Intern Teaching #12

Throughout my expierence here at Bruceton, I have seen and done many things. Students yelling, cursing, being goofy are just 3 things I have seen in my 4 short months as an intern teacher. I have also expierenced students do extremely well on a project then completely bomb the next project simply because, "they did not feel like doing it." I've never understood that. Then, I think to myself, what was I like in 6th, 7th, and 8th grade? The answer is simple... I was the same way! As a young adult, I can easily remeber my teenage years when I was "too cool for school." Sometimes I need to take a step back as a teacher and realize, not every single school day am I going to be able to work my students. I have realized the value of being patient but also being strict to who students are being lazy on a consistent bases. I have noticed this more so in Science class then in Math. The reason being is because we do project-based learning in Science and it allows the students to do this work in groups and independently. I think it is important that this happens in Science because it makes the students feel more accountable for their own work. I have learned so much this semester in my short time of teaching, I can't wait to learn more and more as I become a teacher on my own one day soon.

Internship Teaching #11

Today I am writing in my blog and have become astounded at something. I have recently finished up the results of the "car lab" and have started the interview process with my 8th graders. I am so surprised at some of my student responses to these 5 questions: 1. What’s your favorite subject here at Bruceton? 2. Why do you like this subject the most? 3. I've taught you in both Math and Science. . . What was that concept? 4. What would you say you learned the most in this project? 5. If you were the teacher, what would you change about this project for the next time? The responses I got for this answer were really independent. Each student had their own understanding of what they learned, and also what they would do to change the project for next time. I’ve got to say, I am also surprised to see how some students who i thought would give me a lot of information on the project, simply got shy and didn't speak much. I was also surprised at some students who had little or no work done in their notebook but were able to tell me a lot of information about their car and the concept they learned in both classes. As I finish doing interviews, I am anxious to see if the rest of the students feel the same way as their classmates or if they have their own opinion.

Intern Teaching #10

As I begin to "wind down" in the car experiments and graphs, one thing is clear to me. Students are not the same. Although a group of students may have done a fantastic job doing the project and their car was a success, some students just simply didnt care to write any information at all in their student notebooks. its upsetting to see this because they had really good ideas. On the flip side of this, you also had students who made cars that did not work so well. But these students also showed that they cared enough about the project because they had tons of research about the car and the assignment as a whole. I am anxious to see what is going to happen in the student interviews in the next few days to see what the student can actually tell me they learned in throughout the entire project and also if they can relate to what was being taught in Math class. My hope in all of this is that students got to enjoy the project and actually learned something from it.

Internship Teaching #9

Well into my research and I am experiencing all I want to handle and then some. Working with students (especially twice a day in 2 different subjects). Don't get me wrong, I love the curiosity of my students and I also love working with them in both Math and Science. It has come to a point now though that the students are doing the projects and from day to day, parts to the cars are getting lost, or they are forgetting to bring supplies to class. As the teacher, I try to let some things go, but there are times where my patience runs slim. I find myself getting upset with a few students from time to time because they have such potential, but have days where they lose their focus. I try not to let this bother me daily, but if the problem persists between the students and myself over an extended period of time I will talk to the student about it. I think that many students are enjoying having me as both their Math and Science teacher. The projects and their attitudes seem to portray this. I am enjoying getting to know my students strengths and weaknesses in both subjects. I think it is particularly cool to see how some students can excel in one subject, but not in the other. It's also cool to see how my teaching strategies are different from Math to Science, and to also see how some students react to these teaching strategies. I am anxious to see how the student interviews will go once the students have completed the entire project.

Intern Teaching #8

Well, there comes a point in every teachers career where you've got to say... "It's beyond my control." This week at Bruceton, the week of (10/21/2013 to 10/24/2013) and due to an ISE day on Friday (10/25/2013) I will not have any students tomorrow. Also, my 8th grade students that I am doing my research project with, all had to take testing this week. Monday: students had to take Acuity testing Tuesday: Students did an interest inventory to prepare for the ACT test Wednesday: Students took the ACT Explore exam that tested them on the path they will take in high school. So as you can see, I only had one day of instruction time for my 8th graders that were working on distance, speed, and time. Also, what made it difficult was that the last instructional day in Math that I had with the students was Friday. (10/18/2013) I feel like I spent the entire day today, reviewing old material because students did remember what was studied last week. I will try to pick back up on everything on Monday when students return to school. My hope is that we can get back on track soon.

Internship Teaching #7

For today’s blog post, I would like to describe how my research topic is going. I have many students who are embracing this project and are really going above and beyond what the assignment is asking them to do. For instance, I have students painting their cars pink and putting a white ribbon symbol for breast cancer awareness month. I also have other cars where students are taking a previous idea learned in the class (air pressure) and are using it to power their cars down the hallway. I also have a student who is using a piston and crank to help keep his car moving further down the hall. All these students are working hard on this project, which is making me think to myself: Are the students learning the key principles in this section? Are the students taking the research they are finding on the internet and in textbooks to help them understand what can be used to power their cars? As the teacher, am i letting things get too far from them to where they are not learning anything? I also think it is important to note that I see many "new" students putting forth effort that I have not seen yet this semester. Could it be because they are doing a project that they have to build instead of only doing research? I suppose only time will tell. I am anxious to meet with each of the students in the next few weeks to interview them to see how they felt about doing this project.

