WEEKLY JOURNAL: WEEK 2.

Submit on Sunday night by 8:00 p.m. to me at sccox@odu.edu.

Use this journal to describe your progress in becoming a Professional Educator in relation to
the goals of The Unit’s Model in the Handbook.

Name Abigail Smetanick Date

1. What was the purpose of your lesson this week? The overall purpose of the lesson this week
was to start learning about the meaning of measurement and how we measure objects. In first
grade, we use non-standard units of measurements. Therefore, we are using things such as cubes,
stones, and cards to measure objects. These are our “units” of measurement.

2. How did you engage your learners with your materials? I engaged the students by using
manipulatives to measure certain objects. In addition, I also had them measure certain objects
around the room at home and in the classroom. Giving them the opportunity to move around and
explore the area with measurement engaged the students more.

3. Were you effective in meeting the purpose of the lessons – how are you measuring this? I
believe that this lesson was effective by working with the students one-on-one and reviewing
their independent work. I am measuring this by looking over their seesaw’s and other book work
that we complete together as a class.

4. What were the strength of this lesson? (Identify at least two areas) I believe the areas of
strengths in this lesson was the use of manipulatives. Having the students really use materials to
help them measure objects is helping overall as a whole. In addition, giving them the time to
move around the classroom to measure multiple options.

5. What areas will you seek to improve in future lessons? I’m trying to find more ways to be
engaging in my lessons. I can tell that the students are starting to get bored of the material. I’m
having a hard time because I am being hands on with the students all of the time.

6. Did you make any changes in your plans after teaching the lesson? Yes Why or why not? I
had to make some changes to my lesson plan due to the snow. Therefore, we had to switch to
virtual and we were not able to measure around the room on the first day.

7. What do you regard as your most important personal learning experience during this week?
That sometimes things do not go as plan. Some of the things I asked them to measure were too
big and we did not have enough cubes to measure. Therefore, we had to skip certain objects that
we were going to measure.

8. Did you have a conference this week with your clinical faculty?yes
How many times? Every day during planning and on our Wednesday day off. If not, why? Click
here to enter text.

9. Tell me about something that happened this week that you are proud of. Starting to take full
control of the classroom.

10. Are you having problems that you feel require attention and assistance from me? No

11. When would be a good time for me to stop by your school next week? Any day Tuesday-
Friday at 1

WEEKLY JOURNAL: WEEK 3.

Submit on Sunday night by 8:00 p.m. to me at sccox@odu.edu.

Use this journal to describe your progress in becoming a Professional Educator in relation to
the goals of The Unit’s Model in the Handbook.

Name Abigail Smetanick Date: 2/1-2/5

1. What was the purpose of your lesson this week? The purpose of my lesson this week was
ordering a set of numbers from least to greatest and greatest to least. We used our prior
knowledge of place value from the past several weeks to help us break down the numbers.
Breaking down the numbers, helped the students understand what numbers should come before
each other. For example, the set of numbers 12, 23, 10. The students will first look at either the
least amount of tens or greatest amount of tens. If they have two numbers that have the same
amount of tens, the students would look at the ones to decide which number should come next in
least to greatest or greatest to least.

2. How did you engage your learners with your materials? To engage the students, I had an
interactive gonoodle that reviewed greater than, less than, or equal too. This was really effective
for the students because it gave them a brain break where they could move around and reviewed
the information with them. In addition, I also used the document camera and white board to work
out problems with the students.

3. Were you effective in meeting the purpose of the lessons – how are you measuring this? I
believe I was effective with meeting the purpose of this lesson. The only thing I believe that
wasn’t effective was the trouble of virtual learning. I want to find ways to keep them more
engage when we are doing virtual learning.

4. What were the strength of this lesson? (Identify at least two areas) One strength in this lesson
was the use of interactive strategies to engage the students. For example, gonoodle video.
Another strength in this lesson was, working through problems with the students. Usually I
would give them an exit ticket to complete. Although, I notice some of the kids were struggling
with the objective. Therefore, I worked through more problems with the students. This helped
the students understand the objective and prepared them for their seasaw.

5. What areas will you seek to improve in future lessons? I will still be working on my language
that students will understand. I still notice myself using language that will have the students
remain confused.

