Final Post

This is my final post for my Intern semester with my mentor teacher at TCMS. The relationship I've developed with my mentor teacher has been one that has continuously grown stronger. I still feel as though I'm benefiting from my experiences, my host teacher's instructions and suggestions, and everyday lessons in the classroom. Our relationship has been a very natural, guiding one; it's mimicked the saying that the instructor should help guide the student to making his/her own discoveries. I feel that my mentor teacher has always been there to guide me through experiences, allowed me to make my way through them, and then met me at the end to reflect and evaluate with me. I hope I've been able to provide my mentor teacher benefits as well. For example, my knowledge of 21st century tools seems to have been a positive learning experience in the classroom this semester.

The next semester, though I won't be in the classroom as often, I hope to maintain this relationship. I have kept all of the information, suggestions, resources, etc. that my mentor teacher has been kind enough to show me; I'll one day be able to use these in my own planning and classroom.

Week 12

This week in Reading I decided to change up the activities a bit. The kids are splitting themselves up into groups of 3-4, and their assignment is to work collaboratively to create a skit. They will be responsible for recalling any recent major events in the novel Tears of a Tiger and working together to make a prediction of what may occur next. Some of the students are really working well together while other groups have to constantly be redirected and refocused. I've also created a rubric to evaluate the skits; were I to do this lesson over, I would be sure to give a copy of the rubric to each student before they began working. (I'll remember to do this next time!) I'm anxious to see how the skits turned out!

This week has been the culminating week for the infamous Digital stories that we've been working on since the SECOND week of school (*Big sigh of relief*)! Those very few students who were ready to present on Monday--the day it was due-- had done fairly well on their slide shows. From Tuesday on, however, the presentations continued to fall in sufficiency. By the time we had reached Thursday and Friday, many of the presenting students were lacking voice-overs, music, and transitions. Many students between the classes simply came in empty handed; they had no problems receiving zeros, I suppose. All of the English teachers are at a lack for words; how can so many students have done so little work? They have had over two months to work on this assignment, and I truly do not believe the amount of work was too great by any means. So many students were scrambling at the last minute to attempt to complete their work, and we teachers (4) were unable to help all at once! It was frustrating for me that the students would be so frustrated when I didn't have 10 hands to help 10 kids at the same time! Had they been responsible, followed instructions, and completed classwork at the appropriate times, they would not be in that situation! I was under the impression that the students feel this is another "stupid" assignment that the teachers come up with for the sole purpose of lowering their grades; my host teacher and I explained many times that this was a Tech-Step that was required by the state of West Virginia.

Week 11

This week was a difficult one to keep track of. We had Tuesday off for Election Day, and Wednesday was a short one for the students. This threw off a few of my lesson plans, so we didn't get as much done as I'd hoped for.

English classes were introduced to their next assignment: "Letters About Literature." They are to think of a book that they've recently read that they can personally enjoy and relate to. The students are asked to write a letter to the author of that book and explain their relationship with the character(s), why they appreciate the literature, and what the book has meant to them. We also began to work on some Kansas Writing Strategy exercises to help the students with simple sentences. This will be a huge help for my Action Research project. Rough drafts of book report slides are due this week; it doesn't seem as though many students will be on-time with this project either. We only had about half of the work turned in on Wednesday. Every week they have a few more slides due...we'll see what happens next Wednesday!

In reading we're still trekking through the Tears of a Tiger novel. The students are starting to get antsy with the amount of time we're spending on reading and doing activities; I have to agree with them, it is taking a LONG time to get through this book! I think they enjoy the literature, though, and they want to keep reading; that's a good sign, isn't it? They've got a few new blog prompts posted that they'll be responding to over the next few weeks. I really like the blogs versus writing in class because they can work on these at home, and it also incorporates the whole technology aspect with writing in the classroom.

Week 10

This week was CrAzY! It sure did fly by, though!

Wednesday, I was able to chaperone the 8th grade field trip to Moundsville, WV for the day. We left at the beginning of school and endured a 3-hr. bus ride to Moundsville, where we took each of our groups through two different tours: the Moundsville mound museum and the State Penitentiary.

