It's February, and here in Tennessee we are having some rather unseasonable weather. By now in our school district, we would have already missed about five or six days from snow and be well on our way to adding an additional 30 minutes onto our school days in the Spring to make up for it.
So far, we've had one, single, solitary snow day. On the plus side, we won't have to add those thirty extra minutes, and we'll probably get out of school on time. On the down side, my students have lost their mother-lovin minds. We're past mid-year now, and my students are very used to having some de-coompression time around this time in the school year. Sure, they get two weeks off for Christmas break, but once you actually get relaxed and settled past the hubbub of the holidays, it's already time to head back to school. Those little snow days give everyone a little extra time to relax and break away from the monotony of the every day school routine.
Without those breaks, my students are restless. To boot, I am currently teaching a unit that they struggle with, have a hard time relating to, and one that I admit is my weakest.
It's been a trying time in 'ole Mrs. McFadden's classroom this week. Rather than be miserable, rather than complain about it, and rather than suffering through it all, I've tried my best with each day to do SOMETHING to help it all work out.
I started with immersing myself in some of my favorite teaching books for inspiration. I am currently reading Penny Kittle's Write Beside Them. Ms. Kittle, a high school teacher, shares how she implements writing notebooks into her classroom and leads by example by writing when her student's write, modeling her writing, and thinking aloud how her thought processes work when she writes.
I need to do more of this. I read her book the summer before i started teaching, and I tried implementing these things into my classroom, but I fell short and never really achieved what I wanted. This doesn't mean we give up- quite the opposite. We say: what can I do INSTEAD to make it work.
Also, just because it is almost March, doesn't mean I can't add something new into our daily routine. This is where I've gone wrong. I've said to myself, "Hey! I have a routine. I can't break into that." I'm not ready to begin doing this yet, but in the next couple of weeks I will give it a-go and see if I can achieve the results I want. Future report to come.
My students spent this week wrapping up all the details and skills they need to start conducting research this Monday for a research paper they are writing. I tried my hardest to include some activities to get them up and out of their seats. With lesson topics such as: summarizing vs. paraphrasing, MLA format, and how to make note & source cards, it was a DRY week. Our MLA lesson was particularly dreadful. My classroom was stuffy, many kids were falling asleep, and I was at a loss for how to get them back.
One of the most successful moments in my room this week was a short five minute review of the skills we had learned. I told them all to stand up and begin circulating around the room while I played music. When the music stopped, they were to find a partner close to them. I gave them a topic, and they discussed. When the music started back, they circulated and found a new partner when the music stopped. At times being completely out of the loop as to what kids listen to, I chose the YMCA. They loved it. The particularly brave kids danced around the room to the music. The shy ones shuffled, but that's ok. I spit out my topics: what is paraphrasing, why do we do it, why do we cite sources, etc. When I was done, they returned to their seats, and we had a great conversation when we shared their answers. There were many, "See! I told you so!" and other shouts across the classroom. These comments prove they were TALKING, and they were talking about some of the most BORING topics to middle school students, but they enjoyed it.
It's very easy to get down this time of year, to get wrapped up in the negativity floating through the hallways, and to show up each day with the "is it almost Friday?" face. I pride myself on being a positive person, an optimist. I spend five days a week from 6:30-2:30 in my school, and I spend more time at home planning and thinking about what's going to go on in there. If I don't love my job, I'll be miserable, and that's not ok with me.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Making Writing Workshop Work
Last Friday was an extremely frustrating day, academically. The third nine weeks unit in my district for ELA is research. Along with teaching the research process, we spend a great deal of time in this unit teaching aspects of logic.
On the Wednesday and Thursday of last week I taught deductive and inductive reasoning. I feel pretty confident that my students could take a test on the material I taught and do well. I taught them a mixture of verbal cues and hand cues to remember that deductive reasoning goes from a general idea to a specific idea, and that inductive is the opposite. I know they could tell you that.
Deductive
All dogs have tails.
I have a dog.
That must mean it has a tail.
Inductive
I have a dog.
It has a tail.
That must mean all dogs have tails.
