** student teaching week 6**
This week I wore a football jersey, and the next day my arm was in a
sling. Then I encountered one of my freshman boys wearing a coconut bra
(on top of a shirt) and a grass skirt. Finally, my classes became a sea
of blue and yellow. No, nothing was wrong. It was homecoming week at
NorthPointe.
Once again, it was an abnormal week. Thankfully,
this time it wasn’t because of snow days (although a five day week this
semester really does seem abnormal). However, in most cases, the fun
dress-up days didn’t affect the learning.
Once again, let’s take a brief review of what went on this week:
Class of 2014
The
Romanticism continued in the senior class. Monday was a little rough; I
don’t think I’d assign “Kubla Khan” again other than the kids had to
laugh at how crazy it was. The next two days were a lot better. I had
found an audio recording of “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” (a poem I
really love), and so during class we played that while reading, which
not only saved my voice but made it more alive than I probably could
have. There were three different actors, and the man who read the
mariner was superb. Anyway, we stopped it occasionally and I would ask
questions or explain something a little further. The students had a
couple of assigned questions those nights, but overall it was more
relaxed of a week for them. Plus there was pretty good participation
during class. I was pleased with this choice, though, and would probably
use it again if I teach “Rime.” I think it does help students understand
poetry to hear it read by someone who knows the poem already. Further,
there are some ESL foreign exchange students in the class, and this aid
is probably very useful for them.
We ended the week with Byron.
Friday they had an end of the day assembly, shortening every period, and
the students were antsy for the big day, so the lesson didn’t go as
well as expected. However, I did still get across all I had hoped and
the students have been asking good questions that show they’re thinking
deeper than the surface about some of these lines.
Another thing I’m
pleased about is the rapport I have with some of the seniors, especially
fifth hour. I went to the Calvin vs. NorthPointe game Tuesday, and sat
in the middle. The next day, the students were talking about seeing me
and asking my opinion about the game. Then several of them asked if I
would come to the homecoming game (I couldn’t this time). I’ve also been
able to use some of their slang or stories that I know they can relate
to when trying to explain some of the concepts of the poems, which they
seem to appreciate.
My goals for the final four days:
- edTPA,
edTPA, edTPA: I’ve started work on these tasks, but the next two lessons
are part of the segment I planned for the edTPA. So now I just have to
try to keep that in mind in my planning, hoping to get the required
parts into the lesson and good footage of some of the insights students
have been having prior to bringing the camera into the classroom.
- Continue
to make connections: As I finish, I’m really trying to emphasize those
connections between poems and between their lives and the poems. I don’t
want these poems to just be something isolated - they interact with the
same themes we’ve studied, the same topics, and moreover students can
still pick up on some of the themes in today’s society. Thus, I hope to
continue to demonstrate these connections
- Finish strong: I have two
more lessons to teach, a review day, and a test to give. Though I’m
starting to feel like coasting lesson-wise, having all the work done for
this week already, I know to make the lessons successful I can’t coast
yet. I have to keep reviewing my lessons, keep thinking about what to
add or build on from day to day. Then I want to see the students finish
strong too, and hopefully demonstrate their knowledge and learning on
the test Thursday.
Class of 2017
The freshmen had a lot of working time this
week. We had one more lesson on Monday, but after that it was working
on their rough drafts. However, they didn’t always make it easy on me
this week. Some students didn’t even have their research complete.
Others had finished their research, only to realized they’d only used
internet sources, when we told them a number of times, and wrote it in
the requirements on the website and in hard copy form, they could only
use two. Then, there were the behavior issues. Without my teacher in the
room at the end of this week, some of the students seemed to try to
take advantage of that and see what they could get away with. Some of
how I handled it I feel good about; however, the steps I took probably weren ’t enough for some of them. But it did give me examples to build on,
and I was able to formulate plans for handling those situations the
next time they arise, and implement them. This is what student teaching
is for, in some respects; to try out some of what works now, while I’m
still being supported.
