Reflection 10

Redo

If I had it to do all over again, I would tell myself to take it easy and not take things personally.  I would tell myself to switch teachers earlier than I did in order to get more experience; sometimes staying with one teacher too long hinders learning.  I would remind myself from the very beginning that it does not matter if students like you, you are there to teach and not be their friends.  I would tell myself that you should do what the CT wants, not what you will do once you teach, because they are judging you based on their standards.  I would also tell myself that you really do need to start your KPTP early in order to not be trying to cram it all in at the last minute.  I would remind myself that while observing the good teachers, really take notes of what makes them good and pay attention to transitions.

                I would congratulate myself for learning and growing during this whole experience and staying true to who I am.  I would point out that I developed some really good and nurturing relationships with some of my students and really care about them and their futures.  I would tell myself which lesson plans worked and which I need to adjust so I could be better prepared (but who wouldn’t).

                I wish the class when we discuss lesson planning would have been more effective.  It would be nice to have a class where we four or five of us are assigned a book to write a unit on and we collaborate and create it together.  I think this would improve our lesson planning and collaboration skills.  I wish we would have more responsibility in the classroom during our pre-student teaching semester and less during our student teaching semester so that we are not so stressed trying to get the KPTP done.  Another option could be doing the KPTP during our pre-student teaching semester in order to be able to focus on it more.  

Reflection #8

Violence in the classroom - Are you prepared? 

 

First let me begin this story by explaining that approximately one month ago, during an inservice day, we student teachers were assigned to create a video on the proper way to handle theft in the classroom.  We asked the principal what the procedure is in this situation: call security and an administrator and keep the kids in the classroom.  We video-taped a scenario where a student gets his cell phone stolen.

Just this week, this scenario became a true situation in our study all class.  I was so glad that my CT was there to handle the situation.  We called security and did what we were supposed to do.  Unfortunately the guidelines do not cover the part where the students are cocky young males who begin mouthing off to one another.  The situation quickly escalated, despite many attempts by my CT, and next thing we know the students are tossing chairs around and posturing.  The student who had his phone stolen was ready to fight everyone in the class at that point.  My CT did her best to escort the student out of the class and down to the counselor’s office and tried her best to keep the students separated.

Once class was over and we had a chance to talk, I asked her what I should do if the students had actually started fighting.  We discussed how I should go to the closest room to have them call security and administration and just try to keep the other students out of harm’s way but that I should just let the kids fight if they start throwing punches.  She told me I should not get in between them at that point but should just minimize the chance of anyone else getting involved.  I have not experienced this situation before and I can honestly say that I am in no hurry to experience it again but I am glad to have had the opportunity to discuss with my CT what the best course of action should be if it does happen again.  These are sometimes the types of situations that we forget to ask about and are not prepared for when they do occur.  Am I the only one who would not have been prepared for this?

Reflection #7

Reflection #7 – Make-up work

Ah Spring! April showers bring May flowers, etc.  This is also the time for a lot of field trips and sporting events, such as track, that cause students to start missing school.  I know in my classroom there have been band contests, softball, track and field trips that have caused many students to miss class time.  The thing that I am struggling with is the make-up work.  Some students come in beforehand to get work and others wait until they come back.  We have a folder that I place work in but lately it has been crammed.  The problem is what to do with some assignments that we do as classwork or group work that require the students to be there.  I am struggling to come up with new ways to adjust the assignments in order to allow students to get the points.  Some of the assignments are really hard to arrange into a form that is fair to the students, whether it be the ones who did the original assignment or those who have the adjusted format.  I realize that as teachers we have to work with the system but I am wondering how we do that fairly for all the students.  Does anyone have any suggestions for how to take an assignment that is done as a group project in class and adjust it for a student who has to do it alone, outside of class time?  For example, I had the students research a person who helped contribute to the Harlem Renaissance and then make posters to present to the rest of the class.  They were divided into groups of four students, which they divided the research between them and came together to create the posters and then present the information to the whole class.  The students who missed class cannot really get together in a group outside of class so they have to work on it individually.  I am not really having them research enough information to lessen the amount they have to look up.  In addition, we are moving on to lit circles and so they will not be able to present their information.  I know that fair does not always mean equal but I am struggling to come up with a compromise that I feel is fair.

