Waiting for next Lesson

I went into my practicum earlier this week to find that the brochures my students had created had been put up in the front of the room around the board. That really made me feel that my lesson was worth it and very creative. My cooperating teacher said that he had gotten nothing but positive comments on the brochures! It really made me extremely happy. He even told me that he was using the lesson with his second group of students that do not come in during the time I am there. Today on Thursday, he showed me their results and they all turned out great. I am glad to have left a mark on the class and the teacher! haha

So I am ready for my 2nd lesson to teach, and Dr. Faulkner will be there to observe. The one thing that has me worked up is how well the students will behave, and if they will perform well. I am going to do a lesson on vocabulary and Russia. I am going to put the information on 4 posters, and have the students walk around in groups gathering their information. Then we will end up playing a game with the vocabulary words. I have no idea what to give as prizes, I was thinking pencils, bookmarks, and my cooperating teacher said he will have candy.

Any other suggestions??

2nd Lesson

Well I was a little disappointed in my second lesson. It went okay, but not as well as the first. My practicum teacher asked me to cover the invention of the cotton gin and its effect on the American economy. I guess it probably didn’t help that the students were going on spring break the following day. She also wanted me to show how it effected the North and South differently. Unfortunately, she ended up covering a lot of this material several days before my lesson. I felt bad because I knew the students had to be bored. It seemed like a waste of time. The students became engaged eventually, but the beginning of the lesson was necessary to explain the second part of the lesson. It was tough getting through the first half, but I was able to get the students interested because I related this event to their lives. We discussed new technologies that have had an effect on the current economy in America. I found that students really do like to talk about the world around them and how it affects their lives.

Next Lesson

I am teaching my next lesson on April 3. I'm so excited because the lesson will be on the Vikings, which should be fun. However, my practicum teacher will be observing me, so I'm quite nervous. My teacher has allowed me to be creative with the lesson and go in any direction I want, but I'm having a hard time finding something that is informative, productive, and fun. Any suggestions would be appreciated! My practicum is on spring break this week, so I have some time to do some research. I hope it goes well!

Good Discipline???

I have been uncomfortable with a behavior I have observed by cooperating teacher. Overall, I feel he is good with the students. But, there are times when he seems to have no patience (which I understand) and sends a student into the hall (which I don't understand). It seems he sends the students because they are disrupting the class and continue talking after being told to stop. However, from the 4 or 5 times I've seen this - I have not noticed the student being overly disruptive. But, I am not in the front of the class so I am sure there are things going on that I can't see. Regardless of how disruptive the student may be, it seems to me sending a student into the hall is not the correct "answer". Given our discussion in classroom management last week, I am even more certain that is not how the situation should be handled. I honestly cannot say how I would react to the situation. It is one of my concerns and I am not sure I feel we have been given a lot of tools to utilize. We are told to 'prevent' disruptive behavior by presenting meaningful and engaging lessons - but that is not full proof. I do not feel entirely comfortable judging a teacher who has so much experience, but this happens to be one area I question.

Two Lessons

I taught two lessons this week at my practicum site. The first one was on the Black Death, and the second one was on Renaissance art. For my first lesson, the students behaved exceptionally well--the best I have seen at my school yet. Based on that, I had high hopes for today, which was the lesson that Dr. Cook was at.
Unfortunately, the students played the "defiance" card on me. When I divided students into groups (which I had to modify on the spot because a student got sent to the office during our opening bell work), two of the boys decided to go to different groups--they simply changed the number that I had given to them. When I tried to get them to go with their original groups, both refused. They wound up getting behavioral marks for defiance, but that was definitely something that I did not need to deal with. I recovered and the lesson went fine, although it could have been better. Students did not behave well this time, with a couple exceptions.
For some reason, I was not a bit nervous about teaching either lesson. By all rights, I should have been...I had never taught a social studies lesson before Tuesday, and I am teaching in an environment that I am not comfortable in at all. I was not nervous at all (even with Dr. Cook comnig in), and I think I handled myself well. If something went wrong, I was able to get back on track quickly enough, and my cooperating teacher was there for support as well.