6. Did you make any changes in your plans after teaching the lesson? No Why or why not? Yes,
I would include more manipulatives such as, base ten blocks. Doing this would help the students
see and build the numbers in front of them.

7. What do you regard as your most important personal learning experience during this week?
How technology will not always work in your favor! I was supposed to work from home on
Tuesday and my google meet would not connect.

8. Did you have a conference this week with your clinical faculty? Yes

How many times? Every day during our planning periods. If not, why? Click here to enter text.

9. Tell me about something that happened this week that you are proud of. I am proud of
overcoming technology difficulties and still being able to come into the school and complete my
lesson.

10. Are you having problems that you feel require attention and assistance from me? No

11. When would be a good time for me to stop by your school next week? Any day besides
Wednesday at 1 pm.

WEEKLY JOURNAL WEEK 5.

Submit on Sunday night by 8:00 p.m. to me at sccox@odu.edu.

Use this journal to describe your progress in becoming a Professional Educator in relation to
the goals of The Unit’s Model in the Handbook.

Name Abigail Smetanick Date

1. What was the purpose of your lesson this week? The overall purpose of my lesson this week
was measuring weight and volume. The overall purpose was to have the students measure with
non-standard units. In addition, the students would be weighing objects with balance scales
rather than a regular scale. In addition, the students would be learning the overall meaning of
capacity for volume.
2. How did you engage your learners with your materials? This week we used a lot of
manipulatives to engage the lesson. For example, we used balance scales, unifix cubes, several
objects around the room, and various sizes of different cups for volume.

3. Were you effective in meeting the purpose of the lessons – how are you measuring this? I
believe I was effective in meeting the purpose of this lesson. I was measuring this by the
observing and working with students in small groups. Working within small groups helps me see
the understanding of the lesson that each child has. During whole group it can be difficult to see
at times due to students anxiety over sharing in the class.

4. What were the strength of this lesson? (Identify at least two areas) One strength in this lesson
was using manipulatives throughout the lesson itself. I felt like this lesson would of been difficult
without using balance scales and other manipulatives. In addition, another strength that I had
during this lesson was having the students work in groups when using balance scales.

5. What areas will you seek to improve in future lessons? One of the areas I will seek for
improvement is managing the classroom itself. The kids get excited when using manipulatives.
Therefore, the classroom can become more hectic which causes some disruptions within
classroom management. Therefore, I am working on improving and using different ideas for
classroom management.

6. Did you make any changes in your plans after teaching the lesson? Yes Why or why not?
First I was not going to have the students explore more with weight, but I noticed quickly that
they needed to do that.

7. What do you regard as your most important personal learning experience during this week?
One of the most important personal learning experiences I have had this week was sometimes
things you plan at first might not work. Although, this is okay because it makes your lesson
better and yourself a better teacher for reflecting.

8. Did you have a conference this week with your clinical faculty? Yes

How many times? 2-3 If not, why? Click here to enter text.

9. Tell me about something that happened this week that you are proud of. Being able to
continue to work with my students even when inclement weather is involved.

10. Are you having problems that you feel require attention and assistance from me? I am having
a hard time figuring out my impact project. Therefore, I just need advice on that.

11. When would be a good time for me to stop by your school next week? Thursday or Friday
after 1 pm.

WEEKLY JOURNAL WEEK 6.

Submit on Sunday night by 8:00 p.m. to me at sccox@odu.edu.

Use this journal to describe your progress in becoming a Professional Educator in relation to
the goals of The Unit’s Model in the Handbook.

Name Abigail Smetanick Date

1. What was the purpose of your lesson this week? The overall purpose of my lesson this week
was telling time to the hour and half hour. This lesson can be difficult for 1st graders to grasp.
Therefore, we use lots of manipulatives and sayings so they can remember how to tell time to the
hour and half hour.

2. How did you engage your learners with your materials? This week we used manipulatives to
help the students grasp the overall lesson. The manipulatives we used for this lesson were
personal judy clocks. Having the students use these personal judy clocks has them focus on the
differences on the clock. For example, the difference between the hour hand and minute hand. In
addition, we also used short sayings to help them remember how to tell time to the half hour. For
example, look back jack! Hook it! And then they hook the lower number on the clock.

