15th Week - Last Observations and Goodbyes

This week was a week of goodbyes. We had our last Student Teaching Seminar on Monday, so I will probably not see many of the student teachers in there again. I did discover that one of the student teachers in my group may be moving to Houston, Texas, which is also a possibility for me and my family. I also said goodbye to Mr. Maxwell, who will be missed by me and by his students. I stopped by his office several times to talk about problem students and ways of getting through to them, and we collaborated on some lesson ideas as well. He really did build relationships with his students, and because of his youth, it seems he has a bit less at stake in his experience, which provided him with a true learning experience. That brings up an interesting point, which I will delve into deeper as I continue my career in education, but does stress and pressure play a relevant role in how we learn? The obvious answer is yes, but exploration into that question will be regarded in the future.

Wednesday was the ACT test for the Juniors, so the schedule was a little different. We had the morning to take care of planning, grading, or, in my case, applications. I have put out five applications for actual job postings. It is a tedious and arduous task to put out applications. It was more difficult than my applications at NASA, but hopefully, something will come of these opportunities. I'm still teaching at Front Range Community College in the fall if a full time position doesn't present itself.

www.berea.edu

I had my last observation on Thursday in the 4th Hour Economics class from my mentor teacher and from my CSU Supervisor. I planned a Play-Doh activity for learning about the GDP in the Macroeconomics section. I was actually a little nervous, and I haven't really been too nervous in my observations until now. However, the students did terrific, and we had a lot of fun learning about the GDP and how some less-developed countries really struggle to change their situation. Using cooperative, direct, and inquiry methods, the students were able to determine how the GDP connected to the activity, and learn from their experience. This was a fantastic segue into Poverty, which I linked to the lesson.

The entrepreneurship classes are going well. The students are still working diligently to get their projects completed. We are down to the last two projects, and we will be putting our business plans together and reviewing for the final. Seniors will be leaving a week or so earlier than the rest of the grades, so final exams will be given as a class. I am going to have the rest of the class present their business plans to the class, so I need to put that lesson together to present to the students after May 16th.

While I am one of the last remaining student teachers, I also have an opportunity in my last few weeks to observe some of the other teachers in the building and how they teach. This is the part that I'm looking forward to in my last days at Poudre High School.

An Inspiring Video About WHY?

My seminar teacher showed the following video in our final seminar last night. It really hit home for me in finding purpose with what I'm doing. One of the popular interview questions is, "Why do you want to be a teacher?" So, I sat back and asked myself, "Why do I want to be a teacher?" My answer, while simple, is always the same: I want to help people to find their best self. Really, this has been my purpose for a long time now, but teaching has been the most direct method of reaching this purpose or intention. As a teacher, I have an opportunity to help students to learn about business, economics, computers, and marketing. These subjects can help students to discover a clear path for themselves and their future. Whether they go on to get jobs or careers just out of high school or if they go on to college, it is my intention to help these students find their best self through discovery and inquiry and education.

14th Week: Struggling a Little

This week has been a bit of a struggle. I know that I can't have a stellar week every week, and the

lifeandptsd.wordpress.com

challenging weeks make the good weeks worthwhile. I know all this, but I still let these difficult weeks get to me. Now, the reason why it was difficult. I can't really put my finger on it except that I'm feeling a bit frustrated. It is frustration with the job application process and the work load that has increased as I finish out the semester. It is also frustration at a few students that continue to not pay attention or get their work done over and over. It is this same frustration, though, that snaps me back to reality and lets me know that I have a job to do and I need to set aside my own feelings so that I can help the students. I allowed myself a few bad days, but I took the weekend to relax, refresh and renew by exercising, spending time with my daughter, pulling some weeds, and getting my house in order. These things helped me to put things into perspective and come back to school on Monday with a fresh attitude and enthusiasm for these last few weeks of the semester.

While it is nearly the end of the semester, it is just as important to stay engaged and focused because the students are going to want to slack off or disengage. It is my responsibility to keep them excited about the material and completing the work. This is a difficult task at best. My 6th Hour Entrepreneurship class were the main culprits for the lousy week last week. Trying to teach an easy lesson, they were falling asleep, staring blankly into space, and completely disengaged. I tried asking easy questions to get them back on track, but that only seemed to make for awkward silences. One of which lasted for a good two minutes. Frustrated, I finished the lesson without asking more questions and let them work at their computer stations.

This week was also a week of planning for the end of the semester. I have a Teacher Work Sample due on May 1st, finishing out classes at Front Range Community College, and finishing out my classes at Poudre High School. I have plans laid out for all my classes through the end of the semester, for which I'm happy to be organized. It's getting close, and I know that I've said it before, but I am really looking forward to the summer and some leisure time that I haven't had for the past year.

