I'm the Teacher

Yay!  It was my first day teaching both AP Psychology classes for the entire class period.  It was exciting, but I imagined it to go a little differently.  Jon left me Powerpoint Presentations to instruct the class with, but I feel like I'm not using them effectively or it's just not my style.  I think it's a good place to start, but I think I'll be using more activities during my work sample to liven things up a bit. 

First period (or as I affectionately refer to them as my "sleepy seniors") just sort of stared at me through the entire presentation.  A few of them interacted when I asked questions, but they mostly just looked at me like, "Come on student teacher...get it together..."  And, I'll admit, I was nervous and it probably showed.  But, I was picturing a bit more participation and excitement from them.  I was a little disappointed  with their demeanor.  I'm hoping that we are just still learning each other and that things will get better.

Fifth period was much better.  They were patient (even helping me with technology!) and picked up on cues for questions/comments.  I think they too were waiting to see exactly how I would be as a teacher, but they were a bit more willing to give me a chance.

I'm hoping that these two groups of students will be more receptive to the activities I have planned for them in the coming days.  It's strange because it just sort of feels like I'm taking over another classroom.  These kids don't feel like mine.  I guess this is what people are referring to when they say, "Don't judge the teaching profession on your student teaching experience."  In my opinion, it stems from the fact that we (Concordia MATE's) arrive in the middle of the year.  It would be different if we started at the beginning of the year with the kids.  However, I'm grateful to have a placement and some great kids to work with :)





Caitlin

PS - Here's a look at my practicum classroom

y=mx+b

As I was walking out to my car today, a mother of a student rolled down her car window and said "my child just told me "she is soooo nice!" It was such a wonderful thing to hear, and it makes me actually feel like I am making a difference. Even if it does just mean that the students (or just one student) like me. 

As a part of my practicum experience, I am being introduced to the AVID program. I am helping out as a tutor during the tutorial days and as a co-instructor on the other days. What we started to realize just recently (especially today), is that every AVID kid is struggling (badly!) in their math class. So, here's the thing about the math class:

1. The students take notes in a math notebook. BUT they can not take the math notebook out of class, which means that they have NO notes to look at when they are trying to do their homework later. 

2. They do not have math textbooks.

3. The teacher teaches really fast and does not really slow down or go back to help struggling students.

4. There is a student teacher in the class

5. The cooperating teacher has been sick all this week, and they have had the WORST substitute ever. So, the student teacher is teaching all on their own with little to no help from the substitute. 

6. The student teacher apparently plans well, but is SO FOCUSED on teaching everything in their plan that the students do not understand, and he does not slow down or go back to something they need help with. 

7. GOOD students are acting out and getting kicked out of class because of the not-understanding. 

Can I just say PROBLEM??!

So, I told a bunch of the kids that I would stay after school with them and try to help them understand it because I have always been good at middle school and high school math. So me, a language arts teacher, is going to attempt to "tutor" 7th grade students in math because they aren't getting help anywhere else. It breaks my heart, because these are all really good kids, and they are all pretty smart, and they could DO this if they had just a little more support. 

Megan R

Opposite Gender Day

Copied from my personal blog: Teaching Teachers

Oh, Spirit Week, how I adore thee.  Monday was Twin Day and not too many outrageously amazing risks were taken with spirit attire.  But, today was great!  Most of the seniors in AP Psychology were dressed to the nines for Opposite Gender Day.  Now, I realize that this topic could get messy and could even be offensive.  But, let's not dwell in the land of PC today.  Let's just let the kids have their fun.

Also, enjoy these photos of my FANTASTIC students.


In other news, I'm scheduled to start my full time student teaching March 13.  However, since I have a few free periods with Jon's class, Steve Musaeus offered to let me start teaching lessons early!  For next week, I'm planning a lesson to inform his Freshman class about college.  I'm thinking about framing it around what they are going to need to get done during high school.  College is still far away for the fourteen year-old mind :)

Spirit week continues tomorrow with Pajama Day, followed by School Spirit Day on Friday :)

My Famous "Jazz Beat" Was A Success!

Today was a fantastic day! I met my supervising teacher and taught my first two periods--YAY!
 I wrote the students a letter to introduce myself so I will no longer be "the random lady that comes to class" ;) I also had them write me a letter about themselves (as a student, outside of school, etc.) Then we did some whole group work, pair-share, and yes, group work! I told them I was known for a super cheesy way to divide kids into groups and asked for a beat. They laughed as they joined in with their snapping fingers and "hi-hat" effects. You all would have been proud! The rest of the period was filled with great conversation and some more written work. I am getting to know all their names and developing relationships with several students.

