This was the final week of the internship, which is really bittersweet to say the least. Though I am glad that I have succeeded in my goals, I will miss working in such a great school. However, the opportunities afforded to me by the contract will also be challenging and engaging.
This week, we finished up chapter 8 and began chapter 9. On Monday, students engaged in a review game dealing with the context of chapter 8, and they subsequently took the formal assessment on the following day. Students seemed to do well with the material, though analysis of the test results will give better information.
The next two days, students worked on guided readings to help them focus on the content in chapter 9. In addition, students worked to engage in writing through creating journals from the various trails during American Westward Expansion.
On the final day, I said goodbye to my classes. In addition, students examined visual media dealing with US expansion.
15 December, 2013
08 December, 2013
Week 15 Blog
In my PDS this week, we finished up Chapter 8 of the text and got ready to review it on the following week.
On both Monday and Tuesday, we worked with the laptops in order to research topics. Monday's topic revolved around the temperance movement. Students were encouraged to read the articles and come to their own conclusion on whether or not the temperance movement was justified given the circumstances of the time period.
On Tuesday, I continued my action research through having students work with interactive maps which dealt with The US, expansionism, the cotton trade, and slavery in the south. Students worked with partners to answer questions in order to find out the information.
On Wednesday, students worked on an outline in order to examine the events of the Women's rights movement. This was a two hour early release day, so it was shortened as a result.
On Thursday, students worked on a list of products that they could make in order to explore the different social reforms or reformers in this chapter. This list had many options, and was designed so that a number of different learning styles were incorporated.
The final day of the week was the day of the study guide. Students worked to review and get ready for the test on next Tuesday.
Overall, I believe that this week went rather well. Students seem to be working diligently for the most part, though some management issues still persist. My focus for the remaining week (and certainly in my contract) will definitely be management.
On both Monday and Tuesday, we worked with the laptops in order to research topics. Monday's topic revolved around the temperance movement. Students were encouraged to read the articles and come to their own conclusion on whether or not the temperance movement was justified given the circumstances of the time period.
On Tuesday, I continued my action research through having students work with interactive maps which dealt with The US, expansionism, the cotton trade, and slavery in the south. Students worked with partners to answer questions in order to find out the information.
On Wednesday, students worked on an outline in order to examine the events of the Women's rights movement. This was a two hour early release day, so it was shortened as a result.
On Thursday, students worked on a list of products that they could make in order to explore the different social reforms or reformers in this chapter. This list had many options, and was designed so that a number of different learning styles were incorporated.
The final day of the week was the day of the study guide. Students worked to review and get ready for the test on next Tuesday.
Overall, I believe that this week went rather well. Students seem to be working diligently for the most part, though some management issues still persist. My focus for the remaining week (and certainly in my contract) will definitely be management.
21 November, 2013
Weel 14 Blog Entry
This week, the final week before thanksgiving, was an interesting week as far as the content went. In general, we covered the end of the chapter on Andrew Jackson and Industrialism, and tested on it.
On the first day, students examined and focused on interactive maps in order to work together so that students better understood US expansionism. In addition, this was for my research as well. Students responded negatively to the questions, which is valuable data for my research study. Overall, I felt that this lesson went okay, but would've benefited from having students use the laptops in order to view the interactive map presentation.
On the second day, students focused on the third section of the chapter and examined current happenings in the US. To do this, we studied an UPFRONT magazine so that students could see how the US could still expand to include more than 50 states in the union. In this story, parts of the state of Colorado were threatening to break off into another state dude to ideological differences. Not only did students see current issues, but they were also able to relate them to the issues going on in the current chapter as a result of ideological differences (i.e. sectionalism differences). Overall, I feel that this lesson went well, and that students were able to connect the article to happenings past and present.
On the third day, students focused on the fourth and final section of the chapter while examining interactive maps which deal with the Trail of Tears and Indian removal act. I felt that this sort of interactive activity is valuable for students, and that the cultural information provided by this sort of activity is vital in developing understandings related to Native American culture. In addition, students were able to use the laptops in order to find this information, so they worked cooperatively and with technology. Overall, I felt that this lesson went decently, yet would've benefited from having more time in order to answer and analyze the questions.
On Thursday, students participated in the open book test. Despite the nature of the test, students still seemed stressed out about the test in general. I am still waiting on those results, so further analysis must be done.
On Friday, we examined a lesson and debate on cyber-bullying which was provided by the tech department. Being the last day before break, the students were not really on board with doing any actual work. Thus, today was a frustrating day in terms of classroom management. However, students were able to have a number of interesting and engaging debates throughout the class.
On the first day, students examined and focused on interactive maps in order to work together so that students better understood US expansionism. In addition, this was for my research as well. Students responded negatively to the questions, which is valuable data for my research study. Overall, I felt that this lesson went okay, but would've benefited from having students use the laptops in order to view the interactive map presentation.
On the second day, students focused on the third section of the chapter and examined current happenings in the US. To do this, we studied an UPFRONT magazine so that students could see how the US could still expand to include more than 50 states in the union. In this story, parts of the state of Colorado were threatening to break off into another state dude to ideological differences. Not only did students see current issues, but they were also able to relate them to the issues going on in the current chapter as a result of ideological differences (i.e. sectionalism differences). Overall, I feel that this lesson went well, and that students were able to connect the article to happenings past and present.
On the third day, students focused on the fourth and final section of the chapter while examining interactive maps which deal with the Trail of Tears and Indian removal act. I felt that this sort of interactive activity is valuable for students, and that the cultural information provided by this sort of activity is vital in developing understandings related to Native American culture. In addition, students were able to use the laptops in order to find this information, so they worked cooperatively and with technology. Overall, I felt that this lesson went decently, yet would've benefited from having more time in order to answer and analyze the questions.
