Hello,
I can't believe that this was my last week. It has felt like 17 weeks and at the same time it has felt like 4 weeks.
Monday
Today, the students were preparing for their in class writing essay on Wednesday. So, each of the classes were quietly preparing their outline sheets to use in order to organize their papers. I found that the students really wanted to do well on their writing. The honors students seemed a bit jarred at first, because my CT took over the honors classes again. I have found that observing someone for an entire day is draining and definitely not as much fun as teaching. However, you do see a lot more than you would when teaching.
Tuesday
Today, the students were again preparing for their in class writing essay on Wednesday. It was a quiet day all day today again. I helped my CT, catch up on some grading and I was also able to observe another English teacher. She was doing the carousel method in her classroom. She placed the students into groups and they each went to a poster with a different topic and wrote on it based on the prompt. I like how she allowed the students to change and adapt each other's answers based on fact. It was definitely beneficial to observe. One of my students gave me a goody bag full of Christmas treats today; they were excellent! One of the students at the school has terminal cancer, I saw him today. All of teachers, say he is the nicest kid and never complains about his situation. I learned a lot just from seeing him today. Never take any day for granted.
Wednesday
Today, I met with the Principal on my observation! He said I did excellent and he was very impressed. He said four things I should say in my interview that I do well is, I plan effectively, I have great classroom management, I have great repertoire with students, and I love what I do. He said whatever would be my "weakness" would be my lack of experience. He said I needed more time in the classroom to hone my skills. I was really happy, and grateful for the critical feedback. I posted his review on my portfolio. My CT said I got a higher rating than some of tenured teachers at the school. I also collected my students annotations for the last time. I graded all of them so they could get them back the next day.
Thursday
Today was bittersweet. I found that I truly enjoyed my time at my school. It was definitely difficult at times. However, I finally made it! My CT gave me a really cool book that I am looking forward to reading. I gave my CT a vinyl and his co-teacher a Batman poster for his classroom. One of my students gave me a box of cookies, one gave me a water color painting collage of England, and another gave me a beautiful sketch of Harry Potter. I was so honored that some of my students were really interested in seeing if I was going to apply for a job at their school. I will honestly miss all of them. I have learned a lot these past 17 weeks and I am excited about learning more. I find it interesting on how teachers let go of students each year. I really liked my students, I can tell letting go is something I will have to work on.
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Finally, I would say that I met professional teaching standard 5, which states "The competent teacher uses an understanding of individual and group motivation and behavior to create a learning environment that encourages positive social interaction, active engagement in learning, and
self-motivation." I think I did a great job of creating an environment where everyone was safe to learn and grow. One of my students got off on the wrong foot with my CT before I came to their class. I told him my CT would respect him even more if he apologized for his actions, as he had informed me that he felt bad about his behavior in class. I had been telling my student to do this for quite sometime. Today, he finally did it. I was so proud of him for being mature about his actions. I can tell my CT was surprised at his apology and sincerity. It has been a great ride and I found that there are always opportunities to learn and grow even from my students. I am planning on keeping this blog in order to better reflect and learn from my own experiences and future students. Thanks for reading and I will update again as soon as possible.
Thanks,
Courtney
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Friday, December 7, 2012
Classroom Confidential 12
Hello,
My plans for being a life long learner include always remaining in school. The last thing my Grandfather asked me to do before he passed away was to get all of my "schoolin'" done. I eventually want to obtain my doctorate. I have found through my experience of teaching that I love the process of learning and share that love with others. I also like obtaining new information. I have missed being a student this semester and I am looking forward to returning to school. However, I know it will never be the same. Graduate school is different than undergraduate.
I actually found the section on Student teachers insulting as well as interesting. However, when he said, "they make you think," I asked myself if I challenge my CT. He is an intelligent teacher. To be honest, I found it really interesting that having a student teaching is a rewarding experience. I am not planning on teaching for that long, I have other career goals, but I think that the act of passing what you know to someone else is a great idea.
I also thought that the information on mentoring was great. I've had good mentors, that followed this criteria, and those that were bad who did nothing at all. The advice to new teachers was also well placed. Reading professional journals is something that I definitely need to incorporate into my life.
All in all, this was a great book. It has a lot of helpful information and resources to become a better teacher I will be using it as a reference to my teaching experiences.
