A Letter to 22 Year Old Me

Dear Theresa,

As you're about to start your final year of college with a year of student teaching, let me offer you some advice:

1. Remember the brush off. For the entire first semester the Junior boys you teach will think they are smooth enough to hit on you, invite you to parties, and pry into your personal life. Remember that they are all very good kids who come from a completely different culture than your own so follow your instincts. Yes, it will make you uncomfortable the first time, but you're pretty good at the brush off. Besides, they don't mean any harm and you know exactly how to put them in their place without putting them down or destroying their self-esteem for all their future female endeavors. P.S. You're boyfriend's pretty amazing; feel free to remind them as often as you like. Some of them need an example of what a healthy dating relationship looks like.
2. Don't sweat the little things. This semester will not be an easy one. Your students will not be models of perfection. They will test you. Most importantly, though, they will prepare you for your future career like nothing else could. Just remember that an iron fist of control is not the key to classroom management. Students are more likely to listen to someone they can look eye-to-eye with and joke with because they share a mutual respect than to someone who freaks out every time they move.
3. Give up. You won't win the cell phone battle. You can only guilt trip them into putting them away maybe twice a week but not on consecutive days.
4. Don't get discouraged. You're going to get a LOT of interviews. You're going to come in 2nd place on pretty much every job you want. But you'll make great connections and get some voicemails from impressed principals that you will keep for as long as your phone is in working order. 
5. Follow your heart. You know why you're here. You know where you belong. You know where to place your expectations. Don't settle for less. Yes, it will be a struggle. But you never have been satisfied with the easy way out. 
6. Remember: This is what teachers make.

Sincerely,
Future Theresa

Prom, Graduation, and the "D" and "F" List

With the end of the year approaching and spring teasing us three days a week, students and staff alike are getting excited with the prospect of warmer weather and freedom has students and staff alike excited for the next several weeks to pass quickly.  Within those few weeks, though, comes the most exciting extra-curricular events of the year: Prom and Graduation. How the students and the staff are preparing for these events are completely different.

Unfortunately, I've overheard many students excitedly discussing the less than approved of sides of Prom and Graduation: The After Parties. They are careful not to say too much, of course, so that no teachers or administrators really know where to point the cops...However, the authority figures aren't going down without a fight.

First and foremost, students cannot graduate or attend prom if they are not passing. Thus, the D and F List.  This week has been an endless stream of students rushing in during seminar, advocacy, and even taking time during their pass cards to try to make up their missing assignments or even retake failed tests. We are gracious, accommodating, and understanding...up to a point. Anything done after Spring Break that is still part of the unit we are studying is fair game. However, if they didn't participate or turn in assignments before Spring Break, they are tough out of luck and unable to make those up. Redoing assignments from Spring Break up til this point MAY get them into Prom, but they will have to turn in every assignment from here on out in order to graduate.  This is not to say that we want our students to fail; but they need to realize there are consequences for their mistakes. Maybe if their grade is so low that they can't make it to Prom, they will realize the seriousness of their situation and focus on graduating.

Secondly, none of the teachers are naive enough to think that there is no underage drinking going on, especially on these particular nights.  As a result, the school's SADD organization hosted it's first Mock Crash in ten years! My old high school used to do this every year and it was extremely successful and had a lasting impact.  Unfortunately, neither school has video recorded their efforts, so I've found this Mock Crash Example. Each school does it a bit differently, but I think that given the visual world we live in where students are so desensitized to reality, this is a great idea.  I know it always made a huge difference on the students' decision at my old high school. 

Assessing Reader Comprehension

The seniors will be finishing up Macbeth this week, which is very exciting because I feel that the unit has been a success overall! Over the past several months of teaching, I've come to like the combination of both a project and a small quiz or test to evaluate my students' comprehension. Just like with the Juniors' Gatsby unit, the seniors had a creative project that included creativity and peer collaboration. I detailed this project in my previous post, though, so I won't go into great detail.  However, each class completed the project and turned it in last week and the results were excellent. After weeks of struggling to keep them motivated during the last stretch of their senior year, the students actually got very into their projects and worked well within their groups.  All three Macbeth storybooks are in the process of being scanned in so I can show them to each class this week.