All three of the Interns were supposed to attend the trip; one of the girls got sick and wasn't able to go. So the two of us who remained split her group up, and each took on more students. In total, I had 17 in my group! They were all great kids though, and I had no major issues.

I really enjoyed the tour of the prison, and I think my kids favored it over the mound and museum. I did not enjoy, however, the 6 hours that were spent in a bus full of hyper, screaming students! As I reviewed and reflected on the trip with my mentor teacher (who was not able to go), she reminded me that all experiences are learning experiences--whether good or bad. I absolutely learned a lot about organization, planning, and management during field trips! The 8th grade takes another big trip in the spring to Washington D.C.; this trip is much different, and I'm anxious to be able to experience the other spectrum of field-tripping!

Also, this week was another "first" for me: I had to walk my first student down to the office for disruptive and disrespectful behavior! I was so nervous! I'm glad to get this "first" out of the way, even if it was a negative one!

Week 9

Oh my gosh! These kids! How many weeks does it take to write a 5-paragraph essay, then turn it into a PowerPoint with pictures?! We have been working on the Tech-Steps Digital Story assignment for almost a month, and there are still students who have not even completed writing the script! There is a handful of students in each period who are on time with their assignment, but we cannot allow them to get too far ahead of those who are lagging behind! It's so frustrating!

I've also learned about the difficulty of writing grants, collecting/earning money, and spending it on classroom tools. My mentor teacher has been planning on purchasing a few nice headphone/microphone sets for the students to use when they record their voice-overs for the PowerPoints. The amount of work and frustration that goes into the grants and paperwork to get a few headsets is incredible. The students who are read to move forward and begin working on their PowerPoints must wait until we are able to get the headsets! I hope that teachers and students who attend technology-rich schools are thankful for what they have within their reaches!

In reading, we're beginning a short poetry unit within the Tears of a Tiger novel. The students are to write a short poem about a mood or emotion of their choice. I'm always surprised at the maturity and beauty of poems that I've collected from students at the PDS's I've been in. I'm excited to be able to read their creations, and intrigued at which moods and emotions they'll choose to write about!

Week 8

This week was a typical week--my mentor teacher is gone most mornings, so I've been working with a substitute until the end of 4th period. (Thankfully, it's the same substitute every day!) This is allowing me to really branch out and take control of the planning, teaching, and classroom management. I think I'm really starting to learn a lot about how to really run a classroom; I always thought I was a good multi-tasker, but now I feel like I have so much more to learn about juggling a million things at once!

Monday was an ISE day (no students). We didn't have to come to school until lunch time, which meant a wonderful morning for me! We had Faculty Senate meetings all morning, and I was able to present my GoogleDocs presentation to the faculty. I think it was well received, and I hope to peak more interest in using GoogleDocs at TCMS. The second part of the ISE day was set aside for Parent-Teacher conferences. My mentor teacher had a never-ending line of parents outside of her door waiting to discuss their child's progress in reading and English classes. It was VERY interesting to sit through, and add my own input to, these conferences! Parent-teacher conferences were always something I feared when I thought about my future career; Monday was a huge help in overcoming that fear! I had so much to say! Since my mentor teacher has been absent most mornings, she hadn't seen some of the students for days and couldn't comment on their participation/work/behavior. It really gave me the confidence to assert myself with parents and be able to discuss problems, concerns, and collaborate on ways to help students improve!

Week 7

This week went pretty smoothly. My mentor teacher has been having substitutes in the mornings, so I've been getting accustomed to working and collaborating with other teachers. It's been an interesting week, and I've experienced the positives and negatives to substituting. I'm not sure I have the personality or the patience to choose the career of a substitute teacher!

In reading, we've begun the novel Tears of a Tiger. We're taking it slowly at first, just a few pages at a time, until the students get the hang of reading and then reviewing the text. I created a journal with many prompts and assignments; I combined these into a little packet that each student is responsible for keeping and filling out after each reading. Most of the prompts are summarizing questions, but there are also plot reviews, and critical thinking.

We're getting closer to the end of the 9-week period, and the students are finally getting into the hang of "school." Most of the students' grades in my classes are poor, and my mentor teacher and I are wracking our brains trying to find ways to help them bring up their grades in the time they have left. They seem so unmotivated, or plain disinterested! Motivation is something we can try to address, but how do you "fix" a class of 8th graders who just don't care?