On Thursday, students participated in the open book test. Despite the nature of the test, students still seemed stressed out about the test in general. I am still waiting on those results, so further analysis must be done.
On Friday, we examined a lesson and debate on cyber-bullying which was provided by the tech department. Being the last day before break, the students were not really on board with doing any actual work. Thus, today was a frustrating day in terms of classroom management. However, students were able to have a number of interesting and engaging debates throughout the class.
19 November, 2013
Week 13 Blog Reflections
This week in my PDS was a short week thanks to veteran's day, yet required a great deal of flexibility on the teacher side of things due to a few mishaps.
On the first day of the week, the Social Studies department was unexpectedly required to administer a "short" survey to each student via a cart of laptops. This cart was to be shared among teachers in each hallway. However, the survey took much longer than anticipated to complete, so the lessons for the week were all pushed back a day.
On the second day, we reviewed for the test via a review game. For this review game, I used the battleship template which I modified in order to deliver the review material. In general, students did decently with this lesson, but a few of the afternoon classes were very active and loud. It was unfortunate, but most classes did well with the review questions.
On the flip side, the test that we took on Thursday was not particularly successful. The textbook's test was difficult to understand in parts, and featured questions that were not complete on the templates (the textbook company simply didn't write part of the question). As a result, students struggled with this test.
On Friday, we examined the beginning of chapter 7. Students got into groups and analyzed and summarized the different concepts present in the next chapter. Students worked in groups in order to create illustrations and summaries, and then presented their summaries a la jigsaw. I think students benefited from this activity, and were able to better visualize the concepts of the industrial revolution, regional changes, and American System.
On the first day of the week, the Social Studies department was unexpectedly required to administer a "short" survey to each student via a cart of laptops. This cart was to be shared among teachers in each hallway. However, the survey took much longer than anticipated to complete, so the lessons for the week were all pushed back a day.
On the second day, we reviewed for the test via a review game. For this review game, I used the battleship template which I modified in order to deliver the review material. In general, students did decently with this lesson, but a few of the afternoon classes were very active and loud. It was unfortunate, but most classes did well with the review questions.
On the flip side, the test that we took on Thursday was not particularly successful. The textbook's test was difficult to understand in parts, and featured questions that were not complete on the templates (the textbook company simply didn't write part of the question). As a result, students struggled with this test.
On Friday, we examined the beginning of chapter 7. Students got into groups and analyzed and summarized the different concepts present in the next chapter. Students worked in groups in order to create illustrations and summaries, and then presented their summaries a la jigsaw. I think students benefited from this activity, and were able to better visualize the concepts of the industrial revolution, regional changes, and American System.
10 November, 2013
Week 12 Blog Reflection
This week, we worked to wrap up chapter 6 and move closer to the chapter's summative assessment.
On the first day of the week, I felt that we did not cover Washington's addresses nearly as well as I would've liked on the previous Friday, so we pulled the addresses back out and examined them once again. I went over the questions and answers, and we had a discussion on the subject of Washington's character. After that was finished, students worked on the part two of the questions, where they wrote a newspaper article as if they were at the inaugural address. I felt that this helped students get into the mind of a US citizen during the time of the early United States. On the whole, I felt like this particular re-teaching activity was good to do, as it provided students with an extra time to clear up misconceptions.
On the second day, Tuesday, students worked in groups to create treaties between different nations. This activity, in theory, was designed to have students work together in order to hammer out terms that would've solved conflicts better than what actually occurred in history. We did this right after taking notes on several important treaties during the time period, so this activity highlighted what students were just learning. Students had some trouble understanding what it is that they had to do, but in the end, were able to produce agreements that either mirror real life (during the time period) or were more fair treaties. Only in rare cases did the treaties seem exceptionally one-sided.
On Wednesday, I worked with students in an interactive presentation that highlighted the journey of Lewis and Clark. Students worked with me to follow the prompts in order to get to the west coast of the US by making choices about where to go and what to do. Overall, students were very engaged in this presentation for most periods, except for the last period that I taught. That period had some difficulty being engaged, and overall did not enjoy this activity as much as the others. I will try to differentiate better so that all students are engaged in the future.
On Thursday this week, students were given time to work on their outline after I covered the War of 1812. Students needed the majority of the period in order to work on it, and it was learning that required them to use the textbook in order to find and synthesize information. Overall, students did well on this assignment and there were little to no management issues present.
On Friday, I worked with the coordinators on the contract for next semester. I am both excited and anxious about starting the contract hours, but I am definitely looking forward to the experience!
On the first day of the week, I felt that we did not cover Washington's addresses nearly as well as I would've liked on the previous Friday, so we pulled the addresses back out and examined them once again. I went over the questions and answers, and we had a discussion on the subject of Washington's character. After that was finished, students worked on the part two of the questions, where they wrote a newspaper article as if they were at the inaugural address. I felt that this helped students get into the mind of a US citizen during the time of the early United States. On the whole, I felt like this particular re-teaching activity was good to do, as it provided students with an extra time to clear up misconceptions.
On the second day, Tuesday, students worked in groups to create treaties between different nations. This activity, in theory, was designed to have students work together in order to hammer out terms that would've solved conflicts better than what actually occurred in history. We did this right after taking notes on several important treaties during the time period, so this activity highlighted what students were just learning. Students had some trouble understanding what it is that they had to do, but in the end, were able to produce agreements that either mirror real life (during the time period) or were more fair treaties. Only in rare cases did the treaties seem exceptionally one-sided.
On Wednesday, I worked with students in an interactive presentation that highlighted the journey of Lewis and Clark. Students worked with me to follow the prompts in order to get to the west coast of the US by making choices about where to go and what to do. Overall, students were very engaged in this presentation for most periods, except for the last period that I taught. That period had some difficulty being engaged, and overall did not enjoy this activity as much as the others. I will try to differentiate better so that all students are engaged in the future.
