Advice for Student Teachers...

Be there to learn and absorb as much as you can from your students. Understand that your students are your best teachers. They are the ones that will let you know if your lesson connects, if you need to explain or re-teach a lesson. They are the true mirror of your teaching skills. Enjoy them, talk with them and allow the students to talk. You will learn so much from them if you hear and understand them.

Give the students the respect that you expect from them. If you want to have a classroom that is mannerly, then use manners when talking with them. Say "thank you," "excuse me" and "pardon me" when talking with them. It will go a long way. They will appreciate the respect and give it in return.

Have fun! You are embarking on a new profession that deals with people. If you don't have fun with this experience and your classroom then you may want to consider another profession. Enjoy it as you will find that it passes quicker than you can imagine!

Wake up, dress up, and show up! No matter how you feel, no matter how prepared or unprepared you are, wake up, dress up, and show up every day. Each day in student teaching is a learning experience. Sometimes it is the days that we are the least prepared for that we learn the most from during student teaching.

Relief, joy and laughter...

Relief, joy and laughter... these were the most valuable aspects of this week! My students are sweeter, funnier, and even more willing to work knowing that I only have a few days left with them. I think my co-ops are even feeling how quickly the transition is approaching. I have been busy making sure that everything is graded and current so that my co-ops have a smooth transition and that they look back on this experience and have as fond of memories as I will. I have truly enjoyed my time with my students and co-0ps. Every day was a learning experience for me, every student a pleasure (ok, almost every student!) Some students challenged me more than others and the students that challenged me made me grow and learn even more.

A Fine Garden

The most valuable aspect of this week was in seeing how a couple of students seem to have grown and flourished before my eyes. Yes, I know it sounds like I'm writing about my flower garden and in some ways I do liken these students to my garden. I've spent a lot of time encouraging and praising them to get to where they are now. When I started, this particular class had several IEP students that were very disruptive. Most times they were not on task and spoke out whenever they wanted to with whatever crossed their minds. I was never quite sure what was going to be said or how wound up the class was going to be. But very shortly after taking over this class, I recognized two students as the leaders and would make sure that I encouraged them and that they were on task. I also noticed that a little praise went a long way with them. After all, they want to be the leaders of the class and therefore like recognition. Over the past couple of months, I have watched them go from being disruptive to leading activities. This realization came to me when I asked the class to open the PowerPoint document we were working on and I said, "Now where did we leave off?" and one of these students proudly told me what page and even what step number. Wow, I threw the question out there hoping to get a response to the effect of we just put in a table. Instead, I get the exact step! I truly feel like I am watching these students grow and bloom and I couldn't imagine a finer garden!

If there was anything that I would change about this week it would have be an Accounting class where the students were lethargic and unresponsive. This was an easy chapter and I think most of the students were bored but it was as though they never even heard of the basic accounting equation. I realize that should have figured out a better approach to this chapter and tried to make it more interesting for them. On this particular day, I had a slight touch of laryngitis and my voice was sporadic. So after asking a couple of questions and getting no response, I told them that since they were not paying attention to me, I was going to save my voice for the next class. I gave them their assignments and sat down and graded their folders. It was so quiet in that room that you could have heard a pin drop. I have never raised my voice in any of my classes and I don’t intend to. This was very effective because the students knew that they were now responsible to learn this section. Again, it was an easy section. The next day, I began my lesson as though nothing ever happened and the students were attentive and responsive. While I believe this method worked, I would have changed the initial lesson so that I never had to use this method at all.

Give a man a fish...

This week was very uneventful. I believe the students were as ready for a break as the teachers were so everything was quiet and the students were agreeable and working on whatever they were assigned. I believe the most important aspect of this week was understanding the level to which the students want to participate. I started using an online classroom a little more than a week ago in one of my classes and I talked with my co-op about using it in other classes. There are one or two major issues with using an online classroom in a couple of classes that I have. First of all,the students do not have email addresses assigned by the school district and secondly in one of the classes over fifty percent of the students have IEPs and I wasn't sure that this group could handle creating a login and my co-op didn't think they could. I posed it to the students as this is something positive that we can do for the environment and we will save paper and ink. And when I gave them the instructions it was phrased that I would like you to go to this website and create a login. Again, I can not require that they do if they don't have an email address as I can't direct them to yahoo or gmail to create one. With that said, all but two students were able to create a login and even upload an assignment! I was so happy and they seemed to be very proud of this too. I guess the lesson is to maintain high expectations and remember, you'll never know until you try.

