Mon 3/29: More observations back at the Middle School today: -Linnea Stevens (8th grade LA), -Donna Hickerson (7th LA), -Denise Black (7th Science), -Meredith Kehoe (6-8 Remedial Reading & LA) for 2 hours, -Mr. Fodness (7th Social Studies)
Tues 3/30: Today was not a good day. I was supposed to spend the day at an all-day Knowledge Bowl meet with Ms. Luby, but on Monday night my boyfriend was in a car accident. I took today off to be with him and help.
Wed 3/31: Last day of observations: -Mr. Waller (8th LA & Social Studies), -Mary Kobilka (8th Math), & -Valerie Olson (8th Social Studies)
Thurs 4/1: Last day of Student Teaching. Mixed feelings today. While I'm eager to be finishing my undergrad degree, I know that I'll miss the students and staff at BMS. I spent today observing Ms. Luby & saying goodbye to the students.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Monday, March 22- Friday, March 26
Monday 3/22: Revised Letters to Will were due today. The students did a superb job with this assignment. Despite their complaints I think that the majority of them enjoyed, or at least didn't mind tolerating, this assignment. After our conferences, most all of the students submitted revisions & the letters which I sent off to Weaver were pretty darn close to perfect.
The students began presenting their Final Projects today too. I adored checking out some of these. I requested that some of the kids allow me to keep their projects so that I may use them for future assignments, and I was so happy when they agreed to my favor! The highlight of the day included a movie created by 3 of the students. Such a good chuckle!
Tuesday 3/23: Ms. Luby asked me to conclude my teaching a bit early, and so after having finished the Memory Boy unit I spent this day and the following day talking to the students about violence prevention.
I decided to construct this lesson plan in honor of the forth anniversary of the school shooting which occurred at the Red Lake High School in 2006. Knowing that many of my students were personally affected by this event, and that every student in my class has been affected by school violence of some form; I chose to spend a day focusing on character education and, specifically, violence prevention I scheduled numerous activities for this lesson, each one focusing on a different skill which could help to empower students while they may work to prevent school violence and bullying. I utilized a number of educational technologies during this lesson; I began my lesson with a video clip which showed a short news interview with a young lady named Missy Jenkins. Missy was a high school freshman when, in 1997, one of her classmates opened fire in her Kentucky school cafeteria. Missy was left paralyzed after the shooting. However, Missy’s charisma and spirit motivated her to use her experience as a lesson for students. This video clip encourages students to take a stand against school violence, help students who may show signs of loneliness or bullying, and to show respect and tolerance to others. This video served as an excellent start to the day’s lesson as it prompted discussion and questions from the students. I led students in an intriguing discussion after the Missy Jenkins video. Students asked about the Kentucky school shooting in 1997, other school shootings, and especially the shooting which took place in Red Lake. I allowed this discussion to continue on for as long as the students desired it to, since I felt that knowing the facts about school violence could help students to eradicate it from schools
Moving our lesson along, I showed the class a PowerPoint presentation which I’d previously created The PowerPoint presentation introduced to students an organization and program which I served with during my time in Middle School and High School. The specific program, STOP the Violence, empowered me a great deal during secondary school and motivated me to participate in over 200 hours of volunteer service which was geared toward violence prevention. I utilized this PowerPoint to lead students into an activity called “The Bullying Ladder.”
During this first activity, the students were divided into groups of five. Each group was given a bag which held ten slips of paper. On each slip of paper was an act of violence. Groups were instructed to work together to rank the acts of violence in order of what act hurts the most and what act hurts the least. After completing the activity, the groups were asked to share their decisions. Once everyone had shared their reasoning, I led the class in discussing the importance of tolerance and respect. I questioned the students about their thoughts concerning differing opinions and interests. We spoke about tolerating difference and respecting individuals regardless of their different beliefs, gender, sexuality, race, disability, or various eccentricities
Wednesday 3/24: We continued with our "STOP the Violence Training" today. Our second activity was called “Add a Word.” This activity encouraged students to work together to create the “world’s longest sentence.” The catch to the activity was that for the beginning of the game, groups could not talk to one another. After participating in silence, I allowed the teams to speak during the final round of our game. Naturally, the ability to communicate with group members helped the teams to find more success. This activity then led into a lengthy discussion about the value and importance of respectful interpersonal communication skills. The class discussed as a group how techniques such as including everyone in a conversation and practicing active listening skills could help to encourage tolerance and respect
One of our final activities of this day involved exploring a website called “PacerTeensAgainstBullying.” This website is geared toward Middle School students and it offers students a plethora of information about identifying the traits of a bully or victim of bullying, why people bully, the effects of bullying, and how to intervene or prevent the situations. By exploring this website, the class explored interactive activities which encouraged positive peer relations and respect for everyone
Thursday 3/25: I spent today doing a full day of observations. I observed at the Middle School -Paula Maki (7th grade LA), -Nancy Benson (EBD) for 2 hours, -Mr. Merschman (7th LA), & -Amy Skala (6th LA)
Friday 3/26: I spent all of today observing at a local charter school called Trek North. I really enjoyed this experience. The small school atmosphere was familiar and refreshing to me, and I enjoyed the school's laid back and nature-oriented focus.
The students began presenting their Final Projects today too. I adored checking out some of these. I requested that some of the kids allow me to keep their projects so that I may use them for future assignments, and I was so happy when they agreed to my favor! The highlight of the day included a movie created by 3 of the students. Such a good chuckle!
Tuesday 3/23: Ms. Luby asked me to conclude my teaching a bit early, and so after having finished the Memory Boy unit I spent this day and the following day talking to the students about violence prevention.
I decided to construct this lesson plan in honor of the forth anniversary of the school shooting which occurred at the Red Lake High School in 2006. Knowing that many of my students were personally affected by this event, and that every student in my class has been affected by school violence of some form; I chose to spend a day focusing on character education and, specifically, violence prevention I scheduled numerous activities for this lesson, each one focusing on a different skill which could help to empower students while they may work to prevent school violence and bullying. I utilized a number of educational technologies during this lesson; I began my lesson with a video clip which showed a short news interview with a young lady named Missy Jenkins. Missy was a high school freshman when, in 1997, one of her classmates opened fire in her Kentucky school cafeteria. Missy was left paralyzed after the shooting. However, Missy’s charisma and spirit motivated her to use her experience as a lesson for students. This video clip encourages students to take a stand against school violence, help students who may show signs of loneliness or bullying, and to show respect and tolerance to others. This video served as an excellent start to the day’s lesson as it prompted discussion and questions from the students. I led students in an intriguing discussion after the Missy Jenkins video. Students asked about the Kentucky school shooting in 1997, other school shootings, and especially the shooting which took place in Red Lake. I allowed this discussion to continue on for as long as the students desired it to, since I felt that knowing the facts about school violence could help students to eradicate it from schools
Moving our lesson along, I showed the class a PowerPoint presentation which I’d previously created The PowerPoint presentation introduced to students an organization and program which I served with during my time in Middle School and High School. The specific program, STOP the Violence, empowered me a great deal during secondary school and motivated me to participate in over 200 hours of volunteer service which was geared toward violence prevention. I utilized this PowerPoint to lead students into an activity called “The Bullying Ladder.”
During this first activity, the students were divided into groups of five. Each group was given a bag which held ten slips of paper. On each slip of paper was an act of violence. Groups were instructed to work together to rank the acts of violence in order of what act hurts the most and what act hurts the least. After completing the activity, the groups were asked to share their decisions. Once everyone had shared their reasoning, I led the class in discussing the importance of tolerance and respect. I questioned the students about their thoughts concerning differing opinions and interests. We spoke about tolerating difference and respecting individuals regardless of their different beliefs, gender, sexuality, race, disability, or various eccentricities
Wednesday 3/24: We continued with our "STOP the Violence Training" today. Our second activity was called “Add a Word.” This activity encouraged students to work together to create the “world’s longest sentence.” The catch to the activity was that for the beginning of the game, groups could not talk to one another. After participating in silence, I allowed the teams to speak during the final round of our game. Naturally, the ability to communicate with group members helped the teams to find more success. This activity then led into a lengthy discussion about the value and importance of respectful interpersonal communication skills. The class discussed as a group how techniques such as including everyone in a conversation and practicing active listening skills could help to encourage tolerance and respect
One of our final activities of this day involved exploring a website called “PacerTeensAgainstBullying.” This website is geared toward Middle School students and it offers students a plethora of information about identifying the traits of a bully or victim of bullying, why people bully, the effects of bullying, and how to intervene or prevent the situations. By exploring this website, the class explored interactive activities which encouraged positive peer relations and respect for everyone
Thursday 3/25: I spent today doing a full day of observations. I observed at the Middle School -Paula Maki (7th grade LA), -Nancy Benson (EBD) for 2 hours, -Mr. Merschman (7th LA), & -Amy Skala (6th LA)
Friday 3/26: I spent all of today observing at a local charter school called Trek North. I really enjoyed this experience. The small school atmosphere was familiar and refreshing to me, and I enjoyed the school's laid back and nature-oriented focus.
Wed March 17- Fri March 19
Wednesday 3/17: Memory Boy Tests. Students were allowed to use their study guides, and things went relatively smoothly. Most of the students didn't pretty fair on the test, I was content with the results.
Thursday 3/18: I corrected tests, students worked on letters to Will Weaver & their final projects.
Friday 3/19: Letters to Will were due today. I conducted one-on-one conferences with each student. During the conferences we proofread the kids' letters & I then offered the students an opportunity to revise their letters before I would record a final grade.
Thursday 3/18: I corrected tests, students worked on letters to Will Weaver & their final projects.
Friday 3/19: Letters to Will were due today. I conducted one-on-one conferences with each student. During the conferences we proofread the kids' letters & I then offered the students an opportunity to revise their letters before I would record a final grade.