On Thursday this week, students were given time to work on their outline after I covered the War of 1812. Students needed the majority of the period in order to work on it, and it was learning that required them to use the textbook in order to find and synthesize information. Overall, students did well on this assignment and there were little to no management issues present.
On Friday, I worked with the coordinators on the contract for next semester. I am both excited and anxious about starting the contract hours, but I am definitely looking forward to the experience!
03 November, 2013
Week 11 Blog reflection
Week 11 Blog post and reflection
This week, students finally got the opportunity to present their TechSteps presentations to the whole class. Initially, I had planned a mere two days in order to get these presentations finished. Unfortunately, this was not enough time to complete the presentations. Students took a lot longer to set up and give their presentations than I had anticipated. As a result, this week was a week in which I had to demonstrate the flexibility of teaching. Two of the morning class periods took much longer than the afternoon classes. This is, in large part, due to the fact that the morning classes were out on Tuesday during the ACT plan test.
On the whole, many of the presentations did not meet my expectations. Students did not seem wholly prepared, and quite a few complained that they didn't have enough time to finish the project and compare. This is quite untrue, as they had a whole week to create this one presentation in pairs.
After the presentations ended, I engaged in my action research project by having students work on a map activity which involved the elections of 1800 and 1796. This activity helped students understand the concepts of sectionalism, the electoral college, political differences, and who won each election. The maps included handouts which described the candidates and the circumstances around the election. This activity provided very useful data for my action research through observations, on/off task data, and map achievement.
Also this week, students engaged in the chapter 5 quiz. Results of the quiz were about average, but the quiz was designed to be sort of pressure free. As a result, the averages were expected to be higher. I will look further into this data as time goes on.
On the final day of the week, we had a two hour delay which caused problems for the lesson. I had to be flexible and reschedule some activities for next week. I had students go over Washington's 1st and Second inaugural addresses and answer questions of them. Most students did not get finished, so we will likely go over this activity on Monday.
This week, students finally got the opportunity to present their TechSteps presentations to the whole class. Initially, I had planned a mere two days in order to get these presentations finished. Unfortunately, this was not enough time to complete the presentations. Students took a lot longer to set up and give their presentations than I had anticipated. As a result, this week was a week in which I had to demonstrate the flexibility of teaching. Two of the morning class periods took much longer than the afternoon classes. This is, in large part, due to the fact that the morning classes were out on Tuesday during the ACT plan test.
On the whole, many of the presentations did not meet my expectations. Students did not seem wholly prepared, and quite a few complained that they didn't have enough time to finish the project and compare. This is quite untrue, as they had a whole week to create this one presentation in pairs.
After the presentations ended, I engaged in my action research project by having students work on a map activity which involved the elections of 1800 and 1796. This activity helped students understand the concepts of sectionalism, the electoral college, political differences, and who won each election. The maps included handouts which described the candidates and the circumstances around the election. This activity provided very useful data for my action research through observations, on/off task data, and map achievement.
Also this week, students engaged in the chapter 5 quiz. Results of the quiz were about average, but the quiz was designed to be sort of pressure free. As a result, the averages were expected to be higher. I will look further into this data as time goes on.
On the final day of the week, we had a two hour delay which caused problems for the lesson. I had to be flexible and reschedule some activities for next week. I had students go over Washington's 1st and Second inaugural addresses and answer questions of them. Most students did not get finished, so we will likely go over this activity on Monday.
27 October, 2013
Week 10 Blog
Week 10 blog
This week, we worked in the computer lab to do a techsteps project on the US
Constitution. Students followed a prompt in order to find resources for a a specific right
in the Bill of Rights or Constitution at large.
On Monday, students completed a chart that got them acclimated with their rights as
presented in the Bill of Rights. This was important so that students were ready to work
once they got into the computer lab. In addition, I explained the project and highlighted
how we will be in the computer lab the rest of the week.
Every other day this week was spent in the computer lab working on the project. Each
day, students had the opportunity to follow the directions and work on their project. I
believe that they had a lot of trouble with this project I can verify this because the bulk of
the week was spent with me answering tons of questions about the project. I think that,
in general, students did not like the project. However, I feel like they were able to learn a
great deal about how the Constitution and it's rights are applicable to everyday rights.
This week, we worked in the computer lab to do a techsteps project on the US
Constitution. Students followed a prompt in order to find resources for a a specific right
in the Bill of Rights or Constitution at large.
On Monday, students completed a chart that got them acclimated with their rights as
presented in the Bill of Rights. This was important so that students were ready to work
once they got into the computer lab. In addition, I explained the project and highlighted
how we will be in the computer lab the rest of the week.
Every other day this week was spent in the computer lab working on the project. Each
day, students had the opportunity to follow the directions and work on their project. I
believe that they had a lot of trouble with this project I can verify this because the bulk of
the week was spent with me answering tons of questions about the project. I think that,
in general, students did not like the project. However, I feel like they were able to learn a
great deal about how the Constitution and it's rights are applicable to everyday rights.
20 October, 2013
Week 9 Blog
This week, my lessons were focused on the constitution and the ratification of it.
On the first day, we did some notes about the drafting of the constitution and then transitioned into creating fliers with supported either the federalists or the anti-federalists.I think this lesson went well, but students seemed to tune out a little bit during the notes. However, I think the length of the notes and discussion were decent enough, and that students were able to authentically learn about the debate between federalists and antifederalists. As far as reflection, I believe that this lesson was well prepared and that it addressed student learning needs.
On the second day of the week (Tuesday), students worked on a constitution scavenger hunt. This was designed in order for students to be able to read and interpret the primary document in order to work with documents. The purpose of this is twofold: 1) students will work with documents and gain a greater knowledge of the constitution and what it does 2) students will read an analyze documents in preparation for the Document-Based-Question that was done on Thursday and Friday. Students did not really enjoy this assignment, yet I believe that it was useful in that they worked with the actual constitution in order to understand it better.
