Interactive Word Wall

One thing that I plan on having in my classroom is a word wall. But not just the classic word wall, with words. And not the differentiated word wall with pictures and words, but I want to include an interactive word wall. This is inspired partly from instruction from CalTeach and partly from the linked article by Jackson and Narvaez.

To achieve an interactive word wall
"We ask students to supply the items (realia) and assign finding objects or examples for the wall as homework. Students can prepare labels, write definitions, create illustrations, and suggest relevant connections and patterns. The connections that they make are insightful and often surprising."

The article outlines steps to creating the word wall

1. Planning the word wall based on standards and classroom goals
2. Create a student worksheet based on pre-planning and sketches
3. Place the Word Wall
4. Build the Word Wall in Class
5. Complete Student Record Sheet and Word Wall Together

This seems like a lot of good work to start on, and I will do my best to get a few planned out before the beginning of the school year (at least one).

From Interviews to Employment

I graduated from UC Irvine in mid-June, and since then I have been on a handful of interviews. I went on 1 interview in LA, 1 interview in Orange County, and 4 in San Diego. Of these six interviews, I got two job offers, both from San Diego County schools. When I write it down like that, it doesn't seem nearly as discouraging as it did over the couple months when all of this was taking place. I was really doubting I would get a job, and I was ramping up my information to file to be a substitute and volunteer next year. But I did it! I am now going to be a first year teacher. And in the grade level/ subject that I wanted as well!

My goals for next year:

1. Stay Organized!! 

I plan on having at very least three records of my first year. First, this blog will serve as my reflection blog, and I will have at least one blog post a week reflecting on what worked and did not work in my lessons/classroom, ideally I will post every night before I go to sleep. Second, I will keep a binder with every classroom assignment/hand out in it. This binder will have a empty copy and a key in it. Third, I will maintain a companion science journal with everything I expect students to have in it, which students can look at if they miss a day in class. 

Ideally, I will also stay up-to-date on grades, and have them in the system at least 3 days before they are due each grading period. I will also do my best to keep a record of classroom discipline, which I will have to do for BTSA anyways. 

2. Read

I hope to read at least 1 article a week from NSTA and 1 book a semester about teaching in one way or another. I need to do a lot more reading on classroom organization and management. And about EL learners. And most of all, I need to learn more about classroom technology. 

3. Create Positive Relationships with my Students

It is selfish to say this, but I want my students to like me. I hope that by the end of the year they know that I care about them, and their academic progress. I will also try to hold them to a high standard, because I know that they can achieve when they try hard. I want to motivate at least one student to love science. And I want to do my best to support EL learners. 

But overall, my biggest goal for this year is to want to come back to teaching after my first year. So many first year teachers leave the profession, and I don't want to be one of them. Student teaching was hard, but rewarding, so I hope that I will have a similar experience with first-year teaching. And hopefully, after a few more years I won't find it to be so difficult anymore.