Tuesday, December 14, 2010

The Routine.

In a dazed state, I hear that wretched noise. That piercing annoyance on my bedside stand. It’s the worst time of day - morning. I stumble out of bed to the shower. The routine begins - shower, contacts, teeth, clothes. Between these blur of events, I somehow throw together a lunch. By 6:40, Doug and I are ready to roll. Our journey even farther south begins. By 6:55, we pass Arcola. By 7:05, we’re cruising down Washington Avenue towards Simmons. At 7:10, my second routine begins. I fill my boards with objectives, agendas, and bellringers. It’s 7:30. I hear the roar coming down the hallway. I have the privilege of starting my day with freshman, and they’re the first students dismissed from the gym. I had a friend highlight a similarity between the arrival of my freshman and one of the top grossing movies of all time - Jurassic Park. When the glass of water trembles, you know the T-Rex is coming. The freshmen are my T-Rex. After a chaotic twelve minutes, the bell to start homeroom sounds (sometimes). I quickly turn on CNN Student News, the perfect ten minute clip highlighting the world’s biggest events to subdue the students from their hyena like behavior. Finally, the the 7:52 bell rings, and first period starts. It’s show time.

I’m convinced that time changes during school. First, second, third, and fourth period become this blur of bellringers, assignments, and consequences. It doesn’t help that I go from English to Latin to Spanish to Theatre. It almost feels like a revolving door; as quickly as students come, they also go. After second period, I frantically try to gather my things to change classrooms for Spanish. When third period ends, I do the same thing, trying to beat my students to my own classroom. When fourth period ends, I can finally breathe. Fifth period - my “planning” time. It’s a true gift from the heavens because fifth period is the lunch period. I am grateful every day that I don’t have to herd students to the cafeteria. Of course, fifth period passes quickly. Before I know, it I’m jumping off the waterfall again, and I’m not going to land until 3:48.

Sixth, seventh, and eighth period are just a repeat of the morning. English, Latin, Theatre. Because of fifth period planning, I have the luxury of fixing anything that didn’t go so well from the morning lessons. The latter half of the day is more difficult. The students are less willing to cooperate, and they are definitely not as attentive. That 3:48 bell is about the best thing that happens. It’s like winning the lottery on a daily basis. Consistently euphoric. By 4:15, my room is back in order, the boards are clean, and Doug and I are in the office ready to swipe our cards. By 4:45 we’re home, and the best part of the day begins - just a little later than I would like it though.

Monday, November 1, 2010

Chapter 3 Reflection

I found this chapter interesting and applicable to my job. At first, I was hesitant to read yet another chapter about reading comprehension strategies. This chapter paid off though. I was intrigued by the four “Dimensions of Comprehension.” The two that stuck out to me were the personal and social dimensions. I feel as though the personal dimension plays one of the largest roles in a classroom like mine. With students who cannot see the point of their education and have little care for their future, it’s hard to find ways to keep them engaged. As the book states, “Ignoring the personal dimension of adolescent learners when setting expectations for reading often leads to disappointment and frustration for both teachers and students” (48). I completely understand this statement.
Another strategy I liked was the language of process technique. I feel as though this is something I can do with my students. On some level, I feel like I already do it, but am not actively aware of it. Each bullet from making and checking predications to verbalizing points of confusion and demonstrating fix-up strategies can be easily executed in the classroom. My only concern is that these techniques will take immense amounts of repetition to begin to make an impact. Regardless, the idea of a “process statement” is genius – it forces them to think about the content statement. My students struggle with this all the time (I say struggle with some hesitation because I feel as though some are just apathetic or lazy). Many of my students are great at sounding out consonant and vowel sounds but have no idea what the sentence or passage is actually saying.
I’m a fan of these process guides that are discussed on page 60. I feel that these would work great with my students, especially in Latin. We spend a lot of time on workbook problems which are directly answered by passages in the book. Many of my students struggle with these even though I tell them over and over to use their book as a resource. Today was the first day I projected the questions on the board and walked them through how to find the answers in the book. I’m hoping that this will help them on future workbook assignments. We will definitely spend more time practicing this though. My only hesitation with the process guides is that puts a lot more of the work on the teacher. I know it’s only a technique to ease them into independent reading, but I share the same concerns that some of the teachers in the book revealed.
I also liked the idea of opinionaires because they force our students to have opinions about something! So many of them take the easy way out, but I like this technique. It’s another way to force them to think about a topic that hopefully we can discuss later. I do wonder, though, if my students would be capable of verbalizing their opinions. I can see them taking a side and then being unable to support it. that’s one of the reasons why I thought my classes weren’t quite ready for classroom discussions (which the book says are typical of high school classes). I feel that since our students are so far behind academically, that they haven’t quite reached this level of mature thinking yet. Who knows, though, it might be worth a try!