Two Lessons

I taught two lessons this week at my practicum site. The first one was on the Black Death, and the second one was on Renaissance art. For my first lesson, the students behaved exceptionally well--the best I have seen at my school yet. Based on that, I had high hopes for today, which was the lesson that Dr. Cook was at.
Unfortunately, the students played the "defiance" card on me. When I divided students into groups (which I had to modify on the spot because a student got sent to the office during our opening bell work), two of the boys decided to go to different groups--they simply changed the number that I had given to them. When I tried to get them to go with their original groups, both refused. They wound up getting behavioral marks for defiance, but that was definitely something that I did not need to deal with. I recovered and the lesson went fine, although it could have been better. Students did not behave well this time, with a couple exceptions.
For some reason, I was not a bit nervous about teaching either lesson. By all rights, I should have been...I had never taught a social studies lesson before Tuesday, and I am teaching in an environment that I am not comfortable in at all. I was not nervous at all (even with Dr. Cook comnig in), and I think I handled myself well. If something went wrong, I was able to get back on track quickly enough, and my cooperating teacher was there for support as well.

A little disappointed

I was really disappointed in the lesson my practicum teacher did in the 8th social studies class yesterday, and I could tell the students were bored as well. The topic was interesting, however the way she taught it was not engaging at all. She used a primary document from 1836 to discuss the working conditions of the mills in Lowell, Massachusetts after the invention of the cotton gin. It was a magazine/newspaper article written to spread the word about the poor and difficult conditions the young female workers were put through in this period. The article was full of information about the mills so I thought the students would have a passionate discussion about the accusations.....but I was wrong. I could tell they were bored. This class lasts one hour and she took a little more than half of the class to discuss this article with the students. She read the article out loud, breaking it into paragraphs to explain the language the students may not understand. By the time she reached the end of the article, the students were not interested in discussing it at all. I was disappointed because it is a great primary source document, and it could have been effective if presented to the students in a different way. The article should have been used as a supplement to a lesson and other activity for the students to really take an interest. She spent too much time just reading it out loud to the students when they could have worked in cooperative groups discussing several opposing accounts of the mills.

I realized after thinking about their lack of attention to the material that part of the problem was they have no prior knowledge of this information. Last year I read a historical fiction novel about a young girl working in the mills. I had this prior knowledge of the information about the mills, therefore, I learned more about the article because I already had prior interest in the topic. These students have not heard about this situation in American history yet, and it wasn't introduced to them in an interesting way. No wonder they were bored.

My first Lesson

My first lesson that I taught was during Spring Break. I was able to stay the entire day, and teach all three of the different classes. It went smoothly, but I did see how each time I taught the lesson, there were few modifications I would generate and learn from the previous class. These were those formative assessments I did the lesson with each of the three classes. We did brochures, and the students took to the assignment like candy. They were happy to work in groups, and created some very colorful and artistic pamphlets. The students were cooperative, but I did have to call them down a few times to get them on tasks. Overall my cooperating teacher was pleased with the lesson, and even said he will try to incorporate it into his next year class, but did have a few pointers for me. He did want me to become more assertive and for the class to pay attention to me when I give instructions. He feels that there is strong potential in me, and that more practice will make me better.

First Lesson

Last week I taught my first lesson in my social studies classroom. The lesson went well but I was sort of limited on what I was able to do because of the schedule for that day. When I got to the school the classes ended up being shortened to 30 min periods. Needless to say I was not able to teach my whole lesson so that was sort of disappointing. But it was good practice and my cooperating teacher gave me some good advice. After I taught it twice I ask her if she would teach it so I could reflect. Just by watching her teach my lesson I learned a lot about what I was doing wrong and what I was doing right. Its been hard to find time to teach this semester so it was great to finally get some more practice.

New placement

I recently switched my placement to a science classroom at Twenhofel. I really enjoy the classroom and the cooperating teacher seems to be really laid back. She has a great system that she uses with her students so that they are getting the credit for the work that they do. She tells me that sixth graders are very intelligent but often very unorganized and they shouldn't be penalized for being unorganized. She keeps all of their daily work in a folder and has 10 assignments per unit, the last assignment is the study guide for their test. The folder remains in the classroom at all times. Therefore, the students always have their assignments to turn in unless they were absent or did not do the work while in the classroom. I think it is a great idea to have something in place like that. Those students are being set up for success by their teacher and I believe that is exactly what the role of the teacher is in the classroom.