However, the way it is tested on a standardized test is completely different. On Friday, I showed my students a question that tested this standard on a TCAP sampler, and none of the cues I taught them would help answer the question. The question is awkwardly worded and difficult to answer.
In this same class period, I introduced false premise which is pretty much what happens when reasoning fails:
I like the color pink.
I am a girl.
All girls like the color pink.
I tried using an activity where students walked around the room singing their name on posters that held statements. If the statement was true for them, they signed the poster. Some questions were "I like to go to the mall everyday" to "I am a student at NEMS." When they finished, I tried to come up with on the spot examples of conclusions I could draw from those who put their name on the paper. In my first class, it worked beautifully. I would give a statement and they would tell me if the reasoning was logical or a false premise.
Student A says she likes going to the mall everyday.
Student A is a girl.
All girls like going to the mall everyday.
They could identify that this is a false premise.
In my advanced class, I didn't have as much success. They think outside the box. They found a loophole and a way to disagree with each example I presented. Most of the time, they were correct. Because of this, I wasn't getting my point across.
I started getting frustrated. They didn't understand the lesson. I couldn't blame them. I felt helpless that I understand something so well, but I wasn't able to explain it better to them.
I decided to put this concept to the side, reflect on it, and come back later.
I moved on to something different this past Monday. My students scored low in identifying and fixing run-ons and fragments on their last benchmark test. I have been re-teaching this concept and will retest this week.
In an effort to reteach this standard and hit another use of commas I consulted a book my mother gave me for Christmas. It's called Everyday Editing by Jeff Anderson. This book has changed the way I look at grammar instruction.
I don't teach out of my grammar text book. In fact, I use my text book as a form of punishment. I had to use it as a discipline tool several times last semester. Thankfully, my students hate doing work in the book SO MUCH that I haven't had to break it out as a tool since the fall.
I don't get isolated grammar lessons. I knew that grammar should be taught with writing, but I wasn't exactly sure what it should look like or how to do it. I have tried MANY different approaches this year. Some have been a success and others have not. In fact, a lesson on run ons and fragments was going so badly, that I stopped in the middle of the lesson. We got out books and read instead.
This book, showed me what a grammar lesson should look like. After an introduction, the book is pretty much set up into lesson plans. I tried one of the first ones in the book: teaching subordinating conjunctions.
Saying the words subordinating conjunctions makes me nauseous. Believe me, when you say it to a class of 25 8th graders it makes them nauseous, too.
Well, at the very least it goes in one ear and out the other. But, using this method of teaching made my students excited.
Here's the gist of the lesson:
I put a sentence on the overhead using a subordinating conjunction. I used a sentence from the novel we are reading in class, Slob by Ellen Potter. It wasn't hard to find an example. I scanned about five pages.
Anderson suggests making lists of good sentences from literature that use the items of what you want to teach.
I can't quite remember the exact sentence but it was something along the lines of "When he lunged forward, his body moved in a cockeyed way."
I then "invited the students to notice." I asked them, "What do you notice about this sentence?" I didn't probe or push. I let them talk. Some, thinking they knew what was up my sleeve, answered the way they thought I wanted them to.
"It uses vivid verbs!"
Some thought there was something wrong with it.
"They put a comma in the wrong place!"
For both of my classes (keep in mind an average and an advanced) it took about 6 students offering answers before someone got warmer.
Finally a student says, "It has commas."
Me: "Sure. What else?"
Another student: "If you didn't have the comma, it would be a run-on."
Me: "Very good. What else?"
And another: "If you stopped the sentence after the comma, it would be a fragment."
And another: "The first part is one of those things. The one with the anchor." (a visual aid to remember a dependent clause's comma is like an anchor holding on to the dependent clause.)
A kid shouts out: "A dependent clause!"
Pleased with the direction of the conversation, I asked the students to repeat after me, "AAAWWUBBIS!!!!!!!!"
After chuckles, attempts to keep repeating it, and side conversations about how silly it sounded, someone asks what it means.
I showed them what the letters stand for:
As
Although
After
While
When
Unless
Because
Before
If
Since
I then show them the sentence from Slob again. I tell them to write the dependent clause on their paper, and I do the same:
"When he lunged forward,"
Then I fill in the rest, making it an original sentence.
