Well, this is it. Today was my last day of student teaching, which means that I won’t have daily postings anymore. What I hope to do is use this blog as a part reflecting/part brainstorming blog, where I try to come up with ideas or find articles for teaching. Now is the process of finishing my requirements for college and applying for different teaching jobs. It will be a long and arduous process, but I am willing to share that part of my experience on here as well, seeing how many of you have appreciated what I have shared thus far. Thank you to everyone for your interest and support in this journey of mine, and I wish you all the best in life.
Writing, the pros and cons
There was an English faculty meeting where we all discussed the writing of students, and what we want to work on as far as any consistent standard goes. Basically, students need to work on their expositions, and proper usage of quotes and resources. There was more, and more that teachers were noticing students weren’t doing. Part of the issue was that there wasn’t that established consistency (established as in the teachers were consistent, but not in tandem), and there was a thought that some schooling earlier on may have been misgiving. However, with what I have seen of these students, and many other students, there can only be a certain limit of ignorance before it becomes laziness.
There are students who KNOW what to do, but don’t, and students who DON’T know what to do, but refuse to learn any new way other than their own shortcut styling. For example, it should be expected that a junior knows what a complete sentence is in terms of short answer questions, and yet I will still get sentences such as “It was good.” I agree that expectations for writing needs to be consistent in any school, though it is difficult to find out the success when many students simply aren’t trying. It’s sad really, but it seems like getting a bad grade on a project or paper isn’t enough anymore. I think the best way to try and get them to write well is to make it interesting, but without the shortcuts of getting by.
(some) Results are in!
30 students took my anonymous survey today. Here’s what they had to say:
I made instructions clear and easy to follow.
4 strongly agreed, 20 agreed, 5 disagreed, and 1 had no opinion.
I made an attempt to get to know you as a student.
3 strongly agreed, 13 agreed, 9 disagreed, 1 strongly disagreed, and 4 had no opinion.
I varied instruction to make it more enjoyable and/or understandable.
3 Strongly agreed, 15 agreed, 4 disagreed, 1 strongly disagreed, and 7 had no opinion.
I enforced a classroom environment where it was easy to learn.
1 Strongly agreed, 13 agreed, 11 disagreed, 1 strongly disagreed, and 4 had no opinion.
I kept instruction at a pace that was comfortable for you to follow.
7 Strongly agreed, 21 agreed, 1 disagreed, and 1 had no opinion.
I was available and approachable for any outside help needed.
10 Strongly agreed, 13 agreed, 1 disagreed, 1 strongly disagreed, and 5 had no opinion.
I showed understanding for your needs as a student.
3 Strongly agreed, 17 agreed, 4 disagreed, 1 strongly disagreed, and 5 had no opinion.
None of this was really surprising. For the few lower scores, I can pinpoint what they were referring to, which is good for reflection. I did get a few additional comments… some funny ones such as I was “too strict and didn’t let us have any fun” (because making inappropriate comments during class is fun, and darn me for stopping that!), or I spoke with a high-pitched voice (?), but there were a few really nice ones, including “I will miss her when she’s gone”. Not as scary as I thought they were going to be… however, I will be getting almost 40 more either tomorrow or Thursday from my largest class (the above results were from SAT and Shakespeare).
Self-Assessment
Today was an exhausting day. I had two observations, and plenty of discussions about reflections of how I’ve been doing.
Is that confusing?
Basically, I’ve been talking a lot today about where my strengths are and what I still need to work on. As a treat, here is a sample of what I’ve come up with:
STRENGTH
Communication
This counts for communication with my colleagues, my students, and even their parents. The few times I’ve had to formally meet with parents, it went well. If a student seems to be a bit… off… I’m usually pretty good about asking what’s up, and also about highlighting the strong points that they show during class. And of course, the faculty/staff at my school has been wonderful, and I love being able to sit and talk with them and get advice.
WEAKNESS
Variation… sort of
Let me just say, that a class with nearly 40 students in it is difficult to manage and vary with activities, though I can pretty comfortably change things up for my smaller class. However, I need to make sure to vary up the larger class too.
I’m also going to start giving anonymous surveys for my students to fill out so I can get some of their feedback. Part of me is nervous, though I’ve heard that results are often surprising. We’ll see!