Reflection five - Parent/Teacher conferences

Well we finally had those parent/teacher conferences that were postponed because of the snow.  I have to admit that I was looking forward to seeing what the experience would be like but I was not exactly thrilled with the idea of being at school from 7 am to 7 pm two days in a row.  I was intrigued enough to have a good attitude about it and to gleam all the additional knowledge from it that I could.  I also looked at it as an additional opportunity to spend quality time with me CT and gain as much knowledge from her as I possibly could.  My CT has been absolutely fantastic about sharing everything with me that she can think of that will help me to succeed my first year and the years following.  The parent/teacher conferences were just another opportunity for us to discuss the integral part of getting parents involved.  We also discussed helicopter parents and parents who come in angry with their children or other teachers.

 

My teacher is an organization freak like me (said in the most complimentary way) and so we spent the week prior to conferences getting ready.  My CT has a form that she has the students fill out as a self-evaluation on their grades and behavior in the classroom.  We updated their grades and had them update their evaluation sheets prior to conferences.  We had a discussion with the students on honesty and how it important it is because we will call them out if they are not honest about grades or classroom behavior.  We divided sheets into hours and arranged them alphabetically to maximize accessibility.  Prior to the conferences beginning I asked my CT exactly what role she wanted me to take at the conferences so that I knew what was expected of me.  By the time the conferences rolled around, we were both ready to go. 

 

One of the first parents we had threw me for a loop, as a parent and as a teacher.  I watched her yell at and humiliate her daughter in front of both the CT and myself.  I just kept thinking to myself that I need to apologize to my own son when I get home just in case I ever made him feel like that.  I understand the disappoint that comes when you do not feel your child is doing the best they can, but I try not to ever humiliate them in public.  As soon as the parent and child left the room, I looked at my CT and said “Wow!”  She told me that was pretty standard for that family and we discussed how she reacted and the things that she said.  She told me in situations like that she really just tries to act as the mediator and tries to allow both the parents and the child respond to what is going on and she tries the reflective listening on them.  Basically, she says “I hear your mom saying __________ and you are saying ___________. Now how can we come together and come up with a plan that will provide a solution?”

 

I looked up on the NEA website, parent/teacher conferences and looked at their advice on preparing for parent/teacher conferences and this was one of the methods they recommended.  Does anyone else have any ideas they could share?  

 

Online Reflection #4: Student-Led Discussions

 

Here it is time for another reflection and the timing couldn’t be better.  I just had my first formal observation of the semester and I feel like it went rather well.  After our meeting with the university supervisor, my CT and I sat down for a little talk of our own.  There are times when I get really frustrated because I feel like I only hear negative things, and then my CT will jump in with some positives.  I know I shouldn’t get frustrated because I truly believe she only has my best interests in mind.  My CT is really doing everything she can to help prepare me for being on my own in a classroom.  Anyway, when we began talking she brought up trying to incorporate more student-led discussion into my activities.  Low and behold, when I looked at our reading for class this week it was about “Alternatives to Teacher-Led Discussions.”  Could it really be predetermined, is fate just taking over?  Well I am now going to dive into the reading and see what inspiration I can pull from the material.

 

One idea I have already come up with it to change the way I was going to have the students summarize their homework reading.  Originally I was going to have them summarize the three chapters in their table groups and see what they come up with.  Now I am going to have them create a timeline of the first six chapters of the book.  I will have one student begin by writing one important event from the chapters, then they will pass it to the next student and they will write something that happened either before or after that event.  This process will continue around all four students and keep going until time is up and they hopefully have detailed the majority of the six chapters.  After the time has expired, I will then ask the students to come up to the board, starting at the beginning of chapter one, and we will produce the timeline on the board.  The second part of this activity will allow me the opportunity to take care of a second issue we discussed, having someone other than the normal select few volunteers contribute.  This way I can call on the students who do not usually volunteer and encourage them to contribute.