Week 6

This week's been a big week for "wrapping up" some things and beginning new units.

In reading, the students took their final assessment for the short story "The Lottery." I was really very excited to teach this story; earlier this year was the first time I'd read it! In my placement at the high school last year, my mentor teacher mentioned that she frequently uses this story in class. This made me wonder whether a younger group of students would really understand the meaning and social implications of the story; would they be so engrossed by the final outcome that they lose sight of the message? In all honesty, though, I think the kids handled it much better than I expected! Those who took the story seriously,participated in discussions, and got into the mock "lottery" held in class did well on their final assessments.

We've begun a major unit now that we're through with "The Lottery." We're now completing pre-reading and anticipation exercises and guides for the novel Tears of a Tiger. Mr. Stallings came in to observe one of my reading classes this week; I had a great lesson written up with technology, discussion, reviews, you name it! We were silly to think that the technology/Internet would work--of course I had a backup plan, which was quickly put into use. Thankfully Mrs. Smith had helped me think of a Plan B; she's great at showing me tricks to cover myself, so that I don't have to learn the hard way. I'm excited to begin this unit because I think it will be an incredibly valuable learning experience. It's a huge unit, and the first novel I've really gotten a chance to be involved in teaching.

In English, we're also beginning a new assignment. In Grafton every year, the Veterans hold a writing contest for the county. They provide a patriotic prompt, and the students compete at various levels for prizes and recognition. Since Taylor Co. Middle is the only middle school in the county, the winner at this level has to come from one of our classrooms! The students have been given the prompt just this week: Does patriotism still matter? Why or why not? Some of them, I've noticed, have some difficulty understanding and expressing the word "patriotism." We're also continuing to work on the Digital Story PowerPoints. At this point, the students are having to learn to juggle two assignments at once; I don't think many of them are handling it well.

It's easy for me to look now and think: "They should know how to balance all of these things. They need to focus." What was it like when I was their age? Did I have the same problems and difficulties? I always thought I would be the teacher who still understands, but now I feel like my purpose is to help and guide. Even if I no longer remember exactly what it feels like, I can still try my best to help the students do as well as they can.

Week 5

This week was a pretty productive one.

We began and finished reading "The Lottery" by Shirley Jackson--she wrote "Charles" as well. The students really seemed to enjoy the story, and most were shocked at the end. We even held a classroom lottery to see which student would have won the prize, much like the way it was held in the story. Some of the resources I referred to suggested holding the class lottery before reading the story, and some suggested to do the lottery after (as we did). It would've been interesting to have one period hold the class lottery before the story, and another period hold the lottery after having read the story--I'm interested in seeing which version would have a stronger response.

In English classes, students have been finishing up their Biopoems and beginning their Digital Story sloppy-copies. I used my own Digital Story for Benedum as an example of how to put theirs together. Right now, they're brainstorming ideas and writing a 5-paragraph sloppy-copy. Once their rough draft has been completed, they are to self-edit and word process their script. Peer editing is the next step, and soon we will begin making the actual PowerPoint presentations.

We had another substitute for a brief time one day; it went MUCH better than the experience with the substitute I mentioned in an earlier blog. Sometimes, though, the students get so rowdy (no matter who is substituting), that it makes me feel as if I have poor class management skills. I don't know if I'm thinking too far into it--students always behave differently for a sub.-- or if there is some truth to that wondering.

Finally, I attended my first parent-teacher conference on Friday afternoon. A student's mother was concerned that they had a failing grade for English class and no other subject. This particular student has an IEP, and has difficulty putting words onto paper. We discussed some possible solutions, and made a plan for action from now on.

Week 4

This week was a short one in the classroom. Wednesday and Thursday were training days for the language arts teams for middle schools around the county. Due to the low reading/comp/fluency scores of the WesTests this past year, teachers and administration have been collaborating on an intervention plan.

TCMS has purchased a program called AIMSweb to support this plan. AIMSweb measures progress of each individual student, and provides assessment and helps to analyze scores. My mentor teacher and I, along with three other eighth grade teachers spent two days at West Taylor Elementary learning how to use this program.