Although I chose the storybook idea, this document also provides a variety of ideas for Macbeth Projects. There are a lot of options (some of which I had wanted to use had I more time...), but I don't like giving students a dozen different project ideas to choose from. In my experience, it causes confusion and they spend the majority of their time trying decide on which project option instead of actually working on their projects. However, if a couple or few were chosen and rotated each school year, it would keep the unit fresh and fun for the teacher as well as the students.

To compliment my project, I have also written a small quiz (1 page front and back) that asks the students to do the following: place major events in order of their occurrence, multiple choice, short answer, matching terms to definitions. I feel like it has a good variety of question types that are able to assess the students' understanding. While attempting to develop this written assessment, I've run across several beneficial sources that have helped me focus on how to ask questions that follow things such as Bloom's Taxonomy AFT Pamphlet I had always found it a little tricky to develop questions that really assess on all levels so I found this pamphlet helpful.

April Fool

Wouldn't you know it, April Fool's Day is the one and only day of the year that my juniors decide to behave like normal, educated young adults with an eye on their education...As such, I expect Wednesday and Thursday to be horrendous.  In comparison, my usually well-behaved, easy-going seniors were disruptive and testy today.  I feel like I've been in topsy-turvy world!

The seniors finished reading the actual play of Macbeth today.  Since the entire unit has been stretched across 4-5 weeks with Spring Break in the middle, I played this Macbeth Video as a summary/review of the play thus far.  After reading the entire abridged version, they really enjoyed the silly cartoon video, which is brief enough that it did not eat class time or ruin showing the entire film next week.  It was also beneficial because, after spending the last several weeks trudging through Shakespeare's dense language, it was like a breath of fresh air that really aided in clearing up any confusions that they really weren't even sure they had. 

It was also a good transition into my summative assessment project: Macbeth Storybook. I'm dividing each class into 6-7 groups that will be each designated a section of the play to translate and illustrate into 1-3 pages of a children's storybook. I will then scan/compile the pages and show them to the classes next week. As senioritis sets in, I'm hoping this form of peer-accountability keeps them on task and encourages them to at least complete their portion of the project.

On a side note, I've interviewed a couple places in the last week and by far the most difficult question: "What's your greatest strength and weakness?" Other common questions: "How do you feel about technology in the classroom?" - "How will you integrate cross curricular activities?" - "What are your feelings on writing assignments?" -- These are just the most common ones so far in case any of my classmates were curious about the actual questions being asked.  I wish you all the best of luck!

KPTP FrEnZy

As I'm sure my fellow student-teachers can attest to, the Spring Break of your senior year has been something of a huge let down - Thanks Hollywood! Instead of one last hoorah (as seen in the movies), it has been a frenzy of working extra hours in order to live up to my assistant manager title at work, throwing together graduation details that I'll never get around to once school starts, and the all too wonderful KPTP...

Oh, KPTP...I've learned over the last week that 1) Apparently, I was one of very few people who actually started it over winter break (this included my boyfriend, who I've been nagging to start it since winter break!), 2) No matter how long you work on it and how far you get, you are never - EVER done, 3) It's designed to make young student teachers question their every move in the classroom, which might or might not be a good thing, and finally 4) Watching Shocker basketball during March Madness is the only thing in the world that could possibly be more stressful.

Currently, I'm just out of reach of the light at the end of the tunnel: I'm down to counting the boxes that remain empty (23 - which is actually next to nothing in a document like this). Hopefully, all of my classmates are progressing nicely, but just in case they feel as though they are running short on time, here are some helpful sources:

• Although everyone should have this website in their toolbars, here is the link to the Kansas State Standards that everyone will need for their KPTP's and the lesson plans included within.
• Here are the Content Guidelines that I wish I had more time to read over as I've been working.
• Remember to take a Break every once in awhile.
• And don't forget, THIS is what the KPTP is inspiring us to become. 

