Monday, June 10, 2013

Final Summary of Field Experience



I think the biggest thing that I have learned about teachers this quarter is that each individual teacher has their own teaching style, that for the most part, is completely unique and that it’s ok. Every teacher thinks differently from the next and so it only makes sense to have a very unique teaching style that accommodates those differences into their lessons. It isn’t good to try and mimic a specific teacher, just because they are considered to be good, because more times than not, you won’t be comfortable when you are up in front of a classroom teaching a lesson. Some cooperating teachers have a specific way of doing things that has often differed from the teaching candidates that I have talked with and so it made it a little difficult to implement their own style in the lessons. But after a while of being there and getting to know the cooperating teacher more, most situations allowed the candidate to throw their own personality into the lesson, while still maintaining the overall structure that the teacher was used to. It was a bit difficult for me at times because the teaching style that my cooperating teacher had was very different than mine regarding how to interact and discipline the students. He is extremely well organized and runs a very structured classroom that doesn’t allow for any side chatter during instruction or class discussion. Most times that would be the view of many teachers, but I actually think that it’s OK to allow for a certain degree of chatter especially in special circumstances.
This actually brings me to the next point of what I learned this quarter which is to pick and choose your battles. No matter what, each and every day is not going to run perfectly and as a teacher you should never try to force a class to do so. There is always going to be a certain level of side conversations going on from time to time, and if you try to stop every single one, then the class is going to eventually become very wound up and then participation will more than likely drop because of it. Especially in special circumstances, for instance in a classroom that has a large number of IEP students where they may lose track of where they are in the book or in note taking and need to ask a neighbor to catch them up. When I ran my lessons throughout the quarter I made a point to pair each individual IEP student with a study buddy for those situations and that way whenever the other kids heard any chatter, they could simply look and realize that, that was who was talking and then get right back into the lesson without them getting frustrated with the noise. I had extremely positive results using this method and will continue to use and tweak it. By not engaging in every single circumstance the students are allowed to feel more relaxed and not like they are being kept in line by a drill instructor and from my experiences will be more apt to cut out whatever misbehavior I correct them for when I actually do correct them. The fact that behavior corrections won’t happen often will make it more of a big deal when they are called out and in so doing, will deter that sort of behavior.
I have learned that I still have quite a bit to learn about being a complete and effective teacher. I have realized that I have a very charismatic voice and approach in my lessons and always was able to get the students involved and engaged in the learning process, which is great. But I never really realized how much thought and effort goes into being a full-time teacher. It is by no means a 9-5 job, but that is alright with me. I have also rediscovered and confirmed that I have definitely made the right decision of choosing to work with kids. I absolutely love being able to have the opportunity to potentially make an extremely positive impact on my students lives. There always seems to be so many negative stories in the news about children being abused or neglected by their parents, so it makes me feel good to be able to have a part to play in creating a safe haven for them to come to at school and not be afraid or worried about anything. On the same thought, I have realized how little I approve of bullying in any fashion whatsoever. With the realization of what my position encompasses, as far as school being a safe place for these kids to go, it is my job to ensure that each student is being treated appropriately by both students and faculty. There are certain areas across the nation that have extremely high crime rates and other controlling factors that make schools the only safe place for kids to go. That is why it is so utterly important for each and every teacher to keep a watchful eye constantly on any dangers or bullying situations, so that they may put an end to them immediately. It really is part of the job description to keep the students safe and something that I realized that I take very seriously.
Being in two different schools this quarter has really opened my eyes to the differences in funding. Not only was one a middle and a high school, but they were also in two completely different districts and it was like night and day. Not only were the resources much scarcer in one, but the entire atmosphere in general. I have heard stories about how being in a school with a very low SES can be very difficult as a teacher in my experience it is true. It makes a lot of sense now looking back as to why my first teacher felt the need to keep such a high level of structure and order in his class, because maybe he felt that he had too. The high school is much newer and they have a lot more electronic aids then the middle school did. The students attitudes were much different too, which could be very likely due to the fact that their parents are more financially stable and have a better life at home, both relationship wise and in a financial sense. Both schools had extremely devoted teachers, but the level of engagement was astoundingly higher at the school with the higher SES. Some might say that the school has more money and can afford better teachers and I have no doubt that there is some truth to that statement. But at the same time I know that no matter what school I am placed in, whether it is high or low SES standing I am not going to neglect the needs of my students and will work just as hard in either situation to ensure that my students are fully engaged and meeting the standards that are set for them each and every single day. I know that almost sounds like an impossibility because everyone has bad days, even teachers, but it really is all in how you look and act in every individual situation. If I allow myself to get emotional because of outside factors of my life, then yeah I am more than likely not going to teach well and my students aren’t going to gather much that day academically. But if I put any emotions aside and continue to remain positive, then my day will get better and my students will learn.
Confirm, confirm and just for the heck of it confirm again with everything whenever communicating with your cooperating teacher. I went through a very tough situation losing my placement this quarter and would not wish that on anyone. There was some misunderstanding going from winter to spring quarter and the days that I was going to observe and it cost me my placement. There was also some other influences like MAPS and MSP testing that seemed a bit overwhelming to my cooperating teacher, but the main factor seemed to be that he thought that I was supposed to be there on a day that I wasn’t there. So, confirm everything everyday about everything. You might think that you are overwhelming the teacher by being overly thorough, but through my experience this quarter I learned that teachers are extremely scatter brained and need to keep everything extremely organized and scheduled or else all hell breaks loose. It is much better to be overly thorough then to have a misunderstanding and potentially lose your placement. Everything luckily worked out good for me and I ended up with an absolutely amazing teacher now, but it was still an unpleasant experience all the same.

