Spring Break!

This week was Spring Break! No teaching to reflect on.

Week Eleven of Student Teaching

This was a fabulous week of student teaching. We have started a unit on narratives. The student haven 't started writing them in earnest, but we did an exercise in voice and some pre-writing to get them all set to write. I also did a vocabulary review and we continued to read "For One More Day."

All of these lessons went well. Not extremely well, but well. The lesson in voice was a fun lesson for the classes that got involved. We used a page from Where's Waldo and they chose some characters on the page and then wrote what the student thought they were saying or thinking. No action no describing just talking and thinking. Then we would read them out loud so everyone could guess who they thought it was. CRTs are coming up in not too long so I am reviewing so that they can be up to speed on their root words. Finally we started some pre-writing for their narratives. I had them read a few examples of good narratives and we discussed what made them good. I would also condense the stories into about two sentences to demonstrate how borring the stories could be. Then we made some lists with themes. Like best times you've had with family and friends, embarrasing moments, painful moments, funny moments etc. Then I had them choose one that might make a good story. Finally we used a garphic organizer to analyze their moment, breaking it up into portions like motion, suspense, who was there etc. That is as far as we got.

These were all effective techniques that I plan on using in the future. The vocab review is something simple but it was a partner activity that could be done without taking up much time and be effective. I think maybe in the future I would like to do more than jsut recall, but alot of them couldn't jsut remember them so they had to figure them out by thinking of words that have the root in them. The voice exercise I will use again but I might find something different for classes which aren't very good at getting involved. The list making was by far the most effective and enjoyable exercise we did this week. I could tell just about everyone got involved and seemed to be enjoying themselves. It also prepared them for writing their stories. And finally I think the analyzing process is going to make it easier for them to organize their story and give them alot of options for making it interesting.

Week Eleven of Student Teaching

This past week was the beggining of the fourth term, and I think things have started off on the right foot. I started out reminding them about some of my expectations, acaademically and behaviorally. We also soent a few moments going over some of the procedures regarding late work and the like. Then we started a novel which we will be reading called "For One More Day" by Mitch Albom. I also had them write a letter to someone who has influenced them for good. Thanking them for that.

I think that students often need to be reminded about behavior. I think both the student and the teacher can fall into casual habits of letting things go and acting out if the rules are not revisited every once in a while. This book that I'm having them read is an excellent book that deals with important issues that I think can really influence the students. One major theme is alchoholism. I am fairly sure that several of the students in my classes drink already and I think it could be good for them to see how drinking can effect their lives. It also deals with making sure you are spending time and honoring those people who are important to you. Some day they wont be there and you need to take time for those people when they are there.

I think I need to review the rules more often then I am in the future. I think it could seriously benefit my classroom managment. I also plan on using this book if I can get copies of it in my future classroom. I think it is an excellent book for getting the students attention, and I am planning to use it in conjunction with a narrative unit. Get them writing about some of the emotions which they are feeling while reading such an emotional book. I need to go finish unpacking now, we just moved this weekend.

Week Ten of Student Teaching

(forgive any rambling my niece was diagnosed with leukemia, I've had little sleep this weekend)
This was a fabulous week. I really enjoyed myself. The first two days we had a small lesson to brush them up on commas for CRT's, which are rapidly approaching. It was a simple lesson but covered seven or eight good comma rules. It was nice to put together a power point for it, it's been a while since I have used it and it makes things nice, captures some attention. Get a little differentiation in there.

The lesson consisted of showing a rule with some examples then having them write their own sentence which employs that rule. After that we spent a while working on a puzzle. I separated them into groups and gave them some slips of paper that comprised a paragraph when put in order and joined with commas, coordinating conjunctions, and periods. It really seemed to challenge them. They griped a bunch but it was good natured and I think its good for them to stretch. And I ended it with a multiple choice quiz, which we reviewed as a class after they took it.

This is the kind of one day lesson plan I will use in the future. I think it was a good refresher but went deep enough for those who didn't understand the rules to learn them well enough to apply them. I think its something that I could share with other teachers, but in reality I borrowed and combined them from other teachers. Thank you other teachers!

