I am having a difficult time readjusting to a busy life in which many things are badgering for my attention. Currently my personal life, and my practicum are where I am most inclined to spend time and energy, and I'm finding it difficult to give focus to my class work, despite the fact that the class work is what had eminent deadlines. Along that strain, I left my notebook with my observation notes at school, which is making it a bit of a challenge to write a thoroughly thought through reflection for the week.
One thing that is fresh in my mind is the (two actually) meetings I had on Friday. I normally don't come into school on Fridays, and had come specially for a meeting about the new curriculum that I will be teaching from. It also so happens that there was an intervention type meeting for a student in my class who has been having trouble. I sat in on that and found it enlightening to say the least. I know that I personally find that I am most dreading ( about teaching) the interaction with parents. I'm afraid I won't gracefully put up with parents who think their children are God's gift to the entire world (not just them.) Or the parents who expect me, as a teacher of a class of thirty, to change my entire teaching style/structure/whatever in order to suit their student. However, the parents of this particular kid were great. Without getting angry or placing blame on the student, they acknowledged that he had issues and challanges. They made a point of saying that they didn't expect teachers to change the way they taught, but were seeing help from the school to make the transition from elementary school to high school a bit easier on their child. The meeting was really positive, there was praise for the student as well as discussion of his problems, and after discussion from/with all of his teachers, the counselor helped to create a specific plan for how improvement could be made. I was surprised (though I suppose I shouldn't be) how much behind the scenes decision making there can be. For instance this student has some interpersonal issues in some classes, but not in others. So he is creating a list of those students he wants to sit by, and can work well with, and those students he really doesn't want to sit near, so that the teachers can arrange him in a group situation in which he can be successful. I would never have thought of straight up asking the student who he wanted to sit with. That seems so... unfair. But if this student is able to work positively in that group, then that will allow the other students to work without the disruption he was previously causing.
After that meeting, we had out curriculum meeting and I got my first taste of the headache that teachers have to go through to match their curriculum up. We have a new set of 'focal points' that we have to hit, in a certain order. And a district mandated schedule for how long should be spent on each focal point, and what your advanced and lower group should be doing, and when you should be working with both groups together etc. It was such a headache. Not only that, but the text book we are using doesn't match up with the state standards. Things are grouped differently, there are sub-chapters on things we don't need to cover. It was mind-boggling, and I can't say enough how grateful I am to have these two veteran teacher to work with on writing my unit plan. I especially appreciate how both of these teachers (Mrs. Keener, and Mr. Smith) treat me as a peer, a peer with less experience, but they don't talk down to me, or try and cut me out of things. They go out of their way to include me in all relevant conversations so that I get a true experience.We have a real pedagogical challenge in that our classes are heterogeneous, but we are expected to teach differentiated lessons to the high and low students. So there will be student swapping and team teaching, it will be really important that we stay at the same speed as we move through the chapters. Part of the focal point plan is that each subject is learned to mastery, so I am going to have to be creative to find ways to continue to work on multiplying and dividing fractions without boring the students (or myself!) After an hour or so, and a long phone call to the principal, we started to get things hammered out. I now know that I will be teaching a unit on converting between fractions and decimals, and then multiplying and dividing decimals. I will start my unit on Monday October 27th, and we plan for it to be four weeks long.
Showing posts with label Briggs. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Briggs. Show all posts
Sunday, October 12, 2008
Monday, September 29, 2008
Long busy day
Today was the first day of my classes, and I anticipated a bit more stress then usual. Today was particularly unique, however, because Mrs. Keener was unexpectedly sick. She came in long enough to leave a lesson for me and the sub, but that was it. She was gone by the time I got there at 9:30. I also didn't realize that she was not in the building until the sub walked in, five minutes before the kids arrived. I figured she was at a meeting, or off in another part of the bulding taking care of something. When the sub suggested that I teach the lesson, since I probably under stood the math better then he did, I readily consented, but I didn't even get to fully read the lesson plan before it was time to start! Talk about teaching on the fly. I made up a warm-up off the top of my head, with a little input from students as to what they wanted to practice, and set about teaching the lesson on using rectangular arrays to factor. Fortunately this is something which I am pretty familiar with, so the lesson was no problem. Although I originally made the mistake of handing out the square 'chips' before I went over the worksheet, so a lot of kids lost out on the instruction because they were playing with the manipulatives. I did that differently when I taught it in the afternoon. Kids also were having a hard time interpreting the analysis questions on the back (heck, some of those questions were complicated for me!) so I am concerned that they will be unable to complete it by tomorrow. I think I did pretty well with the teaching considering the total lack of preperation. The kids like me and respect me, and follow my directions pretty well. Being at a middle school, I am clearly 'one of them' to the kids. They don't identify with me as a young person, they identify with me as an adult, although I'm sure they recognize that I am younger then Mrs. Keener. Especially some of the more 'problematic' boys seem to have taken to me. I'm not sure what it is about that. If it's the fact that I take the time to give them some appropriate attention, if it's that I laugh at their jokes (when it's the appropriate time and the jokes are good) or what. But three boys in particular who give Mrs. Keener (and their other core teacher) a lot of trouble, behave pretty well for me, though they do need reminding from time to time. Perhaps I'm just new and exciting? One particularly good lesson for today is that I need to pay more attention to time when I am teaching. I accidently spent nearly half of math on the warm-up, and the science lesson took way longer then Mrs. Keener had indicated it should have. Although when the sub taught science, in the afternoon, it took them the same amount of time it took me.
Mrs. Keener has told me, and other teachers have confirmed this, that one of my strongest traits as a pre-service teacher is my confidence. Someone asks me if I can do something, and my response is nearly always "sure, no problem". I hope that this confidence I have doesn't balloon into over-confidence though. I would hate to get in over my head.