Tuesday, March 16
Tuesday 3/16: Last visit from university supervisor today & things went well. I've grown to look forward to hearing from Mr. Coe. His advice is typically relevant to my current concerns and his demeanor is oh so relaxing. I also utilized this day in the classroom as somewhat of a work day, but first I introduced to students the final Memory Boy project today. With this project I decided to construct a lesson which would require the students to culminate all of the lessons and reactions they gained during their reading of the book and apply it toward a variety of projects. This project idea would require students to both utilize prior knowledge but also construct new lessons as they worked to express their knowledge in a visual project.
Knowing that the interests, strengths, and weaknesses of my students vary tremendously, I decided to have the students choose their own academic path with this project. I provided for the students twenty five different project options which they could choose to complete. I assigned specific point values to each project; based upon the length of the project, the effort required to complete the project entirely according to its directions, and the level of creativity which the project required. This allowed the students the freedom to choose the type of project they’d most like to complete. The project options varied from traditional essays, research papers, art projects, homemade movies, oral history interviews, children’s books, comic books, wildlife related assignments, and science centered projects. While designing the project, I kept specific students in mind and did my best to gear a project toward the individual interests I’d seen my students exhibit.
Having assigned varying point values to each project, I explained to my students that I expected them to complete forty points’ worth of assignments. Some of the suggested projects were worth forty points alone, others were worth as little as ten. Some of the proposed projects included independent work, while others required that students work in groups. This allowed students the freedom to, again, create their own grades and decide their own fates.
Knowing that the interests, strengths, and weaknesses of my students vary tremendously, I decided to have the students choose their own academic path with this project. I provided for the students twenty five different project options which they could choose to complete. I assigned specific point values to each project; based upon the length of the project, the effort required to complete the project entirely according to its directions, and the level of creativity which the project required. This allowed the students the freedom to choose the type of project they’d most like to complete. The project options varied from traditional essays, research papers, art projects, homemade movies, oral history interviews, children’s books, comic books, wildlife related assignments, and science centered projects. While designing the project, I kept specific students in mind and did my best to gear a project toward the individual interests I’d seen my students exhibit.
Having assigned varying point values to each project, I explained to my students that I expected them to complete forty points’ worth of assignments. Some of the suggested projects were worth forty points alone, others were worth as little as ten. Some of the proposed projects included independent work, while others required that students work in groups. This allowed students the freedom to, again, create their own grades and decide their own fates.
Monday, March 15-
Monday 3/15: We worked on finishing up Memory Boy throughout this week, and on Monday we followed our normal routine for this unit. The students met with their Lit Circles, got a new Lit Circle sheet & then we read the last couple chapters of the book. I read the chapters out loud today, which I've done a couple times throughout the course of reading this book. I've noticed that the kids seem to definitely prefer when I read a book out loud to them rather than having to read the book to themselves. And I have no issue with reading to the students, but I want to be sure that when I'm doing so it is in order to help students to more easily understand and comprehend the content of the reading. I recognize that some readers do require that words be processed audibly in order for comprehension to occur. But I worry at times that the kids instead ask me to read out loud to them because they simply don't want to exert the effort involved in actually read a text silently. The students' behavior is typically superb when I read out loud, which isn't always an easy accomplishment for me; yet I want the students to be capable of silent, independent reading because of the importance of this skill... so until I determine a more perfect remedy, I shall continue to alternate my techniques and hope that in the meantime I'm accommodating everyone at at least some of the time.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Monday, March 8th- Friday, March 12th
Another condensed week-long summary:
We continued reading Memory Boy this week. The kids have adjusted, finally, to the Lit Circle discussion formats. The students have adjusted to our new routine: each day they talk for 5-10 minutes with their Lit Circles about the previous day's reading, they get a new worksheet from me, they complete the worksheet while reading the day's assignment, and then they prepare for discussions the next day. I've also prepared study guides for the students to complete which they are allowed to use on our upcoming test. These study guides and reading worksheets have once again reminded me of the achievement gap which exist among my students. I find myself struggling between assigning additional work in order to remedy the non stop chatter of students who get through their reading assignments and worksheets quickly- these are my high achieving students and I want to present each of them with a challenge. But on the other hand I have plenty of students who are doing their best to just barely keep their head above water. Ms. Luby suggests offering more assignments to fix this problem, but what do I do about the students who can't keep up?
Another new lesson which I was introduced to this week was in regard to Knowledge Bowl. I volunteered and judged at this Thursday's Knowledge Bowl, which Bemidji hosted. I haven't found myself extremely interested in the activity throughout the last few months, it's fun but not necessarily an activity I'm passionate about, but watching a meet in action helped to light a spark for me. I enjoyed watching the kids compete, challenge themselves, and often unveil unknown strengths as they advanced from round to round. It was definitely a worthwhile evening.
Monday, March 1st- Friday, March 5th
I'm behind on posts, so I'm going to condense some news here:
We began a new novel this week. The book is called Memory Boy and was written by a local author named Will Weaver- one of my former English professors! In the novel a family races to escape natural disaster by traveling from Minneapolis to Itasca State Park. I aimed to draw the students in to the local relevance of this novel, so I created a bulletin board which I titled " 'Roadtripping' Across Minnesota with Memory Boy." I put a map of MN up on the board and on Wednesday, after the students had read some of the novel, we mapped out with tacks and yarn the start of the characters' journey. The kids seemed to get a kick out of this activity, and were competing to volunteer information about the cities which they recognized. I enjoyed their genuine interest in the board and activities. On numerous occasions I even caught the students sneaking over to the map to point out to classmates where their home was located on the board- it goes to show that these guys really do pay attention to the decor of a classroom.
I also included on the board an "Author Spotlight" section where I posted pictures of Will Weaver & information about his writing and life. We talked about the author before starting the novel on Monday, and I utilized the bulletin board as my visual. The kids seemed to listen contently and I appreciated their interest here. I'd say that the board and the introduction to Memory Boy were a success!
Other highlights from the week:
- Students started the "Lit Circles" which I have planned to use for the rest of the book. We began with a rocky start as a lot of the kids seemed to be put off by this change from their normal read & take a quiz procedure, but by the end of the week they'd adjusted to the change and had begun to take advantage of the discussions.
- More lessons in classroom management were acquired this week as I struggled to get students to adjust to many changes: a new unit, a new style of covering reading concepts, and a new "group" seating arrangement. The start of the week was rough, but after frequently explaining my expectations and behavioral consequences to students we shaped up by the end of the week.
Monday, March 1, 2010
Monday, March 1st
"Long" weekend came and went already. Today I began the kids on a new project- a novel called Memory Boy. I hope that the students enjoy the book, and I think that many of them will. The book is a recent one, it was written by a local author, it takes place in Minnesota- some of it even mentions Bemidji, and there's a lot of action throughout the plot.
The nature of having the students read during class time proved beneficial to me today. I was able to accomplish quite a few little tasks. I adore productive days!
Tomorrow Mr. Coe comes to visit.... Observation #3- the time is going by so quickly!
The nature of having the students read during class time proved beneficial to me today. I was able to accomplish quite a few little tasks. I adore productive days!
Tomorrow Mr. Coe comes to visit.... Observation #3- the time is going by so quickly!
Thursday, Feb 25th
The students weren't in today, as all day the school hosted parent-teacher conferences. Our first session was pretty quiet; only 3 sets of parents in 3 hours. After lunch things picked up. We ended up seeing, if I remember right, 40-some parents. Not a bad turn out. I found it a little comical how some parents seemed so shocked by their student's grades. No one seemed mad at me or Ms. Luby necessarily, but at the same time there were many parents who certainly didn't leave their conference smiling. I guess that I came from a home with relatively strict parents who kept fairly close tabs on my school happenings. It surprises, and saddens, me to see how little some of these parents pay attention to their kids' academics. I recognize that lives become busy and with work, family, and other activities it can be a challenge to keep tabs on a student. But I wish for my students that more parents would.
Wednesday, February 24th
Today was somewhat of a work day for the class. I had the students take a practice test for the MCA test which they will be taking in April, we completed the last portion of February's Positive Peer Relations unit, and then the last portion of the hour was utilized to wrap up any last MLA Works Cited pages.
Tonight also marked my first experience with parent-teacher conferences. I unfortunately found myself slightly disappointed by the parent turn out at conferences tonight, though I surprised myself with how much I ended up enjoying speaking with the parents about their students. I especially liked it when the parents brought the student along with them. I felt as though I left tonight knowing some of my students much better. I adored that feeling.
Tonight also marked my first experience with parent-teacher conferences. I unfortunately found myself slightly disappointed by the parent turn out at conferences tonight, though I surprised myself with how much I ended up enjoying speaking with the parents about their students. I especially liked it when the parents brought the student along with them. I felt as though I left tonight knowing some of my students much better. I adored that feeling.
Tuesday, February 23rd
After two days out of the classroom, today was a bit of a jumbled game of catch up for me. Parent teacher conferences take place at the end of this week, and with little time to spare I devoted every free moment of today to ensuring that I had all of the persuasive papers corrected... not an easy feat.
The kids seemed to do pretty well with the persuasive papers overall. Some didn't hand in a paper at all, some didn't put forth the effort to make sure that their preparatory steps were taking care of, and unfortunately they lost points for this. I put a lot of emphasis on time management with this assignment as I required the students to have certain pieces of the assignment completed by certain dates. This worked well for some students, challenged some, and defeated others.
The kids seemed to do pretty well with the persuasive papers overall. Some didn't hand in a paper at all, some didn't put forth the effort to make sure that their preparatory steps were taking care of, and unfortunately they lost points for this. I put a lot of emphasis on time management with this assignment as I required the students to have certain pieces of the assignment completed by certain dates. This worked well for some students, challenged some, and defeated others.
