I wasn't planning on having any side posts from the ones that I post at the end of each week, but this is something that has been bothering me. I met with a student this week, and he wrote in his description that one of his weaknesses was that he worries a lot. So, I asked him if he has any anxiety about certain situations, and he was very reluctant to use the word anxiety. He doesn't have anxiety; he just worries a lot.
This bothered me because while his worrying or anxiety may not necessarily be a problem, how many other students are not coming forward with mental illness because of the stigma that we have created around it? A student would rather classify him or herself as sad or worrying too much to avoid being labeled, but essentially, not allowing them to get help that they may need to learn to cope with these emotions in a positive way.
As a teacher, it is my responsibility to look after the students and to report any behavior or conduct that is of concern; however, what about the students that are just on the fringe? The students that may not seem to have any problems, but don't feel like they can talk about them because being perfect is also part of the game. As high school students, they have to be perfect in order to get in the right college, play sports, learn a foreign language, play the piano, make their parents proud, and the long list of responsibilities that they have on their plates as they get to their last year of high school.
As I continue through my semester of student teaching, I want to continue to learn about how I can help these kids. While I do have high expectations for students in my class, I do give them plenty of time in class to complete their assignments. This will be something I will continue to look out for and find resources that can help me and the students to learn to deal with their problems in a healthy way.
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Friday, January 24, 2014
3rd Week: Managing It All
This was a short week at Poudre High School because of Martin Luther King, Jr. Day on Monday. With a four day week, there is a four day schedule, which is always different from the regular five day schedule, so there was some adjustment.
This was also a busy week because I also started teaching at Front Range Community College two evenings a week. So, Tuesdays and Thursdays, I get up at 5:00 am and go to the gym, then I head to Poudre High School for a full day of working with students, teaching, planning, and grading, and finally, end up at Front Range Community College teaching two classes before ending my day and heading home for bed. This week I was able to go home and see my daughter after Poudre High School and before Front Range Community College, but I imagine that as the semester goes on, I will not be able to do this. On top of everything this week, my daughter has been sick. Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who has stayed home with her. An upper respiratory infection doesn't get down a 2.5 year old for long. She was bouncing and playing when I saw her this morning.
I digress, sort of. This week has been a week of managing. I say managing because I have been learning to manage my classroom better and learning to manage my lessons better. I also say managing because my schedule (as seen above) also requires this kind of management. In the Entrepreneurship classes I am teaching, the students have finally turned in a completed project. Having graded this project, I have now been able to determine how much of the information that I am teaching them is being understood and learned. I have been managing those submissions and meeting with students to ensure that they know what is expected of them on these projects. In my meetings with students, I review how to improve those submissions and their grade on the assignment. I find myself repeating what I say and how I say it so that all the students understand in their own way.
I continued to struggle this week with cell phones, computer usage, and general rude behavior. In the 5th hour Entrepreneurship class, I wasn't restrictive enough; however, I corrected this in the 6th hour Entrepreneurship class by making the students keep their hands off the keyboards and pay attention. I also enforced the headphones and cell phones rule that I put in place on the first day.
It has also been interesting in some of Mr. Long's other classes with respect to classroom management. International Business has been going through presentations given by the students on their Country Project, but there are students in the class that are texting and talking during other students' presentations. Mr. Long has given warnings to students, and the next step will be a seating chart.
The 3rd Hour Economics class doesn't have as much of a classroom management issue because it is such a small class; however, the 4th Hour Economics class has 26 students, and they are chatty. They are all great kids, but they enjoy speaking up and having side conversations in class even when the teacher is talking. I have sat in the back of the room to try to keep the talking to a minimum, but they finally did require a seating chart, which was implemented today. After implementing the seating chart, the students paid better attention and there was less side conversation.
I do feel that I have succeeded in the 6th Hour of Entrepreneurship in getting the students to understand the expectations and turn in completed, professional work. This has been accomplished by sitting individually with many of the students to go over their work and get them on the right track. The 5th Hour has been more of a challenge. While some of the students are responding to the lessons, there are quite a few of the students who have not turned in work and are behind on their projects. They also show a slower rate of learning than the 6th Hour class. Today, the 6th Hour class had completed their second projects, while the 5th Hour class is behind and will need time next week to finish their projects.
This week has been another opportunity for me to try new techniques and improve my communication skills with the students. I look forward to next week, when my supervisor, Carol Ann Hixon, and my mentor, Mr. Long, will observe my lessons and provide feedback for improvements. It is also my first seminar meeting with Mr. Buffington at Poudre High School. Looking ahead, it will be another busy week.
