3rd Video Teach

Chisan and I co-taught our 3rd and final video teach (the literacy teach) together and, in my opinion, we did a good job. We started out with an Admit Slip in which the students were asked to use both their schema, and prior knowledge from their studies. The topic was drugs, and we used that to our advantage. We related an already provocative subject to their lives, and it worked very well to hook them into our lesson. Next, we all read a piece of selected text together, and I modeled for them how to create a graphic organizer. This was the guided practice part of our lesson. As independant practice, we had them continue reading the text on their own, and create their own graphic organizers. They seemed to do a very good job on them, and we used them to assess how much learning and participation occured at the conclusion of the lesson. After this activity, we did a guided imagery type of activity by having the students create anti-drug posters with paper and crayons that we had provided. They seemed to enjoy this activity, and again, the participation was excellent. For closure, we had them complete exit slips by writing something they had learned, found interesting, or wanted to know more about from our lesson.

Overall, I think both Chisan and I had excellent rapport with our students, and it contributed in a big way to the level of participation and positive classroom climate. Our students were relaxed, comfortable, and willing to learn throughout our lesson. We did a lot of one on one help, but also would speak to the class as a whole to reassure them that they were doing a great job. At one point, I interrupted their independant practice or creating the graphic organizer b/c I noticed that some of the students were having a difficult time with it, and were therefore not completeing the task. I explained to them that the organizer was there to help them, and that they could do it in any number of ways. I modeled for the a couple of other possiblities of how to complete it which again increased our level of participation, and put the students at ease.

The thing that we could have worked on more was our initial planning. We planned a lot for this lesson, but a little more would have obviously made a difference. I also wish that I would’ve chosen to do my graphic organizer on the white board rather than a transparency due to my horrible handwriting. I was so worried about it that I ended up rushing my lesson a bit, and reverting to helping the students individually.  Maybe some scripting of my lesson would’ve been beneficial. It would’ve forced me to stay on track and not pick up the pace so much. I used to think that scripting out a lesson was a bit much, but I can definitely see now how it can be useful in the classroom. Especially in my first few teaches.

Last day with my ELL buddy

So today was the last day for me to hang out with my buddy. I had such a great time getting to know her, and we exchanged info so that we can keep in touch outside of Akins. We sat and had small talk together for a long while, and then I explained to her how to approach a piece of text, and create a graphic organizer. She seemed to grasp the concept, but was hung up on the whole tree thing. I explained to her that she can create it in any number of ways, and she gravitated towrd a list type of format that seemed to suit her much better. I think they can be very useful for her, but she would need some more practice creating them in order to feel comfortable using them in the future.

Unfortunately, she may be held back for another year of 9th grade. It sounds like she doesn’t have enough credits to pass at this point, and I suggested that she go speak with Mr. Raymond for help with the situation. I explained to her that she needs to ask for his help in speaking with a counselor to try and figure out what she needs to do in order to pass. I hope she takes my advice and does it. I’m worried that if she sits back and doesn’t do anything about it, they will just move right along without her.

Overall, I thought this experience was very fulfilling. I would have to say that my buddy is probably my favorite person that I;ve met here at Akins, and I had a great time hanging out and getting to know her. I wish that I had more time, and was able to help her more though. Hopefully we can keep in touch, and I can help her in the future.

Teaching Health

Ahhhhhh… back to my comfort zone. Today I taught a lesson with Chisan in Personal Fitness. We had such a great time! We both have excellent rapport with our students, and even though I’m new to the class, so many of my students are from my previous classes that I didn’t seem to skip a beat. We initially planned on knocking out our 30 min reading video teach, so we incorporated 2 Reading strategies, and 1 management strategy. We did quiz quiz Trade, Jigsaw, and a white board game. The students had a great time. It was a very relaxed, comfortable environment, and everyone seemed to be participating. We also had very high levels of OTR, which made one of our professors very happy.

Looking back, there are a few things is would’ve done differently. First, I would’ve had paper towels for the students to use on their white boards. That one went straight over my head. Second, I would’ve had the questions to the white board game on the overhead. Unfortunately, our teacher didn’t have a projector, so that was out of the question. Third, and most importantly, I would’ve taught and modeled before I gave the reading assignment. I think the assignment would’ve gone much more smoothly had we done that.