I had one other really interesting interaction today. We were working in groups on math and one boy came up to me with two questions. He's a kid who is pretty quiet and is often sort of zoning out. His first question had to do with the requirements for a science project that is due on Wednesday. The second question totally took me by surprise. He asked, " If humans evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?" A very analytical question from a person who I hadn't given enough credit! ( Not to mention compleatly off topic, and having nothing to do with anything we were doing in class, science or otherwise). I took a second, and told him about a story I'd heard about butterflys changing their spots to match thier environment when a factory producing lots of ash was built in their habitat, while the butterflys of the same speciies that didn't live near the factory didn't develop spots. I don't remember where i heard this anecdote, but it's always stuck with me. So, I explained, perhaps the monkeys that are still monkeys didn't have something making an evolution necessary. I wish I'd come up with something better, evolution isn't something I am terribly familiar with. My knoweldge steming a little from Freshman biology, and a little from the book Sophie's World, where they touch on it from a philosophical point of view.
All in all a full day. I can't wait to see what the rest of the week has in store. We are going to 'sky camp' on Thursday to do some team building. Sounds exciting!
Mrs. Keener has told me, and other teachers have confirmed this, that one of my strongest traits as a pre-service teacher is my confidence. Someone asks me if I can do something, and my response is nearly always "sure, no problem". I hope that this confidence I have doesn't balloon into over-confidence though. I would hate to get in over my head.
I had one other really interesting interaction today. We were working in groups on math and one boy came up to me with two questions. He's a kid who is pretty quiet and is often sort of zoning out. His first question had to do with the requirements for a science project that is due on Wednesday. The second question totally took me by surprise. He asked, " If humans evolved from monkeys, why are there still monkeys?" A very analytical question from a person who I hadn't given enough credit! ( Not to mention compleatly off topic, and having nothing to do with anything we were doing in class, science or otherwise). I took a second, and told him about a story I'd heard about butterflys changing their spots to match thier environment when a factory producing lots of ash was built in their habitat, while the butterflys of the same speciies that didn't live near the factory didn't develop spots. I don't remember where i heard this anecdote, but it's always stuck with me. So, I explained, perhaps the monkeys that are still monkeys didn't have something making an evolution necessary. I wish I'd come up with something better, evolution isn't something I am terribly familiar with. My knoweldge steming a little from Freshman biology, and a little from the book Sophie's World, where they touch on it from a philosophical point of view.
All in all a full day. I can't wait to see what the rest of the week has in store. We are going to 'sky camp' on Thursday to do some team building. Sounds exciting!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Lessons of Interest: Freetime & Stuck
While it is very important to me not to treat middle school kids as 'children', belittling their intelligence and competence, it is easy to forget how chidlish they can be, and how different the expectations are from elementary school to middle school. Mrs. Keener has a fascinating lesson she teaches on free time. When I first heard that she was teaching a free time lesson I thought it was a little silly, but after seeing what she did, it's definitely something I will integrate into my curriculum if I ever teach sixth graders (and perhaps seventh graders too depending on the circumstances).
She led them in a discussion of options for free time, guiding their brainstorm to create a pre-existing list. First she made a list of questions a students needs to ask themselves.
-Do I have other work to do?
-How much time do I have?
-What are my choices? (based on time, teacher instruction etc.)
-What do I NEED to do?
-What do I WANT to do?
She then guided them in making a list of choices, divided into needs and wants. Choices include: do other work, read, draw, look at planner, organize your binder, play games (Rush hour, brain quest), go to the library (check out a book, take a reading counts quiz), re-do work with low scores, read the walls, look at a text book, work on freetime sheets (cross words and mazes provided by Mrs. Keener), daydream, do extra credit, use basic facts flash cards.
After covering all of this, Mrs. Keener handed out a work sheet that students would finsh at different times (typical 'read all the directions' sheet, which tells you not to fill she sheet out), and then they actually practiced what they should be doing for free time. This lesson has been reinforced more or less constantly the following few days by reminders and more opportunities for practice. I have no doubt that within a few weeks, with the possible exception of some of the more problematic student, all of them should know exactly what they should do and when they should do, and take it upon themselves to make that happen.
Another surprising, but really useful lesson was her 'Stuck' lesson. It was a similar format as the freetime lesson, guided brainstorm to fill out a pre-existing list. This list was designed to help students to find other options when they do not immediatly know the answer or method to solve a problem besides waving their hand in the air trying to get the teacher's attention. Her list:
1) Think about it!
2) Read the directions (again)
3) Look at an example
4) Ask a neighbor (if appropriate)
5) Ask the teacher [last resort]
She then discussed which options you can do by yourself, and whic needed other people to do things. The icing on the cake was a little roleplaying she did where she pretended to be 'Greta the Guest Teacher'. She handed a worksheet out to the kids, and pretended that she didn't know any math and didn't want to answer questions. The only way that she (or I) would concede to help anyone is if all four people at a group raised their hands, indicating that the resources of everyone had been exhausted and everyone was stumped. Only one group ended up raising their hands, and they faked it in order to 'practice'.
One interesting thing I noticed, totally unrelated to these lessons. A girl came up to me complaining that the boys always palyd rush hour during break, and complained asking why the girls could never play. That seemed odd to me. The boys playing didn't prevent any girls from playing. Many of the boys chose to go straight back to rush hour when break started, whereas most of the girls chose to do other things first. What did she expect me to do about it? Say no boys aloud? Or was she simply looking for empathy from a fellow female. I have overheard several sexist remarks so far, and not just from students. I overheard a teacher commenting on some people chatting in their class, and accused them of sounding like a bunch of girls in the hallway.
She led them in a discussion of options for free time, guiding their brainstorm to create a pre-existing list. First she made a list of questions a students needs to ask themselves.
-Do I have other work to do?
-How much time do I have?
-What are my choices? (based on time, teacher instruction etc.)
-What do I NEED to do?
-What do I WANT to do?
She then guided them in making a list of choices, divided into needs and wants. Choices include: do other work, read, draw, look at planner, organize your binder, play games (Rush hour, brain quest), go to the library (check out a book, take a reading counts quiz), re-do work with low scores, read the walls, look at a text book, work on freetime sheets (cross words and mazes provided by Mrs. Keener), daydream, do extra credit, use basic facts flash cards.
After covering all of this, Mrs. Keener handed out a work sheet that students would finsh at different times (typical 'read all the directions' sheet, which tells you not to fill she sheet out), and then they actually practiced what they should be doing for free time. This lesson has been reinforced more or less constantly the following few days by reminders and more opportunities for practice. I have no doubt that within a few weeks, with the possible exception of some of the more problematic student, all of them should know exactly what they should do and when they should do, and take it upon themselves to make that happen.
