Over the past school year I was an 4th grade Teacher Intern at Shoesmith Elementary School in Chicago, Illinois. Shoesmith Elementary School was an extremely supportive environment for Michigan State Interns, many of the teachers are Michigan State alumni. I had the opportunity to develop, and grow my skills as a teacher while working side by side two amazing mentor teachers, Jennifer Giffey and Kelly Lane. My 4th grade classroom consisted of 30 very unique students, including 6 diverse learners who inspired me to want to continue my masters education in special education.
Over the course of 9 months that I was a teacher intern, I was able to participate in a number of significant opportunities at the school and in 4th grade. I created and taught hands-on, whole-group and small-group unit and lesson plans in math, science, social studies, reading and writing that aligned with the Common Core State Standards. . From the beginning of the school year I created, adjusted, and applied classroom producers and management strategies. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in professional development meetings, IEP and 504 meetings, parent conferences, weekly principal meetings, grading papers, designing rubrics, creating weekly parent newsletters and creating bulletin boards.
During the school year the 4th grade team was approached by the Hyde Part Art Center wanting to partner up on an integrative art project. Being able to provide my students with a science/art project was a joy, it was amazing seeing my students light up every time they were able to work on their project with the artist. Another opportunity the other MSU inters and I had was to create an interactive college week that focused students on working towards achieving higher education.
Each week the teachers at Shoesmith participate in grade level meetings with the principal. As a teacher intern, these meetings were a great leaning experience, I was able to learn and understand how important standardized test data is and how I can apply it in my classroom. The school used that data to start to a math intervention program, where the students were broken up by skill level (verse by grade) to participate in math mini-lessons that would help them develop the skills they needed to work on. Based on grade-level meetings and NWEA data, in our classrooms my mentors and I decided that it would be beneficial to create individual learning menus for students that focused on using to develop math and reading skills. A few months into the school year my mentor and I critically created and implemented all reading instructions done in small-groups based on students individual skill level and needs.
One reason why I have always wanted to be a teacher is because I love to learn. During this school year I was not only able to learn and develop my skills as a teacher but also as a person. All 30 children in the classroom touched my heart and mind in a different way. I have been able to become more patient, more understanding, and more passionate for teaching. I am thankful for the good and the bad days and for all of the memories I made my first year of teaching. I look forward to make a life time worth of memories in my future classroom.
-Ms. Cirignani
Over the course of 9 months that I was a teacher intern, I was able to participate in a number of significant opportunities at the school and in 4th grade. I created and taught hands-on, whole-group and small-group unit and lesson plans in math, science, social studies, reading and writing that aligned with the Common Core State Standards. . From the beginning of the school year I created, adjusted, and applied classroom producers and management strategies. I was fortunate to have the opportunity to participate in professional development meetings, IEP and 504 meetings, parent conferences, weekly principal meetings, grading papers, designing rubrics, creating weekly parent newsletters and creating bulletin boards.
During the school year the 4th grade team was approached by the Hyde Part Art Center wanting to partner up on an integrative art project. Being able to provide my students with a science/art project was a joy, it was amazing seeing my students light up every time they were able to work on their project with the artist. Another opportunity the other MSU inters and I had was to create an interactive college week that focused students on working towards achieving higher education.
Each week the teachers at Shoesmith participate in grade level meetings with the principal. As a teacher intern, these meetings were a great leaning experience, I was able to learn and understand how important standardized test data is and how I can apply it in my classroom. The school used that data to start to a math intervention program, where the students were broken up by skill level (verse by grade) to participate in math mini-lessons that would help them develop the skills they needed to work on. Based on grade-level meetings and NWEA data, in our classrooms my mentors and I decided that it would be beneficial to create individual learning menus for students that focused on using to develop math and reading skills. A few months into the school year my mentor and I critically created and implemented all reading instructions done in small-groups based on students individual skill level and needs.
One reason why I have always wanted to be a teacher is because I love to learn. During this school year I was not only able to learn and develop my skills as a teacher but also as a person. All 30 children in the classroom touched my heart and mind in a different way. I have been able to become more patient, more understanding, and more passionate for teaching. I am thankful for the good and the bad days and for all of the memories I made my first year of teaching. I look forward to make a life time worth of memories in my future classroom.
-Ms. Cirignani