"When he lunged forward, his pants split in two." I read the sentence aloud and say the word COMMA when I see one.
I then ask the students to do one for themselves. I reminded them to write the comma and make sure the half they write is a complete sentence that can stand on it's own.
I give them a chance to think. When the chatter picks up, we share. The students have to read their sentence and say COMMA where it goes. Their sentences are pretty good.
Then, I put up the lyrics to "if I had a million dollars" by the Barenaked Ladies and they listen to the song.
When the song is over, I ask them where the comma would go, and then we write on our papers "If I had a million dollars,"
I tell them to fill in this sentence. Then they have to do it four more times. After sharing with me a few times and sharing with their neighbors, I ask them to pick their favorite. With the favorite, they have to write a paragraph explaining why, but they have to start each sentence with an AAAWWUBBIS.
It's hard at first with my average class. The advanced breezed through it. The average wrote strictly in fragments with the exception of the first sentence:
If I had a million dollars, I would buy a monkey. Because they are cute. Since they eat bananas. If they will sleep in my bed.
After seeing this several times, I choose a student who will not mind if I use their writing. I put it on the overhead, and point out the fragments. We talk again about WHY it is a fragment. On the board, I begin writing their fragments. When I put the comma and need to make it complete, they shout out ways to fix it. They then go back into their paragraphs and fix them.
For the rest of the period, I tell them they can't talk to me unless they use an AAAWWUBBIS word.
They like the challenged.
"Since we are about to leave soon, may I put my book away?"
Because I am thirsty, may I go get a drink of water?"
The next day we talk about thesis statements and take a few notes. Then we begin practicing writing them. This lesson spilled over onto today.
At first, they had a hard time with thesis statements. Today went better. Given a class topic, I wanted them to write their own thesis statement using an AAAWWUBBIS word. This time, no one left fragments.
We did need help with making their thesis statements more specific. They would try writing one, then give it to me to look at. I would ask a few questions, and they ran back to their desks to fix it and change it.
I told them to stop erasing and to instead, write the revision below the one before. I want them to have a visual of their thought process.
The past several days has been the first time writing has been fun for these kids. They are excited for me to look at what they've done and want to fix it to please me.
I have students that hate writing beam at me when I tell them good job after they have revised and composed a beautiful thesis statement.
If this is what teaching is, I'm all in.
On the Wednesday and Thursday of last week I taught deductive and inductive reasoning. I feel pretty confident that my students could take a test on the material I taught and do well. I taught them a mixture of verbal cues and hand cues to remember that deductive reasoning goes from a general idea to a specific idea, and that inductive is the opposite. I know they could tell you that.
Deductive
All dogs have tails.
I have a dog.
That must mean it has a tail.
Inductive
I have a dog.
It has a tail.
That must mean all dogs have tails.
However, the way it is tested on a standardized test is completely different. On Friday, I showed my students a question that tested this standard on a TCAP sampler, and none of the cues I taught them would help answer the question. The question is awkwardly worded and difficult to answer.
In this same class period, I introduced false premise which is pretty much what happens when reasoning fails:
I like the color pink.
I am a girl.
All girls like the color pink.
I tried using an activity where students walked around the room singing their name on posters that held statements. If the statement was true for them, they signed the poster. Some questions were "I like to go to the mall everyday" to "I am a student at NEMS." When they finished, I tried to come up with on the spot examples of conclusions I could draw from those who put their name on the paper. In my first class, it worked beautifully. I would give a statement and they would tell me if the reasoning was logical or a false premise.
Student A says she likes going to the mall everyday.
Student A is a girl.
All girls like going to the mall everyday.
They could identify that this is a false premise.
In my advanced class, I didn't have as much success. They think outside the box. They found a loophole and a way to disagree with each example I presented. Most of the time, they were correct. Because of this, I wasn't getting my point across.
I started getting frustrated. They didn't understand the lesson. I couldn't blame them. I felt helpless that I understand something so well, but I wasn't able to explain it better to them.
