Highlight
I got my observation done, it went well. : )
I think the highlight of my week has been working with students and seeing them change. Some students are much more mature by this point in the year, and it is just crazy to see them go from bubbly kidsto high schoolers.
Approaches and thoughts
One approach I will use is changing lessons for each period. I had my fourth period, which is full of indecent learners and good readers, do the same assignment as third period. They didn't need the same modeling and got bored, so I lost them. In the future, Ill be brief with them and let them work because the class functions best that way.
Perplexing
I have a student who is constantly absent and was finally there today. She was really disgruntled and actually yelled at me, and I was so surprised I didn't know what to do. So I guess my perplexing situation is when students actually genuinely surprise you, what do you do?
Wednesday, May 29, 2013
Tuesday, May 21, 2013
weekly blog
8th grader quote of the day "Every serial killer ever has worn glasses. how do I know I can trust you?"
highlight
My highlight was getting to take over the class for a full day when my teacher was out of town. the sub was more than willing to let me teach while he played on his Ipad. We played a game and it went well overall, thouhg I had some serious management issues at times. I had some good discussion, the students we engaged. Luckily enough, when the principal came in everything was going perfectly so that was nice.
Another highlight was getting to talk to one of my "gifted" students who is a writer, and she is working on a short novel during her downtime in class. I talked to her about her writing approaches and we talked about Tolkien, and it was just a good interaction.
think
Something that made me think differently was working with a student of mine who has gotten ignored a lot in class. He has an Iep that manages his behavior, but not his learning. This student is on a lot of medication and from what I can tell probably functioning at more of a fifth grade level intellectually, I'm not really sure what's going on.
My cooperating teachers approach is just to let him hang out, because since he should probably be in a spec Ed class there is not much she can do. I was bothered by that. So yesterday the daily assignment was to write a short paragraph reflecting on the reading. I asked him what he need four times, re explained the direction in detail three times, and he finished the assignment. It took fifteen minutes to get him to where the other students were in three, but he got there. His writing is not as eloquent as other students, but he completed the assignment and showed me he CAN WRITE! So that was my thought, that some students, even students who seem to not get it, can get there.
Approach
My approach is about classroom management, and it's about consistency. I have trouble with my management, I'll quiet, I'm young, I'm blonde. sometimes,students just don't take me seriously. I am not the type of person who can just raise my voice and command a room, they just laugh because it is unnatural.
So I have found that consistent reminders work for me. clearly outlining expectations, repeating myself, stopping and pointing at specific students and saying "I'm waiting on you and you," and letti other studentspeer pressure them into appropriate behavior works for me. Stopping and asking chatty students to repeat what I just said, and then reminding them they need to respect someone when theyspeakign works. And most of all, I use "kindergarten approaches" a lot, such as saying"eyes and ears up here please." a student said "that's so annoying mrs wells,we're not Kids." andi said,I know. You're 8th graders. When you act like 8th graders, I don't have to say that.
So I don't knowif these Things will work every time. But I am learning tricks with management that actually work for me.
perplexing
My perplexing situation of the week is writing lessons that my teacher wants me to teach. She bought this workbook with "common core" worksheets, and it is great.so I picked out a worksheet, and started to craft a lesson plan around it. Then I went to look up the standard,and it didn't line up with what the workbook said it lined up with. I just... I'll makeitworkbut it's weirdtryign to balance your style of teaching with another teachers sometimes.
highlight
My highlight was getting to take over the class for a full day when my teacher was out of town. the sub was more than willing to let me teach while he played on his Ipad. We played a game and it went well overall, thouhg I had some serious management issues at times. I had some good discussion, the students we engaged. Luckily enough, when the principal came in everything was going perfectly so that was nice.
Another highlight was getting to talk to one of my "gifted" students who is a writer, and she is working on a short novel during her downtime in class. I talked to her about her writing approaches and we talked about Tolkien, and it was just a good interaction.
think
Something that made me think differently was working with a student of mine who has gotten ignored a lot in class. He has an Iep that manages his behavior, but not his learning. This student is on a lot of medication and from what I can tell probably functioning at more of a fifth grade level intellectually, I'm not really sure what's going on.
My cooperating teachers approach is just to let him hang out, because since he should probably be in a spec Ed class there is not much she can do. I was bothered by that. So yesterday the daily assignment was to write a short paragraph reflecting on the reading. I asked him what he need four times, re explained the direction in detail three times, and he finished the assignment. It took fifteen minutes to get him to where the other students were in three, but he got there. His writing is not as eloquent as other students, but he completed the assignment and showed me he CAN WRITE! So that was my thought, that some students, even students who seem to not get it, can get there.
Approach
My approach is about classroom management, and it's about consistency. I have trouble with my management, I'll quiet, I'm young, I'm blonde. sometimes,students just don't take me seriously. I am not the type of person who can just raise my voice and command a room, they just laugh because it is unnatural.
So I have found that consistent reminders work for me. clearly outlining expectations, repeating myself, stopping and pointing at specific students and saying "I'm waiting on you and you," and letti other studentspeer pressure them into appropriate behavior works for me. Stopping and asking chatty students to repeat what I just said, and then reminding them they need to respect someone when theyspeakign works. And most of all, I use "kindergarten approaches" a lot, such as saying"eyes and ears up here please." a student said "that's so annoying mrs wells,we're not Kids." andi said,I know. You're 8th graders. When you act like 8th graders, I don't have to say that.