Another surprising, but really useful lesson was her 'Stuck' lesson. It was a similar format as the freetime lesson, guided brainstorm to fill out a pre-existing list. This list was designed to help students to find other options when they do not immediatly know the answer or method to solve a problem besides waving their hand in the air trying to get the teacher's attention. Her list:
1) Think about it!
2) Read the directions (again)
3) Look at an example
4) Ask a neighbor (if appropriate)
5) Ask the teacher [last resort]
She then discussed which options you can do by yourself, and whic needed other people to do things. The icing on the cake was a little roleplaying she did where she pretended to be 'Greta the Guest Teacher'. She handed a worksheet out to the kids, and pretended that she didn't know any math and didn't want to answer questions. The only way that she (or I) would concede to help anyone is if all four people at a group raised their hands, indicating that the resources of everyone had been exhausted and everyone was stumped. Only one group ended up raising their hands, and they faked it in order to 'practice'.
One interesting thing I noticed, totally unrelated to these lessons. A girl came up to me complaining that the boys always palyd rush hour during break, and complained asking why the girls could never play. That seemed odd to me. The boys playing didn't prevent any girls from playing. Many of the boys chose to go straight back to rush hour when break started, whereas most of the girls chose to do other things first. What did she expect me to do about it? Say no boys aloud? Or was she simply looking for empathy from a fellow female. I have overheard several sexist remarks so far, and not just from students. I overheard a teacher commenting on some people chatting in their class, and accused them of sounding like a bunch of girls in the hallway.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Falling into a routine
After the first few days I spent less time doing formal observations and more time falling into a role in the day to day culture of the classroom. I arrive near the end of Mrs. Keener's prep and grade papers and help brainstorm and prepare for class. I observe and answer questions, offereing help during the core period and flex. Eating lunch with Mrs. Keener and the other sixth grade teachers is always a pleasure, and then after lunch I work on my school improvement project and observe the pm group.
The school improvement project is going remarkably well and I'm having a great time working on it. Since the kids arrived Melissa and I haven't had much time to work on it together, but as of Monday this week the base for the big time line is up. We finished the small ones right when school was starting and I assume the kids are starting to use those by now. I've nearly put in my 30 hours for the SIP already and we are nearly done with the time line so it looks like the work has been well laid out. It was really fun to do the research for the dates, and a GREAT refresher of my World History. Useful I'm sure for whenever I get around to attempting the Social Studies Praxis test. Melissa and I anticipate finishing the timeline either at the end of this week or early next week, which is great because then we are done with the SIP for fall!
Some other observations and reflections I've come up with over the past week or two:
Mrs. Keener has a very specific way she wants kids to do their notes, she has them fold the paper in half and take notes in columns. I don't know if i like that much dication as to how they make their notes. On the one hand, sixth graders don't necessarily have the study skills to make organized notes themselves, but I know that I would be annoyed if I was forced to take notes in a skinny column like that. At first when I heard her say this I thought it was sort of ridiculous, but after grading a set of their warm up, and seeing their handwritting and organization skills, I think that having some level of structure for note taking is a must, columns or no columns.
I had the pleasure of observing a sub on September 11th. Mr. DelMarter is a retired teacher who was subbing for Mr. Smith (6th grade math/science). He began class sitting in a chair at the front of the room talking about himself and his family. He had the kids absolutely mezmerised! He told them about his grand kids, and their names, and then would ask how many grandkids he had, to test if they were paying attention. He's been teaching for 45 years, which is amazing.
He pulled out a tootsie roll pop while he was talking and slipped in a comment about how he gives hundreds of them out. Now the kids are really paying attention because they want to know how they can get a lollipop. As he's telling his stories he looks right at one student, and speaks as if he's telling the story only to him, occassionaly he chaged his focus. He totally impressed kids by having memorized several of their names right off the bat, and making little jokes about them. His whole lesson revolved around the tootsie roll pops. He told them they could eat them in class, if they made sure to take the paper off first. He voice is low and rich, and he speaks very slowly. He tells the kids that if they Vice Principle comes in, they have to hide the lollipops, and the signal is a single snap. Then they must stick their hands under their arms, crossing them, thus hiding the lollipop in the arm pit. They practice. He reminds them they must refrain from drooling. Two snaps means they must wave their lollipops in the air, in hopes of capturing germs from a sneeze so that they may stay home from school. Three snaps means they trade with their neighbor, four snaps means that one lucky kid passes around his sucker so that all the kids can get a taste. As he lays out these ridiculous instructions the kids giggle, but are totally engaged and consumed by watching Mr. DelMarter. I was pretty engaged myself and couldn't help but smile and enjoy the show. His style thrives on individual attention, and a superb storytelling skill. He tells about how forty years ago the neighborhood was different. I don't know how he did it, or what he did but his ability to control and engage those students was magical. They only barely got to doing any math, but he has those students undivided attention and respect. Later in the day he came into Mrs. Keeners room briefly to say hi. Mrs. Keeners kids are relativly well behaved, but she has a fairly active and somewhat chaotic classroom when direct instruction isn't going on. Lunch had just finished and kids were all over the place. Mr.DelMarter started talking and all that changed. They paid attention. They told the students how lucky they were to have Mrs. Keener and that they needed to show her proper respect. He sent Mrs. Keener out of the room and within seconds has all the students silent sitting quietly in their desks with their hands folded, and when Mrs. Keener returned they chimed "Good morning Mrs. Keener, how are you today?" And then the spell was broken as Mr. DelMarter left the room and returned the class to Mrs. Keener. As I said, I don't know how he did it, maybe it's magic ;-D
One thing I've begun to notice about Mrs. Keener's style is that she is very relaxed and allows a lot of leeway in her classroom. There is lots of discussion in which it is acceptable to call out and make off topic comments. So far it hasn't been a problem and Mrs. Keener is excellent at reining things in when they start to get out of hand, though I don't know if I could do it so well. One concern is that I notice that when the class is having a discussion of this nature there are usually several kids who chose to check out and aren't participating, but are rather just staring off into space.
