Week Four

This week was eventful for two reasons.  First, I took over social studies, so that now I am teaching math, social studies, and the weekly social emotional lessons.  After teaching my edTPA learning segment Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of this coming week, I will be adding language arts.  The second reason it was an eventful week is that my students had their first math test.

I think I was more nervous about the math test than my students were.  I feel a tremendous amount of responsibility for their learning, as I should.  This is compounded by the fact that most of my students are very low academically and not necessarily working at a second grade level.  I want to save them all and help them to become literate, mathematically capable, and excellent students.  I know these are lofty and idealistic goals.  These kids already have my heart and I really want them to succeed so they can build on what they learn as they get older.  Their tremendous struggles and lack of success in school break my heart.  Rationally I know all I can do is take them from where they are and help them to make progress.  In all honesty, my personal evaluation as a student teacher was far from my mind with regard to the test (meaning what my CT or college supervisor would have to say).  I was truly just hoping that my instruction helped them understand the math concepts and that they could demonstrate what they have learned.

I was pleasantly surprised that two students got 100% on the test.  Even more so than this, I was ecstatic when students correctly answered a question that I knew was hard for them!  This was the best feeling!  I was high-fiving my own kids as I was grading the tests. On the other hand, it was incredibly disappointing to see problems about concepts that I worked really hard to teach and reviewed multiple times with multiple strategies were still missed by some students.  I am thankful that this test will be graded using a rubric.  If it was based on straight percentages, very few students would have passed this test.

Helping the students review for the test, I had my first brush with the very real issue of teaching to the test.  When I looked a copy of the test early in the week, I froze when I saw the final problem.  It was a problem in which students had to apply what they had learned about number order and patterns to a new (and complicated, for them) kind of problem.  I knew that most students in the class would not be able to do this problem.  So I created a very similar problem on a practice sheet to go over with the class the next day.  As I was getting ready to email it to my CT for her to look over, I had second thoughts.  In planning a review of this problem, I was undeniably and explicitly teaching to the test.  I vacillated on how to handle this situation, which I felt was a moral dilemma.  I sent the practice problem to my CT anyway since it was already done, but in my email I told her of my qualms in actually using it.  She understood my concern and agreed it was teaching to the test, but she also didn’t think it would hurt.  She was of the opinion that even if I walked them through this example problem, very few students (if any) would get it right on the test anyway.  She was right – we did the practice problem together the day before the test and only three out fifteen students got it right on the test. 

On another note, just when I thought that I was getting the student teacher workload under control a little bit better, I was introduced to another layer of teacher responsibility at meetings today after students were dismissed early.  The meetings were about MAP data, projected PARCC scores, and actions plans to improve these.  I do not know how teachers manage all of these lessons, projects, data, expectations, goals, and responsibilities.  Keep the students engaged! Make it interesting!  But make it inquiry-based!  And data-driven! And differentiated!  Make sure the children work together!  But they all have to be able to produce independently!  During the meeting, the other second grade teachers asked if my head was spinning yet, which it was.  It gave me a whole new appreciation for these ladies and other teachers that I know. 

Speaking of my head spinning, I will film my edTPA learning segment this week.  I am looking forward to having it over with.  I dread seeing myself on camera.  The students and I practiced having the camera on in the room today, so this weekend I will check the footage for sound, light, etc.  They are excited to be on camera and asked if they will be famous.  (I gently corrected them.)  Also coming this week are several cultural lessons in social studies.  I am following the curriculum, but there is flexibility in how the content is delivered, which allows teachers to fulfill Illinois Professional Teaching Standard 2P, which states, “The competent teacher adjusts practice to meet the needs of each student in the content areas.”  One lesson must be is about Christmas around the world, another about cultural foods, and one about cultural holidays and festivals.  This will all be related to research the children are doing to make a travel brochure about a particular country.  I am really looking forward to planning these lessons, as my mom is a Spanish teacher who is very big on cultures of all kinds.  She and I are going to brainstorm about how to approach these lessons.  It should be fun.