Courtney
My plans for being a life long learner include always remaining in school. The last thing my Grandfather asked me to do before he passed away was to get all of my "schoolin'" done. I eventually want to obtain my doctorate. I have found through my experience of teaching that I love the process of learning and share that love with others. I also like obtaining new information. I have missed being a student this semester and I am looking forward to returning to school. However, I know it will never be the same. Graduate school is different than undergraduate.
I actually found the section on Student teachers insulting as well as interesting. However, when he said, "they make you think," I asked myself if I challenge my CT. He is an intelligent teacher. To be honest, I found it really interesting that having a student teaching is a rewarding experience. I am not planning on teaching for that long, I have other career goals, but I think that the act of passing what you know to someone else is a great idea.
I also thought that the information on mentoring was great. I've had good mentors, that followed this criteria, and those that were bad who did nothing at all. The advice to new teachers was also well placed. Reading professional journals is something that I definitely need to incorporate into my life.
All in all, this was a great book. It has a lot of helpful information and resources to become a better teacher I will be using it as a reference to my teaching experiences.
Courtney
Weekly Reflection 16
Hello,
My final week teaching. Wow.
Monday
Today, The students were given time to read and annotate their texts. I had a shortened day due to having to leave for class. I was also preparing for my last observation tomorrow.
Tuesday
Today, I was really upset before my observation. I made my lesson, and emailed it to my teacher Monday night in order to get my CT to edit and make suggestions. However, he did not look at my lesson until this morning. He just told me what was wrong with it so I could fix it before my observation. I was mad and stressed, because I had to make the changes so quickly. I was mad until I started teaching. I was fine, once my day progressed. When he observed me, he didn't say anything, which has happened many times, so as you said I took that as positive.
Wednesday
Today, I was planning for my pre-observation meeting with my Principal. The students were just working on collecting information for their in class writing. The students are definitely winding down and unfortunately checking out. I'm trying to keep them entertained while teaching them and helping them where I believe they need it.
Thursday
Today, I meet with my Principal. He said he was impressed with my pre-observation work. I am praying that it will go well at my observation tomorrow as well. My students, have expressed that they will miss me. I am sad and excited to move on. I am nervous about my lesson tomorrow. I really want to do well considering that there could always be a possibility for a job.
Friday
It's been a long week. I was nervous all day and making adjustments constantly to my lesson. I found that 8th period, when I was being observed, my students were a bit obnoxious. I was not expecting this. However, I believe the lesson went well and I am interested in finding out what the Principal has to say about the lesson.
I know this has been a short entry. However, things are not as hectic anymore. This was my last week teaching and I have found that I have learned a lot these past 16 weeks. It has been tiring and draining at times, but all of my students have been a pleasure. I have learned a lot about professional growth, which is standard 10. "The competent teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates how choices and actions affect students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community and actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally." I also found that writing these reflections has been beneficial to me academically and mentally. I am able to process my mistakes and learn from them by writing them out. Next week, I will be observing and watching other teachers, which I am excited for.
Courtney
My final week teaching. Wow.
Monday
Today, The students were given time to read and annotate their texts. I had a shortened day due to having to leave for class. I was also preparing for my last observation tomorrow.
Tuesday
Today, I was really upset before my observation. I made my lesson, and emailed it to my teacher Monday night in order to get my CT to edit and make suggestions. However, he did not look at my lesson until this morning. He just told me what was wrong with it so I could fix it before my observation. I was mad and stressed, because I had to make the changes so quickly. I was mad until I started teaching. I was fine, once my day progressed. When he observed me, he didn't say anything, which has happened many times, so as you said I took that as positive.
Wednesday
Today, I was planning for my pre-observation meeting with my Principal. The students were just working on collecting information for their in class writing. The students are definitely winding down and unfortunately checking out. I'm trying to keep them entertained while teaching them and helping them where I believe they need it.
Thursday
Today, I meet with my Principal. He said he was impressed with my pre-observation work. I am praying that it will go well at my observation tomorrow as well. My students, have expressed that they will miss me. I am sad and excited to move on. I am nervous about my lesson tomorrow. I really want to do well considering that there could always be a possibility for a job.
Friday
It's been a long week. I was nervous all day and making adjustments constantly to my lesson. I found that 8th period, when I was being observed, my students were a bit obnoxious. I was not expecting this. However, I believe the lesson went well and I am interested in finding out what the Principal has to say about the lesson.
