Weekly Reflection 12

Hello,
This week seemed to be panning out as an extremely long week.

Monday
Today was a frustrating day because in addition to having the two hour late start for planning. the students also had an assembly because of girls cross country going to state and the boys soccer team winning the state championship I also leave early on Monday's in order to get to class. I think that it is pretty exciting that the boys won. However, the class periods were shortened to 25 minutes a piece. So today, the honors had to take a practice quiz to prepare them for the Plan test next week, then finish their peer evaluations, and then finally write three goals for their essay. They did not finish these tasks of course because there was not enough time to complete them. I now see why shortened days are frustrating for teachers. The regulars were another story. They all seemed to really whine and moan because they were supposed to have their drafts done for today. Over 80% of the students did not come to class with their draft done. That was frustrating as well. The most annoying thing that happened today was a saw a "regulars" student flick my CT off behind his back after he told them for the fifth and final time to get to work on his essay. The student saw that I was watching him do this and his eyes got really big.  I just shook my head at him. I told my CT about what happened and he just laughed and said I should show him a referral tomorrow. Later on, I thought, why show him any referral? If I was not in the class my CT would have never known what had transpired.  I wonder if I did the right thing by telling my teacher, or if I should have just administered a punishment my self.

Tuesday
Election Day. I was nervous about the class periods today considering the tone of the election. My CT was also late today, he said there was a car fire on the Edens Expressway. When I say late, I mean he got here at 7:45 instead of 7:15, school starts at 8:25 am. Today, was an ok day. MY CT created this new format of PowerPoint that only had a few words on each slide. Unfortunately, he only got it to me 20 mins before school started so I had very little time to work with the slides. I went extremely fast through the slides for first period, one because I usually don't talk that much when I administer notes with students. The second reason being I only saw the notes for a short period of time. The notes were based on introductions, so I had some per editing activities ready when I finished 10 minutes early. In the prep period afterwards, I was able to talk to my CT who said I needed to slow down and explain some of the points a bit more. He also at this time, informed me of my filler word, which is "often." In the next class, I took my CT's advice, and having time to look through the slides and notes again,  and I actually didn't finish! I was so happy about this. I felt like the students had a good time, they were laughing throughout the class, they asked higher level questions, and they really seemed to understand the material.

In the teacher's lounge, my CT and a couple other teachers were ranting a bit today. My CT has expressed a distaste for some of the methods found in English classrooms across the country as well as my placement. He was saying that teachers, just want to study skills once a week and then do literary analysis, and make word picture maps, and other fun activities. This presents itself as a problem to my CT and a few other teachers who teach sophomores  They get to our class and know no skills. They then get frustrated, and we are pulling teeth to get the to do a writing process, or know what a thesis is. However, they are never taught these things throughout their freshman year so we are spending time teaching it to them. My CT states, of course the students "love so and so because they let draw pictures, read stories, and watch movies, they're not learning. I would love them too if I didn't have to do any work." I can see where trying to make a classroom fun, can be destructive to a student. I see where my CT is coming from, and I see why the other teachers want to make English fun. I think there should be a balance  I think there is an effective way to make a classroom fun, and I think that I am finding the balance in my own style right now.

My 8th period class had a lot of fun with the notes, I again did not quite finish the notes which was the goal all along. My CT sat in on the beginning of this class, so he can continue to give me feedback. I find that he makes me nervous when he's in the classroom, and I do much better without him there. I think it maybe because he intimidates me a bit. The school did a mock election, President Obama the election and the school will compare their results tomorrow. This conceded my Election Day school day.

Wednesday
I came to school and one of the teachers I team plan with, said my teacher was not going to be in tonight and I would be taking over the entire day. I had a sub with my who was around my age and said he did his student teaching at Warren as well. He said that he was an English teacher over at the campus; the one that houses the juniors and seniors. I was a bit nervous, but excited to work with the regular students. They are a mess sometimes, but I knew I would take over their classes sooner or later. My first and third period went well, they were both used to me teaching them so it was no problem. My fourth period however, was in shock. They said oh we have  a sub today. I said no, you don't you have me. They said no your like a sub and that guy is a sub, (the sub they got for my CT). I informed them that I was not a sub, and I would be taking over their class until December.