Wednesday, October 27, 2010

Dazed and Confused

The dreadful month has come. The month that everyone in the program has warned us about. It’s October. On the upside, it’s the last week in October. The downside is it’s almost November. Am I lost in a corn maize with no exit and an overgrown entrance? My conclusion is yes.
I’m probably in the most discouraged state right now. I’m discouraged for the reasons listed above, but also because of my recent return from fall break. I spent five days in my wonderful home state of Iowa. In my mind, home is where the heart is, and Iowa is the permanent residence of my heart. Always has been, probably always will be. It’s hard for me to think about where I was a week ago (even harder for me to think about a year ago). My world in Iowa seems so far detached from my world in Mississippi, and the only thing holding them together is the license plate on my car. No need to dwell on this any longer, but I’ll end with a countdown. 22 days until Thanksgiving break.
I’m still a zombie teacher (which is fitting for Halloween week). I wake up, take a shower, get dressed, make my lunch, get in the car, drive to school, set up my room, teach the kids, drive home, prepare for the next day, go to bed, wake up, and repeat. The worst part is repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat. Anyway, despite the melancholy feel of this blog, I’d still say I’m happy. I believe one of my gifts is staying happy. Regardless of what happens at school, I still categorize myself as happy. I’m a naturally happy person. When I come home, I try as hard as possible to detach myself from that zombie teacher stuck on repeat. It’s hard, but I try. As long as I’m still smiling we’re good to go.
I believe that the latter half of the semester will go by more quickly than the first half. There’s more to look forward to – more breaks, a definite end, and the beginning of the end (second semester). I might have a different outlook on my job when the countdown is to the last day of school instead of the last day before Christmas break. As of right now, I feel like I can relate to my English students. We’re currently on the writing process which will probably end up being the hardest objective for them. They seem confused and frustrated by the entire process. I seem confused and frustrated on how to teach them. Regardless, we’re on the same boat, maybe different decks, but we’re definitely on the same boat.

Monday, October 18, 2010

Chapter 4 Reflection

When reading Chapter 4 of Content Literacy for Today’s Adolescents, I kept thinking of one topic I’ve been continually discussing with my roommate – student interest and engagment. Teaching English would be exponentially easier if every lesson incorporated something that interested the student. Like most things in life, however, that is much easier said than done. Trying to find real life connections between my English objective and my students’ lives is quite the difficult task. Like Brozo and Simpson write on page 90, “Interest is one of the most potent motivators for students,” but as I would like to add, one of the harder tasks a teacher encounters. The idea is revisited on page 101 with “learner autobiographies.” I enjoyed reading about this activity and would like to implement it in my English class. My only hesitation is that some or most students will not take it seriously. Another problem my students might face is the inability to express their thoughts due to a lack of vocabulary and writing ability. I’ve also wondered whether or not my students have an interest in anything that would require them to think on a higher DOK level. At times I feel that many of my students would avoid higher level thinking like the plague and immediately recoil from its presence. Regardless, attempting an activity such as learner autobiographies can only help so it’s worth a shot.
I found this chapter to be very readable and applicable to my life as a first year teacher. Some of the ideas, such as creating an assessment portfolio are wonderful, but like I mentioned earlier, are much easier said than done. Implementing a portfolio would be great for the teacher’s reference, for showing student growth, and also for documentation and later references. Creating assessment portfolios would be an immense amount of work. I’m currently trying my hardest to just stay afloat with a ten pound brick already in my hand. Anyway, the chapter reminds us that assessment is not “an activity that teachers ‘do to students,’” but an “ongoing activity” that includes both teachers and students and the evolution of instruction and learning (89). I need to focus more on interpreting assessment data. I’m okay with giving assessments (although, mine could probably always be improved), but I need to spend more time studying the data that comes from it. From this, my teaching can be improved and my students can learn better.

Wednesday, September 22, 2010

"He want use ot pay twenty-five ticket for an small little honey-bun which I barely get ticket for."