 

This is one idea I have come up with without reading the suggestions from the Smagorinsky text.  I am looking forward to the reading to see what other ideas I can incorporate along the unit.

Benefits of Interviewing

 

Let me begin by explaining that I will not be telling you how parent/teacher conferences went since they ended up being cancelled due to weather.  We will just have to hold that thought and see if the school reschedules them.  So instead of that topic, I will move on to the next one, interviews.

 

I went to the interview day hosted by WSU career services last week.  My thought was that it can never hurt to get your name out there and to practice interviewing.  There was also one school there that I would absolutely love to work for (of course I’m not the only one).  These were the intentions I had when I went into this process.  The lessons I learned about myself were a major added benefit that I had not even counted on.

 

One of the first things I noticed about myself is that I was not even nervous really.  I think I was just more concerned with the questions and being myself that I left no time for the nerves.  I just wanted to be sure that the interviewers saw who I was and what kind of educator I would be that I had no time to worry about the rest.  I did a total of six interviews that day, putting the one I really wanted in the middle so that I would be warmed up but not too exhausted.  I learned some amazing information.  There was one district that was not even sure what format they were going to use to assess writing because they had not been assessing writing for years.  For the most part the interviews were really good though.  I was excited to find that I knew the answers to all their questions.  I realized how much it means to me that the students accomplish something in my classroom, even if it is just that someone cares.  I found myself thinking as much as a parent as an educator.  I have learned that the two really do go hand-in-hand for me.  I also learned that I would not mind, probably would even enjoy, teaching middle school kids as well.  I had one employer that like that I was a “non-traditional” student.  I just wish they had some openings but he was not sure at the time what would be available in my field.  I also learned that I would move my family if the fit was right.  I have originally thought that I would not really want to move for two years so that my oldest could finish school where he is at, now I am not so sure.  The school I really want to work for, I would move my son there because I think the benefits would outweigh the negatives.  I spoke with my son about this and he has said he does not really want to move but he would definitely do it for me and would be okay with keeping in touch with his friends over the internet.  Wow, my teenage son actually loves me!   

 

In the end, I just really hope to get a job but I would LOVE to get a job that want.

Parent – Teacher Reflection

 

This week we will be having parent/teacher conferences at my school.  As a parent I have been attending these types of conferences for 10 years now with my oldest son.  I have always sort of feared going to these conferences as I was never quite sure what exactly I was going to learn about my first born.  In all of these years though, these conferences have always been consistent.  I now know that my son is intelligent (okay so I knew that fairly early) but I also know that he is a procrastinator and tends to rush through his work instead of worrying about getting it right, he was rather just get it done.  I now have the chance to see these conferences through the lenses of a teacher.  I was intrigued when my cooperating teacher asked me to come to the conferences.  My first thought was, “oh my, is she going to want me to talk to the parents?”  As I have had time to contemplate this, I do not think it will be that bad.  I surely have enough experience on the other side of the table.

We sat down this week and went over all the student’s grades and talked about why they were either excelling or struggling.  When we finished our conversation, my cooperating teacher commented that I really seem to be very good at observing and understanding the students.  Okay, I admit that I grinned from ear-to-ear.  I am glad that she noticed that skill as I have been trying to perfect it for years on my own children.  After the compliment that I received from her, I am now ready to step up and take my part in the conferences and I find that I am looking forward it.  I will definitely remember that parents want to hear the good things their children do and to always try to share more positives than negatives.  I hope that my experience in my personal life will help guide me through this process.  I will have to update this after the conferences and let you all know how it went.   