Culture/dance assembly

The eighth grade students at my practicum location attended a cultural awareness assembly this morning. The students attended this assembly instead of going to their morning electives. An African American/Nigerian dance troup visited Twenhofel Middle School to give the students insight into their culture and traditions. At first I was slightly skeptical of the use of time, but the meeting seemed to be effective for the students. The group introduced dance, music, and facts about Nigerian and African traditions. One of the teachers told me learning topics about dance are a part of the Core Content for the eighth graders so they decided to bring in a group. I think this ended up being an effective activity that not only helped to meet the curriculum guidelines, but also gave the students an experience with diversity. By the end of the meeting the students were speaking words in Swahili and dancing traditional moves! They learned a great deal and enjoyed it very much...........especially when their teachers (including the practicum students) had to learn one of the dances! I do not remember that being in the syllabus! :)

My first S.S. lesson!

I am so relieved that my first social studies lesson is over with because I was so nervous! My lesson went very well, and the students seemed to be engaged the entire time. I was afraid they would not respond to my questions as well as they respond to their teacher. However, they really opened up and answered my questions thoughtfully. First, I had the students make a graphic organizer for the information I was giving them. We spent some time discussing several forms of government, during which I asked questions and gave them the necessary information. Then I split the students into groups and had them decide on a plan of government for their new nation. They really liked having a choice in their activity. I circulated throughout the room while the students worked to answer questions. Finally, we came back together as a whole group to discuss their thoughts. This final conversation was lively and everyone wanted to tell me their thoughts.
After teaching this lesson I realized how excited I am about teaching social studies in the middle school. The kids are so smart and they love expressing their feelings and opinions. I also realized how quickly the time flies by in the classroom! This has been a great way to help my with my time management skills.

1st lesson

I taught my first lesson yesterday at CCMS. I was so nervous, I was having nightmares. I felt better after I presented my lesson to Dr. Besnoy and he gave me some advice and encouragement. My lesson went great. I taught the 2nd block, and was really surprised by how well it went considering the teacher always points out this is her problem class. The one student I thought I would have trouble with actually did great, he just need occasional promting to stay on track but he did everything that was asked of him. That was my favorite part of the whole thing.

First Lesson

I was able to teach my first Social Studies lesson the Thursday before spring break. I was a little nervous because it seems preparing to teach social studies is quite different than math! But, I was able to put together a pretty good lesson, with Dr. Besnoy's help. I was pleased with how the lesson went, and my cooperating teacher had very complimentary comments. I didn't get through the entire lesson which was a little frustrating. I realize some of that is timing, which comes with experience - but I'm still a perfectionist, even though I try to hold back. However, I had the students work in groups part of the time and also write information down on a chart. It was difficult for me to plan out how long it would take them to complete those tasks. I certainly did not allow enough time for 6th graders to write information down!

I am looking forward to teaching another lesson and seeing if I can manage the time a little better. Of course, we're all still in the learning process - but it is nice to see improvement!

First Lesson

Well I have spoken with my teacher and we finnaly found the time for me to teach one of my lessons. I will be teaching the Tuesday that we get back from spring break. I am pretty excited and I already have some good ideas. My only concern, which was also addressed during our seminar, is that we only have 8 MORE VISITS to our school. How on Earth will we find time to do everything? I dont know but that is was being a teacher is all about.

Observation by Dr. Cook

Well, last Thursday, Dr. Cook came to observe my lesson. This was the third lesson that I have taught, so I was very comfortable with the kids. The build up of anxiety that Dr. Cook was coming quickly faded when he came in the room and gave me a smile. My lesson was on the gods and goddesses of Ancient Egypt. The students had to create a poster on the god or goddess they had researched earlier in the week at the library. The only thing that I would change would be to give the students an additional day to finish up their posters. For the most part, the students' posters were very creative and well planned out. I was quite impressed.

I just met with Dr. Cook this morning to go over my lesson. We went over all aspects of the lesson, and he thought I did a really nice job. This meeting truly reassured me that I have the confidence, knowledge, and will to become an effective teacher.