Rapport is the Key

Halfway through my observation, my teacher came up to me one day and said the key to having classroom control and being a great teacher is developing a rapport with your students. She knows her students and cares about them. She has a way of handling them that is her own style. She is sarcastic and jokes with her students, however, she can manage them as well. Student’s come up to her after class and talk with her in the halls. By connecting with her students, my cooperating teacher is able to create emotional connections which enhance classroom experiences. The students feel comfortable with her and her classroom and this makes for a suitable teaching environment.

Assessment at Lancaster Catholic High

My cooperating teacher tends to give more of the traditional forms of assessment. In her 9th grade General English class she administers the typical vocabulary test that has multiple choice,
synonym/antonym, fill in the blank, and matching. Although not my favorite method of choice, this form of assessment can still be beneficial for a couple of reasons. Written tests, such as this vocabulary one, are easy and quick to grade. They also provide an objective and strict “correct” and “incorrect” account. Due to these reasons I think this type of assessment has its place in
the English classroom. However, by no means do I think this should be the only way to assess students for a grade.

In her Creative Writing course, my cooperating teacher has students create portfolios for each new writing project. They write three drafts and before the third one they peer review each other’s papers. At the end of the portfolio she has students perform a “self-assessment” in which they fill out a rubric that is identical to the one the teacher uses. She told me that she then averages her grade with the student’s grade. Surprisingly, she informed me that students are often more self-critical and thus give their papers a lower grade than she does. Another way she promotes her students to put their best effort into their writing is by having them submit their works to Scholastic Competitions. This makes the paper carry more weight and value than if it was just to be finished and turned in for a grade. This is a great way to push students to give their
best and appreciate their writing.

The types of assessment in my cooperating teacher’s sophomore honors class are quite similar to that of her 9th grade class. Recently they finished a unit on The Crucible in which they read the play and watched clips of the film. They also did group work and partner activities. The final test, which they took the Tuesday before Thanksgiving vacation, was structured in very traditionally, consisting of fill in the blank, quotation identification, multiple choice questions, and one essay prompt. Personally, I found this somewhat disappointing, for I think a final project or a more interacting assessment would have been more beneficial for identifying student’s comprehension and understanding of the play.

Some hope of 21st century assessment does shine through in my cooperating teacher’s AP Literature class. Consisting of 19 seniors, she gives them more autonomy and freedom in the classroom. Their final assessment for a unit on Greek tragedy was creating a PowerPoint presentation that was to contain facts, pictures, videos, and music. She also expected the students to go above and beyond by either dressing up or bringing in food/drink that related to their presentation. She also allowed them, like her Creative Writing class, to fill out a self-assessment rubric, showing the grade they thought they deserved. She averages her score with theirs. I envision my classroom to look and be structured more like this AP class, for why can’t we have the same, high expectations for honors and general academic classes as we do for AP ones? Why can’t we give them the same creative opportunities?

Can't believe it's almost over!

I don't know about anyone else, but these past four weeks have made me realize how much I want to be a teacher! I have had the absolute best experience in this placement and I am sad that it is ending. I feel like the past few years, I have learned so much about teaching and it is all starting to make sense to me in ways that it didn't before. For instance, one thing I have always been worried about was differentiated instruction. I was so nervous that I wouldn't be able to help all the students, or assess work fairly (this was an area that created a lot of anxiety for me). Well, when I entered this placement I discovered that in just one class period I had ESL students, a student with Auditory Processing Disorder which required me to wear a microphone when teaching, a student with Asperger's, and a few students with behavioral problems. There were modifications that had to be made but I noticed from watching my co-op that a lot of the differentiating she did was second nature. I also had the chance to teach in these classes almost every time I was in the classroom and it wasn't the stress I anticipated. It was amazing and I feel so much more comfortable because I know I am only going to grow further in student teaching.

I feel like everything is starting to come together and I am really grateful for all the things I have learned over the past few years. I feel myself growing as a teacher and putting to use all of the things we have learned. I can't wait to see all the new things I come to learn while teaching next semester!

Making a Fresh Start

As I have stated in earlier blogs, I have been pretty discouraged during this placement. I was really stoked to get in and work with the students on a regular basis. I had this beautiful image of what this time would be. It was the polar opposite of my perfect perception. I have to say that it had little to do with my co-op and more to do with the class itself. Anyway, I feel like I have said all this before. I will get to the point.

