Last posting
The amount that I have learned this semester has been a pleasant surprise. Because I have taught all my life, bible school, piano lessons, tutoring, dance lessons, and kid’s activities, I felt fairly prepared to be in a classroom. My adolescent growth and development class gave me the idea that teaching teenagers would be even more difficult than I had previously thought, and so I was glad that I had chose the traditional, rather than alternative certification. Now, I can’t imagine being thrown in a classroom without all the knowledge I have gained this semester.
Ms. D, my cooperating teacher, received alternative certification. She told me that her preparation for teaching was the year she spent as a substitute teacher; I can see how subbing would cause a teacher to have a more hostile and aggressive approach to students. It would also cause a person to follow the old style authoritarian teaching that we grew up with instead of implementing some of the newer styles of classroom management. I do not mean to disparage Ms. D particularly. Her classroom management style works for her, and her students do seem to learn.
While I believe that students do need firmly set boundaries in order to feel safe, I now definitely prefer relationship-based teaching. This was one of the first thing we learned about in Dr. B’s class. He encouraged us to focus on the aspect of teaching this semester. I can’t imagine why a person would chose to be a teacher if they did not truly care about students and I believe that most who chose this profession truly have good hearts. However, somewhere in between all the problems and paperwork, many teachers seem to lose focus on relationships. Now I understand that a focus on relationships can help your teaching and classroom management, not hinder it.
Another area in which my knowledge has been expanded greatly this semester is cooperative learning. Although I love people, I’ve always hated working in groups at school. I am always the nerd in the class who ruins the curve for everyone and sets higher group goals than the rest of the group members. That means I have to work less hard, and receive a worse grade than I would like while getting along with my group members- or do all the work, get a good grade, and be hated by my group members… not a pleasant choice for me. This semester was a complete change! Since our group work did not affect our grades, that concern was gone.
Instead, the cooperative techniques that we learned by example in Dr. B’s class helped us learn. Usually, I spend a lot of time reading, making tapes of notes, and studying to learn the information. Since we spent so much of this semester in the classroom, I did not have as much time to study, but I did not have to. The group work helped me to absorb the information in a pleasantly surprising way. I learned faster and better because of the cooperative learning techniques we used. There were many small opportunities to work in groups that did not affect grades but made class more fun. I will try to use these techniques in my own classroom.
I also learned a great deal about working with special groups. This was also my professional goal, and a lot of this information will be in my portfolio. Being able to design lessons to help ELL and SPED students was a great concern of mine, but now I feel comfortable and prepared to work with these groups.
Finally, learning to design appropriate assessments has been invaluable. I have taken many terrible tests, but had no idea why they were so bad. I have taken many tricky objective assessments, and have completed many alternative assessments where I didn’t really know what the teacher was looking for. Now, I will be able to design better assessments; assessments that accurately assess student’s knowledge, not their test taking ability, or ability to mind read.
My grandmother, mother, and sister have all been teachers, and I still believe there is a genetic component to teaching that helps me. Teaching comes naturally to me and has never been difficult. However, the amount of knowledge I have gained this semester has made me a much better teacher. The teacher I would have been (if I had gone for alternative certification) does not even come close, can not even compare, to the teacher I will be because of the training I have received this semester. THANK YOU!!!!
“A” day final comments: Relationship-based teaching
Wednesday was my last day to work with Ms. S and her theater tech class and was also the last day for me to work with my ELL buddy, J. I am very happy that I will get a break soon, but I will miss working with them. A days were my favorite days because of the relationships I developed.
I know every student in Ms. S’s class, and a lot of detail about some of their lives. Ms. S always seems a little surprised when she hears the students confiding such personal things to me. G told me all about her home life and her busy life auditioning for some part or another somewhere, but she really loves her church’s activities. D told me about a car accident he was in last weekend. A is so smart and funny and motivates the other students even better than Ms. S does; she is so sweet too, it was her idea to through me a party on my last day with the class. S talked to me after a friend who she worked with was murdered; what a horrific thing for anyone to process, especially a young person! Because the theater tech class is completely project based there are opportunities for working and talking at the same time and it’s easy to talk while designing posters or organizing a stage.