I decided to put this concept to the side, reflect on it, and come back later.
I moved on to something different this past Monday. My students scored low in identifying and fixing run-ons and fragments on their last benchmark test. I have been re-teaching this concept and will retest this week.
In an effort to reteach this standard and hit another use of commas I consulted a book my mother gave me for Christmas. It's called Everyday Editing by Jeff Anderson. This book has changed the way I look at grammar instruction.
I don't teach out of my grammar text book. In fact, I use my text book as a form of punishment. I had to use it as a discipline tool several times last semester. Thankfully, my students hate doing work in the book SO MUCH that I haven't had to break it out as a tool since the fall.
I don't get isolated grammar lessons. I knew that grammar should be taught with writing, but I wasn't exactly sure what it should look like or how to do it. I have tried MANY different approaches this year. Some have been a success and others have not. In fact, a lesson on run ons and fragments was going so badly, that I stopped in the middle of the lesson. We got out books and read instead.
This book, showed me what a grammar lesson should look like. After an introduction, the book is pretty much set up into lesson plans. I tried one of the first ones in the book: teaching subordinating conjunctions.
Saying the words subordinating conjunctions makes me nauseous. Believe me, when you say it to a class of 25 8th graders it makes them nauseous, too.
Well, at the very least it goes in one ear and out the other. But, using this method of teaching made my students excited.
Here's the gist of the lesson:
I put a sentence on the overhead using a subordinating conjunction. I used a sentence from the novel we are reading in class, Slob by Ellen Potter. It wasn't hard to find an example. I scanned about five pages.
Anderson suggests making lists of good sentences from literature that use the items of what you want to teach.
I can't quite remember the exact sentence but it was something along the lines of "When he lunged forward, his body moved in a cockeyed way."
I then "invited the students to notice." I asked them, "What do you notice about this sentence?" I didn't probe or push. I let them talk. Some, thinking they knew what was up my sleeve, answered the way they thought I wanted them to.
"It uses vivid verbs!"
Some thought there was something wrong with it.
"They put a comma in the wrong place!"
For both of my classes (keep in mind an average and an advanced) it took about 6 students offering answers before someone got warmer.
Finally a student says, "It has commas."
Me: "Sure. What else?"
Another student: "If you didn't have the comma, it would be a run-on."
Me: "Very good. What else?"
And another: "If you stopped the sentence after the comma, it would be a fragment."
And another: "The first part is one of those things. The one with the anchor." (a visual aid to remember a dependent clause's comma is like an anchor holding on to the dependent clause.)
A kid shouts out: "A dependent clause!"
Pleased with the direction of the conversation, I asked the students to repeat after me, "AAAWWUBBIS!!!!!!!!"
After chuckles, attempts to keep repeating it, and side conversations about how silly it sounded, someone asks what it means.
I showed them what the letters stand for:
As
Although
After
While
When
Unless
Because
Before
If
Since
I then show them the sentence from Slob again. I tell them to write the dependent clause on their paper, and I do the same:
"When he lunged forward,"
Then I fill in the rest, making it an original sentence.
"When he lunged forward, his pants split in two." I read the sentence aloud and say the word COMMA when I see one.
I then ask the students to do one for themselves. I reminded them to write the comma and make sure the half they write is a complete sentence that can stand on it's own.
I give them a chance to think. When the chatter picks up, we share. The students have to read their sentence and say COMMA where it goes. Their sentences are pretty good.
Then, I put up the lyrics to "if I had a million dollars" by the Barenaked Ladies and they listen to the song.
When the song is over, I ask them where the comma would go, and then we write on our papers "If I had a million dollars,"
I tell them to fill in this sentence. Then they have to do it four more times. After sharing with me a few times and sharing with their neighbors, I ask them to pick their favorite. With the favorite, they have to write a paragraph explaining why, but they have to start each sentence with an AAAWWUBBIS.
It's hard at first with my average class. The advanced breezed through it. The average wrote strictly in fragments with the exception of the first sentence:
If I had a million dollars, I would buy a monkey. Because they are cute. Since they eat bananas. If they will sleep in my bed.
