Question #10

So, again, I really only have two experiences to draw from so it's always nice to see and hear how other people do things.  This weeks question is about the time you spend after the last bell rings.  The teacher that I first observed, who was a good teacher, most of the time worked the time she was required to put in (7:20-3:20), whereas my current mentor teacher says that she stays until 5:30 everyday and often works longer.  I was wondering what kind of time you spend after the bell and how you use that time (student help, clubs/ extracurricular, meetings, etc.)? Do you often spend more time than required at school and if so do you feel that it detracts from your family life or do you just see it as part of the job and it is enjoyable?

Thank you for all of your input this semester, it has been wonderful hearing your opinions and how you work things in your classroom. I really do love hearing as many different perspectives as possible, I feel that it will only help me be a better educator in the long run.

Smooth Finish

Although I am not done with my work sample and student teaching, today went marvelously and really made me feel like everything is going to be okay.  After a week of some stressful lessons, today the lesson went fabulous (aside from me injuring myself during a lecture on safety), the students were on task and creating authentic unique works of art.  They all seemed to be enjoying themselves thoroughly and as the class wrapped up,  a number of students said good bye to me who normally never acknowledged me.  I think that today was one of those moments that teachers hang on to when they are having a bad day and need that glimmer of hope. I will remember this day and this group of students for a very long time. I was lucky to be blessed with a smart, talented bunch of middle school students for this portion of my student teaching and can't wait to make new connections with the next group of high school students. 

Flexibility is Key

The second half of this week was madness!  Unfortunately, I am on a time crunch due to student teaching and my lesson plans are very precise, but when teaching onWednesday, as all good teachers need to be, I had to put on my flexible hat.  I had allotted only one day for my students to work with clay and as the period was wrapping up I was noticing that NONE of the students were finished. This instilled panic in me quickly, so of course I had to make the decision to let them continue on the clay portion of their project the next day.  This would not be a big deal if I wasn't on such a time crunch, but this is something that could happen if I had my own classroom as well (i.e. the end of the semester or right before a long break).  I think that I handled the situation correctly, however the panic feeling was not settling, however it was a good to experience to have during my student teaching so that I know how to or how I would solve this when I am on my own. 

Excursion to the Library

Today I took the students to the library to do research for their projects.  I think they did need the time to look at reference material to get solid ideas for how to illustrate the animal they chose to focus on, but I think that I could have gone about it a different way, or just learn better ways to take students to the library.  It was a little difficult managing 45 students spread over the library.  A lot of students were on task, but some were using the time to socialize (they would of course stop when I moved close and return to the minimal work they were preforming). I clearly need work on my classroom management, particularly in confronting students who are not on task (by nature I hate confrontation and this can definitely be a conundrum when working with students, I know this and worry about it).  Any tips on how to maintain management when you move students outside of the classroom setting when you have a few squirrely  kids who won't stay on task?

Question #9

On the topic of grading, I have now seen two people's methods of grading and both were quite different from each others. One person leaves a lot of feedback on their student's work about how they are doing, the other just gives a numerical grade. One person keeps a hard copy of the grades and then enters them into the computer system, the other considers that to be too much work and just enters them into the computer system right away.  One person has one visual arts rubric that all projects are graded off of and the other creates individual rubrics for each project.  So after seeing all of these differences, I was wondering what works best for you when it comes to grading and what you may have found doesn't work or has come back to bite you in the past?

Dreaded Grading

Today was grading day for the first 6 week period of the semester.  Although I was around for the semester grading period, this time around I was responsible for many more assignments and also got to see the process that my mentor teacher goes through.  It was a tough, lengthy process and what I learned from the whole experience is to stay on top of things and not leave grading assignments to the day that grades are due.  I am really one for staying on top of things like that, however my mentor teacher procrastinates and leaves a lot of grading until the very end.  It also opened my eyes to how many assignments the students still haven't turned in and made me realize that I need to have a serious conversation with them about staying on top of turning in assignments and the consequences that come with neglecting that responsibility.  On Monday, I am going to have a talk with my students about just that.  I believe it is really our responsibility as teachers at the middle school level to really start handing over personal responsibility to them.

Choosing Final Project

Although I presented all three assignments with great enthusiasm, to my surprise, a majority of the class gravitated to one assignment, the Spirit Stick (the 3D project).  32 student (3/4th of the class) chose this project, with the other chunk of students chose the painting project, with only one student choosing the story telling project.  I did not anticipate there being quiet the division in project choices. to me, this tells me that most students want to work with hands on materials, with also a strong interest in painting. Although I don't know if I would present a lesson like this again due to the lack of ability to get into one subject in depth, but I do know which assignments would go over better than other.  It will be fun to see if the students still like the option they chose after we begin the final project.  Best part of (student) teaching, experimenting and see what's working and what is not.

Beginning my Work Sample

So today I began my work sample, and although I started out a little nervous, I really liked the way that it turned out for the most part. What worked: I think my PowerPoint presentation flowed rather smoothly and the read aloud I did with the kids really seemed to capture their attention. I had a lot of fun reading to them a book that was pertinent to the content we were covering and I think that they enjoyed it too.  What didn't work/What I would try to do different next time: although I really thought all of the information I covered was important, I don't think the students got enough time for the mini project I had planned. I will definitely want to allow my students more time for the creative portion of my daily lesson and less lecture time, but this  will be a tough balancing act between not robbing my students of their work time and me not being able to give all the information I need to.

Questions #8

So my action research project is based on giving students choice, which, for me, translates into creating projects that don't require students to follow a process directed lesson the whole time.  From what I think I learned about you in our first class is that you lean toward student directed lessons, so my question is: do you think that there are any units or reasons that you would see a process oriented/strictly teacher driven lesson necessary? My mentor also suggested that the more loose you are with your lessons, in terms of not standardizing them, the more likely you are to have parents gripe about why one student got an A for the project and why their child got a B (for example).  Do you find this to be true? Do you have parents often questioning your grading methods and what is the best way of objectively assessing students who are all doing different projects?

Wrapping Up a Lesson

Today some of my students began wrapping up their grid drawing.  Although I began my lesson with a number of projects that they could do after they were finished (anticipating that some of them would be completing the project) I had a number of students, towards the second half of class, begin to get up and walk around, not doing what I asked them to do and in some cases distracting other students in the class.  Although there were not too many of these students, there will be more on Monday who are completing and needing something to do.  So for Monday, I will make a major point about what they need to be doing and enforce what I ask them to do, so that they remain focused throughout the whole period and that they are not disturbing others. I will do this by telling them what I expect them to do after they are finished, have them repeat that information to me and, if needed, ask students on an individual basis what they should be doing if they need to be redirected.

Messin With My Schedule!

Today was a snow day for the Salem-Keizer School District, and on the extremely tight schedule I am working under, it really hurt my planning! So tomorrow I am going back to school and will need to revamp my plan.  My lesson was/is suppose to finish tomorrow, but because we missed today I am not sure that the students will finish.  If my students don't finish their artwork tomorrow, I am thinking about sending their work home with them over the weekend.  It terrifies me that they won't bring back their artwork after the weekend, so I am going to consult with my mentor tomorrow before school to see what she has to say about the issue.  Ultimately it is my choice, and it will be something that I will have to make the call for when I see how far along my students are at the end of the class.  Although my situation is unique because of my time crunch due to my student teaching, it is an important lesson to learn...you must be flexible and ALWAYS have a plan B, or be willing to cut something from your lesson that you feel is important.