I know this has been a short entry. However, things are not as hectic anymore. This was my last week teaching and I have found that I have learned a lot these past 16 weeks. It has been tiring and draining at times, but all of my students have been a pleasure. I have learned a lot about professional growth, which is standard 10. "The competent teacher is a reflective practitioner who continually evaluates how choices and actions affect students, parents, and other professionals in the learning community and actively seeks opportunities to grow professionally." I also found that writing these reflections has been beneficial to me academically and mentally. I am able to process my mistakes and learn from them by writing them out. Next week, I will be observing and watching other teachers, which I am excited for.
Courtney
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Classroom Confidential 7
Hello,
Based on Schmidt chapter seven, how will you use the community in your own classroom? Cite Schmidt in your response. What are compelling reasons for doing so?
Great Teachers are Escape Artists
I believe the community is the spine of a classroom. Chapter seven states, "community-based projects put kids in the driver's seat"(141). I am a big fan of the kids controlling their own education and learning. There is a difference between the students controlling the classroom and the teacher lacking classroom control. I also enjoyed how the chapter stated that community based projects are academically and socially rigorous. Building a community is a important aspect of teaching and learning. When students understand the importance of community they can learn to respect and honor their classmates and teachers.
Finally, I enjoyed the idea of the students finding out what a community is and what it means to them as a classroom. When they understand why community is important they can learn to incorporate community in their everyday lives. I believe that something simple like putting my students in groups will allow me to work with multiple students at once and for students to experience the classroom with different peers. I also believe that integrated lessons are a good way to build community. I am interested in finding new ways to incorporate community everyday in the classroom.
Courtney
Weekly Reflection 15
This week I learned an important lesson. Do not try and grade all of your class papers in two days.
Monday
Today, the Regular students just read, and the Honors students made an organization chart focusing on the reading for The Old Man and the Sea. The students worked well, but I was also swamped with the planning a lesson for the next day as well as grading papers. My lesson consisted of building a sentence from just a subject. Today was a shortened day.
Tuesday
The students worked on reading skills for their respective books. I realized today that I really don't like work days. I understand that charts or reading organizers help the students organize their thoughts from a book, but I would rather practice teaching. There are things I would like to work on before next week when I am observed by my CS and the Principal next week. To be honest, I know the students get tired of doing the same thing too, but my CT and his team are so focused on not "coloring" and making things "fun" that they are boring teachers at times. I guess they feel they make up for their lessons with personality. I truly believe balance is key; it is important to teach the fundamentals, but can't we have fun too? It's starting to get a bit ridiculous of how much graphic organizing we do.
Wednesday
I had a bad day today. I gave my lesson on sentence structure to the Regulars; my rowdy class, was extremely rowdier because it included them building sentences with the words that I choose for modifiers, subjects, phrases, as well as predicates. The words were more than rowdy. My CT observed this class, he sort of grilled me after the fact, because I decided to let the students sit where they wanted this time. I went to each group, but he said that I didn't spend enough time with each of the groups, I spent more time with others. I knew that I had a slight issue with management in that particular class this time. I was somewhat annoyed with him because he never tells me what I do well, only what I do wrong. The second class went extremely better, but I was not as patient with them because my CT had grilled me moments before. I believe my CT is a great teacher, it's just been a long 8 weeks thus far and his style of feedback is getting annoying. Anyway, it did not help that I had a migraine the entire day and was feeling sick for most if not all of the day.
Thursday
Today, I came in with some ideas for the regulars and presented them to the "team," but I guess they weren't "feeling" my idea because they just decided they were going to do what something else and we worked on that. I couldn't even get mad because my heart isn't in this "planning" anymore. I'm tired of doing the same stuff and I am so happy next week is my last full week of teaching. I've been telling my students that they should be preparing to have their teacher return. However, many of them have expressed they want me to stay. I have informed them that I am nowhere near as good a teacher as my CT, but I can see why they don't care for him very much. Anyway, the Honors students, did yet another graphic organizer based on their book. The regulars did a review of sentence structure and worked on their chart.
Friday
My CT did not come in today. I'm pretty sure he took a personal day. I was somewhat annoyed because he didn't even email me again, just like last time he was absent, he emailed his co teacher and he told me that my CT would not be in. The regulars had a quiz today, and I handed all of my students their papers back. My students expressed their joy of having feedback on each of their papers when I handed them back. They said my CT didn't write anything on their first papers and just put a grade. Again, issues with feedback not only me, but my students as well. I was extremely tired today, I stayed up late and woke up at 4 am to finish grading papers. Today, was my last full day of teaching. On Monday, I give my regular classes back to my CT.