I really only have two days left to teach most
of my freshmen students, since most of them have final drafts due
Tuesday. For
these last two days, my goals include:
- Keep a lid on it: I need to
work to control a couple of the students who are challenging my
authority and slacking off. This is my test on classroom management. Now
that I know some of what behaviors they’re exhibiting, I can figure out
what to do about it.
- But don’t let others slip through: Even while I
manage some of the troublemakers, I have to also be supportive of those
who are working, which is pretty much everyone else. I don’t want those
who are being good students, but want some assistance, to slip by
- Finish strong here too
I
still don’t really want to leave these students at the end of this
week. I do miss Trinity, and my friends there. I miss dorm life. But I
don’t feel it was near enough time with these students. If we could just
move Trinity to Michigan, or NPC down to Trinity, that’d be great. Yet,
I am interested to see where this next placement leads, and what
challenges, rewards, and lessons it brings.
Saturday, February 15, 2014
Sunday, February 9, 2014
Getting Down to the Wire
*student teaching week 5*
Well, it was an almost full week at NorthPointe. Wednesday marked the 6th snow day since I’ve been there. My units are pretty much down to the wire, and I’m just hoping no more cancellations will happen as I finish the last 9 days I have at the high school. By the time I become a certified teacher, I will definitely be well-practiced in rethinking my plans when unexpected cancellations or shortened classes occur!
I taught both the seniors and freshman all week. Teaching-wise, it was kind of a mixed bag week. I had good and rough lessons. The students were tracking with me some classes and other classes they were pretty out of it. But that’s also the life of student teaching; some things don’t always work out.
A quick review of the week:
The seniors
We got through Wordsworth, so still have four more poets to look at before the test. We had okay discussions on Blake and three of the Wordsworth poems, but "Tintern Abbey" was rough in both classes. The cooperating teacher told me he doesn’t usually assign it as homework, but works through the poem in class instead, or at least gives them a paraphrase of the poem. It gave me something to consider for the future; how can I challenge them appropriately and yet still support them? When I get my own class, I may be able to gauge this fine line better, knowing them from the beginning of the year and sticking with them year-long. On the plus side, I am getting to know their names and that makes engaging them easier because I can call on them by name to add to the discussion.
I was pleased that I could include a couple of shorter activities to extend the poem into their own lives; there was a free write about their favorite place one day and a humorous video connected to Wordsworth’s passion for nature another day. They were able to think about and discuss our call from God when it comes to nature, and they also answered some homework questions that asked them to tie the poems to modern culture or give their reaction.
As I move into the next weeks, the main areas I’m thinking about are:
- Keeping more students participating. The nightly homework reflects that these students do have answers, and some of them have really thorough answers, to the questions about the poems. I want to hear more of that in class.
- Is it possible for me, in less than two weeks, to transition into having the students really holding the discussion among themselves? Right now, it’s mostly me posing questions and they’re giving answers. I try to stick to questions, which I think is good if I want to remain mostly the facilitator and give them ownership of their learning. But it’s still me in control as far as moving the discussion forward, especially in 6th hour. It’s a tall order for me to change their discussion tendencies in less than two weeks, in the second semester. I’ll do what I can to remain the questioner and the facilitator, but I don’t know for sure that they will get to the point of commenting and building on one another with me having limited say before I leave.
- I want to continue to find little ways to get the students to connect the nineteenth century poems with their lives. A lot of this comes through assignment questions and questions posed in class, and I have some plans already in place, so I hope that these plans go over successfully
The freshmen
We are nearly to the point of drafting our papers, so not too far off track from the original plan before the past 4 snow days. However, there is an array of points of completion across the class. The majority of students are right where they’re supposed to be, doing no more nor no less; others have nearly 40 note cards, or had an outline drafted at the start of the week and have begun to write the paper; and others have only just begun the research. It’s an interesting position to be in, and one I know I will navigate again and again as a teacher. To an extent, it’s on the students; I can’t do the work for them. But it’s also about me -- how do I keep the students who are behind on task? How far do I extend deadlines for students who are behind because of sickness? And for those who are ahead -- how do I keep them challenged? How do I make sure they’re still doing the work correctly when I have so many other students who are behind them? This next week will be an interesting one, as I work with students at all of these levels, who are either ready or not ready to draft their paper.