Reflection #1 

 

It’s Time to Be a Grownup

 

As I begin my last semester, my student teaching semester, I am realizing that it is time to be the adult in the room.  I have always been the one to help the students with their reading or with their assignments, but I usually am not the one who is charge of those assignments.  Now that I have taken over two of my four classes, I am learning that it is okay if I act like the adult in the room instead of the buddy who helps out.  The first example of this came when I asked the students to quiet down so that I could give them their instructions.  They didn’t stop talking, so I told them I would wait.  One of the students made a nasty comment under his breath.  I stood there for a minute and thought to myself, “that wasn’t so bad.  It doesn’t really matter if they ‘like’ me every minute of the hour, but it does matter that they learn to respect me.”  I know for a lot of people that would not be a huge epiphany, but for me it was a big moment.  I find myself learning little lessons like that one on an everyday basis and I find that fact exciting.  I may be scared to death of the KPTP, but I am growing as a teacher daily.  At this point, I am really looking forward to the end of the semester and being able to look back on my growth throughout the semester. 

 

Genre Reflection #2

Sanity is the goal. 

 

What can I say about this semester to sum it all up?  Let’s start with “what doesn’t kill you makes you stronger” and let me tell you, this semester has sure tried to kill me.  Between school, health, family and all the dark forces, I am amazed to still be in one piece.  As far as health goes, I think I have caught every possible germ out there at some time during this semester.  I have battled sinus infections, a root canal and projectile vomiting.  I have missed more days this semester than I ever have in the past, really, you can check.

            Family has been another issue.  I have said to myself, many times this year that my kids were born to kill me.  I am a female living with four boys (husband included as he often acts more like a child) and they test my sanity daily.  I have dealt with zombies, potty training (not potty training zombies but trying to potty train a 2-year-old who can’t stop fighting the zombies long enough to use the potty) and a hormonal 15-year-old.  In between those two, I have a 6-year-old who is more emotional than I am (and that is saying a lot).  It is his first year in kindergarten and I have been getting notes almost daily from his teacher regarding his lack of coping skills.  Really, I am in college and I am having trouble with my coping skills.  The final string this last holiday was my grandmother falling and having to spend three weeks in the hospital.  She is due home this week and I am rearranging the whole house to make sure we can accommodate her needs. 

            School has definitely had its ups and downs as well.  I began this semester with the best attitude and much excitement.  About one month into the semester my CT had a family situation that changed her semester, as well as mine.  The semester I had planned turned ugly on the day she told me to sit down and wait until she was ready to speak with me.  I will not dwell on that, as I now get to work with a wonderful teacher who demonstrates skills that I am not used to.  She is very soft spoken and humorous, as well as very knowledgeable about teaching tools and methods.  As life often revolves in circles, I am once again excited about the upcoming semester.  We just finished reading The Lord of the Flies in our Freshman class and I am reminded that, well, at least no one has died yet. 

            When I sit and ponder all that has happened this semester and the complete fear that overwhelms me when I consider all that is involved in the KPTP for next semester, I have to tell myself to stop and just breath.  The thought that I began with, the “what does not kill you makes you stronger” is not even the driving force in my thoughts anymore.  I have switched to a new mantra.  Please Lord, just let me still be sane when I get through.  I told my mother that when and if I graduate this May, please be sure to tuck my diploma into my straight jacket as they haul me off to the padded room so that I have a reminder of why it was all worth it.  I know that the people I work with at the bookstore think I have already crossed over into the insanity, but I still have a slight grip left.  So if you pass me in the halls and I am mumbling to myself and have a wild look in my eyes, just be kind. 

