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.