Monday, February 22nd
Today was a day of misery for me. I didn't head into school. Instead, I spent my day locked in my bathroom wishing to God that my stomach would stop torturing me. Food poisoning bites. Hard.
Thursday, Feb 18th & Friday, Feb 19th
Thursday 2/18/10:
We worked on wrapping up work on papers today. The students are slowly but surely coming along with developing their papers and Works Cited pages. I'm happy with the effort which most of the students are putting forth, and more than ever I'm realizing the differences in ability which exist among these students. I recognize that the nature of a traditional classroom requires a teacher to construct lessons which cater to the "average" student, or an ability level which rests somewhere in the middle of students' achievement. But as I spend more time in the classroom, I wish so badly that I could divide my classes into smaller groups of students with more similar ability levels. The students who easily grasp concepts find themselves often bored during class. At the same time, I have numerous students who struggle to keep up, and many who can't. What's the solution?
Friday 2/19/10:
Interesting is the only word I can think of to describe this day. Prior to our arrival, the Middle School Principals decided that the student teachers would spend Friday Feb 19th out of the classroom for an entire day. Instead, it was decided that we would spend our day tallying preference votes for the Middle School's Career Day event in May.
I appreciated the opportunity to help out with a fantastic event like Career Day, it seems to be an annual event which truly benefits the Middle School students. For the chance to help out with such a wonderful event was great. However, I felt a bit cheated to be pulled out of the classroom for an entire day. I don't feel as though as a secondary ed major at BSU that I've been allowed much time in the classroom, especially not time spent actually teaching. Being that I've so badly wanted to have this experience, and that I'm paying a tremendous amount of money to take part in this experience, I would have liked the chance to decide whether or not I would shorten my student teaching experience by an entire. But none the less, I gave the folks who worked to organize Career Day my best efforts. I did my best to make the best of the day. Hopefully the students will be able to enjoy another beneficial Career Day because of it.
We worked on wrapping up work on papers today. The students are slowly but surely coming along with developing their papers and Works Cited pages. I'm happy with the effort which most of the students are putting forth, and more than ever I'm realizing the differences in ability which exist among these students. I recognize that the nature of a traditional classroom requires a teacher to construct lessons which cater to the "average" student, or an ability level which rests somewhere in the middle of students' achievement. But as I spend more time in the classroom, I wish so badly that I could divide my classes into smaller groups of students with more similar ability levels. The students who easily grasp concepts find themselves often bored during class. At the same time, I have numerous students who struggle to keep up, and many who can't. What's the solution?
Friday 2/19/10:
Interesting is the only word I can think of to describe this day. Prior to our arrival, the Middle School Principals decided that the student teachers would spend Friday Feb 19th out of the classroom for an entire day. Instead, it was decided that we would spend our day tallying preference votes for the Middle School's Career Day event in May.
I appreciated the opportunity to help out with a fantastic event like Career Day, it seems to be an annual event which truly benefits the Middle School students. For the chance to help out with such a wonderful event was great. However, I felt a bit cheated to be pulled out of the classroom for an entire day. I don't feel as though as a secondary ed major at BSU that I've been allowed much time in the classroom, especially not time spent actually teaching. Being that I've so badly wanted to have this experience, and that I'm paying a tremendous amount of money to take part in this experience, I would have liked the chance to decide whether or not I would shorten my student teaching experience by an entire. But none the less, I gave the folks who worked to organize Career Day my best efforts. I did my best to make the best of the day. Hopefully the students will be able to enjoy another beneficial Career Day because of it.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Tuesday February 16th & Wednesday February 17th
This week we continued our persuasive essays. The papers are due this Friday and I've been doing my best to work through each step with the students. I want them to come away from this assignmend with a better understanding of the writing process, and especially the ability to create and support a solid arguement. So, in hopes of building those skills, I've asked the students to analyze rhetoric strategies, discuss the pieces of a good thesis, think through their thoughts by creating an outline, research their topics in order to locate strong supporting facts, gain feedback on rough drafts from both classmates and their teacher, and then learn to document resources through the outrageously confusing format of MLA.
I don't know how well I'm doing. Some of these students are really nailing the tasks, but others just aren't getting it at all. Today (Wednesday) I began to introduce MLA through a video & power point, but even before starting I knew that a good portion of these kids were never going to get it. I feel as though I need to continue teaching the concept of documentation since I have included it in this assignment, and I truly think that this knowledge will prove helpful come high school, but is it worth confusing the kids even more?
I don't know how well I'm doing. Some of these students are really nailing the tasks, but others just aren't getting it at all. Today (Wednesday) I began to introduce MLA through a video & power point, but even before starting I knew that a good portion of these kids were never going to get it. I feel as though I need to continue teaching the concept of documentation since I have included it in this assignment, and I truly think that this knowledge will prove helpful come high school, but is it worth confusing the kids even more?
Friday, February 12
Holy behavior problems Charlie Brown! I think that the kids were outrageously excited about heading into a three day weekend because all day it was a constant wave of "Shhh" "Guys quiet down" "The volume level needs to come down." Over and over, I couldn't get folks to cooperate today. You'll encounter those days, I understand that, but geez was it frustrating!
We wrapped up the last of the outlines today and worked on rough drafts, so another work day overall. I had one unfortunate incident today that left me unhappy. One of our new females students, who had recently transferred to the middle school from a nearby charter school because of a major disciplinary issue (she was selling booze to her classmates in 8th grade) had a falling out with me today. The student refused to participate in the day's activity of working on rough drafts because "this assignment is dumb, this school is dumb, and you're dumb." We had a lovely little heated talk in the team room which rests in the center of the classrooms in the pod, which resulted in Aria screaming at me, tearing her paper, and me writing her up for misbehavior.
I felt crummy after the situation because the student holds so much potential. She's extremely smart and so very articulate- during our "conversation" (read "argument") she blew me away and easily could have pushed me into a corner with her verbal intelligence- but her attitude and poor decisions need to undergo a major overhaul in order for her to ever find some academic success... or any success really. I learned later from Ms. Luby that the young girl is the product of a rape, and so she's obviously never had a father figure in her life. Her mom plays a very hands-off role in the girl's life and whenever problems arise at home, the young girl is sent to the local teen shelter for the weekend. I can't entirely blame the girl for having a crummy attitude, and especially because she's an EBD student with an IEP, but I wish so badly that she would let me reach out to her... connect with her. I'm not giving up on her yet. I recently made of goals I'd like to accomplish during this experience, and connecting with this girl is now one of them.
Thursday, February 11th
My university supervisor visited during my first hour today. He got to watch the class and I complete the weekly "Positive Peer Relations" activity, a "Reading Practice Quiz" activity, and then for the rest of the hour the students and I worked on writing the rough drafts of our Persuasive Essays.
I tried a tactic today, though not while my supervisor was here, to create small work groups within the classroom. I rallied all of the students who were behind on finishing their essay outlines and had them cluster their desks together. We all worked together, at relatively the same pace, to finish the outlines. This seemed to prove pretty effective with most of the kids. While we were working on outlines I took the time to check in on other students in order to be sure that they were working forward with their rough drafts and to see if they needed any help. It all ran relatively smoothly, outside of the fact that we seemed to run out of time as usual. We're making progress.
Wednesday, February 10th
Today the kids and I began their outlines. I thought that since they'd created outlines for their how to speeches during the week prior that modifying the same type of outline to highlight info for their persuasive papers would be a relatively easy transition. I was wrong. I'm quickly discovering that this is the most difficult unit so far, and definitely the most labor intensive. But I'm doing my best to remain optimistic.
I'm finding myself continually surprised by the tremendous difference in ability and work ethic that these kids have. Some zip through my assignments and earn near perfect scores on almost everything they do. I'd love to have the opportunity to challenge those kids, show them more, and see how far they could go. But then I have another significant group of students who need extreme amounts of assistance with each step of an assignment; and don't get me wrong- I actually prefer helping these kids. I feel most accomplished in the classroom after helping a student to finally reach that "Ah ha!" moment. But the trouble is that I struggle to provide these kids the adequate one on one time that they need while still manage and push the other students. I feel bad because more often than not I find myself pulling up beside some of the students who require the extra help, getting completely engrossed in aiding them, only to look up at the clock and discover that most of the hour is gone and I've yet to help the majority of the class. I need to discover the secret to balancing my time between kids. In my perfect world, I wish that I only had a class of about maybe 10 students, so that I would be able to spread myself out more adequately among them all.
Tuesday February 9th
Today I explained all of the criteria for our persuasive writing unit. I'm having the kids construct a two page persuasive paper. They need to create an outline, develop a working thesis which includes three reasons to support their argument, find three resources, learn to make a works cited page to document these sources, and then present an overview of their papers in a one minute presentation.
You should have seen the jaws drop as I walked through the requirements for this assignment. I just may have gone a bit too far with this one... but then again I thought the same things with the 6 page journaling assignment and I was happily surprised to see that most of the students were willing to meet the challenge. We shall see what ensues...
Monday, February 8th
After introducing the students to the "Thinking Persuasively" activity, we spent Monday reviewing the info we learned last week. I was pleased at how well the students had begun to understand the definitions of rhetoric terms- logos, kairos, pathos, ethos, etc. I had the kids analyze magazine articles through the lens of rhetoric, and identify which persuasive strategies were being used by the ads. The students did really well with this activity, but come Monday when I began to ask them to apply those concepts to persuasive writing topics they drew pretty significant blanks. Time to bridge the gap.
Sunday, February 7, 2010
Week #4: Monday, Feb. 1st- Friday, Feb. 2nd
“Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength for our nation.”
