Student Projects

Today I had the students present a project they had worked on for a week. I had one student with his head down and two students paying attention but not fully understanding. The presenter was awesome. He understood all that he was presenting and learned so much. I decided to tell the other students there would be an exam for them at the end of the week so that they will start paying more attention and know what the speaker is talking about. It is a tough week for me because it was a long weekend  I am so tired today it is literally causing me pain to stay awake lol. I know we have all had those days. I had a really hard time sleeping last night and  I am not feeling well. I am thankful for 2 more weeks of high school and my first cooperating teacher has asked me to come back to see the kids before I leave for Christmas so I think I am going to do that! 

High School is boring....

So I am sitting in the office during a planning period for student teaching. The schedule is as follows, intermediate ESL- which I cannot teach because the teacher does not let go of the class- this is 2 periods, Science- where we push in and I take notes- prep- Government- WHICH I TEACH YAY- lunch- prep- science- where we push in and I sit and listen- prep....this leads to me getting lessons planned two weeks in advance for government, because I am bored here. I wish there was more to do. I have learned a lot in this placement, but I am just used to having so much going on like in the elementary school. I have learned how to assess my students with a formal assessment and modify tests. I have also learned how to create an effecient grading rubric. Well....there is only 2 and a half weeks left!

Overwhelming

Being in the High School from the elementary school at first was overwhelming. There were many challenges and changes in mind set that I had to do. I had to work on new goals as a teacher. I had to become advanced in my knowledge base and creating projects and assessments that were high school relevant. I have been working on many of these goals of mine and finally feel confident in the classroom.
Last week I created my first project for the students in the government class. I am having them create a PowerPoint. I never realized how difficult projects are. I created a grading rubric with the project as well. I think that projects are difficult because they are time consuming. Trying to figure out the timing of the project is just as difficult as creating it for me. To be honest though just seeing the students engaged and working is enough satisfaction to do it again. Although this placement in many ways has been overwhelming I feel my confidence and teaching abilities at this level are finally being able to shine through.

A new Question

Now that I have been teaching for a while a question has arose. I have a student in my class that is very low language skills. He speaks Spanish and does not understand English at all. He is a beginner. There are two other students in the classroom that are beginner ESL students. One student has slightly better English skills and the other took ESL for a year in middle school. I modified my test for the two lower speaking ESL students but not for the third. I want to push him because I think he can do it. Is it fair that I test him in this way? The government puts him at the same level as the other two students but it is obvious he understands more.
I really wish that there were more levels to ESL to make it easier. A number scale would be perfect. I think in order to be able to teach justly and not second guess yourself it would be a perfect solution. I know that the student knows he gets another test and the other test is more difficult for him, ,however I don't know whether it is fair or not and that confuses me.

Bells and Whistles

This week was quite an adventure for me. I did my first observed lesson in the classroom and that went so well. I really appreciate my supervisor she always has the right things to say and way to make me feel like I am learning but doing a good job at the same time. She told me on this last visit that my cooperating teacher said I was doing really well and I needed to hear that because my cooperating teacher is a bit more quiet.
I am getting to know my students better and one of the students I really enjoy. He is a beginning ESL student but loves to be a bit of a joker while still being smart and getting his work done, so he is fun to be around.

I saw my cooperating teacher really lay into her study hall kids the other day. She had a huge class of 39 students and they were not good at all. I saw the way she handled them and then handled the situation. She had to tell someone and they separated the class which made it much better. She also gave them assigned seats and wrote a couple of referrals.

It has still been a difficult transition. It has made me realize how much my cooperating teacher from VCE really helped me and how appreciative I am of having her. It is also making me realize how there are so many different types of teaching styles and how to work with each of them.

POWER

I learned how much work goes into PowerPoints. I have been creating Power Points almost every day now for the government class I am teaching. I never understood how much work goes into making them presentable and perfect. My skills on Power Point have increased abundantly, and its not that I was not good at them to begin with. The time and effort it takes to position the pictures and letters and animation. Not only this but spelling and grammar check are so important also.
To grow professionally I learned that I want to keep my power points and resources organized so that I can use them in the future. For teachers that have kept their resources it is much easier for them to teach again the next year. I did a power point the other day for my teacher that took me over 2 hours because she had so many specifications that she wanted. It drove me crazy. This has also taught me that I don't want to be a TA, I feel like that is doing all the work with none of the fun, planning all of the power points and movies and projects but not getting to teach it.

And so High School BEGINS....

I should have been posting sooner, but to be honest I forgot all about it. I taught elementary school ESL for Valley Cottage and loved it. Honestly, I miss my children, I miss my cooperating teacher, and I miss the environment. I am having a very hard time adjusting to being in the High School. My teacher is nice but spends little time to actually get to know me and to introduce me to the way the High School classroom works, which is making things difficult. I have never even had an observation in the High School before so it is a BRAND NEW place.

