Let's Go Shockers!

Happy Easter everyone!

I just wanted to post some thoughts that I have had about this last week...

-My freshmen Class: This past week I have had a very successful week with my freshmen. I even got a student who never does anything to write a journal entry, and talk to me for the first time. Even other than this, I have been planning like crazy so that this class will be successul, I have to differentiate instruction for almost every student, but my hard work did pay off! They played traketball to study vocab and we did free writes instead of journal entries... and they loved it... and learned! Being a teacher is really rewarding! It just takes a lot of time to get where you want to be, or the students to be (at least for this class it has).

-My Sophomore Class: We are finished with our Harlem Renaissance unit and we are watching the Color Purple to sum it all up. They are working on their abstract art project and a found poem (I will post it to the wiki as soon as I get some free time) and I have never seen students so engaged in learning inside and outside of the classroom. I would go into more detail, but it is kind of hard to explain the project...
I will share my found poem (a poem using lines from the texts we read: Their Eyes Were Watching God and A Raisin in the Sun- and I used the movie we are watching as well). The goal for this is to encapsulate the entire theme and mood of the Harlem Renaissance in one poem, using at least 12 lines, using both texts.
*Observation: I was observed this week by my supervisor and she saw me introduce the abstract art piece of the project. She thought it was a really cool assignment, and the entire lesson went extremely well.

      My Time

MY TIME- to say goodbye

Working like somebody’s old horse

You got to fight, see

Thinkin’ bout money all the time

You just got to do something’ different

Father, Give us strength

Take form with the sun and emerge from the gray dust of its making.

You’re black- poor- ugly- and a woman

But dear God, I’m here

Ambition was useless

Folks don’t like nobody bein’ too proud or too free.

Beat her!

Things suffered, things enjoyed, things done and undone

Just pack up and leave

-now, She was free

Hallelujah! AND GOODBYE MISERY!

-Life: The turns it takes...
I have had a crazy week with planning, coaching, finishing my KPTP, and sooooo much more! I'm sure you have enough going on in your life, to want to read about mine =)
My emotions (and hormones) are running wild, but I have never felt so happy and stressed at the same time. I can see, and feel, the light at the end of the tunnel (cliche) and man it feels good. I cannot wait for this semester to be over with, but I don't want it to end at the same time... I take that back: I want to graduate, but I love the classes and the kids that I am teaching! It is amazing! I can't wait to get a job!

zzzzzz.... now it is my bed time! or I am claiming it is! Goodnight room, goodnight moon...
 

Now- we can breathe

This past week has been crazy. The KPTP has been intense. I am still not all the way finished... so, so close. I am a perfectionist and a procrastinator- and this is kicking my butt! Still, I am looking on the bright side and can see the light!

The halfway point to the semester has passed. We are almost there! It seems almost incredible that this time next year I will be in my own class...

Speaking of the future I have been thinking about what I want to teach. I have been brainstorming all sorts of cool lessons here lately and can't wait to create even more fun activities. There are some really awesome websites out there that teachers have created, and I found that there is always a way to adapt something, or get inspired from others work.

We as teachers, must continue to want to teach new and better things. It is what keeps our kids learning, and we must also continue learning, with our students...

I swear not to teach the same thing, or the same way year after year! (Harry Wong says something similar)




---A Website I would highly recommend for anyone to look at is scholastic.com
The ideas and fun activities are really a great way for a teacher to stay connected =)

Please God... Give Me Strength

"Courage is not the absence of fear... but the willingness to walk through it." (Anonymous)

This is the same quote my mother said to me on my first day of college. I found myself saying this to myself walking into the freshmen class this week.
I was not afraid of them, I was afraid of how they would react with what I was about to reveal to them...
my life.

I am having them work on a project analyzing 13 reasons why they have become the person they are today... trying to take a more positive outlook on the negative experiences and showing how they have made them stronger. To model what I expected from them, and to show how in depth I wanted them to go, I needed to tell them why I am who I am...
I went through things like being tortured by my brother- not literally =)  and growing up with my addicted mother and my single father... and then I got to my grandma, who passed not quite a year ago, and who I was very close to. I had typed this whole presentation without any thought and was like... "YEA, I really like this"... but, when I got in front of the class, I realized how hard it truly was to talk about these experiences that I have gone through. (This is why they will not be presenting). I totally just started crying, not sobbing uncontrollably, but the tears were'a'flowin'. I just said "NEXT SLIDE" when I was finished, and finished my presentation. I did it! and I think they could understand me.

The students finished the class with such great success I was thrilled. It was a breath of fresh air seeing them engaged and thinking. I thought it would take longer than this to be at this level of concentration, but they wanted to learn... about me, about life, about themselves.
This lesson has shown me that teaching is so much more than academics. It is the stuff that is real for these kids that matters.

I have had to be very patient with these kids with enforcing routines and procedures within the classroom so that this level of growth is reachable. I used several things I have learned throughout college: a classroom contract, a silence signal, wait time, clearly displaying expectations for ALL activities, and soo much more. College can help prepare you, it just does not show you exactly how to utilize these tools, and I don't think it should, because it is different for every class.

This class has grown so much in the past two weeks, it is truly incredible. They are showing their true potential and rising to meet expectations. They are teaching me that you can do all that you want to with a class, you just have to create an environment in which this is possible.

Livin' La Vida Loca

This past week has definitely been a test on whether or not I am cut out to be a teacher. We all knew this day would come...

I have begun teaching my freshmen classes and it has been a challenge. Each student is so different that I have to accommodate each individual in order for my lessons to be effective. Talk about differentiated instruction... this has shown me how important it truly is, and also how challenging it can be.

Finding what each student wants and needs is not easy, it is almost a trial and error process... and the error part is never fun. Teaching is one of the hardest professions in my opinion, and I am sure many of you would agree... constantly, we are forced to look at what we can do better, or differently. I tried to put myself in the positions of the student and think of what I would like in a classroom, and when i tried this it failed drastically. I had to look inside myself and say, "Okay, these students are not going to like what I like, and they are not going to want to do what I want to do... what can I do for them?" I thought, and cried a little =), and thought some more. Then, I thought of a person who had a hard time in school, who gets off track easily, and needs explicit directions, just like my students... my fiance. 

He is a person who was bullied throughout school and was in trouble all of the time. I needed to look at things from his eyes to see what he would be interested in... and he decided to help me plan my next lesson. 

I did an agree /disagree activity and instead of having students move around the classroom, he suggested a hand signal. Then, I started saying the statements I wanted them to form an opinion over such as: If you were in a situation where someone was being harassed, it would be considered bullying. (This is how I think through things, I put myself in a situation)... and he said, "Oh, no, honey, you had me lost at situation." I laughed and said, "Then what should I say." "KEEP IT SIMPLE." What!?? Simple??? This seems too easy! Thinking simple is something I just do not do... I think things through so thoroughly (alliteration) that it drives me crazy! So, these words were exactly what I needed. 

I changed my statements to things like "Harassment is bullying" and "People act differently when they wear different clothes." The kids loved it, they followed directions, and it was very conducive. I cannot wait to see what this next week brings!