The Test that Determines My Future...

Want to know what is on my mind and has been on my mind for the past month nonstop? The GACE. While I understand the importance of this test, I can now totally relate to the elementary students who are stressing out about the CRCT and other tests that are weighted heavily. The moment that test was over, I felt a huge weight lifted off of my shoulders, but I was carrying around that weight for a good month or so which was extremely uncomfortable.

The test did drain me; I’m not going to lie. When I walked out and got home, I fell asleep and slept for so long. The thought of not passing this test will now be the weight on my shoulders for the next month, but I did everything I could to prepare for this test, so I feel like I could not do anything else!

I try to find the positive aspect from experiences like this one, which was hard for me to do! While stressing over the test and what will be on it, I realized, after the fact, that I had learned so much about history and science, and brushed up my mathematics and literature skills, that I was surprised about. I have now realized that science and social studies are not stressed enough in the schools, and I will teach these subjects when I have my own classroom. I was just thinking of the fact that I could not remember anything about wars, famous people, etc. and if I could not remember them, then why should I expect my students to remember them?! After taking this test, I have realized that I need to make sure that my lessons for my future classroom are meaningful so the students take a deeper understanding away from my lesson. I want my students to be able to remember all the information, not just to pass the GACE in their future, but to become well-rounded citizens that truly understand the world around them. 

Units of Study. In Writing Workshops?!

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about units of study while reading Ray’s Chapter 12 in her book The Writing Workshop. I have always heard of unit plans and units studies in all other subject matters, but I have not had the experience of unit planning in a writer’s workshop period.

            Honestly, this semester has been my first experience of a writer’s workshop time period. I have really enjoyed getting engulfed in the material and watching the students work on their writing, and actually enjoy their writing. I never really understood writer’s workshop until this semester as I am placed in a first grade classroom.

            With that being said, I always get excited when a new approach to writer’s workshop emerges. With using a unit plan approach to writer’s workshop, I believe that the students can gain the most from the time that they are using for writing. By using a unit plan approach, the students can focus on one topic and fully engage in that topic that allows for growth. While reading, I thought a unit plan could be on nouns and verbs, but as I was reading, I realized that this was too small of a topic and would dead-end too fast. A unit plan should be one that the students can focus on for a time span of a few days to several weeks. Learning about this topic has opened my eyes to what a writer’s workshop could potentially look like in my future classroom. 

              On a different note, I noticed my first ever complaint of writing in my first grade classroom, and it was devastating! I was teaching a lesson on American Heroes and the students were really engaged in the book that I was reading. After the book, we talked about the person, and then they were to go back to their desks to create a page to go in their class book of what they had learned during the day from my lesson. The topic was broad, which I thought was good so I did not narrow any student into a certain topic, but it was also direct in who I wanted the students to write about. While I told them to go back to their desks, a few of the students responded, “Aw. I don’t want to write. I don’t like writing.” I think my face was priceless because I could not believe that the students were saying this! I approached the situation as I wanted the rest of the class to see their writing and to be able to read their writing in the class book, but I really did not know what else to say! Any suggestions?!