This being said I am trying to be optimistic about the coming week and take it one day at a time. I am looking at it as a way to learn to be a better teacher and how to teach all the grades that I am certified for. I hope to get to learn a little bit about the differences of the schools and to get to know my students better. I am praying that God will guide me through this and help keep my mind open to what ever comes my way. 

Shocking!!!

It is the end of the class for elementary school. I have learned so much from these students. I will miss them all very much. I think from this experience I will take with me a new found confidence in the classroom. I will be able to walk out knowing that I changed the future for these students. I know that maybe some of them will remember me forever, like the runner! I learned that each child is unique and needs special attention. The students love positive reinforcement and need it and that they are always full of energy. I was also taught better classroom management and how to control a class while still being a teacher and not a dictator.
For my last day instead of doing a party I was able to bring in a static electricity generator for the students to see how their hair raised when they touched it. They loved it. I realize how much I appreciate their smiles, and how their smiles make teaching completely worth while. It was adorable watching them jump as they felt the tiny shock of the machine and then giggle the whole time! I cannot wait to have my own classroom!

My Strengths

This was my first time ever taking this strength finder test and I thought it was so annoying at first. I did not like the way the questions were worded, well some of them, and I did not like having it timed. I like to think through  my answers. When it came down to it I ended up loving the answers. They explained me in a way that I thought was hilarious and exactly on point. My strength finder results were:

Futuristic: I loved the sentence in here that says "You gravitate to projects and study

subjects that promise to shape the future." It sounds like teacher to me. I love to look into the future. If you ask many of my friends/fiance they will tell you that I am a visionary. I would rather spend time planning for tomorrow rather than concentrating on today. This I do understand to be both a benefit and a down fall because sometimes I can miss what is right in front of me. 

Focus: I think this one directly relates to the one above. Especially when it states "Perhaps you are more productive when you know exactly what deserves your attention over the next seven days." I like to plan and to focus on tasks that are important. I often get upset when plans are broken especially if they are important. This is something that I have learned to adapt to in teaching, that things will not be kept as promised and plans are never met. I do like a bit of chaos in the classroom, just not in my life. A persons word is very important to me and I think that is what I mean by that. "Maybe your vocabulary sets you apart." I love the way it says this because sometimes I use big words around my Fiance because he doesn't know what they mean, just so I can feel really smart....but he uses the really geeky technology words around me right afterwards. (No offense Rhoda). 

Discipline: "Over time, your familiarity with the required steps may improve how efficiently you use your time, energy, effort, or talents." If I have done something in the past I am far more excited and motivated to doing it because I know how to and it can be done with ease. Although I do not agree with the total of this section, I like to think that I am disciplined in many areas of my life. I like to be on top of my work and I often have many things going on at once. Having discipline allows me to do many tasks at one time. 

Developer: This one was simply flattering. "Because of your strengths, you are naturally inclined to make sacrifices that benefit someone else." I would so much rather be doing something for someone else rather than myself. I believe this is one reason I like working with ESL children so much. They are needy and I enjoy feeling like I can benefit them by being there for them. One of the strengths my supervisor says that I have is paying individual attention to each student and making them feel as though they are part of a bigger group and individually important. 

Communication: As you can see by how much I have wrote, I am not short on words. " Driven by your talents, you feel forlorn — that is, miserable or deprived —when you are separated from someone who is dear to you."  This statement could not be more true. Quality time is my love language and I need to have time with my friends and family or else I feel forgotten. I also have gotten comments from my supervisor stating how comfortable I feel in front of the classroom and I believe that has something to do with my talent with communication and not being afraid of talking in public because words do come naturally to me. 

THE RUNNER

How it impacted me.....hmmmm well I learned a lot about how different and interesting it is to teach Elementary school children.

It was a day like any other and sweet little (PABLO) <--- fake name.... came into the classroom on his first week of school in America. My cooperating teacher and I realized that he had a speech impediment and that his own mother had difficulties understanding him. His classroom teacher was having a difficult time with him because he did not want to adhere to the school rules, probably because he has never had any structure like this before. Either way, he enters into the Kindergarten classroom.
In the first five minutes, he has the entire classroom distracted, toys from little buckets all poured out, is running around and screaming that he wants out. We have been guarding the door because multiple times he has attempted his escape and tried pulling the door open. Finally I think we have him settled down and I am sitting behind the students watching him. He takes off for the door. I get up and go for him trip on the rug and fall. (This is how I recall it in my head) I have my arm out stretched and reach for the door and call for my cooperating teacher and say PABLOOOOOOOO.This is while he is running out the door. My cooperating teacher runs out of the classroom and snatches him up safely. It was a good thing she was there to get him. I was mortified and had to be brought around the school and of course EVERYONE heard the story......