3. Were you effective in meeting the purpose of the lessons – how are you measuring this? I
believe I was effective in meeting the purpose of this lesson. I was measuring this by the
observing and working with students in small groups. Working within small groups helps me see
the understanding of the lesson that each child has. During whole group it can be difficult to see
at times due to students anxiety over sharing in the class. Although, within the whole class
instruction I could see if the students were grasping the information when we were answering
questions with our whiteboards.

4. What were the strength of this lesson? (Identify at least two areas) One strength in this lesson
was using the short sayings. I believe this was a strength because it really had the students
remember what they should do each time when they are telling time to the hour and half hour. In
addition, I felt like this lesson would of been difficult without using the personal judy clocks as
manipulatives. I noticed even after practicing with the clocks, and only showing it on the
whiteboard or in the workbook the students still struggled with understanding. Therefore, we
used the clocks with the work pages and on the smartboard.

5. What areas will you seek to improve in future lessons? One of the areas I will seek for
improvement is not taking on too much. Sometimes as teachers we take on too much within the
classroom. For example, I was trying to help students while I was in whole group. For now on I
will either ask the students to ask a friend or ask another teacher if they are in the classroom. In
addition, I can also explain to the student that I can help them during small group when it is their
turn.
6. Did you make any changes in your plans after teaching the lesson? Yes Why or why not?
Yes, I decided I need to give the students more time to explore with manipulatives instead of
focusing on the workbook material.

7. What do you regard as your most important personal learning experience during this week? To
not take on so much when you are working in small groups. It does not only distract you but it
also distracts your small group and gets them off task.

8. Did you have a conference this week with your clinical faculty? Yes

How many times? 2-3 If not, why? Click here to enter text.

9. Tell me about something that happened this week that you are proud of. Becoming confident
in teaching math in whole group!

10. Are you having problems that you feel require attention and assistance from me? No

11. When would be a good time for me to stop by your school next week? The week of the 9th
would be great!

WEEKLY JOURNAL WEEK 8.

Submit on Sunday night by 8:00 p.m. to me at sccox@odu.edu.

Use this journal to describe your progress in becoming a Professional Educator in relation to
the goals of The Unit’s Model in the Handbook.

Name Abigail Smetanick Date

1. What was the purpose of your lesson this week? The overall purpose of this lesson was
teaching student how to count pennies by ones, fives, and tens. In addition to math, I also taught
social studies. In social studies, we studied George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, The Civil
Rights, Maggie L. Walker, Arthur Ashe.

2. How did you engage your learners with your materials? In math, we used a lot of hands on
experiences with this lesson. Learning how to count money, you need to have the students use
the coins and bills to count the money out effectively. Therefore, each child brought in their own
pennies to use each day we were using coins to count money. In social studies, we used a lot of
videos and graphics to help engage the students. In addition, we also used really life experiences
to compare situations that these individuals went through.

3. Were you effective in meeting the purpose of the lessons – how are you measuring this? u
believe I was effective with meeting the purpose of this lesson. Overall the students understood
the curriculum and I measured this by exit tickets, seesaws, and homework.
4. What were the strength of this lesson? (Identify at least two areas) I believe a strength of this
lesson was differentiating the small group in math. I made sure that every activity I did with the
students was different for each group level.

5. What areas will you seek to improve in future lessons? Time management and behavior
management.

6. Did you make any changes in your plans after teaching the lesson? No Why or why not?
Click here to enter text.

7. What do you regard as your most important personal learning experience during this week?
Realizing that I really need to set these expectations with these students so they understand what
they need to do for each lesson.

8. Did you have a conference this week with your clinical faculty? yes

How many times? 3 If not, why? Click here to enter text.

9. Tell me about something that happened this week that you are proud of. Feeling confident in
myself to teach whole group and small groups.

10. Are you having problems that you feel require attention and assistance from me? No

11. When would be a good time for me to stop by your school next week? Week of March 22nd
10am-2pm

WEEKLY JOURNAL WEEK 9.

Submit on Sunday night by 8:00 p.m. to me at sccox@odu.edu.