John F. Kennedy
John F. Kennedy
Monday, Feb 1st:
Monday marked the beginning of our "How To" Speech presentations. Overall, the students did well. Some impressed me, some disappointed me, many were in the middle. I had asked the students to follow some specific criteria with their speeches: A- the speeches had to be at least 3 minutes long, B- The students had to physical demonstrate the process which they were explaining, C- Another visual, in addition to the props which were used during demonstrating, had to be present (though I said that this second visual could be as simple as some steps written onto the board... nothing elaborate was required), and D- the students had to speak for at least 3 minutes. I would say that maybe a tenth of the students followed all of the criteria. Many students did well during their speeches, but most were not 3 minutes long and the majority did not have a second visual.
Talking with Ms. Luby about how speeches typically go, she said that usually she's content with having at least the majority of the students present, which they did. Out of the 100 students broken into our four classes, only 10 chose not to present. So I'd consider that a pretty good success rate. I just wish that these kids would care more about their school work. I find myself frequently being disappointed by their lazy work efforts. I won't contribute that habit to every student in the pod, but definitely the majority. My biggest goal during my time student teaching has become to challenge these kids. I refuse to lower my standards and expectations simply because the students refuse to meet par. So far the pushing has worked well. Most of the students completed their "Mini Essays" assignment and the majority even wrote the 6 pages which I asked for. I impressed Ms. Luby by getting most of the students to present speeches as well, so perhaps I'm making progress afterall.
Tuesday, Feb 2nd & Wednesday, Feb 3rd:
We finished our speeches up, with the last of the students presenting on Wednesday. What I learned most from the speech unit was not that these students need to work on their public speaking skills (though many do), but that these students lack common respect. I began the presentations on Monday by sharing my expectations for students in the audience. Audience members were required to complete peer evaluations for each of their classmates. Questions were to be saved until the end of presentations, and questions would be politely asked after raising one's hand. No talking was permitted during speeches and I kept tallies of those students who had to be asked to stop talking, and their grades reflected their audience skills. I told the students that it was not appropriate to tell a presenter to slow down or hurry up, as the first priority of these speeches was not to help the class members to create ten different types of paper airplanes, but rather to help their classmates to improve their speaking skills. In every class, I had to repeatedly restate my expectations, and numerous kids lost points due to speaking during presentations. I was shocked by the kids' audience etiquette. I expected more out of 8th graders.
Thursday, Feb. 4th:
On Thursday I introduced the students to Persuasive Thinking in preparation for our Persuasive Paper Unit, which I'm beginning this week. I had the students participate in some activities which introduced the concepts of rhetoric, the strategies of logos, ethos, pathos, kairos, and big names, and I had the students analyze magazine ads through the lens of the rhetorical strategies which we covered. Most of the students seemed to do well with these activities, and I was happy to see that my teaching occassionally sinks in with these guys.
Friday, Feb. 5th:
On Friday I allowed the students primarily a work day. Ms. Luby read the kids a story about Empathy as part of Kindness Month, and we completed one of the Reading Practice Quizzes which are meant to prepare the students for their Basic Standards Test in April. For those classes who ran out of time Thursday, we completed the Persuasive Thinking activities. Outside of this, the students used the class time to work on an extra credit opportunity, catch up on the their Accelerated Reading, or write the Journals which are due Monday.
Friday night I attended the 6th grade Family Night at the Middle School. Having been required to attend the event, the other student teachers and myself were present to aide in the three hour event which was meant to allow the family members of 6th graders a time to hang out with their kids. I worked in the coat room, though to say that I "worked"is not accurate. The 6 or 7 students who had volunteered to work in the room were undoubtedly capable of maintaining the tasks of the facility. In fact, when I tried to help, I found myself getting in the way. So I spent most of the evening gossiping with two other student teachers. The greatest lessons of the night? - Student Teachers = Free Labor for School Administrators, - 7th graders are more than capable of hanging jackets without adult supervision, & - It feels wonderful to vent to individuals who are experiencing the same difficulties as myself. Phew.
Monday marked the beginning of our "How To" Speech presentations. Overall, the students did well. Some impressed me, some disappointed me, many were in the middle. I had asked the students to follow some specific criteria with their speeches: A- the speeches had to be at least 3 minutes long, B- The students had to physical demonstrate the process which they were explaining, C- Another visual, in addition to the props which were used during demonstrating, had to be present (though I said that this second visual could be as simple as some steps written onto the board... nothing elaborate was required), and D- the students had to speak for at least 3 minutes. I would say that maybe a tenth of the students followed all of the criteria. Many students did well during their speeches, but most were not 3 minutes long and the majority did not have a second visual.
Talking with Ms. Luby about how speeches typically go, she said that usually she's content with having at least the majority of the students present, which they did. Out of the 100 students broken into our four classes, only 10 chose not to present. So I'd consider that a pretty good success rate. I just wish that these kids would care more about their school work. I find myself frequently being disappointed by their lazy work efforts. I won't contribute that habit to every student in the pod, but definitely the majority. My biggest goal during my time student teaching has become to challenge these kids. I refuse to lower my standards and expectations simply because the students refuse to meet par. So far the pushing has worked well. Most of the students completed their "Mini Essays" assignment and the majority even wrote the 6 pages which I asked for. I impressed Ms. Luby by getting most of the students to present speeches as well, so perhaps I'm making progress afterall.
Tuesday, Feb 2nd & Wednesday, Feb 3rd:
We finished our speeches up, with the last of the students presenting on Wednesday. What I learned most from the speech unit was not that these students need to work on their public speaking skills (though many do), but that these students lack common respect. I began the presentations on Monday by sharing my expectations for students in the audience. Audience members were required to complete peer evaluations for each of their classmates. Questions were to be saved until the end of presentations, and questions would be politely asked after raising one's hand. No talking was permitted during speeches and I kept tallies of those students who had to be asked to stop talking, and their grades reflected their audience skills. I told the students that it was not appropriate to tell a presenter to slow down or hurry up, as the first priority of these speeches was not to help the class members to create ten different types of paper airplanes, but rather to help their classmates to improve their speaking skills. In every class, I had to repeatedly restate my expectations, and numerous kids lost points due to speaking during presentations. I was shocked by the kids' audience etiquette. I expected more out of 8th graders.
Thursday, Feb. 4th:
On Thursday I introduced the students to Persuasive Thinking in preparation for our Persuasive Paper Unit, which I'm beginning this week. I had the students participate in some activities which introduced the concepts of rhetoric, the strategies of logos, ethos, pathos, kairos, and big names, and I had the students analyze magazine ads through the lens of the rhetorical strategies which we covered. Most of the students seemed to do well with these activities, and I was happy to see that my teaching occassionally sinks in with these guys.
Friday, Feb. 5th:
On Friday I allowed the students primarily a work day. Ms. Luby read the kids a story about Empathy as part of Kindness Month, and we completed one of the Reading Practice Quizzes which are meant to prepare the students for their Basic Standards Test in April. For those classes who ran out of time Thursday, we completed the Persuasive Thinking activities. Outside of this, the students used the class time to work on an extra credit opportunity, catch up on the their Accelerated Reading, or write the Journals which are due Monday.
Friday night I attended the 6th grade Family Night at the Middle School. Having been required to attend the event, the other student teachers and myself were present to aide in the three hour event which was meant to allow the family members of 6th graders a time to hang out with their kids. I worked in the coat room, though to say that I "worked"is not accurate. The 6 or 7 students who had volunteered to work in the room were undoubtedly capable of maintaining the tasks of the facility. In fact, when I tried to help, I found myself getting in the way. So I spent most of the evening gossiping with two other student teachers. The greatest lessons of the night? - Student Teachers = Free Labor for School Administrators, - 7th graders are more than capable of hanging jackets without adult supervision, & - It feels wonderful to vent to individuals who are experiencing the same difficulties as myself. Phew.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Friday, January 29th
“Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty.”
Let's see, what did I learn on Friday? I spent Friday allowing the students work time: they worked on their outlines, speeches, and the journal assignments which I'd made due at the end of the school day on Friday. The "mini essays" assignment required the kids to each fill three pieces of paper, front and back, with responses to the 20-some prompts which I'd provided for them. I created the assignment as a means of learning more about the students' personalities and their writing levels. When I first assigned the project on Tuesday, I received a wave of moans and groans. But I was surprised by the number of finished writings that I received on Friday- the majority of the kids actually completed the assignment, despite how flabbergasted they initially were by the amount of writing I was looking for. Just goes to show that, when pushed, I can get these guys to really step up their game.
Thursday, January 28
“If a child can't learn the way we teach, maybe we should teach the way they learn.”
Thursday I spent the day working with the students on their demonstration speeches, a unit which I introduced on Wednesday. On Wednesday I demonstrated to the students how I wanted their speeches to look, and what information they should contain. We spent most of Wednesday brainstorming ideas and talking about what sort of format a demonstration speech usually follows. So, come Thursday, I explained to the classes how to make an outline. I've asked that they hand in an outline the day before they present their speeches so as to accomplish three things: 1) I want to know that they've prepared themselves for their speeches, and have thought through all of the information which they must mention 2) The outlines are serving as an assurance of practice for the students. By writing out the outlines, I know that the students must think through the supplies which they need to mention and the detailed procedures which they need to describe. & 3) The knowledge of being able to create a solid and detailed outline is a skill which these kids will need in high school. So, we spent a good deal of Thursday working on outlines.
I also had the students sign up for presentation times and topics on Thursday. This took some creativity on my part, as far too many of the students were unable to create their own ideas. "Do you know how to braid hair?" "No" "Do you know how to play Crazy 8's?" "No" "Do you know how to make a paper airplane?" "No" "Do you know how to tie your shoes?" "Nope" Needless to say, after finding topics for 100 students, I was feeling as though all of my patience and creativity had been sucked dry... for one day. I was surprised by some students' ingenuity, however. With topics like "Rigging a Tri-Pod" or "Counting to 10 in Korean," some of the students certainly surprised me with their ideas and skills. I look forward to seeing the speeches next week.
