11.15.2009
10.14.2009
Excitement and dissapointment from last week
So I mentioned in my last post that I had the opportunity to take over the classroom for 2 days because my mentor was gone for the week. The first day was a lot of fun and I'm really glad that I had the opportunity to have that experience. At first, I was a little scared that my mentor wouldn't be there to give me feedback on how I did my first day, but as the day wore on it was really great! The kids respected me, listened to me, felt comfortable asking me questions and I went home that night excited about the day.
The next day I was in the classroom, the students were taking a lot of exams/quizzes. I unfortunately had my first brush with cheating. I was really hoping that I would encounter this experience much later in my teaching career. I was disappointed because a) the cheating occurred in my honors class b) it happened right in front of me c) the students involved didn't seem too concerned about the matter d) I kind of didn't know how to react without my mentor there guiding me. While we had talked a lot about cheating in classes and how we might address it, I still felt unprepared to face the situation alone.
I feel like cheating as in many difficult to handle situations requires a lot of context, and quick thought. I've definitely talked about my decision with my mentor and field instructor afterwards, but in that moment, you know you have to do something. I'm not looking forward to the next time I have to confront a student about cheating, but at least I've had some experience in dealing with it and maybe I can adapt and improve what I've done this past week to any future encounters I've had.
The next day I was in the classroom, the students were taking a lot of exams/quizzes. I unfortunately had my first brush with cheating. I was really hoping that I would encounter this experience much later in my teaching career. I was disappointed because a) the cheating occurred in my honors class b) it happened right in front of me c) the students involved didn't seem too concerned about the matter d) I kind of didn't know how to react without my mentor there guiding me. While we had talked a lot about cheating in classes and how we might address it, I still felt unprepared to face the situation alone.
I feel like cheating as in many difficult to handle situations requires a lot of context, and quick thought. I've definitely talked about my decision with my mentor and field instructor afterwards, but in that moment, you know you have to do something. I'm not looking forward to the next time I have to confront a student about cheating, but at least I've had some experience in dealing with it and maybe I can adapt and improve what I've done this past week to any future encounters I've had.
10.02.2009
1 month in!
So it's been about a month since we've started observing in our placements. It's interesting to see how everyone's experiences in the cohort vary so drastically from each other. Just goes to show how different schools are and how important it is that we address the needs of each school, classroom, student individually.
In my own classroom, I've been doing mostly observations which I find really useful for gathering ideas of how I might want to teach. There are things that I love about how my mentor teaches and things that I am less crazy about. Things I love include how she makes the classroom so comfortable for all the students, and how she really asks them to push themselves. That the learning is for them and that they have to take initiative if they want to succeed.
One thing I don't like, but that my mentor doesn't use very much is the TV to project images from the computer (like powerpoint presentations). 1) It's difficult to see the screen from the back of the room, and subsequently students have to move around significantly to see the screen better. 2) The students prefer that the lights are off when the TV is on so that they can see the screen better, but this allows for a classroom where the teacher can't see everything that's going on. 3) The TV is in the upper right hand corner of the room and you can point to key structures that the figures are trying to show because it's too high up (I suppose you could use a pointer of some sort, but it seems like it would be rather ineffective).
I've had the chance to do a bit of grading, and make my own quiz. I get to take over the classroom next Tuesday and Thursday (all day!) because my mentor will be out for the week, so I'm nervous, excited, curious as to what will happen! Wish me luck! :)
In my own classroom, I've been doing mostly observations which I find really useful for gathering ideas of how I might want to teach. There are things that I love about how my mentor teaches and things that I am less crazy about. Things I love include how she makes the classroom so comfortable for all the students, and how she really asks them to push themselves. That the learning is for them and that they have to take initiative if they want to succeed.
One thing I don't like, but that my mentor doesn't use very much is the TV to project images from the computer (like powerpoint presentations). 1) It's difficult to see the screen from the back of the room, and subsequently students have to move around significantly to see the screen better. 2) The students prefer that the lights are off when the TV is on so that they can see the screen better, but this allows for a classroom where the teacher can't see everything that's going on. 3) The TV is in the upper right hand corner of the room and you can point to key structures that the figures are trying to show because it's too high up (I suppose you could use a pointer of some sort, but it seems like it would be rather ineffective).
I've had the chance to do a bit of grading, and make my own quiz. I get to take over the classroom next Tuesday and Thursday (all day!) because my mentor will be out for the week, so I'm nervous, excited, curious as to what will happen! Wish me luck! :)
9.11.2009
The Beginning!
Sorry about the long hiatus from my blog... this summer has been restful, and the beginning of this semester quite the opposite! I had the opportunity to travel with my family to Britain/Scotland this summer. Travelling is something I really enjoy, it's always exciting to visit a new country and experience their food, culture, etc.
My experiences in the classroom the first 2 days have been interesting. My mentor teacher has 1 regular, 2 honors, and 2 AP Biology classes. She's been great! I was lucky to have my first day in the placement coincide with the first day of the school year. I really didn't know what to expect that first day though. It went relatively well - we went over the syllabus, I introduced myself (albeit a bit awkwardly), we played an icebreaker in which I was included, and then repeated the process 5 times. The second day (yesterday) went better than I had expected. The regular/honors classes are working on latin roots : prefixes and suffixes in order to gain a better understanding of science vocabulary. The regular class was instantly comfortable asking me for help on the worksheet that they were working on, and one student even told me he had missed me on Wednesday! :) The honors students were much more independent, and required little of my help so I mostly observed the class during that time. And the AP class, is being quizzed pretty much the whole week on material they were assigned over the summer.