After seeing this several times, I choose a student who will not mind if I use their writing. I put it on the overhead, and point out the fragments. We talk again about WHY it is a fragment. On the board, I begin writing their fragments. When I put the comma and need to make it complete, they shout out ways to fix it. They then go back into their paragraphs and fix them.
For the rest of the period, I tell them they can't talk to me unless they use an AAAWWUBBIS word.
They like the challenged.
"Since we are about to leave soon, may I put my book away?"
Because I am thirsty, may I go get a drink of water?"
The next day we talk about thesis statements and take a few notes. Then we begin practicing writing them. This lesson spilled over onto today.
At first, they had a hard time with thesis statements. Today went better. Given a class topic, I wanted them to write their own thesis statement using an AAAWWUBBIS word. This time, no one left fragments.
We did need help with making their thesis statements more specific. They would try writing one, then give it to me to look at. I would ask a few questions, and they ran back to their desks to fix it and change it.
I told them to stop erasing and to instead, write the revision below the one before. I want them to have a visual of their thought process.
The past several days has been the first time writing has been fun for these kids. They are excited for me to look at what they've done and want to fix it to please me.
I have students that hate writing beam at me when I tell them good job after they have revised and composed a beautiful thesis statement.
If this is what teaching is, I'm all in.
Sunday, November 14, 2010
13-ish weeks into the year...
Well, I guess if you looked at the date of my last post, that could be SOME indication of how my year is going.
I feel stressed and cut as thin as I absolutely could be, and I love every single second of it. Teaching has been nothing at all like I thought it would be. I learn something new, and I am surprised at my students and my self every single day.
I wanted to keep this blog as a regular log of the trials and triumphs of a first year teacher- and I have not been successful with this goal.
The good news: I have only had one major "trial" and it didn't involve any students.
I have really great students. They are funny and keep me on my toes. I feel like I have a great relationship with them, and I feel like they are getting a fair amount out of my class. We are currently reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and they are hungry for that book. I always teach a lesson before we get to reading the novel, and they are so eager to read that they want to rush me through the lesson. As a lover of literature, that makes my heart flip with joy.
I also go my dream wish, and I am the new Drama Club sponsor for the school. I am currently working on a play which I put together (just 4 children's books about school) and my kids are amazing actors- I just wish I could get ALL of them to show up to rehearsal all at once.
I hope to do a better job of frequently updating on what's going on in school- mostly what I have learned...so to satisfy your visit, here is a list of things I have learned about middle schoolers:
1. They are mature one minute where you feel you are talking to an adult, and complete babies the next. Sometimes, this can happen in the same sentence.
2. If they EVER misplace something such as a pencil or classwork, someone stole it. Then, when they find where they put it, someone still stole it and put it there.
3. They have bladders worse than an old person. Somehow they have to go to the bathroom once a class period. After several weeks of falling for this one, I became wise and the jig was up.
4. They want to be treated with respect and like individuals. I try my hardest to do this- but I'm not always capable of the second part.
5. They have a price- and it is usually a silly band. If I need one of them to study harder or complete an assignment, the promise of silly bands is the trick.
6. They enjoy responsibility. I have created a million little jobs around my classroom, and they fight for them- even to sweep the classroom. They want to feel important.
7. No matter what you think, yelling will never give you results.
8. If anything is broken or different, they have to tell you about it. All of them. I was doing hall duty in between classes, and 20 kids had to let me know a poster fell off the wall.
9. So far, the male students need more affection than the females. I have a handful of male students who constantly want hugs. After dodging their hugs for several weeks, we have started high-fiving.
10. Anyone out of high school is old. My kids get a kick out of anything "young" I know about because I am too old in their eyes. I have a really bad habit of talking in internet speak to them- and they think I am trying "to be hip to their generation." Although, several times they have mentioned music and stuff on tv that I don't know about and they can't believe I haven't heard of things like Wacka Flocka and how to dougie. Although, I did get a dougie lesson one day. I looked like a moron.
It's been special experience so far.
I feel stressed and cut as thin as I absolutely could be, and I love every single second of it. Teaching has been nothing at all like I thought it would be. I learn something new, and I am surprised at my students and my self every single day.