On the final days of the week, students worked on a Document-Based-Question which featured ratification of the constitution
On the first day, we did some notes about the drafting of the constitution and then transitioned into creating fliers with supported either the federalists or the anti-federalists.I think this lesson went well, but students seemed to tune out a little bit during the notes. However, I think the length of the notes and discussion were decent enough, and that students were able to authentically learn about the debate between federalists and antifederalists. As far as reflection, I believe that this lesson was well prepared and that it addressed student learning needs.
On the second day of the week (Tuesday), students worked on a constitution scavenger hunt. This was designed in order for students to be able to read and interpret the primary document in order to work with documents. The purpose of this is twofold: 1) students will work with documents and gain a greater knowledge of the constitution and what it does 2) students will read an analyze documents in preparation for the Document-Based-Question that was done on Thursday and Friday. Students did not really enjoy this assignment, yet I believe that it was useful in that they worked with the actual constitution in order to understand it better.
On the final days of the week, students worked on a Document-Based-Question which featured ratification of the constitution
13 October, 2013
Week 8 Reflection - Video Analysis Reflection
- Describe instances in your conversations in which you (or your critical friends) posed questions that provoked further questions, the exploration of other perspectives, the deconstruction of practice, beliefs, etc. Include the question(s) and the responses that were provoked.
In
my conversations with critical friends about the videotaping
assignment, I found we were constantly deconstructing the way in
which each other taught in the videos. All of us found that we had
different methods of teaching and helping students learn. We were
constantly asking one another “why do you do things this way” or
“do students learn better this way?”
Also,
we deconstructed the body language of fellow interns throughout the
process. For example, the other interns noticed that I very often
used large hand gestures to illustrate points and lead students to
answers in a Socratic fashion. It is useful to have this sort of
feedback from other interns as critical friends because it allows us
to get a second opinion on what we are doing as professionals.
- How did this conversation require you to be open-minded, responsible, and wholehearted?
This
conversation definitely requires one to be open-minded because each
teacher has his or her unique styles of incorporating the latest
pedagogical techniques. In addition, the techniques displayed by
other interns may clash with what you believe in your philosophy of
education in particular.
Next,
it requires one to be responsible because a student teacher must
definitely aid his or her fellow interns in their pursuit of
fulfilling the ten characteristics of a novice teacher. If one sees
behavior or teaching styles that could be improved by certain
suggestions, it is imperative to make those suggestions in order to
make all interns great teachers.
It
requires interns to be wholehearted because we must provide feedback
in these sessions which is truly valuable. As Professor Barrett said
– it isn’t helpful to say “it is good” to someone’s video.
To truly analyze the work of another student teacher, one must give
honest, wholehearted feedback. This is the only way that we can help
other improve their practice as well as be helped ourselves.
- How did you:
- Examine, frame, and attempt to solve the dilemmas of your classroom practice; I looked to my critical friends to help my identify key problems of my classroom practice (not that I have a large number of problems – more that my classroom could be enhanced by bringing in multiple perspectives from other pre-service teachers.
- Become aware of and question the assumptions and values you bring to teaching; Again, I looked to my critical friends and discussed with them what they thought our values were. We might not have agreed with each other’s assumptions, but it was nonetheless a useful exercise.
- Become attentive to the institutional and cultural contexts in which you teach; I have sought to become more aware of the cultural context of my PDS by looking to outside research sources. I have found a number of useful sources (including the most recent census). I have, however, been unable to gather all the data that I wish. I will continue to search for important details on cultural contexts.
- Take part in making changes to your practice; Through this video reflection, I have looked to make changes to my practice by accepting advice from my critical friends.
- We want for you to reflect on what you learned from studying your own teaching. You might consider some of the following prompts ( you do not have to address all of them) as you think about what you learned, what supported your learning, what more you want to learn. Be as specific as you can about your learning.
I learned that
teaching is a profession that requires thoughtful reflection and
open-minded debate about the usefulness of other teaching strategies.
Seeing multiple strategies in
action is
a monumental help for a beginning teacher. In addition, I also
learned that the context in which one is placed has a very marked
effect on the types of instruction that one does. Different sorts of
contexts demand different types of teaching. What works for one group
of students will not at all work for another group. It’s all about
knowing your students (and particularly, understanding what they can
and can’t handle). Next, I believe that teaching is always
connected to particular events: especially that of student learning.
All teaching should be driven by student-centered learning and
designed intelligently so that it fits with certain learning
strategies that are consistent with the types of learners that exist
in one’s classroom.
From studying my
own teaching through this video reflection, I was able to identify
possible factors for change so that I can help my students learn.
07 October, 2013
BLOG WEEK 7
This week, we worked through the last parts of the chapter (chapter 4) and did a formal, summarize assessment on the chapter.
On Monday, we began an assignment in which students created a newspaper about key events of the revolutionary war. I think that this lesson went well because students were engaged in learning through the use of discovery of certain events as well as using teamwork in order to divide responsibilities. However, one area of weakness was my firmness on due dates. In the future, I will make sure to have clearer instructions and precise due dates. After looking at finished products, I found that students, for the last part, have done a lot better than expected with this assignment. Nearly every student (of whom I have seen examples for) achieved mastery on this assignment. This, I am satisfied with the level of learning this assignment produced
On Tuesday, our students continued working on the assignment from the previous day. However, students were able to visualize the instructions because I projected it on the projector. This was very helpful as students were fully aware of what the expectations were for this assignment.
On Wednesday, students worked to complete the study guide for the chapter 5 test. The early periods of the day worked much harder than the later period. As a discipline method, my mentor teacher decided upon making the later periods have to do the essay on the test while other periods did not. Hopefully they will learn that they need to work on their classwork the whole period instead of packing up early or not working.