I’ll be upfront and say I was nervous to ask my students if they thought I was fair. I surveyed my students after Doug and Carmelle, and they both got mainly positive feedback. My classes are okay, but I still struggle with consistency, and I was sure my students would mention that. Anyway, I put the question up on the board this past Monday. I planned on asking my first period class (who are great) and my sixth period class (who are not so great). I wanted to see how the two would compare. In first period, my life is easy (relatively speaking). I only give out a handful of warnings and only a few copy assignments. My sixth period is the opposite. I feel like I’m on patrol and checkmarks accumulate like crazy. When Monday started, though, the counselor came to my homeroom and said in ten minutes a substitute would be coming in for my class. I was to report to the office to take part in administering state test make-ups. The world came crashing down because I had not planned for a sub. I frantically started compiling work for three preps and the “Is the teacher fair” question became a question for every class. Luckily I was only gone for the first four periods, but that increased my number of responses tremendously.
The glorious end of the day finally approached. It was time to read my reviews. I was nervous and not emotionally prepared to read negative feedback, but then again, when would I ever be? I started with first period and they were so nice. Some students made some valid points such as when I go after the student who rebuttals more than the one who started it. Some just wrote basic responses like “he fair” and “no he not fair” but gave no support for the comment. There were a few really great ones that said I was their favorite teacher or I get along with the students really well. Nothing can put in a good mood faster than that. It was time to read second period – my wonderful Latin I students. They were just as nice. In class I received my most comical responses. One student’s reasoning for why I wasn’t fair was because my ticket price for a honey bun (25 tickets) was unreasonable and he’ll never get that many (which is a lie because I hand out tickets like crazy). Anyway, I’ll fast forward to sixth period where I was really curious to read the responses. Everyone but two people said I was unfair. I half expected this to happen. I could only take one or two of the responses into consideration because the rest were all unsupported criticisms. I was surprised by one response. A girl who in the beginning of the school year I had so much trouble with responded that I was fair. Side note – these were “anonymous” in the sense that they didn’t have their names on it, but let’s be real…I’m their teacher and I know their handwriting. I was pleasantly surprised to read her response.
I’m glad we had to ask our students if we were fair. I probably would have never done it otherwise or would have been too afraid to read the answers. I’ll say that I left school with a smile on my face, and it was not just because the school day was over.

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

The Beginning

I’m sitting in my classroom right now.  Everything’s set up.  The first day’s bellringer and objectives are listed on the board, my consequences and rewards are all posted, and my desk is organized, but the room is lacking that one essential element - students.  Never fear though, in less than 24 hours about one hundred students will be passing through my classroom.  The thought terrifies me, or at least it did.  Oddly enough, as day one approaches, my nerves seem to diminish more.  Of course, that’s easy to say as I sit peacefully alone in my classroom hours away from showtime.  I’m going over the first day’s activities in my head again and again hoping that everything will go smoothly.  I know deep down though that the first day will be anything but smooth.  I’m quickly getting used to that fact.  I keep telling myself that I’m here to teach and that’s my priority.  Regardless of what happens, when students are present in this room, I’ll be up front with stuff to say and things to do.  I view my classroom as a part of the school, but at the same time it’s an isolated oasis that I’m in charge of.  That thought helps ease my anxieties for the first day.
We’ve been professionally developing this week.  It’s been an interesting experience.  We’ve had countless motivational speeches, discussions on consistency, and informational sessions over the past three days.  With all these accomplishments, one might assume we covered almost everything and we’re ready for tomorrow.  It’s quite the contrary.  The excess of motivational speeches almost seems like, in the words of a fellow teacher, they are trying to distract us from asking questions to which they do not know the answers.  Another great quote from a fellow teacher goes, “They tell you just enough to freak you out, but not enough to help.”  I found that comment to be spot on.  Problems are addressed but never discussed or resolved.  We simply move on to the next problem and repeat the cycle.  The whole process is frustrating, but I’m already learning to just go with the flow here.  Whatever happens, happens, you deal with it, and then move on.  Just keep smiling.
It’s amazing how little I actually know about school rules, policies, and procedures and tomorrow is the first day of school.  Also, another small problem has not yet been accomplished - the students’ schedules.  There’s no need for me to elaborate on this one; I’ll just end up frustrated and angry.  Anyway, the hours are ticking away until showtime.  Tomorrow will be my leap of faith out of the airplane, and I can only pray that the parachute deploys somewhere on the way down.  Good luck to my fellow teachers!  WOOOOOOOO YEAR ONE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!!!!!!  Rock on MTC ’10.

