A definite highlight of this past week was putting on a party for the math class for their outstanding scores on the NWEA testing. The kids were stoked on getting some pizza, pop, cake, and ice cream. One girl brought in her guitar and played covers of any song new and old and even broke out some Nirvana for me. The girl is one that you would think is an outcast but she definitely connects with everyone. It was good to see after all the testing that the kids were able to celebrate their success together and realize that their hard work payed off. The kids were impressed that I knew every song they did and they remembered that I'm not old! I hope as time goes on that I don't distance myself and to know what makes kids click.
Something that made me think a little differently was out of those scores, one student who is having his first full inclusion year improved 42 points while the class average was 15 points. It just proved to me how much including students with their peers motivates a kid to succeed. His behavior has been a complete 360 degree turn around as the previous year he was constantly getting into fights. This year zero. A kid like this motivates me to really try and improve on differentiated instruction and one aspect of that is letting students know that they can teach one another. I'm only able to teach a concept so many ways but students can add their own perspective that might make something click.
A strategy that I want to implement is project based learning. I've gotten a taste of this method in our chemistry unit as it has built upon itself in academic language and in referring back to 9 substances. I think this has helped students make connections to prior knowledge to help explain what is happening in the reactions they are seeing now. I would try to extend this unit by providing an end goal and to let students help plan how to reach that goal or essential question. For a chemistry unit like this I could see looking at a car engine and explaining how a car runs based upon the combustion reactions. They would have to explain the properties of the elements involved and how to write out the reactions. Of course I would want to see overall what student interests are and tailor the project to different groups.
A perplexing situation that occurred was dealing with all male lab groups. The seventh period class has a high ratio of boys versus girls and it does affect behavior. When one boy gets going it can get the rest of them going, combine that with chemicals and cool reactions, it can become a safety issue. I have found myself being more stern with them and letting them no that they get no extra chances in lab. Overall, they have become more responsive to my authority and know when it's alright to joke around as well. My cooperating teacher is really good at this and it keeps learning on track.
Monday, May 27, 2013
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Weekly Blog #6
A highlight from this week was conducting a lab that uncovered the differences a mixture and a solution. This lab contained a fairly complex procedure for this age group and it was interesting to see how the lab was executed. Students for the most part did quite well and have come a long ways in how they conduct themselves in a lab environment. It has created some relief for me seeing that students can be trusted with chemicals and various equipment but that only came because rules were set. For most class rules they are enforced to some degree but lab rules have no exceptions. Students respond to this well and I think this is so because they are doing something really fun and don't want to lose that privilege.
Something that made me think a little differently is that there is no reason to "teach to the test" if the teacher is committed to teaching to the standards. My cooperating teacher has never made mention to her students that we are conducting a lesson that tailors to what the MSP might be testing on. Instead she revolves her lessons on hitting the OSPI or NSTA standards and knows that her students will be prepared. This approach leaves the students and the teacher less stressed and propagates learning that has meaning, not just for the sake of passing a test.
A strategy I want to try and implement is using peer pressure to get a whole class to commit to an assignment or behave. Towards the end of a class the last task was to read 4 pages independently from the textbook. Students started to gripe about it but my teacher said that if everyone read silently than no one had to answer questions off of a worksheet. That was all it took as everyone kept quiet even after they had finished reading before others. Although this is not a practice I will use all the time, I find it effective when they are having issues with authority and it becomes easier to place the power within themselves.
A perplexing situation that occurred this past week was dealing with getting students back on track after dealing with two weeks of testing. I found this to be difficult as testing comes in May which I consider for myself the most difficult month to concentrate. The best way my cooperating teacher combated this was to start back in with a lab that was fun and had a clear objective. Even then some students get on cruise control which is making me a little nervous for my observed lesson which isn't going to occur until early June. Leading up to my lesson I think I need to come up with a few of my own management strategies, surprise my cooperating teacher, and go out on the best note I can.
Something that made me think a little differently is that there is no reason to "teach to the test" if the teacher is committed to teaching to the standards. My cooperating teacher has never made mention to her students that we are conducting a lesson that tailors to what the MSP might be testing on. Instead she revolves her lessons on hitting the OSPI or NSTA standards and knows that her students will be prepared. This approach leaves the students and the teacher less stressed and propagates learning that has meaning, not just for the sake of passing a test.