I went in to school and did my shadowing of a student today. I walked out of the school ready to go another 7 hours- it was a blast! I got to sit in on an English classroom (they were talking about poetry and I was so happy) and a graphic design class that the teacher's strategies were amazing. My student had some scheduling issues and didn't have a class last period, so I went back to my co-ops classroom and was met with happy faces and people thankful for my help. I am looking at my last day on Thursday and am thrilled to have had such a great experience. I have only taught one lesson. I have sat in the back of the room and observed the students work independently and gotten more discouraged every time. I am happy to say that changed for me today. I am thankful to end this time on a better note. Besides, I got to see two friendly faces from Millersville and was so thrilled to see friends, if only for a moment.

Teacher Communication

We had a few options about what to write about for this blog post and immediately upon seeing it, I knew I'd want to share with you what I've witnessed about Teacher-to-Teacher communication. During my placement I've seen what I think to be the worst teacher-to-teacher talk.
I know it's been awhile since I've been in high school, but if I were a student who witnesses this stuff, I would not have appreciated it at all. Teachers blatantly talk about their students around other students. Students can hear all of these comments that the teachers make about their classmates. During my co-op's study hall period, it seems a teacher is always stopping by to gossip about some of their mutual students. I cannot understand why they think that this is okay to do this, while there are students in the classroom. I know we probably have a lot we want to share with each other about student behaviors, but there is a time and a place to share this information and I don't believe it's in front of any group of students.
In addition to this rude behavior, my co-op team teaches a general level class with another English teacher. They are constantly talking over each other and telling the class to do one thing or the other. I find this to be insanely distracting and I'm not the one who's trying to learn something in class. I understand the necessity of team-teaching in this instance because the students just constantly need to be told to be focused, however when one teacher is scolding a child and the other teacher is trying to teach a lesson, little cross learning is occurring.
I know we're just pre-service teachers, but it's so frustrating for me to simply stand by and watch these things. This has been on my mind almost all of placement and when I finally had the opportunity here to rant about it, I just went ahead and did it. Sorry!

Hooks in Action

In my placement at Red Lion Junior High School, my cooperating teacher seems particularly keen of the use of Hooks in every one of her lessons, more so than any of the other teachers I had the privilege of observing through Dr. McDowell's shadowing of a student assignment.

This particular talent of hers was especially noticeable at the very beginning of her unit on Metacognition. She began the lesson by having the students talk to their elbow partners about a time they remember getting lost. Both students would take a turn to tell their story. When the allotted time had passed, my cooperating teacher would have a few of the students share their stories. When the time came to discuss reading strategies for when 'reading gets tough,' my cooperating teacher would call on the students who told their stories and specifically tie the methods behind metacognition to their on solutions for when they got lost. This allowed the students to see that these methods can be applied to more than just reading and can, in fact, be tied to their own lives in a very real way. It also allowed the students to see that, even if they are lost in reading, there's always a way to solve the problem.

I was so excited to start my field observations, even though the grade was not what I had in mind for myself. I wanted to teacher upper-high school but was placed in a 7th grade Language Arts. To my surprise, I immediately fell in love with it. It wasn't as technical and boring as I remembered my own experience bring. My coop is to thank for this; her teaching style - a perfect blend of pushing her students' minds and having a perfectly managed classroom - is exactly how I would love to teach my students. She knows each student so well that she is able to, on a whim, phrase a question just right so that a particular student will have just the right amount of challenge and discovery. Her classroom is arranged so that she manages everyone from the disruptive student who needs constant guidance to the student who is independent and eager to learn. She addresses everyone. And even when she feels she isn't reaching each student as much as she wants to, she still reaches them and gives them constant feedback and direction. She lets them discover things on their own (my favorite of her teaching strategies).

I have been lucky to teach in her classroom nearly every day. Starting with my second day, she allowed me to teach mini lessons, and work with groups during DI. I loved it. I saw myself growing and building confidence and changing my own strategies in just a few days. I also spent a few days observing other teachers, which was fun to see the different instruction styles and personalities from different grades and subjects. I was also included with grading and after my first day of doing so, I saw myself having a stronger understanding and more confident responses. Overall, my field experience has been amazing. I loved the district, the other teachers, and even my kids. They even said my name right! No more "Miss "B."" :)

One Week Left?... WHAT?!?