Good luck, everyone! Stay Classy :)

"When the hurlyburly's done..."

After many struggles and adaptations due to snow days and frustrated students, my American Dream unit with the juniors is finally coming to an end. I feel like everyone who reads that sentence should be applauding right now, because I was beginning to think it would be impossible to complete it before Spring Break, which I feel is essential to me finished my KPTP.  And, while you're applauding me, let's also send youtube a huge thanks for being an invaluable resource to teaching.  Part of me wonders if the creators ever expected it to be used in a classroom...

I thank them (and my CT for coming up with the idea) because instead of having the juniors trudge through the last three chapters of the novel over the past week while attempting to complete their American Dream Interview Projects and fit in a test, I had the students watch them.(Chapter 7-8/Chapter 8-9) This particular version was made in the 40's so it had some rather cheesy parts but almost instantaneously, their interest in the book skyrocketed! Now, we are able to review for their test on Monday before spending the rest of the class period preparing for their presentations on Wednesday.

Macbeth is going surprisingly well also! The students have really taken to it even though they openly admit that the language is complicated. However, we are going through it slowly; taking out time so that they can really experience the language and grasp the meaning behind the words. Youtube has also been instrumental in their learning.  To help them examine the themes, I had them watch a compilation of three different versions of Macbeth (Hurlyburly Exercise) and compare the visuals seen in each.  They loved being able to actually see the play in action, even if it was the first scene over and over again.

I also hope to include a funny little clip from Studio C (Shakespearean Therapy) so that they can laugh at the absurdity of some of Shakespeare's characters, then write their own therapy session with either Lady Macbeth or Macbeth.  Tomorrow, I'm bringing in props to have them act out a bit of the murder scene.  The play I performed in 6th grade (which I'm trying to hunt down to show them as their "movie" version) has a sword fight at the end with specific choreography that I would like to have them act out in April.

Clearly, I'm bursting with ideas for Macbeth and very excited because I am not on such a time crunch with the seniors like I am with the juniors.  The seniors are also much easier to do fun things with because their classroom management is effortless. I am definitely looking forward to having some fun with my seniors!

"Double, Double, Toil and Trouble"

I will begin my Macbeth unit for the seniors tomorrow and I have a feeling it will either go extremely smoothly or be the most unkempt farm road ever. First, because I will now be in charge of all of my CT's classes until Spring Break. This means not just double the workload, but quadruple! Second, my CT and I are unsure on just how much experience the students have with Shakespeare but are certain that they will struggle quite a bit with the language.  As a result, I've decided to use an abridged version of the play. This is also due to the fact that I'm using the play to continue my CT's unit of ethics so the play is not the main focus. The students have just finished watching the movie "A Few Good Men," in which the characters are up against the federal government/U.S. Marines in a hazing scandal that resulted in a man's death. Although it is quite the jump back in time, Macbeth has the similar ethical themes of standing up against the ruling force for what you believe in. (I would share my abridged version of Macbeth, but I cannot seem to find a way to post it. If you'd like it, I'd be happy to email it to you!)

In preparing for this unit, I've done a lot of online searching for ideas and resources...There is plenty out there, but I haven't found a great deal to be of use. I'm a bit torn when it comes to www.folger.edu. They have a great deal of resources and lesson plan suggestions for a variety of subjects...None of them so far have really been for me, though.  However, that does not mean that they can't be useful in a different classroom. :) I did find one source that I would love to incorporate ideas from: Macbeth Unit. If I have time, I would love to get the SmartBoard out and and try some Shakespeare Jeopardy!
The part of this unit that I am most excited about is the final project I have developed.  I took an idea from one of the KPTP workshops I attended and tweaked it to suit my needs. I have four senior classes (about 80 students). I plan to break them all into small groups and assign each a scene from the play that they will then develop into a children's book in modern English. They will be asked to identify/use such things as foreshadowing, symbolism, and irony if necessary.  I will then compile each group's pages into a book (probably digital).  I'm hoping this will encourage them to put a great deal of effort into the project because some of the art projects I've tried with the juniors have had rather sad results when it comes to effort. 