If I could do anything differently this week it would have been to help or guide a student early in the day and not wait until the end. I have this particular student in first period and seventh period and in our first period class he mentioned that he didn't know what he was going to do as he needed to mail out two letters of recommendation that day and the teachers he asked to write them forgot. I told him to write the letters and that I would talk with my co-ops about signing them. The co-ops were glad to help him as he is a good, conscientious student and gets good grades. When I told him to write the letters, he seemed confused as to what to write so I told him to check on line for sample letters and write one that pertained to him. I didn't realize he was so lost until late seventh period (there was 10 min. left in the day) when he asked the co-op to sign a piece of paper with a couple of paragraphs on it. He didn't have addresses, a date, a salutation, or a closing! Oooops! So, I did something that I shouldn't have but it was my holiday present to him... I took his paragraphs and turned them into two well written letters of reference. The major change I would have made is that I should have had him bring them to me mid-day so I could see how he was approaching this and where he needed help but I assumed that he would have been able to create a simple business letter. This was a very good lesson for me. I realized that business letters were probably not covered in his class as he is a good student and he would have known what was expected, at least in regard to formatting. This could have been a great lesson for him on learning how to write a business letter if he would have had more guidance. Instead, I assumed he knew how to do it and when I saw that he didn't, I did it for him. He was very grateful and I hope this helps him to get the scholarship that he was applying for, but I think I could have taught him how to do this which he could have used the rest of his life. "Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach a man to fish and he eats for life."

Time and Patience

The most important aspect of this week was learning a new level of patience with the students and giving them extra time to turn in their work. Since I began this placement, I've always thought that my co-op affords the students too much time and too many opportunities to complete their work. This week was the end of the third quarter and grades need to be in shortly. I had put together a spreadsheet on the class work that the students should have completed with their grades on it and handed these out last week so that they would have had ample time to complete any work that they missed. We reviewed this in class and they were given time to work on anything they were missing from their folders. In my mind that was it; what they had in their folders on the last day of the quarter was what they would be graded on for the quarter. These students are in high school and should be responsible enough and care enough about their grades to finish any work on their own that they needed to complete. But that was not it. My co-op suggested that we give them the final day of the quarter to clean up their folders. He reminded me that in some classes, over 50% of our students have IEP's and that they could use the additional time. I agreed with him but was still thinking that they've had plenty of time and they're not going to do any more than what they've already had the opportunity to do. Well, his years of experience proved me wrong and I'm so happy they did! What may have seemed like chaos to some, was actually a productive session where students completed assignments and brought their grades up quite a bit. A couple of students that had nothing in their folders actually had the work done and just needed to print out what they had saved. I was shocked. I had already given them a period the week before to do this. Maybe they were waiting until the last day of the quarter to get their work in? I believe some were but others actually needed the extra time and individual attention to complete the work. I was elated that so many of the students that I thought were going to fail the quarter, actually will be fine. So, reflecting on this week, I think time and patience are valuable gifts for any teacher to give. I want the students to do well and some just cannot complete the work as quickly as others. My co-op is very patient and has taught me a great deal in this area and I have the utmost respect for him.

If I could change anything about this week it would be to have additional work for students that had all of their assignments completed. I need to have some fun work or challenges in my back pocket at all times for those students. In today's all inclusive classes, it is difficult to keep all of the students at the same point. This was a very good lesson for me in differentiating instruction where students that are more advanced need extra challenges. If I make these fun and give them extra credit points, they will be more engaged and enthused during the class.

Respect and Camaraderie

The most valuable aspect of this week was the realization that I have very few days left in this student teaching assignment and how much I have grown to enjoy my students. At some time this past week I looked at a calendar and thought, "Wow, I don't have much time left here" and that was the point when I started to look at my students differently. I now appreciate the ones that are vocal, the ones that whine about every assignment, the ones that need help no matter how many times we've done the same thing, and even the ones that are quiet and will patiently wait their turns with their hands up while the demanding students ask question after question. The realization of how little time I have left with these students made me also think about how much we are all alike regardless of gender, race, religion, etc. We all want to fit in and enjoy the people around us and that is what is happening in my classes. The students have taken a liking to me and as you can tell, I like them too. I believe this comes from a mutual respect that I have tried to foster from day one. I firmly believe that learning will come much easier in an atmosphere of respect and camaraderie than in an authoritarian environment and that is what I've strived for in all of my classes. Fortunately, for me and my students, it seems to have worked. I must admit that I have small classes ranging from 13 to 23 students and the smaller class size lends itself more readily to an open, engaging, and respectful environment. The students know that when we have a class discussion they can readily speak their thoughts and not wait to be called on by me. They do not speak over each other but will wait for one another to finish speaking. I never set up ground rules for the class discussions but instead, I've tried to act as a moderator and may have made comments to the effect of 'one at a time' if two students were talking at the same time. As I reflect on this, I realize how special these students are that they have shown me as much respect as they have and it has made the entire experience a pleasant one. I will miss them. Until now, I never realized how close a teacher becomes with the classes and how much each class has its own personality. There's one class in which I have so much fun and look forward to it every day. I think the thing I need to take from this is that I need to strive to develop that feeling with all of the classes.