Blog post #3

We are now approaching the end of the pre-student teaching semester, making this the perfect time to reflect on the past events of this semester.  I know that for me in particular, this has been a tough semester.  I have learned that every class is unique to the circumstances that the students and teachers bring to the classroom.  Even though it has been said numerous times that baggage should be left outside the door but that is definitely not always the case.  A lot of time the students are not mature enough to do this.  The teacher is sometimes required to be cheerleader, guidance counselor, friend, mentor, and still teacher.  As if the circumstances are not overwhelming enough at times, occasionally as teacher candidates, we also have the delicate responsibility of dodging additional land mines.  One very important lesson I learned this semester, how to dodge all these land mines and still remain sane.  I think one of the most important things I will take with me regarding these issues is this: every day is a new beginning and it should be allowed to begin with a clean slate. 

 

I was fortunate enough to be able to switch to a different classroom to observe for the remainder of the semester and the difference has been like the expression, “night and day.”  I am now reminded that there are students out there who care about their grades, want to learn, and want to establish a future for themselves.  The first thing the teacher did was explain to the students what the opening activity was and what the expectations were.  The teacher told the students to begin work and they did!  The class was divided into 7 groups of students and every single group began planning their activity.  I could not believe this! I am used to a classroom where the teacher had to prod and prod, redirect and constantly monitor.  These students were already engaged and following through with only the expectation of receiving extra group points.  I realize that to some people this may seem silly or exaggerated, but I honestly was surprised.  I have spent the last several years in classrooms where we had to keep redirecting and steering the students back on task, so this was unchartered territory for me.  After the opening activity, the students were read to and then asked to finish reading the chapter independently.  The silence in the classroom was astounding.  Every student was actually reading, taking Cornell notes and working on extra work if finishing early.

 

I am really looking forward to spending more time in this classroom and experiencing the treasures it has to offer.  I believe that there is a lot I will learn from both the teacher and the students in this classroom and I am looking forward to having a new and positive experience in the weeks to come. 

Kate Conference

The KATE conference this past week was very informational and fun.  My favorite part had to be the keynote addresses from the YA authors Brent Crawford and Rachel Hawkins.  Both authors were very funny and inspiring.  I really enjoyed listening to Mr. Crawford read from his book and talk about what kind of student he was in school.  He really reminded me of a lot of boys in that same situation and I feel that his books will really resonate with young men, and he relates to them in such a humorous way that they will enjoy listening to his stories. 

 

Rachel Hawkins was someone I was very interested to hear speak.  I had read all three of her books, found them good and very fun.  I absolutely loved the main character in her trilogy and thoroughly enjoyed her sense of humor.  The character was very sarcastic and I really enjoyed that.  Listening to Mrs. Hawkins speak, you could definitely see where the character came from.  The author’s sense of humor and her interest in the paranormal shined through in her trilogy and I have recommended her books to other young girls looking for something fun to read.  I also really enjoyed the stories relating her experiences as a teacher.

 

There are also other aspects of the conference that were inspirational to me.  I attended a breakout session on co-teaching and that was very interesting for me.  This session discussed the ways to be effective with co-teaching and to recognize when it is not working, and that does not necessarily mean failure.  Communication between teachers is very important for this method and sometimes things cannot be forced. The second breakout session I attended was on first year teaching tips.  It was very interesting to hear someone talk about how we don’t have to be perfect.  It is nice to have someone acknowledge that we, as teachers, are learning as well and we will make mistakes.  We not always react perfectly the first time and we may have to adjust lesson plans or theories, but it will be alright to do so.  The samples she handed out are very helpful as well. In the afternoon I went to the Tier 3, MTSS session.  The reason I choose this was because these are the students I have been working with and I was curious how this teacher had changed her classroom to improve classroom management.  I have worked in this teacher’s classroom before and it was very interesting to see the changes she has implemented and the changes it has made for her with behavior and productivity. The last session I attended was the one on graphic novels and how we can use them in the classroom in multiple aspects.  I have been really intrigued lately with the use of graphic novels in the classroom.  I plan to use theses in my lesson plans and this session opened up even more possibilities.  I was very intrigued with the thought of validating these as reliable resources. 