I have more I could type, but these entries don't need to be novels. Look soon for an entry on a Free Time lesson. Such a thing had never occured to me, but I think is an awesome idea for Middle School aged kids.
The school improvement project is going remarkably well and I'm having a great time working on it. Since the kids arrived Melissa and I haven't had much time to work on it together, but as of Monday this week the base for the big time line is up. We finished the small ones right when school was starting and I assume the kids are starting to use those by now. I've nearly put in my 30 hours for the SIP already and we are nearly done with the time line so it looks like the work has been well laid out. It was really fun to do the research for the dates, and a GREAT refresher of my World History. Useful I'm sure for whenever I get around to attempting the Social Studies Praxis test. Melissa and I anticipate finishing the timeline either at the end of this week or early next week, which is great because then we are done with the SIP for fall!
Some other observations and reflections I've come up with over the past week or two:
Mrs. Keener has a very specific way she wants kids to do their notes, she has them fold the paper in half and take notes in columns. I don't know if i like that much dication as to how they make their notes. On the one hand, sixth graders don't necessarily have the study skills to make organized notes themselves, but I know that I would be annoyed if I was forced to take notes in a skinny column like that. At first when I heard her say this I thought it was sort of ridiculous, but after grading a set of their warm up, and seeing their handwritting and organization skills, I think that having some level of structure for note taking is a must, columns or no columns.
I had the pleasure of observing a sub on September 11th. Mr. DelMarter is a retired teacher who was subbing for Mr. Smith (6th grade math/science). He began class sitting in a chair at the front of the room talking about himself and his family. He had the kids absolutely mezmerised! He told them about his grand kids, and their names, and then would ask how many grandkids he had, to test if they were paying attention. He's been teaching for 45 years, which is amazing.
He pulled out a tootsie roll pop while he was talking and slipped in a comment about how he gives hundreds of them out. Now the kids are really paying attention because they want to know how they can get a lollipop. As he's telling his stories he looks right at one student, and speaks as if he's telling the story only to him, occassionaly he chaged his focus. He totally impressed kids by having memorized several of their names right off the bat, and making little jokes about them. His whole lesson revolved around the tootsie roll pops. He told them they could eat them in class, if they made sure to take the paper off first. He voice is low and rich, and he speaks very slowly. He tells the kids that if they Vice Principle comes in, they have to hide the lollipops, and the signal is a single snap. Then they must stick their hands under their arms, crossing them, thus hiding the lollipop in the arm pit. They practice. He reminds them they must refrain from drooling. Two snaps means they must wave their lollipops in the air, in hopes of capturing germs from a sneeze so that they may stay home from school. Three snaps means they trade with their neighbor, four snaps means that one lucky kid passes around his sucker so that all the kids can get a taste. As he lays out these ridiculous instructions the kids giggle, but are totally engaged and consumed by watching Mr. DelMarter. I was pretty engaged myself and couldn't help but smile and enjoy the show. His style thrives on individual attention, and a superb storytelling skill. He tells about how forty years ago the neighborhood was different. I don't know how he did it, or what he did but his ability to control and engage those students was magical. They only barely got to doing any math, but he has those students undivided attention and respect. Later in the day he came into Mrs. Keeners room briefly to say hi. Mrs. Keeners kids are relativly well behaved, but she has a fairly active and somewhat chaotic classroom when direct instruction isn't going on. Lunch had just finished and kids were all over the place. Mr.DelMarter started talking and all that changed. They paid attention. They told the students how lucky they were to have Mrs. Keener and that they needed to show her proper respect. He sent Mrs. Keener out of the room and within seconds has all the students silent sitting quietly in their desks with their hands folded, and when Mrs. Keener returned they chimed "Good morning Mrs. Keener, how are you today?" And then the spell was broken as Mr. DelMarter left the room and returned the class to Mrs. Keener. As I said, I don't know how he did it, maybe it's magic ;-D
One thing I've begun to notice about Mrs. Keener's style is that she is very relaxed and allows a lot of leeway in her classroom. There is lots of discussion in which it is acceptable to call out and make off topic comments. So far it hasn't been a problem and Mrs. Keener is excellent at reining things in when they start to get out of hand, though I don't know if I could do it so well. One concern is that I notice that when the class is having a discussion of this nature there are usually several kids who chose to check out and aren't participating, but are rather just staring off into space.
I have more I could type, but these entries don't need to be novels. Look soon for an entry on a Free Time lesson. Such a thing had never occured to me, but I think is an awesome idea for Middle School aged kids.
Day 2
I observed a fourth teacher on the second day of school. Mrs. VanMoorlehem. She teaches seventh grade math and science, although today there wasn't much curriculum and more get to know you. I only observed a small amount of her lesson, I came in when she was giving instruction. They were interviewing each other, and she was going over the interview sheet and went through each and every question on the sheet and discussed the question in detail, giving examples of what you might put. She even made a point of defining a hobby verses a pastime. Perhaps she knew that these students needed extra direction but it seemed like it was a lot more time spent on direction then needed to be. I thought it was really interesting that when she was listing examples of what people might want for a career she listed only blue collar jobs, does that reflect her perception of the school's demographic? I don't actually know what Briggs socio-economic demographic is, although I know that they don't have a large percentage of kids on free/reduced lunch. One of her practices that I did like was that she asked for confirmation from the kids that they got was she was saying, rather then 
assuming that they understood. She also made a point of addressing what the noices level should be. Then the kids paired up and began interviewing. She has the kids divided into groups of four, and each student has a number. She used those numbers to have different groups of kids do different things as far as preparing for the activity, one group collected text books while the other got the worksheets for the group. The time they spent interviewing was really interesting to watch the kids interactions. Who was really chatty, while others were more quiet. I overheard one (really) little girl going on about how Luke Perry was her favorite actor because he is SUCH a hottie!
Unfortunately I didn't get to see how she ended class because I had to return to Mrs. Keener's class. The sixth and seventh graders are on different schedules, so my class began before hers ended.
assuming that they understood. She also made a point of addressing what the noices level should be. Then the kids paired up and began interviewing. She has the kids divided into groups of four, and each student has a number. She used those numbers to have different groups of kids do different things as far as preparing for the activity, one group collected text books while the other got the worksheets for the group. The time they spent interviewing was really interesting to watch the kids interactions. Who was really chatty, while others were more quiet. I overheard one (really) little girl going on about how Luke Perry was her favorite actor because he is SUCH a hottie!Unfortunately I didn't get to see how she ended class because I had to return to Mrs. Keener's class. The sixth and seventh graders are on different schedules, so my class began before hers ended.