Week Nine of Student Teaching

This week we worked on a found poem. I meant to use my webquest, which I got a good grade on but for some reason now it won't open. It's like it changed formats on me somehow. Anyway a found poem is a poem that is comprised of stolen lines from other works. So I combined reading and writing poetry. They had to get onto Poets.org and read a few works from sixteen different authors. All the while stealing lines that they liked from the poetry. Then after they had completed their reading assignment they had to organize poems out of the lines which they had stolen. (giving credit to the original authors of course) I led the first day off with a discussion about how to be good at something most people study people who are good at that. I.E. a basketball wannabe studies Michael Jordan etc. That is one reason to read poetry, so that you can get better at writing it. The second day I discussed finding themes in poetry. We did a short exercise which consisted of infering meaning from "The World is Too Much With Us". First only knowing the title and trying to get meaning from it, and predicting what the poem would be about, then interpreting the poem using key lines and phrases.

It seemed like the students groaned about the assignment as I discussed it with them, but as I walked around the computer lab suggesting different authors or poems to different students, and offering help where needed, I heard alot of students talking about the poems. They would even say things to me like, "I really liked this one." or "Mr. Strong these are weird." Which I took as a good sign since they were paying enough attention to them to understand that they were written differently, and lets face it, Sylvia Plath and Ezra Pound were weird. I would maybe like to read more of the poems as a class and evoke some class discussion in the future.

This is something I plan on using in the future. I read a few of the poems and the students really seemed to do a good job. They also groaned about the assignment but when it was time to actually write the poem many of them got really excited and enjoyed the way their poem turned out. I also think that many of them found a poem or two that spoke to them and hopefully helped them realize that all poetry is not stupid.

Week Eight of Student Teaching

This has been an interesting week. I teach English to Sophomores and this is the time that they register for the next year. At Spanish Fork, instead of having the students do it all on their own they come into the English classes (because they know that every sophomore will be in an English class) and teach them how to do it. Then the next day, after the students have had a chance to talk to their parents and get their schedules organized, the counselors take all the students to the computer lab and help them register for all of the classes themselves. It seems like a pretty good method except for students who are absent. Anyway because that was going on we had to keep delaying our presentations, and the students even got extra time to work on them. The main thing I did this week was a vocab sheet. I know lots of teachers look down on vocabulary but since vocabulary is one of the biggest indicators of intelligence I can't ignore it. I like the way my co-operating teacher does it.

She has a worksheet which has a a grid on it. At the very top right is the root we are studying and its definition. Then below that are four words which have that root in it. Then moving across the page are the following boxes which they must fill in. Definition, Connotations (they need three), sample sentence, drawing (they do a quick illustration which defines the word), and finally personal connection (a sentence which somehow ties the word into their personal life) There are two sides, each with its own root word. They complete the worksheet and then we take a quiz.

I plan to use this method in the future. I think it hits so many levels of learning, and the students also seem to think its pretty fun. They aren't cheering when we bring them out but they don't complain a whole lot either. One big thing I would like to change somehow is for them to use the vocab words in their writing more. I haven't decided on how I wan't to incorporate that but I know that it will be an important aspect of their learning. I am on the lookout for more vocabulary ideas, I really think it is so important and is something that they will use for the rest of their lives.

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Week Seven of Student Teaching

The fact of the matter is I need to get more organized. I'm a good teacher, its not like I'm totally slacking or anything, I just like to play things by ear too much. And the funny thing about it is I've seen the difference in my lessons when I take more time to study them out and get them solid, I notice that they flow better, that I feel like I'm actually teaching something which is actually being learned. But I seem unwilling to let go of my impulsiveness and my ability to shoot from the hip. Which is a talent by the way, something to be desired in many situations. I just can't let it dominate my teaching. Planning, planning, and over planning is the name of the game.

This week we spent a good deal of time in the computer labs. As I said in a previous post we're working on memory poems, and I had them get into groups and those groups are going to present their poems in a creative way. Most groups chose to do a power-point. One chose to do a blog and a few others chose other creative ways which didn't require computers beyond typing and printing.

I have been really impressed with the students knowledge of power-point. In general they know how to do a basic power-point and make it look pretty. Many knew how to do small animations with their transitions and even how to add sound clips. The presentation day should be fun and it will be good for these students to get in front of each other and present. I expect to get some guff about making them read their poems but I can deal with that.