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Wednesday, July 14, 2010

Summer in Review

In beginning this blog, I couldn’t help but go re-read my first blog entry.  I figured reading  my first post might remind me of how I felt before summer training really started.  It only took reading the first paragraph of my post to realize how I’ve changed.  I was uneasy, nervous, and scared of this whole new Mississippi thing.  I was just recently graduated and my mind was still back in Davidson.  I was in college mourning, still desperately holding on to my past chapter, a chapter I didn’t want to give up.  Now, I’m more comfortable here in Mississippi.  I’ve got to know my fellow classmates, the town of Oxford, and most importantly, I’ve become acquainted with the Delta, my new home for the next two years.  I believe that summer training has been a crucial part of my outlook on my current situation.
Summer training gave me a routine here.  I’m very much a creature of habit and having structure in my life really helps me adjust.  Before I dive into my thoughts on summer training, I should say that when I think of summer training, I think of summer school up in Holly Springs.  Teaching at HSHS will always be the dominating memory for first year summer training.  I believe that summer school was hands down the most beneficial, most practical, and most rewarding aspect of this summer.  Of course there were many other peripheral aspects that rounded out summer training and added to it’s benefit, but none could add up to my experience at HSHS.  Summer school gave me a much more concrete idea of what life will be like in the fall.  I realize that it will still be drastically different no matter what, but HSHS was the closest thing we could get and the best way to prepare us.
Part of the prompt for this entry asked us how we feel.  Right now I feel fine, but don’t be fooled.  For the past weeks I sported two feelings - stress and exhaustion.  If one wasn’t dominating my life, the other was, and that was only when both of them weren’t already competing for the number one slot.  For the most part, those two feelings have gone away, but that’s because today we ended role plays and last Friday was the last day of summer school.  Never have I realized the work and effort a teacher puts forth.  It really is amazing, and one cannot fully understand until he or she puts on the shoes and walks around.  Regardless of whether I teacher for the next fifty years, I will always view teaching in a different way, and that’s only after one summer of diluted teaching.  
Looking back on the entirety of summer training, I have to say it was helpful.  I believe we are as prepared as we can be in this short period of time.  Nothing can fully prepare us for what’s to come in the fall, but I believe the work that those in charge of MTC did was beneficial.  It kind of freaks me out that the next time I’m in front of a classroom will be the first day of school.  To avoid me freaking out, I’m going to finish with that.

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Ms. K!

In keeping with my Delta pride and more importantly, my Blue Devil pride, I chose to read Ms. K’s blog.  She’s the only second year teaching at my school so I figured it would be an appropriate choice.  My first thoughts while reading posts so very familiar to the ones I just wrote centered on those seemingly expert second year teachers who, only one year ago, were in the exact same place as me.  It’s strange to think of them in this way.  To me, the second years seem like such grounded and experienced teachers.  They’re not just posing as teachers, they actually are teachers.  Reading Ms. K’s first blog entry about arriving in Memphis and heading south for the first time ever was so bizarre.  The only Ms. K I know is the one that calls Mississippi her home, not some foreign territory.  She’s established here, seemingly comfortable and happy, but the girl from the first entry was someone different - someone I never knew.  As I read on, many of her blog entries were on the same topics we had to write earlier this summer.  Once again, imagining her class in the same situation as my current class is just plain weird.  It’s almost like being a freshman in college again and thinking about what the seniors were like when they were in your shoes.  They have evolved so much from that moment.  Naturally, the next thought that crossed my mind was picturing myself a year from now, with me being that (dare I say it) experienced, wise, and established teacher (keeping my fingers crossed) and a whole new set of first years going through what I’m currently going through.
Even though many of our blog assignments were the same, it was nice to read another opinion or viewpoint, especially on the two books we had to read this summer (Delta Autumn and The Reluctant Disciplinarian).  There was one passage in Ms. K’s blog that made me bust out laughing, and I have to reference it here.  It was part of her feedback from watching herself on tape.  It reads as follows:  “I should have someone else tape for me, rather than tape from a table, because while I could always see myself, I could only see two of the four students, so as I'm watching the video, I'm not sure what the other two were doing most of the time.”  When I first read it, I thought I read it wrong, so I took a double take and realized no, she did say four children.  FOUR children.  Her summer school class was four children.  Four children.  And her complaint was that she couldn’t see the other two.  (Sorry if you’re reading Ms. K, I was just flabbergasted - I know you’re an outstanding teacher regardless!)  I believe my jaw dropped initially but quickly closed when laughter took over.  My summer school classroom consistently had about 30 kids in it as opposed to four.  I can’t get over that.  I’m thankful that our summer school experience was more realistic than theirs.  Four children...haha.
After reading Ms. K’s blog, I felt good.  It gave me hope for my future as a teacher.  I’ve seen Ms. K, and she’s good.  She’s real good.  But in the beginning, she was just another first year teacher, like everyone in my class.  It’s comforting to know she started in the same position as me.  All I have to say is thanks Ms. K, and see you in the fall!!!

