Internship November Reflection:

            November has been by far one of the most hectic, busy, and meaningful months in my internship yet. This past month I entered my three-week block; my cooperating teacher was extremely supportive and gave me the full reins of the classroom. This time was essential to my growth as an educator, as it gave me insight into what running a classroom as a solo teacher is like. In addition to my three-week block in November, we had our school-wide Remembrance Day ceremony and parent-teacher conferences. Looking back on it now, though November was busy, I am so pleased with everything that happened in my three-week block. I am also proud of all the different learning strategies and activities I experimented with. For this month, I will highlight my three main takeaways.

Morning Meetings:

            Something that was a new responsibility during my three-week block was running our morning meeting. I had the opportunity a few times before experimenting with this; however, I never ran morning meetings consistently. Having had the chance to run it this past month, I cannot stress enough how important a morning meeting is to ease students into the day. From a trauma-informed perspective, a morning meeting allows for some time and transition for kids who come late or require breakfast; it is also an excellent calm environment first thing in the morning. In addition, when it comes to relationships, morning meetings allow for a more informal setting and give students time to share their thoughts and feelings with you and their classmates. Morning meetings can also be themed to make them relevant to what is happening in the classroom or the world. This past month my morning meetings served as a fun and entertaining setting for us to have a good laugh and a setting where we could have more difficult conversations as a class. For example, when our class needed a reset and reminders of expectations in the classroom, I themed our morning meeting around what it means to show respect. This reached all the students in a powerful way. I am so grateful to my co-op for introducing me to morning meetings. I will consistently implement them in my future classrooms.

Story Workshop:

            Something that I tried hard to do this past month was implement different teaching and learning methods and activities that I had yet to try. I took my three-week block to try everything I always wondered about. I was always interested in story workshop. Therefore, this past month was the perfect time to try it. Due to story workshop being a new concept to our class, I took lots of time to explain the process and had small groups work with me one-on-one during their workshop time. I started the week by presenting what a story workshop was and created a teacher example for the students to reference. Next, because it was our first story workshop, I decided it would be best to come up with a theme, so I decided on winter and read the students a winter-themed book to inspire them for their future writing. I then gave the students a second teacher example that was winter themed and then introduced them to their loose parts. I only picked about five loose parts as I did not want to overwhelm the students; their options were white and blue colored gems, wood pieces, moss, and cotton balls. I took reading groups one at a time to begin their creative process. Students used the loss parts on felt mats to create their initial stories; after they were done, they uploaded a photo to their edsby accounts. The next day when all students interacted with the materials, they went on to draw what they had created. Finally, the following day, students participated in the writing process (and the accommodation was having me or our EA scribe for students who needed it). When all students were finished, we spent the last writing class on Friday showing the pictures we had made and sharing our stories (volunteer basis). Ultimately, story workshop allowed students flexibility, creativity, and choice in their writing. Even my students who have writing blocks could come up with a story, and this is due to the creation process. Story workshop will be a continual experience in my future classrooms.

Parent-Teacher Conferences:

            The last part that stood out this month was our parent-teacher conferences. Although I had met many parents at our start of the year barbeque, I was so glad to connect with my student’s parents again in person. Although I planned to lead a few conferences, I lost my voice right before the meetings. Nonetheless, I still learned a lot from being a part of the process and contributed my input when I could. Parent-teacher conferences are so important; as teachers and parents, we are all at the same time working to support a child’s best interest. Ultimately, these conferences offer a chance to set new goals, communicate, and figure out how to support the child best.

Thank you for taking the time to read my November internship reflection.