I really enjoyed helping and getting to know my ELL buddy this semester. J is a bright student who learns very quickly. He is a sophomore who has only been at an American high school this year. Early in the semester we learned that it takes a lot longer than a year to develop a second language, but I think that J is learning quickly enough to be able to benefit fully his classes before he graduates. I observed J’s biology class, and although the teacher was bilingual, I think that at this point, he, and most of J’s teachers would probably classify J as very limited English and as being in the silent period. However, when J explains what they have learned in Spanish, it is obvious he is understanding a great deal, even if he can’t translate word for word.
My ability to speak Spanish made talking with J easy. However, I think my knowledge, comfort, and admiration of the Mexican culture made it even easier for us to develop a good relationship. J never seemed embarrassed to try and speak English with me, even though he rarely speaks in other classes. He is a good kid who works hard, loves pop music, his family, and church and would like to be the boss at a construction site some day. I encouraged him to use his good brain and try and get some degree beyond high school. He believes that he can.
Dr. B told us to try and focus on building relationships this semester, and my A day friends were great examples of this for me. I recently went to a customer service training at work, many many hours suggesting to do this or do that to create good customer service. But, the GM of the hotel was also in this required training session and he said something that made sense to me as a teacher, and in all parts of life. He said, it all boils down to caring. If you don’t care about the person standing in front of you, you can not really help them – you cannot really do your job.
Mr. R told us how effective relationship based teaching can be. Even though the classroom management is more difficult than a traditional authoritarian type classroom relationship based teaching seems to me to be essential. Poor S, I can’t imagine what she is going through, but I am so glad that she felt comfortable and safe enough to tell me things she wouldn’t tell most teachers. Later, I was also able to help her a great deal with the set design for her senior project. I think one of the main reasons I was able to help her and J as much as I did was because they trusted me. Having these relationships enabled me to be a better teacher.
But beyond that, caring is the right thing to do. How dry and cold other teachers seem in comparison to Mr. R and the ROTC teacher from early in the year who also talked about relationship based teaching. How terrible it feels to just teach content without connecting to the real lives of students. I now understand how important pre-assessing student’s knowledge and interest is. And it’s not just important to me as a teacher, it is important to me as a human- understanding, knowing, caring – these are the reasons I wanted to be a teacher and the ideals I will try to live up to even when the mundane tasks bog me down. I’ll try to remember S and J.
Assessment
This week I read, thought, and talked a lot about assessment. We learned a lot about the importance of assessment, and the strengths and weaknesses of different types of assessment in Dr. B’s class. I also saw an example of an interesting assessment in one of my observations.
Dr. B gave us some extremely helpful suggestions for preparing objective assessments and some nice handouts with important rules. Although I have often wanted to scream, “AAAAaaaaHH, why are these tests so confusing!” in too many of my classes, I never really analyzed the test formats that were confusing me. Now I now that for multiple choice tests things like “not” in the question, and “all of the above, none of the above, and a & b, b & c, c & a” in the answers confuse many students, not just me. It is nice to have these precise problems illuminated so that I will not make my students want to scream during tests. We also learned other strategies for test making that make grading simpler for teachers. Having clear directions, having students write in multiple choice and matching answers in one line, and having a blank on the page for student names all make grading easier for the teacher. I will try to use these techniques to create the best assessments that I can for my classes.
In my observation I saw an assessment that was an interesting mix of a quiz, group work, and whole class discussion. After the students completed their quiz, they worked with their groups to make sure they had the right answers. Then, as a class, the students and teacher discussed the correct answers and why the answers were correct. This type of assessment gives the teacher a way to measure student success and a way for the students to learn at the same time. While it would probably be considered an objective assessment, the opportunity for students to discuss and change their answers makes it seem a little subjective as well. It seemed like a good strategy to use.