Monday, September 15, 2008
First Day of School x 3
I found out that I don't HAVE to do a weekly reflection for September Experience, which is why I haven't posted in two weeks.
However, I have taken copious amounts of notes, learned a ton, and be totally confirmed in my experience that education is the right field for me.
The first day of school with kids (not the day when only sixth graders came) I got to watch three (very) different teachers do the 'first day of school' thing, it was really interesting.
First I observed Mrs. Newson. She is a seventh grade Language Arts/Social Studies teacher. She had 35 kids in her classroom, it was full to the brim. She began class by having a handwriting sheet on their desks for them to work on the moment they came in. I loved the result this produced because for the most part each student was on task and relativly quiet from the begining so she could deal with issues that came up and get a handle on who exactly was in her class. I'm assuming that hse was familiar with most of the kids, those who were not transfers or new to the area that is. I really appreciated that she made a point of telling the kids why they are working on the handwriting page. Apparantly the seventh grade teachers have all decided that all writing (at least for tte first term) will be in cursive; she went on to explain the teachers' reasoning for making that decision. I always hope to be able to explain to my students why they are doing something (at my own discretion that is, I don't want to feel as if I need to explain myself), I am the type of person who is more likely to put time in effort into something that I understand why I am doing, and I imagine that some of my students will probably be the same way. While they were working on their worksheet, Mrs. Newson chatted on about required supplies, she took attendence ( making sure she had a name for each student that they prefered to be called), and gave some background on herself: how long she'd been teaching at Briggs, her family, hobbies etc.. At first I thought this was sort of funny, to share personal information like that with the whole class, but I think, as part of her particular style, she wants to seem like a real down to earth person to her students that has strenths, faults and outside lives, just like they do, and by talking about herself a little bit she can present herself to her students as more then just 'teacher', but as an actual person. For instance, she talked about hte new commitment the school has to healthy eating and readily admitted that she was not the best person to look to as an example. Next she spent a long time covering the new schedule for the school, which the kids had a really hard time understanding, I don't know if maybe Mrs. Newson didn't really understand it herself, if the kids were still half brain-dead from summer break, or if it really is that complicated, but they were just not getting it and needed a lot of one on one help to figure out where they needed to go and when. While she was working on that with them I did notice one technique of hers that I really liked. She gave very clear and percise directions. Instead of just saying "we're moving on to blahblahblah", she would say "put away your blah, and get out your blahblah" so that the kids were less likely to get distracted by wanting to continue to work on the previous project. For the second half of the period she used a note taking style she called 'Cornell Notes' (which is basically a t-chart) to help them organize her expectations for her classroom. I really liked how she talked about how her class isn't just about learning about history, or reading books, but about learning skills that will help them to be sucessful high school and college students. She said "This is your job, just like your parents have jobs, and coming to school is my job, and your pay check is your report card". It is a great way to encourage a mind set of personal responsibility for the students. The grades are directly a result of the work that they put it. I don't know if it would connect for all students, but definintely for some of them. Another saying she had that I liked was "we aren't here to love each other, we're here to work together". Too true, not only about school but about life in general. There will always be people you don't like as much, or who bug you or frustrate you, but it's your job to play nice and get along with them as best you can.
Next I observed in Mrs. Keener (my own teacher)'s class. Her class is sixth grade math and science, and already I noticed a difference between teh sixth in seventh grade in that Mrs. Keener took a lot more time to make sure expectations and behavior norms were clear. Since the sixths graders had alreay had a lot of time to go over the schedule the day before, they didn't have to spend as much time on that. When the kids came into the room there was an 'about me' and a word search on their desk for them to get started on right away. After everyone was there and she had taken role, Mrs. Keener began to cover some of the basics, using quiet voices, what and when it is appropriate to have a snack (only nutritious snacks, and only at the begining of the period), and she also gave instruction on how to behave during passing times and break times. Most of this was her giving direct instruction to the students. She also talked about the tiger awards and other school traditions/ruels etc. One thing that I notices was she immediatly set the precedent that students do not get up and hand her work when they have finished it. They stay in their seat and wait for instruction. Reflecting back on the last two weeks, students have followed that precedent nearly to a letter. You really have to set expectations early, because I bet if students had been allowed to do that the first day, she would have had a harder time getting them to change that behavior several days later. One thing Mrs. Keener did that I would choose not to do, is when she asked for questions, she allowed students to make statements. This would bother me to no end. Something I learned helping in my mom's (K/1) classroom was that when the teacher asks if there are any questions, it is appropriate for the teacher to stop a student who wants to tell a story, or make a statement, and say "I'm sure that's a great story you have there, but we are taking questions right now, do you have a question?" I'm certainly not going to let 6th graders get away with something my mom doesn't let 6 year olds do. Mrs. Keener also made a point of introducing herself and talking about her time at Briggs, and her family a little bit (she wisely left out the part about being recently divorced). She also made a point of inquiring about those that had older siblings who had had her in the past. I'm not sure if this was simply for her own information (many of the teachers seem to put a lot of stock in the way that siblings have behaved, they expect similar behavior from younger siblings as they got from older ones. No one knows better then I that this is not necessarily the case!) or if she had a purpose for the kids in it too. She finished the math/science part of the class with going over the 'give me five' attention getting system (raise your hand and say give me five and the children do likewise, turn and look at you and stop talking). Transitioning to flex was a little awkward because it was the first day, but in flex she talked about what the class is, since many of them will never have had a flex class before, discussing proticols for lunch, and instruction on how to leave the room responsibly. I am so surprised at some of the things that sixth graders seem to need instruction on, I had forgotten how small and childlike some of them are.