Thursday, we did the review game for this test. Again, the earlier period of the day did much better than the later periods as a whole class. I will look at the test scores and determine if this was reflected in the scores or if it is more of a motivation issue. In general, the review game went decently well. However, there were some management issues where students needed to be prompted to task in order to continue the game. This is not a huge issue, but it does need to be addressed. Students seemed to understand the game and the directions for the game rather well, and in general seemed to enjoy it.
On Friday, we did the test for chapter 5. In general, students seemed to think the test wasn't so bad and that they did well. Hopefully this confidence comes from a place of studying and understanding of material. After I look more closely at the assessment data, I can determine whether or not this is so.
On Monday, we began an assignment in which students created a newspaper about key events of the revolutionary war. I think that this lesson went well because students were engaged in learning through the use of discovery of certain events as well as using teamwork in order to divide responsibilities. However, one area of weakness was my firmness on due dates. In the future, I will make sure to have clearer instructions and precise due dates. After looking at finished products, I found that students, for the last part, have done a lot better than expected with this assignment. Nearly every student (of whom I have seen examples for) achieved mastery on this assignment. This, I am satisfied with the level of learning this assignment produced
On Tuesday, our students continued working on the assignment from the previous day. However, students were able to visualize the instructions because I projected it on the projector. This was very helpful as students were fully aware of what the expectations were for this assignment.
On Wednesday, students worked to complete the study guide for the chapter 5 test. The early periods of the day worked much harder than the later period. As a discipline method, my mentor teacher decided upon making the later periods have to do the essay on the test while other periods did not. Hopefully they will learn that they need to work on their classwork the whole period instead of packing up early or not working.
Thursday, we did the review game for this test. Again, the earlier period of the day did much better than the later periods as a whole class. I will look at the test scores and determine if this was reflected in the scores or if it is more of a motivation issue. In general, the review game went decently well. However, there were some management issues where students needed to be prompted to task in order to continue the game. This is not a huge issue, but it does need to be addressed. Students seemed to understand the game and the directions for the game rather well, and in general seemed to enjoy it.
On Friday, we did the test for chapter 5. In general, students seemed to think the test wasn't so bad and that they did well. Hopefully this confidence comes from a place of studying and understanding of material. After I look more closely at the assessment data, I can determine whether or not this is so.
30 September, 2013
Blog Entry 6
This week was a challenging week due to the way that I planned the early lessons of the week. In the first
few lessons of the week, I had a difficult time with doing too much
direct instruction in my lessons. Students became bored with the
class because I was simply talking too much. I had things planned
that were more constructivist, yet I simply didn’t get to them when
I would’ve liked to due to having too many notes. In the future, I
need to trim down my notes so that I can do more of the activities
that I want to do.
On the first days of this
week, we worked on a political cartoon activity (turned it in) and
then worked on notes. After the notes, students worked with partners
in order to analyze political cartoons. On the second day, we worked
on notes, an interactive map, and a loyalist and patriot
presentation. The problem was that there was a bit too much direct instruction.
In the future, I am going to try to use less direct instruction and more activities, as I had originally intended. The rest of the week went well in this regard, as I was able use a mixture of interaction, direct instruction, and individual classwork.
23 September, 2013
Week 5 Blog
This week was another week of my plans, but was mostly dedicated to the test, study guide, and review game lessons of the week.
On the first day of the week, I opened by giving the students a review game of my mentor teacher's design. For the classes that struggles with the chapter 3 section 4 outline, I went over it so that they could get the answers to them. Most students worked pretty well on the outline, but a few had a problem with packing up early. This is an ongoing problem that I need to find ways to solve in my classroom. In general, I feel that this lesson went well otherwise.
On the second day, students played a review game of my design after we went over the answers to the study guide. The game was a battleship game, and students seemed to like the way it was designed. Timewise, it worked out perfectly -- we had time for just one game in each period before the bell was just about to ring. In general, it felt like a few students were able to carry the class as far as answers went.
On day three, it was test day. I made the appropriate accommodations for students who needed test accommodations, and students took their test for the whole period. If they had time at the end of the test, they had the opportunity to work on the next chapters vocabulary.
The next day was the beginning of chapter 4. I felt that this lesson went very well, and that students responded well to the quotes, pictures, and music video that was presented as part of the lesson. One thing that I was able to gather from this lesson, with helpful feedback from my mentor teacher, was that I should plan transitions specifically (eg. when do I turn projectors off? collect papers? how can I save time in lessons to more effectively use time?). This is something I will incorporate in my future plans when necessary so that my lessons run more smoothly. Other than that, I felt that my content and examples really reached students well.
On Friday, we focused on beginning current events, working on a map pre-test, working on the chapter map, and finishing up the weeks work (political cartoon and vocab). The big problem here was, again, students packing up early. In the future (particularly on Fridays) I will need to have extra assignments ready in order to dangle them over the heads of students so that they are motivated to work on what they have -- especially since many students are not actually "done" with all of their work, but are merely saying that they are. Also, this provides students who are finished with something to do so that learning continues.
On the first day of the week, I opened by giving the students a review game of my mentor teacher's design. For the classes that struggles with the chapter 3 section 4 outline, I went over it so that they could get the answers to them. Most students worked pretty well on the outline, but a few had a problem with packing up early. This is an ongoing problem that I need to find ways to solve in my classroom. In general, I feel that this lesson went well otherwise.
On the second day, students played a review game of my design after we went over the answers to the study guide. The game was a battleship game, and students seemed to like the way it was designed. Timewise, it worked out perfectly -- we had time for just one game in each period before the bell was just about to ring. In general, it felt like a few students were able to carry the class as far as answers went.
On day three, it was test day. I made the appropriate accommodations for students who needed test accommodations, and students took their test for the whole period. If they had time at the end of the test, they had the opportunity to work on the next chapters vocabulary.