I am truly LOVING  this experience and am SO excited for the weeks to come. I think I am pretty much teaching, independently for the most part, for the rest of the experience which is A-O-K in my book! Tomorrow, I am attending the staff professional development meeting in the a.m. which should be a valuable experience.

I certainly look forward to hearing more from you all as I am sure you are all having tremendously valuable experiences. Please share! Miss you guys. Lets try to get together in the (near) future if we can break away from work samples and lesson plans!

Keep in touch and good luck!
Aika

Romanian interference....

Hello,

How is everybody doing???? Kyle, this is a great idea!!!!!!!!!!
Well, my practicum is going well! I am working with a great teacher and I sure feel like I am learning a lot! Also, I did not think Health would be so much fun to teach!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Kyle, my teacher is also teaching Social Studies. I now understand how wonderful is to teach in this area....he is teaching Ancient Egypt now! Kids love it!
Everybody, have a great weekend and I will try to get on this thing more often....I think I shall save it on my favorites!
Marinela

Squirt Guns, Freshman, and Perfection

Copied from my personal blog http://teachtodayteachtomorrow.blogspot.com/

What a wonderful day in the classroom!  I'm getting used to the schedule, the students and I are becoming more comfortable around each other, and Jon is planning lessons with me (which makes me panic A LOT less).  Yesterday was hard, as we all know, but today was over in a flash.  In fact, I wish it was longer.  I'm finding my place.  I'm learning my role.  It's all getting easier. 

In the AP Psychology class and in Leadership, the transition of responsibility has begun.  Today, I was lucky enough to assist Jon with a lesson on conditioning (a form of psychological learning).  The lesson consisted of a large plastic garbage bag, a towel, a blindfold, a squirt bottle and a list of words.  Jon chose a student at random and had them walk up to the front of the classroom.  In both classes, the students walked up when asked, but they were wary.  I can't blame them, who knows what wacky idea Jon has come up with.  When the student arrived in front of the classroom, Jon pulled out a stool and, ever so sweetly, asked them to, "Take a seat."  Once seated, Jon cut a hole in the top of the plastic bag like a rain poncho.  The plastic bag was then placed over the student.  After the student was completely covered with the makeshift rain poncho, Jon covered their eyes with the blindfold.

Next, he handed me a list of words and a squirt bottle.  The words were mostly random, except the word CAN appeared more often than the rest.  The word CAN was the signal for, "squirt the student."  The first student, a boy, began to anticipate the squirting after a while.  He even opened his mouth and tried to catch the water from the squirt bottle.  The second student, a girl, responded a little differently.  She tried to dodge the squirting, flinched, and even whined a little every time she heard the word CAN.  The students had no idea we had prepared this activity for today.  But, I guarantee, none of them will ever forget their experience with conditioning.  And, Jon and I conditioned them today; we conditioned them to expect the unexpected.

I also had the opportunity to visit my student teaching placement (just right upstairs) in Mr. Museaus' room.  I met his two of his Freshman classes.  And, his classroom is amazing.  The students are even more amazing.  The Freshman are reading a fantastic book right now called Two Old Women.  It's about two elderly women abandoned by their Native American tribe, and left to a certain death.  The book tells the tale of the women attempting to save their own lives and the journey they take to do so.  Next, the class will read the Hobbit (which I will help to teach) and then we move on to my unit, Romeo and Juliet.


Even from my short observations today, I found out that I absolutely adore Freshman.  I love their energy, their questions, and even their immaturity.  The remind me so much of kids, and I love that.  Seniors and Juniors and almost, "too cool for school."  They've mostly got school figured out.  They know what they can get away with and they try everything they can.  But, Freshman are still trying to find their way, to find their place.  The Juniors and Seniors in Jon's classes sort of rolled their eyes when they met me, the "student teacher." But, the Freshman were intrigued and wanted to get to know me.  I think they are my favorites so far. 

In other news, next week is the second round of Spirit Week at Madison High.  The spirit days are:
M: Twin Day
T: Opposite Gender Day
W: Pajama Day
TR: Ugly Sweater Day
F: School Spirit Day

I can't wait to get my spirit week on! 

The end of week one has come.  I have never been more tired in my life.  But, at the same time, I've never been more completely fulfilled.  I smile every day as I walk to my car.  I think about all of the kids who I get to know.  All of their stories I get to hear.  And all that they have left to teach me.  This weekend holds lots of lesson planning and research, and I can't wait to get back to "my" kids.