As I was talking to teachers from TCMS, as well as the other intern who attended the training, we began to talk about future contract hours for the Spring semester. It was suggested that, since we had been trained to use this program, we might spend a majority of our contract hours administering the program and assessing students' progress. This training was also applicable to our Professional Development requirements for this semester.

When my mentor teacher returned to TCMS after the last day of training, she was very surprised at what the substitute had left for her in regard to classwork and student behavior. The students completed very little of the work left for them, and it was clear that the substitute was not interested in classroom management. I figure we'll spend a good part of the next week trying to catch up on time lost because of the substitute; this will be a good "what NOT to do" learning experience for me!

Week 3

This week was a busy (but short) one! Labor Day was Monday, so we didn't have class!

In reading, we finished up the story "The Ransom of Red Chief." The students were able to view the video of the short story; there were many differences among the similarities, so they were asked to take note of them. Once they had finished watching the video (which took a few class periods), they collected their notes and sorted through them. They were given a Venn diagram and asked to fill it out according to the notes they took from the book and the movie. I'd never seen the movie version before, but it was very entertaining! It was fun to listen to the students laughing at the comic parts.

In English classes, we spent the week reading "The Most Dangerous Game." I've read this story many times in various high school and college courses. It's a story I really enjoy and I feel as though boys can relate very easily to the main character and his survival challenge. This proved to be true with my two English classes; all of the students seemed to be very involved in the story, almost hanging on the words as we read to them. The students got very excited when they discovered that the General in the story hunts human beings (hence the name "The Most Dangerous Game"). The last day of the week, the students took the comprehension assessment.

Friday was also different due to the fact that my mentor teacher was absent. The substitute was not used to being in a middle school setting, but was used to elementary aged children. In the end, I was basically left to manage the six classes on my own. I had some difficulty with keeping control of the last class of the day; this particular class is always a difficult one, regardless of who is teaching. I learned a lot about classroom management, and I think I will feel more comfortable the next time there's a substitute for the day.

Week 2

This week has been wonderful in that I've been given the opportunity to really become a part of Taylor Co. Middle.

Tuesday was an early dismissal for the students, and a 3-hr. Faculty Senate meeting for the teachers. Andy, Rachel, and I stayed and attended the meeting where we learned about how the teachers are reacting to the "drop-out crisis." They received WesTest scores for their students, and collaborated in teams to adjust curriculum to better meet student needs. In addition, each team came up with suggestions for Professional Development to help teachers get information and skills they need in order to better help their students. I learned about many new programs, methods, and techniques, and am excited to see if their employment makes for any positive outcomes with the students.

My host teacher has been organizing a school-wide dance that was held on Thursday evening here at the middle school. The teachers volunteered to chaperone the dance (which was held from 6-8pm), for which they received equal part of the money raised from entrance fees, concessions, etc. This was the first extracurricular time I've spent at the school this semester, and it was great to see the students in a stress-free environment, socializing and enjoying themselves. I hope I am able to chaperone/attend more functions like these in the future. Right now all the students can talk about and focus on is the upcoming Labor Day vacation!

Week One

The first week at Taylor Co. Middle was a great beginning to the sixteen weeks I'll be here!

My host teacher and I have two English/language arts periods, and three reading periods; all are eighth grade. I like that my host teacher collaborates so closely with the other English and reading teachers for the eighth grade. This makes it easy to keep a sort of curriculum map to share among three classrooms; I also like that, at the end of the day, we can discuss what worked for individuals in which classrooms and what didn't work.

I feel very comfortable in the classroom. My host teacher and I have very similar views on student engagement and learning styles, and this makes it very easy for us to work together. She's been extremely helpful and flexible, and even allows me to jump right in and take over various class periods.

With my host teacher's help, I think I've finally nailed down a topic and inquiry for my Action Research project! We've given the English students a baseline that will measure their knowledge and application of sentence varieties, comma splices, and run-ons. These students have been taught these three grammatical lessons for three years now, and we have not seen any application in their personal writing (both formal and informal). We are wondering how we can adjust the way the material is presented so that the students will retain the information easier; eventually applying what they've learned.