The next day was the beginning of chapter 4. I felt that this lesson went very well, and that students responded well to the quotes, pictures, and music video that was presented as part of the lesson. One thing that I was able to gather from this lesson, with helpful feedback from my mentor teacher, was that I should plan transitions specifically (eg. when do I turn projectors off? collect papers? how can I save time in lessons to more effectively use time?). This is something I will incorporate in my future plans when necessary so that my lessons run more smoothly. Other than that, I felt that my content and examples really reached students well.
On Friday, we focused on beginning current events, working on a map pre-test, working on the chapter map, and finishing up the weeks work (political cartoon and vocab). The big problem here was, again, students packing up early. In the future (particularly on Fridays) I will need to have extra assignments ready in order to dangle them over the heads of students so that they are motivated to work on what they have -- especially since many students are not actually "done" with all of their work, but are merely saying that they are. Also, this provides students who are finished with something to do so that learning continues.
16 September, 2013
Week 4 Blog Reflections
In my PDS this week, I took over two classes in order to teach classroom lessons. These lessons focused on material for chapter 3: the difference between colonial sets and the French and Indian wars. In these lessons, I tried to balance direct instruction with more constructivist methods as well (group work, product creation, etc).
On day one, we took some notes on section one (mercantilism and other economic policies) first. I tried to keep these at a reasonable length. I think this was a wise decision, and worked well for the students. Next, we transitioned to a graphic organizer activity in order to help students organize their thoughts. In this activity, students compared and contrasted mercantilism with capitalism. This is an important concept to highlight as it shows comparisons to today's world. Finally, we transitioned to an activity in which students engaged in role-play in order to construct a dialogue script about how policies such as mercantilism, the navigation acts, and salutary neglect effect the daily lives of colonists in the Americas. I felt like in general, the lesson was planned out well enough and highlighted important materials. Students seemed to like the dialogue activity and generally worked well. Things that could've went better included the execution of activities and and the volume of my direct instruction. These are management things that I will work on, and hopefully improve with time.
On days two and three we talked about differences between the southern and northern sets of colonies to begin with this, we took some notes in order to get kick started on the topic. On the first day, we also worked in order to analyze colonial courtship. Students examined prompts about different cultural methods of courtship (including diverse populations such as Enslaved Africans). In addition , students created illustrations which emphasized the differences between the colonies. I felt that these lessons went well but were problamitized by some of the same issues.
On the final two days, we worked on a chapter map, outline, and current events. These activities went well, but suffered from time management issues. In the future, I need to encourage students to use more of their time in order to discuss the current events that they did. The reason for using the map was that it was pertinent to my research activities.
On day one, we took some notes on section one (mercantilism and other economic policies) first. I tried to keep these at a reasonable length. I think this was a wise decision, and worked well for the students. Next, we transitioned to a graphic organizer activity in order to help students organize their thoughts. In this activity, students compared and contrasted mercantilism with capitalism. This is an important concept to highlight as it shows comparisons to today's world. Finally, we transitioned to an activity in which students engaged in role-play in order to construct a dialogue script about how policies such as mercantilism, the navigation acts, and salutary neglect effect the daily lives of colonists in the Americas. I felt like in general, the lesson was planned out well enough and highlighted important materials. Students seemed to like the dialogue activity and generally worked well. Things that could've went better included the execution of activities and and the volume of my direct instruction. These are management things that I will work on, and hopefully improve with time.
On days two and three we talked about differences between the southern and northern sets of colonies to begin with this, we took some notes in order to get kick started on the topic. On the first day, we also worked in order to analyze colonial courtship. Students examined prompts about different cultural methods of courtship (including diverse populations such as Enslaved Africans). In addition , students created illustrations which emphasized the differences between the colonies. I felt that these lessons went well but were problamitized by some of the same issues.
On the final two days, we worked on a chapter map, outline, and current events. These activities went well, but suffered from time management issues. In the future, I need to encourage students to use more of their time in order to discuss the current events that they did. The reason for using the map was that it was pertinent to my research activities.
08 September, 2013
Blog Entry Week 3
In my PDS this week, I was in control of a single class period. This week, we worked on preparing for the test, taking the test, and a culminating activity for the colony project.
In general, this week was kind of a supervision week -- making sure students were on task, doing what they were supposed to do etc. I did, however, get to run my first review game of the year. Most of the classes went rather well, but a few classes did get out of hand with their competitiveness. This was also a problem with the culminating activity on Friday. What I've learned this week is that I need to put more work into developing a more stern teacher demeanor. Basically, I need to improve my classroom management by showing the students that I mean business. Going forward, this will be an area that I focus on improving.
I did my first full week of planning my own lessons and activities -- for next week. I am assuming control of two different classes this week. I am both excited and nervous about this upcoming week, as this is the first time I am teaching from my own plans this year. I worked hard on creating good lesson plans for this week, so hopefully everything works out splendidly.
In general, this week was kind of a supervision week -- making sure students were on task, doing what they were supposed to do etc. I did, however, get to run my first review game of the year. Most of the classes went rather well, but a few classes did get out of hand with their competitiveness. This was also a problem with the culminating activity on Friday. What I've learned this week is that I need to put more work into developing a more stern teacher demeanor. Basically, I need to improve my classroom management by showing the students that I mean business. Going forward, this will be an area that I focus on improving.
I did my first full week of planning my own lessons and activities -- for next week. I am assuming control of two different classes this week. I am both excited and nervous about this upcoming week, as this is the first time I am teaching from my own plans this year. I worked hard on creating good lesson plans for this week, so hopefully everything works out splendidly.
02 September, 2013
Blog Post- Week 2
This was the second week in my placement, and it involved a fair amount of activity facilitation and observation as well as planning for the rest of the semester.
