Welcome to Student Teaching
Welcome to the website that we will be using to interact with each other during your semester of student teaching. Please write the URL down in your Field Experience Handbook so that you have it with you.
Please post a response so that I know that you know how to access this site.
Chris Sodorff
posted by Chris @ 2:30 PM
25 comments
25 Comments:
Chris,
Looks like the TL 415 blog site is up and working for you. I hope you and your students find the site meets your needs, allows you to stay in touch, and enhances your communications while the students complete their overseas student teaching. I will drop in on occasion!
Ciao
Guy
Hello,
Well my summer in Pullman is wrapping up and I am excited to embark on some international travel. For those of you in Germany, Sara and I will be arriving in Berlin on the 17th and will head toward Schwienfurt on the 18th. Chat with you all later.
Dan
I found the blog..things seem to be working smoothly for me!!! Hope everyone is having a fun summer and getting excited to go!!!
Jen
Hi Chris and everyone,
Sara and I have now been in Germany for 5 days. It is beautiful and our school and mentor teachers are amazing. It was good bumping into Jen and Kara today and I hope to hear about everyone's experiences soon.
Yeah for Europe,
Dan
Today was the first day of training for Dan and I. It was good. Then for about an hour I helped my mentor teacher set some things up in the classroom the best we could given the size of the room and the amount of stuff there is in it. My teacher teaches 4 classes of 7th grade language arts and one class of video production. I think for the rest of the week I will get more stuff to do to get ready for next week. Other than that, Germany is amazing and living on base is not bad either. This is definately one of the best learning experiences I have had thus far in my life.
I'll be chatting with you all later,
Sara
Hi everyone!
Tricia...I still need your proof of insurance and a good email address for you. Please get in touch with me ASAP.
Everybody else, thanks for your insurance proofs, and hope you are all having a wonderful time!
Cougs beat the Vandals last night in the opening game, gas prices are $2.95 a gallon, and everything else is pretty much status quo!
Talk to you soon!
Heidi
Hi everybody,
I will try to be more vigilant in posting to this site but you also have to check it and respond.
As I stated in the email sent 9-15-05, please share with us a bit about your base, and what you have learned from completing the Classroom and Student Characteristics.
If you want to ask for problem solving and input from your peers, here is the place to do it!
Warm wishes,
Chris
Friday, September 16, 2005
Hi everyone.
I’m now in three classrooms.
My original mentor teacher had issues and concerns about whether she could let me teach her Advanced Placement or Honors 10 English classes.
She had no problems letting me teach the regular English 10 class. These kids are a doozy to deal with – lots of gang related issues and attitudes, as well as a student who needs a bit of extra help because they are a little lower on the cognitive ability scale.
One student has an IEP which gives her extra time to finish in-class writing assignments. Of course, she is also one of the most distracted and “social” students in the class. Keeping her on-task and focused, and re-focused, and refocused is a bit of a pain. Fortunately, she is a nice girl who doesn’t hold that against you.
This teacher decided to try a horseshoe arrangement for the desks in her room so there would be fewer ‘back row’ seats. This part is working, but it also lets kids get off-task easily because they can visually communicate across the room. A couple of students (a male and a female) are a bit disruptive this way because they are always trying to communicate with each other. Two other boys use this set-up to flash gang signs across the room, which has earned them school discipline.
I’m working with the yearbook, which is fun. Mr. Kirby was grateful to have my photography experience to help train the staff in how to take better pictures. The students in the two yearbook sections are generally motivated to get work done. Four of them worked on the yearbook last year, but the rest are new, but learning fast. There are no IEPs or 504s with the yearbook students. We work in the computer lab, sharing a computer classroom with another teacher, as each class section of the yearbook has between 10-12 students. The hard part for me will be learning all the tricks and capabilities of Adobe Photoshop and InDesign. I know what we did at the Evergreen for photos, and have some graphic design experience, but it was not in using InDesign. I only have a couple of weeks to learn the basics until I’ll need to begin lesson planning and teaching.
The difference in receptions between Mr. Kirby, Mrs. McKaig (the second English teacher I’m working with) in comparison to my original teacher are as different as night and day, so I’m having more fun now.
Mrs. McKaig is VERY pregnant with twins and is happy to have help and a future reduced workload and is very helpful as she explains what and why she does in her class. I gave her some suggestions about Romeo & Juliet that I picked up from T&L 317 observations and she will incorporate those activities into her R&J unit, which will start in a couple of weeks.
In two sections of English 9 that I will be teaching, there are three students on IEPs. I still need to read these IEPs, but it is easy to see that some of these students need a bit more help in organizing their work. Mrs. McKaig’s room is in the middle of transition. She was hired the day classes started, so her room is what she inherited from the previous teacher and was used over the summer as the book-dump for many unused texts. We have been working to get rid of unneeded and out of date materials from the 70s and mid 80s just to make room for the texts the department plans to keep.