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Saturday, July 10, 2010

Part II - The Sequel

I guess the first video was so good that it demanded a sequel.  Or maybe I should call it a re-make? I’m totally kidding.  The second video was just as painful to watch as the first, even if I did do a better job.  Regardless of an obvious improvement, I’m still a first year teacher (really a fourth week teacher) and lesson perfection is far from my reach (if ever even attainable).  There was one part of my lesson where I called on a student to read something on the overhead.  He refused, and I let him get away with it.  I even had a role play that addressed this situation, and I didn’t do anything to reprimand him.  When the moment appeared on the video, I wanted to jump into the computer and shake myself.  DO SOMETHING MR. PREACHER!!!  The most common word in summer school is consequence.  I should have thrown a choice in his face with a nice juicy consequence on one end.  Anyway, that part was not fun to watch.  Other than that I noticed some improvements.  My confidence was much better.  I appeared calm and not as nervous as before.  On the other hand, my energy and enthusiasm for this lesson wasn’t the same as the first lesson I recorded.  That might be the difference between a first period lesson and a fourth period one (on a Monday too).  My movement in the second recording was much better as well.  There was one point when I walked to the back of the room and planted myself in the corner.  I looked confident and in charge of my classroom.  I liked that.  I had more students help me do random things like passing out worksheets, but I still erased the board and tore down one of my activities myself.  It would have been nice to assign a student to do it, but I was up at the board already so I figured I’d just do it myself.  In my second recorded lesson, I spent too much time on guided practice which resulted in not enough time for them to adequately do independent practice.  There was one activity that, in retrospect, I should have completely cut out.  It wasn’t really that beneficial and it just wasted time.  As much as this whole recording ourselves and watching it sucked, it was beneficial, and I’m glad we did it.  One of the more painful activities will be re-watching these videos a year or two years from now.  I hope I can handle it.  The horror might be too great.

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Saturday, July 3, 2010

And the Oscar goes to....not me.

I was definitely dreading this blog.  I remember the day I taught the lesson I recorded.  At the end of the period I walked back to my computer, stopped the recording , and thought to myself, “I really don’t want to watch that later.”  Anyway, I just finished the video, and I survived.  I survived watching myself, and I survived the lesson that I taught.  It’s definitely a weird feeling to watch yourself teach and view it from a perspective other than just your eyes.  The lesson I recorded was my phrases and clauses lesson where I tried to be as enthusiastic about the topic as I could, hoping that some of my enthusiasm would transfer to my students.  It seemed to work to some extent.  I wish the video could have captured the entire classroom and the microphone would have picked up the noises of the classroom better.  As I was watching, I began to write what became a long list of comments on how I was doing.  I wrote down the good and the bad.  For example, I noticed that in the beginning of the lesson, I pace back in forth in front of the classroom.  It’s a clear mark of my nervousness.  I always going into the lesson somewhat nervous.  Sometimes it goes away during the bellringer and sometimes it sticks around until the students begin working on their own.  I’m not quite sure what the secret is to make it go away early on, but having a well planned lesson always helps.  My phrases and clauses lesson was well planned (I think) so by the notes, I feel like my nerves stopped being so obvious.  I was a little iffy between my set and the notes.  I passed out all the worksheets myself which I now know is just a bad idea (at least for our class).  I always have a student do it now.  I also erased the board myself which I usually don’t do.  Why do that stuff when the students are there to do it for you?  One thing I noticed I do way more than I thought I did was raise my own hand when I want them too.  It’s like a nice visual reminder that I want to see hands and not mouths.  At the same time I throw my hands up in the air more than I thought.  That might be specific to this lesson, but I’m going to keep that in mind for future lessons.  I move my hands more than I think I should.  It’s sort of distracting, but maybe it’s part of my nervousness shining through.  This blog assignment was not the most fun.  As I said before, watching yourself teach is not fun.  I found my gut tensing up, especially at certain parts I remember going badly.  Its like watching a scary movie the second time around and you know something’s about to happen but you don’t know exactly when.  But whatever doesn’t kill you makes you stronger.  And tomorrow is the 4th of July...which is awesome. 