Genre Reflection #1 - Advice

 

 

Advice

 

 

 

Good content ideas

No control over students

Speak faster

Stop and wait if they are talking

 

Get their attention

Keep their attention

Slow down

Speed up

 

Slow learners

Defiant and mean at times

No parental support

No discipline

 

Make connections

Praise often

Encourage

Teach

Online Reflection #2: For The Love of Books....

Let me start off by saying, “I absolutely love books.”  This statement is the premise which I base the following information on.  I have been in the high school now for 3 years and have often wondered, and even asked, how teachers choose the books they use in the classroom.  I have encountered books that are good and those which I have found myself thinking there is no way I would have a class read that book.  There have even been wonderful stories taught in ways that I questions and less fantastic books taught with lessons that are to be admired. 

My CT has already chosen the novels that she wants to teach this year, beginning with The Contender by Robert Lipsyte.  This is a story about a young man who works in a grocery store, his best friend is a drug addict.  The main character decides to join a boxing club in order to improve his chances, and along the way he will discover what it takes to be a “Contender” and a man.  Now don’t get me wrong, there are some very valuable lessons to be learned from Alfred, the main character.  The problem that I have encountered is with those students who are just not engaged in this story.  I have read, and experienced that no matter how wonderful your lessons are, if the students don’t care about the book, they just will not engage. 

One of my big concerns for the future is how to select books that the students want to read and connect with.  In my journey to answer this question, I was introduced to a book by Donalyn Miller titled The Book Whisperer.  Now upon first inspection this book is geared toward middle school, but as with all books, the ideas can be adapted for any level if you work at it.  I connected with what the author was saying in the very beginning, as in the introduction, when she states “I am a teacher who inspires my students to read a lot and love reading long after they leave my class” (Miller, 2009, p. 1).  My response to this was a very loud and resounding, “Yes!  That is what I want to do.”  This book opened my eyes to the reading workshop structure and I have been looking for a way to incorporate it into the high school classroom as she did in her middle school.  Mrs. Miller strongly believes in letting the students choose what they want to read and she teaches “comprehension strategies and literary elements that students could apply to a wide range of texts” (Miller, 2009, p. 17). 

I have not yet seen this strategy applied in high school but I would love to do more research and find out just how we can develop readers.  If anyone has any ideas or additional sources please let me know.  I will leave off with this great quote at the beginning of chapter one in The Book Whisperer:

 

What we have loved

Others will love

And we will teach them how

 

- William Wordsworth

 

References:

 

Miller, Donalyn.  The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child.  San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2009. 

Determined to be Successful

 

I am really looking forward to this semester of pre-student teaching.  I have worked as a cooperative education candidate in high school for two years and have gained invaluable experience, yet I know this last year I will continue to learn.  One goal for this year includes: to continue gaining information and skills on how to serve my students to the best of my ability.  I want all of my students to exceed beyond their expectations and have positive experiences in our classroom. 

 

I have been with my Cooperating Teacher (CT) and in a couple of classes for one week already and I realize that one challenge I will have this year is to plan lessons for a large range of skill levels.  The CT and I have already been discussing what we can do to keep all of our students, not only engaged but also improving upon their skills and knowledge.  Together we are working on solutions every day and we are determined to be successful.

 

Another goal that I have for this year will be to work on effective classroom management.  The classes I have been working in display varying degrees of needs in classroom management and it will be a challenge to figure out what is the best course of action to encompass all of these needs and effectively maintain a safe and comfortable environment for all of the students.  As the CT and I have begun learning the different personalities and needs of the students, we have been discussing what some of our best responses should be. 

 

I feel that each and every experience is a chance to learn, adjust and add more tools to our teaching kits.  I hope to acquire as many tools as I can in order to prepare me for the day that I will be in charge of my own classroom.  Another goal will be to graduate at the end of this year knowing that I have gained as many of these tools as I can and be able to start employment with the abilities, skills and confidence to be the best teacher possible. 

Starting out today on a new adventure. I hope this works out.