Parent-Teacher Relationships

Valentines Day
A woman bursts into my classroom between classes, carrying two small red bags. Small, slender, and pretty, she is all business.  She explains that the bags are for my CT and me. Another substitute, I think, looking to be requested next time my CT is out for the day. Many of them leave candy after subbing in her classroom, hoping to be called back. Since my CT is gone at a district meeting for the day, I smile and thank her.
She thrusts her hand at me. "I'm ******'s mom."
My smile widens.  I accept her outstretched hand, thinking of how I'd just placed her child on a tally system the day before.  That same tally system had caused my CT to call this mother about her son's behavior during my class. I brace myself for a possible confrontation with this petite woman about her child.
I decide to start off with a compliment. "Oh, it's so nice to meet you! ******'s ..."
Her hand tightens around mine.
"It's handled." 
Matter-of-fact. 
No-nonsense. 
"I just wanted you to know it's handled." 
I stand in shock as she sweeps from the room. I had never met someone so direct. It would take a bigger or more foolish person than I to cross that woman. Unless I was her son.
Heaving a sigh, grateful to be alive, I peek into my goodie bag and cannot help but laugh.
A small bottle of water. A package of some energy drink powder. 
She knew exactly what her son's teachers needed to make it through a 90 minute class period with him. 

I share this story because it shows how wonderful my students' parents really are.  It's almost a little shocking to me to see just how supportive of the school and its teachers they really are. It was evident during parent-teacher conferences, and it continues to be apparent through every interaction we have. Clearly, strong and healthy relationships with parents make our jobs as teachers so much easier because even though my Juniors are extremely challenging, they are generally very respectful which I am certain is a value taught to them by their parents.  So, this is a shout-out to all of the parents who aren't afraid to push their children to their full potential and hold them to high expectations! You are awesome! 
 

A Little Taste of Trouble

This past week's parent-teacher conferences have taught me a valuable lesson: Sometimes parents can be absolutely amazing, cooperative, and genuinely concerned about their child's progress...and their students can be completely disinterested in passing or even pretending to try.  From 3:30-7:00, parent after parent came to visit with my CT and I about his/her student's grades.  Each and every one was was completely supportive of our positions and methods of administering grades and discipline.  In fact, many parents encouraged me personally to stay on their students in hopes that I would be the catalyst to what were some rather disheartening academic careers. This kind of situation makes you realize that teachers and parents really are a team when it comes to student success...and sometimes we aren't always as successful as we would like to be, especially when it comes to young adults who are receiving letters from the district after their 18th birthdays informing them that they no longer have to let their parents know about their academic performance.  As official "adults," they are legally able to keep their records private. And people wonder why classroom management has become such an issue of late...

Speaking of which, my seniors got their fist taste of what I expect from a class this week. The result was "The student-teacher was very cantankerous in class today" as one of their vocabulary test sentences. I couldn't help but smile.  At least they know what the word means, right? :)

Similarly, the juniors have begun to realize that I'm not someone they can easily push around. After 2 days of being held after school, a new seating arrangement, placing students on tally systems, and a pop quiz, they might actually be getting the point: The Great Gatsby isn't going away. It's boring to them...and my mentors at my school keep reassuring me that it is a common response from students nowadays. All I can do is involve as many different forms of learning as possible...aural, visual, kinesthetic...individual, partner, small group, whole group...ugh! They're bored. And we've got 6 more chapters to go. And it makes them squirrely, which is difficult to punish them for. How can I punish them for finding my unit boring??