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Saturday, June 26, 2010

The Reluctant Disciplinarian

I believe this book was written for me.  When I sat down this morning to start reading, I have to say I wasn’t really looking forward to it.  I had heard this book was good, but frankly, it was Saturday, and if I’m not lesson planning, I don’t want to think about school or children.  It didn’t take long for me to change my mind, though.  It happened on page nine, paragraph one, otherwise known as the very beginning of the book.  Mr. Rubenstein’s story sounded very similar to mine.  I knew after that first short chapter, this book was going to be good.  As I continued reading, I started jotting down page numbers that contained any funny or practical advice.  I figured I could reference some of those stories in this blog.  Before I knew it, my little post-it was covered with page numbers.  I couldn’t possibly reference them all in my post because I’d basically be re-writing the book.  It’s safe to say I enjoyed the read and ended the book with a much more positive attitude than when beginning it.  I’ll reference a few parts that I particularly enjoyed.  Page 17 - Mr. Rubenstein uses the word “roasted” when talking about how his students treated him.  This reminded me of a word that a second year teacher used when referencing a lesson she taught from last year’s summer school – “crucified.”  Both sound like torture techniques form the medieval days.  Page 27 – Mr. Rubenstein talks about observing good teachers.  This only made me think of my team teacher.  His effortless, yet incredibly effective lessons are a joy to watch.  Somehow I just can’t reproduce them though.  I guess that’s a skill that’s developed with time and much practice.  At this point I’m going to skip some pages I marked and move ahead page 41.  Here, Mr. Rubenstein caught me.  It deserves to be quoted – “What I didn’t realize, of course, was that the first few days of school are usually easy.  Teachers fondly call this the honeymoon period.  It begins the first minute of the school year and ends when the teacher, while trying to silence the class, first plaintively utters the phrase, ‘Come on guys.’” GUILTY.  I couldn’t help but smile after I read that.  All I could picture was the handful of times I throw up a hand and said those exact words to my class.  Damn.  Anyway, on to page 74 where I finally read something I wanted to hear.  Mr. Rubenstein writes, “Once they are convinced you are a real teacher, you can slowly morph into the kind of teacher you’ve always envisioned yourself to be.”  FINALLY!  Too bad you have to go through that whole Nazi dictator phase to get there.  Well, each person has a mountain to climb.  Guess I signed up for Everest without knowing.  There were many more awesome parts to this book, but I just have to skip to the very end.  The last section is titled – “Don’t teach summer school.”  What am I doing this summer?  Teaching summer school.  What will I be doing next summer?  Teaching summer school.  I just had to laugh that one off.  Overall, I really enjoyed reading this book, just like everyone said I would.  : )

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Thursday, June 24, 2010

The Gospel of Classroom Management

Classroom management - the most important thing a teacher should master, or at least that’s what I’m told.  I believe it too.  A teacher’s main goal is to teach, but that’s impossible if you’re in an environment that inhibits learning.  This is where good ole classroom management comes in to save the day and the teacher.  I’ve only been teaching about two weeks, and I can safely say classroom management is crucial.  I should say crucial one more time.  Crucial.  Did I say it’s a crucial?  I can also safely say it’s not something I’ve mastered yet.  With time, practice, and a little pixie dust, maybe one day i’ll have it mastered (keeping my fingers crossed).  On the bus ride home yesterday, I was thinking about what it would be like if students could physically not talk while sitting in class, almost as if it were a law of nature.  What if they couldn’t talk and HAD to listen.  *pause for astonishment*  I guess being a teacher changes the way you daydream.
Anyway, we keep hearing about consequences, rewards, and consistency and that some magical combination of them will foster a good teaching and learning environment.  Everyone’s equation is a little different, but we each have one.  I’m a fan of all three, but my weakness lies in consistency.  I have the hardest time being consistent with my consequences.  Somewhere in my mind I think I’m still at camp, and I want to be their friend.  I’m getting over that though, because I realize that can’t happen, at least not in the beginning.  Being their teacher should be my focus, their friend can come later, after I’ve established myself as an enforcer who WILL be respected and obeyed.  (As I write this, I wonder how I’ll feel in two years when reading these words.  I hope I’ll come back and read these at some point.)  I understand that giving out consequences will be better for the student, the classroom, and my sanity.  When planning out my lesson, I think about how big and bad I’m going to be when they go crazy at the seventeen minute marker.  When I’m actually up there in front of the class, though, it’s a different story.  I guess I need to stand in front of a mirror and practice.  Or maybe I can just randomly give fake consequences while socializing with friends.  I’ll definitely look crazy then.  I have faith that one day I’ll be a master, but I just have to be patient and practice.  And be the LAW.