Weekly Blog #8



Though today isn’t my last day of teaching it will be my last post, due to the deadline of tomorrow at noon. Today was a very slow day, and is going to be a very slow week because most of the seniors in the classes that I am observing are not coming back since graduation was this last Saturday. There are a few remaining students in each class, just to finish up some work on their final assignments and such. My teacher actually took on an 11th grade psychology class for the rest of the week for a colleague that started their summer break early. It was a very relaxed class that didn’t have a whole lot of content this late in the year, but I was able to be a part of some really good discussions about what they had been learning. I haven’t encountered my highlight for the week but am positive it is yet to come because on Wednesday my teacher is having me actually grade and input the student’s final scores for their finals into his electronic grade book. That is actually very exciting for me because I will get to see how the students performed, but the big thing for me is that I actually get to see how a teacher’s grade book looks. I haven’t had the opportunity to input any of the scores for papers that I have corrected yet and correcting papers is something that I have had a lot of throughout the last 2 quarters of student teaching, so I am really looking forward to that! Another highlight this week is that I am going to be able to see how the last day of school looks from a teacher’s perspective this Friday. That is also very exciting and I am looking forward to it as well. The big thing that was a bit of a downer for me today was getting out of the parking lot. This school is a lot bigger than the middle school I was at, and even after waiting a good fifteen minutes after final bell, it was a nightmare. It seems that a lot of the kids have been staying after school the past couple of days to get in all of their year book signatures and end of the year photos with everyone. Speaking of yearbooks, it actually brought back some really good memories from my last couple high school years and friends. It is just so exciting to finally be in a school and be able to watch the rewards of so many teachers’ efforts throughout the years finally paying off.

Weekly Blog #7



So, today was finals day and man was it crazy. The new classroom that I am in consists of all senior classes and the kids were extremely excited about getting done with their last finals to graduate tomorrow. Today was definitely the highlight of my week because of being able to see the end result of an entire career of education from K-12. These kids were excited to be done, but also had quite a few other emotions about leaving their friends and going to college in a new place. The majority of all the students in my second period, which is a government class were at the very least leaving Spokane and a good amount were leaving the state for their next step in life going to college. It was really neat to hear their thoughts about what to expect when they get there and how much fun they are going to have with this and that. I had a hard time not interacting with them when they started talking about going to parties as well as other extra curricular activities that they were looking forward to, but I was able to keep my composure and remain professional. Another cool thing that happened to me today was that a couple of students that remembered that I was from EWU came over to ask me what I thought about the school and whether or not I would recommend them coming here. OF COURSE I vouch for EWU, 100%:) It was really cool to see them very interested in furthering their education and how attentive they were with what I had to say. The dilemma that they were facing was that their parents don’t have a huge amount of money for their education, at least not enough for any out of state school, and so they wandered what my opinion was about going to a community college before transferring to a 4 year school. I tried to give them the best advice that I possibly could leaving them with contacts from both schools that they can call and talk with further about their future options. It was just a great day and even though I only have known these students for a very short time, found myself being extremely proud of them and very happy for their accomplishment with graduation.

Weekly Blog #6



This blog post is for Thursday June 6, 2013. I did a full day in of observation of my new classroom. I observed 3 government lessons and 1 western civilization class which were all great. The students were working on a review for the final that they will take tomorrow and many of them have their graduation on Saturday. I was able to start talking with all of the kids right away and all of them were in very good spirits, probably due to the fact that there is less than a week left of classes. They all seemed very interested in why I was there and where I went to school. I was able to give 2 of the classes a brief little biography about some of my history and education up to this point. The students were very responsive and also very respectful. This new master teacher that I am observing is extremely well liked by all of the students and runs his classroom in a very relaxed type atmosphere. I really enjoy being in this type of classroom opposed to my last one where the teacher ran an extremely strict and organized class. I felt very comfortable from the time that I walked in the door in the morning until school ended in the afternoon. During the classes I walked around when the students were working in groups and was able to help them come up with answer that they were having difficulty with. For the most part the students were all very committed to their work and had most of the answers already completed for their review worksheets. During my teachers prep period he walked me around to some of his fellow social studies colleagues that were also on a break and introduced me to them, letting them know that I would be there for the following two quarters and to utilize me if they could. More or less, it was a fancy way of letting them know that they could put me to work if they wanted to. The entire faculty was very welcoming and it was a very refreshing feeling to have a purpose at a new school. I am very excited to finish the year out strong and am really looking forward to the next year.

Wednesday, June 5, 2013

Weekly Blog #5



I know it has been quite a while since I was able to blog about my classroom due to the fact that I have not been in a classroom for some time now. Today was a great day though, and I was replaced into a new classroom at a high school in a Senior classroom. I had the opportunity to observe a lesson from my new cooperating teacher and am extremely impressed with his knowledge and love for education. He truly is a master teacher in every sense of the term and has been teaching for 46 years. After the lesson that I observed he walked me through the office introducing me to all of the faculty and specifically the school principal. Both my cooperating teacher and the principal are alumni from Montana Grizzlies, and so had a little laugh at my expense being that I am and Eagle. It was all in good fun and actually helped lighten the mood quite a bit. From there we walked over the staff lounge and I was very impressed with the response that this teacher received from nearly every passing student. Everyone was very excited to see him, made a point to say hello and ask how he was doing and you could just tell the level of care and respect that was felt mutually between him and the students. We had a very good conversation that lasted for about an hour discussing various things such as the new common core as well as experiences that we both had in our lives as well as a number of similarities with our upbringing. He is a very great teacher, I can tell that just from the one lesson that I have observed so far. I am very excited to be observed by him as well as observe him and look forward to his input on my teaching strategies as well as the opportunity to pick his brain. It was a great day!!