If I could change anything about this week it would be to have come up with a better review for an accounting class. I was sick this week and took the easy way out using some of the same slides and overheads to review with that I used to teach. I've done much better reviews in the past and the class was dull and bored with the review. I hope they do well on the upcoming test!

Senioritis

The aspect that I learned the most from this week was how seniors actually shut down at a certain point in the year. One of my co-op's mentioned that they will do this if they think that they have the grades to pass. He actually calls it "senioritis" which now makes sense as the seniors seem to have inflated or swollen egos and think that they are much better than they are scholastically. Also, if the seniors are going on to college then they typically have been accepted at this point and think that their grades don't matter any more. The class I'm referring to is an Accounting I class, yes, an elective, that is 80% seniors. The previous week they were given time to complete a practice set which involved each step of the accounting cycle for a business. The class was given an entire week to complete this. What was handed in was a complete farce. Half of the class did very well getting 90% or better. The other half of the class didn't even complete the initial work i.e. worksheet, general ledger, but had the nerve to hand in a post-closing trial balance. They weren't even aware that we knew they were copying if they had a post-closing trial balance and didn't post! Aaaaaagh! But the truly amazing thing was that they were upset over their grades! They all should have failed but we gave them the benefit of the doubt, they did not get points for the post-closing trial balance unless they posted. So, they were graded on what was completed. There was a score of a 24, a 42, a 55, and the rest were under 65. But again, my amazement came with how incredulous they were to get their grades. What did they expect?! We were kind! I am beginning to believe that teaching is partly showing, partly telling, partly encouraging, partly coaxing, partly disciplining, and partly just plain old putting your foot down and that they will get the grades they deserve. There seemed to be a feeling that they somehow should have earned more than what their work reflected based on their previous work... wrong!

This week was PSSA testing again and if I could have done anything over this week it would have been to work harder with the students that were in class even though at times, half or more of the class was missing. In mixed classes it just becomes lost time for all because when the juniors are out testing, the seniors or sophomores expect a free period. While I don't like to go too far ahead with the class, I should make sure that they really grasp the material covered that day. They can be my assistants to teaching the juniors that missed the class due to PSSA's. I'm thinking about when I have my own classes coming up with a way that I may be able to have teams so that when one student is out, the other(s) is responsible for covering the material with that student before the student comes to me. I think and have observed students learning much quicker from each other than from me and it will also create a sense of responsibility in the student that is in class instead of a feeling that 'hey, it's a free day, she'll have to go over it again anyway!'

A Fascinating Study on Human Nature...

The most valuable aspect of this week was in seeing how quickly the dynamics of a class can change with the addition of just one student. I have a class that is typically a well behaved group that works well together, looks out for each other, and will engage in peer teaching. Now don’t misunderstand, this group is far from being angels but as a class they clicked. They did their share of complaining about assignments or in class activities but usually began working on an assignment shortly after I finished the explanation of it.

About a week and a half ago, a new student came into the class who seems like a very nice young man that is intelligent and was able to complete the assignments and activities much quicker than most of the other students. The class was still working together well and there were few classroom management issues that couldn’t be handled simply with proximity. But now this student is getting more comfortable and trying to assert himself as a leader in the class. He is extremely intelligent and much more advanced than the other students in the class which means that he can complete the work in about 20% of the time that it takes the rest of the class. And now he thinks it is play time. He flirts with the girls, talks with the other boys and is somewhat challenging toward them at times. This is why I said he is asserting himself as a class leader. This whole thing would be a fascinating study on human nature except for the fact that he is disrupting my class!

This week was the first time that I had to really come down on someone but I refused to raise my voice. He finished the activity and was teasing the girls and making comments to the guys when I went over and asked him why he wasn’t working on the assignment. When he told me that he completed it I said that was great and now he can move on to the next class activity. He didn’t want to do that and told me that the other student’s weren’t working on that, why should he. I explained to him that he was disrupting my class and that he needed to work and stop distracting the other students; if he couldn’t work where he was, then I would move him to the corner where no one sits. I also explained that I don’t make threats; the next time I have to talk with him he will be moved. And this worked, at least for now. Today he was quiet and did not disrupt the class at all even when provoked by other students. For now, all is well again and the class is working together well. I am fascinated by the psychological aspects of a teenage male asserting himself in a classroom setting. Maybe I’ve watched People of the Forest or Jane Goodall documentaries one too many times! LOL… it is incredible how one good student, who is polite and intelligent can change the entire dynamics of a class.