As I move forward with this class, the main areas of focus include:
- Keeping students on task, especially if they’re in the group that haven’t been sick but are still behind. I’ll also have to focus on those students who were sick, and re-teach the elements they may have missed or still don’t understand.
- Making sure what we’ve already learned is still being understood and used as they move into writing the paper
- Getting the students all the information they need, and remaining a support to students -- even those who don’t explicitly ask questions, because they may be those who need the support
Remembering that I’m leaving after 9 more school days in this school is really sad. I would absolutely love to stay at NorthPointe. I feel like I’m just getting to know some of the seniors, I don’t want to leave behind my freshmen, and the teachers are such wonderful people to work with. I am going to make the most of the rest of my time in this supportive environment.
Well, it was an almost full week at NorthPointe. Wednesday marked the 6th snow day since I’ve been there. My units are pretty much down to the wire, and I’m just hoping no more cancellations will happen as I finish the last 9 days I have at the high school. By the time I become a certified teacher, I will definitely be well-practiced in rethinking my plans when unexpected cancellations or shortened classes occur!
I taught both the seniors and freshman all week. Teaching-wise, it was kind of a mixed bag week. I had good and rough lessons. The students were tracking with me some classes and other classes they were pretty out of it. But that’s also the life of student teaching; some things don’t always work out.
A quick review of the week:
The seniors
We got through Wordsworth, so still have four more poets to look at before the test. We had okay discussions on Blake and three of the Wordsworth poems, but "Tintern Abbey" was rough in both classes. The cooperating teacher told me he doesn’t usually assign it as homework, but works through the poem in class instead, or at least gives them a paraphrase of the poem. It gave me something to consider for the future; how can I challenge them appropriately and yet still support them? When I get my own class, I may be able to gauge this fine line better, knowing them from the beginning of the year and sticking with them year-long. On the plus side, I am getting to know their names and that makes engaging them easier because I can call on them by name to add to the discussion.
I was pleased that I could include a couple of shorter activities to extend the poem into their own lives; there was a free write about their favorite place one day and a humorous video connected to Wordsworth’s passion for nature another day. They were able to think about and discuss our call from God when it comes to nature, and they also answered some homework questions that asked them to tie the poems to modern culture or give their reaction.
As I move into the next weeks, the main areas I’m thinking about are:
- Keeping more students participating. The nightly homework reflects that these students do have answers, and some of them have really thorough answers, to the questions about the poems. I want to hear more of that in class.
- Is it possible for me, in less than two weeks, to transition into having the students really holding the discussion among themselves? Right now, it’s mostly me posing questions and they’re giving answers. I try to stick to questions, which I think is good if I want to remain mostly the facilitator and give them ownership of their learning. But it’s still me in control as far as moving the discussion forward, especially in 6th hour. It’s a tall order for me to change their discussion tendencies in less than two weeks, in the second semester. I’ll do what I can to remain the questioner and the facilitator, but I don’t know for sure that they will get to the point of commenting and building on one another with me having limited say before I leave.