So I don't knowif these Things will work every time. But I am learning tricks with management that actually work for me.
perplexing
My perplexing situation of the week is writing lessons that my teacher wants me to teach. She bought this workbook with "common core" worksheets, and it is great.so I picked out a worksheet, and started to craft a lesson plan around it. Then I went to look up the standard,and it didn't line up with what the workbook said it lined up with. I just... I'll makeitworkbut it's weirdtryign to balance your style of teaching with another teachers sometimes.
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
Weekly blog
Highlight...
MSP testing os over!!! We get to well, actually teach again. The bells are still off this week, but we get to read and start a novel unit. Soooo nice to be back to a normal.
Thinking...
My cooperating teacher did a great job introducing our novel unit, the outsiders. She used it as an opportunity to talk about the stereotypes students at my school feel, like they go to the poor school and have less. She let them talk and vent,but then discussed how stereotypes are not true. Some
Of the ideas they discussed were just because you are rich, doesn't mean your life is easy. Just because you are poor, doesn't mean you aren't smart or kind. They were good life lessons and provided a good platform for the book.
Approach...
The social studies teacher I work with meets one on one with at least one student very say. I think it is a good idea, and of you take five minutes, in the course of a month you'll have given every student individual attention, and I admire the extra effort she puts in.
I got to chat with one student, who is chronically absent. I asked her why she wasn't workin, and she said what she always says "I can't do this, Ive been gone." so I just said that I knew she had missed some things ,but she wasn't helpless. I told her she had her book and her partner and I could answer any questions. She was more engaged the rest of the period and even raised her hand in class. A little bit of attention goes a long way.
Perplexing....
So I had an issue with a substitute. I worked with a sub in my English and class and I just didn't agre with her styles and beliefs. She was overly authoritarian and well... Mean. She told one students he was going to be a failure for her entire life. And she openly made judgements about my school. So I didn't know what to do, it was an awkward situation to be in.
MSP testing os over!!! We get to well, actually teach again. The bells are still off this week, but we get to read and start a novel unit. Soooo nice to be back to a normal.
Thinking...
My cooperating teacher did a great job introducing our novel unit, the outsiders. She used it as an opportunity to talk about the stereotypes students at my school feel, like they go to the poor school and have less. She let them talk and vent,but then discussed how stereotypes are not true. Some
Of the ideas they discussed were just because you are rich, doesn't mean your life is easy. Just because you are poor, doesn't mean you aren't smart or kind. They were good life lessons and provided a good platform for the book.
Approach...
The social studies teacher I work with meets one on one with at least one student very say. I think it is a good idea, and of you take five minutes, in the course of a month you'll have given every student individual attention, and I admire the extra effort she puts in.
I got to chat with one student, who is chronically absent. I asked her why she wasn't workin, and she said what she always says "I can't do this, Ive been gone." so I just said that I knew she had missed some things ,but she wasn't helpless. I told her she had her book and her partner and I could answer any questions. She was more engaged the rest of the period and even raised her hand in class. A little bit of attention goes a long way.
Perplexing....
So I had an issue with a substitute. I worked with a sub in my English and class and I just didn't agre with her styles and beliefs. She was overly authoritarian and well... Mean. She told one students he was going to be a failure for her entire life. And she openly made judgements about my school. So I didn't know what to do, it was an awkward situation to be in.
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
weekly blog
this summarizes my student's reaction when I tried to get their attention today.
Highlights
*Baseball field makeover and my first assembly
I went to my first school assembly on monday. At it, I found out that the local news( KXLY) is doign an "extreme team" makeover on North Pines' baseball field, which is super old. It's always cool to see community-school involvement for me, especially since it's in my neighborhood and community.
going solo
So today, the school needed a sub for thrid period (due to MSP testing, my teacher was not in her room). The sub didn't come, so the vice principal asked me if I coudl teach the class alone. I said that was fine and I taught the class. So that was a good moment to practice management (without any help or interference) and also I think I am on good standing with the vice principal, which can't be bad. The class went really well and I actually had students who didn't want to quit silent reading, which was a nice and unusual surprise.
one practice
I guess my practice for this week is giving students a chance to correct their own mistakes before the final grades are put in. During my lesson, students finished their work early and I corrected it, handed it back with highlighted errors and told them to correct it.I didn't give them the answers, but told them to double check the specific parts of hte assignment and ask for help from their peers. There were more hundred percents, and studnets actually learned the material. It's not my idea, but I think it's good practice if it's possible.
-students with issues that you can't fix
I guess for me a lot of the perplexing things are issues I "know what to do" but actually doing it is difficult. For me this week, a really great student has been having a lot of personal problems that have been impacting her. (I don't have favorites, but this student is bright, hard working, has good social skills, and is all around a great kid.) she didnt have her homework on friday because she explained that her mother had kicked her out of the house and thrown away all of her belongings. The student is now with her dad, and she will be moving to a different school district before hte year ends (her second time moving this year). There are more issues that have come up, and she seems to be handling things well, but I just feel bothered. A lot of my students have rough home situations or problems that bother me, and I can't fix those for them. I guess I am just having a hard time disconnecting and not finding myself worrying about students I know at night.
-planning lessons and logistics
I am having a hard time planning my lessons. My english teacher doesnt plan ahead often, it will change up until twenty mintues before class. three times she's been like "on friday, we will teach this together, write a lesson." and then friday, it changes. I am also having a hard time getting into my social studies class and I don't know my role there yet. so sometimes co-teaching is weird. it's not horrible, I can improvise lessons like nobody's business now.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)