If I could change anything about this week I think it would be to have nipped some of this student’s antics before they progressed to where I had to talk with him. Part of me wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt and allow him to feel like he was part of the class and cajole with the students and get to know them. Maybe I should have calmed all of them down sooner and then I wouldn’t have had to set him straight after only a week and a half at a new school. But my guess is he’s tenacious and since he is intelligent will figure out how to settle into the class routine while still making friends and without annoying me!

Go Syracuse!!

Slow Down, You're Moving Too Fast, You've Got to Make the Good Times Last!

This week had numerous valuable aspects but for the purpose of this blog, I will focus on what was the most valuable for me. And that was the lesson that I video taped and the results of the Student Survey. I found out that the students really like me and would go out of their way to help me. Before I videotaped the lesson, I explained to the students what I was doing and why, asked for a volunteer to videotape, and asked for their support. The response was remarkable. There were many comments but the one particular comment that stuck out was, "Of course I'll help you, I like you." It warmed my heart. I smiled and said, "Thank you, I like you too!" It made the lesson feel really good because I know the students were pulling for me to do well. But one of the best things was when I told them I was going to videotape the lesson, they got very concerned and asked if it was my last day or if I was leaving soon. I reassured them that I was going to be around until the end of April and asked them why they would asked that. They said that other student teachers only videotaped before they were leaving and they didn't want me to leave yet! In the past, I've heard different professors say that you'll always remember your student teaching experience. Up until this point, I was thinking that I was going to remember the school and/or the diversity; now I know that I'll always remember my 7th period class. They're great kids that have challenged me and are teaching me more than I hoped in this short amount of time. I look forward to that class everyday. I never thought that teachers may find it difficult at the end of a school year when they've had a group of students that they really enjoy. But then there's always another group coming up that will bring new challenges, new joys, and a new learning experience for the teacher!

If I could change anything about this week it would be to slow down a bit when teaching. I have a class in which more than 50% of the students have IEP's and the reasons are very varied. Some are for learning disabilities, some visual impairments, some are emotional support. I've been teaching Excel and try to demonstrate everything on the overhead while explaining it. I think I've been going slowly but I find myself running around the classroom giving individual instructions because many of these students can't follow. I've come to realize that I have to slow down the lessons even more and make sure that the students that need assistance get it and not worry about the more advanced students. I will have additional work that they can do for extra credit on hand. My co-op has been trying to tell me for weeks to slow down and show the students everything. Well it finally sunk in this week after a class when all I heard was my name over and over. The realization then set in, if I go slower maybe more of the students will get it the first time or at least with a little less assistance. I've been concerned that the more advanced students will get bored but they'll just have to be patient too. I've also recognized that some of the students just want or need my attention and I'm still not quite sure what to do with that. I've told them to ask their friends before me and it's worked a bit, but not really much. I'm open for ideas.

I'll just keep reaching...

This week brought a new level of enjoyment in teaching and the relationships with my students. My co-op was out last Friday and on Monday and I was out on Tuesday (which was planned) so we decided to have the students work on a report for Black History Month. The assignment was for the students to research and write about anyone that has had an impact on our society in easing racial tensions or bringing them to light. Furthermore, the students were to write about the actions of the person they chose and then to write about their feelings on this person, why they thought this person did what he or she did, and if they thought that they could or would have done the same. I really wanted the students to reflect on the impact that the smallest actions can have on society and especially in a racially charged environment. I couldn't wait to read the papers. As a reminder, I'm at a very diverse school and I thought the students would have a lot to say on this issue. But to my dismay, most of the papers were just a regurgitation of history. There was very little thought behind what they wrote. It was a history lesson to them pure and simple. And then I read a paper that made me stop and take a deep breath. Here is an excerpt from the paper.

...I am proud to say today that Barack Obama is the President of the United States. He has come so far in his life. Obama has proved that no matter what you go through you can always do and be what you dream to be. Not only has he proven himself, he has set good examples for others too. Obama started as a young man searching and looking to find who he really was. Now, he is the President of the United States. I look up to him as a young African-American, having things being said to me that I can't be anything, to seeing someone the same color as me as President. I now know that I can be anything in this world that I want. I am happy to be here today to celebrate the history in making. I can see myself setting good examples for others younger and older than me. My biggest success is that I show my little brother and sisters how to overcome the hatred. Show them that no matter what they go through in life they can come out on top just like Obama did. I can't wait til the day comes where I am old enough to really understand WHY there is so much hatred. I want to explain to the younger ones that it's all about who you are and how you carry yourself. Obama knows what we are going through, he has been there before. He really wants to show us that WE, as a whole, can change. He has great plans to make America a better place. We, as people, have to come together to help because we all know that one person cannot do everything by him or herself. As one, we can do anything in this world and that is what he has shown us. I am proud to stand here today and say that Barack Obama is my President.