- I want to continue to find little ways to get the students to connect the nineteenth century poems with their lives. A lot of this comes through assignment questions and questions posed in class, and I have some plans already in place, so I hope that these plans go over successfully
The freshmen
We are nearly to the point of drafting our papers, so not too far off track from the original plan before the past 4 snow days. However, there is an array of points of completion across the class. The majority of students are right where they’re supposed to be, doing no more nor no less; others have nearly 40 note cards, or had an outline drafted at the start of the week and have begun to write the paper; and others have only just begun the research. It’s an interesting position to be in, and one I know I will navigate again and again as a teacher. To an extent, it’s on the students; I can’t do the work for them. But it’s also about me -- how do I keep the students who are behind on task? How far do I extend deadlines for students who are behind because of sickness? And for those who are ahead -- how do I keep them challenged? How do I make sure they’re still doing the work correctly when I have so many other students who are behind them? This next week will be an interesting one, as I work with students at all of these levels, who are either ready or not ready to draft their paper.
As I move forward with this class, the main areas of focus include:
- Keeping students on task, especially if they’re in the group that haven’t been sick but are still behind. I’ll also have to focus on those students who were sick, and re-teach the elements they may have missed or still don’t understand.
- Making sure what we’ve already learned is still being understood and used as they move into writing the paper
- Getting the students all the information they need, and remaining a support to students -- even those who don’t explicitly ask questions, because they may be those who need the support
Remembering that I’m leaving after 9 more school days in this school is really sad. I would absolutely love to stay at NorthPointe. I feel like I’m just getting to know some of the seniors, I don’t want to leave behind my freshmen, and the teachers are such wonderful people to work with. I am going to make the most of the rest of my time in this supportive environment.
Saturday, February 1, 2014
The 2-day Week
**student teaching week 4**
This placement sure is teaching me flexibility! I thought I had a plan and then school was cancelled... for three days in a row. So everything had to shift, and I had to figure out how to still get everything accomplished in a decent time -- and, most of all, before I go back to Illinois! Once I did get back to school, the lessons in flexibility didn’t stop. I’m learning to bend as assemblies intrude, or when I might’ve a been a touch over-ambitious in the assignment. Being a girl who always has a plan, I think it’s good that I’m being forced to reorganize my thinking and go with the flow. It’s definitely a characteristic that’s needed when I have my own classroom next year.
Since we had three snow days, I only taught two days this week. But they sure were a full two days! Thursday, I taught for 5 periods -- both in the freshman and senior classes. The freshman learned about taking notes on their research and evaluating the sources, while the seniors got some of their introduction to one of my favorite literary periods -- Romanticism. Friday was less of structured teaching; the seniors were taking a test on the previous unit and the freshman worked on their research. Despite not having a structured lesson for the freshmen on Friday, I was still doing a lot of teaching. I was doing a lot of walking around, answering many questions, but I actually loved that. I got to talk to students one-on-one that I haven’t interacted with much. I was able to it “click” for some students. Writing is the area I feel most comfortable in, and feel I am strongest in teaching how to write papers. I hope that at the end of the unit, the final products come out strong and show evidence of a good ground-level of writing ability, as these students will continue to encounter more and more writing as they continue on in school.
Monday, barring another snow day, nothing stands in my way of full-time teaching. The 12th graders have officially finished their unit, and it’s Romanticism time. The 9th graders continue researching and writing. As I begin this full-time teaching, I know there are things I want to work on and grow in. The main area is classroom management. It’s always been my weaker area, and I know these classes will challenge me to grow and develop in this area. It isn’t always about keeping the chaos at a minimum either. It’s also about seeing who’s participating, and who’s tuning me out in one way or another. This is what I need to work on, in both grades.
Also, my goal for the senior classes is engagement. Unlike the 9th graders, they don’t have a project they’re working on. I do have some time planned to give them a brief lecture, mostly on the background of some of the authors or poems, but I want to see them participating too. A lot of my lessons hinge on the discussion portion. My goal is to really have the students leading the discussion, bouncing ideas back and forth, while I act as more of a facilitator. I don’t know if they’re used to that, so it may not get there right away, but I hope at the end of these three weeks they're closer to that point. Furthermore, I want to connect this material to students’ lives. “Romantic” already probably turns people off. I want to show those guys who hunt, or play sports, that this isn’t just some mushy, gushy, love poetry -- Romanticism actually doesn’t really relate to that connotation of the word. I want them to see what is interesting about it, and to at least participate in discussions about it. I want to make this unit have at least a little fun sprinkled into every lesson. Some people may think I’m hoping for too much -- this is poetry, after all, and these are seniors who just want to graduate. Call me weird, but it’s my goal to peak their interest in something I say or do in class, and in turn in some of the poetry itself.