Use this journal to describe your progress in becoming a Professional Educator in relation to
the goals of The Unit’s Model in the Handbook.

Name Abigail Smetanick Date

1. What was the purpose of your lesson this week? Math: The overall purpose of my math lesson
this week was counting with nickels to purchase objects and counting with dimes. In this lesson I
used a lot of hands on experiences so the students could see and feel what it is like to count
money. Reading: The over purposes of the lesson this week was point of view, character
development, and using evidence to synthesize. Science: The overall purpose of this lesson was
classifying animals by their body covering, body parts, habitat, and the way they move.

2. How did you engage your learners with your materials? Math: To engage learners this week, I
had the students use pretend money to practicing counting. In addition, they also had the chance
to buy objects using their fake money. This was engaging for them because it had them act like
they were buying things at the store. Reading: The way I engaged the lesson was changing my
tone of voice in the read aloud. Sometimes I would use the online read aloud but when I wanted
the students to be engaged I would read and change my voice like the character. Science: Some
of the ways I had the students get engage was using a lot of smart exchange activities. Therefore,
I could get them up and moving.

3. Were you effective in meeting the purpose of the lessons – how are you measuring this? Yes,
In math I was measuring this by their homework, small group assignments, and observation.
Reading: I observed and had discussion questions for the students. In addition, I also observed
when they were working on any assignment. Science: I observed through activities and
assignments.

4. What were the strength of this lesson? (Identify at least two areas) I believe one area that was
a strength was my math lesson. Before buying items, I really looked at what interest the students
so I could find items they enjoyed. On top of that I changed the lessons around for many of the
groups. For example, my highest group I had them count out two dollars in dimes over just a
dollar.

5. What areas will you seek to improve in future lessons? Behavior management. I am finding
ways that work for this class to improve behavior managements.

6. Did you make any changes in your plans after teaching the lesson? No Why or why not?
Click here to enter text.

7. What do you regard as your most important personal learning experience during this week? It
is okay to change your lessons around for the kids!

8. Did you have a conference this week with your clinical faculty? Yes

How many times? 4 If not, why? Click here to enter text.

9. Tell me about something that happened this week that you are proud of. Feeling confident
within my lessons.

10. Are you having problems that you feel require attention and assistance from me? No

11. When would be a good time for me to stop by your school next week? Week of 4/12

WEEKLY JOURNAL WEEK 10

Submit on Sunday night by 8:00 p.m. to me at sccox@odu.edu.

Use this journal to describe your progress in becoming a Professional Educator in relation to
the goals of The Unit’s Model in the Handbook.
Name Abigail Smetanick Date

1. What was the purpose of your lesson this week? Math: The over purpose of the lesson this
week was finishing up counting money and beginning graphing. The type of graphing we
focused on this week was picture graphing. Therefore, we used lots of hands on materials for
these lessons. Reading: In reading this week, we focused on multiple aspects of reading such as
story structure and chronological order. Science: The overall purpose of science this year was
learning about the parts of a plants, terrariums, and the function of the parts of the plants.

2. How did you engage your learners with your materials? Math: Some of the ways I engaged the
learners this week in math was using manipulatives such as coins for the last few lessons on
money. In addition, I also used several items when creating a picture graph for the students.
Reading: Some of the ways I engaged the students in reading was reading like the character to
get the students engaged. In addition, I would have the students volunteer to come up and
volunteer to answer questions on the smart board. Science: The main way I engaged the students
in science was having the students plant their own grass.

3. Were you effective in meeting the purpose of the lessons – how are you measuring this? Yes! I
believe I was effective by using formative assessments throughout the lessons. In addition, I also
used a summative assessment to see how the students did in the overall money unit.

4. What were the strength of this lesson? (Identify at least two areas) I believe some of my
strengths in this lesson was the use of manipulatives in math for graphing. In addition, I also
think I had strengths in science from having them do some hands on activities by planting their
own plant.

5. What areas will you seek to improve in future lessons? Finding more activities for students in
reading. Such as hands on activities or interactive activities.

6. Did you make any changes in your plans after teaching the lesson? No Why or why not? I
didn’t make any changes because I felt like the activities and lessons aligned with the
curriculum.

