17th Week - Final Evaluation and Moving on...

We completed my final evaluation this week, and it turned out very well! I made an "A" in my student teaching experience, with which I am very happy. Mr. Long seems to be happy with the results as well.

Anyhow, I had an interview at Mountain View High School with both Mountain View High School and Thompson Valley High School. The Principals were both there and the heads of the business departments. The interview didn't go as well as I would have liked, but it didn't seem like a good fit anyway. The high schools at Thompson Valley School District are changing their schedules to a full class schedule on Monday, Tuesday, and Friday with block days on Wednesday and Thursday. I wasn't very excited about going back and forth between the two schools throughout the year. I really wanted to be in a place and stay there. The interview itself was very stuffy as well. I didn't get a very good vibe from it. I didn't get the job, and that's okay.

I was called later in the week from Rocky Mountain High School's assistant principal, and we set up an interview for Friday of last week. This interview was fun. It was relaxing, and the questions weren't stuffy or difficult to answer. It was more of a "getting-to-know-you" session, and I really liked all the people there. Long story short, it seemed like a good fit. The drawback is that it is only a semester job. They don't know if this job will turn into more than one semester or not. They won't know until October if the job will open up for the following semester.

At Front Range Community College, I finished up the Spring semester with my two classes taking finals and completing their projects. Now, to finish grades and write my lessons learned from the semester. It was a good semester overall. I had a great group of students, and I'm looking forward to this summer. I really love teaching these classes.

16th Week: The Norovirus Attack and On My Own

This was my 16th week student teaching. I am almost done! Wahoo! I feel a lot of the pressure starting to release, but it's also job hunting time, so some of the real work is about to begin.

9 News Denver http://www.9news.com/

This week brought its own challenges. Mr. Long went to Future Business Leaders of America state conference in Vail this week. I took over all of the classes without a sub, and it was awesome! I had some of my best teaching moments then. Unfortunately, Mr. Long ran into trouble when a few of his students came down with the Norovirus while there, and he had to take one student to the hospital. He had to stay home from school for two more days to make sure that he wasn't contagious himself. There's more about this story in the link below from Channel 9 News. This is the second time this has happened this semester. It also happened at an FCCLA (Family and Consumer Sciences Competition) event in Denver.

http://www.9news.com/story/news/local/2014/05/02/test-results-indicate-norovirus-at-conference/8639311/

Otherwise, I started to wind things down in all the classes. We're coming up on the end of the semester and beginning to think about finals. Entrepreneurship is finishing their last project. I'm getting caught up on grading, and Economics is finishing up their Macroeconomics lesson. It's all peacefully coming to a close as it should.

I'll continue to be at Poudre High School through the end of the school year teaching the Entrepreneurship class and observing other teachers. It will be a good experience to stay on until the end and see how the last few days of school are received by both teachers and students.

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.

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/

8th Week: On my own

The 8th week of my student teaching experience culminated in my mentor teacher being gone to a DECA Competition in Colorado Springs. DECA is a business marketing club for high school students. It assesses students for their understanding of marketing concepts and interviews them in their ability to apply these concepts to a real-world scenario. While he was gone, I took over all of the classes. Movies were shown in most of the classes, so there wasn't a lot of teaching. Classroom management was required more than anything.

The problem student that I had at the end of the 7th week decided to drop my Entrepreneurship class. It was so interesting to me that he would rather take a failing grade than try to resolve the issue and move on in the class. He brought the withdraw slip to me to sign, but I required him to get a signature from Mr. Long before he dropped the class completely. The real issue was the work that he was required to do in the class. He wasn't doing the work, and he wasn't asking questions pertinent to the work. He was continually working on other activities instead of getting his work done. When I asked him about it, he became frustrated. Unfortunately, I never had the chance to work with him to get his work done. He was defensive every time I talked to him about his work, and he finally just walked out of class on Tuesday without talking about the issue. When confronted to resolve the issue, he became even more defensive. While this issue had little to do with me, I still wish that I could have been part of a resolution instead of a failed student.