So I’m looking at Monday, again with the anticipation of jumping in with both feet. I’m also hoping for no more snow days; I may be working on flexibility, but with only three weeks to go, I still have to abide by time’s laws and get it all in!
This placement sure is teaching me flexibility! I thought I had a plan and then school was cancelled... for three days in a row. So everything had to shift, and I had to figure out how to still get everything accomplished in a decent time -- and, most of all, before I go back to Illinois! Once I did get back to school, the lessons in flexibility didn’t stop. I’m learning to bend as assemblies intrude, or when I might’ve a been a touch over-ambitious in the assignment. Being a girl who always has a plan, I think it’s good that I’m being forced to reorganize my thinking and go with the flow. It’s definitely a characteristic that’s needed when I have my own classroom next year.
Since we had three snow days, I only taught two days this week. But they sure were a full two days! Thursday, I taught for 5 periods -- both in the freshman and senior classes. The freshman learned about taking notes on their research and evaluating the sources, while the seniors got some of their introduction to one of my favorite literary periods -- Romanticism. Friday was less of structured teaching; the seniors were taking a test on the previous unit and the freshman worked on their research. Despite not having a structured lesson for the freshmen on Friday, I was still doing a lot of teaching. I was doing a lot of walking around, answering many questions, but I actually loved that. I got to talk to students one-on-one that I haven’t interacted with much. I was able to it “click” for some students. Writing is the area I feel most comfortable in, and feel I am strongest in teaching how to write papers. I hope that at the end of the unit, the final products come out strong and show evidence of a good ground-level of writing ability, as these students will continue to encounter more and more writing as they continue on in school.
Monday, barring another snow day, nothing stands in my way of full-time teaching. The 12th graders have officially finished their unit, and it’s Romanticism time. The 9th graders continue researching and writing. As I begin this full-time teaching, I know there are things I want to work on and grow in. The main area is classroom management. It’s always been my weaker area, and I know these classes will challenge me to grow and develop in this area. It isn’t always about keeping the chaos at a minimum either. It’s also about seeing who’s participating, and who’s tuning me out in one way or another. This is what I need to work on, in both grades.
Also, my goal for the senior classes is engagement. Unlike the 9th graders, they don’t have a project they’re working on. I do have some time planned to give them a brief lecture, mostly on the background of some of the authors or poems, but I want to see them participating too. A lot of my lessons hinge on the discussion portion. My goal is to really have the students leading the discussion, bouncing ideas back and forth, while I act as more of a facilitator. I don’t know if they’re used to that, so it may not get there right away, but I hope at the end of these three weeks they're closer to that point. Furthermore, I want to connect this material to students’ lives. “Romantic” already probably turns people off. I want to show those guys who hunt, or play sports, that this isn’t just some mushy, gushy, love poetry -- Romanticism actually doesn’t really relate to that connotation of the word. I want them to see what is interesting about it, and to at least participate in discussions about it. I want to make this unit have at least a little fun sprinkled into every lesson. Some people may think I’m hoping for too much -- this is poetry, after all, and these are seniors who just want to graduate. Call me weird, but it’s my goal to peak their interest in something I say or do in class, and in turn in some of the poetry itself.
So I’m looking at Monday, again with the anticipation of jumping in with both feet. I’m also hoping for no more snow days; I may be working on flexibility, but with only three weeks to go, I still have to abide by time’s laws and get it all in!
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