After lunch I observed Mr. Ray (incidently the older brother of a friend of mine, small world). He had the same students that Mrs. Keener had had earlier in the day. He teaches Language Arts/Social Studies. Mrs. Newson and Mrs. Keener had relativly similar styles, were fairly close in age, and seem pretty similar perosnality-wise as well. Mr. Ray is a huge contrast. First of all he is only in his early thirties and has been teaching for 10 or fewer years. Secondly when I and the students entered the classroom The White Stripes were playing over the stereo. His classroom is decorated with superheroes (mostly Batman and Spider Man) and Star Wars paraphanelia. He has instructions for the kids up on the overhead. "Find your seat- Make a list of things you can learn about 6th grade and Mr. Ray by looking around the room". This was particularly clever because in addition to his superhero and other more personal stuff, he also had room expectations, lit and social studies posters and other things of actual school importance. They spent some time discussing that and then he took roll call. He then gave a 'tour of the room'. He was carrying around this yard stick and smacking things on the bulleten boards, pointing out where different things would be posted, where in the room was off limits, what different things were used for etc. He seems like an easy going jokester type of guy, but I was also impressed with how he chose to deal with a disruptive student. "Do you want to take this outside to discuss it because you are disrupting my class right now". Totally calm in his tone of voice, he cleanly passed the responsibility and choice to the student, therby avoiding any potential confrontation in front of the class (risking humiliation of the student) or power struggle (risking humiliation of the teacher). And the kid said no, and stopped disrupting. He went over his expectations which were pretty typical, but one thing he said, which is something I have wanted to embed in my expectations when I have my own classroom is "show cooperation and respect for all; no competition, everyone can get As". Personally I was a huge fan of his subtle references to the Prime Directeve and other culture things.. not that many of the students necessarily picked up on it. I also really liked that he maintains a classroom library where students can check out books. I don't know if that is a Briggs thing, or something he does, but I think that is awesome. He also broke his yard stick over his head, which I think was a schtick to get the kids attention. I think it worked, though I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's kind of a gimick, but maybe sixth graders go for that sort of gimmick. I guess maybe I'm into being a bit more genuine? The last thing, which I also liked and think could totally be applied to math was an info card, he has them write abit about the summer reading experiences, what do they like to read etc. and finally had them answer they question "why read?" Which is deceptivly deep and philosophical should a student decide to take it in that direction.
So as I said an enlightening, contrasting and exhausting first day. I think this is an exhausting enough blog as well, so I will pick up with the second day of school and the rest of the week later.
However, I have taken copious amounts of notes, learned a ton, and be totally confirmed in my experience that education is the right field for me.
The first day of school with kids (not the day when only sixth graders came) I got to watch three (very) different teachers do the 'first day of school' thing, it was really interesting.
First I observed Mrs. Newson. She is a seventh grade Language Arts/Social Studies teacher. She had 35 kids in her classroom, it was full to the brim. She began class by having a handwriting sheet on their desks for them to work on the moment they came in. I loved the result this produced because for the most part each student was on task and relativly quiet from the begining so she could deal with issues that came up and get a handle on who exactly was in her class. I'm assuming that hse was familiar with most of the kids, those who were not transfers or new to the area that is. I really appreciated that she made a point of telling the kids why they are working on the handwriting page. Apparantly the seventh grade teachers have all decided that all writing (at least for tte first term) will be in cursive; she went on to explain the teachers' reasoning for making that decision. I always hope to be able to explain to my students why they are doing something (at my own discretion that is, I don't want to feel as if I need to explain myself), I am the type of person who is more likely to put time in effort into something that I understand why I am doing, and I imagine that some of my students will probably be the same way. While they were working on their worksheet, Mrs. Newson chatted on about required supplies, she took attendence ( making sure she had a name for each student that they prefered to be called), and gave some background on herself: how long she'd been teaching at Briggs, her family, hobbies etc.. At first I thought this was sort of funny, to share personal information like that with the whole class, but I think, as part of her particular style, she wants to seem like a real down to earth person to her students that has strenths, faults and outside lives, just like they do, and by talking about herself a little bit she can present herself to her students as more then just 'teacher', but as an actual person. For instance, she talked about hte new commitment the school has to healthy eating and readily admitted that she was not the best person to look to as an example. Next she spent a long time covering the new schedule for the school, which the kids had a really hard time understanding, I don't know if maybe Mrs. Newson didn't really understand it herself, if the kids were still half brain-dead from summer break, or if it really is that complicated, but they were just not getting it and needed a lot of one on one help to figure out where they needed to go and when. While she was working on that with them I did notice one technique of hers that I really liked. She gave very clear and percise directions. Instead of just saying "we're moving on to blahblahblah", she would say "put away your blah, and get out your blahblah" so that the kids were less likely to get distracted by wanting to continue to work on the previous project. For the second half of the period she used a note taking style she called 'Cornell Notes' (which is basically a t-chart) to help them organize her expectations for her classroom. I really liked how she talked about how her class isn't just about learning about history, or reading books, but about learning skills that will help them to be sucessful high school and college students. She said "This is your job, just like your parents have jobs, and coming to school is my job, and your pay check is your report card". It is a great way to encourage a mind set of personal responsibility for the students. The grades are directly a result of the work that they put it. I don't know if it would connect for all students, but definintely for some of them. Another saying she had that I liked was "we aren't here to love each other, we're here to work together". Too true, not only about school but about life in general. There will always be people you don't like as much, or who bug you or frustrate you, but it's your job to play nice and get along with them as best you can.