Okay, so maybe this assignment did reach some of the students! I know that it reached at least one and for today that is enough. If I can reach one student through an assignment and to have that student realize that he or she could do anything he or she sets out to, provided he or she is willing to put the work in, then I will be happy. And I will go on to reaching one more student. The most valuable aspect of this week was the realization that I might not reach every student with every assignment; but, if I can reach them one at a time, then I'll just keep reaching. Sooner or later I'll reach them. And if not, it won't be for a lack of trying.

If I could do anything over this week it would have been to reinforce what I was looking for in the paper. When I gave the assignment the previous Friday, I led a class discussion on racial tensions and most of the students participated in the discussion. Then I sent them on their merry way to do the assignment. I gave them a handout which spelled out the assignment and even a reference sheet on formatting for their report. And, I did remind them that I wanted them to write about their feelings on the person, the situation, or even if they think that they would have had the courage act in the same manner. But I think I should have had another class discussion. The students were participating and talking about their feelings during the discussion period. I think that it may have been easier for them to write about their feelings if they would have had more time to express them verbally. These students tend to be much more expressive when they are talking than when they are writing. I need to work on getting them to be just as expressive when they write.

BTW, this assignment was in a Computer Apps I class and I tied it in to the class as an assignment on unbound reports and internet research. I just love Computer Apps because there's not much that we can't cover in the class! Think about it. The possibilities are endless.

How to think!

Over the past several weeks I’ve heard my fellow student teachers talk about how they’ve had to “have the talk” with their students or, in other words, let them know who is in control of the class and discipline the students as to how they should behave. I haven’t really had behavior issues, although ,where I’m at the tolerance level is probably much higher than in other schools; but, I had to gain control of their minds this week and let them know that I expect mental discipline or at least engagement when they are in my classroom. I am referring to an Accounting I class that is first period. Yes, I remember my high school years and I didn’t want to do much of anything first period of the day. In some respects I think that all juniors and seniors should have some sort of phys. ed. class the first period of each day. That would allow them to wake up and start thinking! The class that I have has a combination of juniors and seniors. I picked up the class at the end of the accounting cycle attempting to teach them adjusting and closing entries and then the post-closing trial balance. My co-op has said that this has always been the most difficult concept for the students to grasp. That closing the accounts doesn’t make sense to the students and getting this concept through to the students can be very challenging. So, even though we had PSSA’s last week and the schedule was chaotic we came up with a plan and forged onward. I taught adjusting entries and I reviewed adjusting entries. We went over the work together problem and then the on your own problem. And we did the same thing with closing entries and even spent more time on closing entries because there is more to them than the adjusting entries. We reviewed, and worked on problems together, and we reviewed more. And I just kept looking out at blank faces. They were following what I was doing but their minds weren’t engaged in the process in order for them to know what to do on their own! How do you get them to think?! They were following but like sheep and not actually grasping the concepts. Wednesday morning I finished the class by asking what questions they had, what could I explain better, where is it even a little foggy. I got nothing. Everybody knew everything. I must be the most wonderful teacher! Wrong. It was then I decided that the only way to get them to engage their minds was to call them on it. So they had a pop quiz Thursday morning to start off the class. The complaining and moaning was almost comical. “Mr. Co-op said we’d never have pop quizzes in here.” “Is this score going to count?” Blah, blah, blah… They took the quiz amid all their grumbling. After the quiz I reviewed the adjusting and closing entries on the smartboard. And then I heard the comment, “I wish we could take that quiz now, I’d get 100 on it.” I said, “You’re on. Everybody put your papers away. It’s the same quiz. You’ll have 15 min. to do this.” LOL… their mouths dropped. How dare I, two pop quizzes in one class? I know the students were thinking “This lady is crazy!” And let them think that. They will get over whatever they are thinking now once they get the concept. But, they have to think! I have talked and spoon-fed them through the chapter too much. Now it’s time for them to engage the gears. I can’t do it for them; they need to do this on their own. I now know how the teachers felt when I was in school and I would hear them say, “You have to think!” The most valuable lesson here and in life is learning how to think. These students don’t yet know the pleasure and fun they can derive from thinking. They haven't learned how you can never be bored if you know how to think. So now I’m thinking about how to get them to think!