This has been something the have been pretty excited and up-beat about. They are not exstatic in anyway but there has been limited complaining and a good amount of smiles and talking about them. I think this is something I will do in the future. Although one thing I would like to do when I have another chance is to have them get into groups at the begining of the unit and have them make a blog or a website, they will then be required to post all of their poems to the blog or website. And the final will be to make a digital story of their favorite blog. I was going to ahve them do something like that at this school but they have almost all of the blogs blocked to students and all things google blocked. I also can't install photo story on the computers so...there you have it.

Week Six of Student Teaching

This week we continued the poetry unit. I also quizzed them on the vocab sheets they did last week. And it was Parent Teacher Conference. Hooray! The main focus this week was pre-writing.

The first activity I did was one I'd been thinking about for a long time, in terms of pre-writing. I made up a bunch of little vials that had common scents in them, vanilla, baking powder, baby oil, etc. I had them pass the vials around and write a memory they had attached to that scent, or if they didn't have memory to do word association with them. I was really pleased how it went. I was clearly not a 100% success and I need to do more teaching before hand, more modeling, in the future. But I think it is an exercise that I can recommend to other teachers who are having their students do pieces on memories. I also had them do a free write. I explained the purpose of these exercises, to loosen the brain up, get a new perspective, dislodge a memory that may not come so easily just sitting and thinking about it, that type of stuff.

In the future I still need to plan more. I believe in having my students do alot, but I am not teaching enough. I need to give them less time to begin an assignment and teach them more about it and how to do it well. I also have noticed that I have a good report going with these students but I am too lenient when it comes to talking. I still need to be better about jumping on those earlier. I think that I am afraid of the students not liking me. I'm pretty vain and want to be admired so I am not as hard on them as I should be. Although I did move a few students this week who were talking, so I am getting harder but if I were clearer in my expectations and jumped on problems sooner then moving might not be necessary.

Week Five of Student Teaching

This week I asked my cooperating teacher if she would teach so that I could observe her. I know the students really like her and I was impressed with what I saw at the beginning but I never saw deliver new material. So I wanted to observe her teaching so I could get some ideas on how to work on my pacing and to see how she handled classroom management problems. We also continued our poetry unit and she taught them about metaphors and similes. I picked teaching back up on Friday and taught about inference in writing. Our department is requiring we have our students write some six-word memoirs, so I used inference to teach those.

Watching Aubrey teach showed me that even though it's my style to let things go, I need to jump on management problems right away. I noticed that she can come across pretty harsh but the kids still respect and even like her despite that. So I tried to do it but I try to give them the benefit of the doubt and think that they must be talking about the assignment or the lesson. But I also found that the problem perpetuates if I don't jump on it, even if they are talking about the assignment. Another thing I learned is that the students behave better when they are comfortable and understand exactly whats coming, or know how a teacher operates. Aubrey has been teaching these students for half a year so there is an atmosphere already established, so it is weird to have this student teacher come in and mess it all up. So when I have my own classroom I think my style will work better because that is what the students will expect.

In the future I have decided I need to focus on consistency as far as classroom management is concerned. Even though I am a new teacher doing things in different ways if I am consistent and clearly state my expectations then they will quiet down and get in line (not that I have had any huge problems, just talking and the like). I also learned that I am still under planning my lessons. I need to be including more instruction and give less time for students to accomplish assignments. I think it was a good decision to have Aubrey teach a few days, I think I realized some of the weaknesses in my teaching and now I have plans to overcome them.

Week Four of Student Teaching

This week was a very interesting week for teaching, we proctored the UBSCT test for the sophomores, tue through thur, and then had an assembly fri. What that means is that for most of the week I had forty minute classes. That made it easy to fill up the time but I haven't been teaching long enough to fill up my full schedule so now I am even more lost as to how much time I have and how much time things are going to take.

This week we continued talking about inference and poetry. It is interesting to deal with the dynamics of each different classroom. I had an activity where I posted six word memoirs on the board and asked each of them to try and determine what the writer was inferring when they wrote it. Some classes seemed to enjoy it and get into the guessing and others were constantly rolling their eyes. Do I write different lesson plans for each classroom, with the same objectives? I don't know yet.

I'm finding that the whole "give and inch" saying is true, for the most part. I try and treat them like adults and let them do some things on their own or let them talk a little when there is down time, but they don't seem to let up when I start talking again. I'm gonna have to be more strict I think.

