I love the moment when the students realize that Romeo is in love with Rosaline and not Juliet at the beginning of the play. They immediately express their concern for Romeo and his falling in love too quickly. This sparks conversations. I love finding ways to connect the text with students' lives. "Rising up" has given me many ideas for assignments that help my students relate to the characters and create interest in the play.
My students spent the week in the computer labs writing/typing their research papers. The teachers' computer has a program called Netop Vision so we can see what each student is doing on their computer at any time and take control over the computer to help fix anything or X-out of games (which frequently happened). I think this program is great but pretty invasive. My host teacher and I only used it when necessary which was nice -- I wasn't too keen on snooping on my students. It was very helpful when students had questions. We could see exactly what the student needed help with. I walked around a lot and answered questions, but if I wasn't able to reach someone, Mr. Stone was right there on the student's computer ready to help.
We finished up both tests for 9th and 10th grades. After that we worked on Propaganda posters. Both novels used propaganda techniques so the student were familiar with them throughout the unit. they took at least three of these techniques and sold something one of the characters in the book would have wanted. (Think Molly wanting ribbons for her mane in Animal Farm.) They loved being able to color and cut and paste the things they needed for their posters and they turned out very creative.
In my final week as a student teacher, I had one of the more remarkable experiences of my career in education so far. I found that high school students are some of the most unpredictable creatures on God's green Earth. Some of the ones that I figured would be happy to see me go were just about in tears when I told them I would not be returning after spring break. They were sincere tears, too. One girl begged me not to leave and told me that she would miss me very much when just last week she scowled at me for two days straight about being moved to a new seat in the classroom. A boy who told me directly that he hates school and teachers told me that he wished I could stay and be his teacher for the rest of the year. It just goes to show that sometimes all of that apathy and button pushing is simply a thin veil of a front. I can say honestly that I am going to miss these kids with all my heart.
How amazing is it that these students that you tried to teach actually taught you? It thrills me when former students drop by just to say hello. It is gratifying that those whom you thought would be glad to see you go are the very ones most upset about your leaving. While this is only the beginning, the fact that students will miss you says you have been chosen by the right profession. Enjoy your new adventures in teaching!
We made it through our last week! This week my host teacher started taking back over classes and I was able to observe a few different subjects and grades. The first class I observed was an 8th grade Georgia History class. They were talking about the civil rights movement in Georgia and I was so pleased to see they talked about lesser known people involved in the movement. I was also able to observe a 7th grade math class. This teacher is a classroom management wiz! She never once had to raise her voice at the students (unlike so many others I have seen) and the students were engaged and amazingly well behaved. It just goes to prove that when the students are busy in learning, there is little time for all the other distracting behaviors. I’m very appreciative of these teachers and gained some great tips from them. Meanwhile, back in 6th grade ELA, we wrapped up the unit on narrative writing. The students had a practice writing assessment that is going to be similar to what they will see on the new Georgia Milestones test. It is amazing how much more willing the students are to write narratives than other forms of writing. I think it all goes back to writing with a purpose. The students see narrative as fun, expressive writing while they don’t see much use of argumentative or informational writing. It reminds me that students should write for a purpose; have them write an argumentative piece about something that is happening in their school or community and actually send it off to administration or a newspaper. I feel like the students would find more value in the different genres of writing this way. Since this is my last week with them, I asked the students for feedback on my teaching. The most rewarding and affirming comments I received from the students were about how they know I genuinely care about them and their education. A few of them mentioned specific times when I helped them to understand a concept they were struggling with or a time they were having a bad day and I helped them through it. Some of these moments I had just about forgotten. It was amazing for me to hear that they know I care about them and they said that made a huge impact on them and their learning. This student teaching experience has been unlike anything I could have imagined or prepared for. I have grown so much as a person and as an educator. I understand the importance of personal connections with the students and making connections between their lives and what we are studying. I have seen how effective everything I have learned and read about over the last year really is when you put it into practice.