Intern Teaching #6

Now that I have been teaching full time in the Science and Math classrooms, I have started noticing different things about teaching that I have now seen before. For instance, in Math class students have been using their "Foldable" to learn the distance formula and also how to manipulate it so that they can solve for distance speed and time. I am noticing that the students are becoming lazy about their work in that they do not want to refer back to the table to help them in doing the next assignment. The students feel as though once they have learned it, they will no longer need to use that information for upcoming lessons. This also applies in the Science room as well. The students begin to think it is ok to "do their own thing" without rederring to the rules sheet that was given to them on the day the project was introduced. The students are within their groups and are not writing down their research and findings in their notebooks. This troubles me because I want them to see the importance of learning how to take good notes so that they may be able to use them later in the future. As the teacher, I am going to try to stress to my students the importance of taking good notes and understanding that the things they are learning today will still be used tomorrow also.

Internship Teaching #5

For this blog post, I believe it is important to talk about how my full time student teaching is going. As of last week, I have started teaching completely on my own in both Math and Science. In the mornings, I teach Math to one section of 7th and 8th grade. Once lunch is over, I then teach 2 sections of 6th grade Science and a section of 8th grade Science. The thing that is important to keep in mind though is that the same 8th graders I see in the morning, I also see in the afternoon for Science. So these students have the luxury (or pain) of having me twice in one day for the same subject. This has (so far) been a great experience for me. The reason being is because my students have seemed to make a connection with me. It may have to do that I am now their teacher in both class and in doing my research study; the classes are coinciding with one another. What I mean by this is that the students are doing distance time and speed in Math class. The students are relating the concept to both classes and it seems to be keeping them engaged for both subjects. The thing I like most about this research is that there are some students who showed little interest in Science but now, they seem to really like doing the projects. This has been a good experience for me. I love that all the students are interested; my only hope is that when this project is complete, they will still look forward to the next project, even if it does not have Math and Science mixed together.

Intern Teaching #4

Throughout my time here at Bruceton School, I have learned many things about myself so far. I feel as though, now students respect me as their teacher and also like having me as their teacher. The evidence I have to prove this comes from last week. It was a short week due to "Buckwheat Festival" in Preston County. Students were actually only in school Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of last week. Due to these festivities, my mentor teacher in Math cause taking a personal day for Wednesday. He asked me if I felt comfortable teaching the entire day. After talking with him, I realized that I wanted to try it. I felt confident in myself to teach for the entire day and I also thought the students would like it as well. He instructed me that I would have a mentor teacher in the room but she would only help if needed. Knowing this, I felt a little added pressure. Another thing that made me nervous was working with the 7th grade students in the afternoon class that I hadn't previously worked with. This was nerve wrecking to me because I didn't know any of their names and I didn't want them to think they could take advantage of me during the class period since I was not their normal teacher. Not only did my day go really well, I think all the students in the afternoon classes had a good time listening to me and I made it fun for them. I was worried for nothing. After teaching for the entire day, I also felt like the day went by very quickly because I moved from one subject to the next and had little down time. After the day I had, I felt much more confident in my abilities as a teacher and I can't wait to start teaching on my own in the upcoming weeks!

Intership Teaching #3

As I begin to settle myself into the daily routines of school and each of my place settings, I am starting to see how teaching really works. What I mean by this is how the students perceive me as their teacher, and friend. Since the third week of school is over, I have had been able to start teaching all on my own. This has been an exciting and scary thing at the same time. The reason why is because I am getting my feet wet, but the students are also pushing their limits with me because they think I will allow them to get away with things that my mentor teacher does not. This is where I am learning the most because I realize now that it is all about being consistent. What I yell at one student for, I must do to every other student. Believe me, if you don’t do this, the students will pick up on it and shout you out (Especially in the middle school). I have also figured out what I will be doing for my action research with my 2 placements. I will be doing a study on meaningful learning with my 8th grade students as I try to incorporate distance, speed, and acceleration into both Math and Science class. The students will practice using the formulas for distance speed etc. in Math class. Then during Science, they will create a race car of some sort (Leaving this open ended) and will then race them down the hallways. The students will then measure their distance and time to calculate their speed and acceleration. The team that builds to best car will win! I think overall, my semester is going very well so far. The students all seem to be treating me like each of their other teachers and are showing equal respect towards me. My hope is that they will enjoy the project I will be working with them on and they will soon understand how each of their course are related to one another.