Thursday evening the student teachers were required to attend a Career Day informational meeting. While I'm excited to help out with the activity, as it sounds like a positive opportunity for the students, I'm not especially excited about the concept of having to miss an entire day of teaching in order to tally the ballots of this Career Day. I feel as though I've been working hard for four years in order to reach this time of student teaching, and in all honesty I'm not being allowed a huge amount of time to actually teach. Three months is not a lot of time, especially when you factor in at least a couple weeks of observing, and while I'm happy to volunteer in school activities, I'd rather be spending time directly working with the students.
I also had the students sign up for presentation times and topics on Thursday. This took some creativity on my part, as far too many of the students were unable to create their own ideas. "Do you know how to braid hair?" "No" "Do you know how to play Crazy 8's?" "No" "Do you know how to make a paper airplane?" "No" "Do you know how to tie your shoes?" "Nope" Needless to say, after finding topics for 100 students, I was feeling as though all of my patience and creativity had been sucked dry... for one day. I was surprised by some students' ingenuity, however. With topics like "Rigging a Tri-Pod" or "Counting to 10 in Korean," some of the students certainly surprised me with their ideas and skills. I look forward to seeing the speeches next week.
Thursday evening the student teachers were required to attend a Career Day informational meeting. While I'm excited to help out with the activity, as it sounds like a positive opportunity for the students, I'm not especially excited about the concept of having to miss an entire day of teaching in order to tally the ballots of this Career Day. I feel as though I've been working hard for four years in order to reach this time of student teaching, and in all honesty I'm not being allowed a huge amount of time to actually teach. Three months is not a lot of time, especially when you factor in at least a couple weeks of observing, and while I'm happy to volunteer in school activities, I'd rather be spending time directly working with the students.
Wednesday, January 27th
“Teachers teach more by what they are than by what they say.”
Mr. Coe met with me on Wednesday and discussed his thoughts about Tuesday's observations. His comments were primarily positive, and I found all of his suggestions helpful as they genuinely addressed issues which I've been personally concerned about: things like calming the students down when they get overly rambunctious or noisy, and addressing those students who refuse to work on their assignments. He had some helpful hints, and during our discussion Ms. Luby jumped in on the conversation and offered her advice too. She mentioned that her strategy for getting the students to focus in class is that she continually re-states what her expectations are of them for that class hour. For instance, "I expect you guys to be working quietly on your journals until the end of the hour." I went ahead and gave Luby's tactic a try, starting Wednesday and continuing on throughout the rest of the week, and I was able to find some relative success. Thanks Luby for your advice!
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Day 11- Tuesday, January 26
"A hundred years from now it will not matter what my bank account was, the sort of house I lived in, or the kind of car I drove . . . . but the world maybe different because I was important in the life of a child." - Kathy Davis
Today was another day of blunders. This morning I got off to a rough start as I spent nearly half an hour attempting to open my car doors. Finally giving up, I let the morning ice & frozen locks win as I began calling for favors. Thankfully, one of my friends answered their phone and I managed to get a ride from Miss Katie. Thanks so much to her!
After arriving at school about a half hour later than I usually do (I stepped in at 8:05am), I was worried that the school's principal Mr. Hildenbrand may be disappointed in my tardiness. But I had contacted Luby early on in the morning to let her know that I would be late, and I took comfort in knowing that she would stand in my corner.
Today that the kids and I began working on a "journaling" assignment. I introduced the assignment to the students during class, brainstormed about 20 ideas with them, and allowed them the rest of the hour to work on the project. Overall, the students responded to the assignment relatively well. The majority of the kids openly hate writing, and so when I told them that I would like to see 6 pages of journal entries from them at the end of the week I did not encounter a lot of smiles. But eventually I got most everyone engaged. Perhaps my happiest accomplishment of today was motivating a student named Andrayes to actually put the pen to paper and write! Andrayes openly hates English class- and especially writing. I know that he's a smart kid, I've seen the proof of it in my discussions with him and some of the few assignments he's handed in during my time student teaching. But to get Andrayes to write, even Luby says, is not an easy task. I did it today!! I mean, he didn't write much, but he managed about half a page by the end of class & it's something.
I had my first evaluation from Mr. Coe, my Univeristy Ambassador today. Tomorrow he will return to discuss his observations. I'm hoping that I didn't fair too poorly... we'll just have to wait and see...
After arriving at school about a half hour later than I usually do (I stepped in at 8:05am), I was worried that the school's principal Mr. Hildenbrand may be disappointed in my tardiness. But I had contacted Luby early on in the morning to let her know that I would be late, and I took comfort in knowing that she would stand in my corner.
Today that the kids and I began working on a "journaling" assignment. I introduced the assignment to the students during class, brainstormed about 20 ideas with them, and allowed them the rest of the hour to work on the project. Overall, the students responded to the assignment relatively well. The majority of the kids openly hate writing, and so when I told them that I would like to see 6 pages of journal entries from them at the end of the week I did not encounter a lot of smiles. But eventually I got most everyone engaged. Perhaps my happiest accomplishment of today was motivating a student named Andrayes to actually put the pen to paper and write! Andrayes openly hates English class- and especially writing. I know that he's a smart kid, I've seen the proof of it in my discussions with him and some of the few assignments he's handed in during my time student teaching. But to get Andrayes to write, even Luby says, is not an easy task. I did it today!! I mean, he didn't write much, but he managed about half a page by the end of class & it's something.
I had my first evaluation from Mr. Coe, my Univeristy Ambassador today. Tomorrow he will return to discuss his observations. I'm hoping that I didn't fair too poorly... we'll just have to wait and see...
Day 10- Monday, January 25
Monday marked my first staff in-service experience. I had very few expectations in mind coming into the experience, as I wasn't entirely sure what the agenda had in store for me. When I woke up in the morning, I was welcomed by a blizzard. Luckily, I woke up early enough to leave with some extra time and with just a little caution and some extra patience I made it to the high school with plenty of time to spare. Go me!
The first part of the morning was spent with a teacher from Texas who works with the College Board. The facilitator discussed with us what vertical alignment is and how it can serve as a valuable resource to the school district's curriculum plans. What I was most surprised by was how the facilitator focused a good deal on AP classes. While I recognize the value of AP classes, and I feel that they are a beneficial option for students, I had wished that the facilitator would have invested more time discussing the concerns of the majority of our students- those who are considered "average" or even "below average." However, I had to remind myself throughout the workshop that this facilitator worked for the College Board; it only made sense that she would push AP classes.
After a two-and-half hour lunch (really? Not exactly necessary, if you asked me), the afternoon was spent with our departments. This was kind of exciting for me, as it allowed me the opportunity to meet the high school English teachers for the first time. However, after the discussion began, I soon found myself totally and completely lost. Not being entirely familiar with the district's Language Arts curriculum from 6th through 12th grade, I had to work hard to keep up. I used the experience as a chance to sit back, listen to the concerns and suggestions of all the educators around me, and soak it all in.
The first part of the morning was spent with a teacher from Texas who works with the College Board. The facilitator discussed with us what vertical alignment is and how it can serve as a valuable resource to the school district's curriculum plans. What I was most surprised by was how the facilitator focused a good deal on AP classes. While I recognize the value of AP classes, and I feel that they are a beneficial option for students, I had wished that the facilitator would have invested more time discussing the concerns of the majority of our students- those who are considered "average" or even "below average." However, I had to remind myself throughout the workshop that this facilitator worked for the College Board; it only made sense that she would push AP classes.
After a two-and-half hour lunch (really? Not exactly necessary, if you asked me), the afternoon was spent with our departments. This was kind of exciting for me, as it allowed me the opportunity to meet the high school English teachers for the first time. However, after the discussion began, I soon found myself totally and completely lost. Not being entirely familiar with the district's Language Arts curriculum from 6th through 12th grade, I had to work hard to keep up. I used the experience as a chance to sit back, listen to the concerns and suggestions of all the educators around me, and soak it all in.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Days 8 & 9- Another Two-fer
“No man can be a good teacher unless he has feelings of warm affection toward his pupils and a genuine desire to impart to them what he believes to be of value.” -Bertrand Russell
On Thursday I got to play teacher. Ms. Luby has been fantastic throughout this entire experience, I'm infinitely grateful for having been assigned to her, and on this day she agreed to hand over the reins to me. I allotted Thursday's lessons for introducing myself to the students. I have this theory about learning and how in order for a student to reach their greatest potential, they must first develop a relationship of trust with their teacher. Learning new concepts is a challenge, and often a scary challenge. I look at learning new ideas as walking a tightrope; the journey toward achievement can be tricky and frightening. But with practice, motivation, and guidance, a person can learn to safely cross that tightrope and reach the finish point of accomplishment.
So with this theory in mind, I believe that every student must first trust their teacher and feel secure in knowing that they will provide steadfast guidance. In order to establish this trust with my students, I wanted to spend some time Thursday introducing myself to them. I created a powerpoint presentation which highlighted my interests, accomplishments, education, etc. I included information about my time in Europe, and why that trip helped to shape my attitudes toward life. I explained with the presentation my reasons for going into teaching, and specifically teaching English. I concluded the powerpoint with my one and only rule for the classroom: Respect.
Explaining to the students how respect effects every element of the classroom, I showed the class a clip from the movie Freedom Writers. The clip showcased a scene where the movie's students discovered the many things which they had in common, inevitably leading to a greater level of respect in the classroom. After showing the clip, I had the students do an activity called "Sticks and Stones" which illustrated how even the smallest of jokes, jabs, or gestures can hurt a person's feelings. I explained to the students during this activity how a person may never know when a classmate is having a bad day, or is sensitive to a certain subject; therefore we must all watch what we say and do, in order to show a certain level of respect.