Next week brings more teaching responsibility.  I can honestly say that I'm nervous.  I'm a little frightened because I still don't know exactly what to expect.  I'm also a bit of a perfectionist, and I know that I'm not going to be perfect the first time.  This makes me a little anxious, but I've been talking myself down all week.  I'm still learning, and if I was already perfect, I wouldn't be a student.  I've got a long way to go, but I'm enjoying the journey.

Caitlin

Week one: Complete!

I cannot believe how quick (and painless) week one turned out. I must admit, I was a bundle of stress, nerves, and apprehension. But alas, I am relieved! I am working with an extraordinary teacher who is one of the most honest and open-minded individuals I have met in a long time. His classroom management revolves around "Non-Violent Communication" (aka NVC aka compassionate communication) and it is based upon feelings, thoughts and individuals meeting one anothers' needs. I spent the week observing two different classes (Theory of Knowledge and Senior English) with a total of four periods (roughly 30 kids in each class). I will be "aiding" in ToK and teaching Senior English beginning next week.

Starting on Monday, we will be beginning the novel, The Girl Who Fell From The Sky, by Heidi Murrow (Jefferson grad and Portland Native). We will be reading the novel in class and doing a variety of activities in conjunction with the text that will allow the students to make meaningful connections with the book. Then on March 8, Murrow will be speaking at Cleveland HS as part of their "Cleveland Reads" Program. We also may be taking a field trip to OHS and Powell's Books so that should be a blast!

As far as the students go, they are pretty awesome---very intelligent and thoughtful and mature (for the most part). I am getting to know them a little more day by day and I know that the weeks to come will bring forth great relationships and memories as well as learning for everyone!

I LOVE reading everyone's posts so keep it up! Much love, peeps!
Aika

PS. I am taking my ORELA tomorrow... FML. wish me luck.

A Non-Traditional Classroom

Goodness, there is so much to talk about! Practicum started on Monday, and I have been so busy and so tired! I apologize in advance if this post seems to ramble a bit, but I am not sure how I want to formulate this post yet... So this may be interesting. 

I was a little skeptical about my practicum placement at first. Through email, it seemed as is my cooperating teacher did not really know what was going on, which made me really nervous. Not only that, but she does not have a traditional classroom. She has a 7th grade AVID class, and then has 2 reading groups and a writing group. All of these groups are for students that need extra support in the two areas. Twice a day, she goes into other classrooms (social studies, science, math, etc.) and helps with literacy issues related to the subject. For instance, this week, she went around to all the sixth grade science classes and taught the kids how to navigate through a state scoring guide so that they would know what was expected of them in a lab write-up. Parkrose is already a pretty low-income school--many kids are free/reduced lunch, and there are a few that are even homeless. Not to mention I have already seen three kids that can barely read or write (they're in sixth grade!!)

I've been in the classroom for a week now (tomorrow is a grading day, so there is no school for the kids) and I have never loved a job this much!! I absolutely love the kids, and I love being in a middle school. Until recently, I thought I would hate middle school. I was totally set on teaching High School, but I am finding myself wishing I could stay here for the rest of the school year (after only four days!!). I love working one on one with a struggling student and seeing the light bulb go on in their head--they get it!! And this happens with other subject stuff as well! I've been staying after school with my cooperating teacher and helping kids with homework they are having problems with (math, for example). I love love love love looooove this school, this grade, this teacher, and everything about my experience so far. 


Tomorrow my practicum supervisor is coming by the school at 10am to have our first official meeting all together (me, Mrs. Alfrey, and my supervisor). I also have to have some sort of a lesson plan figured out and ready to go tomorrow for a writing lesson that I will be teaching on Monday. The kids in that class will be brand new kids. So it's their first writing intervention class of the trimester. I have to start out strong with something that will make them excited for the rest of the class... hard shoes to fill. I think I am going to try to aim for something more fun, less workworkwork. It's just a matter of figuring out exactly what to do. I've had many ideas: acrostic poem, I am poem, a stream of consciousness writing, a get to know you partner essay, etc. 


I just keep thinking about the kids in the different classrooms. The kids that are homeless are also the kids that cause the biggest disruptions and are the hardest students to handle... but you cant get mad at them, because they have all this other stuff that they are going through that you cant even imagine. And then there are kids that miss 2 weeks of school in a row because of some family crisis/secret that I cant really go into full detail with. The situations that many of these kids come from is so sad... but it also really makes me want to teach them more so they can rise above their situations now and be something/somewhere better. 