The thing I would change about this week is that I did not get to teach that class on Friday. It took all of my momentum away. My one co-op was out (yes, I have two) and there was no sub so I had to take his first period class. I was very disappointed because I felt like I let them down. The regular teacher was there to do the review. He told me that they wanted their quizzes back and to know their grades and that I definitely got their attention. He doesn’t think they’ll be as passive about learning from here on out. I was sad that I wasn’t there to pick them back up on Friday, to build them up and let them know that they all have the ability if they just think. But, I am hopeful that maybe it will work out even better for me to start off next week on a high note by building them up on Monday. I truly enjoy these classes and the students and want to give them everything I can but they have to do it on their own. If not, they’ll never learn to think and that is the best thing I can ever teach them!

The Power of Review

The most valuable aspect I learned this week is the power of review. This week's schedule was crazy because of PSSA's and there were no classes on Friday. The school district that I'm at does the PSSA testing first thing after homeroom and it lasted for about 90 min. The classes rotated so the first day I had my Accounting I class for 90 min., the other days for about forty min. The students in this class are a mixture of juniors and seniors. So the day that I had the class the longest, many students were missing because they were taking the PSSA’s. But I pushed on with a lesson. After all, I can’t have the seniors sitting with nothing to do. On Tuesday, I started the class with a review, which was essentially re-teaching the lesson so the juniors could pick it up. And they did. By asking the seniors questions and having them explain the principles, the juniors seemed to pick up the concepts quickly, quicker than if I were explaining it. And it also gave me the opportunity to see what the students learned and/or didn’t learn from the previous day’s lesson. It’s amazing what the students get and what they don’t get out of a lesson. I may think that a point was crystal clear and that everyone got it. And the students may be able to answer questions correctly during the lesson. But somehow, it either gets lost or just doesn’t stick to the next day. So seeing this, it was as if a light went on in my head and I began starting each lesson with a review. It gives me the chance to emphasize and reinforce the points that may need more in-depth explanation. It also gives me the opportunity to add points that I may have overlooked in the initial lesson. This week’s most valuable lesson was definitely the power of review!

If I could change anything about this past week it would be a lesson that I rushed through because of time constraints. It was 7th period and for various reasons I had about a half an hour for a lesson that I planned for about 45 min. with an exercise at the end. Well, I rushed through my lesson and completed it. The students did get a lot of it but there were things that I left out because I was rushing. I learned not to rush through a lesson because you only end up teaching it again. So, guess what I did the next day. I started off the class with a review and explained that I may have rushed through the previous day’s lesson. The students did learn a lot from the first day but I was glad to have a chance to reinforce and to elaborate!

Valuable Lessons...

This week was filled with valuable lessons for me. Right now I will concentrate on the two areas where I learned the most. The first was learning to hold my ground while allowing the student to feel in control and/or to make the choice. This came about when my co-op was out for the day and there was no sub. I've been teaching this class for over a week and everything was going well. I explained an assignment which was to work on a group project. As soon as I started to hand out the rubric, a student said to me that she does not do this; she does not work in groups. I said, "Well, I'm sorry to hear that but this is the assignment" and continued to pass out the rubric. After I reviewed the rubric with the class and was walking around the class she again told me that she does not do this. At this point some very valuable words played through my mind. I believe I even wrote about these words in an earlier blog and they were: “You have the right to fail.” Of course I didn’t want to say this to this student because she was already red in the face and very bothered by the assignment and the fact that I was not backing down. So I very calmly said to her, “That is your choice. But this assignment is going to be graded and a good portion of your grade, so you decide.” With that I walked away and continued to work with the other students. I could see and feel how uncomfortable this student was and I was becoming uncomfortable for her. I saw her emailing (we’re in a computer lab) and she was rather distraught. Iwas walking around the class acting like everything is fine thinking to myself that this is the first day without a teacher or a sub in the class and I have a good student who is going to walk out on me! My mind is going around and around thinking that I should let her work on her own. Maybe if I increased the requirements for her since she wouldn’t have to collaborate she would work on the project. And then, again, I heard my first co-op telling her students that they had the right to fail. So, being reinforced with that in my mind I decided that I would give her until the next day and then let her work on her own. Well, about 15 min. before the class was over I had my answer. I heard her say to two girls in the back that she did some research on their topic and could she work with them. Whew!!! What a relief for me. I don’t think she knew how much she tested me. I was so glad that she made that choice. I knew if I gave in to her that I would have lost the respect of the entire class and I never would have won them back.

The next lesson lies in knowing your audience or should I say students. I started teaching Accounting I this week. The class has seniors and juniors in it and one of the terms we covered was adequate disclosure. Being a new teacher and trying to fully explain the concept and its meaning, I started to talk about Enron. I mentioned how adequate disclosure is essentially what got Enron into trouble and as I am talking I am looking around and getting completely blank stares. These kids will usually give me a nod, a smile, or a comment but there was nothing. And then it dawned on me… they were only 8 or 9 years old when that was big news! They don’t remember it. So now I have to give them a little history lesson too which was very brief but none of them were interested in it. I lost them by going back 8 years! Wow, talk about having to keep the lessons current to connect! So, now I know to try to use examples from the past year, maybe two at the most.