Am I the only one that is completely shocked to realize that we only have one week left in the field? I for one am pretty bummed out about it -- I feel like I'm just getting to know these students on a personal level, and I'm not ready to leave yet :( The students are really starting to get used to me as a co-teacher in the room, and are starting to view me as more of a permanent figure versus just a visitor. I'm getting to know all of them as unique individuals, and I'm going to miss each of their crazy personalities. I know I shouldn't get too upset yet -- I still have the rest of this week -- but even still, my question remains. Am I going to feel like this at the end of every school year? Or will it, undoubtedly, be harder to say goodbye?

I never thought that I would have this kind of experience in the field this semester. I sort of had the idea that I would go in as an observer, maybe teach a class or two and that would be it. I'm happy to say that this was not the case; my co-op had me teaching lessons from day one and even allowed me to create lessons of my own to share with the class. He provided me with materials that will not only help me this semester, but will also aid me in all of my future classrooms. And that's what it's all about right? We're a community of teachers, helping other teachers?

I have such mixed feelings as we come to the end of this experience, and I think it's safe to say that I'm not the only one. Still, I'm going to cherish the time I had with these classes, because I'm really starting to view them as my students just as much as my co-op's.

An Inward Look

Hello to Everyone.
Wow! It is hard to believe there is a week left of our placement and so much to talk about. I am anxious to get back to the classroom and hear everyone's stories. I have to say, it is good it did not come earlier though. I have really struggled with this placement. Sometimes we hear about these placements that are not ideal. The teacher doesn't want them there, the students hate them, and so on. I never imagined that I would have such a classroom until my first day when I was directed to my seat in the back of the room. I sat there, ready to jump up and interact at any point. That didn't happen the first day, or the second, or the third. I finally got frustrated and jumped up without an invitation to do so. The classroom is not actually an English classroom. It is a class that gives students time to work on their senior graduation projects. I tell you all of this because it has been a struggle and a triumph. This semester I have come to the realization that I love to teach for the sake of teaching and that if one placement can rock me, I may be in the wrong program.

I am pretty thankful that I got a cold over Thanksgiving break. I was running a fever and had to miss on Tuesday and spent the rest of the week thinking about what I can do differently with this last week. I plan to go in with my running shoes laced up and ready to take on as much as I can in the time left. Whatever that means, I will be glad for the opportunity. I am really thankful for the post of a fellow classmate that had a rough experience. He handled it like a gentleman and a professional. He reminded me why we are all here- to teach. Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences. See ya in a week.```````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````````

Lunch Duty

Hey Everyone!

So, last week I had my first experience with 7th grade lunch duty! It was such an interesting experience, as I am sure you can all imagine. First, I had to stand and watch a HUGE line of students waiting to get into the cafeteria and I have to tell you, it gets a little crazy but really fun. Also, I thought it was really interesting (because we never did this in my middle school) but students had to raise their hand to leave their seat during lunch. If they needed a spoon or napkin they had to wait until you called on them so that they could get up and get what they needed.

The most interesting thing about lunch duty was the lounge. The lounge gets opened up after lunch is halfway over and it is located right next to the cafeteria. When you walk into the lounge it looks like a mini gym but it is filled with ping pong tables, pool tables, televisions hooked up to video games, couches, four square diagrams, and other activities. Students who have reached an honors level or did something great get entrance into the lounge for the day and they are allowed to bring one friend with them. The lounge is like a miniature recess for middle school students and they loved it! I thought it was so great that students got the chance to blow off some steam because sitting in a seat, learning all day can be difficult. The students who were in my class after they were at the lounge came to class prepared and participated throughout the entire lesson. I would say that the lounge is something really great for middle schoolers and I could see it being implemented in other schools.

Developing a Rapport with Students

My cooperating teacher is great at developing rapport with her students; she makes it look easy. One of the first things I noticed was her classroom management style. She has different styles or “rules” with different students. Over time, she has developed an understanding about what each different student needs. For example, she allows some of them to carry on without intervention. She seems to know when it is productive to intervene and when it is pointless to do so.

One of her classes is loud and unruly; she seems to know exactly what will get them back on track, or when it’s better to allow them to blow off steam. She jokes with certain students and is firm with others. I think she knows their different learning and social styles and has a grasp of what works and what will just waste time.

She tells lots of personal stories; the students quiet down and listen immediately. They like hearing about her personal life and experiences. This also gives her the opportunity to turn the tables and ask them about their own experiences and ideas.