Special Education/Guest Speaker
Description:
Since the last time I wrote, a special education specialist, Ms. R, came into our block to talk about special education. Before her presentation, Dr. B had given a short lecture and given us advice about working with students that have special needs. He told us about some of the laws associated with these students educational needs and about ARD committees, IEPs, and types of modification. He also gave us a list of characteristics to help us identify students with special needs.
Then, Ms. R gave her presentation. She started off by telling us that perception is very important, especially when it comes to special education students. She elaborated on IDEA, the individuals with disabilities act. She talked about the specific things all “general education” teachers should be aware of, and she elaborated on ARDs, IEPs, modifications. She also gave us suggestions for working with special education instructors, particularly in situations where the general ed and special ed teacher are co-teaching the class. She also talked about the sensitivity of students and how easy it is for them to lose self-esteem when called out as a special education student. She emphasized the students’ need for privacy.
Analysis:
There are many details and intricacies to remember when teaching students with special needs. Dr. B told us to remember that each districts approach special education in different ways. He also said that this is a question that we should ask during the interview process. This will give us deeper understanding of the school and district and prepare us for dealing with special students.
According to Dr. B and Ms. R, an ARD is the meeting and the IEP is the plan. ARD stands for admission, review, and dismissal. Ms. R emphasized that the general ed. teacher can play an important role in this meeting. The IEP is the individualized education plan that by law, must be implemented. Many modifications and adaptations are possible and the IEP specifies which modifications and adaptations are most beneficial to certain students. This is a very real and tangible way to pre-assess those students needs. While it is important to pre-assess all students knowledge and interests, the IEP focusses more on assessing their behaviors and methods of learning.
Reflection:
First of all, when I read the list of possible signs that a student has a learning disability, my heart sunk. I am sure that at some point during grade school that my teachers would have noticed many of those traits in me. Some still apply! I was relieved to hear a few guys from my class say that they had the same thought. More than anything though, that list made me start thinking about how each student is special. Each have needs that are unique and individual. However, trying to accommodate 180 IEPs would be overwhelming, so I am glad the state only qualifies certain students as needing special education programs. However, whenever possible, I’d like to think about each student’s individual needs. One thing I considered is how this applies to subjective assessments. I like the idea of being able to individualize through subjective assessments, but I worry about the fairness of this.
Overall, I feel much more prepared for designing lessons for special education students than I did before these lectures and classes. I admire the special education specialists and those who have to teach those with severe disabilities. Learning how to be an effective teacher in a resource room would take years of preparation. But I think helping inclusion students in my classes should not be as difficult as I had feared as long as I study and understand their IEPs. Focussing on this goal through my portfolio has been very beneficial to me.
Teacher Observations
Description:
I learn best by observing other people and fortunately, I have had wonderful teachers to observe throughout my life. By observation, I learn how to teach, but also how not to teach. I have learned from teachers who do things I do not like how I don’t want to teach. This week, three incidents stand out in my mind, two examples of how not to teach, and one example of how to teach.
This week, I saw more examples of Ms. D’s responses to incorrect answers from students. If I were only watching her, I would have thought her responses comedic. Instead, I paid careful attention to the students’ reactions. The students would physically shrink when they answered incorrectly and then the teacher’s response to their answer would literally make them shrink even more. It seemed as though their egos were shrinking with their postures.
Another think I noticed this week was from of one of my own teachers (not Dr. B.) A difficult assignment with many parts was due this week. As I tried to read the directions, I became more and more confused and set the assignment aside. Then, I received an emailed response to other students’ questions from this professor trying to clarify the assignment. Although it did not outrightly say it, the email clearly had the tone of “you idiots for not understanding the assignment.” I could feel myself shrinking and wanting to do the assignment even less.
Finally, I had one very positive experience this week thanks to Dr. B. Although it will make us fall behind the syllabus, he decided to postpone a major assignment. This postponement allowed me to have some time for sleeping this week and makes me want to work harder in his class.
Analysis:
In the article about ELL students, the authors clearly support praising students and not discouraging them when they answer incorrectly. I also learned in my adolescent growth and development class how fragile adolescent egos can be. Both of these things, along with caring about human beings indicate that students should be encouraged, not discouraged when they have the courage to try to answer a question.
