Finals: Observation, Papers turned in, class taught

This week was a week of finals, Finally. I began this journey in 2006 and I will end it in 2010. In a week I will be a Washington State Resident Teacher. It has been a journey and I have tried to enjoy the moments as much as possible. Two different co-horts, many professors, two master teachers, two principals, one field instructor, 24 fifth graders, and 24 second and third graders. Along the way, we explored pendulums(swingers), zoomers, mealworms, crayfish, bess beetles, triangle and arch, crayfish, and twirly birds. We have read and written about 50 states, presidents, novel studies, guided reading groups, "just right books", Houghton Mifflin readers, Flat Stanley, Peggy Parish novels, Cinderellas from every Culture. We have created haikus, cinquains, spring color poems. Sea Turtle pastel drawings, Triarama pop ups, Clay wind chimes, Scientific Illustrations of Insects and Painting. We have sent out Flat Stanleys to community members and museums all over the country. We have received them back from all over, including President Obama. We created as a group a Map of Our Community. We planted seeds and watched them grow. We learned about LCM, GCF, and multiplication and division, shapes and symmetry, coins and counting, two digit addition and subtraction with regrouping. I learned that classroom management is about having high expectations, looking for ways to notice positive behaviors, having classroom procedures that we created together and review frequently. I learned that differentiation is so much more than have the highs help the lows, and that the professional community and collaboration that you find in a school means everything to how enjoyable your experience is as a new teacher. I am hopeful for the future. I am looking for a teaching job!