The week ended with an observation from my CSU supervisor. I invited her to observe the 4th Hour MYP Economics class. We were going over Supply and Demand shifts, and in order to practice the concept further, we went through a "baseball" activity that asked a question requiring each team to provide an answer. Any team that had the right answer got a point. The students were discussing the questions thoroughly, and they were having fun thinking critically. Overall, I think that the class went well. Carol Ann had a few suggestions, and the feedback provided me with some good information that I will use in my future classes. For instance, I wasn't intentional when opening and closing the class. This is something that is easy to work on and practice.

While I'm enjoying my student teaching experience (overall), I'm also looking forward to the upcoming break. I'm also looking forward to Spring and some warmer weather.

Entrepreneurship Student in the Coloradoan

From: Coloradoan, Feb 8, 2014, by Bob Nightwalker

In my 6th Hour Entrepreneurship, I have a group of three students who sit in the back and are all friends. They are good kids, getting their work in and doing good work, too! They are all members of Future Business Leaders of America and DECA, a high school organized marketing program. One of those is Tallon Nightwalker.

In class, his business plan is to organize and operate a wildlife rehabilitation center. He told me that he works with animals and there currently isn't a program in Fort Collins anymore. His plan is thoughtful and interesting, and he is smart and capable of following through with his plan.

From: Coloradoan, Feb 8, 2014, by Bob Nightwalker

Just last week, Mr. Long showed me the following article in the Coloradoan about Tallon and his father. His passion and his efforts are commendable, and if he continues on his path, I think he will be very successful in this endeavor. These are the students that make teaching worthwhile.

You can read more about Tallon and his father at the link below.

http://www.coloradoan.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2014302080085

6th Week: Bust

My sixth week student teaching was pretty much a bust. I started out Monday planning with Mr. Long and getting ready for the week. It was a rough Monday, too, because the weekend had brought some significant deaths to the school and the school district. The mother of three Poudre High School students was killed over the weekend, and a student at Fossil Ridge High School died following an automobile accident. It was also "America" day at Fort Collins High School, where the administrators and the media were expecting a large turnout for protesting because of the controversy surrounding the previously named "Merica" Day. Fortunately, the press and the buzz fizzled out before anything happened. Everyone went back to their regularly scheduled programs.

For me, Monday was the first day I came down with the crud. I went home early, and that's pretty much where I stayed until Monday morning, when I got up to go to the doctor. I called the doctor first thing on Tuesday, and they were convinced that I had the flu. So, they prescribed me Tamiflu. $130 and five days later, I was still sick. Sunday evening I called the doctor again, and now, they instructed me to go to the emergency room. Scared and skeptical, I stayed home until morning and marched myself to the doctor, where I found out I had a sinus infection, which is why the Tamiflu didn't help. Now, Tuesday, I'm getting better, though, still not 100%.

So, last week taught me to be prepared. I was not expecting to be out for the entire week. However, because I had been prepared for my lessons for the week, I was able to give clear directions on what my classes should do for the substitute teacher and my mentor teacher. I also had to be clear with my communication, letting my mentor teacher know exactly what my plans were and how I was feeling. He couldn't read my mind, so I had to ensure that he was always in the loop. This helped him to plan and determine how to move forward.

I missed out on a few things on Friday: Valentine's Day and a District Business Department meeting. Valentine's Day wasn't as big of a deal as the District Business Department meeting. The district meeting could have proved to be fruitful for networking and engaging in the planning for the next year.

With reports back from my mentor teacher and the substitute, the classes went well and the students all completed their work according to the plans. Now, it's catch up time...

5th Week: Experimenting

My fifth week of student teaching was really about experimenting. Mr. Long was gone on Tuesday for a Future Business Leaders of America (FBLA) event in Greeley. With his absence, I took over all of the classes for the day. In International Business, Mr. Long had me show the North Korea Frontline film and answered some essay questions at the end. Because this class is often chatty, I had to move one person to another seat so that everyone could pay attention to the movie. It achieved its purpose, and the class was quiet for the remainder of the movie. The 4th hour Economics class was a bit more demanding. I went over the productivity part of the lesson and de-briefed the pizza activity from the previous week as well as reviewed for the test. Because I had time at the end of the class, I reviewed the worksheet the students were completing. I felt that the students were sufficiently prepared for the test. And, after the test on Thursday, the grades showed that they were prepared. More than half the class made A's, and no one failed the test.