********************
This week as really hard, I have so much work from my TC class that I need to catch up on and I'm falling behind on my planning as well. I'm just overwhelmed right now and I'm ready to be done. I want to finish strong and I've been trying to pray, stay positive, and remain willing to help my students, many of them have checked out for the semester. This week, I had to remember to remain professional, even through my struggles. Standard 11 Professional Conduct states, "The competent teacher understands education as a profession, maintains standards of professional conduct, and provides leadership to improve students' learning and well-being." Remaining professional and acting is a large part of teaching. When things are hard, it's easy to get caught up in your feelings, but remaining professional can help you continue to cater to your students.
Courtney
Monday
Today, the Regular students just read, and the Honors students made an organization chart focusing on the reading for The Old Man and the Sea. The students worked well, but I was also swamped with the planning a lesson for the next day as well as grading papers. My lesson consisted of building a sentence from just a subject. Today was a shortened day.
Tuesday
The students worked on reading skills for their respective books. I realized today that I really don't like work days. I understand that charts or reading organizers help the students organize their thoughts from a book, but I would rather practice teaching. There are things I would like to work on before next week when I am observed by my CS and the Principal next week. To be honest, I know the students get tired of doing the same thing too, but my CT and his team are so focused on not "coloring" and making things "fun" that they are boring teachers at times. I guess they feel they make up for their lessons with personality. I truly believe balance is key; it is important to teach the fundamentals, but can't we have fun too? It's starting to get a bit ridiculous of how much graphic organizing we do.
Wednesday
I had a bad day today. I gave my lesson on sentence structure to the Regulars; my rowdy class, was extremely rowdier because it included them building sentences with the words that I choose for modifiers, subjects, phrases, as well as predicates. The words were more than rowdy. My CT observed this class, he sort of grilled me after the fact, because I decided to let the students sit where they wanted this time. I went to each group, but he said that I didn't spend enough time with each of the groups, I spent more time with others. I knew that I had a slight issue with management in that particular class this time. I was somewhat annoyed with him because he never tells me what I do well, only what I do wrong. The second class went extremely better, but I was not as patient with them because my CT had grilled me moments before. I believe my CT is a great teacher, it's just been a long 8 weeks thus far and his style of feedback is getting annoying. Anyway, it did not help that I had a migraine the entire day and was feeling sick for most if not all of the day.
Thursday
Today, I came in with some ideas for the regulars and presented them to the "team," but I guess they weren't "feeling" my idea because they just decided they were going to do what something else and we worked on that. I couldn't even get mad because my heart isn't in this "planning" anymore. I'm tired of doing the same stuff and I am so happy next week is my last full week of teaching. I've been telling my students that they should be preparing to have their teacher return. However, many of them have expressed they want me to stay. I have informed them that I am nowhere near as good a teacher as my CT, but I can see why they don't care for him very much. Anyway, the Honors students, did yet another graphic organizer based on their book. The regulars did a review of sentence structure and worked on their chart.
Friday
My CT did not come in today. I'm pretty sure he took a personal day. I was somewhat annoyed because he didn't even email me again, just like last time he was absent, he emailed his co teacher and he told me that my CT would not be in. The regulars had a quiz today, and I handed all of my students their papers back. My students expressed their joy of having feedback on each of their papers when I handed them back. They said my CT didn't write anything on their first papers and just put a grade. Again, issues with feedback not only me, but my students as well. I was extremely tired today, I stayed up late and woke up at 4 am to finish grading papers. Today, was my last full day of teaching. On Monday, I give my regular classes back to my CT.
********************
This week as really hard, I have so much work from my TC class that I need to catch up on and I'm falling behind on my planning as well. I'm just overwhelmed right now and I'm ready to be done. I want to finish strong and I've been trying to pray, stay positive, and remain willing to help my students, many of them have checked out for the semester. This week, I had to remember to remain professional, even through my struggles. Standard 11 Professional Conduct states, "The competent teacher understands education as a profession, maintains standards of professional conduct, and provides leadership to improve students' learning and well-being." Remaining professional and acting is a large part of teaching. When things are hard, it's easy to get caught up in your feelings, but remaining professional can help you continue to cater to your students.
Courtney
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