I look forward to reading how everyone’s student teaching is progressing.
Have a great weekend,
Dean
Hello! A lot has happened in the last month upon arriving in Germany, getting settled in, and starting classes. There were some mix-ups when we first arrived with our ID badges (Cara and I spent a solid 9 hours getting them), and we spent the least amount of time of all the student teachers here! I am very glad to be living so close to school (a 2-minute walk down the street) and with Cara. The army housing we are in is not the best, but it will make do for a few months. The base we are on is one of several in Schweinfurt, as I’m sure Cara, Dan, and Sara have mentioned already. I find it to be a big hassle to make it places like the post office and library (for internet) before they close because I’ve been so busy with school.
I have been very busy this last month with a variety of projects and activities. My class (3rd grade) is amazing! I am with (in my opinion) one of the best teachers in the school. She is full of enthusiasm, patience, and integrity. I really feel a great bond between us. I really am lucky to have been placed with her; our personalities blend together wonderfully!
The first few weeks of school were full of explaining the expectations and procedures of the classroom. I now understand the importance of setting up the classroom right from the start. Clear expectations will give you clear results!
My class is just getting into a normal routine, but time in the classroom is often disrupted by students being pulled-out for special services or even the entire class being sent to specials (art, PE, etc.) or the numerous fire drills we’ve had! I’m excited to fully take over my class, which will be pretty soon now!
I’ve also been keeping busy outside of the classroom as well. I have volunteered myself (and my teacher) to head up the Student Council along with another 3rd grade teacher. I have been coordinating a “Piggy Bank” drive fundraiser for the victims of Hurricane Katrina; I have been at school late every day since I’ve been here!! I am definitely exhausted, but I am really feeling good about being involved in such a worthy cause.
In my class there are 14 students: 6 boys and 8 girls. Students range from 8-9 years old. There is a wide range of ability levels in my class as well. There is an equal spread of students who are just below grade level, at grade level, and above grade level. Two students in my class are on IEPs, with one of these students receiving 95% of his aid outside our classroom. Two students in my class receive extra services through the TAG (talented and gifted) program.
Most of my students live on Askren, the base where the school is and where I live as well. The socio-economic status of the students in my class range from low to high. I have several students who come from German speaking homes as well. Many of them have American fathers and German mothers. All of my students speak fluent English, however. The racial/ethnic composition of the classroom is very mixed as well. I have students that are African-American, Korean, Mexican, Filipino, German, and Caucasian. I love how varied my class is in every single aspect!!
So, there’s the general overview of my first month here. There will be lots more to come I’m sure! If you’re bored and you’d like to see my class, check out our school website at http://www.schw-es.eu.dodea.edu/PhotoGallery05-06/Pages/PG0506_04Constutution.html
Hello fellow scholars,
Well it sounds like everyone is enjoying their experiences so far and the same goes for me in Schweinfurt. Being the fifth week of student teaching my face time in front of the students is quite a lot, yet I enjoy every minute.
As far as our base is concerned I live in the family housing portion, which places me close to our commissary and about a 15 minute walk to our school. As Cara and Jen have already stated our apartments are "okay" but so far my main struggle has been with my roommate. He is another student teacher at our school, but lets just say the only thing we have in common is our first name (weird living with another Dan). Due to our differences, I find that most school work is and needs to be completed at school, which has kept me at school until 5 and 6pm some nights. I know that some of you are probably thinking that is not long at all, but in comparison to my fellow staff members that is pratically an all-nighter.
My mentor teacher is great, she is so supportive and gives me excessive amounts of freedom when planning my own topics. She has the mentality that experimentation is where I am going to learn what works and what doesn't work, which I find complimentary to my personality. However, one drawback that I have noticed in several teachers here is that they teach strictly from the textbook. For my upcoming unit on Africa I am going to try new things, which I think the students feel is long over due.
In addition to geography, I have been leading my advisory class, which is kind of like a homeroom except we spend time on reading comprehension, math enrichment, and teambuilding. So far I am practically the only teacher at my school who has the students participate in actual teambuilders that are more extensive than going outside for mere recess.
In addition to that I have been meeting with my advisory students individually in hopes of getting to know them better and to see how their year is going so far. I have also "taken on a project," and meeting with a student that repeated sixth grade last year. It seems that all of the teachers have given up hope with him, but to me these are the students teachers go into education for. I am trying to meet with him weekly but due to his excessive absences, difficulties have arisen. I am not giving up.
Overall, I have enjoyed my experiences here. Like every situation I would change some things, but I couldn't have asked for a better placement.
As far as classroom demographics, I have more African-American students than white students, which is nice being that my advanced practicum was in Colton WA which I believe had only one student of color. The greater amount of diversity here has increased students awareness of different cultures and with different backgrounds comes different perspectives, a great assest for a social studies classroom.