This was also a busy week because I also started teaching at Front Range Community College two evenings a week. So, Tuesdays and Thursdays, I get up at 5:00 am and go to the gym, then I head to Poudre High School for a full day of working with students, teaching, planning, and grading, and finally, end up at Front Range Community College teaching two classes before ending my day and heading home for bed. This week I was able to go home and see my daughter after Poudre High School and before Front Range Community College, but I imagine that as the semester goes on, I will not be able to do this. On top of everything this week, my daughter has been sick. Luckily, I have a wonderful husband who has stayed home with her. An upper respiratory infection doesn't get down a 2.5 year old for long. She was bouncing and playing when I saw her this morning.
I digress, sort of. This week has been a week of managing. I say managing because I have been learning to manage my classroom better and learning to manage my lessons better. I also say managing because my schedule (as seen above) also requires this kind of management. In the Entrepreneurship classes I am teaching, the students have finally turned in a completed project. Having graded this project, I have now been able to determine how much of the information that I am teaching them is being understood and learned. I have been managing those submissions and meeting with students to ensure that they know what is expected of them on these projects. In my meetings with students, I review how to improve those submissions and their grade on the assignment. I find myself repeating what I say and how I say it so that all the students understand in their own way.
I continued to struggle this week with cell phones, computer usage, and general rude behavior. In the 5th hour Entrepreneurship class, I wasn't restrictive enough; however, I corrected this in the 6th hour Entrepreneurship class by making the students keep their hands off the keyboards and pay attention. I also enforced the headphones and cell phones rule that I put in place on the first day.
It has also been interesting in some of Mr. Long's other classes with respect to classroom management. International Business has been going through presentations given by the students on their Country Project, but there are students in the class that are texting and talking during other students' presentations. Mr. Long has given warnings to students, and the next step will be a seating chart.
The 3rd Hour Economics class doesn't have as much of a classroom management issue because it is such a small class; however, the 4th Hour Economics class has 26 students, and they are chatty. They are all great kids, but they enjoy speaking up and having side conversations in class even when the teacher is talking. I have sat in the back of the room to try to keep the talking to a minimum, but they finally did require a seating chart, which was implemented today. After implementing the seating chart, the students paid better attention and there was less side conversation.
I do feel that I have succeeded in the 6th Hour of Entrepreneurship in getting the students to understand the expectations and turn in completed, professional work. This has been accomplished by sitting individually with many of the students to go over their work and get them on the right track. The 5th Hour has been more of a challenge. While some of the students are responding to the lessons, there are quite a few of the students who have not turned in work and are behind on their projects. They also show a slower rate of learning than the 6th Hour class. Today, the 6th Hour class had completed their second projects, while the 5th Hour class is behind and will need time next week to finish their projects.
This week has been another opportunity for me to try new techniques and improve my communication skills with the students. I look forward to next week, when my supervisor, Carol Ann Hixon, and my mentor, Mr. Long, will observe my lessons and provide feedback for improvements. It is also my first seminar meeting with Mr. Buffington at Poudre High School. Looking ahead, it will be another busy week.
Friday, January 17, 2014
2nd Week: Better than the First
It was a full week at Poudre High School, so I was able to experience the complete five day week schedule. It was challenging trying to determine what classes I would be teaching on the appropriate days. Next week is another short week because of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, so the schedule changes to a four day week schedule.
This week went better than the first as I expected it would. I finished the Power Point slides in Entrepreneurship and had students work on the project for this section during class time. The project required the students to describe their business in terms of image, ownership type, and types of products and services their business will provide. Part of the assignment had the students make a logo that was placed onto business cards and letterhead. This worked out well and most of the students worked at the same pace. I had a few that completed the project early and a few that straggled behind, but overall, it turned out to be a good lesson. After completing the assignment, he students are beginning to get excited about their businesses and want to complete the assignment. Next week we will work on the Personal Development part of the business plan. I had thought about including a section on resume writing, but Mr. Long and I discussed it and decided that it would be too much additional work with all of the projects that are already required as part of this class. The following week, I will begin the lesson from my Teacher Work Sample, which is the Market Research section. I have included some of my own plans for this lesson. We will begin by talking about SWOT Analysis and then moving on to Marketing.
Mr. Long's Economics class participated in several activities over the past week including discussions, group discussions, and a special activity that he and Mr. Johner both used in order to show what utility and value meant. The special activity was a trade game where each of the students is given a brown paper bag at random and asked to sit with their bag without opening it. The instructions are given, and then the students can look inside their respective bags only. After looking in their bags, they rate their happiness level of the gift they were given on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the happiest. Now, they are able to show a neighbor and trade only with a neighbor without alerting the entire class. At this point, they also rate their happiness level of the gift they were given. Finally, they are able to trade with anyone in the class. They walk around, bargain, and trade for something they want. At the end of this trade, the happiness levels were then rated again on the board for everyone to see. From the beginning of the lesson, the students' happiness rating improved as they were able to trade for what they wanted. It was a fun activity, and the students did learn and understand the concepts of utility and value.