Prepping Up
Today was spent mostly figuring out how I’m going to end next week as smoothly as possible. Basically, it all winds down to 3 different classes taking 3 different quizzes on Thursday, and the fourth class that I work with just finished up a unit today, so I’m good. What I didn’t realize fully until yesterday was that I actually have more preps to do than is common. Most teachers have two or more of the same class, so that their planning is just repeated throughout the day. I have American Studies and American Lit Seminar which are close, but the planning is so different because the Seminar has Honors students, and the other definitely is not up to that level. It’s a bit stressful, but really I have no problem finishing up what I have to do in each of the classes, and just hope that there aren’t cheers for joy when I’m gone.
A new observation, a frustrating student, and results from the last observation
Today I was being observed by my college supervisor, and she was able to witness me teaching the class of 40. I was giving a lesson on “The Raven” by Edgar Allen Poe, and we had done “Tell Tale Heart” on Tuesday. The issue was that the history portion of this class was learning about slavery and the Civil War, and though Poe is from the same time period, he hardly fits. There’s usually the issue of “Where to put Poe?” because he was just so… different. Anyway, my plan was to go around the room with each student reading a stanza, and then after answering questions about it having the rest of the class read it again, each with one stanza. Sure, when I told them that everyone would be reading, the usual guys were immediately pushing out protests of “I’m not reading this,” or “You can’t make me read this,” but I let those go. One thing I’ve learned about this class in particular is that if you push too much against them, they’ll push back harder and with more force. So, I let them have their say, ignored them, just generally shushing the whole class which was getting chatty without speaking directly to the naysayers.
This apparently paid off, because when we went around the room, no one refused to read. Ones who had said “I’m not going to read” just read without a fight. They were quiet, but sure enough they read. I was worried that if one refused to read, it would become a revolt, but that (thankfully!) did not happen. I had given a worksheet to get the main points across, but another thing about this class is that they do NOT like to do their own interpreting. They are pushy and want the answers right away. If we were on a question and I was pulling for a student to answer, they would be quiet. Then, someone would yell out “So what do we write down?” This happens constantly with this class. It’s not just enough to discuss it, but I have to spoon-feed what they need to write down. This is the case mostly for this class because so many are at such a lower-level of understanding and reading, and unfortunately with a class of nearly 40, there’s not that much time for me as the teacher to go up to the ones who need spelling out. Despite this, I feel that the class went pretty well. Though I was being observed, it seemed that the way the students were behaving were the same as if it were any other teacher. I did need to give some notes I hadn’t planned on giving, because the students had asked why they were learning this if they were being given notes about slavery and now Poe, which, quite frankly, I had been expecting sooner or later. I was able to tie it in to what unit they had just studied recently, so I didn’t have to resort to “Because I said so.”
Once my observation was down, this class went to the art room, and boy did I encounter such a brat! This one girl always seemed to be kind of off-putting, but ever since one particular grade that shifted drastically with me.
Flashback: When I had given my art project for Thoreau, this student had passed hers back with just a pencil sketch of a modern-looking house (she had to illustrate Waldo’s House), with so-so quotes. There was no shading, and on the back she had written that it was in black-and-white because it was a dream sequence. First of all, what? Where did she get that idea? Secondly, it was obvious that there really wasn’t that much time put into it. It was given a 70, which my coop agreed was fair for the effort. The student didn’t seem to like that. She came up to me, asked why it was a 70, and when I tried explaining why as calmly and nicely as I could, she just walked away from me with a “whatever.”
The Present: Down in the art room, the students were sketching out what they would be doing for collages that applied to the topics that they wrote about for their research papers. Without actually gathering the pieces, they just needed to show us what their idea was going to be so we knew that they were planning it and had an idea of what to look for. I went up to this one girl, and asked her how her sketch was going. When I approached her, it was obvious that she had just been talking to the other kids at her table, and from the look she gave I was apparently “out of line”. Nicely, I asked her what her collage was of. The conversation that followed was frustrating and rude.
“A book.”
“A book of what?”
“I don’t know.”
“What’s your topic?”
“It’s right there.”
“Well, yes, Harriet Beecher Stowe. So, what about her?”
“She wrote a book.”
“Yes, I know, but what was it about?”
“I don’t know, I didn’t read it.”
(taking a deep breath) “I understand, but didn’t you do a research paper about it?”
“Well, yeah.”
“So what was it about?”
“I don’t know! I didn’t read it!”
(another deep breath) “But even without reading it, you must know what it’s about.”
“Well I don’t remember what I wrote about.”
(pause) “Slavery, right?”
“Yeah.”
