Tonight was a very interesting night for me! I had dinner with a teacher in Torrington and we talked in great detail about our philosophies and beliefs. I loved being able to connect with a peer who is already in the field. I was able to connect some of my Tuesday experiences with her experiences in her third grade classroom. Tonight was the first night that I felt like a professional and I look forward to student teaching because I will have many more of these experiences! We were able to share some great ideas with one another - such as classroom management, seating arrangements, and classroom libraries. For student teaching and when I have my future classroom, I will certainly collaborate with friends that are already teaching! Have you had the opportunity to talk with others that are already in the field? I would love to hear about people you already know teaching and some of the advice they have told you!

The Progress of My Literature Circle

As I had mentioned previously, I started my literature circle with my group of fourth graders. I was given the option by the teacher to decide which book to use and I selected Sounder by William H. Armstrong. I selected this book because I have never read the book and also because I could tell how interesting the story would be by skimming the pages and looking at the illustrations.

My coordinating teacher chose which five students would be participating with my literature circle and he also gave me a packet that he uses for other literature circles. I sensed that the packet could be greatly improved, so I took the liberty to create a new one based on the old one. My teacher loved the new packet and even asked if he could use it in the future! I was so excited that he was pleased with my work and I felt proud.

Preparing for the literature circle was not overwhelming. I reviewed Tompkin's section on literature circles and researched online at various websites. I cherry-picked what I thought were the best suggestions and put together was I believed was best for my group. I planned well in advance; I made a chart illustrating who will have what role each week (six weeks in total). Also, I created some activities that were directly related to topics in the book. I have learned that preparation is key, though the discussion is dynamic which you can not always prepare for!

Overall, I absolutely love the literature circle. I am trying hard to make the students feel invested in their work, which is seemingly successful thus far. I will continue to blog about our meetings in detail.

Please ask any questions that you may have. Also, if you would like to see a copy of the packet (before and/or after) just let me know!