So for my next teach, I plan on teaching a unit on drugs. My last 2 video teaches were reviews, so it will be a tad different. I’ve gotten a lot of experience out of these last 2 teaches though, and look forward to applying what I have learned both from them and from class to my next lesson.

What I’ve learned this week

Looking back on the learning experiences that I’ve had this week, what sticks out most in my mind is Prof El Zeins lecture. I thought she did such a great job modeling, and getting her point across regarding opportunities to respond. Her quiz was well planned, and her true and false (and maybe) game was a lot of fun. I won’t forget this lecture, and the lessons will stick with me when (or if) I begin teaching.

I also enjoyed Prof Bonds lecture involving basketball. I felt like it was along the same lines as Prof El Zeins, and they went together seamlessly. I like how he modeled and explained the way that objective assessments and alternative assessments can crossover and be used in both transmission and constructivist models. Even though I see myself using the transmission model for the most part in coaching, it was nice to see that there are ways to incorporate other methods of teaching without completely converting.

Overall, very informative lectures that I can see myself using in the future.

ELL tutoring day

Today I sat with my ELL buddy and also invited Amy’s ELL buddy to come sit with us. The girl’s were friends, and we had a great time together. I even got invited to Amy’s buddy’s quincenera!!!!! It’s April 19th, and if she gives me an invitation I’m totally going to see Viridiana dance! Too funny! Viridiana was so excited that I said I would come watch her. She really seemed to want m to be there. Anyway, I had made flash cards for the world geography terms that they were being tested over. We did a list group label activity, and I had the girls group the flash cards themselves. I gave them some hints as to how to figure some of them out as well. I noticed that they were getting themselves bogged down with the words that they didn’t know and ignored the terms they did know. For example, if the card said Mediterranian Sea, they would be confused as to where to put it b/c they were concerned with the word Mediterranian. I told them to concentrate on the words they did recognize, and they got much better at the activity after they understood that. I would need a lot more time with them though in order to get a good understanding out of them regarding the map though. They need a lot of help in that area. Even though my time with the girls was overall a sucess, I do believe that Viridiana would’ve gotten more instruction time had she been separated from the other ELL. I also think having her actually fill in a map would have beneficial. She simply needs practice in the area. I attempted to make the subject interesting to her by relating it to her life, but I think for that to show i would need more time with her as well. She’s a great kid, but doesn’t at all see the big picture yet. Hopefully she’ll get it one day.

Teaching Writing

Today I watched 2 of my collegues do their 2nd video teach. They did a very good job in planning and it showed. They had a warm up activity, power point (input), and then divided the class into 5 groups in which they had different activities regarding regions of Africa. The students were engaged, and for the most part, participated in all of the activities that they were presented with. Their transitions went smoothly as well, and I believe that it was due to planning and reenforcement on their part during each transition. I think that something further (maybe a graphic orginizer or video/power point guide) could have accompanied the power point presentation, but even without it, it went very well. The initial movement of the desks was a bit chaotic, so maybe next time they can have the desks situated ahead of time, but again, it was fairly smooth even without this type of orginization. One thing I did notice was that the students never seemed to be able to complete or even get half way thru the activities at each station. Maybe the powere poit presentation could have been cut out to allow for more time at the stations, and more time for a wrap-up and cosure session.

Overall, the lesson was a success though, and the planning and work that went into it was key. They did an excellent job and should be more than proud of themselves. 

2nd ELL meeting

This past Monday I had the pleasure of meeting with my ELL students for a second time. This little girl is a complete doll!!! We had a wonderful meeting together. We talked for a long time about what was goiong on in our personal lives, and just basically got caught up from our previous meeting.

My 1st Teach

So I finally got a chance to teach today, although it was not in my original cooperating teachers class. I had only visited this classroom once before, so I didn’t know any of the kids names, and was in unfamiliar territory, but all that aside, I think it went fairly well.

The students are currently preparing for a test that they have next week over the Middle East. I decided to play a review game with them during the first 15 minutes of class. I split them up into 2 large groups, had them review their books, notes, and handouts for a brief amount of time, and then played a quiz game with them. The rest of the class period they worked on a study guide handout in preparation for the exam.

The entire class period was based on both knowledge and application. They had to memorize much of the map information, but also had to apply it to charts and graphs pertaining to geographical information. The classroom management was excellent, but i think most of that had to do with the fact that there were 4 adults in the room. However, the teacher is a relationship based type of teacher, and rarely does he encounter behavioral problem. He has excellent rapport with the students, and they don’t seem to give him a hard time at all.