Last Fall, Mr. Long had given me all of the lessons for the Entrepreneurship class, and I began to go over them during the Winter break. Upon going over them, I found some ways to improve some of the lessons. In particular was the Market Research section that had students creating surveys on paper and distributing them via paper. To streamline this section and make it more like real-life, I changed the lesson so that the students made the survey in a GoogleForms and distributed it via email or social media. The 5th Hour class had no problem with putting their surveys into electronic form and distributing it, but I did have problems with the 6th Hour class. Instead of giving into the 6th Hour's requests to print out their forms and distribute them, I stood by my lesson. As a result, the students received good responses, and their results are all put directly into a spreadsheet and graphs are created for them. Now, all they have to do is analyze the data and make recommendations based on the analysis.

One thing that I'm frustrated with is getting some of the students motivated to do the work in the class. It's so fascinating that there are students in the 6th Hour class that would rather just sit and stare at the walls than do the assignments. Of course, they get zeros on the assignments, but they don't seem to care. When I started assigning zeros in the class, I only got one student response via email about the zeros. The others haven't even looked at their grades. I have one student who is in class every class period and simply refuses to do the work in class. She sleeps or has earbuds in her ears to listen to something on her phone (I assume it is music). She claims that she is tired from her club volleyball practices. My question: are her parents so concerned with volleyball that they don't look at her grades and make sure that her grades aren't suffering from practicing so much? In the same class, I finally separated two students that were disruptive and not getting work done, and it seems to have helped. One thing that I am experimenting with is taking the time to go around and talk to the students individually and find out what is going on in their lives that they aren't able to get the work completed. Most of the responses are generic: "I'm too tired," "I'm going to get caught up this weekend," "I already turned it in." So, as another way of ensuring listening, I have decided to have everyone turn off their monitors and take out their headphones while I'm talking. It isn't foolproof. Students still pretend to be apathetic and not listen to me, but I stand a better chance of getting them to listen if I follow through with this action.

One of my students in 6th Hour who is falling behind to get his work in has an Individualized Education Plan (IEP). He seems to be disorganized, procrastinates, and generally, has issues getting his work done. Knowing this, I sat down with him today to find out how I can help him to get his work done. I have decided that I will differentiate instruction for him so that he can build a website for his business plan instead of doing all of his work in a Word Application. He enjoys building things, and he seems to learn better by doing so. After talking to Mr. Long, I plan to move forward with this action and determine if this strategy will allow him to learn more from this class.

Because the Market Research lesson requires the students to wait to get responses to their surveys, I'm having the students complete a virtual simulation on the computers in their spare time. This is the sponge activity that provides for learning while we are waiting and before they can complete their Market Research project. I'm excited about some of the projects. Some of the students are taking the projects very seriously and taking the time to format, check it over, and do it well.

In my Front Range Community College classes, I have also done some experimenting. In the Intro to PC Apps class this semester, I have moved the PowerPoint section to the beginning of the semester. I did this because I require the students to give a PowerPoint presentation on a procedure of something they are interested. In this way, we can all get to know each other at the beginning of the semester instead of at the end. It's been a fun experience. We got to see some of the other sides of the students and where their interests lie and who they are. This was so effective that I will continue this into next semester.

In the Social Media Applications class, we are currently creating and publishing blogs, and because this class is new, I'm constantly experimenting. It is a continual process of balance between those students who know how to develop software and are already using social media and those that are still learning how to use some of the applications. They all have the same goals in mind, to learn how to effectively use social media. I have been walking that balance to determine what pieces are most important and what can be set aside. The blogs are the starting point for the projects, and we will build upon these blogs throughout the semester in each section of the course. Their blogs can be viewed on the right side of this page. I'm excited to see the results!