3rd Grade Weekly Log

Student Teaching Weekly Log

Name: Kelly Nelson Week: 2/24- 2/28 1. How did you spend your time this week? What responsibilities did you have?

a. During this past week, I spent a majority of my time learning the routines of the classroom and observing my mentor teacher. I took notes about the practices and methods used in the classroom and how the daily schedule works and operates. I started to help out with grading papers, creating classroom materials, and beginning some of my lesson planning.

2. What were your most satisfying and challenging experiences?a. Satisfying: I was able to make some really great connections with the

students during my first week. Getting to know all the students names and introducing myself to them was exciting and satisfying as I begin getting more comfortable in this placement.

b. Challenging: Making the change and adaption between placements was a challenging experience. I was previously in an 8th grade classroom, which is structured and runs very differently than my current 3rd grade special education placement. I really had to change my mindset and get into the “groove” of 3rd grade and how to respond and interact with this age level and classroom environment.

3. What are the plans for the upcoming week?a. I will begin taking over a few small groups in this upcoming week. At

the beginning of the week, I will take over the writing group and slowly add the behavior group into my responsibilities by the end of the week. This will allow me to start my phase in process and I will begin to get more involved with the students.



a. During this week, I started to take over some of the small groups that come into the resource room. I was responsible for the writing group and the behavior group throughout the week. I planned the lessons for these small groups and interacted with the students as we engaged in daily content and material. I was also responsible for getting materials ready for these groups, grading papers, and individual students who needed extra assistance or had questions throughout the day.

2. What were your most satisfying and challenging experiences?a. Satisfying:

i. One of our behavior students has been doing very well on her behavior chart. Due to her great success on her current behavior goal, we were able to increase her behavior goal and

challenge her to continue with her appropriate behavior when in class and during instructional time. It was very satisfying to see one of the students doing so well and moving forward with the behavior goal on her IEP.

b. Challenging: i. One of the biggest challenges when starting in the classroom is

determining the pace of students and their learning. I often have a tendency to move too quickly through the material and forget to slow down when students are confused or do not understand the material. It has been challenging to pick up on the different paces of these students and adapt my instruction so that it is beneficial for them and their learning.

3. What are the plans for the upcoming week?a. This upcoming week, I will be taking responsibility for more small

groups that come into the resource room. I will be adding the first daily reading group and the afternoon math group to my responsibilities. I will begin to plan the lessons for these groups, engage with the students during lesson time, grade papers, and assess student knowledge and understanding of the content that we are working on in class.



a. This week I started to take over more responsibilities in the classroom. I was in charge of the writing group, the behavior group, the first daily reading group, and the afternoon math group. It was my responsibility to plan for these lessons/groups and run the daily operations that go along with these groups. I was also responsible for getting their daily materials ready and making sure they were organized and ready to participate in the general education classroom.


i. One of my students who really struggles with reading did very well on his reading cards this week. I was able to see him improve as the week went on and raise the number of cards he was able to read in a set time. He was very encouraged with his progress and I was able to see his excitement and enthusiasm as the week progressed.

b. Challenging: i. Due to an interview this week, I had to miss a full day of school.

It was challenging to make sure my students would be prepared for when I was gone. I had to make sure that my mentor teacher knew what I was planning to do with them so

that she could take over for me when I was gone. I was really able to see the importance of lesson plans and how they aid when a teacher has to be gone for the day.

3. What are the plans for the upcoming week?a. Next week is spring break, however, the week after spring break I will

be “bell-to-bell” teaching. I will be in charge of all the small groups that come in and out of the resource room everyday. I will be responsible for lesson planning, getting materials ready, classroom management, student learning, and grading of materials and assessments.



a. This was my first week of bell-to-bell teaching so I was responsible for all of the lesson planning, instruction, homework, and assessments. I spent a majority of my classroom time working with my small groups and instructing them during their special education minuets. I had 3 reading groups each day, a writing group, and two math groups. I was also in charge of working with the behavior students and keeping track of their behavior plans and reward times.


i. One satisfying experience was that I was able to sit in on an IEP meeting and talk with a student’s parents who is doing well in the classroom. This was an experience that really allowed me to learn a lot about the IEP process while also informing the parents about their child’s growth and development in the classroom.

b. Challenging: i. One challenging experience was getting a new student. One of

my reading groups gained a new member this week and I was responsible for introducing the student to our daily routines and procedures during class time. This was difficult because all of my other students were ready to move forward with the material. Instead of moving forward with material, I had to take time away from the content and get the new student set up so that he could participate in the daily reading with the rest of the group.

3. What are the plans for the upcoming week?a. Next week, I will continue bell-to-bell teaching and working with the

small groups that come into the classroom for extra help and assistance. I will continue to plan all of the lessons, grade homework, and work through assessments with the students. I will continue to work with my 3 reading groups, 1 writing group, and the 2 math

groups. I will also continue to be in charge of working with the behavior students and keeping track of their behavior plans and reward times.


Name: Kelly Nelson Week: 3/31- 4/41. How did you spend your time this week? What responsibilities did you have?

a. This was my second and final week of bell-to-bell teaching. I was responsible for all of the lesson planning, instruction, homework, and assessments. I spent a majority of my classroom time working with my small groups and instructing them during their special education minuets. I had 3 reading groups each day, a writing group, and two math groups. I was also in charge of working with the behavior students and keeping track of their behavior plans and reward times.


i. One of the most satisfying parts of this week was my final evaluation with my mentor teacher. I was able to get feedback about my teaching and evaluate my strengths and weaknesses in the classroom. Overall, I feel that I did a good job at this placement and received a lot of positive feedback from my mentor teacher, as well as some areas where I can improve on to make myself a better teacher.

b. Challenging: i. One of the most challenging parts of this week was

determining when to intervene with students and when to let them work it out on their own. I had two students engage in a conflict regarding other classmates in the general education setting/recess time. I wanted to give my students the opportunity to work it out on their own, however, one student started to cry making it a tough to decide when it was appropriate to intervene with the students and their disagreement.

3. What are the plans for the upcoming week?a. Next week, I will begin the phase out process for this placement. It is

my final week at Carlisle Elementary so I will start to become less involved in the classroom as the week goes on. I will continue with some of the reading groups at the beginning of the week and slowly transfer them back to Mrs. Jennings. I do plan to keep my writing group all the way through Friday, my last day.


Name: Kelly Nelson Week: 4/7- 4/11 1. How did you spend your time this week? What responsibilities did you have?2. What were your most satisfying and challenging experiences?

a. Satisfying: b. Challenging:

3. What are the plans for the upcoming week?

Documents

3rd Grade Weekly Log