The poetry introduction went very well, they all seemed to like writing their first poem, but the effect is wearing off. I will use the intro in the future. I taught about alliteration and I think I will change that. In general they didn't seem to like writing the class alliterated poem. I used to be really excited about teaching poetry, and even still I can tie it directly to the state core, but I am wondering what the point is? I see point for myself because It is something that I love, but very few of them seem to truly enjoy it, so am I wasting the rest of their time? Poetry both in the reading and the writing, teaches us how to express ourselves, how to explore our feelings understand them, and then let them out. It also teaches a type of analytical thinking. The ability to extrapolate and infer is a social skill that many miss out on, maybe poetry can teach students that. One point in favor of it is that I like to teach it, and that makes me a more effective teacher. I've noticed in the short time I've been teaching that my interest does not translate directly to good teaching and student interest but it sure does help.

Week Three of Student Teaching

Wow! What a great week. I guess the majority was not so exciting. The first two days we did an essay practice test, where they used the outlines they had already created to write an essay. They had the class period to finish it and most did very well. Wed and Thur I had one on one interviews with them about their essays. But Friday I started a poetry unit. The first two classes went really really well especially the second period. The third period was surly, after lunch friday blues maybe? But I was just on cloud nine at lunch time. I was thinking to myself, "They're gonna pay me to do this, what a blast!" The lesson was designed to give them a perspective on how varied the genre of poetry can be, in its style, subject matter, intent, etc. And then give them a chance to write with their own style.

I had a visit from my adviser during second period on Friday. She seemed genuinely pleased by my lesson and the way I presented it, I go pretty high marks on my observation sheet. She asked to borrow a couple of my handouts to show to her classes. So I think this class is one that I can recommend to my colleagues. It is my first true pedagogical success and I found it very encouraging. The lesson itself was varied, it allowed the students to break out move around the room, discuss and express their opinion whether it be a positive or negative one. It seemed to work with the first two classes but I need to get to know my third period A class a little better so that I can tune my lessons into their needs.

I think this is definitely a lesson plan I will use in the future. I might choose different poems for the students to break out and discuss, but none come to mind just yet. In my observation my adviser pointed out that at one point of the lesson I break away from my objectives, but we also brainstormed some easy ways to fix that. It was mainly a change in my questioning and instructions. We just got a projector hung from our ceiling which is easily attached to the computer. I used the document camera for this lesson, but I think it could be improved some if I use a power point or some other presentation to present the poems, I could have lines pre-highlit on a slide so as to easily point it out to them?

In other successes I noticed that this one girl doesn't have many friends, she sits very quietly and doesn't interact with her peers much at all. She also would respond to me very well. One day this week we had some extra time at the end of class, so about two minutes before the bell rang, I walked over to her and whispered that she could leave early if she wanted to. The next time she came to class she smiled at me and said hi, and actually interacted with me. It was pretty exciting for me.

Second Week of Student Teaching

This past week I was busy teaching my students how to write persuasive essays. The UBSCT is next week so I am trying to get them prepared. Luckily my cooperating teacher has done an excellent job teaching them and so my job is to review and refine. My main focuses has been on thesis statements and organization. We did a idea generating exercise where I gave them a prompt and they wrote two reasons why they supported it or were against it. Then I had them get into groups of like minded students to discuss their reasons and get more. Finally I had them pair up with a member of the opposing group to argue their side, and gather arguments against their own. It seemed to go really well. Several of the students got really into the debates and when they were all done they had plenty of material to form their thesis and paper from. One thing I had a hard time with, and think I will continue to struggle with, is pacing and making sure that I am using all of my time effectively. A few classes ended up having some time let over and I hadn't planned anything to fill that time. Awkward.

This exercise is primarily to prepare them for the UBSCT which they have to pass to get a full diploma. But the thinking and arguing they did will be applicable in almost any class they are taking. It will also help them as they are currently developing many of their world views, and they will need these analytical and debative skills to create their own paradigms.

I learned that in the future most students react well to the chance to move around the room and talk about the subject instead of just sitting and reading or doing worksheets. I will use this in the future when ever I need to generate ideas in my students. I think it is something I will encourage my colleagues to do as well. I know there is another girl in my school who is doing student teaching and her cooperating teachers are older and set in their ways. She says they aren't willing to participate in activities like this because they have been doing things their own way for so long. As for the pacing, in the future I need to prepare smaller assignments and lessons and activities that can be tacked on to the end of a lesson should there be a need.