7. What do you regard as your most important personal learning experience during this week?
Being able to keep my students engaged throughout the lessons.

8. Did you have a conference this week with your clinical faculty? yes

How many times? 4 If not, why? Click here to enter text.

9. Tell me about something that happened this week that you are proud of. Seeing improvement
from my students from their pre-test to their post-test.

10. Are you having problems that you feel require attention and assistance from me? No
11. When would be a good time for me to stop by your school next week? April 12-15

WEEKLY JOURNAL WEEK 11

Submit on Sunday night by 8:00 p.m. to me at sccox@odu.edu.

Use this journal to describe your progress in becoming a Professional Educator in relation to
the goals of The Unit’s Model in the Handbook.

Name Abigail Smetanick Date

1. What was the purpose of your lesson this week? Math: The overall purpose of the lesson this
week was analyzing picture graphs, making bar graphs, and analyzing bar graphs. Reading: The
overall purpose of these lessons were story structure and clarifying confusing areas. Science: The
over purpose of this lesson was making animal habitats for the animals the students have been
researching about.

2. How did you engage your learners with your materials? Math: Some of the ways I engaged the
students this week were using manipulatives. In addition, I also had several candy graphs for the
students since easter was coming up. Reading: Some of the ways engaged the students was
integrating the stories into what we were learning about in science since we were reading about
plants this week. Science: The students all had the chance to make animal habitats in a diorama.
Therefore, this kept the student engaged all week.

3. Were you effective in meeting the purpose of the lessons – how are you measuring this? Yes, I
believe I was effective in meeting the purpose by observing the students and using formative
assessments.

4. What were the strength of this lesson? (Identify at least two areas) One strength of the lessons
this week was having the students do so many hands on activities. Doing this helped the students
understand the overall purpose of the lessons.

5. What areas will you seek to improve in future lessons? Find more ways to make reading more
engaging and hands on for the students.

6. Did you make any changes in your plans after teaching the lesson? No Why or why not? I felt
that the lessons aligned with the curriculum and met student needs.

7. What do you regard as your most important personal learning experience during this week?
Being able to work with students on projects. This was the first time I got to experience this type
of work this semester.

8. Did you have a conference this week with your clinical faculty? yes

How many times? 2 If not, why? Click here to enter text.

9. Tell me about something that happened this week that you are proud of. Being able to see my
students creative side come out!

10. Are you having problems that you feel require attention and assistance from me? No

11. When would be a good time for me to stop by your school next week? April 12th-15th

WEEKLY JOURNAL WEEK 12.

Submit on Sunday night by 8:00 p.m. to me at sccox@odu.edu.

Use this journal to describe your progress in becoming a Professional Educator in relation to
the goals of The Unit’s Model in the Handbook.

Name Abigail Smetanick Date

1. What was the purpose of your lesson this week? Math: This week in math, we wrapped up the
graphing unit. Therefore, we reviewed the type of graphs such as picture graphs, bar graphs, and
tally charts. To end the unit, the students took an end of unit exam. Reading: This week in
reading, we worked on several objectives. Some of the objectives were chronological order and
asking and answering questions. Science: The overall purpose of this lesson was to finish up the
unit on plants and begin our weather unit.

2. How did you engage your learners with your materials? Some of the ways I engaged the
learners was having them connect in the lesson. For example, in science we talked about seasons.
So we asked then about what they did/do during specific seasons.

3. Were you effective in meeting the purpose of the lessons – how are you measuring this? I
believe that I was effective during these lessons. Especially in math because I measured this by
using a post test for the overall graphing unit.

4. What were the strength of this lesson? (Identify at least two areas) 1 strength that I had in this
lesson using manipulatives and hands on experiences in both math and science. For example, we
used objects in graphing and then did an experiment in science where we grew potatoes.

5. What areas will you seek to improve in future lessons? Finding more resources for the
students to use in both math in reading for independent work.

6. Did you make any changes in your plans after teaching the lesson? Yes Why or why not? Just
finding more resources for my students do independently.

7. What do you regard as your most important personal learning experience during this week? It
is okay if your lesson doesn’t go as planned. It just gives you more improvement for growth.
8. Did you have a conference this week with your clinical faculty? Yes

How many times? 4 If not, why? Click here to enter text.