This week, I was able to take some notes on how the class is usually structured and think deeply about the method by which I need to structure my classtime. It has been expressed that it is difficult for this age group to do more than 15-20 minutes of notes (as it becomes tedious - which is understandable), so it is recommended that I balance each day with discussions, activities, and projects. This is similar to the way that I did my lessons in years passed, so this transition should be natural for me.
As for wonderings, I was able to formulate a rough research question dealing with the use of maps (particularly interactive maps and GIS) in the classroom. Basically, I want to know how the use of interactive maps in 10th grade US history classrooms affects the achievement in tasks relating to map literacy and attitudes towards maps and map assessments. As time goes on, I will refine this wondering into a more polished research question.
This week, I was able to take some notes on how the class is usually structured and think deeply about the method by which I need to structure my classtime. It has been expressed that it is difficult for this age group to do more than 15-20 minutes of notes (as it becomes tedious - which is understandable), so it is recommended that I balance each day with discussions, activities, and projects. This is similar to the way that I did my lessons in years passed, so this transition should be natural for me.
As for wonderings, I was able to formulate a rough research question dealing with the use of maps (particularly interactive maps and GIS) in the classroom. Basically, I want to know how the use of interactive maps in 10th grade US history classrooms affects the achievement in tasks relating to map literacy and attitudes towards maps and map assessments. As time goes on, I will refine this wondering into a more polished research question.
25 August, 2013
Week 1 Blog entry and reflections
This was the first week of my new placement at UHS for the intern fall semester. So far, my duties have included interacting with students, running bellringers and various activities, answering questions, observation and reflection. In this process, I came to produce a number of wonderings.
This key wondering for this week is as follows: What is the effect of having students take AP classes at progressively younger ages? When I was in high school, AP classes were practically limited to students in their Junior and Senior years. However, UHS offers a great number of AP classes which count for various credits, several of which are freshman classes. I began wondering to myself how encouraging AP classes as early as freshman year effects the social and cognitive development of students. Invariably, the workload in AP classes is monumentally more than in on-level or even honors. This has led me to postulate the two following points:
A. The creation of AP opportunities for students throughout the years of high school - especially those classes available for freshmen - will ultimately improve the cognitive ability, accountability, organizational skills, and college-readiness of the students who participate in them. Since these classes are more rigorous, students will be more accustomed to the heavy workload that a college schedule will give them. Thus, it could be theorized that students who take a large amount of AP classes will perform better in colleges and universities than their age-level peers.
B. The popularization AP classes combined with the high-achievement required by the students who participate in them could help US schools become more competitive in the international education community.
Of course, these are merely ideas I have about the topic, and are not necessarily supported by any sort of data.
Going forward, I am still looking for a good Action Research topic that would be viable to do in this setting.
This key wondering for this week is as follows: What is the effect of having students take AP classes at progressively younger ages? When I was in high school, AP classes were practically limited to students in their Junior and Senior years. However, UHS offers a great number of AP classes which count for various credits, several of which are freshman classes. I began wondering to myself how encouraging AP classes as early as freshman year effects the social and cognitive development of students. Invariably, the workload in AP classes is monumentally more than in on-level or even honors. This has led me to postulate the two following points:
A. The creation of AP opportunities for students throughout the years of high school - especially those classes available for freshmen - will ultimately improve the cognitive ability, accountability, organizational skills, and college-readiness of the students who participate in them. Since these classes are more rigorous, students will be more accustomed to the heavy workload that a college schedule will give them. Thus, it could be theorized that students who take a large amount of AP classes will perform better in colleges and universities than their age-level peers.
B. The popularization AP classes combined with the high-achievement required by the students who participate in them could help US schools become more competitive in the international education community.
Of course, these are merely ideas I have about the topic, and are not necessarily supported by any sort of data.
Going forward, I am still looking for a good Action Research topic that would be viable to do in this setting.
26 April, 2013
Inquiry Celebration at Lakeview Reflection
At
the Lakeview Inquiry Celebration, I was unfortunately not afforded
the opportunity to sit in on specific social studies seminars.
Instead, I was able to sit in on several math seminars. However, this
is not to say that the presentations were not valuable. On the
contrary, I found the information presented in these seminars to be a
formative experience in designing inquiry projects.
The
most interesting, albeit possibly controversial seminar I attended
was one on working with students to reinforce basic math skills that
might have been lost or never learned. The presenter pointed out that
many students are attempting to do math without a firm grasp on the
basics – addition, multiplication, division, and subtraction. The
presenter decided to use timed drill-and-practice assessments to hone
these skills with accuracy, precision, and speed.
The
questions I had based on this action research presentation revolved
around the use of the timed tests. Since they were 1 minute, 40
question tests, I desired to know how many completed them or came
close in that time frame (answer: zero; highest score was ~32). Also,
I was curious about the implications of such timed tests. I remember
in elementary school, I really dreaded such things. It was not that I
was particularly bad at these skills – I was simply a little
slower. I think that timed assessments can be damaging to the
confidence to students who work more slowly. Basically, my issue with
these sorts of assessments is that there is little differentiation.
However, I do acknowledge that there is indeed a problem in which
middle school students do lack these basic math skills. Thus, I
thought the presentation was strong on the whole.
The
key things that I learned from this inquiry were mainly about the
actual structure and creation of the research methodology and
questions. First, it became increasingly clear that one should choose
a topic which suits your interests. There was a marked difference in
the demeanor of the interns who used topics that they were clearly
passionate about. Along with that is the idea that one should design
inquiry projects fit your context. The presentations I watched all
involved research questions that formed organically from the issues
or phenomena observed in their respective classrooms.
Making one's inquiry public is an excellent decision. Research should always be shared with future researchers, as they could expand on your inquiry in order to develop solutions to 21st century problems. Also, informing others of inquiry can help teachers learn about effective strategies for making classrooms excellent places to learn.
11 March, 2013
Characteristics of a Novice Teacher Analysis II
"We believe that the novice teacher should be aware, of and have respect for human diversity."