I wanted to keep this blog as a regular log of the trials and triumphs of a first year teacher- and I have not been successful with this goal.
The good news: I have only had one major "trial" and it didn't involve any students.
I have really great students. They are funny and keep me on my toes. I feel like I have a great relationship with them, and I feel like they are getting a fair amount out of my class. We are currently reading The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton and they are hungry for that book. I always teach a lesson before we get to reading the novel, and they are so eager to read that they want to rush me through the lesson. As a lover of literature, that makes my heart flip with joy.
I also go my dream wish, and I am the new Drama Club sponsor for the school. I am currently working on a play which I put together (just 4 children's books about school) and my kids are amazing actors- I just wish I could get ALL of them to show up to rehearsal all at once.
I hope to do a better job of frequently updating on what's going on in school- mostly what I have learned...so to satisfy your visit, here is a list of things I have learned about middle schoolers:
1. They are mature one minute where you feel you are talking to an adult, and complete babies the next. Sometimes, this can happen in the same sentence.
2. If they EVER misplace something such as a pencil or classwork, someone stole it. Then, when they find where they put it, someone still stole it and put it there.
3. They have bladders worse than an old person. Somehow they have to go to the bathroom once a class period. After several weeks of falling for this one, I became wise and the jig was up.
4. They want to be treated with respect and like individuals. I try my hardest to do this- but I'm not always capable of the second part.
5. They have a price- and it is usually a silly band. If I need one of them to study harder or complete an assignment, the promise of silly bands is the trick.
6. They enjoy responsibility. I have created a million little jobs around my classroom, and they fight for them- even to sweep the classroom. They want to feel important.
7. No matter what you think, yelling will never give you results.
8. If anything is broken or different, they have to tell you about it. All of them. I was doing hall duty in between classes, and 20 kids had to let me know a poster fell off the wall.
9. So far, the male students need more affection than the females. I have a handful of male students who constantly want hugs. After dodging their hugs for several weeks, we have started high-fiving.
10. Anyone out of high school is old. My kids get a kick out of anything "young" I know about because I am too old in their eyes. I have a really bad habit of talking in internet speak to them- and they think I am trying "to be hip to their generation." Although, several times they have mentioned music and stuff on tv that I don't know about and they can't believe I haven't heard of things like Wacka Flocka and how to dougie. Although, I did get a dougie lesson one day. I looked like a moron.
It's been special experience so far.
Sunday, August 1, 2010
5 Days Until Students
I'm absolutely exhausted, but in a delightful way.
Last Wednesday and Friday I went to an in-service on Unit Planning. Before I was there, my school required teachers to submit weekly lesson plans to the principals. However, this year they want teachers to write full unit plans with attached lesson plans so that teachers can see the big picture and use the whole unit as a chance to scaffold ideas and build on knowledge.
At the in-service we spent a little time talking about why we unit plan and how we unit plan and then the teachers were given the chance to go back to their classrooms to write lesson plans.
Many teachers voiced in these sessions how hard of a tasks this was to do after so many years of the previous format. While this is no easy task for me, I feel pretty good that this was the exact way APSU wanted us to do our lesson planning.
Working on my unit plan:
The first unit of the year is Informational Text (non-fiction type resources- think magazines, newspapers, blogs, etc). I have decided to teach The Diary of Anne Frank (which is a DIARY a.k.a. an informational text!) and use the Holocaust and WWII has source of inspiration for the informational text part. I am pretty stoked because TDofAF was one of my favorite books growing up.
On the first day of unit planning, I did not get a lot completed. I did manage to look at all the standards for the unit, decide on my summative assessment, and write essential questions for the unit. On Friday I actually got around to writing rough drafts of lessons for the first week.
On the Thursday in between those days I had to spend my entire day - from 7:45 to 4:30- at Central Office to fill out paper work, sign my teaching contract, sign up for insurance and benefits, learn how to use certain teacher computer systems, etc.
It was a really LONG, but really helpful day.
