This week has been a whirlwind. It started with frustration and anxiety about the entire process and it has ended with a little stress and focus. Yes, I know that stress in not good, but it is a heck of a lot better than what I was feeling before. Below is a list of some of the things I have learned this week.
During the week I provided support to my peers by providing them with constructive feedback regarding their blogs and current place on their projects. I also provided several peers with resources, links to websites and articles, and ideas of possible classroom activities. When my peers were feeling frustrated and stressed, I provided them with positive support and encouragement, which I really think was needed this week by a lot of us.
Overall I feel that I have had a great week. I have had my ups and downs and have finished the week on an up. I have a good plan for what I am doing this next week and plan on beginning my exit tickets via survey monkeys on Monday. I have learned from a technology activity that did not go so well for my class and have made arrangements to have a permanent projector in the computer lab so that next time my students can all do the steps together instead of me running around trying to help everyone. I believe that my research is off to a good start and I have a good grasp of my students' interests and how I can differentiate for such a diverse class. Now, I do realize that these feelings might be gone away by Wednesday...but right now, I am feeling good. Happy Sunday!
- My initial research proposal was on track and actually done pretty well. It felt really good being asked to share my proposal with other students. I had spent a lot of time on it and was worried that I was off track and it was not going in the right direction. So after about Wednesday, that big weight was lifted off my shoulders.
- I learned from the feedback of my peers that I was on the right track and that the 3 week time period would be good. I also was provided with some resources to check out that applied to my project and research, which I love to get! I also got some constructive feedback that made me think about my research project in a different manner and helped me fine tune some things.
- I realized that differentiation does not mean, "a lot of stuff." By Wednesday morning I was feeling stressed and overwhelmed with the amount of prep work that I felt I needed to do for my class that I am differentiating with. On Wednesday I took a time out and brought focus back and reminded myself that a lot of different activities does not mean that I am differentiating. It is okay if students just do practice problems, as long as I am walking around and truly helping them with them. Instead of racing from one activity to another in class, sometimes it is better to do 1 or 2 things and do them really well. Sometimes I forget that when planning and teaching because I get all these great ideas that I want to try. But I have to remember that I can't do everything and that doing everything is also not good for my students.
During the week I provided support to my peers by providing them with constructive feedback regarding their blogs and current place on their projects. I also provided several peers with resources, links to websites and articles, and ideas of possible classroom activities. When my peers were feeling frustrated and stressed, I provided them with positive support and encouragement, which I really think was needed this week by a lot of us.
Overall I feel that I have had a great week. I have had my ups and downs and have finished the week on an up. I have a good plan for what I am doing this next week and plan on beginning my exit tickets via survey monkeys on Monday. I have learned from a technology activity that did not go so well for my class and have made arrangements to have a permanent projector in the computer lab so that next time my students can all do the steps together instead of me running around trying to help everyone. I believe that my research is off to a good start and I have a good grasp of my students' interests and how I can differentiate for such a diverse class. Now, I do realize that these feelings might be gone away by Wednesday...but right now, I am feeling good. Happy Sunday!