Begin Again

Where to begin...again...

A new semester has brought with it four new classes of students. Eighty new faces. 77 new names. Ironically, this only makes it more challenging to keep them all straight. Just when you think you've learned them all, though, someone transfers from another school within the district and it seems to throw everyone's names once again into the swirling whirlwind that is your daily schedule. The morning and afternoons fly by...there is never enough time in each class period to cover everything you want to share.  Planning periods, however, seem to crawl even though you have more than enough work to keep you occupied.

Is this what I expected for my first week student teaching? I'm definitely enjoying it...and I blame the whirlwind on my sudden re-acquaintance with 6:00 AM. After 5 years apart, we now have rekindled our love-hate relationship. I cannot help but smile as my students shuffle through my classroom door at 8:00 AM...they'll never know I very unhealthily sucked down a Mountain Dew on my way to school that morning. :)

Perhaps the toughest obstacle so far has been building the teacher-student relationship with the four senior classes I am now expected to teach in a few weeks. I wasn't part of their world last semester and so now I am something of an imposter. We cannot confiscate phones because the students who are 18 or older can just get them back. Also, their age only encourages them to rebel because now they feel as though they are officially invincible.  My CT had told me that they were much more well-behaved than my juniors, which is difficult to dispute...except that sitting there quietly and refusing to do any work isn't necessarily behaving. Senioritis has definitely hit early this year and on Friday we were already phoning parents about failing students. I feel as though they are an entirely new knot to unravel in comparison to my juniors.

Speaking of my juniors....they were ecstatic to see me, running to hug me between classes and shouting my name down the hall...After last semester's ups and downs, it was wonderful to know that I was of to a great start with the juniors.  Somehow, my brief absence for Christmas break seems to have transformed them into a nearly well-behaved class who actually looks to me for guidance. I love the feeling of helping a child make a connection and cannot wait to begin teaching them Gatsby on Monday :)  I'm also excited that one of my students has been recommended for the IEP screening that he so desperately needs and have been trying to plan adaptations that will meet his needs. In doing so, I have discovered this website:

http://www.webenglishteacher.com/index.html

It has a ton of helpful lessons and activities for a variety of units and I've adapted several to use in my own lessons. I strongly encourage anyone who is struggling to develop fun and educational activities to check this out!

How to Survive College: BS, BA or MRS?

Remember all your grand notions from high school…Your hopes, your dreams, your fantasies about going out and changing the world.  Gather them up…toss them out the window. Watch their colors fly as they fall…fall…fall…

SPLAT!  On the pavement below.

Attend lectures.  Take notes until your hand hurts.  Focus so hard that you forget you are not a robot sent there to take over the world if you could just understand what the socially awkward man in the white coat and nerd glasses is saying.

Struggle.

Fight. 

Fail. 

Ask for help. 

Get reminded that “this isn’t high school anymore.” Smile. Thank him for his time.

In your mind, dump the rotten-egg concoction that your lab partner made last week on his head. 

Remember that you’re not a robot.

Join a club to make friends.  Pay the new member fee and attend a few meetings. Realize these people aren’t your kind of people. Abandon club.

Go home to stay sane. Smile as you tell your family how wonderful college is.  Keep smiling as your mom pressures you about being a spinster and remind her that you are only eighteen. Go back to college.

Get a boyfriend. Learn to juggle school, work, and the new boyfriend with what you like to pretend is your social life. Break up three months later.

Start your education over a year and a half in.  Remember what you used to like to do and find a major similar to that.  Break the news to your mother…Heave a sigh as she laments how she will have to change her dreams of having a doctor in the family. Hope that she gets over it sooner rather than later.

Date the same boy for the second time. Learn to juggle school, work, and the new/ex-boyfriend with your social life. Break up three months later.

Attend lectures. Read books. Take notes until your hand hurts.  Focus so hard on the subtext that you forget that sometimes the damn curtains are just blue.  Write until you feel like all your creativity has been sucked out through your fingertips.  Excel. Brag to your mother. Wish she could forget that whole doctor thing already. Remind her that you are only twenty-one and not a spinster.