A strategy I want to try and implement is using peer pressure to get a whole class to commit to an assignment or behave. Towards the end of a class the last task was to read 4 pages independently from the textbook. Students started to gripe about it but my teacher said that if everyone read silently than no one had to answer questions off of a worksheet. That was all it took as everyone kept quiet even after they had finished reading before others. Although this is not a practice I will use all the time, I find it effective when they are having issues with authority and it becomes easier to place the power within themselves.
A perplexing situation that occurred this past week was dealing with getting students back on track after dealing with two weeks of testing. I found this to be difficult as testing comes in May which I consider for myself the most difficult month to concentrate. The best way my cooperating teacher combated this was to start back in with a lab that was fun and had a clear objective. Even then some students get on cruise control which is making me a little nervous for my observed lesson which isn't going to occur until early June. Leading up to my lesson I think I need to come up with a few of my own management strategies, surprise my cooperating teacher, and go out on the best note I can.
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Weekly Blog #5
A highlight from this past week was counseling a student on my own during the MSP testing. The student had missed the first day of the writing and the school decided to have him do both days of writing on the same day. This would be difficult enough for most students but this student severely lacks motivation. This bothers me because the kid is very intelligent but just cannot commit to getting the job done. He and I however have built a close relationship and he believes in what I communicate to him. Halfway through his testing he had given up so they sent me down to take him for a walk and have some lunch. I let him discuss his issues with testing, motivation, and life in general. I spoke of similarities that him and I share and what he can do to overcome his situation. I don't know if his effort that day increased at all but I do know that he can come to me anytime and we can make this a long-term deal towards his success.
Something that made me think a little differently is how much students really enjoy conducting labs. These past couple of weeks with testing have left kids feeling frustrated and worn out. Each day numerous students will always ask if testing is over and if we can get back to our chemistry labs. This happens on a regular basis in seventh period after kids have apparently sat most of the day in their other classes. They want to do something and a lab definitely fills that void. It just re-affirms in me that labs are a great learning tool and is still unique to the science area.
A strategy that I want to try to implement is having students use drawings to depict a situation or process. This proved beneficial in a lesson on understanding density as it related to expansion and compression. Students volunteered to draw what they believed the air molecules to be behaving like and their drawings helped other students either reinforce what they thought or sparked a new way of viewing the concepts of expansion and compression. One way I would manipulate this would be to give each student a small dry-erase board to draw their own depiction and then show me when they are finished. In this way I can receive a lot of feedback in a short period of time.
A perplexing situation revolved around good ol' standardized testing. This week students are taking the NWEA test to show if they made improvements in math and science. When I arrived yesterday the computer-based testing had already fouled up twice resulting in chaotic classes as the lab would take too long to complete in that time. With two issues already they still decided to try it a third time and again the system froze up about 25 minutest into the testing. My teacher, who helps coordinating these tests, had to stick around to try and solve scheduling conflicts so she left me to take the class back to the room with no agenda whatsoever. It got a little chaotic with a group of boys and I was scrambling to find anything to do. With my mind blank I asked them and the whole class said, "silent ball!". Bingo, it worked like a charm. It made me realize that I need to always have a backup plan or two when everything gets thrown out the window.
Something that made me think a little differently is how much students really enjoy conducting labs. These past couple of weeks with testing have left kids feeling frustrated and worn out. Each day numerous students will always ask if testing is over and if we can get back to our chemistry labs. This happens on a regular basis in seventh period after kids have apparently sat most of the day in their other classes. They want to do something and a lab definitely fills that void. It just re-affirms in me that labs are a great learning tool and is still unique to the science area.
A strategy that I want to try to implement is having students use drawings to depict a situation or process. This proved beneficial in a lesson on understanding density as it related to expansion and compression. Students volunteered to draw what they believed the air molecules to be behaving like and their drawings helped other students either reinforce what they thought or sparked a new way of viewing the concepts of expansion and compression. One way I would manipulate this would be to give each student a small dry-erase board to draw their own depiction and then show me when they are finished. In this way I can receive a lot of feedback in a short period of time.