Next I observed in Mrs. Keener (my own teacher)'s class. Her class is sixth grade math and science, and already I noticed a difference between teh sixth in seventh grade in that Mrs. Keener took a lot more time to make sure expectations and behavior norms were clear. Since the sixths graders had alreay had a lot of time to go over the schedule the day before, they didn't have to spend as much time on that. When the kids came into the room there was an 'about me' and a word search on their desk for them to get started on right away. After everyone was there and she had taken role, Mrs. Keener began to cover some of the basics, using quiet voices, what and when it is appropriate to have a snack (only nutritious snacks, and only at the begining of the period), and she also gave instruction on how to behave during passing times and break times. Most of this was her giving direct instruction to the students. She also talked about the tiger awards and other school traditions/ruels etc. One thing that I notices was she immediatly set the precedent that students do not get up and hand her work when they have finished it. They stay in their seat and wait for instruction. Reflecting back on the last two weeks, students have followed that precedent nearly to a letter. You really have to set expectations early, because I bet if students had been allowed to do that the first day, she would have had a harder time getting them to change that behavior several days later. One thing Mrs. Keener did that I would choose not to do, is when she asked for questions, she allowed students to make statements. This would bother me to no end. Something I learned helping in my mom's (K/1) classroom was that when the teacher asks if there are any questions, it is appropriate for the teacher to stop a student who wants to tell a story, or make a statement, and say "I'm sure that's a great story you have there, but we are taking questions right now, do you have a question?" I'm certainly not going to let 6th graders get away with something my mom doesn't let 6 year olds do. Mrs. Keener also made a point of introducing herself and talking about her time at Briggs, and her family a little bit (she wisely left out the part about being recently divorced). She also made a point of inquiring about those that had older siblings who had had her in the past. I'm not sure if this was simply for her own information (many of the teachers seem to put a lot of stock in the way that siblings have behaved, they expect similar behavior from younger siblings as they got from older ones. No one knows better then I that this is not necessarily the case!) or if she had a purpose for the kids in it too. She finished the math/science part of the class with going over the 'give me five' attention getting system (raise your hand and say give me five and the children do likewise, turn and look at you and stop talking). Transitioning to flex was a little awkward because it was the first day, but in flex she talked about what the class is, since many of them will never have had a flex class before, discussing proticols for lunch, and instruction on how to leave the room responsibly. I am so surprised at some of the things that sixth graders seem to need instruction on, I had forgotten how small and childlike some of them are.
After lunch I observed Mr. Ray (incidently the older brother of a friend of mine, small world). He had the same students that Mrs. Keener had had earlier in the day. He teaches Language Arts/Social Studies. Mrs. Newson and Mrs. Keener had relativly similar styles, were fairly close in age, and seem pretty similar perosnality-wise as well. Mr. Ray is a huge contrast. First of all he is only in his early thirties and has been teaching for 10 or fewer years. Secondly when I and the students entered the classroom The White Stripes were playing over the stereo. His classroom is decorated with superheroes (mostly Batman and Spider Man) and Star Wars paraphanelia. He has instructions for the kids up on the overhead. "Find your seat- Make a list of things you can learn about 6th grade and Mr. Ray by looking around the room". This was particularly clever because in addition to his superhero and other more personal stuff, he also had room expectations, lit and social studies posters and other things of actual school importance. They spent some time discussing that and then he took roll call. He then gave a 'tour of the room'. He was carrying around this yard stick and smacking things on the bulleten boards, pointing out where different things would be posted, where in the room was off limits, what different things were used for etc. He seems like an easy going jokester type of guy, but I was also impressed with how he chose to deal with a disruptive student. "Do you want to take this outside to discuss it because you are disrupting my class right now". Totally calm in his tone of voice, he cleanly passed the responsibility and choice to the student, therby avoiding any potential confrontation in front of the class (risking humiliation of the student) or power struggle (risking humiliation of the teacher). And the kid said no, and stopped disrupting. He went over his expectations which were pretty typical, but one thing he said, which is something I have wanted to embed in my expectations when I have my own classroom is "show cooperation and respect for all; no competition, everyone can get As". Personally I was a huge fan of his subtle references to the Prime Directeve and other culture things.. not that many of the students necessarily picked up on it. I also really liked that he maintains a classroom library where students can check out books. I don't know if that is a Briggs thing, or something he does, but I think that is awesome. He also broke his yard stick over his head, which I think was a schtick to get the kids attention. I think it worked, though I'm not sure how I feel about it. It's kind of a gimick, but maybe sixth graders go for that sort of gimmick. I guess maybe I'm into being a bit more genuine? The last thing, which I also liked and think could totally be applied to math was an info card, he has them write abit about the summer reading experiences, what do they like to read etc. and finally had them answer they question "why read?" Which is deceptivly deep and philosophical should a student decide to take it in that direction.
So as I said an enlightening, contrasting and exhausting first day. I think this is an exhausting enough blog as well, so I will pick up with the second day of school and the rest of the week later.
Friday, August 29, 2008
Week One Reflection
So this week was certainly a bit of a roller coaster. I started out the week feeling really excited about going to my school and starting to meet the staff, however registration was definitely a tedious task. (Although talking with the other staff, the organization was much more efficient then it has been in years past). I admit it left me feeling a bit discouraged and very disoriented.
Tuesday was also really draining. It was the district wide in-service day, and although I did enjoy the superintendent's speech, it was also really long. To follow sitting and listening to an hour and a half long speech, with sitting and listening to four hours of presentations and classes was a bit much for me, and I struggled to keep my eyes open after lunch. As much as I like and learn from direct lecture instruction, perhaps even I have a limit on how much of that I can take. My mom (a K/1 teacher) told me that in-service days are notorious for being boring though, so I didn't loose hope.
Wednesday morning was a slow start for me, however the activities of the morning totally turned my attitude around. We broke into groups and played different team building games in order to break the ice and get ourselves thinking 'outside the box' and cooperatively. The activities included a tinker-toy building contest, land skiis, jump roping, crossing a 'raging river' with only 5 stones, and (my favorite) a Frisbee throwing contest. My team didn't place very well, but it was a lot of fun, and made me feel much more included and welcome then I would have otherwise. I got to spend time with the other teachers in a situation where we were all on equal footing, we were all 'just people'.
I am fortunate enough to have been given a task for my School Improvement Project already. Melissa ( a fellow UO student teacher) and I are working for the 7th grade social studies team creating a time line project for them to make in the second week of classes. Time allowing we will also create a time line to put on the bulletin board, and 'foldables' for each unit they will cover. It's a type of project that is right up my alley, as well as a good review of my world history. I'm excited to create something that can potentially be used for years to come at this school.
The new schedule that Briggs is launching seems really innovative, but it also produces a lot of new challenges. When the staff was going over it, it was really interesting for those of us not a direct part of the staff to sit back and watch the tension and aggression move through the faculty. There are definitely some people who are not comfortable or happy about the changes. However, they all seem really committed to the idea of the new schedule as a whole, even if the kinks haven't been worked out yet, so on top of the negative and confused feelings was a joviality and optimism that they would be able to persevere (and prove all the naysayers wrong). There is a really great feeling of team and cooperation in this staff! They are also really relaxed and joke and tease a lot (mostly in a nice and fun way).