Get a boyfriend. Learn to juggle school, work, and the new boyfriend with what remains of your social life. Break up three months later.

Ditch your social life for a second major, a minor, and a promotion. Weigh your blossoming work career against the one you’ve spent four years paying for. Imagine you can combine them into one totally awesome wedding gown sewing grammatically challenged small town English teacher.

Fall in love.

Prove to your mother that you are not a spinster.  Explain that there is a natural order of events in life and grandchildren are at the end of it. Remind her that she wants you to graduate from college and get married first so you do not move back in with her for the third time and burden her with a blossoming premarital family. 

Finally...Go back to the street full of fallen colors. Reclaim what you had thought was lost forever.  Enjoy what you do.  Let it break you down so you can learn from it and mold yourself into the best teacher you can be. Gather all your knowledge and experience, hopes and dreams for the future…hold them close…toss them out before you…watch their colors fly as you let them fall…fall…fall on the heads of those who need your guidance most.

Drawing the Line

Two weeks ago, I taught a small unit on persuasive writing based around William Faulkner's "A Rose for Emily."  After learning about southern Gothic literature, reading the story, and discussing persuasive writing, I gave my students the assignment that would prove to be the bane of our lives for the next several months: A persuasive essay.

As it would turn out, the district and state assessments this year will be primarily concerned with persuasive writing.  This gave the majority of the students a concrete reason as to why they should pay attention.  Unfortunately, Halloween gave them all a very fun excuse as to why they should not pay attention at all.  It should be fairly clear as to which reasoning the students adhered...Thankfully, the day after Halloween (Coincidentally also the day that my supervisor came to observe me...Yeah, I didn't think that one through...), they were all quite tuckered out. :)  And, because they all worked so hard that day, I agreed to let them turn in their persuasive papers the following Monday...

Two weeks and a barrage of excuses later, I still have not received everyone's papers. On the one hand, it has really spread out the workload that comes along with grading 27 essays.  On the other, though, how lenient can I continue to be??  First, the late policy at my school says that a day late automatically results in 50% off.  Second, my CT informed me that regardless of my policies, the school's administration requires us to accept late work so some students will not turn in the paper until the end of the semester or even the end of the year. What??? How does that teach students responsibility and accountability? 

Finally, my own personal concern is maintaining the same objective grading state-of-mind as I am receiving a few papers each week.  Over and over again, I have heard teachers say how you don't want to be the first paper they grade because they will be incredibly tough on it.  Meanwhile, the last papers to grade get the best scores because the teacher is tired of grading at that point.  Sadly, as the semester continues to charge ahead and my students continue to drag their feet, my available time for grading papers is shrinking fast!  I am just hoping that my own assignment load does not result in students who just spit out papers getting grades that perhaps they did not earn.

KATE Conference Reflection

This year's KATE Conference was not at all what I expected...I really enjoyed it! Although I was only able to attend sporadically on both Thursday and Friday, I definitely wish I had been available to attend more of it. Everyone was very nice and, after discovering I was a WSU pre-student teacher, very supportive!

My favorite session on Thursday was really informative on how to implement graphic novels in the classroom.  The presenter was extremely thorough, which was great because I have a very limited knowledge when it comes to this genre.  However, after this session, I now have several different ways and resources to teach units that students typically find dry and boring.

The session that was the most helpful to me was the one about using children's books in the classrooms as a tool for learning literary terms. Complete with assignment sheets and examples, this session clearly detailed how to have students write children's books that included examples of literary terms. When the books were complete, the students would go read them to 2nd graders, which I think is a great way of insuring that students put a great deal of effort into their books! I am definitely planning to use this in my future classroom, especially since my students had just finished taking a test over these terms last week and the results were a bit disheartening. After attending this session, though, I feel like I have a new and very exciting way for them to not only learn, but also invest themselves in their work.