It felt great to have "control" of the classroom on Thursday. Like I said, I owe Luby a good deal for allowing me the chance to learn by doing. I felt good after Thursday- like I'd accomplished something... like I got my lessons across. I still struggle to get the students' attention and gain control (read "quiet") in the classroom. Luby has explained how when she is present in the classroom, the students tend to head toward her with questions and permission, so by stepping out of the room she's been helping me to establish a level of authority with the kids. I'll say it again- I'm so happy to be working with this lady.
Thursday night I worked with the Speech students for the second time. Unlike how in the classroom I sometimes feel unsure about myself, while at Speech practice I feel as though I'm an expert. I know what I'm doing, and I know how to help these kids. I'm good at it, I feel like I actually make a difference as I watch the kids apply new techniques to their speeches. I've especially enjoyed working with a student named Hannah who is the team's only Extemp. Reader. She's such a bright young lady, definitely wise beyond her years. The nostalgia of Speech is almost intoxicating to me. I adore helping out with the team on Thursday nights.
Friday I picked up where I left on Thursday. Each hour started off doing what are apparently called "RPQ's"- Reading Practice Quizzes, or something like that- and I guess that the students do the tests every Friday morning in order to prepare for their Basic Standards Tests in April.
After finishing up with their reading exercises, I had the students make some Name Tag/Table Tents to seal the holes on any of my memorization of names. Next, I broke up the students into groups of four and asked them to answer certain questions in order to learn more about one another. In the end, I had the groups share their findings, so that I could learn about their interests and personalities too.
The activities went well with all but one of the classes. The last class of the day refused to listen to their classmates, were loud, ran around the room like 3rd graders in a gym class, and completely ignored any of my directions. In return, they lost the chance to complete the activity and were forced to spend the last 20 minutes of the hour sitting silently in their assigned seats, reading. I found it interesting how, after taking away the opportunity to complete a "fun" activity, the class finally found the ability to be quiet. After saying, "Alright, you've made your decision. Go back to your assigned seats, hand your papers forward, and be quiet. I don't want to hear one word. Anyone who speaks will be sent to the office." every student shut up and followed my instructions. I felt bad after calling it quits on the activity, I felt like I cheated the students who were behaving quietly in the background, and I was disappointed to not have the chance to hear the students share their findings. But I felt as though the students were questioning my authority at the start of class, and by the end they knew that I was not a floor mat. I don't know, did I do the right thing? The jury's still out on this case. Help!
I also got an unfortunate lesson today in humility and naivety. During lunch the teachers were speaking about a student who'd recently been moved into a shelter after her father beat her. The girl spoke with the school's social worker about wanting to stay with her grandparents, but her father wouldn't have it. Without any available foster homes at the moment, the student was sent to spend at least 2 weeks in the local shelter for runaways and homeless teens.... sounds like a great alternative, right? :I
I mentioned during the discussion how I couldn't comprehend the logic of the girl's father. I stated how I didn't understand why her father would rather see his daughter stay in a homeless shelter than have her stay with her grandparents and one of the pod's teachers responded by saying, "Welcome to teaching Little One."
I was slightly set aback by the comment. I know that I'm learning, and I know that I'm unexperienced. I know that I'm probably too idealistic, and at times I'm sure that I'm even naive. But is it so bad for me to question the system of how these children are treated? Is it wrong of me to care for these kids and genuinely want for them to find happiness and success? I can't help that I care this much, and I'm willing to take the risks which may accompany caring this much. In the meantime, I need to determine how to help my cooperating teacher and her colleagues to recognize my strength and understand my reasoning.
Here's to the end of week two. MANY lessons learned. Many more to come.
- Oh! I forgot to mention, I got my first "gift" from a student today. At the end of my first hour, after being away from it for some time, I walked to my desk to find a note & a paper crane from one of the girl students in the class. A very quiet and shy girl, I was struck by her gesture.... definitely a moment that made me smile. Thank you Miss Danika!
So with this theory in mind, I believe that every student must first trust their teacher and feel secure in knowing that they will provide steadfast guidance. In order to establish this trust with my students, I wanted to spend some time Thursday introducing myself to them. I created a powerpoint presentation which highlighted my interests, accomplishments, education, etc. I included information about my time in Europe, and why that trip helped to shape my attitudes toward life. I explained with the presentation my reasons for going into teaching, and specifically teaching English. I concluded the powerpoint with my one and only rule for the classroom: Respect.
Explaining to the students how respect effects every element of the classroom, I showed the class a clip from the movie Freedom Writers. The clip showcased a scene where the movie's students discovered the many things which they had in common, inevitably leading to a greater level of respect in the classroom. After showing the clip, I had the students do an activity called "Sticks and Stones" which illustrated how even the smallest of jokes, jabs, or gestures can hurt a person's feelings. I explained to the students during this activity how a person may never know when a classmate is having a bad day, or is sensitive to a certain subject; therefore we must all watch what we say and do, in order to show a certain level of respect.
It felt great to have "control" of the classroom on Thursday. Like I said, I owe Luby a good deal for allowing me the chance to learn by doing. I felt good after Thursday- like I'd accomplished something... like I got my lessons across. I still struggle to get the students' attention and gain control (read "quiet") in the classroom. Luby has explained how when she is present in the classroom, the students tend to head toward her with questions and permission, so by stepping out of the room she's been helping me to establish a level of authority with the kids. I'll say it again- I'm so happy to be working with this lady.
Thursday night I worked with the Speech students for the second time. Unlike how in the classroom I sometimes feel unsure about myself, while at Speech practice I feel as though I'm an expert. I know what I'm doing, and I know how to help these kids. I'm good at it, I feel like I actually make a difference as I watch the kids apply new techniques to their speeches. I've especially enjoyed working with a student named Hannah who is the team's only Extemp. Reader. She's such a bright young lady, definitely wise beyond her years. The nostalgia of Speech is almost intoxicating to me. I adore helping out with the team on Thursday nights.
Friday I picked up where I left on Thursday. Each hour started off doing what are apparently called "RPQ's"- Reading Practice Quizzes, or something like that- and I guess that the students do the tests every Friday morning in order to prepare for their Basic Standards Tests in April.
After finishing up with their reading exercises, I had the students make some Name Tag/Table Tents to seal the holes on any of my memorization of names. Next, I broke up the students into groups of four and asked them to answer certain questions in order to learn more about one another. In the end, I had the groups share their findings, so that I could learn about their interests and personalities too.
The activities went well with all but one of the classes. The last class of the day refused to listen to their classmates, were loud, ran around the room like 3rd graders in a gym class, and completely ignored any of my directions. In return, they lost the chance to complete the activity and were forced to spend the last 20 minutes of the hour sitting silently in their assigned seats, reading. I found it interesting how, after taking away the opportunity to complete a "fun" activity, the class finally found the ability to be quiet. After saying, "Alright, you've made your decision. Go back to your assigned seats, hand your papers forward, and be quiet. I don't want to hear one word. Anyone who speaks will be sent to the office." every student shut up and followed my instructions. I felt bad after calling it quits on the activity, I felt like I cheated the students who were behaving quietly in the background, and I was disappointed to not have the chance to hear the students share their findings. But I felt as though the students were questioning my authority at the start of class, and by the end they knew that I was not a floor mat. I don't know, did I do the right thing? The jury's still out on this case. Help!
I also got an unfortunate lesson today in humility and naivety. During lunch the teachers were speaking about a student who'd recently been moved into a shelter after her father beat her. The girl spoke with the school's social worker about wanting to stay with her grandparents, but her father wouldn't have it. Without any available foster homes at the moment, the student was sent to spend at least 2 weeks in the local shelter for runaways and homeless teens.... sounds like a great alternative, right? :I
I mentioned during the discussion how I couldn't comprehend the logic of the girl's father. I stated how I didn't understand why her father would rather see his daughter stay in a homeless shelter than have her stay with her grandparents and one of the pod's teachers responded by saying, "Welcome to teaching Little One."
I was slightly set aback by the comment. I know that I'm learning, and I know that I'm unexperienced. I know that I'm probably too idealistic, and at times I'm sure that I'm even naive. But is it so bad for me to question the system of how these children are treated? Is it wrong of me to care for these kids and genuinely want for them to find happiness and success? I can't help that I care this much, and I'm willing to take the risks which may accompany caring this much. In the meantime, I need to determine how to help my cooperating teacher and her colleagues to recognize my strength and understand my reasoning.
Here's to the end of week two. MANY lessons learned. Many more to come.
- Oh! I forgot to mention, I got my first "gift" from a student today. At the end of my first hour, after being away from it for some time, I walked to my desk to find a note & a paper crane from one of the girl students in the class. A very quiet and shy girl, I was struck by her gesture.... definitely a moment that made me smile. Thank you Miss Danika!
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Days 6 & 7
Yesterday I was totally and completely exhausted, hence the absent post. So here's a catch up:
Sunday brought a moment of temporary terror as my laptop, to which I have all of my lessons plans & student teaching resources saved, contracted a virus and attempted suicide. Thankfully I have a fabulous boyfriend who is well acquainted with technology, and things are back to normal now.
Monday was a quiet day at school. The students have finished their last novel of 2nd quarter- The Pearl by Steinbeck- and began the movie this week. I spent most of today quietly reading and working on lessons. It seems that I've been having a lot of this quiet work days lately, but I know that I should be treasuring the slow pace as in a short while things will be changing.