I love the moment when the students realize that Romeo is in love with Rosaline and not Juliet at the beginning of the play. They immediately express their concern for Romeo and his falling in love too quickly. This sparks conversations. I love finding ways to connect the text with students' lives. "Rising up" has given me many ideas for assignments that help my students relate to the characters and create interest in the play.
ReplyDeleteMy students spent the week in the computer labs writing/typing their research papers. The teachers' computer has a program called Netop Vision so we can see what each student is doing on their computer at any time and take control over the computer to help fix anything or X-out of games (which frequently happened). I think this program is great but pretty invasive. My host teacher and I only used it when necessary which was nice -- I wasn't too keen on snooping on my students. It was very helpful when students had questions. We could see exactly what the student needed help with. I walked around a lot and answered questions, but if I wasn't able to reach someone, Mr. Stone was right there on the student's computer ready to help.
ReplyDeleteWe finished up both tests for 9th and 10th grades. After that we worked on Propaganda posters. Both novels used propaganda techniques so the student were familiar with them throughout the unit. they took at least three of these techniques and sold something one of the characters in the book would have wanted. (Think Molly wanting ribbons for her mane in Animal Farm.) They loved being able to color and cut and paste the things they needed for their posters and they turned out very creative.
ReplyDeleteIn my final week as a student teacher, I had one of the more remarkable experiences of my career in education so far. I found that high school students are some of the most unpredictable creatures on God's green Earth. Some of the ones that I figured would be happy to see me go were just about in tears when I told them I would not be returning after spring break. They were sincere tears, too. One girl begged me not to leave and told me that she would miss me very much when just last week she scowled at me for two days straight about being moved to a new seat in the classroom. A boy who told me directly that he hates school and teachers told me that he wished I could stay and be his teacher for the rest of the year. It just goes to show that sometimes all of that apathy and button pushing is simply a thin veil of a front. I can say honestly that I am going to miss these kids with all my heart.
ReplyDeleteHow amazing is it that these students that you tried to teach actually taught you? It thrills me when former students drop by just to say hello. It is gratifying that those whom you thought would be glad to see you go are the very ones most upset about your leaving. While this is only the beginning, the fact that students will miss you says you have been chosen by the right profession. Enjoy your new adventures in teaching!
DeleteWe made it through our last week! This week my host teacher started taking back over classes and I was able to observe a few different subjects and grades. The first class I observed was an 8th grade Georgia History class. They were talking about the civil rights movement in Georgia and I was so pleased to see they talked about lesser known people involved in the movement.
ReplyDeleteI was also able to observe a 7th grade math class. This teacher is a classroom management wiz! She never once had to raise her voice at the students (unlike so many others I have seen) and the students were engaged and amazingly well behaved. It just goes to prove that when the students are busy in learning, there is little time for all the other distracting behaviors. I’m very appreciative of these teachers and gained some great tips from them.
Meanwhile, back in 6th grade ELA, we wrapped up the unit on narrative writing. The students had a practice writing assessment that is going to be similar to what they will see on the new Georgia Milestones test. It is amazing how much more willing the students are to write narratives than other forms of writing. I think it all goes back to writing with a purpose. The students see narrative as fun, expressive writing while they don’t see much use of argumentative or informational writing. It reminds me that students should write for a purpose; have them write an argumentative piece about something that is happening in their school or community and actually send it off to administration or a newspaper. I feel like the students would find more value in the different genres of writing this way.
Since this is my last week with them, I asked the students for feedback on my teaching. The most rewarding and affirming comments I received from the students were about how they know I genuinely care about them and their education. A few of them mentioned specific times when I helped them to understand a concept they were struggling with or a time they were having a bad day and I helped them through it. Some of these moments I had just about forgotten. It was amazing for me to hear that they know I care about them and they said that made a huge impact on them and their learning.
This student teaching experience has been unlike anything I could have imagined or prepared for. I have grown so much as a person and as an educator. I understand the importance of personal connections with the students and making connections between their lives and what we are studying. I have seen how effective everything I have learned and read about over the last year really is when you put it into practice.