Week 11

Another week has gone by in a flash, and we are all one week closer to the end! Overall this was a good week, though it, like every other week, had its ups and downs.  

As you all may be aware, I took over my third class a couple of weeks ago (Advanced Applications) and this is one of the most hyper, "screw-ballish" classes of them all.  The students are a great deal of fun, but can be hard to keep on task, to say the least.  This week was the first time I ever led this class through "guided practice" for the full 80+ minute period, and I learned that if you don't intensely prepare, and intensely prepare some more, it can be hectic.  I understood all of the content, and was comfortable with the material, but when there is a class of 15-18 students (10 of which are not the best at staying on task,) it can be VERY difficult to keep everyone working on the same page.  Also, anytime I made the slightest mistake, it was earth-shattering to the students who were just looking for something to squeal about.  This was a very good learning experience, and it really was not too hectic/out of control, but it was certainly beneficial for me as I continue to learn how to improve on my teaching styles. 

This in mind, it was probably the most beneficial part of the week for me, but also the one part I would like to do over again. As I said, I learned a great deal from it, but I also would like the chance to go back and do it over again because I feel there are many things I could have improved upon.  Again, hindsight is 20/20; learn and move on.

Another very beneficial part of my week was yesterday; an in-service day.  I worked almost non-stop from 8:15 a.m. until about 4:10 p.m., with a very short lunch in between.  This entire day was spent coordinating activities and lessons for next week being that we will all be at FBLA.  I had to develop detailed lesson plans for the sub, instructions for the students, rubrics for their activities, and back up activities for all of those early finishers.  I know how students can be for substitutes, especially when they do not have work to keep them engages, so I attempted to have enough quality work for them to do while I am gone so that they do not cause any unnecessary issues for the substitute.

Once again, a good week overall. I learned more than I taught, as usual, but I also had some great breakthroughs with some of my students.  As far as I'm concerned, a student teacher can't ask for any more than that :).  

Oh, and by the way, 49 days down, 17 to go (of being in school, that is.) Bring on April 29th!!

week 10

"Another one bites the dust..." One more week down, and many new learning experiences along with it.  Overall it has been another good week. Monday started off as one of the longest days of my semester being that I had a full schedule of classes, followed by Clinical Studies for a couple hours, then back to Selinsgrove for the school board meeting. Although there were some things about Monday that made me feel that this week may be a drag, it turned out to be a pretty good one in the end.

I also started landscaping for the season this week, which means that I go from school to work that could be anywhere from Millville, Bloomsburg, Danville, Buckhorn, or wherever else the work is available.  Although I love the work, and NEED the money, it still makes for long, tiring days.

As far as what I benefitted most from, it would probably be improving on time management skills. I've taken on my third prep this week, which is requiring me to balance even more workload as I attempt to do more with each hour of my day; balancing work, sleep, school, and still meeting the needs of my co-op and students, along with the Clinical Studies assignments that keep us all busy.  Tweaking my time management skills has definitely been a beneficial part of this whole experience, but especially this week.

If I could do one thing differently this week, it would probably something simple like re-wording a few questions on Wednesday's assessment I gave to my Personal Finance classes. Overall the students did well and I felt that they knew the material very well, but I always try not to confuse my students when providing them with assessments, and there were a couple questions that seemed to be worded in a way that confused them which caused a few of them to select a wrong answer that they otherwise may have gotten right. As they say, "hind sight is always 20/20."

A good week all together though.  Can't wait for April 29th! It's rapidly approaching :).

Week 9

Another week down, just like that. The semester is really rolling at this point, and things are continuing to go well overall.  There were not any major moments/incidents this week that stick out in my mind, but as always there were more learning experiences for me.

One of my favorite parts of the week was having hall duty in the mornings.  From 7:50 to 8:00 every morning the students are restricted to either being in the lobby near the rear entrance or in the cafeteria, so teachers have to monitor the lobby, hallway, and cafeteria to make sure that students are abiding by the rules. It has been quite a bit of fun for me to just stand in the lobby/hall on my "post" and wait to see which students seek me out.  Some of my best conversations and most memorable moments come from this part of the day when I get to find out about what the students had going on the night before, and what they have going on for the day ahead.

As always, this week has been a busy one.  Being that everything has gone fairly smoothly, it's hard to say what I would change if I could do it over again.  However, being that there is always so much work to do, it's always easy to say that I would have utilized my time a little better in hind-sight. As they say "Hind-sight is always 20/20" and looking back there are a few things I could have done to be more efficient with how I managed my time.  Although this is difficult to put into practice at times due to the frequent and unpredictable interruptions that occur so often in school.

Again, my favorite part of the week, and the part that most beneficial, was the time I have had to get to know some of my students better by interacting with them for an extra 10 minutes each day while I'm on hall duty.  Students are becoming more and more open with me, and willing to share information that will greatly help me relate to them, even when they are not aware of the fact that they are doing this.

For all of you who are wondering, my approximate countdown is down to 40 : 28 (days completed : days left to go) of days that I'll actually be in school...only 28 more!

Week 8

According to my daily countdown, I am over the hump! 35 down, 33 to go.  Exciting! On top of that, this week has probably been the most fun I've had up to this point in student teaching.  Ironic being that I have spent my evenings (as I am sure all of you have as well) working on assignments due, on top of lesson plans and organizing resources.  However, this week was still a great time for me.

The highlights would have to be found in Thursday and Friday.  On Thursday my co-op was out due to having to speak at a conference, so even though I had a sub in the classroom, I got to run the show for all of the classes that I typically do not teach.  These groups are so much fun, and I had a great time working with them.  In the Advanced App's course that I covered on Thursday, we took the whole period to watch persuasive PowerPoint presentations that the students had worked very hard on for the past couple weeks.  This was for the purpose of peer grading.  Some of the work these students come up with is simply amazing, while others left a fair bit to be desired.  Whatever the case may be, it was a great time.  It was also in this class that I had to be the most stern that I have had to up until this point.  It was nothing too dramatic, but I did have to project my voice (more than usual) and tell one or two students to get back to their seats after they were causing a mild disruption.  It evoked a few "ooooooooooo's" from the other students, but it did not escalate and all was well.

Today (Friday) I was asked to be a judge for a foreign foods contest in the cafeteria at the end of the day.  This meant that I got to sample ethnic desserts for approximately 20-30 minutes. For obvious reasons, this was also a great time, and I was able joke around with many students during a light hearted time of hanging out and eating some great food.

Overall, this has been a great week.  As far as things I would change, that would primarily pertain to the day I video taped myself.  I taught a lesson that mainly pertained to compound interest, and I could clearly sense that towards the end of my lesson there were many students that were starting to trail off due to the content being somewhat confusing and a little dry at times.  I under estimated the amount of time I would have to spend on it, which made it more difficult to maintain their attention.  The class was still fairly successful, but there are things I could have done to improve it.

What I benefited from most this week was simply getting to know students a little better, and having the opportunities to loosen up and let them get to know me better as well.  This is very important to me as a teacher and as an individual because it not only lets the students know that I am very much human which allows them to relate to me better, but it also increases trust and respect so that when it comes to classroom management and related factors, it is rather easy to get their attention and have them respond positively to me.  

All in all, a very good week.  This is reinforced by the fact that we are over the half way mark...Yipeeeeee! =)