In my communication classes, I have learned that giving clear directions is one of the most important parts of communication. Clear directions can be given in oral or written form, or both. If the majority of the people do not understand the directions, perhaps there is something wrong with the directions, not all of the people who do not understand them.
Finally, in Dr. B’s class, we have talked about the importance of flexibility. Teachers need to be prepared to change plans based on the students needs. This can apply during a lesson or with homework.
Reflection:
I think a good sense of humor is important in the classroom. But, I think that humor should not come at the expense of fragile children. I will try to remember always to praise or redirect answers and never to belittle students.
I will also try and remember that students do not necessarily think like I do. No matter how clear I believe written directions are, I will try to always check for understanding and not assume that complicated, multi-part directions are clear just because I understand them.
Finally, although I like to have big goals and try and meet them, I will try and be flexible and fit the class schedule to the student’s needs. I do not want my students to have to stay up all night and be miserable because of their classes. Whenever it is possible to readjust the schedule to meet students needs, or to reteach an area to ensure understanding, I will have the patience and flexibility to change the schedule.
Working with Jose
Description:
This week, I worked with my ELL buddy, Jose. I communicate with him in Spanish, so I know that he is a very intelligent and capable student, but because of the language barrier (he has only been in the US for a few months), he has difficulty in school. I asked him about his biology class. He is passing, but struggling some. I imagine that biology would be his most difficult subject because of the high level of academic language that is used, and can’t really imagine how someone with only a few months experience with English could pass a high school level biology class. I asked about the teacher, and Jose confirmed that the teacher is bilingual, which I assume would be very helpful. But, he said, “I always have to remind him to explain things to me, he usually forgets me.”
Another class where Jose is having difficulty is Algebra. I asked him about Algebra, and he said, “Really it is very easy. We are doing things that I did years ago in Mexico.” However, he is barely passing that class, and he says the reason is because he does not understand the teacher. Although math is not my forte, I told him I’d be happy to translate anything I can for him during our meetings.
Besides classes this week, Jose also had to take the TAKS test. He was very worried about it, and said he had been and would be staying up all night to study. I explained to him that the brain does not work its best without rest and that he should get some sleep before the TAKS. I saw him again after the test. He said that he doubts he passed. I told him that if I had had to take a test a few months in Spanish after I moved to Mexico, that I couldn’t have passed it either, but that I was sure that by next year, he would improve a lot.
I worked with him on pure translation of different texts that his teachers give him. The texts are difficult, and at times I do not know the exact word in Spanish, but can explain the concept. As I translate, I explain the vocabulary and the grammar on a very basic level, and write down the words in Spanish and English. I enjoy helping Jose and find it easy to do.
Analysis:
When Mr. R was a guest speaker in our class, he explained sheltered classes, classes in which the teachers could speak Spanish and help the Spanish speakers by explaining the material or vocabulary in Spanish and English. It seems that the biology teacher at times does explain the material in Spanish. This type of class could be invaluable for Spanish speakers. It also would be good for non Spanish speakers to be exposed to the language in that way because they could learn a new language as well as the subject matter. However, as has been mentioned in my education classes, bilingual education is a very controversial subject. If Jose’s Algebra class were a bilingual class, he would probably be making As instead of Cs.
In class we have talked about the importance of assessment. The state level assessment, the TAKS test was designed by teachers. Assessment is important, and it is important when the assessment is accurate. However, testing a students knowledge and skills in a language they do not speak only gives you a measure of their knowledge of the language, not the skill areas (like math, where Jose could have done well.) The ELLs take a special version of the TAKS test.
In one of the ELL readings, it talked about writing vocabulary words on the board as you are saying them. I use this method when translating. It seems to be a lot easier when Jose sees and hears the word at the same time. I also know how he works. Relationship based teaching is one of the ways to teach, and it seems to be very effective. Dr. B encouraged us this semester to focus on the relationship building part of teaching. Since our responsibilities aren’t as great as they will be in the near future, it is easy to concentrate on this now. It is very easy to concentrate on it in a one to one setting such as working with an ELL. Knowing things about Jose’s home and academic life make it easier for me to relate to him.