If I could change this past week it would involve that accounting class. Not only did I refer to a topic that they have no memory of, but I also assumed because they did something in a previous chapter that they would pick up and do it again. We did a ‘work together’ activity which was going very well because I had the students come up and write on the smartboard which was a novelty for them. So we went through the journal entries and the how’s and the why’s and I told them to post and when they were done with that, to start on the ‘On Your Own’ activity. I gave them a couple of minutes and a student called me over with some questions. She is an ELL and didn’t get what I meant when I told them to post so I walked her through it. When we were done I walked around the class and found the students working on the ‘On Your Own’ activity. After the class was over I found out that none of them posted because they didn’t understand it. I need to walk them through each step. Just because they learned posting and have been posting to accounts for the past two chapters does not mean that they fully understand it. The ELL student was the only one brave enough to ask! I would definitely want to do that lesson over again and walk them step by step through the entire thing… even if I think it is repetitive. What I think is repetitive may not be to them because they’re just learning it. My fear has been not to bore them but because of that I think I may have been cutting them short. I now believe that it would be better to bore them as long as they have learned the material. Let them tell me that we’ve been over this before but I don’t ever want to cut them short again because of my fear of boring them.

'Flexible' has new meaning to me...

The most valuable aspects I found this week have to do with being flexible. After this week the word 'flexible' has new meaning to me. It encompasses not only an attitude toward what needs to be done and when it will be done, but it can also be an approach to handling the students.

The week started off by making up things from the previous week when there were two days that had two hour delays throwing the schedule into chaos. So, we (my co-op and I) came up with a plan to have everyone complete what we started the week before and back on track. But that was before the snow flew... and that was before two days were cancelled due to the weather conditions. So, our plans to get back on track were thwarted and we were thrown even further behind in the schedule. As I look to plan for the upcoming week I now realize the importance of good planning. By having plans in writing and even an outline of a weekly schedule, it allows me to easily identify what was missing and prioritize what needs to be made up. Without the detailed plans and the higher level plans, I would spend a lot more time trying to figure out which end is up and how to get back on track. The higher level outline allows me to review the schedule at a glance and rearrange lessons. The detailed plans give me the freedom to quickly rearrange activities and/or lessons in order to consolidate material while still ensuring that everything is covered. Up until this week, the true value of planning lessons was lost on me.

Another aspect of this week where flexibility played a role was during a class where a student was very mouthy and yelling at the co-op. The co-op did not back down but showed enough flexibility that the student didn’t feel trapped to the point where she had no choice. The co-op was flexible but stern which allowed the student a way out without any further escalation. This could have turned into a nasty confrontation but because of the quick thinking and flexibility of the co-op, it was resolved.

If I could change anything about this week it would be to plan with even more detail. I once thought that detailed planning would not allow flexibility because every element was being arranged. I now realize that careful planning is what permits you to rearrange a schedule, get back on track, or to be spontaneous and improvising while not missing any aspects of the lessons.

Don't doubt yourself...

This week was fun! The week started off with mid-term exams on Tuesday and Wednesday. The exams should have been last week but were postponed because of school delays. So I didn't actually start to teach until Thursday. The first class I'm taking over is a Computer Apps I class and I picked up with WordArt. To introduce the lesson and myself at the same time I created a mind map of me using WordArt. I had a section that was my family, one for me as a student, one with my travels, my charity work and my favorite sport teams and players. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here it is...

After I created this and wrote my lesson plan I started to doubt whether or not the class consisting of 1oth through 12th graders would be interested in this or bored to tears... as it turned out they were actually engaged and asking questions. They asked if my school work was hard, about the rescue group I work with and of course we could have talked about the Sports category all day! I was thrilled. I told them that I can relate to them when I was talking about being a student because there are times that I think my assignments are useless and that I don't want to do them but I have to because I want my degree. They were all nodding their heads and smiling. I also explained that they will see my instructor in class at times and that I would greatly appreciate their cooperation on those days. They laughed. This actually worked out better than I imagined. Then we went into the lesson. Being new and not wanting to bore them, I went through the lesson quicker than I should have. I need to keep in mind that everybody doesn't learn the same way. I am very much a visual and hands on learner and usually want to jump right into things and assume everyone else does too. I showed them around WordArt, giving them a step-by-step lesson on how to create something and then let them at it! My coop suggested showing them more examples before giving them the assignment. The assignment was for each of them to create a Mind Map of themselves. They had to create five main categories which was completely up to them what they wanted to put in it. The only caveat was that it had to be school appropriate. I asked them to please not get me fired before I even get started! Under each main category there has to be a minimum of three items... these can be clip art, more word art, photos, logos, whatever they want. For the rest of the period, you could have heard a pin drop in that room. Usually they're talking, on the internet or shut down 10 min. before class is over. Not only were they working but they worked until the bell went off and this was the last period of the day! I gave them two classes to complete this and they were just as engaged on Friday afternoon and some were even there after the bell!

