Sara Jane » LC III

Bizarre

sstorrer — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 23:17:31 +0000

I don’t know what I expected being done to feel like but it wasn’t this. Today was my last day at the school and the students were totally nuts because of the snow and Christmas break. It didn’t make it a big deal that it was my last day, I really don’t like a lot of attention. Students brought me gifts. It was really sweet. I really don’t know what to write about. I’m done and that’s good. I think, from what I’ve seen so far, that I will enjoy teaching. I’m not going to say that I’ll be teaching forever because who knows what will happen. But for now it’s great.

Sara

Accomplishment

sstorrer — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 06:02:22 +0000

I’m really proud of myself. I’m official going to graduate a week from today. Cheryl came and did her last observation today and she returned my satisfactory work sample. It just doesn’t get better than this. It really hit me today and I started to cry on the way home. This whole thing wasn’t easy for me. I’m not crazy smart and school doesn’t come easy for me. I really had to work hard for this and it means a lot to me. I started this program with a very, probably not healthy, level of anxiety. In the beginning the idea of teaching and being the center of attention terrified me. Sometimes I wondered why I decided that being a teacher was a good idea. But I’m so glad that I stuck with it and pushed through the fear, anxiety and self-doubt. I could not have imagined the joy and fulfillment that comes from teaching. Cheryl asked me what my favorite part of student teaching was and I said that forming real relationships with students was. I didn’t go into teaching because I love kids. But now I do.

Sara

Saying Goodbye (for awhile)

sstorrer — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 17:05:44 +0000

Well, our time at our posts is rapidly evaporating. I’m getting pretty sentimental about the whole thing. I mean these are the first group of students that I have ever taught. These students have watched me learn how to teach. They undoubtedly have seen me grow ad morph into my new semi-teacher state and it makes me sad to have to say goodbye. Looking back to the first day always makes me laugh. I didn’t know the students and they didn’t know me. Now we are like a family. I love the community environment that has developed in my classroom. It took hard work to get to know the students and I’m going to miss them.But only for awhile….

My mentor teacher is pregnant and is going on maternity leave in March. She has asked me to be her long-term substitute and I have gladly accepted. So I will be teaching from March to the end of the school year. I’m excited at the prospect of seeing my students again. So in reality I shouldn’t be sad to say bye to my students because I will see them again.

Sara

Playing Games & Cheating

sstorrer — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 23:15:26 +0000

I like to play games with my students. We play vocabulary games and reading comprehension quiz games. I always get excited about these games until I’m actually playing them with the kids. It gets completely crazy. The students get really excited and really loud. When I explain the game I think I cover all my bases but it always happens that students do things that I never expect. By the end of the day when I’ve played games with all 3 of my classes I’m absolutely exhausted. It is so hard to reign the students back in once they get going. Anyway my point is is that I like to do fun activities in class but I need to figure out a better way of facilitating it.

Moving on…..I just completed teaching my work sample to a 7th grade class that I started to teach 2 weeks ago. I really don’t have any relationship with them yet. On Tuesday I gave them the post-assessment for the unit. I had to give 4 students detention for cheating. I was so disappointed. The students were talking to each other and one students scooted his test to the side of the desk so another student could copy his answers. I couldn’t believe it. I was pissed. For some reason I felt like it was a personal insult. So I decided to give a little speech to the class about integrity and cheating. Even as 7th graders they only care about the grade. It is so frustrating. Thanks for reading.

My First Test

sstorrer — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:57:16 +0000

On Friday I gave my first test. I know that might sound weird to some people (epecially math). But I haven’t given a test all year. My 8th graders are now reading The Outsiders and my mentor teacher and I decided to give a test. Usually the students just have to read and complete in-class activities and complete a reading packet. But since so much of The Outsiders reading is being assigned as homework we needed to make sure that the students were actually reading.

I started to grade the tests yesterday and it was reassuring to see that many students are reading and comprehending. So in that respect the tests were great. But the test, a pre-made one, had multiple choice questions that were kind of misleading. Actually so misleading that when I was making the key I had to check with my mentor teacher on a few of the answers. I don’t think this is good. I’ve decided that I really don’t like multiple choice, fill in the blank, or true/false questions. Why would I want my students taking a test that I myself dislike? I don’t think I will ever use a pre-made test again. I really prefer short answer and essay questions that I compose myself. I mean it is nice to be able to check that the students are reading but I think there are better ways to do that.

Sara

I don’t like this

sstorrer — Fri, 14 Nov 2008 01:23:05 +0000

I started teaching my work sample to a 7th grade class that I haven’t taught all year. It’s not very much fun. I don’t know the students and the class is huge. I find myself stuttering and stammering like it is my first day all over again. I really can’t believe what a difference knowing your students makes. While I’m teaching the 7th grade class I’m forgetting to do certain things like I always do (check that everyone has their book, etc.) But right after my 7th grade class I have my 8th grade class with the students I’ve taught from day one and I’m comfortable and on top of everything. I don’t like feeling unsure and inadequate. I thought that part might be over but I guess I was wrong. One of the students parents was in class with them today and it made me feel even more awkward. Sorry for being such a downer, but I feel like whining.