I was the most intrigued with the insurance and benefits portion. So much of it seemed too good to be true that I had to call my mother afterwards to confirm that I heard correctly. I haven't had insurance since I graduated high school, and I have a lot of medical issues that need to be looked at. I felt like someone was handing me gold. For one, I couldn't believe thatI can get ANY generic medicines for free. A doctor just writes me a prescription and I go turn it in and they hand me drugs and I DON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR THEM! I can also GET MY TEETH CLEANED and pay NOTHING.
I'm starting to get worked up again......this is pure heaven.
This is the last weekend before school starts. Normally I would have found a way to use this as an excuse to do absolutely nothing, but this weekend is the Nashville 48 Hour Film Project, and we compete each year. It is something that I look forward to every year, so I decided to just add it in to the million other things I need to do this week.
I have in-service all next week, and our first day of school is a half day this Friday. I have very ambitious goals to have my entire 44 day-lesson unit plan done on Thursday and to get my classroom completely ready.
Last Wednesday and Friday I went to an in-service on Unit Planning. Before I was there, my school required teachers to submit weekly lesson plans to the principals. However, this year they want teachers to write full unit plans with attached lesson plans so that teachers can see the big picture and use the whole unit as a chance to scaffold ideas and build on knowledge.
At the in-service we spent a little time talking about why we unit plan and how we unit plan and then the teachers were given the chance to go back to their classrooms to write lesson plans.
Many teachers voiced in these sessions how hard of a tasks this was to do after so many years of the previous format. While this is no easy task for me, I feel pretty good that this was the exact way APSU wanted us to do our lesson planning.
Working on my unit plan:
The first unit of the year is Informational Text (non-fiction type resources- think magazines, newspapers, blogs, etc). I have decided to teach The Diary of Anne Frank (which is a DIARY a.k.a. an informational text!) and use the Holocaust and WWII has source of inspiration for the informational text part. I am pretty stoked because TDofAF was one of my favorite books growing up.
On the first day of unit planning, I did not get a lot completed. I did manage to look at all the standards for the unit, decide on my summative assessment, and write essential questions for the unit. On Friday I actually got around to writing rough drafts of lessons for the first week.
On the Thursday in between those days I had to spend my entire day - from 7:45 to 4:30- at Central Office to fill out paper work, sign my teaching contract, sign up for insurance and benefits, learn how to use certain teacher computer systems, etc.
It was a really LONG, but really helpful day.
I was the most intrigued with the insurance and benefits portion. So much of it seemed too good to be true that I had to call my mother afterwards to confirm that I heard correctly. I haven't had insurance since I graduated high school, and I have a lot of medical issues that need to be looked at. I felt like someone was handing me gold. For one, I couldn't believe thatI can get ANY generic medicines for free. A doctor just writes me a prescription and I go turn it in and they hand me drugs and I DON'T HAVE TO PAY FOR THEM! I can also GET MY TEETH CLEANED and pay NOTHING.
I'm starting to get worked up again......this is pure heaven.
This is the last weekend before school starts. Normally I would have found a way to use this as an excuse to do absolutely nothing, but this weekend is the Nashville 48 Hour Film Project, and we compete each year. It is something that I look forward to every year, so I decided to just add it in to the million other things I need to do this week.
I have in-service all next week, and our first day of school is a half day this Friday. I have very ambitious goals to have my entire 44 day-lesson unit plan done on Thursday and to get my classroom completely ready.
Monday, July 26, 2010
11 Days Until Students
I showed up to my school today for the first time by myself. I was lucky enough to receive my keys. I was only expecting to get one key to open the door with, but I received several keys for things such as filing cabinets and what not. It is going to take some time getting used to which one is used for what.
As soon as I went down to my classroom I just stood there for the longest time. I keep phasing out mentally. I did this at dinner last night with a friend. I guess I am having a hard time adjusting to the fact that I am seeing all of my dreams actually come true. I am also scared that at any minute someone is going to say, "Hahaha j/k! You don't get to be a teacher anymore."