Today was particularly exciting because I finally got assigned my cooperating teacher, Lisa Keener. I got to know her, and spent some time helping her organize. I'm really excited about working with her because they are piloting a new book and new curriculum, which is something that student teachers don't normally get to do. She also seems really fun, and I think we'll mesh together well. I previously thought I was going to be with a teacher who was also the athletic director, and he seemed like a great guy, but I think I'll have more in common with Lisa. Already, just by going through her old curriculum and re-organizing it to match up with the new book, I am getting ideas for my own lessons.
I am very excited to start working with the kids this next week and see how things go.
Tuesday was also really draining. It was the district wide in-service day, and although I did enjoy the superintendent's speech, it was also really long. To follow sitting and listening to an hour and a half long speech, with sitting and listening to four hours of presentations and classes was a bit much for me, and I struggled to keep my eyes open after lunch. As much as I like and learn from direct lecture instruction, perhaps even I have a limit on how much of that I can take. My mom (a K/1 teacher) told me that in-service days are notorious for being boring though, so I didn't loose hope.
Wednesday morning was a slow start for me, however the activities of the morning totally turned my attitude around. We broke into groups and played different team building games in order to break the ice and get ourselves thinking 'outside the box' and cooperatively. The activities included a tinker-toy building contest, land skiis, jump roping, crossing a 'raging river' with only 5 stones, and (my favorite) a Frisbee throwing contest. My team didn't place very well, but it was a lot of fun, and made me feel much more included and welcome then I would have otherwise. I got to spend time with the other teachers in a situation where we were all on equal footing, we were all 'just people'.
I am fortunate enough to have been given a task for my School Improvement Project already. Melissa ( a fellow UO student teacher) and I are working for the 7th grade social studies team creating a time line project for them to make in the second week of classes. Time allowing we will also create a time line to put on the bulletin board, and 'foldables' for each unit they will cover. It's a type of project that is right up my alley, as well as a good review of my world history. I'm excited to create something that can potentially be used for years to come at this school.
The new schedule that Briggs is launching seems really innovative, but it also produces a lot of new challenges. When the staff was going over it, it was really interesting for those of us not a direct part of the staff to sit back and watch the tension and aggression move through the faculty. There are definitely some people who are not comfortable or happy about the changes. However, they all seem really committed to the idea of the new schedule as a whole, even if the kinks haven't been worked out yet, so on top of the negative and confused feelings was a joviality and optimism that they would be able to persevere (and prove all the naysayers wrong). There is a really great feeling of team and cooperation in this staff! They are also really relaxed and joke and tease a lot (mostly in a nice and fun way).
Today was particularly exciting because I finally got assigned my cooperating teacher, Lisa Keener. I got to know her, and spent some time helping her organize. I'm really excited about working with her because they are piloting a new book and new curriculum, which is something that student teachers don't normally get to do. She also seems really fun, and I think we'll mesh together well. I previously thought I was going to be with a teacher who was also the athletic director, and he seemed like a great guy, but I think I'll have more in common with Lisa. Already, just by going through her old curriculum and re-organizing it to match up with the new book, I am getting ideas for my own lessons.
I am very excited to start working with the kids this next week and see how things go.
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Welcome to Briggs Middle School
I am beginning my first Practicum experience, at Briggs Middle School. It is a feeder school for Thurston High, in Springfield, although it's located very centrally in Springfield. So far this seems like a fantastic place to work. The superintendent, Nancy Golden, seems really innovative and forward thinking. The other teachers love her, she received a standing ovation upon entering the stage, as well as one after her (hour and a half long) speech. She really seems all about the kids, and is as negative about new standardized testing requirements as any self-respecting teacher. She also seems to really support the arts as part of education.
My principal also seems pretty awesome, Brooke Wagner. She is also all about trying new stuff, and getting new ideas. In fact, Briggs is spearheading an experimental bell schedule (all on their lonesome) that allows each teacher 90 minutes of prep time every day. Half of it is spent working with their teams, which are divided up by grade level and focus, to make sure that everyone is working together and on the same page about students, curriculum and school wide events. The other half is personal prep time in the classroom.
I still don't know for sure who my cooperating teacher will be, although everyone seems to think I'll be with Brandon Parks. Nothing has been made specific yet, so we student teachers (there are four of us at Briggs) are able to observe a wide variety of people, and start on our School Improvement Project.
Laura Scruggs, who is one of my favorite people I've met (she complimented my purple hair), has a project for three of us to work on for our SIPs. It is developing a foldable time line with dates from every unit that the 7th grade World History class will cover. And then, if we finish that, creating examples of foldable projects for each individual unit, to use as examples and grading keys.
As you can see, there is a lot going on for me, right now, I just have Briggs to worry about. By the end of the month, I'll add classes: Behavior Management, Methods of teaching Social Studies, and Methods of Teaching Math.
My principal also seems pretty awesome, Brooke Wagner. She is also all about trying new stuff, and getting new ideas. In fact, Briggs is spearheading an experimental bell schedule (all on their lonesome) that allows each teacher 90 minutes of prep time every day. Half of it is spent working with their teams, which are divided up by grade level and focus, to make sure that everyone is working together and on the same page about students, curriculum and school wide events. The other half is personal prep time in the classroom.
I still don't know for sure who my cooperating teacher will be, although everyone seems to think I'll be with Brandon Parks. Nothing has been made specific yet, so we student teachers (there are four of us at Briggs) are able to observe a wide variety of people, and start on our School Improvement Project.
Laura Scruggs, who is one of my favorite people I've met (she complimented my purple hair), has a project for three of us to work on for our SIPs. It is developing a foldable time line with dates from every unit that the 7th grade World History class will cover. And then, if we finish that, creating examples of foldable projects for each individual unit, to use as examples and grading keys.
As you can see, there is a lot going on for me, right now, I just have Briggs to worry about. By the end of the month, I'll add classes: Behavior Management, Methods of teaching Social Studies, and Methods of Teaching Math.
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