The Difference (Genre Reflection #1)

Clean, crisp hallways filled with bright colors; empty classrooms with perfectly straight desks, echoing silence. I breathe in the clean air and know that I belong here; in this place…I will make a difference.

Suddenly, the bell rings for passing period.  Chaos fills the hallways; laughing, screaming, chattering students from all walks of life. I plaster my back to the cold brick wall so I don’t get trampled while attempting to keep a welcoming smile on my face. It takes only a few seconds for boys and girls to begin trickling past me and through the door of my classroom.  They barely spare me a glance as they pass, caught up in the drama of the day. Following the last student in, I discover that the chaos of the hallway has consumed my once pristine classroom…

“Please quiet down and find your seats.”

Rambunctious and happy faces everywhere, shrinking the classroom’s available space and transforming the perfectly straight rows of desks to arches and angles…Ugh, math terms that make me shudder.  Football players practicing their dodging and weaving in the back of the room, groups of girls fixing each other’s hair, and someone’s brave falsetto was keening out a song that I thought I would recognize in a different key... 

“Sit down and be quiet, please.”

I wander through the room, breaking up the clusters of boys and girls and returning order to the aisles.  “Shhh…Have a seat, have a seat…Hush…” I murmur as I go until the crowd settles down.With a second ring of the bell, the lesson begins and a deceptively calm class turns its attention to the day’s tasks.  The bellwork and clearly written instructions on the board bring a limitless parade of questions and repeated answers that pull my attention away from the class as a whole.  The din begins to rise again…

“Quiet down, please…hush now and face the front.”

I read several chapters out of our novel next, performing to the best of my abilities and hoping that my voice is animated enough to keep their attention.  Even so, I must slowly walk the aisles to tap the sleepers, texters, and avid gossipers on the shoulders.  I count fewer taps than the day before and hope that means I am making progress.  At a critical point in the story, I pause to check their understanding.  An answer is given, which inspires a comment from another, and another and another…the contagion of the conversation, now completely off topic, quickly spreads throughout the room, accompanied by a clamor of giggles.

“Hey, quiet down, quiet down…we’re almost through…”

This snaps the class back to attention until a study guide is handed out to a chorus of moans and complaints.  Frustrated, some students throw their hands in the air; others jump up and storm the length of the room only to return to their desks once more.

“Stay in your seats…you may work quietly with your neighbor. Don’t just copy each other’s answers.”

With great reluctance, the class settles into their busy work as I patrol the room, issuing warnings with a press of my finger to my lips.  The students become aware of my pattern of movements and are sure to lower their voices as I draw near…All except a pair in the back. They are oblivious as I advance on them.  I can feel the words beginning to bubble up…If I’ve told them once, I’ve told them a million times…

“No,” the student’s voice is sharp, hands protectively grasping the study guide.  “Do your own! Miss B. said I can do this. She doesn’t want me to fail!”

The words disintegrate before they have a chance to burst from my mouth.  I feel my heart swell.   There is my difference in the world.  Even if it is just one student in the chaotic mob that floods from my classroom out into the once crisp, clean hallways. It is that one difference that makes this whole day worthwhile…and I cannot wait for tomorrow.

Blog Post #2

I am currently working on my lesson plans for my 5-7 day unit, during which I will be covering William Faulkner's classic, "A Rose for Emily."  I am very excited; this is one of my favorite short stories!

To accompany the reading and evaluate my students' understanding, I am also planning a brief persuasive essay.  The students will be expected to convince their audience of Emily's guilt or innocence by giving supporting evidence from the text.  If I feel that there is time, I may need to cover some basic MLA citations and formatting rules.  This is something I am a little worried about since I am unsure of how familiar they are with citing.  I feel like this is something that can get extremely confusing, so I'm looking for a very simple overview of MLA that will cover the necessary basics. 