After coming to and realizing that I can not just stand there all day, I decided I would rearrange the furniture first. I started with the student desks and played around with several formations until settling on six rows of four and pushing the desks together in twos with enough space to walk in between them as seen in this photo:
As soon as I was satisfied with their placement, I cleaned each desk off with cleaning spray. I want to make a mental note to mark where the desks are, maybe with a marker on the ground or a small piece of tape. I plan on moving the desks frequently for group work or discussion circles, so I want to make sure the kids can put them back exactly how I have them.
I then moved my desk and small filing cabinet from one back corner to the side of the room. My mom suggested this arrangement, because I would have a clear view of the front door- and I agreed.
I put the flat file where the desk was and moved my small group table into the center of the back of the room.
As soon as all of the furniture was arranged, I began the hour and a half process of cleaning. I wiped out every drawer, counter, and cabinet. It was really disgusting, but thankfully clean as a whistle now.
After I was grossly sweaty and tired, I left to come home and gather up a load of things to bring into the classroom.
It was almost all items for my desk:
My rug...a book shelf will go here soon:
The only thing from home I brought in these pictures is a statue of a Jim Shore Teacher Minnie Mouse that my husband bought me about two years ago.
Then, I put out just a few things on this counter...note the argyle tissue box
While working, two teachers came in to introduce themselves to me, as did three members of the janitorial staff. They were all really nice and welcoming- telling me several times that if I needed anything to just ask.
While talking to one of them, (who I had actually met before) I told her that I was a former student of this school and so was she. We talked a little bit about how coming to this school felt like coming home.
I am teaching 8th grade ELA this year which is reading and language arts as one class. Funny enough, I had English in the exact same classroom that I will be teaching in that I had as an 8th grader. Even funnier, this same classroom was the classroom that I met my best friend for the first time on the first day of school.
Life is the funniest thing sometimes.
I still have a LOT left to do with my short 11 days until I get real live students of my very own. I am scared and nervous, but excited and optimistic.
As soon as I went down to my classroom I just stood there for the longest time. I keep phasing out mentally. I did this at dinner last night with a friend. I guess I am having a hard time adjusting to the fact that I am seeing all of my dreams actually come true. I am also scared that at any minute someone is going to say, "Hahaha j/k! You don't get to be a teacher anymore."
After coming to and realizing that I can not just stand there all day, I decided I would rearrange the furniture first. I started with the student desks and played around with several formations until settling on six rows of four and pushing the desks together in twos with enough space to walk in between them as seen in this photo:
As soon as I was satisfied with their placement, I cleaned each desk off with cleaning spray. I want to make a mental note to mark where the desks are, maybe with a marker on the ground or a small piece of tape. I plan on moving the desks frequently for group work or discussion circles, so I want to make sure the kids can put them back exactly how I have them.
I then moved my desk and small filing cabinet from one back corner to the side of the room. My mom suggested this arrangement, because I would have a clear view of the front door- and I agreed.
I put the flat file where the desk was and moved my small group table into the center of the back of the room.
As soon as all of the furniture was arranged, I began the hour and a half process of cleaning. I wiped out every drawer, counter, and cabinet. It was really disgusting, but thankfully clean as a whistle now.
After I was grossly sweaty and tired, I left to come home and gather up a load of things to bring into the classroom.
It was almost all items for my desk:
My rug...a book shelf will go here soon:
The only thing from home I brought in these pictures is a statue of a Jim Shore Teacher Minnie Mouse that my husband bought me about two years ago.
Then, I put out just a few things on this counter...note the argyle tissue box
While working, two teachers came in to introduce themselves to me, as did three members of the janitorial staff. They were all really nice and welcoming- telling me several times that if I needed anything to just ask.
While talking to one of them, (who I had actually met before) I told her that I was a former student of this school and so was she. We talked a little bit about how coming to this school felt like coming home.
I am teaching 8th grade ELA this year which is reading and language arts as one class. Funny enough, I had English in the exact same classroom that I will be teaching in that I had as an 8th grader. Even funnier, this same classroom was the classroom that I met my best friend for the first time on the first day of school.
Life is the funniest thing sometimes.
I still have a LOT left to do with my short 11 days until I get real live students of my very own. I am scared and nervous, but excited and optimistic.
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