On a positive note I am excited to be getting my work sample taught. Gosh after I’m done with this unit it will be time to leave. My work sample revolves around teaching the novel Hatchet and half the kids in the class have read the book. My mentor teacher didn’t know they already read it. I don’t really care, it’s a great book and quick to get through. My 8th grade class is about to start reading The Outsiders which should be fun. I just finished reading it and it has a lot of themes that will relate to their lives or what I perceive their lives to be like. What do I know? Don’t answer that. Have a good week folks.

Best,

Sara

Possibilities….

sstorrer — Sat, 08 Nov 2008 21:54:44 +0000

An amazing thing happened in my classroom on Monday. My mentor teacher is taking a social studies methods class at the UO so that she can get a social studies endorsement. For that class she had to create what the teacher called a mystery assignment. It was basically a puzzle that the students had to figure out. So she created this puzzle using content from our recent unit on Edgar Allan Poe. The students had to get into a circle and each got a piece of paper with a detail from Poe’s life. The students each also got another piece of paper that had four headings: Poe’s early life, Poe’s work, etc… All the students had to do was figure out where their slip of paper went on the handout with the headings. I know this is probably confusing but I don’t know how else to explain.

My mentor teacher and I handed out the supplies and didn’t give them any further instruction. The class had to figure out on their own what they were suppose to do with the things they were given. It was awesome to watch. At first it was chaos. No one knew what to do. But then in every class a leader came forth and started to tell people what to do. When some students weren’t paying attention and got too chatty, other students would tell them to be quiet. It was great. My mentor teacher and I just sat there and watched the whole scene. We had no behavior management problems and the students appeared engaged. I said about 10 words the entire period. This is what I’m talking about.

I wanted to cry when the day was over. It was so cool to see the students being in charge of their own learning. It was also great to not be the bossy authority figure. I really want to figure out how I can do more activities like this. It felt so right to see the students interacting with the material and themselves this way. I am so grateful that I got a glimpse at what is possible. I am excited!

Teaching Poetry

sstorrer — Fri, 31 Oct 2008 19:48:41 +0000

Wow! Trying to teach poetry and its elements to 8th graders is really hard. I realized that the students need a lot of scaffolding just to understand the basic meaning of the poem, let alone the deeper meaning(s). I found this to be very frustrating, but I’m assuming that once I become a better teacher I will know how to help the students understand better. On Tuesday we read “The Raven” by Edgar Allan Poe and we had to read the poem twice just for the students to get what was going on. Cheryl, my supervisor, was there that day and she said that I should try to do more stuff before we jump right into the reading. I thought this was a great idea. She said that sometimes if your having to help students with comprehension after the story it means you didn’t spend enough time before the story. She suggested I do some prediction activities based on the readings title and cover art. I thought these were great ideas. I am going to try this in the future and see if I have more success. Happy Halloween.

Conferences

sstorrer — Sat, 25 Oct 2008 20:44:45 +0000

Thursday night was parent-teacher conferences at Fern Ridge Middle School. For some reason I, the most nervous person in the world, wasn’t uncomfortable about the thought of having to talk to parents. So what I noticed about conferences is that, for the most part, only the parents of the kids who already have good grades come. It was nice to talk to these parents and tell them that their children are fabulous hard workers. It was also pleasant to get to meet the parents of some of the students. So that part was great it’s easy to tell parents their children are excelling. The part that was not so great was not being able to talk to and meet the the parents that I felt I really need to talk to. There are many students who are recieving ds and fs and I really want to see that the parents care about that. I mean I can still call these parents and talk to them on the phone but it’s nice to see them put out the effort sometimes.

So now I have a little story about what one of the parents said at conferences. The mother of a boy, who is a good language art student, was talking to my mentor teacher about putting her son into Adv. English when he gets to the high school. The boy said it might be too hard and maybe he wouldn’t get an “A.” The mother then said that it would be more important to think harder and learn more and get a “B” then to be unchallenged and get an “A.” I just thought that this was amazing! It’s obvious that this mother cares about learning. It was really refreshing to hear a parent say something like this.

Now let’s talk about the classroom briefly. This week, for the first time, I had to hold one of my classes a miute after the bell. They were suppose to be working quietly on a project and that didn’t happen. I always use the one minute thing as a threat and they usually stop, but not this time. So I had to do it. Maybe now they will know I am serious. We’ll see.

Best,

Sara

Really?

sstorrer — Sun, 19 Oct 2008 01:39:31 +0000

So I’m going to write about how annoyed I got this week at the students. Me and my classes were going to the library one day this week to research authors. I gave all the students the handout that they would need in class and told them that they would be completing the handout in the library. Well while we are in the library about half of the class comes up to me at different times and tells me that they don’t have a pencil. After about the third person I was getting really annoyed. I didn’t show my annoyance (what would be the point) and let the students go back to the classroom and get their pencils. So I was kinda scared that I got so annoyed from the kids. So I decided to ask my mentor teacher if it was normal to get irritated by the students. She said yes. Alright, that made me feel better. I felt uncomfortable with myself for becoming so annoyed. I was worried because I didn’t go into this job because I like kids. I went into this job so that I could give back to my community and all that other stuff. Basically, I was scared that I was a psycho and someday going to go crazy and tell a student to “shut up.” But since my mentor teacher said that she gets annoyed I feel better. In conclusion, I reminded all of my other classes that day that they will need a writing utensil in the lab. Amazingly, I had far less instances of pencil forgetfullness. Maybe I should have been annoyed at myself for not being clear enough. Sorry for using the word “annoyed” so many times I couldn’t think of another word to use.

Best,

Sara