In my searching, though, I found a neat little website: http://www.readwritethink.org/files/resources/interactives/storymap/index.html, which allows students to do story mapping online, then print out all of their notes. Depending on the story, or the topic covered that day, students can do up to 4 different story maps. Each one comes with prompts and the whole thing is just more interactive than a worksheet, which is becoming more and more necessary for effective teaching nowadays.  I do think that it may be much too elementary for some classes, though. 

On a side note, my pre-student teaching is going fairly well.  My goal of late seems to be to eliminate the cheating that half of the class partakes in whenever they get handed a worksheet.  I've had several discussions with students about the value of doing their own work.  It is difficult to tell sometimes if I've actually made an impact when I discuss the ramifications of cheating with them, though.  Usually, it is clear once the next worksheet is handed out...

Blog Post #1

I am currently in the process of attempting to narrow down the topic for my impending three-day lesson plan.  As juniors in high school, they are in American English and lack the time to cover any Shakespeare around the items dictated by the English 3 Pacing Guide.  Thus, my CT and I have been throwing around a handful of different ideas...The Great Gatsby, a short story unit that would include classics such as "The Jilting of Granny Weatherall" and "A Rose for Emily," or a grammar unit that would involve writing a short paper.

As one may have gathered from my previous posting, the students lack strong writing and grammar skills.  My worry with that, however, is developing a lesson that is in-depth enough to last three days but not so complicated that it will leave them in the dust.  For this class it also needs to be EXTREMELY relatable to their everyday lives in order to keep their focus.

My current idea involves deeper thinking questions such as:
1. What does it mean to be a voice of modern culture?
2. What are the most influential voices in American culture?
3. What makes these voices so influential?

The students would write on each of these questions for 5 minutes or so and then discuss them as a class.  These questions would of course need to tie into the literature they should read, which I would love to be very recent pieces instead of something they would consider old and out of date. Suggestions for such pieces would be greatly appreciated!

The lesson would then be completed with a brief writing assignment of some kind.  I am uneasy about having them write a paper because, even though it is definitely a skill they need to have developed before college, it is not something they would take to.  In other words, many of the papers they would turn in would lack in effort.  It is something I will certainly have to give more thought to.

Stardate -311644.8

As my first week of pre-student teaching comes to a close, I find myself wondering about the current state of English classrooms across the city, state, and ultimately the country. Let me explain...
I walked into my Junior English classroom to see the basics of writing complete sentences on the board:

1. Begins with a capital letter.
2. Ends with punctuation.
3. Has a subject.

From my understanding, these were more than helpful reminders.  For some of these students, this was new information that needed in-depth explanations.  Perhaps I should not have been so taken-aback, but I did feel that as Juniors in high school (just 1 year from graduating and moving on to higher education), they should already have a solid understanding of the basics of sentence writing.  Didn't I have a firm grasp of this knowledge upon entering junior high?? 

That is not to say, however, that they did not have proficiency in other areas.  For example, I learned that the majority of the class has a great talent for writing poetry! They had been working on Langston Hughes' "Theme for English B" and writing their own personal variation of the poem.  Many of the students took to this with the same enthusiasm as they would when asked to write in a journal as their poem became an outlet for some of the frustrations in their life.  This can potentially provide myself and their teacher with great insight into their daily lives.

However, I still find their lack of knowledge in writing simple sentences concerning and cannot help but wonder what is being taught in English classrooms that is taking the place of this most basic and necessary skill.  As such, I intend to make writing a focal point for some of my future lessons. Therefore, my goal this semester is to pay close attention to those most basic skills needed for success that my students may be lacking and assist them in developing them.

Everyone knows that good intentions can often go awry, though, and I am worried about the students recognizing the simplicity of such lessons and viewing them as an insult.  Thus, how do I teach secondary English students the same lessons as their elementary counterparts?

"Each day is a gift; untie the ribbon and look inside."

First day of Pre-Student Teaching is finished and I have a great group of kids!