The Opportunity Cost discussion was also interesting. Mr. Long used time as the measurement where each student was required to rank a list of activities as to what they wanted to do most. It was important to show that by doing one activity, you are giving up doing another. The choices we make are always at some cost. The discussion about college was interesting, too. There were questions that Mr. Long had the students answer true or false and decide why they are true or false. The question about the most expensive part of college is tuition, room, and board allowed Mr. Long to show what students give up in order to receive a higher education. Once again, the opportunity cost of going to college is that you don't make money for those four years, and you will likely be in debt at the end with no guarantee of a job.
In International Business, Mr. Long was really just introducing some key concepts on what it takes to open and operate a business in a foreign country. The largest part of this week in this class was the project the students were assigned. Each student or group of students is assigned a country to research. Students were in the computer lab putting together their country's information about language, exports, imports, religion, etc... The students will give presentations at the beginning of next week that will include all this information.
Finally, there was a Promotional Night this week on Wednesday when all of the teachers were required to be at school to talk to prospective parents about Poudre High School. I attended the event, which had a good turn out of parents. Students guided prospective parents through the halls of the high school to talk to teachers and coaches about programs and activities that their students would be able to participate. The majority of the parents were interested in the International Baccalaureate program, Advanced Placement programs, and sports. We did have a few parents stop by the business department to see what kind of classes were offered and how they might help their student to get into college or narrow down their fields of interest to decide on a major in college. I was able to get a bit of PHS Schwag to wear on Spirit Days (Fridays).
Overall, the week went well. I observed how to incorporate activities into lessons effectively, I was more comfortable and confident in interacting with the students, and I got a good start on my Teacher Work Sample. I worked with Mr. Long in reviewing and planning future lessons, and I even did a little bit of housekeeping in the classroom. With the three day weekend, I plan on relaxing before I go back to school at both Poudre High School and Front Range Community College next week.
This week went better than the first as I expected it would. I finished the Power Point slides in Entrepreneurship and had students work on the project for this section during class time. The project required the students to describe their business in terms of image, ownership type, and types of products and services their business will provide. Part of the assignment had the students make a logo that was placed onto business cards and letterhead. This worked out well and most of the students worked at the same pace. I had a few that completed the project early and a few that straggled behind, but overall, it turned out to be a good lesson. After completing the assignment, he students are beginning to get excited about their businesses and want to complete the assignment. Next week we will work on the Personal Development part of the business plan. I had thought about including a section on resume writing, but Mr. Long and I discussed it and decided that it would be too much additional work with all of the projects that are already required as part of this class. The following week, I will begin the lesson from my Teacher Work Sample, which is the Market Research section. I have included some of my own plans for this lesson. We will begin by talking about SWOT Analysis and then moving on to Marketing.
Mr. Long's Economics class participated in several activities over the past week including discussions, group discussions, and a special activity that he and Mr. Johner both used in order to show what utility and value meant. The special activity was a trade game where each of the students is given a brown paper bag at random and asked to sit with their bag without opening it. The instructions are given, and then the students can look inside their respective bags only. After looking in their bags, they rate their happiness level of the gift they were given on a scale of 1 to 10 with 10 being the happiest. Now, they are able to show a neighbor and trade only with a neighbor without alerting the entire class. At this point, they also rate their happiness level of the gift they were given. Finally, they are able to trade with anyone in the class. They walk around, bargain, and trade for something they want. At the end of this trade, the happiness levels were then rated again on the board for everyone to see. From the beginning of the lesson, the students' happiness rating improved as they were able to trade for what they wanted. It was a fun activity, and the students did learn and understand the concepts of utility and value.
The Opportunity Cost discussion was also interesting. Mr. Long used time as the measurement where each student was required to rank a list of activities as to what they wanted to do most. It was important to show that by doing one activity, you are giving up doing another. The choices we make are always at some cost. The discussion about college was interesting, too. There were questions that Mr. Long had the students answer true or false and decide why they are true or false. The question about the most expensive part of college is tuition, room, and board allowed Mr. Long to show what students give up in order to receive a higher education. Once again, the opportunity cost of going to college is that you don't make money for those four years, and you will likely be in debt at the end with no guarantee of a job.
In International Business, Mr. Long was really just introducing some key concepts on what it takes to open and operate a business in a foreign country. The largest part of this week in this class was the project the students were assigned. Each student or group of students is assigned a country to research. Students were in the computer lab putting together their country's information about language, exports, imports, religion, etc... The students will give presentations at the beginning of next week that will include all this information.