The Big Ideas presented in this characteristic reflect how the novice teacher has a duty to understand human diversity that is present on a global, national, regional, and local level. This is an important characteristic as it relates to how well one knows his or her students. It is important to first, respect the traditions and differences between diverse cultures, ethnicity, etc so that the novice teacher can better serve the needs of each student. Understanding and learning about human diversity helps students feel included rather than excluded.
Artifacts that I have done which represent this ideal are lessons about diversity in culture and ethnicity. For instance, I recently completed a lesson that addressed geography and religious diversity, in which students were taught to practice tolerance and respect other cultures. It is critical for the novice teacher and the students to understand and respect diversity, so structuring lessons around this content is particularly effective.
"We believe that the novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of pedagogy."
No surprise here, pedagogy is the bread and butter for any teacher -- novice teacher included. It is critical for novice teachers to come out of training programs with a high level of pedagogical knowledge. After all, how can one develop into a master teacher without knowing the basis for educational ideas? The better one understands educational psychology, classroom management, and how to teach in general, the more likely that teacher is to grow into an effective educator.
Good artifacts which are demonstrative of pedagogical knowledge will include things such as written papers and research essays for pedagogical classes, as well as test scores for the PLT (which I have not yet taken). However, these artifacts would give credibility to a novice teacher wishing to prove that he or she had a solid background in pedagogical knowledge.
The Big Ideas presented in this characteristic reflect how the novice teacher has a duty to understand human diversity that is present on a global, national, regional, and local level. This is an important characteristic as it relates to how well one knows his or her students. It is important to first, respect the traditions and differences between diverse cultures, ethnicity, etc so that the novice teacher can better serve the needs of each student. Understanding and learning about human diversity helps students feel included rather than excluded.
Artifacts that I have done which represent this ideal are lessons about diversity in culture and ethnicity. For instance, I recently completed a lesson that addressed geography and religious diversity, in which students were taught to practice tolerance and respect other cultures. It is critical for the novice teacher and the students to understand and respect diversity, so structuring lessons around this content is particularly effective.
"We believe that the novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of pedagogy."
No surprise here, pedagogy is the bread and butter for any teacher -- novice teacher included. It is critical for novice teachers to come out of training programs with a high level of pedagogical knowledge. After all, how can one develop into a master teacher without knowing the basis for educational ideas? The better one understands educational psychology, classroom management, and how to teach in general, the more likely that teacher is to grow into an effective educator.
Good artifacts which are demonstrative of pedagogical knowledge will include things such as written papers and research essays for pedagogical classes, as well as test scores for the PLT (which I have not yet taken). However, these artifacts would give credibility to a novice teacher wishing to prove that he or she had a solid background in pedagogical knowledge.
12 February, 2013
Characteristics of a Novice Teacher Analysis
"We believe that the novice teacher should be a reflective practitioner."
The "big ideas" Presented in this statement relate to how novice teachers should reflect on their practice. Basically, this characteristic expresses the urgent need for expert teachers to look inward at their own techniques and look for ways to improve their practice. If a novice teacher does this, then they can continue to hone their skills and become a more effective educator.
My artifact that currently embodies this character trait is my researcher notes and notebook. This document helps me keep track of things that go on in my PDS, as well as creates space for me to reflect on how I could improve. For instance, if I have a particular set of problems which arise in my teaching experience, I can make note of those problems. Then, through research or collaboration with other teachers, I can search for effective solutions to these problems.
This artifact relates to this characteristic because it, at its core, is literally the definition of reflection on one's practice. If used correctly, a researcher notebook can help educators think deeply about meaningful ways to improve their instructional methods.
"We believe that the novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of content."
This is a rather straightforward characteristic, yet is among the most important. Clearly, knowing your content is paramount to being an effective educator. The better that you know your content, the better you can answer questions and illuminate important themes in your content. For instance, an in-depth knowledge of history goes miles towards creating interesting lessons and inspiring meaningful learning, as well as fosters comprehensive knowledge of key facts.
I would contend that my overall body of work (tests, essays, grades, etc) in core content classes lends credibility to my knowledge of content. For instance, I have papers where professors have lauded my research and analysis abilities.
This relates to the characteristic quite directly in that it literally deals with my content knowledge. I would not have such a good GPA or other high scores if my knowledge of content was weak.
The "big ideas" Presented in this statement relate to how novice teachers should reflect on their practice. Basically, this characteristic expresses the urgent need for expert teachers to look inward at their own techniques and look for ways to improve their practice. If a novice teacher does this, then they can continue to hone their skills and become a more effective educator.
My artifact that currently embodies this character trait is my researcher notes and notebook. This document helps me keep track of things that go on in my PDS, as well as creates space for me to reflect on how I could improve. For instance, if I have a particular set of problems which arise in my teaching experience, I can make note of those problems. Then, through research or collaboration with other teachers, I can search for effective solutions to these problems.
This artifact relates to this characteristic because it, at its core, is literally the definition of reflection on one's practice. If used correctly, a researcher notebook can help educators think deeply about meaningful ways to improve their instructional methods.
"We believe that the novice teacher should have in-depth knowledge of content."
This is a rather straightforward characteristic, yet is among the most important. Clearly, knowing your content is paramount to being an effective educator. The better that you know your content, the better you can answer questions and illuminate important themes in your content. For instance, an in-depth knowledge of history goes miles towards creating interesting lessons and inspiring meaningful learning, as well as fosters comprehensive knowledge of key facts.
I would contend that my overall body of work (tests, essays, grades, etc) in core content classes lends credibility to my knowledge of content. For instance, I have papers where professors have lauded my research and analysis abilities.
This relates to the characteristic quite directly in that it literally deals with my content knowledge. I would not have such a good GPA or other high scores if my knowledge of content was weak.
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