She frequently tosses out candy when she is reviewing material; most of the reviews are turned into some type of game. This works well with all of her classes. The students have tons of energy and they get loud and touch each other a lot. This is very different from my Catholic High School background where most classes were serious and reserved. She incorporates games where they shout out answers and play around while they’re learning. They seem to do well with this approach.

Every class includes some type of peer sharing and group work; she walks around and conferences with each group or individual (when they need it). I think this group aspect along with the conferencing helps the students because they get to be social and get individual attention when they need it.

Over all, she seems very laid-back and flexible; I think this is important: constantly changing up the approach to keep them engaged.

(Un)Engaged Learners

In response to this week's blogging prompt, I would like to focus on a student who I've noticed to be particularly uninterested in what is taking place in the classroom. My cooperating teachers deals mostly in below average students, though I have noticed a distinct difference among these kids. Two types exist: the first is the student who may have a learning disability, but is generally willing to participate in class, answering questions and joining in on group discussions. These are students who I think may be driven enough to succeed without as much teacher intervention. The other type of student comes in the form of a student who may have a learning disability, may be lazy, or may simply not see the point in school. This sort of student, in my opinion, would require a much greater deal of hands-on help and guidance in order to succeed, as often times they are definitely not as driven to complete their work.

The student I am focused on (let's call him Oscar) can generally be seen one of two ways: with his head on the desk or staring at the ceiling. It is very rare that he is actually paying attention to what is going on in class and typically does not perform well on assessments. Prior to a test at one point, he assured me that he was going to fail because he could not study; it literally put him to sleep, he claimed. He did not seem interested in doing well and it appeared that he cared little for how his lack of motivation might affect him in the future. As a future teacher, it is something that I now find really sad; it's hard to watch a student who really has little faith in themselves as well as little idea of how important their schooling might be.

In an effort to engage Oscar, I think my best bet would be to find ways to make the class more interactive. Although I've had limited interaction with him up to this point, I think it would greatly benefit him (as well as the entire class) to make them more active. These students have so much working against them (learning disabilities, home lives, etc.), and often times I think that a class discussion may not work as well as some sort of active project may in terms of helping them learn. For instance, let me use my Unit Plan as an example. My UP is heavy on class discussions, which I have already said may not work as well for a student like Oscar. To suit his needs, it may be appropriate to engage him by asking my students to draw pictures of the scenes in Hamlet or to act the scenes out. It is easy to shut your brain off when someone else is rambling on and saying, "To be or not to be," but it is an entirely different thing for me to have him stand up, ask him to read it, then encourage him to think about what the passage means. It should be my goal as an educator to make these plays come to life, and the perfect way to do this is to turn Oscar into Hamlet.

Under Pressure.

I have to admit that when I first walked into the school, I was a bit intimated. The school has mt AYP for the past two years in a row and it seemed like this school was no joke. And, I was pretty much right--this is great school. The students are awesome, the teachers seem really down to earth, and the administration is really nice. On my first day at NMS, I was able to attend a team meeting. My co-op, and the rest of the teachers, are broken up into teams--we're on the Green team--and every so often they have meeting with the principal and vice principal of the school. I thought it was interesting because I was able to see how the school operates behind the scenes. When I first walked into the meeting, the principal asked me what I thought of the school, so far. When I walked it, my first impression was that this was a serious school, but also welcoming to people that were coming in. After talking for a little, the principal said, "Well, welcome to the Yale of Middle Schools." And, i can see why he said that. The teachers take their jobs very seriously and students seem know when and where they can act, and also that they need to get their work done.

It seems perfect. Well, i realized that a school that seems perfect has a lot of standards that they have to live up to. The first few days that I was there, the students were doing benchmark testing--pre-PSSA prep. My teacher was almost manic as a students were handing in their scores. She kept telling me that usually the students do very well on their tests, but some of them don't take it as seriously. She even has to lecture them to make sure that they do there best, or they would end up in remediation (where the teachers take the students that don't do as well, and work with them on improving their scores). She said that she was sad that she had to be so hard on them, but I realized that how her students do on these tests, is a reflection on her as a teacher. Which, I thought, was a little scary. However, it seems that most of the students did really well on the test. Out of three periods that I saw, only 3 or 4 students received basic or below basic scores. It'll be interesting to see what else happens as I am watching the students.