Reflection:
While I do not want to get into controversial political discussions with my future employers, I will try to learn their positions on bilingual education before applying at different schools. I am a strong supporter of it, even though it is not supported by many. It would be nice to be part of a school where several languages are spoken. I believe the benefits to all students would be numerous. I am certainly not saying that Jose should not learn English, just that other students should learn a second language. I see how learning a second language broadens the mind.
While I do not have the right answer, I think that the emphasis on the TAKS test is a disgrace to education. I do not like to speak badly about something when I do not have a better answer though. If one test a year causes this much stress, what would many state mandated tests do? How can the citizens know how schools are doing without testing? I see that there are many problems with the system, but do not have a better suggestion at this time.
Finally, I have learned a lot about relationship based teaching this semester. I have observed teachers who use this method and those who do not. I prefer the teachers who seem genuinely interested in the students as people, and hope that I will be one of those teachers. With the stress of planning lessons, grading, preparing students for tests, and all the paperwork that goes along with teaching, I will try to keep in mind that relationship based teaching is effective. Even if it takes more of teacher’s precious time, it is much better for the students.
Ms. D’s leadership/group communication class
Description:
Ms. D’s Monday’s class included many great opportunities for learning. She began the class with a warm up activity. The students had to answer the question “Was Hitler a good leader?” in their journals.
Then, the students had 6 minutes to prepare for presentation. Groups of about 6 people presented the posters that they had drawn in the last class. In these posters, they had drawn a person whose characteristics were those of a good leader. The presentations gave the students the opportunity to practice speaking in front of a class in a comfortable group setting in which they only needed to say about two sentences each. The posters had things like a picture of a person with big ears, many arms, a clock, and a big brain.
After that, Ms. D gave a short lecture about leadership styles and group communication. During the lecture, she only had on lamps in the classroom and the PowerPoint and worksheets helped the students to keep track of the information she was sharing. The last activity was the most interesting. Students again formed groups of six. Ms. D passed out 5 envelopes that included various puzzled pieces. Within the group were the pieces to form five squares. One person was the monitor and checked to see that the students were following the rules, no talking, and no gesturing. The others could only pass puzzle pieces to other group members with the goal of making the five squares. It was interesting to observe how problem solving and group roles emerged even without words or gestures.
Analysis:
I thought the warm up activity was a great way to prepare the class. It helps students spend more time on task. As we learned in Dr. B’s class, wasting 5 minutes a day adds up to wasting about two weeks a year, so the first few minutes of class are very important.
The presentations were also a good way to allow the students to share information and to assess the students. Continual assessment is important so that teachers can adjust their lesson to help the students gain knowledge. I noticed that Ms. D clapped after each presentation, and encouraged the class to clap also. This showed how she was modeling good classroom behavior.
Ms. D covered the information that was in her PowerPoint well. She also connected the leadership styles back to the warm up question, explaining how Hitler was an authoritarian leader. Although class in time is limited, and it is not a history class, I thought it would have been a good idea to give the students more information about Hitler and his leadership because it was obvious from the discussion that they did not have much knowledge in this area. According to Dr. B, teachers must be flexible and ready to change their plans based on the students needs.
Finally, the square activity was a really good way to incorporate cooperative learning. It also allowed the students to move around the room, giving them the opportunity to move around. This is good for the kinesthetic learners and just to wake the students up a little.
Reflection:
I really like the idea of using a writing warm up assignment to prepare the students for class, and will use journaling in my classes. Ms. D gives here students spiral notebooks, which they keep in class for this purpose. She suggests going to Dollar Tree, there she found the spirals for 15 cents each.
I also think the short group presentations are a great way to get the students ready for the longer speeches that will come later in the class. Students presenting with a group tend to feel more comfortable than on their own and the short speech slowly gets them ready for longer speeches.