A perplexing situation revolved around good ol' standardized testing. This week students are taking the NWEA test to show if they made improvements in math and science. When I arrived yesterday the computer-based testing had already fouled up twice resulting in chaotic classes as the lab would take too long to complete in that time. With two issues already they still decided to try it a third time and again the system froze up about 25 minutest into the testing. My teacher, who helps coordinating these tests, had to stick around to try and solve scheduling conflicts so she left me to take the class back to the room with no agenda whatsoever. It got a little chaotic with a group of boys and I was scrambling to find anything to do. With my mind blank I asked them and the whole class said, "silent ball!". Bingo, it worked like a charm. It made me realize that I need to always have a backup plan or two when everything gets thrown out the window.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Weekly Blog #4
1. A definite highlight of this past week was the chemistry lab we conducted. This lab kicked off our chemistry unit that we will finish the year off on and it felt good to move into something completely new. The experiment revolved around finding out what two substances constituted a mystery mixture. Students worked in lab groups and got to test their hypothesis and narrow down of what they believed the mixture to be. I enjoyed using inquiry and letting kids discover the various properties of the substances on their own. I think sometimes math and chemistry go hand in hand as something that is scary to students and overwhelming. This lab however put the students at ease because they got to dive right into the "fun" area of chemistry. Who doesn't like to mix chemicals together?
2. Something that made me think a little differently about teachers was working with my cooperating teacher who heads the MSP testing. She has had to give up her class on testing days to prepare each classroom with the test materials and then organize test booklets post test. I had no idea the kind of operation that went on in keeping track of students and making sure that testing remains standardized. She has kept very calm through the process especially since she is missing class time and instruction with her kids. It makes me wonder if there can't be an outside agency that could come in and take care of the logistics if the concern is to be standardized and make sure that procedures are followed and carried through with.
3. One practice that I will adopt is explicit instruction especially when students are expected to follow a procedure. We conducted a lab that required many steps that need to be precise and accurate. My teacher took the additional time to go through those steps and explain why each step was necessary and important. I think too often teachers can just give directions without any justification or reasoning to why a particular step was needed. Without that explicit instruction students at the middle school level will either be sloppy or just plain forget.
4. A perplexing situation happened during MSP testing in which my cooperating teacher was occupied with the testing and couldn't be in class. The sub that was there was a retired teacher whose idea of a good classroom was a quiet classroom. Of course that did not happen and it was a battle the whole time. There I was stuck in the hard spot because students were looking to me to correct the situation as I know how the class is run but I didn't want to intervene with the prospect of disrespecting the sub. So I sat and watched some the chaos ensue as students were supposed to sit silently to a 1950's donald duck math movie for 25 minutes. It makes me wonder how I can avoid the pitfalls as I begin subbing to start my teaching career. It might be beneficial to include some kind of reward system or ask for the class rules and expectations.
2. Something that made me think a little differently about teachers was working with my cooperating teacher who heads the MSP testing. She has had to give up her class on testing days to prepare each classroom with the test materials and then organize test booklets post test. I had no idea the kind of operation that went on in keeping track of students and making sure that testing remains standardized. She has kept very calm through the process especially since she is missing class time and instruction with her kids. It makes me wonder if there can't be an outside agency that could come in and take care of the logistics if the concern is to be standardized and make sure that procedures are followed and carried through with.
3. One practice that I will adopt is explicit instruction especially when students are expected to follow a procedure. We conducted a lab that required many steps that need to be precise and accurate. My teacher took the additional time to go through those steps and explain why each step was necessary and important. I think too often teachers can just give directions without any justification or reasoning to why a particular step was needed. Without that explicit instruction students at the middle school level will either be sloppy or just plain forget.
4. A perplexing situation happened during MSP testing in which my cooperating teacher was occupied with the testing and couldn't be in class. The sub that was there was a retired teacher whose idea of a good classroom was a quiet classroom. Of course that did not happen and it was a battle the whole time. There I was stuck in the hard spot because students were looking to me to correct the situation as I know how the class is run but I didn't want to intervene with the prospect of disrespecting the sub. So I sat and watched some the chaos ensue as students were supposed to sit silently to a 1950's donald duck math movie for 25 minutes. It makes me wonder how I can avoid the pitfalls as I begin subbing to start my teaching career. It might be beneficial to include some kind of reward system or ask for the class rules and expectations.
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