Looking back on my teaching experience, there are a number of things that I would have differently. First, I would have had a seating chart available so as to know the students names. Second, I would have had a key to the map that I had posted on the overhead for the quiz game. The teacher was supposed to have one for me, but plans fell through, and it didn’t happen. I improvised though, and grabbed a book to double check myself while the students gave their answers. I felt like they were aware of my need for a key, but my collegues said afterward that they couldn’t tell the difference. I think that was just good acting on my part more than anything. Another thing I would’ve done differently would be to talk about myself a bit more. I did mention that I was from Israel, but I sensed that they didn’t really care, and decided last minute to cut out the speech that I had intended to give. (I had even brought items to show them from Israel bit I chickened out and they stayed in the bag!) And lastly, I would’ve taken a moment before having them quickly study their notes and books before the game and reviewed some tips on how to read and remember a map. I think I had a prime opportunity before my game began to do so, and I completely overlooked it.

Overall, I feel like my experience teaching today was a success. the kids seemed to enjoy the game, I seemed to create a relaxed atmosphere in the room, and they were much better at the game than I had anticipated. I feel like if i had prepared just a bit more for this teach it could’ve been a complete success.

   

This past Monday I had the pleasure of meeting with my Ell student for a 2nd time. The girl is a complete dollface!!! We had so much fun chatting together. We spent the first 20 minutes just chatting, and getting caught up on each others lives. She feeling much more comfortable at Akins now, and has begun making friends, and even meeting potential boyfriends. There are a number of boys that are interested in her, and she was so excited to tell me all about them. We definitely connected. She even asked me at one point when she would see me again, and was bummed that it would be so long before our next meeting. Too cute!!!

After getting reaquainted, we began working on the script. She seemed to be a little hesitant at first when she heard that I was going to ask her questions, but she followed the instructions immediately. From listening to her speak, I can say with a fair amount of confidence that she is proficients in BICS, but not so proficient in CALPS. Her level of speach is intermediate, but I would say that it’s on the lower side of the intermediate spectrum. She listened very well while I was reading, and I could see that she was paying special attention to the way that I pronounced specific words, and how I acknowledged the punctuation. She seemed to model my speech patterns very well. Her reading is not bad at all. She definitely has problems with conjunctions. Every one that she ran across she was unable to figure out on her own. I tried to explain them all to her, although I don’t know how well I did. I was thinking that maybe I should point out to Mr. Raymond that she needs help in this area since I won’t be seeing her all that often. Maybe I can speak to Laura and get some tips on how to quickly teach her how to conjugate. Hmmm… something to think about.

It’s funny actually, we get along so well, and talk so much, that we didn’t have time to finish our graphic organizer. We threw it togehter last minute. She knew what needed to go on the family tree though, and started spitting out the names of the characters in the story as she had read it before. That was an indication to me that she really did comprehend what we had read.

So I’m really looking forward to the next time that we meet. I think very highly of this little girl. I want to help her as much as I can, but unfortunately I don’t have time. I plan on working with her on her reading skills, and going over some of her world geography homework as well. Ideally, she would have some more one on one time to work on her reading skills, and further her knowledge in the English language, but I don’t know if she’ll get that level of attention. Hopefully Mr. Raymond sees what I see in her. She’s a special little girl. I’d like to put her in my pocket and take her home with me!!!

2/27/08 AP English

my teacher was out today, so i went to visit an english class that was reccommended to me by one of my students. it was an excellent class. her warm up activity was really cool. it was a free write over a painting that she put on the overhead. they were confused as to what to do at first, but she finally got it thru their head what they were assigned to do. she then gave them an opportunity to improve their previous grade by going over a quiz and allowing them to change their answers. she did let them know however that she would be grading it harder the 2nd time around. in terms of behavior, the students were well behaved for the most part. there was one student that was upset at the teacher b/c of her present failing grade in the course, and she was being extremely defiant. the teacher gave her opportunities to realx, go to the library, do her work alone, etc, but she was in a terrible mood. finally the teacher sent her to the office. it was justified in my view. it was interesting to watch the whole situation though, b/c this was a very large girl, and she was being extremely rude to the teacher. teacher kept herself calm though, and resumed class as if nothing had happened.

to be honest, i wish that i were in this class permenantly for my 2nd period class. i enjoy this teachers teaching syle much more than my coop teacher.