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sUmMeR sChOoL

Summer school has been an interesting experience.  I’m not quite sure how I want to define interesting though.  Week one seems like a blur now.  I remember feeling overwhelmed, especially in the classroom.  Our second years and team teacher were so good at what they were doing, and I didn’t want to mess it all up.  But sure enough it came time for us first years to teach.  My first lesson was on Thursday, June 10th.  It was on setting and mood, and as I told my team teacher afterwards, it wasn’t the Hindenburg, but it wasn’t the best thing I’ve ever done either.  I definitely had stuff to work on, but the scariest hurdle was over - I had gotten up in front of the classroom and taught, or at least tried my best to teach.  The students now knew my name, my voice, and my persona in the classroom.  To me, that was somewhat reassuring.  My relationship with the class had officially begun.  It wasn’t until that next week that i started teaching on a regular basis.  That second week went fairly well.  I had some solid lessons, but it was all still new, and I had some Hindenburgs as well.  Teaching has taught me that sometimes you wish life had a fast forward button.  Its amazing how fifty minutes can sometimes feel like five hours if its not going right.  Anyway, when my first full week of teaching ended, I felt good.
Now we are on week three, and I’m beginning to get into a groove.  It’s not the best groove, but I’m a creature of habit so I’ll take whatever I can get.  I have to say, waking up at 5:30 sucks - plain and simple.  Sometimes I wish the students would understand what we go through for them.  We put in so much work for their benefit, and I’m sure they have no idea or never even think about it.  I know when I was student, I never thought about what teachers did, and I was one of the good ones.  
Also, my new least favorite thing is lesson planning.  Lesson planning every night is exhausting, especially at this phase when we all kind of suck.  Yesterday, we were in a group session with a team teacher, and she said lesson planning only takes her about fifteen minutes now.  I think it’s pretty safe to say we were all floored.  It was another moment when a fast forward button would be nice.  How about we all fast forward to the easy days.  Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately?), that doesn’t exist.  I do believe it’s the hard things in life that make us better people, so I say bring it on Mississippi.  : )

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Saturday, June 19, 2010

My good old pot

On Thursday, I used the cold calling technique Dr. Monroe talked about in class.  We cut up a copy of the seating chart and put all the pieces into a small flower pot.  As usual, I got to a point in my lesson when student participation came to halt.  It’s either zero participation or the same hands I always see after every question.  It was time for the pot, and my literal words were, “I have a little pot over here.”  The meaning didn’t even cross my mind. The class laughed, but the class laughs at everything so my word choice didn’t even faze me.  It wasn’t until after class that Mr. Walker told me what I had done, and of course, it was while Mr. Roth, the principal, was observing my lesson.  I guess everyone picked up on my special choice of words except me.  I say it’s a testament to my clean, drug free mind, and everyone else’s can stay in the gutter.  : )   D.A.R.E worked on me.

            Okay, so now I should talk about the result of my little pot.  I have to say, I wasn’t the biggest fan, but that’s more because of the way I approached it.  The little cut up pieces of printer paper were hard to grasp, and it took more time than expected to grab a name.  The students did seem a little more afraid and on the edge of their seats.  Also, I kept drawing absent people’s names or the same name over and over.  I know there was one girl who didn’t look too pleased by how many times her name came up.  I like the idea in theory, and I will try it again, but next time I will use index cards.  I would much rather hold a stack of names that I can just shuffle in my hands.  The process would also go a lot faster.

            On Friday, I watched another teacher use the method, and I believe she had better results with it.  When I used the technique, it was the first time the students had seen it.  I’m not sure they always pick up on what’s going on the first time.  It usually takes time for it to sink in.  Anyway, they seemed more responsive on Friday.  When she threatened the “cup” (not the pot haha) more student’s hands shot up.  I found it interesting, however, that students are more inclined to raise their hand if the cup is threatened.  It appears that they are willing to “save” their more clueless classmates from having to answer.  She would hold off on the cup if she saw more hands shoot up, but I think the cup should still be used.  The cup keeps those students who NEVER raise their hand still in the running for participation.  Anyway, those are my two cents on this cold calling technique.

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Saturday, June 12, 2010

Delta Autumn

I don't really know much about Mississippi.  I've never been here prior to two weeks ago and about the only thing I knew was its capital.  I only just learned where the delta actually was...and to my amazement, it was nowhere near the coast.  Needless to say, my knowledge of Mississippi is quickly growing and the first chapter of Delta Autumn opened my eyes to its very storied educational past.  After reading the first chapter, it's completely clear why the MS educational system is in its current condition.  The state's fate was sealed long ago, and it's incredible that it has taken this long for programs to start addressing MS educational problems.  Reading the book definitely reinforced my decision to be here.

While on the bus to Holly Springs, I was reading chapter five which references students with special needs.  On the first page of the chapter, I came across the line, “Teachers quite often are alone in the process of developing appropriate classroom responses and modifications for these students.”  The quote was talking specifically about being alone in dealing with students that need special attention because of learning disabilities.  The part that resonated with me, however, was the very beginning - “teachers quite often are alone in the process.”  Before finishing the sentence, I remember looking up and staring out the window for much of the remainder of our ride.  I guess it hit me at that moment, that when I move to the delta in August, I’ll be alone in my classroom.  Yes, I’ll have fellow MTCers at my high school, but in my classroom, it’s just me.  That realization of immense responsibility hit me like a bag of bricks.  It’s crazy to think that only a month ago I graduated from college, and come August, I’m in charge of a classroom. The thought will definitely take some time to get used to, but right now, I take each day as it is.   

