week some of the challenging experiences included just making sure I was
running the classroom the way my mentor teacher expects it to ran. I have said that she
runs a tight ship so I am constantly trying to make sure the students don't try to take
advantage of me being there to get away with something they normally would not be
allowed to do. They have tested me in ways but I try to stay on top of them so they
know I have the same rules and expectations.

5. Next week my responsibilities will include taking over morning meet up where we will
going greeting, go over any classroom announcements, and talk about the schedule for
the day. Reading lessons on non-fiction and fiction with thick and thin questioning.
Continue area and perimeter in math and start teacher read aloud during snack time.
We will be reading Poppy.



Julie Rabe

November 21, 2015

1. This week I took over the classroom on Wednesday to start my Bell to Bell.
This included the following subjects, reading, math, writing, word work, teacher
read aloud and social studies. This week we also had conferences so it was great
to sit through and get the experience of what to expect during when meeting
students parents.

2. During reading we moved on from non-fiction text questioning to fiction text
questioning. During math we started the multiplication chapter in Everyday
Math curriculum. During our writing block we have been blogging about the
Hurricane proof houses they designed for during the last science chapter. We are
still reading Poppy during teacher read aloud but will be finishing it before break
next week. This week we started the branches of government in social studies.

3. One of the most satisfying experiences this week was getting to sit through
parent teacher conferences. I was lucky to see all students and parents show up
to their conferences. It was such an over whelming experience to see parents
care so much about their childs education. We are fortunate enough to have a
really great group of parents and kids this year in third grade. Watching parents
be so satisfied with their students and so proud was such a great experience. I
almost found myself teary eyed to see parents so proud of their children.

4. One of the most challenging experiences this week was just the management
piece of the classroom during my bell to bell. The students are testing to see
what they can get away with while Im in the room. I have stayed strong and on
top of things to make sure students know I have the same rules and expectations
as Ms. Sheldon. Friday was also challenging just in because once it started
snowing I felt like I lost them for the rest of the day. But I am confident that I can
pain the respect from them that is expected. They are a great group of kiddos.

5. Next week is a short week as we go on break on Tuesday. However Monday and
Tuesday will be pretty normal days for the kiddos. We will continue as normal
while Im in charge or lessons. I have planned out lessons through the end of my
bell-to-bell time on December 4th. I feel well prepared to take on our short week
ahead.


Julie Rabe