Week 1

My student teaching experience begins on August 26th at Calmeca Academy of Fine Arts and Dual Language. I will be student teaching in a 1st grade classroom alongside Mrs. Estrada. Like many of my peers I am feeling a mixture of emotions. I worry about time management and being able to balance student teaching and home life.

I used to work at Calmeca Academy. I was a teacher assistant for three years and special education assistant for one year. In 2017, I left to pursue another employment opportunity at Namaste Charter School. I  wanted to experience something different. Leaving Calmeca allowed me to grow as an educator. I learned that I love dual language and I discovered that I am passionate about social-emotional learning. I am excited to return to Calmeca. I definitely need to strengthen
standard 2- Content Area and Pedagogical Knowledge

2G)  understands the theory behind and the process for providing support to promote learning when concepts and skills are first being introduced; and
2H)  understands the relationship among language acquisition (first and second), literacy development, and acquisition of academic content and skills.


My objective as a student teacher is to encourage emotional intelligence and instill learning habits that will create life-long learners. I also hope to learn as much as I possibly can. I am going to be a a walking sponge during my student teaching experience and I will definitely be asking many questions. 

I have a few more days until I begin my student teaching experience. These are my following goals for the week

• get organized
• create a study/work schedule
• study and plan
• meet with my teacher host
• create a schedule with my teacher host
• organize the classroom 

Classroom Confidential Week 1 

 
        I believe in a holistic approach to education.  I’ve learned that students who can self-regulate, problem solve, and articulate feelings are often more academically successful than students who are not emotionally intelligent. 

Schmidt says that students are expected to sit still, keep quiet, and perform repetitive mental tasks. I will steer away from this traditional teaching approach. In fact, I believe in movement breaks, student collaborations, and individual plan for each student and much more...

Schmidt asserts that activity without cognition is just a way to keep kids from smacking each other...idle hands may be the devils workshop, but clueless hands aren't much better.. before you switch on the hands, you must ease the brain into gear and keep it running 

There are other ways to full brain learning and Schmidt provided nine examples. Although, I see myself using these ideas a few of them resonated with me. I can definitely see myself promoting social and communication skills and tapping into students curiosity. I liked the idea of providing varying degrees of depth, novelty, and complexity. Students will feel empowered and this will instill the love of learning. I love the