They were surprised with this notion. I since they are a problematic class, even with my CT, I waved the passbook and said, if I have any problems, I haven't had any yet, nor do I hope to have any problems, I have no issue with sending you a pass to the dean. They all really got the drift and from that point on in the class I didn't have any serious issues, except for keeping them on task. The fifth period, who are known for not doing work because they are too cool. Anyway, they stayed on task when I stayed on top of them.

In seventh period, the at risk teacher, for students who are at risk of failing, brought one of my students to the resource room, which is open for the English during specific periods. My CT and I work the English resource room during seventh period. This student was brought in from my fourth period class which is just 50% of students who are in the at risk class as well. This student, did not read the book, and had very little quotes to work on his paper. I knew my teacher told him if he didn't do this paper, he would fail. I was really happy to work with him, he seemed like he was trying a bit harder. I told him to come in during 7th again and I would be there if he needed help, and I would also help him during class if he needed it.  However, I'm not sure if he will complete the assignment. I hope he does though. He has very few people in his corner that are rooting for him, my CT and the at risk teacher are somewhat fed-up with his work ethic. I am still going to root for him though.
8th period was so goofy, they were giggling the entire period. They were ok though, they got the work done and got a bit ahead of my other classes. By the end of the day, I was so tired. Staying on top of all these students during work days is tough work.

Thursday
My CT was back, he looked please that I told the regulars I would just take over instead of giving the classes back, and then taking over again. So, I have another long day ahead of me. I  somewhat flubbed my directions for first period. I wasn't completely sure what my CT wanted does as well, when I realized my mistake I apologized to the class and re explained what I wanted them to do. They were clear on what needed to be done after I gave better directions. When my CT came back into the room, I told him that I re explained and he said that was good considering he didn't even know what I was saying. I really think, I do better in front of the students when he is not there, he really makes me nervous which is weird. I think it is because he is very critical. He is just a critical person and I believe me sub conscious picked up on this.
Today, the most interesting thing that happened was that one of the at risk students came in during this period for help. Her name was Hannah. She has having a lot anxiety about completing her assignment. Ironically, her teacher was one of the team teachers I work with. However, it was a problem because even though we plan together she did not follow the prompt that we all agreed on for the regular students. Despite this, I was able to help her. She really seemed to be a bit more calm. She even was able to come up with a thesis on her own by the end of the period.

Friday
Today was a long day, I taught the entire day, but the students weren't really focused. I cant really expect them to stay too focused when it's Friday, I understand that. However, I am having some issues with the regular students. I just can't seem to relate to them. They don't laugh at my jokes and they seem indifferent  I don't need them to be by friends, but I would like to connect with them on some level. Most of them feel they are too cool for school, which is sad because their grades are hurting because of this. I am still working on a way to break through this ideology they have. I also was able to work with the student Junior from Wednesday. Unfortunately, he did not do anymore work than what I told him to do on Wednesday. I worked with him some more and I told him he needed to come back on Monday  with the work I asked for. I really hope he comes in with the work, I'm still in his corner.

This week has been really tough for me. I have been really stressed out with my upcoming planing starting on Monday on top of all my projects. My school does not have veterans day off so I am starting to wear a bit thin and I could really use a break. I am looking forward to Thanksgiving break. This week I was focusing on professional conduct, which states "that the competent teacher understands education as a profession, maintains standards of professional conduct, and provide leadership to improve students' learning and well-being." This week, I've been learning about how to improve students learning. I understand that this process will not be done over a short period of time, but needs nurturing and care in order to succeed.

Thanks, Courtney