Intern Teaching #2

For my second blog post, I would like to discuss my 8th graders in my afternoon Science course. This year, my Science mentor teacher has decided to switch things up a bit and do "stations" with each of his classes. The students (so far) seem to like this new transition from last year. Among these students though are a few who try to slide by with doing as little work as possible. They are simply trying to rely on their group members to do the work them. A way to fix this was to make each student do a notebook. Each student is now in charge of bringing their notebook to class every day and putting all the information needed to complete the expeirment and so on. The students are also responsible for doing ~8 vocab terms (definition, sentence, synonyms, and a drawing). The notebooks are collected at the end of each concept/unit and is counted as a test grade (100/100 points). The students are also responsible for posting to their blog online while rotating through stations. Since this has been implemented in the classroom, we have seen a wide range of results. Some students have rose to the occasion and have began to take action in their learning and organization skills so that their notebooks are done correctly. Some students have went backwards and are doing little to no work in their notebooks and their grades are showing it. After this week, I am going to try to accomidate to some students to help them improve their notebook grades. We'll see how it goes!

Internship Teaching #1

Although this is my first blog post, I have a lot to talk about my time here at Bruceton school. The year started off with 6 teachers leaving the school and new staff members reporting to the building. To add to this, the school also had a change in the daily schedule and students now spend one hour extra in the school than last year. Instead of being dismissed at 2:30, the students now are dismissed at 3:30. With that being said, each period was extended by 7 minutes. This has made it nice to work with the students in Science class because it gives extra time to do experiments. In relation to this, I have now figured out my schedule since I am doing a multi-study placement at the same time. During the morning hours until lunch time, I am working with the one section of 7th grade and two sections of 8th grade in the morning for Math class. Then after lunch, I am working with 2 sections of 6th grade, and a section of 8th grade for Science. In doing so, I do get to see the same 8th graders in the afternoon as I did in the morning. I've noticed that the students do not really mind this, rather they seem to like it. I like it as well because I begin to see student tendencies. WhatI mean by this is that some students work harder in Math and participate more in Math than they do in Science. (Or vice-versa) This has opened my eyes to a lot of things and ultimately I think this is where I will begin to do some of my research for the semester.

Post #3 Reflections of the Inquiry Celebration

After attending the Inquiry Celebration, I feel that I learned a lot about the inquiry process.

The  first session that I attended outlined the importance of using technology to review for tests and assessments. I think this was a great study because it allowed me to see that students love the chance to use technology whenever given the chance. Another study I viewed was using manipulatives to aid content in of Mathematics. Although the study did not directly look at tests scores, it was important to note that students seemed to stay more engaged  throughout the entire class period. I found this to be very important because as an upcoming math teacher, I want to do whatever I can to keep my students attention and help them learn the content so it makes sense. Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing, so if you manipulatives helps them succeed, I am going to do it.

I also learned about an intern who used math games in her daily routine to help her students have fun while learning math. I thought this was every helpful as well  because all kids like playing games, and even though they may not know it, they are still learning while playing the game.                              

I feel that the inquiry celebration was very beneficial for both the presenter and the viewers. I feel this way because it gave me a chance to learn about things that work in the classroom, but also things that didn't work. This is equally important because as a young teacher, I want to stay away from practices that do not have a positive outcome or aid in teaching content effectively.

Blog # 2- Novice Teacher Characteristics

Characteristic #2: Effective Communicator
For this characteristic, there are multiple artifacts one can use in order to describe myself as an effective communicator. One of the artifacts I plan to use for this is the co-teaching strategy that was implemented in my Sped 460 course. During this course, I planned a lesson and wrote a plan with two peers. Then during the class, we actually taught the lesson to our entire class. This co-teaching is a great way to show my skills as an effective communicator because it is important to be able to work with colleauges and not become repetitive. The lesson plan that was created was created for 2nd grade reading and language arts content. It also uses various activities and student involvement so that all students are able to participate and succeed.
Another artifact I will consider using is the powerpoints and prezi's I have created for lessons plans in the past. I have created multiple prezi's for certain content. I have also created powerpoints and prezi's that have been implemented to my college level courses. These powerpoints and perzi's show my understanding for certain content. It also is a way to effectively communicate with my students, and also colleagues.

Characteristic #3 Teaching is a Professional, Moral, and Ethical Enterprise
For this characteristic, there are multiple artifacts I can use. The main artifact I am going to use for this characteristic is my educational philosophy. I think this document is extremely important because it show my beliefs and understandings of teaching and how my character as a person will be brought out in my classroom. I think this philosophy is a great thing to show future employers and also the parents of my students whenever I get hired.
The second artifact that I will use for this characteristic is the character education lesson plans I have created for my Educ 450 class. These plans are a great way of showing how I want my students to act because it gives them a chance to learn how they should act when working in small groups, but also how to act when simply sharing supplies. I have created these lesson plans so that the students practice character traits but they are not explicitly taught. What I mean by this is that since the characteristics that I want my students to learn are embedded with content driven instruction, I am essentially killing two birds with one stone.

Characteristic of a Novice Teacher

1. Have a commitment to and skills for lifelong learning.
For this characteristic, I am using the state Science convention I attended in Fall 2012 in Martinsburg Virginia. This contributes to lifelong learning because this conference is something I will attend once I get hired as a teacher that will help me stay up to date with Science.

10. Be Liberally educated.
For this characteristc, I will use the portfolio I made for the art class I took in the fall of 2011. This course helped me to integrate art in the classroom for the content areas. This art class was very labor extensive and provided me with many ideas to use for all different content areas to many learning hands on.