Week 1

My first week of student teaching flew by. Tuesday was an in-service day and I had the opportunity to help set up the band room and get materials ready for the year. I also took part in a district-wide CPR training. Wednesday was the first day of school for the students but I did not have any students that day. Manhattan Jr. High has gone to a pull-out system for the music students during the day. My cooperating teacher Mrs. Pedziwater and the choir/orchestra teacher Mrs. Pacheco spent the day trying to figure out what periods they are going to pull all of the students out for music. It was interesting to see how much prep and planning that goes into getting ready to have students. It was also interesting to see how much teachers prepare at the last second because they do not have the time in a place to prepare for everything beforehand.

Manhattan Jr. High has implemented a new program for all of the teachers called PLC meetings. Each content area has its own time in a place to have this new program. PLC stands for professional learning committee. This PLC group meets every day from 1 to 1:45. I have to opportunity to sit in the daily meeting and participate in professional development and discussions. I think that it is going to be a great way to learn from a larger group of teachers and see what works and does not work for them in their classrooms. It is also a great way to become a better teacher myself because the goa of the meeting is to become better teachers across the whole school. 

I also had the opportunity to go with the Manhattan Jr. High School marching band to the Elwood parade. Marching band is something that I love and it was very exciting to be on the other end of it. Going with the band to the parade really helped me start to get to know the students and have them get to know me. Which is important because if they do not know me at all they are going to be unwilling to work with me or corporate with me as I am trying to teach them. 

 The first week there was only band rehearsal on Thursday and Friday. The students have not started their pull out lessons during the school day, so the majority of my day was spent helping my cooperating teacher get the band room ready. I have learned a lot even without students, I knew that there was a lot of planning that needed to be done as a teacher but seeing it with my own eyes how much work my cooperating teacher has to do every day, the paperwork, emails, corresponding with other teachers and parents. In order to stay on top of it all, a good organization system is needed.