(pointing) “So then maybe something about slavery would look good here.”
“Sure.”
“Is that going to be writing in the book?”
“What writing?”
“What you have written there.”
“Can’t you read? It says I have to find images of Harriet Beecher Stowe on the computer.”
(another deep breath) “Well, what exactly are you looking for? Besides just ‘images’.”
“I don’t know, I haven’t looked yet so I obviously don’t know what I’m looking for.”
(at that point I took another deep breath, and moved on to asking one of the other students at that same table what his collage was about)
Had my coop teacher been in the room (she was with the other group of students in the next classroom), I would have really liked to see what she would have said, because I wanted to make sure that, at all costs, I avoided making a scene.
My SAT class went well, however their Vocabulary Quizzes did not. I don’t know if they just felt like not putting effort in because they had been doing fairly well, though this week was tough. I don’t know if it was the words or what, but I hope that their grades will give them a good smack as if to say “Oh that’s right, these still count as grades.” However, I do get to read their Journal Entries which I always enjoy.
Also, I did get to talk to the woman who observed my SAT class for my new activity. She said that she had really enjoyed it and felt that it was creative and that it was pulled off with little confusion. The one bit of constructive criticism she had was one that she said all teachers have issues with, and that’s time. Sometimes, an activity that you think should take 15 minutes takes 5 for some students, but needs 20 for others. She suggested to always have something to do, and I did mention that students had been given the option to complete sections in their SAT book that we haven’t gotten to yet, though none of them have taken me up on that offer (though some need it!). That just got us both to the conversation of bringing a horse to water when you can’t force it to drink. It was nice to hear that the only comment was one that most teachers needed, and it was especially nice to hear her say that I had a great presence and was clear and concise with my directions. What a boost!
What goes into “the end”
Well, Friday is when grades close for Progress Reports, and next Friday is my last day. There is so much that needs to be done! I need to finish grading, finish units, finish planning, finish portfolios, and so much more! I can’t believe how fast time has been flying by! I think that it feels so rushed now because it was hard realizing how quickly things really go by. What’s unusual is that each day progresses so slowly, but when I blink the week has already passed. Though I have only been here for a little over 3 months, it feels like at least a whole year of learning. Anything that I haven’t actually dealt with first-hand I have gotten plenty of advice about or stories of how others have acted in certain situations, like what to do if a student comes in high/drunk/otherwise altered. Some things are scary, and though every person is different, I’m sure that when I am facing a situation like that I will be able to react soundly and responsibly. I still thank you all for supporting me and reading my blog. This whole experience has been so wonderful.
Buy one, get one free!
Monday:
“A Flip-Flop Day”
Flip: The first class of the day was quiet. Students were just starting their whole day of recovery from a long break, and we got the first round. It was my American Studies class, and they were doing a history lesson. They were still really quiet and had a hard time paying attention.
Flop: I had announced to my SAT class that next Friday was my last day, so I would have them last on Thursday. One of my students came up to me afterwards, upset that she wouldn’t be there for my last day, and that she would have to come and say good-bye to me some other time. It felt nice knowing that she had wanted to give me a proper good-bye and took the time to basically say that she would miss me. That felt wonderful.
Flip: After 2 planning periods, I had my coop’s Honors class, where they were all very giggly and had a hard time focusing on the activity and reading assignment.
Flop: The very annoying, very whiny study hall I have was pretty good. I had brought in some books from home that I was hoping would get the attention, particularly of two boys who never have any work to do and never want to do anything else. To one of them who complains about how long and complicated things are to read, I gave him a book I have of six-word memoirs, called “Not Quite What I Was Planning”. He seemed hesitant at first, but sure enough he kept that book and read it through the whole class. To the other, I told him that if he liked the website “F My Life”, and then handed him a book called “Mortified”. This book has longer stories about adults recalling mortifying instances in high school. At first I thought that he wouldn’t enjoy it because of the length of each story, but I caught him laughing out loud a few times. Both of these boys were reading the whole class. They didn’t talk to each other or draw or be nuisances, but they were actually reading. That felt wonderful.
Tuesday:
“Observed”
I had my SAT class observed today by the English department head of the school I’m at. The students were doing a student-directed activity, similar to what we did in class yesterday. Awhile ago, they had said that Reading Passages and Math were still the two parts of the SAT that they weren’t comfortable with. I thought, for the Reading Passages, knowing what was going to be asked would help them. So I made a list of 5 things about the passages that questions were often asked about (The Set-up/Introduction, Vocabulary Words used in Context, The Overall Theme, The Purpose of Examples Used, and Inferences made about Statements), and had them make up their own questions.