On a different note, I found this book to be an invaluable source of knowledge and advice. At any point where I found an interesting idea, good piece of advice, or crazy statistic, I put a check mark in the margin. Before August, I’ll probably go back and re-read all those areas with check marks, scrutinizing over every detail and trying to read in between the lines. It's a good thing that Dr. Mullins gave us this book, and it's a better thing that we have to blog on it (mainly so I would actually read it). There were good parts, funny parts, and scary parts. The section on fights was not the most uplifting read. The second sentence of that section reads (with regard to fights in school), "They do happen, and they will happen in your presence." This is not exactly what I want to read, but it's good to hear the truth and be prepared for everything.  After all, that’s what this summer is all about anyway – to be prepared.  So as I lay this book down, I know that very soon, I’ll be picking it back up, maybe just to skim or maybe just to look at the checked sections, but I know I’m not done with this book. 

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Sunday, June 6, 2010

My First Week

So here I am in Oxford, MS.  I don’t know if I ever thought I’d be saying that, but there you go.  I arrived here about a week ago after a very long and tedious drive down from Iowa.  Upon arriving, I was exhausted and sick of being in my car but at the same time sad to get out.  I knew once I got out, my new life in Mississippi would begin.  I had the same feeling when I arrived at Davidson four years ago.  But now here I am in Oxford where the latest chapter of my life ends and a new one begins.  The feeling is almost cyclical for those my age.  Anyway, I arrived in Oxford optimistic and excited.  I settled into my dorm and began those first few days filled with new places and faces.

           Monday was my first full day here.  It was Memorial Day and not everyone had arrived yet, but there were a few first years around.  In the morning, I went for a run around campus to help familiarize myself with layout.  I’m used to a very small campus where everything is less than a ten minute walk.  Ole Miss is quite different.  It’s very large, at least in my eyes, but it’s still a pretty campus.  Later in the day, I made my first visit to the square which was quite an experience.  A very stately white building was standing in the center of town.  As I walked up, I felt like I was transported into Harper Lee’s southern town in To Kill a Mockingbird, and Atticus Finch was just bound to walk out of those courtroom doors.  Oxford definitely has that small southern town feel that I’ve never experienced before.

           It wasn’t until Tuesday when all of the first years had arrived and orientation officially started.  Our morning was filled with introductions and those necessary annoyances that need to be taken care when first arriving on a campus like getting a school ID and a parking pass, and setting up a web ID account.  We met our teachers and those in charge of MTC and we also got our first official tour of Ole Miss.  I never knew how much history the campus had, especially involving the issue of race.  Coming from Iowa, I have never experienced a place where racial issues were and are so prevalent.  Iowa, on the whole, doesn’t have much diversity and as a consequence, we lack conversations about race.  The tour opened my eyes to a world relatively new to me.  I had experienced the south mainly through my college years in North Carolina, but the Mississippi south is quite a different world.  It’s a very rich place, though, and I’m looking forward to my time here.

Wednesday was a rough day mainly because we were scheduled from 8am until 9pm.  Granted, some of that time included social events, but still, I'm not used to having my entire day planned out.  One of my favorite activities on Wednesday involved watching several videos profiling several MTC individuals.  The teachers profiled were inspirations and their stories further solidified my decision to be a part of this program.  We also watched several videos addressing fairly recent racial issues found on Ole Miss’ campus.  Those videos again opened my eyes to a world otherwise unknown to me.  I have to say, with some shame, that I wasn’t even aware that a KKK rally had taken place at Ole Miss within the past year.  On Wednesday we also met our teacher for the summer.  She’s a former elementary school teacher who seems to love what she’s doing.  She definitely makes class time much less painful than I originally expected.

Towards the end of the week we met with the second year teachers that will be in our classroom for summer school.  I was somewhat nervous for this activity, but after meeting the second years for my classroom, I was put at ease.  They were all so friendly and knowledgeable about the entire process.  I felt so much better after meeting with them.  I already have the feeling that the second years, as well as our team teachers, will be such a great resource for us this summer.  It blows my mind that come July they will be gone and it will only be up to us first years and our team teachers to run the summer school classrooms.

This first week has been quite the experience.  It still seems so surreal.  It was only three weeks ago today that I was walking across the stage to receive my diploma.  In some ways my mind is still there in Davidson, wishing the time hadn’t gone by so quickly, but after this first week, I’ve come to terms with my current situation in Mississippi.  I’m still apprehensive, and I'm still not quite settled, but with time everything will fall into place.  All I know is that I'm happy right now, and that’s what’s most important.  Til next time....

 

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Wednesday, June 2, 2010

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