Finally, there was a Promotional Night this week on Wednesday when all of the teachers were required to be at school to talk to prospective parents about Poudre High School. I attended the event, which had a good turn out of parents. Students guided prospective parents through the halls of the high school to talk to teachers and coaches about programs and activities that their students would be able to participate. The majority of the parents were interested in the International Baccalaureate program, Advanced Placement programs, and sports. We did have a few parents stop by the business department to see what kind of classes were offered and how they might help their student to get into college or narrow down their fields of interest to decide on a major in college. I was able to get a bit of PHS Schwag to wear on Spirit Days (Fridays).
Overall, the week went well. I observed how to incorporate activities into lessons effectively, I was more comfortable and confident in interacting with the students, and I got a good start on my Teacher Work Sample. I worked with Mr. Long in reviewing and planning future lessons, and I even did a little bit of housekeeping in the classroom. With the three day weekend, I plan on relaxing before I go back to school at both Poudre High School and Front Range Community College next week.
Friday, January 10, 2014
1st Week: Lessons Learned
As I document my semester of student teaching at Poudre High School in Fort Collins, Colorado, I am reminded how difficult teaching high school is compared to teaching at the adult education level. I'm convinced that planning is key. You have to fill each moment that they are in class, so I can't just let them go after I'm finished talking and they've completed all their work. There's the bell system that keeps them in my classroom for approximately 82 minutes for each period. I've run short in each meeting of my 6th hour Entrepreneurship class. While the same class, I seem to be doing better in the 5th hour Entrepreneurship class.
I've gone a little different route with the Entrepreneurship classes than my mentor teacher did. He provided some fun activities for the first couple of days of class, while I jumped into the lessons anxious to get started. The benefit of the fun lessons was to build those all-important relationships and give the students a sense of creativity and openness in the class. They enjoyed the artwork that they created and talked openly to their peers and even displayed their work on the wall proudly.
Because I thought that introducing the topic of Entrepreneurship was fun, I started in with the lessons. They worked out okay because the first lesson is really about what it takes to be an entrepreneur and putting names and faces to some successful entrepreneurs. However, let's call a dog a dog and be done with it. It was still an assignment, and while the students didn't squawk and carry on about having to do it, they did it, but I didn't get the opportunity to get to know the students better except by walking around and making them nervous by looking over their shoulders. Lesson learned.
Finally, the cell phone debate. It seems that I lost a student yesterday because I asked her to put her cell phone away during a pre-assessment test. My mentor teacher isn't convinced that it was because of me (maybe I'm being a little narcissistic here); however, as soon as the pre-assessment was over, she asked to go to her counselor and switched out of the class. Her reason was that the class would be too much work. So, with no official school policy on cell phones, and my own dismal outlook on them, how do we navigate these touchy waters with attendance waning and interest lacking? My approach for now will be with expectations and confidence. I have to stand behind my classroom policies and expect that students will put away their cell phones while I am talking and be confident moving forward.
It's been an exhausting first week, but overall, I think that it is going well. Every day is a new day when you're teaching.
I've gone a little different route with the Entrepreneurship classes than my mentor teacher did. He provided some fun activities for the first couple of days of class, while I jumped into the lessons anxious to get started. The benefit of the fun lessons was to build those all-important relationships and give the students a sense of creativity and openness in the class. They enjoyed the artwork that they created and talked openly to their peers and even displayed their work on the wall proudly.
Because I thought that introducing the topic of Entrepreneurship was fun, I started in with the lessons. They worked out okay because the first lesson is really about what it takes to be an entrepreneur and putting names and faces to some successful entrepreneurs. However, let's call a dog a dog and be done with it. It was still an assignment, and while the students didn't squawk and carry on about having to do it, they did it, but I didn't get the opportunity to get to know the students better except by walking around and making them nervous by looking over their shoulders. Lesson learned.
Finally, the cell phone debate. It seems that I lost a student yesterday because I asked her to put her cell phone away during a pre-assessment test. My mentor teacher isn't convinced that it was because of me (maybe I'm being a little narcissistic here); however, as soon as the pre-assessment was over, she asked to go to her counselor and switched out of the class. Her reason was that the class would be too much work. So, with no official school policy on cell phones, and my own dismal outlook on them, how do we navigate these touchy waters with attendance waning and interest lacking? My approach for now will be with expectations and confidence. I have to stand behind my classroom policies and expect that students will put away their cell phones while I am talking and be confident moving forward.
It's been an exhausting first week, but overall, I think that it is going well. Every day is a new day when you're teaching.
Monday, January 6, 2014
Just need a placeholder for a book that I need to review over the next couple of weeks: http://books.google.com/books?id=rcaIdo6RekcC&pg=PA1&source=gbs_toc_r&cad=4#v=onepage&q&f=false
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