I enjoyed how Ms. D connected the warm up assignment to the lecture’s beginning about authoritarian leadership. However, in my class, I will try to really pay attention to what the students understand and they are not understanding, constantly assessing that so that if there is something they do not understand, I can be flexible and adjust my lesson, putting the student’s needs first. I certainly would have given the students more information about Hitler, instead of allowing the class consensus that he was a good leader. Though the lecture and group activity were important, I would have also spent more time on history and it’s relevance to the perception of leadership skills.
The group activity was so interesting to watch, and so relevant to group communication, I will definitely use it. Finally, I hope that I will be able to use transitions as well as Ms. D and be able to incorporate lots of variation in my lessons like she does.
ESL Teacher
Description:
Mr. R has been teaching English language learners for about 20 years. He mentioned several things that will definitaly help anyone teaching ELLs. The thing he emphasized most was relationship-based teaching. He said that because of his relationship-based teaching, he has few disipline problems in his class. He recommends not assigning seats for the first six weeks of class so that the teacher can observe the social setting of the classroom; by finding the leaders of the groups, it is easier to teach everyone in the group, but group observation is difficult when seats are assigned. Mr. R also told us was about sheltered classes. He is a big advocate for sheltered classes because he says that those classes give these students the best type of attention so that they can learn. He said that in a sheltered class, the teacher can switch from English to Spanish to better explain a subject.
He also talked about the silent period, academic language, and the proficiency continuum. In the silent period, dewcomers are processing the language, but are not yet ready to speak, that academic language is more difficult ot learn than interpersonal common language, and that language is learned in steps; proficiency in usually somewhere on the continuum between novice and proficient, but usually not completely on one side or the other.
Analysis:
Mr. R’s teaching style seems to be very successful for him and his classes. His relationship based teaching allows him to treat each student as special and individual. His understanding of the sociology of a classroom provides valuable insights for new teachers.
His view of sheltered classes was also illuminating. He advocated for both sheltered classes, and for teachers standing up for what they think is best for the students.
Mr. R’s explanation of newcomers and the silent period was complete, and reminded me of my own experiences learning Spanish in Mexico.
Reflection:
Mr. R’s visit reinforced my desire to teach ESL classes. His ideas about relationship based teaching make a lot of sense to me and I will try to incorporate these ideas into my classroom. I especially like the idea about not assigning seats for the first few weeks of class (although I don’t know if I will have unassigned seats for an entire six-week period like he does.) Like Mr. R, I believe that sheltered classes are the most beneficial for ELLs. I do not think they offer a sheltered class in the communication field, so I don’t think I’ll be teaching one, but I would advocate for this type of a class.
Mr. B’s visit
Description:
Mr. B visited our class and talked about feedback. Although they mean the same thing, he says that teachers should never use the word “criticize,” but instead use “give feedback” because criticize has a negative connotation. He showed us an activity in which one student sat at the front of the classroom with a bucket full of tennis balls. The goal was for this student to toss a ball and make a basket in another bucket that was farther behind him. He assigned the other students to four groups. The following groups were assigned: no feedback, only positive feedback, only negative feedback, and constructive feedback. This activity effectively demonstrated that constructive feedback is most useful in trying to help the student to reach his/her goal. He then talked about giving constructive criticism to students. When starting the feedback process, it is important to begin with praise. While many teachers do this, often they say, “… was good, but,” and that for a student, that word “but,” negates anything positive the teacher just said. Instead, Mr. B suggests the use of the word “and.”
Analysis:
I learned that using appropriate language is an important part of the feedback process in order to avoid negative student reactions or misunderstandings. I also was able to see a good example of the positive effects of constructive criticism. The image of the ability of the student to do better with constructive feedback will stay in my mind.
Reflection:
In the future, I will try to use the word “feedback,” instead of “criticism,” and “and” instead of “but” in my classrooms. Of everything Mr. B said though, the thing I remember best was the demonstration. I will definitely try to incorporate as many constructive activities as possible in my classroom because like me, my student may remember these things best.
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