Shakespeare in the Classroom

I am extremely lucky for the timing of my placement. Three of the classes I am working with are reading Shakespeare: Julius Caesar and A Midsummer Night's Dream. I was actually surprised to learn that they read Shakespeare throughout their middle and high school years. Watching them act out the parts has been surprising. I incorrectly assumed that tenth graders would be too cool to act out Shakespeare. In all three classes, (honors, on level, and challenged) the students raise their hands and actually want to go up in front of the class to act out the parts (they're in competition with each other to read and perform). I was also surprised to find out how much they knew about Shakespeare and his life.

Their final project is great; they get to choose whether to write about the architecture, clothing, recipes, music, medicine, or sports from the Elizabethan era. This assessment uses images, writing, technology, and lots of creativity. On Friday, the students were busy in the library looking up sources for their projects. I got the chance to help several students find materials and cite their sources; it felt great to be helpful.

So far, the field work has been amazing; I think student teaching will be the place where everything comes together. We will finally get the sustained opportunity to practice what we've been studying. I'm nervous, but I'm also looking forward to it.

Technology in the Field

At Lancaster Catholic, technology seems to be at a premium. Most English and math teachers have smart boards, and all teachers have at least 5-year-old desktop computers, but that's about it. They mostly use VHS tapes, and my co-op still has her overhead projector. (However, a few students identified as needing help from the guidance office are to be given their own iPads---about 1 student per class.)

My co-op told me that the reason why they don't have much technology is because they get little grant money from the federal government, and their best hopes for new technology come from alumni donations.

My co-op uses the technology she has pretty well. She had the students listen to a record of The Canterbury Tales in Old English, and she uses snippets of video often. She doesn't use her smart board all that often, mostly as a means of showing video and to display the morning announcements to her homeroom.

I like her use of video, so I would definitely echo her choice of that in my own teaching. In my own classroom, I might use my Smartboard to get students involved. I could see a vocab warm-up activity where students had to come to the board and circle the antonym; or breaking down a scene from a Shakespeare film adaptation like a sportscaster to show who's "in the lead" or who could have made a better "play."

My Students

Yes, I call them MY students because even though I've only spent a few days in their classroom, I already feel as though I'm getting to know them. For example: Russel, a "C-level" student, loves anything to do with hunting, and very little else holds his interest. We're reading Tuesdays with Morrie in that class, and Russel is having a hard time seeing how reading this relates to his life. On Wednesday I assigned a Glogster project in which students had to display the best lesson they've ever learned ( this relates to Mitch learning his lessons from Morrie). Russel, of course, didn't see the point in this either until he realized that he could talk about the best hunting lesson he's ever learned. For students like Russel (and there are a few), broader assessment options has been a key element in getting to know them.

I'm also shocked, across the board, and how much these students open up with their writing. I know in our teaching writing classes we're all pretty comfortable with sharing our work...but come on, we're college kids. ENGLISH MAJOR COLLEGE KIDS. And we're teachers. So we're supposed to a) share our work and b) love to talk about. These students, however, are 11th graders; I would never expect them to be so comfortable with sharing their writing. It's not just the fact that they write and read it; it's WHAT they're writing. In every class I've had at least one student that blew me away with how much of their personal life they are sharing with the class through writing. One of the prompts posed was, "write about your biggest fear". I had an honors student write an elaborate poem -- mind you, the students had a 2 minute timer -- and after she read it the class gave her a huge round of applause. We were all blown away!

We all talk about how our teaching English class is sort of a community, and it's amazing for me to see how my co-op teacher has created that sense of community within each of his classes. All of the students talk to each other. All of the students feel comfortable to share something as personal as their writing. This is something I'm striving for, and this is something I'm determined to have in my own classroom.

Lenovo what?

The first time I met with my tenth grade classroom the teacher was introducing a new unit by using the school's community laptop cart. The students worked in pairs and researched questions from a worksheet. The laptops were used to assess student prior knowledge of World War II and to supplement their reading of Night by Elie Wiesel. The laptops were dated and many of the students had problems accessing the internet. They were slow and most could not hold a charge and had to be plugged in while being used. The school district received a grant a couple of years ago and bought refurbished laptops, a brand I was not familiar with, and the technology is slowly failing. The school cannot afford to hire a tech to fix them so they must adapt to what they have. It is an interesting contrast to be in a classroom where most students have their own iPad, Linden Hall, to a classroom where technology is still governed by financial access. Imagine what students would be capable of if they had the latest technology available to them.