9. Tell me about something that happened this week that you are proud of. Being able to
differentiate my groups more in math.

10. Are you having problems that you feel require attention and assistance from me? No

11. When would be a good time for me to stop by your school next week? Thursday April 22nd

WEEKLY JOURNAL WEEK 13.

Submit on Sunday night by 8:00 p.m. to me at sccox@odu.edu.

Use this journal to describe your progress in becoming a Professional Educator in relation to
the goals of The Unit’s Model in the Handbook.

Name Abigail Smetanick Date

1. What was the purpose of your lesson this week? This week, I only taught one lesson since
Mrs. Dantro took over the classroom again. Therefore, I taught a reading lesson on retelling a
story. The main point of retelling the story was to have the students write it in their own words
using first, next/then, and last.

2. How did you engage your learners with your materials? Some of the ways I engaged the
learners for this lesson was asking questions throughout the story. Some of the questions I would
ask are who, what, when, where, and how questions.

3. Were you effective in meeting the purpose of the lessons – how are you measuring this? I
believe I was effective in meeting the purpose of the lesson. Overall, the students understood
why we were doing this when we were reading. They understood that it is important to retell a
story to help you remember and to also tell someone about the story without reading it.

4. What were the strength of this lesson? (Identify at least two areas) One of the strengths of this
lesson was working as a whole group with the students. I felt that it helped them hearing the
other students ideas about retelling a story.

5. What areas will you seek to improve in future lessons? Finding more ways to help the students
become more engaged with writing.

6. Did you make any changes in your plans after teaching the lesson? Yes Why or why not? I
changed the lesson by having the students write in their my books to filling out a graphic
organizer.
7. What do you regard as your most important personal learning experience during this week?
One of the most important learning experiences I had this week was always remembering to be
consistent with your students.

8. Did you have a conference this week with your clinical faculty? Yes

How many times? 2 If not, why? Click here to enter text.

9. Tell me about something that happened this week that you are proud of. Finishing up my last
lesson as a student teacher.

10. Are you having problems that you feel require attention and assistance from me? No

11. When would be a good time for me to stop by your school next week? N/A

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Click here to enter text.

A final journal, summarizing your weekly journals should be included in your professional
portfolio.

WEEKLY JOURNAL WEEK 14

Submit on Sunday night by 8:00 p.m. to me at sccox@odu.edu.

Use this journal to describe your progress in becoming a Professional Educator in relation to
the goals of The Unit’s Model in the Handbook.

Name Abigail Smetanick Date

1. What was the purpose of your lesson this week? Since this week was my last week, I did not
teach a lesson to the students because Mrs. Dantro transitioned back into teaching. Although, I
did help teach a lesson when I was observing in Kindergarten this past week. We were teaching
AB patterns so I had the students make AB patterns using manipulatives.

2. How did you engage your learners with your materials? Using manipulatives in math when
making patterns.

3. Were you effective in meeting the purpose of the lessons – how are you measuring this? I
believe when I took over in the Kindergarten class, I was effective in my small group that she
had me take over. Most the kids caught on very quickly with the AB patterns since many of them
have learned these patterns before in pre-school.

4. What were the strength of this lesson? (Identify at least two areas) N/A since I did not create a
lesson this week.
5. What areas will you seek to improve in future lessons? N/A since I did not create a lesson this
week.

6. Did you make any changes in your plans after teaching the lesson? No Why or why not?
Because I did not create a lesson.

7. What do you regard as your most important personal learning experience during this week?
Being able to observe several classes outside of first grade was very eye opening and showed me
what to expect if I were to be placed in other grades as a teacher.

8. Did you have a conference this week with your clinical faculty? Yes

How many times? 1 If not, why? Click here to enter text.

9. Tell me about something that happened this week that you are proud of. Being able to work
with other groups of kids outside of the class I was assigned to.

10. Are you having problems that you feel require attention and assistance from me? No

11. When would be a good time for me to stop by your school next week? N/A

ADDITIONAL COMMENTS: Click here to enter text.

A final journal, summarizing your weekly journals should be included in your professional
portfolio.