Friday proved to be interesting as my coop had a personal day. There was a substitute that by his own admission knew little about Comp. Apps. but that was fine. I talked with my coop and we planned for me to do this lesson with all of his classes. So this was a good lesson for me on the differences in the make up and/or personality of a class. The one class has more than half of the students with IEPs. I was fortunate that the assignment was completely adaptive because the students can make what they want out of it.

If I had to do it over, I would take my coop's advice and slow down a bit on the lesson part of this. I would give them several examples and styles and then let them work on their own. The positive thing about the way I did it is that it gave me the opportunity to walk around and observe the students and what level each one is at. I talked with each student a bit about his/her mind map and helped whenever asked. Before this, I didn't have a sense as to what these students could do and how much they knew.

The best part of the week was when I was talking with an art teacher on Friday afternoon and she said that students in her class were talking about what they were doing in my class. She was amazed how much they seemed to enjoy it! I guess the lesson for me this week is: don't doubt yourself. Prepare it, plan it and go into it with enthusiasm. If you are enthusiastic and enjoy the lesson, you have a good chance of the students feeling the same way. If you're not, the students certainly won't be either. Always go for it and do it with a smile!

First Days Can Be Stressful But Educational

This week I had the unique experience of having two first days of school. My placement fortunately was changed mid-week which brought about two nights of not sleeping because I was anxious about the first day of school. At my age and with my experience I thought that I would have been over this kind of jitters. I’ve done multi-million dollar presentations and slept the night before with no problem. But the first day of school brought me right back to when I was a child with all of the nervous anxieties that go with it. Ironically enough, the coop that I had who has been teaching for 32 yrs. said that she couldn’t sleep either knowing that I was coming for the first day. So for all of you that had the same experience on your first day, my week consisted of two first days!

The best part about having two first days this week was that I was exposed to two very different schools and school districts. In so many ways the schools are on opposite ends of the spectrum. One is a rural school and one is urban. One is a very old school building and one is relatively new. The urban school is very diverse in all categories and the rural school has some socio-economic diversity. The rural school seemed to be much more rigid with policies and procedures than the urban school and the most obvious difference was that the urban school student population is almost three times that of the rural school. But with all of the differences, there was one common thread... the students' smiles. I found walking through the halls of either school seeing the students smiling, laughing and joking with their friends to be an invigorating experience. Regardless of race, gender, socio-economic conditions or exceptionalities, their smiles showed strong and bright reminding me that each one is an individual wanting the same attention and respect as I do and every other human being does. Seeing both of these schools and the vast differences and yet the similarities in the students really hit home with me that each student needs to be recognized as an individual and treated with respect. This was especially apparent at the urban school where the teachers that I observed treated the students with respect and in turn were respected. It seems that the old saying 'you get what you give' could not be more true than with the teaching profession. It holds true with lesson planning and activities, but mostly in developing relationships with the students and having the ability to connect with them.

I think everyone has one, maybe two teachers that they remember all of their lives. And what is it that makes these teachers memorable? Is it that these teachers taught them Einstein's Theory of Relativity or some great scientific theorem? I don't think so, I believe it is because these teachers showed them respect, connected with them and maybe believed in them more than they believed in themselves. This week has been invaluable in reinforcing what I already believed, that treating the students with respect can be one of the most important aspects of classroom management and the students' willingness to learn.

This week, divided as it was with its polar opposite schools, brought another very valuable insight to me, the fact that as much as I may want to help and teach the students, the students have choices and must make the right choices or suffer the consequences. And sometimes suffering the consequences is what makes the lesson. During my two short days at the rural school I heard a phrase that I'll always remember... "You have the right to fail." The teacher said this to the class as it was just before the end of the semester and as a reminder that their grades are up to them. They can choose to do the work and follow the instructions or not; and they can fail. That is their right. That is their decision. And their decisions will always bring consequences - for the better or worse - there will always be consequences. This is a lesson that students need to learn and understand early in life.

As stressful as this week was with two first days and the schools and school districts being completely different, I wouldn't have changed a thing! It was fun, it was exciting, and it was very, very educational.