In partners, they read a passage (each group had a different one), highlighted various words or phrases that they felt could be potentially asked, and then created their own multiple choice questions. The groups switched and had to answer the questions created about the different passage. Afterwards, I gave the questions from the SAT about the passages given to the group members who originally created the questions. Most of them did very well, and some had similar questions that they had asked compared to what was on the SAT. Thursday, when I give a timed section, it should be easier for them to know what’s coming up for questions knowing now what to look for.
I haven’t had a chance yet to talk to the woman who observed me, but I felt that I did pretty well. At one point a group had a question while I was working with another group, so she got up and went to help them, though I think it was just because I was busy rather than she thought I couldn’t do it.
I also got to help a student brainstorm for a poem he had to do for class, which was great because that’s what I feel that I’m best at. If I had the choice, I would teach only creative writing classes, or poetry classes, or any other class that focuses extensively on creative pieces. This is why I absolutely love my Shakespeare class, because it’s less about the mechanics or other aspects of English than it is just about the literature. Anyway, this student was on the right track, but just needed guidance for brainstorming to get his feet on the ground to write a good poem.</em
Really feeling the last day before break
I had a productive day today. My SAT class was in Guidance today looking through college books, and I took them in one-by-one to talk about what they wanted to major in, what that meant, and where they wanted to go. The “what that meant” part is basically showing what goes into each major. A lot of the guys in the class were interested in Sports Sciences, so I showed them that most programs don’t have a lot of choice in the courses, and that they have high expectations. I think that they were surprised at what really went into majors, particularly in the science/medical fields. Some of the students were looking at majors like English, History, and Writing, so I showed them how they have a lot of choices for those classes, though it’s still a heavy course. I also was sure to assure them all that it wasn’t a scary process, and if they chose a major out of interest rather than out of interest for money, it would be easier and they would be happier.
However, I did notice today that the “last day before break” moods were setting in, especially with my last class. The students are usually really nice, and it’s not that they were bad but they sure were chatty! It was my Shakespeare class, and I got all of my projects today. As dorky as it might sound, I really can’t wait to go through them. At a quick glance, some are definitely better than others, but I think it’s going to be a fun process rather than painful as it is for when I grade papers or essays.
Now, to enjoy my mini-vacation and relax.
Met the Parents
Well, Parent/Teacher Conferences came and went. First of all, fifteen minutes in a class seems like hardly any time at all. Fifteen minutes of meeting the parents seems like it takes SO much longer! I don’t know what it is, but the time drags on with these conferences. I wish it felt that way when it’s during class and there’s more information to squeeze in!
Now, on to the parents.
The first handful went quite well. A lot of the parents we met with were ones with excellent students who were concerned about progress (with little to be concerned about). It was nice seeing parents who take such strong interests in their children. What’s unfortunate is that, for the most part, parents don’t get to control which parents come in. Sure, we can put in requests to see parents of certain students, but it all boils down to whether or not the parents wish to meet. Of course, not all parents are able to come during the time provided, and that’s to be expected. I found myself wishing to meet some parents of the students who are just “under the radar”, who aren’t terrible but aren’t exemplary that you just want to know more about. Oh well, c’est la vie.
The first meeting that I was fairly nervous about was not painful at all. This was the one that I had made the phone call about, and the student later came and explained what was going on. Meeting the parents tonight was going over quite well, and they seemed concerned with this student’s behavior, knowing that the grades were of no concern. We discussed the positive aspects and the slightly more negative ones, and got to an understanding of how it has settled now and if something comes up again, we should let them know right away. It was nice knowing that I wasn’t having to defend myself as much as state what they already knew and had discussed with their child since the call. What a relief!
The second meeting that my coop teacher and I both had concerns about was… sad. The father who had sent an e-mail (with a hint of rudeness to it) was not there. The mother was there instead, and it was apparent that she wasn’t getting the full story from her student. It was sad, hearing her say what her son had told her, only to see her face when we told her the real story. Basically, getting the truth from this student is not the easiest thing, so we told her that she should double-check with us to make sure that everything gets in on time. However, it all boils down to the student, and if he’s not willing to put the effort in, there’s not much that we can do. It’s unfortunate.
Long story short: I survived the dreaded Parent/Teacher Conferences Day. Whoo hoo!