Today we continued the movie. All four of the classes are nearly completed with the movie, and so after finishing the last 20 minutes of the movie tomorrow I will be taking over with my very own lessons!!!!! Whoo hoo!!! Stay tuned tomorrow for more details pertaining to my world domination....
Sunday brought a moment of temporary terror as my laptop, to which I have all of my lessons plans & student teaching resources saved, contracted a virus and attempted suicide. Thankfully I have a fabulous boyfriend who is well acquainted with technology, and things are back to normal now.
Monday was a quiet day at school. The students have finished their last novel of 2nd quarter- The Pearl by Steinbeck- and began the movie this week. I spent most of today quietly reading and working on lessons. It seems that I've been having a lot of this quiet work days lately, but I know that I should be treasuring the slow pace as in a short while things will be changing.
Today we continued the movie. All four of the classes are nearly completed with the movie, and so after finishing the last 20 minutes of the movie tomorrow I will be taking over with my very own lessons!!!!! Whoo hoo!!! Stay tuned tomorrow for more details pertaining to my world domination....
Friday, January 15, 2010
Day Five- A Big OOOPSY
The school day went well today. The students finished their final exams for the Steinbeck novel Pearl. Luby had me correct the subjective portions of the test and then she corrected the objective portions of the test, since I haven't read the novel.
The students were relatively peaceful today. I was expecting them to be rather rambunctious today, with it being a Friday and there being a dance tonight. But perhaps the kids were just as exhausted as me from our busy week, as they were pretty good in class.
I learned a horrible secret today. During our lunch break, one of the teachers found a note that some students had presumably been passed around. To my horror, they read the note to one another! One of my greatest fears in high school was realized today; the teachers really do read students' lost notes. I don't think that I'll ever be adopting this practice. It reminds me of the instances where nosy parents break into their daughters' diaries in hopes of scrounging up some incriminating evidence. I think that it's a violation of student privacy. But with the same token, I know that each of the teachers involved in today's incident are all extremely caring and committed teachers who would never take advantage of accessing student information through a note, they were merely curious. I don't blame any one involved; I respect the group of teachers I've been allowed to work with this week immensely.
Now for my HUGE mistake. I was supposed to chaperone the dance tonight. My plan was to come home, relax for a bit, grab some food, and then head back to the school at six. I even set an alarm on my phone just in case I fell asleep while watching TV. I've been so very exhausted this entire week, and I know that the deprivation's been effecting my body. But at any rate, I work up tonight at 8:00pm---- 2 hours well past the time I needed to be back at the school ---- to a persistent alarm. My roommate told me that she'd been hearing the alarm for 2 hours, but that it wasn't very loud, and she assumed that I needed the rest.
I feel like an utter and complete idiot right now for missing the dance. I have been striving so hard to impress the teachers and faculty at the Middle School, all in hopes of getting my name out there & coming away from this experience with some strong resources and references. Moves like this one will not help me achieve my goal. I've emailed Luby asking her for advice and contact information for the gentleman who was organizing tonight's event. I hope to have the opportunity to apologize profusely to him in the near future. I feel like I've let myself and many people down today, but I guess it's just another- difficult- lesson learned.
The students were relatively peaceful today. I was expecting them to be rather rambunctious today, with it being a Friday and there being a dance tonight. But perhaps the kids were just as exhausted as me from our busy week, as they were pretty good in class.
I learned a horrible secret today. During our lunch break, one of the teachers found a note that some students had presumably been passed around. To my horror, they read the note to one another! One of my greatest fears in high school was realized today; the teachers really do read students' lost notes. I don't think that I'll ever be adopting this practice. It reminds me of the instances where nosy parents break into their daughters' diaries in hopes of scrounging up some incriminating evidence. I think that it's a violation of student privacy. But with the same token, I know that each of the teachers involved in today's incident are all extremely caring and committed teachers who would never take advantage of accessing student information through a note, they were merely curious. I don't blame any one involved; I respect the group of teachers I've been allowed to work with this week immensely.
Now for my HUGE mistake. I was supposed to chaperone the dance tonight. My plan was to come home, relax for a bit, grab some food, and then head back to the school at six. I even set an alarm on my phone just in case I fell asleep while watching TV. I've been so very exhausted this entire week, and I know that the deprivation's been effecting my body. But at any rate, I work up tonight at 8:00pm---- 2 hours well past the time I needed to be back at the school ---- to a persistent alarm. My roommate told me that she'd been hearing the alarm for 2 hours, but that it wasn't very loud, and she assumed that I needed the rest.
I feel like an utter and complete idiot right now for missing the dance. I have been striving so hard to impress the teachers and faculty at the Middle School, all in hopes of getting my name out there & coming away from this experience with some strong resources and references. Moves like this one will not help me achieve my goal. I've emailed Luby asking her for advice and contact information for the gentleman who was organizing tonight's event. I hope to have the opportunity to apologize profusely to him in the near future. I feel like I've let myself and many people down today, but I guess it's just another- difficult- lesson learned.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Day Four- Speech Coach In Training
No teaching quote to prelude things today, I'm beat.
Today was a long day. I wasn't able to get much sleep last night thanks to ridiculously loud neighbors and an incompetent landlord, so I was a little low energy during the day. I suppose it was good experience, seeing as once I'll have a family I'll need to find a way to bring energy to the classroom despite my current level of sleep.
Luby allowed me again to maintain the class today and work on grading papers. Students spent today working on a novel test, and the test will probably take up most of tomorrow as well. So outside of giving some shot instructions at the start of class, I didn't get to interact much with the kids.
I met my University Advisor today, Professor Rick Coe. He turned out to be fantastically kind and, better yet, he shares my thoughts about the excessive paper that student teaching entails. It was nice to encounter a faculty member who understands what I'm going through... it made me miss Mark. But I guess you have to jump through the hoops in order to reach your goals, right? It'll be worth it in the end.
Two more important things about today-
I encountered my first two significant classroom management instances today. The first involving two female students "jokingly" slapping one another, and the other a young man sexually harrassing a female classmate. The first incident I probably should have handled differently. I chose to speak with the girls, and in the end they both apologized to one another. The second resulted in a behavioral citation. I learned, after speaking with Luby, that I probably should have written up students in both cases, but I now know how to best handle such situations. Another lesson learned.
After school today I helped out with the speech team. I'm low on energy right now, and so while I could write loads about how fantastically nostalgic this experience was, I'll merely say that I look forward to continuing this activity.
Over and out rubber ducky.
Today was a long day. I wasn't able to get much sleep last night thanks to ridiculously loud neighbors and an incompetent landlord, so I was a little low energy during the day. I suppose it was good experience, seeing as once I'll have a family I'll need to find a way to bring energy to the classroom despite my current level of sleep.
Luby allowed me again to maintain the class today and work on grading papers. Students spent today working on a novel test, and the test will probably take up most of tomorrow as well. So outside of giving some shot instructions at the start of class, I didn't get to interact much with the kids.
I met my University Advisor today, Professor Rick Coe. He turned out to be fantastically kind and, better yet, he shares my thoughts about the excessive paper that student teaching entails. It was nice to encounter a faculty member who understands what I'm going through... it made me miss Mark. But I guess you have to jump through the hoops in order to reach your goals, right? It'll be worth it in the end.
Two more important things about today-
I encountered my first two significant classroom management instances today. The first involving two female students "jokingly" slapping one another, and the other a young man sexually harrassing a female classmate. The first incident I probably should have handled differently. I chose to speak with the girls, and in the end they both apologized to one another. The second resulted in a behavioral citation. I learned, after speaking with Luby, that I probably should have written up students in both cases, but I now know how to best handle such situations. Another lesson learned.
After school today I helped out with the speech team. I'm low on energy right now, and so while I could write loads about how fantastically nostalgic this experience was, I'll merely say that I look forward to continuing this activity.
Over and out rubber ducky.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Day Three- I've Found My Plan B.... It's the Carnie's Life For Me!
“Successful teachers are effective in spite of the psychological theories they suffer under”
Another busy day, and subsequently I'm exhausted, so today's post may be a bit short.
Ms. Luby gave me the greatest of compliments today- she said that she trusted me to take over her classroom. She said that I was the first student teacher she'd worked with to arrive on their first day with lessons prepared, and that she was confident in my abilities. She allowed me to manage the last five classes of the day; the task wasn't too complicated as the student primarily worked on silently reading a novel today, but I relished in the responsibility none the less. The students have started to look to me as an authority figure; they asked me for permission to go to the library and checked with me to see if assignments had been handed in. I felt like a grown up!!
I corrected a ton of chapter quizzes today and Ms. Luby had me enter the scores into her grade book--- a real, live grade book! Oh how nerdy I am, getting excited about entering grades into a book. But again, today helped me to feel like a legitimate teacher.
I've been working hard to get my name and face out there with the teachers and staff, so that I can come away from this experience with some good connections. I spoke this morning with the Middle School Speech coach. She and I have arranged for me to help coach on Thursday evenings. This means I'll have some busy evenings during the week. Work after school on Mondays, Knowledge Bowl on Tuesdays, Work again on Wednesdays, Speech on Thursdays, and thankfully Friday evenings "free" (for now). I'm SUPER excited about helping out with the speech team. I miss speech so so much and it's been a dream of mine to coach the activity as a teacher. I've been debating calling up my old high school coaches and chatting with them about the prospect.... let's see if I work up the nerve.
After school today I agreed to aide in the sixth and seventh grade "Mega Party." This was a two hour long party for students who had excelled in grades and fundraising this past quarter. They had food, music, and inflatables for the students to use. I was assigned to man an inflatable that was set up like a carnival game. The little structure looked like a castle & inside had 6 tubes that shot air straight up, they had these balloons contained in canvas bags & the air balanced the balloons in the air. The students could throw balls at the balloons to win candy. And from operating this inflatable game, I learned tonight that I could make one hell of a carnie. So there it is- my Plan B!