Week One of Student Teaching January 17

This is my first week student teaching. It was the last week of the term for my students so mostly I just helped my cooperating teacher (awesome!) finish up the novel "Mississippi Trial 1955" and do some end of term testing. The most effective thing we did was Book Interviews. Mrs. Johnson has her students read a book of their choice outside of class every term. At the end of the term each student brings that book to class and we sit down with them one-on-one and interview them about the book. The first part of the interview is the teacher opening the book and reading aloud. When the student knows whats going on in the book they stop the teacher and expound on that scene. Then they give a brief overview of the plot, and then the teacher asks questions about characters, and themes.

This means that I now have a way of doing book reports that gets away from the old boring stand up and tell the class about it. I think the one-on-one interview is much more nerve racking and causes them to actually read the book. It also mean that I might get my students to engage a text a deeper level then they might otherwise since they know they will have to talk about characters and themes. And finally it may get some kids reading who dislike the activity, they may even learn to enjoy it.

Even though I think this is effective and easy to do for me and for the student, I don't think it will be what I do every term. I like book projects and may have them do those, more creative versions of a book report. I took the opportunity to ask why they chose the book they did and why they liked it. This gave me the opportunity to get to know the student better, and that information and relationship should help me as a teacher, and help the student teacher relationships I make in the future.

PDP My Beliefs

I believe that technology is neither good nor evil, and that most of the time its use is neither inherently good nor evil. But because it promotes neither it ends up being a detriment to the user because of the sheer amount of time given to doing nothing. I also feel that the use of technology in the class room for the sake of using technology will not benefit my students in any way. As an English teacher I feel very strongly about reading a book, a real paper book, and I feel that there is a powerful connection when a writer puts pen to paper. Now I also do a vast majority of my polished writing in a word processor, but I still do much of my preliminary idea gathering and poetic writing on a paper. So I feel that the use of technology should be carefully planned and executed with very clear objectives in mind.

I believe that technology in the English class room should be limited, not exclusively, to the students using the technology to further their thinking, both analytical, and creative. The presentation of material can be done with technology, but the teacher needs to be careful about how often and the mode he chooses. A poem should not be posted on a board just because its easier, each student should have the chance to hold it and read it at their own pace. They should also get the chance to hear poems be read out loud. In fine, I feel that flooding our classrooms with technology is not the best move.

PDP Lessons Learned

My first concern is that technology is taking too much precedence in our class rooms. I do believe that we need to keep up with the times, and that the language of students is increasingly becoming the language of technology. But I don't think that technology is enriching by nature. In fact I feel that technology in most of its forms deprives the user. That being said I feel that a measured and appropriate use of technology can create an optimal learning environment for the students.

I think that the video "Did you know?" brings up the excellent point about students carrying around powerful computers in their pockets is very telling. I believe it is talked about in the "Millenial Generation" as well. If I can find out discreetly how many of the students have cell phones with internet. If there is a good portion and they are willing to team up, some vocab lessons and quick research would be excellent uses of those tools. The video aps could be used for scavenger hunts and the like.

PDP Strengths and Weaknessess

One weakness is that the uni made me more aware of is that I know next to nothing about multimedia fair use guidelines. Probably my most glaring weakness is the use of spreadsheets. I have next to no experience with them. I can and have filled out an extremely simple spreadsheet, and I know how to navigate and fill in an existing spreadsheet. I have extremely limited knowledge when it comes to anything past a basic power point project. I have learned to add some sound and make them more aesthetically appealing. Video editing and transferring to a digital format is very foreign to me.

I figure that when it comes time to do grading I will force myself to learn some spreadsheet tools. I would like to take a class on spreadsheets, but I fear that it will be more comprehensive then will be worth my time. I really just need to know how to create a grading sheet that computes a grade at the end. I know that the city puts on excel classes regularly. I also want to take a power point and photo shop class. Finally any class I can take on digital video editing.

If I was able to take all of these classes I would consider myself a much more rounded teacher technology wise. The excel class would increase my ability to track data and study it efficiently, making me a more efficient grader, and a more informed instructor. The power point, photo shop, and digital editing would give me to tools to be able to differentiate my class rooms better, and put me in a better position to pass those skills on to my students.