I Didn't Think Schools Like This Existed

A few years ago I did some volunteer work at "The Factory," a Christian based hangout for middle/high school students, located in the school district my placement is in. When I was there I noticed that many of the students exhibited rebellious behavior and were coming from poverty stricken homes. When I met my co-op, she told me that over half of the school qualifies for a reduced fare lunch, initially confirming my perceptions of the school district.
So try to imagine my surprise when I learned that every student in the school (along with the faculty) is issued with a white, Mac Book computer! Yes, every student in the high school. It seems like all the technology related material we have learned about is being implemented into everyday lessons. Just the other day, classmates were proofreading each others papers by leaving comments on Google.docs.
I don't consider my self the most technological person, but working in this classroom has inspired me to focus more lessons that are rooted in technology. I also have to say that my co-op is a great person to work with. She is very student centered in her lesson planning and is constantly pushing for the students to relate what they are learning to their own life. On top of that, her classes are so fun...2 English classes (reading Gatsby now), Creative Writing, and Journalism! I've already been able to participate in her poetry unit and am looking forward to using some material from Teaching Writing in her class.

Technology in the Classroom

Well I'm onto Week 2 in the classroom and things are going great. I get to teach The Canterbury Tales tomorrow and Friday so I'm really looking forward to that. I hope everyone's placements are going well and apparently we'll be getting our student teaching placements next week! We'll see! :)
So at LCHS there's little use of technology as far as I've seen. They have the equipment for it, like smart boards, but there's little carry through. I know my co-op uses her smart board, but only from her computer. She'll pull up a document and then navigate it through her computer rather than on the smart board. I'm unsure as to why she does this, yet at the same time she raves about how much she loves the technology. In addition to that, I've been sharing some of the links and websites we've been learning about in our tech bloc class. My co-op is totally fascinated with all of the ideas and always tells me how much she loves learning about them so she encourages me to send her more info any time I run across anything. I'm glad she's so willing to try out new things, but I can already tell she's feeling a little overwhelmed with all the possibilities. In general, the school is pretty traditional. It seems like the majority of the teachers stand at the front of the room and talk at the students. Surprisingly, they are learning something because of the comments I occasionally catch from them. I think the teachers could be a whole lot less traditional if they utilizied technology better.
As I said, later this week I'll be teaching and I've already worked it out with my co-op to use a lot of technology. I set up a class website for them to use so that will be a major contributing factor. I want to emphasis the means of publishing something publicly to the internet so that we can become a larger community with similar goals. I'm looking forward to seeing how the kids react.
My co-op did tell me that next week they have an in-service day and someone's coming in to talk to them about how to use a whole slew of technology in the classrooms. I'm excited for my co-op to hear and learn about some new ideas and see what she can then pass onto me.

Kennard Dale

I had my first teaching experience today. It was a very interesting day for me.

So the day was dedicated to paragraphs, transitions, and topic sentences. I'd prepared a prezi with some basic information about the topics to be covered. Then, we were set to do an activity. Since I had the option, I tried to do a couple different things. For the first class, students got into groups and put a scrambled paragraph in order. Then they sent a representative up to the front of the class and we put the paper in order together. This worked well; I felt it was successful and my co-op did too.

For my next class, I only had fifteen students. So we took the same essay, still scrambled, and put it together as a class. Reading the sentences out loud, the students lined up in order. We compared their order to the actual order, and they also did pretty well. My co-op and I felt this was successful too. This was the class we were actually worried about. Even though they are smaller, their personalities are bigger and they can be a little bit rowdy. They were great and gave me some good feedback on the lesson.

Now, the problems came in the last class. Since I've observed them, I know they are the largest class and the quietest. I wanted them to be engaged, so for them, I used a jigsaw. As a group, they put together 1 paragraph. Then they switched groups and were asked to put the whole essay together. They were not happy. I couldn't get some of them to move, I couldn't get them to participate. They wouldn't budge. And I eventually gave up pulling information and analysis out of them, asked if they had questions and gave the rest of the lesson back to my co-op.

I could tell she was upset at their behavior. Turns out she gave them a 3 paragraph essay as homework and told them she was disappointed in their behavior. She also reassured me it was not my fault, I had been doing a great job and sometimes things like that happen. I was extremely upset.