I really hope there is a job opening here next year... and I really hope that they would hire me if there was. 


-Megan Russell

Mystical

Reposted from my personal blog:

Day two was geometry, I mostly observed. I did however take on planning my first lesson for Geometry: Pythagorean Theorem. Ninety minutes complete origional. I teach it tomorrow.

Today I took over instruction for a lesson on exponents with common bases. I observed the lesson first period to see what was up. Then I took over instruction for the other two classes. At the end of both classes I asked the students to turn in anonymous papers with positive and constructive feedback on how I did. Thankfully none of it was news to me.

Fifth period went well. Students felt that they understood the concept well and they appreciated how I approached teaching the concepts. On the other hand I can definitely improve my board management. My handwriting is poor and my control on how I present information on the board is somewhat scattered. I can also spend a little more time going through the small steps to show how the math flows. The best observation came from, judging by the handwriting, a male student:

"He sounds gay. I mean the teaching was good, but he sounds gay." Gold star buddy. Gold star.

I don't know what the hell happened for the last class. Be it fatigue or a rowdier class, something went wrong. I lost focus, fell off the lesson plan, got myself confused and transformed a 45-60 minute lecture into 80. Despite the verbal clusterfuck of vomit the students did comment they learned the skill and concepts from the lesson.

What brightened the day was a small conversation I had with a student from the second class while they were scribbling their comments:

Her: "I should put down that I really like your accent."

Me: "I have an accent? I'm a Portland native!"

Her: "No it isn't an accent, it is how you talk. It is, like, mystical..."

So no Mr. Phobestuent. I'm not gay, I'm mystical!

Fall Down on Your Face Day

Reposted from my personal blog:

Today I embarked on the first day of my clinical teaching experience.  During this experience I will have the opportunity to observe and teach six weeks of Social Studies and twelve weeks of Language Arts.  It was one of the most nerve-wracking days of my life.  I also found such fulfillment in the fact that I've made it this far: I'm in the school!!!  But, there is still a long way to go until the end of my journey.

For this clinical experience, I was placed at my former high school, James Madison High School.  And during the first six weeks I have the honor and privilege to work with one of my all-time favorite teachers, Jon McNulty.  Our schedule is rather light, but I'm excited to jump in slowly.  I will mostly be working with the Pyschology kids and the Leadership class.  Jon also teaches AP Economics (which I am scared to death to teach, so I'll just observe) and Weight Training (I won't be PE certified, so I can't teach this).

When I showed up at Madison this morning, I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I had laid out and pressed my outfit, packed my lunch, packed my "school" bag (complete with my cooperating teacher's folder, my work sample, the Pyschology textbook, a flash drive with Jon's complete curriculum on it, my lap top, and a few pens), and set my alarm the night before.  And, in the midst of all of this I realized that I was about to be the "new guy" once again.  I felt excited, a bit unprepared, professional, and ready to get back to school.  

 I looked like a rookie (you know, the over prepared dork we all laugh at when they show up to work for the first day), but I didn't even care. Aaaaannnnnd then, I tripped in the parking lot and fell on my face.  Lucky for me, it was 7:00am and there were only a few students and staff members around.  But still, in my dorky perfection, I picked myself up (smile and all) and kept walking.  Tripping in the parking lot was perfect.  It showed me that no matter how wonderful this profession is, there will always be the imperfect "fall-down-on-your face" days.

When I got inside, I saw former teachers in the hallway (some of them hugged me and others smiled like they knew me from somewhere) and younger siblings of friends.  It felt wonderful to be home.  But, it also felt different.  I no longer roamed these halls as a student, now, I roamed as a teacher.  It was sort of like the feeling I got when I saw "behind-the-scenes" of Disneyland; I felt like it was something I wasn't supposed to be seeing.  But, I think that'll make it all the more fun and exciting. 

Today I had the opportunity to meet the students and look over a few ideas for my work sample.  Observation and assisting is the name of the game for week one.  I will be teaching my work sample unit on Emotions and Stress/Health.  My ideas for success in this work sample are not getting eaten alive by high school kids, adequately covering the topic, and having A LOT of fun with my students.  Jon has laid a strong groundwork with them, and he's pretty much a rockstar.  So, I have gianormous shoes to fill when I take over the class in a few weeks.  I'm not ready today, but I'll work up to it.  I'm starting the process of coming to terms with some of my imperfections.  I'm ready to take critques and become the best teacher I can be.

Let's do this!