I think that the AP class will be the most challenging for me to become involved with. 90% of the students in AP have had my mentor before and she is already very comfortable and familiar with working with them, what their styles and needs are. In addition to stepping into a classroom where the routine is already very much set, the AP students are so independent. I'll have to see how the class progresses as quizzes evolve more into lecture in the coming week.
Something I decided on yesterday night after our field instructors talked with us, is that I'm going to ask my mentor to push me out of my comfort zone. Because my natural inclination is to be a little shy, I think that a little nudge would really help me a long way. I don't necessarily want to be pushed into teaching a full class, but taking over part of a class (soon) I think would be great for me to establish my presence in the classroom, get over some of my nerves, and get a feel for teaching these students. Well, here's to a great school year!
My experiences in the classroom the first 2 days have been interesting. My mentor teacher has 1 regular, 2 honors, and 2 AP Biology classes. She's been great! I was lucky to have my first day in the placement coincide with the first day of the school year. I really didn't know what to expect that first day though. It went relatively well - we went over the syllabus, I introduced myself (albeit a bit awkwardly), we played an icebreaker in which I was included, and then repeated the process 5 times. The second day (yesterday) went better than I had expected. The regular/honors classes are working on latin roots : prefixes and suffixes in order to gain a better understanding of science vocabulary. The regular class was instantly comfortable asking me for help on the worksheet that they were working on, and one student even told me he had missed me on Wednesday! :) The honors students were much more independent, and required little of my help so I mostly observed the class during that time. And the AP class, is being quizzed pretty much the whole week on material they were assigned over the summer.
I think that the AP class will be the most challenging for me to become involved with. 90% of the students in AP have had my mentor before and she is already very comfortable and familiar with working with them, what their styles and needs are. In addition to stepping into a classroom where the routine is already very much set, the AP students are so independent. I'll have to see how the class progresses as quizzes evolve more into lecture in the coming week.
Something I decided on yesterday night after our field instructors talked with us, is that I'm going to ask my mentor to push me out of my comfort zone. Because my natural inclination is to be a little shy, I think that a little nudge would really help me a long way. I don't necessarily want to be pushed into teaching a full class, but taking over part of a class (soon) I think would be great for me to establish my presence in the classroom, get over some of my nerves, and get a feel for teaching these students. Well, here's to a great school year!
7.23.2009
Harry Potter and the Socratic Seminar
The idea of using pop culture as a successful teaching tool is one that I am all for. As a biology teacher, I find it more difficult to relate some of our discussion during the Socratic seminar to my specific content area, but I still see the value of discussing it as a means for teaching and gaining literacy. At the end of our discussion about the Socratic seminar yesterday in our Content Literacy class, we briefly talked about Harry Potter (and even more briefly Twilight). Having just seen the 6th Harry Potter movie last weekend, I thought it was intriguing that we would bring it up in Literacy.
What I'm thinking is that although Harry Potter is not by any means an "academic literary work" it's existence in the literary world is extremely valuable. Now, I may be a little biased because I grew up with Harry Potter - quite literally. When Harry Potter was first introduced and gaining popularity, I was about the same age (+/- a year) as Harry Potter was in that first book. And while I've always loved reading, the series brought on a whirlwind of reading activity amongst my peers. Not only was it entertaining, but many of the magical creatures had a mythological basis and the characters were interesting and easy to relate to. For all these reasons and more, I think Harry Potter was able to draw young children into reading. It's ability to interest young readers is what I think makes it such a valuable resource to the literary world.
Making references to the book, characters, movies, are just one way in which we can engage our students. A thought that just now popped into my head was to try relating Botany to Professor Sprout's Herbology class - what interesting plants can we talk about and why are they important? Plants are so useful in creating a number of medical concotions and even industrial products...The sap of a tree whose name eludes me is referred to the indigenous amazonian people of Ecuador as "dragon's blood" when applied is white and creamy, dissappears after a few seconds of rubbing and can stop a mosquito bite from itching faster than any steroid cream a doctor has ever given me. And like so many researchers like to say, the cure for cancer is probably out there in one of those plants that need to be studied in the rainforest.
What I'm thinking is that although Harry Potter is not by any means an "academic literary work" it's existence in the literary world is extremely valuable. Now, I may be a little biased because I grew up with Harry Potter - quite literally. When Harry Potter was first introduced and gaining popularity, I was about the same age (+/- a year) as Harry Potter was in that first book. And while I've always loved reading, the series brought on a whirlwind of reading activity amongst my peers. Not only was it entertaining, but many of the magical creatures had a mythological basis and the characters were interesting and easy to relate to. For all these reasons and more, I think Harry Potter was able to draw young children into reading. It's ability to interest young readers is what I think makes it such a valuable resource to the literary world.
Making references to the book, characters, movies, are just one way in which we can engage our students. A thought that just now popped into my head was to try relating Botany to Professor Sprout's Herbology class - what interesting plants can we talk about and why are they important? Plants are so useful in creating a number of medical concotions and even industrial products...The sap of a tree whose name eludes me is referred to the indigenous amazonian people of Ecuador as "dragon's blood" when applied is white and creamy, dissappears after a few seconds of rubbing and can stop a mosquito bite from itching faster than any steroid cream a doctor has ever given me. And like so many researchers like to say, the cure for cancer is probably out there in one of those plants that need to be studied in the rainforest.
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