Now with the experience under my belt, I feel a little bit more comfortable in the classroom. I really believe that it will come with practice. I know that next time I teach them (which I think will be an introduction to Macbeth themes, weird right?) I'm excited even though I'm scared. I will try different things to get that third class engaged in what were doing. It's all a matter of perspective.

Real Life Students

I'm a little behind, so I just had my first day in the field on Monday...and let me tell you it was an experience!

In the first period class there was a boy who seemed to be a little more tired than the other students. Even though he answered when called on and even read aloud during a portion of the class, for the most part he had his head in his hands or on the desk. Of course, since it was 8 in the morning, I chalked this up to a bad case of the Monday's.

Well, at the end of the day this same day the student came back to talk to my co-op. The first thing he did was apologize for being so out of it that morning. My co-op asked if there was something wrong, and the student replied with the following: His mom was just diagnosed with breast cancer a week ago and just went through extensive surgery. He also found out that his brother and sister (both soldiers overseas) may not be able to come home for the holidays anymore.

When the student left, my co-op told me that this particular student was just admitted into the c-level program because of his low PSSA scores. Let's add that to his list of worries...

It was just such an eye-opener... Here's a student that has so much going on in his personal life, who could blame him for being a little pre-occupied? It's such a shame that this student is being pushed through this system of standards when those who create these tests don't take into consideration the outside circumstances. He is in no way a poor student -- he's engaged, motivated and hardworking... He just happens to get lower test scores.

I think one of my biggest challenges as a teacher will be to find a way to meet these students where they are, while still trying to uphold the state standards.

In other words....AHHHHHHHHH!!

How everything is going.

Hello Classmates!

Although we haven't seen each other in quite a long period of time (besides our Unit Plan Meeting), I feel as though everyone probably has a lot of things to say about their placements and unit plans.  So I will reflect a little on my experiences and how my life has been going.
I am placed basically in Maryland at Kennard-Dale High School with Mr. Grant Leonard.  It is actually quite interesting to have him as a co-op since he was in one of my English classes last semester, so he already knew who I was after he met me on the first day.  He actually told me he expected a man to walk in since he has a male student named Dakota.  I thought this was normal and basically expected it.  I really enjoy working with his classes since they vary from all grade levels as well as subject topics.  I especially love his Creative Writing classes, which is where I will be teaching a few lessons in these next upcoming visits.  I am exciting to work with these young writers so I can use my experiences as writing material in the future.
I also enjoyed out Unit Plan meeting we had in Stayer.  It was SUPER helpful and made me realize how off track I was with mine.  It was nice to sit around and talk school in a relaxed environment, yet still be structured enough to get everything done.  I especially loved that we didn't move on until everyone's questions were answered.  I thought that was extremely beneficial.
I know I haven't been blogging as regularly as I should be, and I know we are all super busy, but I am really unfocused for some reason.  I think it is because I am busting my butt trying to get all my Graduate School applications finalized, since there are a lot of writing requirements that go along with it.  For those of you who do not know, I actually dropped my BSE down to just a BA and will not be student teaching in the Spring as originally planned, and will be focusing on taking writing centered classes instead, so I am able to have a solid writing base to bring to Grad. School (thank you Dr. Shea!).  I am applying to get my MFA (masters of fine arts) in Creative Writing.  Wish me luck as I apply basically all over the country (except for the North East!!)  I am turning in all my apps by Thanksgiving and will hopefully start hearing back from schools soon after that.. (some have rolling admissions).

It has been quite the rollercoaster ride, but I love the adrenaline!

Good luck to everyone else on their Unit Plans and placements!

-Dakota DeFiore :)

Technology and how I would use it differently

Wow. I just read over my blog from the night before my first full day in the classroom. I was scared to death. I have to say that I started off on a bad note. I got stuck in traffic, got held up in the office, and was late for first period on the first day. I spent the day trying to recuperate and got to my car to recite to myself that it was not okay to cry until I was out of the parking lot. Needless to say, the second day went much better. I was efficient, early, and prepared to jump in at any moment. As far as technology and how I would use it differently, it is too premature to say. We are only two weeks into the new marking period and the students have not begun their research yet for their projects. The really cool thing about this classroom is that there is a mac for every student and the laptop cart is for the classroom I am in; she doesn't share the computers with another teacher. Their school is very technology friendly and students gravitate to that (I see them walking down the halls and working in the hallways with their macs- pretty awesome to see after being in Lancaster City where teachers couldn't keep enough pencils around because the students didn't have any. Now that I say that, I am not sure how awesome that actually is, kind of seems like an ill use of resources all of the sudden). I will hold on with this question and revisit it when I have more information to share. Right now, the only thing I can say is that I am loving being in the classroom. The only struggle that I have really come across is having to write another unit for my portfolio because I am actually not in an English classroom. That has made it really difficult to focus on the unit we have been working on all semester. Again, I am thankful for this opportunity and thank the Lord that I can finally see the end of the road and countless hours of hard work. I hope everyone is enjoying their placements and look forward to seeing you all again very soon.

