Finishing up...

Finishing up my first 8 weeks!!
I am really excited to say that I am almost at the halfway point of my final semester!  It is hard to believe that in about 2 months I will be walking across the stage graduating!  This 8 weeks has been a really good learning experience.  I taught 5 days without the cooperating teacher in the room last week and that was really neat but scary!  There were times where I really was not sure how to handle certain students but I tried my best and definitely learned a lot from it.  It is very much an artificial environment since it is not actually my classroom and the students are not used to my teaching style.  I tried my best to build relationships with the students but it is difficult to when I only get to spend 8 weeks with them.  I cannot wait until I have my own classroom and get to start from Day 1 with the students.  

Tomorrow I will teach my last lesson at this school and my supervisor will be there.  Hopefully I will do a good job with the kiddos and finish this 8 weeks with a good evaluation.  I am looking forward to the next school I will be at.  I will be in a 2nd grade classroom and that will be a totally different experience.  There are 25 kids in this classroom I will be in next.  

Unfortunately I will have about a 30 minute drive to my next school but I have been spoiled this last 8 weeks being next door to the school.  

64 days until graduation! :)

I will try to keep you posted throughout the rest of the semester but it will definitely be busy!  God Bless!

Mrs. Utt   

I'm falling in love...

Even though this is a totally superficial environment with student teaching I am really starting to enjoy the experience.  The students are extremely challenging but honestly that only makes teaching more rewarding.  My cooperating teacher is extremely helpful and encouraging which is a blessing from God during this crazy final semester.  I have been teaching math all week and it has been difficult to try and keep everyone on task at all times and making sure each student is learning.  I know for sure a couple of students who definitely are not understanding certain concepts and I keep telling them if you do not understand you need to be responsible and come ask for help during academic lab (at the end of the day).  I'm learning you can't force the students to do everything and you can't baby them.  Especially as 4th graders they have to be responsible and if they don't they will face the consequences.  Tomorrow my supervisor is coming to observe me which of course is nerve wracking because you never know how the students will act, and I have to be prepared for that.  Then, friday is our test which I think will be very interesting to grade since I have taught most of this Unit and I want all the students to get good grades.  (Hopefully I won't be disappointed) 


I have picked up a reading group and I am really enjoying that.  We are trying to get the students to read more non-fiction books and learn how to discuss and create opinions based on the facts we read.  It is a lot of fun to work in small groups I just need to learn how to facilitate better so the students are doing most of the talking.  


I am also reading Mr. Tucket with the class and monitoring wikispace discussions about the book.  It is a lot of fun to see what they are predicting will happen in the book and their thoughts about what has happened so far.  It is a good book about westward expansion which fits in great with our social studies unit we are on currently.


All this student teaching is making me so anxious to have my own classroom!  I really really really hope and pray that I can find a job for next year! 

First Week Update!

I have survived my first 3 days of student teaching. Yay!  So far it has been just like my field experience except I am there all day long.  I really love my cooperating teacher.  She is a great teacher and has a lot of insight that is different then a lot of things I have seen or heard.  I am learning a lot already from her.  I am still anxious and nervous for whenever I start teaching lessons and getting more involved but it has been fun getting to know the students the past few days.  I know I just need to be confident in myself but it is so hard whenever I don't have much experience.  On one hand I just want to jump in and get going so I can stop being anxious about it but on the other hand it is great putting it off longer.  :P

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The class has some very challenging students but that is kind of great to have a more difficult class for student teaching because it will give me good experience for my first year of teaching.  One interesting thing about the classroom too is that the student all sit on athletic balls.  You know the big bouncy ones that are good for working out.  I was overwhelmed by it the first couple of days because the kids were just bouncing up and down ALL day.  But they are starting to get back into the routine from winter break and they are suppose to have both feet on the ground and not bounce during class.  I was getting so annoyed by the bouncing the last two days and then today I sat on one and didn't even realize until a couple of minutes later that I was bouncing.  I had to laugh at myself about that.

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Tomorrow morning I am sitting down with my cooperating teacher to set a schedule about what I will be teaching and when.  Hopefully we will really ease into it this first 8 weeks.  I am really interested to see how it goes.

Thanks for reading,
Mrs. Utt :)

Tomorrow is the Big Day!

I cannot believe that I start tomorrow.  I am really excited to meet the students and the teacher I'll be working with.  I have mentally prepared myself as much as I can for this semester.  My plan is to work on my organization and time management a lot through this whole process and put everything I can into this experience.  I have my outfit picked out for tomorrow and after searching for my lost brown wedge dress shoe for the last 24 hours I finally found it underneath the bed! 

I would like to say thank you to my friends and my beloved husband for all their encouragement. my nerves have settled, at least until tomorrow.  Even though I feel like I have no clue what I'm doing I am certain that this profession is the type of career God has prepared me for.  I love children and I love being creative and helping them.  

...on a less serious note the charter guy in the other room installing cable keeps whistling tunes while he is working.  haha!

Anyway, I am so thankful for these last few years of school and thank the Lord for blessing me with family and friends who believe in me.  I love you all and I cannot wait to share my journey with you as I work towards graduating and finding a teaching job next year.  

God Bless,

Mrs. Utt