That's all folks. I'm attempting to get to bed early tonight. Tomorrow I meet with my University Advisor, wish me luck!
Ms. Luby gave me the greatest of compliments today- she said that she trusted me to take over her classroom. She said that I was the first student teacher she'd worked with to arrive on their first day with lessons prepared, and that she was confident in my abilities. She allowed me to manage the last five classes of the day; the task wasn't too complicated as the student primarily worked on silently reading a novel today, but I relished in the responsibility none the less. The students have started to look to me as an authority figure; they asked me for permission to go to the library and checked with me to see if assignments had been handed in. I felt like a grown up!!
I corrected a ton of chapter quizzes today and Ms. Luby had me enter the scores into her grade book--- a real, live grade book! Oh how nerdy I am, getting excited about entering grades into a book. But again, today helped me to feel like a legitimate teacher.
I've been working hard to get my name and face out there with the teachers and staff, so that I can come away from this experience with some good connections. I spoke this morning with the Middle School Speech coach. She and I have arranged for me to help coach on Thursday evenings. This means I'll have some busy evenings during the week. Work after school on Mondays, Knowledge Bowl on Tuesdays, Work again on Wednesdays, Speech on Thursdays, and thankfully Friday evenings "free" (for now). I'm SUPER excited about helping out with the speech team. I miss speech so so much and it's been a dream of mine to coach the activity as a teacher. I've been debating calling up my old high school coaches and chatting with them about the prospect.... let's see if I work up the nerve.
After school today I agreed to aide in the sixth and seventh grade "Mega Party." This was a two hour long party for students who had excelled in grades and fundraising this past quarter. They had food, music, and inflatables for the students to use. I was assigned to man an inflatable that was set up like a carnival game. The little structure looked like a castle & inside had 6 tubes that shot air straight up, they had these balloons contained in canvas bags & the air balanced the balloons in the air. The students could throw balls at the balloons to win candy. And from operating this inflatable game, I learned tonight that I could make one hell of a carnie. So there it is- my Plan B!
That's all folks. I'm attempting to get to bed early tonight. Tomorrow I meet with my University Advisor, wish me luck!
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Day Two- A 'Spelltacular' Experience!
"The dream begins with a teacher who believes in you, who tugs and pushes and leads you to the next plateau, sometimes poking you with a sharp stick called 'truth'."
~Dan Rather
~Dan Rather
Day two began with me arriving at school even before Ms. Luby- a lovely accomplishment for this last minute gal. I organized my desk this morning and unpacked the lesson materials I've created so far. I relished in this small gesture, as I almost felt as though I "belonged" in that desk, as though I was a "real" teacher. Pretty cool stuff. On a surprising note however, I've already filled the tiny desk drawers. SO, after "work", I headed over to good ole Office Max and invested in a document case container. That should hold me over for a little while.
Luby's been very accepting of all my lesson plans so far, and this makes me feel as though I'm on the right track. She's mentioned "stealing" some ideas and commented yesterday on how detailed my lesson plans are. Hopefully keeping up this attention to detail (a habit that's typically irritated me in the past) will help me to impress some folks during my pending job hunt. Wish me luck folks!
I got to play teacher for a little while today. The students are required each year to participate in a "Spelltacular" spelling test which serves as a qualifying quiz for the district's annual spelling bee. Ms. Luby allowed me to administer the test and correct the tests afterward. This, as I expected, was a pretty simple task. The hardest part of administering the test was simply getting the kids to calm down and settle in at the start of each new hour. But, utilizing my charm and humor, I think I did alright in getting the kid's attention. Even though there were moments of antsy pants and chatter boxes, I think that I did a good job of keeping the kids under control.... hopefully Luby would say that same.
I also spent a good portion of today learning the kids' names. Handing out papers, as Ms. Luby insisted, was a great way of memorizing faces and names. I'm sure that come tomorrow I won't remember everyone's names again, but I'm much further along today then I was yesterday.
After school today I attended Ms. Luby's Knowledge Bowl meeting. She's the group's advisor and asked me to help out with practices and meets. This, along with helping the school's Speech Team coach, will surely keep my Tuesday & Thursday nights busy. :) But I'm excited to get involved in the extracurriculars, especially speech. The opportunity to coach and advise is one reason that I was attracted to teaching. I'm hoping that these experiences during student teaching will help me to get my foot in the door later.
Another good day troops. I'm doing my part to make sure tomorrow's just as fun. This is me signing off.
Luby's been very accepting of all my lesson plans so far, and this makes me feel as though I'm on the right track. She's mentioned "stealing" some ideas and commented yesterday on how detailed my lesson plans are. Hopefully keeping up this attention to detail (a habit that's typically irritated me in the past) will help me to impress some folks during my pending job hunt. Wish me luck folks!
I got to play teacher for a little while today. The students are required each year to participate in a "Spelltacular" spelling test which serves as a qualifying quiz for the district's annual spelling bee. Ms. Luby allowed me to administer the test and correct the tests afterward. This, as I expected, was a pretty simple task. The hardest part of administering the test was simply getting the kids to calm down and settle in at the start of each new hour. But, utilizing my charm and humor, I think I did alright in getting the kid's attention. Even though there were moments of antsy pants and chatter boxes, I think that I did a good job of keeping the kids under control.... hopefully Luby would say that same.
I also spent a good portion of today learning the kids' names. Handing out papers, as Ms. Luby insisted, was a great way of memorizing faces and names. I'm sure that come tomorrow I won't remember everyone's names again, but I'm much further along today then I was yesterday.
After school today I attended Ms. Luby's Knowledge Bowl meeting. She's the group's advisor and asked me to help out with practices and meets. This, along with helping the school's Speech Team coach, will surely keep my Tuesday & Thursday nights busy. :) But I'm excited to get involved in the extracurriculars, especially speech. The opportunity to coach and advise is one reason that I was attracted to teaching. I'm hoping that these experiences during student teaching will help me to get my foot in the door later.
Another good day troops. I'm doing my part to make sure tomorrow's just as fun. This is me signing off.
Monday, January 11, 2010
Day One of Student Teaching
"Those that know, do. Those that understand, teach." - Aristotle
Today was the day; the first day of the rest of my life. I arrived at the Middle School at 7:30 for an early meeting with the other student teachers and one of the school principals, Mr. Hildenbrand. The meeting was relatively painless, just a quick greeting and overview of what we can expect in the weeks to come. From here, I headed on over to the Theta Pod and began my dad in Ms. Luby's 8th grade English class- hazzah!!
I adore my cooperating teacher. She tells it like it is; she's totally and completely upfront and honest, but patient and optimistic at the same time. I could really tell that she genuinely cares for her students. She jokes with the students, she knows about her students' lives, and she carefully plots her each move so as to take into consideration how it may effect the her students. We seem to agree on a number of subjects- including a certain spirited businessman- and she welcomed my lesson ideas with open arms. I think I've found an excellent fit with Ms. Luby, and I hope that the rest of these 12 weeks will continue to fill me with the sort of optimism that I left with today.
I didn't do a whole lot in regard to working with the students today, which was my only regret. However, as Luby put it, Monday's are a typical "work day" for the students. Throughout most of their classes today, the students read to themselves and worked on reading quizzes. I had the opportunity to interact with a couple of the kids as they questioned who was the stranger chilling at the new desk at the front of the classroom. One student, Isaac, was rather entertaining. When Ms. Luby introduced me to the class during Isaac's class period, his arm shot up in the air with a question. Chuckles arose from all of the students, as they knew exactly what was about to occur, and Luby warned Isaac to play nice. When I asked Isaac what his question was, he asked me:
"If you were mountain biking and you took a sweet jump, um, what's your favorite bird?"
Moments later, he followed up with the question:
"If you were in the desert, and you were thirsty and your car wouldn't start, and you couldn't find water or oil, and you could watch one movie, what's your favorite movie?"
Immature, yes, but I relished in answering Isaac's questions. His obnoxious humor reminded me of my own and I look forward to working with Isaac. I welcome his antics and found his humor comforting. Day one was a success!
Tomorrow's Goal: Get to know students by their first names.
I adore my cooperating teacher. She tells it like it is; she's totally and completely upfront and honest, but patient and optimistic at the same time. I could really tell that she genuinely cares for her students. She jokes with the students, she knows about her students' lives, and she carefully plots her each move so as to take into consideration how it may effect the her students. We seem to agree on a number of subjects- including a certain spirited businessman- and she welcomed my lesson ideas with open arms. I think I've found an excellent fit with Ms. Luby, and I hope that the rest of these 12 weeks will continue to fill me with the sort of optimism that I left with today.
I didn't do a whole lot in regard to working with the students today, which was my only regret. However, as Luby put it, Monday's are a typical "work day" for the students. Throughout most of their classes today, the students read to themselves and worked on reading quizzes. I had the opportunity to interact with a couple of the kids as they questioned who was the stranger chilling at the new desk at the front of the classroom. One student, Isaac, was rather entertaining. When Ms. Luby introduced me to the class during Isaac's class period, his arm shot up in the air with a question. Chuckles arose from all of the students, as they knew exactly what was about to occur, and Luby warned Isaac to play nice. When I asked Isaac what his question was, he asked me:
"If you were mountain biking and you took a sweet jump, um, what's your favorite bird?"
Moments later, he followed up with the question:
"If you were in the desert, and you were thirsty and your car wouldn't start, and you couldn't find water or oil, and you could watch one movie, what's your favorite movie?"
Immature, yes, but I relished in answering Isaac's questions. His obnoxious humor reminded me of my own and I look forward to working with Isaac. I welcome his antics and found his humor comforting. Day one was a success!
Tomorrow's Goal: Get to know students by their first names.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