Early Impressions in the Field

I have been working at York Suburban High School and I am extremely pleased to say that it has been a blast. While I have not had the chance to really get involved in the classroom yet, the observation days I have had have been extremely valuable. The first day I observed my coop, however, in an effort to allow me to see multiple teaching styles, she has had me observe different English classrooms and different levels the past two days. Each teacher brings something unique to the classroom and I've been able to really get a feel for who I want to be as a teacher, which has been so fascinating. For instance, one of the teachers in the English department is very lenient with her discipline and the classroom is often somewhat chaotic; that said, she has had some of the most innovative means of interacting with the students, such as asking controversial questions and having the students debate. I really, really like the activities that she has had her students doing. Meanwhile, another teacher is a bit more traditional, but maintains a better hold over her classroom of ninth graders (the aforementioned teacher had tenth graders). She is not overly strict, but has a sort of sharp, sarcastic wit that the students seem to respond well to. It's a good balance, in my opinion.

I feel that all of the teachers at YSHS are really, really strong teachers. I have to say that of all that I have observed so far, they are one of the strongest departments I've seen at a high school. They are all on the same page in terms of how they choose to teach writing (the Jane Schaffer model) and they maintain a consistency across the entire district. Such unity in the apartment in something I have not necessarily witnessed in other schools I have seen.

In terms of technology, YSHS recently received a grant that paid for a ton of new tech to be implemented in the classroom. Nearly every English room has a Smartboard and they have at least two or three laptop carts to share across the department. Nearly all of the work that students do in regards to their research papers and writing assignments is done via Google Docs so that teachers can collaborate instantly. The students and teachers are all very well-versed with the tech and have totally embraced it. Additionally, a recent survey has been filled out by teachers to determine if they will allow students to use smart phones in the classroom. Some teachers are hesitant while others embrace it with open arms. I have been so impressed with the staff at YSHS it's really difficult to put into words. I would go as far as to say that YSHS is exactly the sort of school that I would love to work at. I'll be keeping my eye on them for any job openings :)

Technology in the Field!

My cooperating teacher has very efficient and effective classroom management strategies. Although the structure of the classroom is more of a “traditional” style, in which the teacher asks questions and students answer, her management procedures are extremely efficient. Students know her expectations and are consistent in following them. Some of her procedures include being seated and quiet once the bell rings and reverently standing for prayer (I’m observing at a private school). When one student even slightly breaks out of procedure, my cooperating teacher is immediately correcting this student’s behavior. This efficiency allows every minute of the class period to be dedicated and used for the lesson. By witnessing how beneficial such procedures can potentially be, I hope to implement similar procedures and expectations for students in my future classroom.

Despite the limited technological resources at my school, my teacher still really makes an effort to incorporate it as much as she possibly can. She frequently uses the “old school” projector (yes, the one with transparencies) to display notes for students to copy. She also uses a TV and DVD player to show movies and films, such as The Crucible by Arthur Miller, which the tenth grade honors class is currently studying. I have seen her implement more recent developments in technology with summative or group projects. She assigned students to give presentations, through the use of PowerPoint, videos, and music. Students are able to give their presentations by going to the next door classroom, which has a Smart board and digital projector. Another project students did was they created a CD with a playlist that accurately portrayed music throughout different war eras (such as World War I, II, etc). These are the different ways I’ve seen technology used and incorporated into my cooperating teacher’s classroom.

Personally, I hope to implement technology not only into summative assessments but my teaching strategies as well. However it can be difficult to fully utilize all of the latest technology available when schools have limited or low budgets. Despite this obstacle, I definitely want to incorporate as much technology into my future classroom as possible. I believe that technology, whether new or old, can be an engaging and beneficial aid for student learning. Also, it can be a way for students to become more engaged and willing to participate, for it withdraws from the often tedious lecture based teaching format. Technology is also an excellent tool for meeting the various learning needs of students.