Poudre High School Prom Royalty

(Photo: Courtesy of Poudre High School )

This year Poudre High School named two very special people as Prom King and Queen. The Coloradoan did a piece on the event and the royal duo. I won't mention any more about it, but instead, I will send you to the link to read more:

http://www.coloradoan.com/story/news/education/2014/04/14/touching-poudre-high-prom-crowning-prompts-smiles-tears/7717163/

The original Lorax in Economics

In Economics this week, we showed the original Lorax movie! It's very different from the newer, more flashy Lorax movie, but still has the same messages and has the benefit of being shorter. Take a look, and maybe you could even see the connection to Economics or use it in your own lessons!

13th Week: Impalapalooza Week!

Tacky Tourist Day - Mrs. Mo's Class

Happy Impalapalooza Week! YAY! Each day we had a different theme that we could dress up: Monday was Colorado Spirit day (I wore jeans and a USA Cycling t-shirt), Tuesday was Tacky Tourist Day (I didn't really dress up, but I had a skirt that is bright and colorful I used for the occasion.), Wednesday was Mathlete vs. Athlete day (I didn't know what to wear, so I went casual and donned my reading glasses), and Thursday was Poudre Spirit day (Once again, I wore jeans and a Poudre t-shirt).

Black Prez was in 'da house!

The Assembly was on Thursday between 2nd and 3rd hours. They packed a lot into the hour including: Cool Man contest, Chariot races, Prom royalty, chant-off, and Black Prez put on a show. It was fun to see the staff and the students excited for their school and the activities happening. Classroom management was a challenge because the students were excited about the day, having an off day on Friday, and Prom coming up on the weekend.

Whew! I was pooped today after finishing up classes, and it's been kind of weird knowing that I have a full day off tomorrow. I am absolutely looking forward to it! It's been a stressful week professionally and personally. With so much going on with putting out applications, getting my resume updated, and my husband's job hanging in the balance, we are having some difficulty managing. We are staying positive through these last few weeks of school, though. There's only six weeks left at Poudre High School, and I only have four weeks left at Front Range Community College. Things are definitely starting to wind down.

By the way, the girl that wasn't coming to class finally dropped with an "F" after I called home to check on her. She claimed that the management class she was taking with another teacher was just like my class. My guess is that she didn't want to do the work, so she took an "F" instead.

A few more pictures from Impalapalooza Assembly Today:

Cool guys hangin' out on the ice

Chariot race winners!

Prom Royalty Escorts

12th Week: Spring is Here!

You can feel the school buzzing from the excitement of warmer weather and spring activities! It was another regular week at Poudre High School, but we had some fun activities planned in Economics. We started talking about rations, and we actually gave the students rations for things that they could/could not use in class. So, the students could use a desk but not a chair; they could use paper one day but not the next. They had to have a ration for water, bathroom breaks, and food. Mr. Long made the ration cards and based them on order of importance by the students. It was a fun activity, but proved to be challenging for classroom management. The last activity we did for the week was the soda taste test. We talked about the different types of market structures, which included perfect competition, monopolistic competition, oligopolies, and monopolies. In order to show how a couple of companies can control the market through advertising and imagined differences, we did a soda taste test. It was interesting because some of the students were brand-loyal to Coke or Pepsi, and those were the students that got the taste test wrong. The students that didn't drink much soda seemed to score better. The kids had fun, and we related the activity back to the market structures.

blog.cengage.com

In Entrepreneurship, the students continued their work on Promotional Planning. Project 6 was due on Friday, April 4th. Most of the students were able to complete the project and turn it in. I'm still having trouble with one student not coming to class. She hasn't attended class since Spring Break, so I called home to find out if her parents were aware of her absences and failing grades. I also wanted to see what I could do to help her understand the material or make up missed work. I had a stern talk with her before Spring Break, and apparently, she didn't like it. She stopped coming to class instead of talking with me about her concerns. This has been a trend with the high school students I have worked with thus far. Many of them would rather quit and fail than resolving any conflict or issues that may have arisen.

I'm looking forward to next week. It's Impalapalooza Week! The week before prom is traditionally set aside with activities and fun to celebrate spring, the warmer weather, the end of the year, and, of course, prom. Unfortunately, I'm missing most of the activities because I teach at Front Range Community College. There's a fun activity on Thursday called Mr. PHS, which is a "beauty" contest for the boys. It's staged and funny. The best part about next week is that I get a full day off. My daughter is in school, and I can get ready for the CSU Teacher Job Fair the following week and run some errands. That really does constitute excitement in my busy schedule.