My class sizes vary from 10 students all the way up to 20 students, much more smaller than a traditional classes back in the states. I have four students on IEPs, ranging from extreme visual impairment to processing difficulties. A large amount of my students can speak a second language and in some cases they speak several different languages. Bill speaks Russian, and German; Sallymatta speaks her native language from Ghana; Richard speaks Hungarian; Marvin speaks German, and all of them speak great English as well.
The whole student teaching experience has confirmed that this is the career for me. Even when I am at lunch duty (not one of my favorites), I still look forward to the experience. Waking up each day excited is a great feeling and I just wish all of you the best of luck and I hope you are experiencing the joys of teaching as much as I am. Chat later.
Dan
I forgot to mention the classroom profile. Much like Jen's class my class is made up of very diverse learners. I have four students who are ona dn above grade level in reading and the rest are significantly below grade level. In math I have two kids who go to TAG (gifted ed. if you will) and 5 students who are already om their multiplication facts. The rest are just plugging along with addition and subtraction.
I have two students who are on IEP's and are only in my class for an hour combined. I have found that it is very hard to get to know those students and make them a part of the classroom community. If anyone has any suggestions, please let me know?? I am kind of at a loss on this one. When these students are in my class they are always off task and have no idea what to do no matter how trying the task is. The students need one on one assistance that I am not always available to give. It is both frustrating for myself and that child.
The room is set up in collaborative learning groups according to the students levels. The very highest child is with a student in the mid range and the lowest are also with the mid range students. This is so that all of the students benefit and to ensure that there isn't such a large gap between partners instructional and independent level. This also ensures that our highest student isn't burnt out on helping someone who is significantly below them. I hope that this makes sense I don't know if I am explaining it as well as I had hoped to. Anyways, that is all for me today. Hope all is well,
Cara
Please date your response.
Topic to which you respond:
Classroom Management. What did you see modeled by your mentor teacher? What are you doing? Is it working? How have you grown in establishing your classroom climate?
Last posting should have been dated Oct. 13. Thanks.
Hey all,
I am really glad that this topic came up this week because classroom management has recently become an issue. As many people in the school have so nicely put it "The honeymoon phase is over."
The last week or so my kids have really been pushing me to see how far I will go and what they can and cannot get away with. Although it has been a little more stressful, in the longrun it will be good for the students to again be informed of what is allowed and therefor not aloud in our classroom.
My master teacher uses something that is called a learners permit. It is a piece of paper that the students bring home in their Thursday folder and is signed by their parents weekly. Some of the categories are: caught being on the right road (this is similiar to a caught being good area and the students get stickers and stamps for good behavior), speeding tongue, jaywalking, wasting time, failure to follow directions, and eyes on the road (attention). In the other categories the students get a hole punch for the behavior that is unacceptable. For some students this whole management plan works very well, for two other students in my classroom this piece of paper means nothing. We have already had our first set of parent teacher conferences and have spoken to parents about other forms of discipline for these students and how to get them involved on a dialy basis. We now write a note home to these parents on a daily basis and they are to sign it and send it back to school the following day. Although it is a lot more work for us, it has really helped with those students who were have extreme behavior problems. They now know that each day their parents will be expecting the note and would much rather it be positive comments than negative.
Although the learners permits do work, I don't think that they are something that I would use in my future classroom. All of the students know when others are getting a punch and sometimes it feels like I am embarassing the student as a form of punishment in front of all of their peers. I do like the fact that it is sent home weekly and that parents are to send it back to school the following day. We then file them away and if necessary pull them out at parent teacher conferences to show parents continual behavior problems.
I hope everyone's week went well and can't wait to read about your management styles. Cara
Hello!!! Things are in full swing for me here at Schweinfurt Elementary School. I am enjoying my time and experiencing as much as I can. On the topic of classroom management, I would say that I don’t really like that term! I think that it is unnecessary for a teacher to have to manage a class because the students should be the ones managing themselves! With that said, I do believe that my students are extremely exceptional. I understand that this isn’t always the case! I was really blessed with a wonderful class. There are only 14 students in my class, of which only one has some emotional issues that have only flared up a handful of times since school started.
Before school started, my mentor teacher and I chatted a lot about how our classroom should be run. We both agreed with the idea of setting clear expectations for your students so you will get clear results. My mentor teacher has modeled to me several things about classroom management that I agree with. First, there is a procedure board in the classroom that includes a code of conduct, procedures for different activities (appropriate behavior), and positive and negative consequence. If students ever need to be reminded of how to act, we direct their attention to this board. Really, I have only needed to do this one time since school started! Next, my mentor teacher has shown me how to maintain calm and cool even when I’m in the midst of yogurt explosions in backpacks, peeing accidents, and students who like to hide in the bathroom. My teacher has modeled never to raise your voice and to speak to individual students privately about issues versus in front of the whole class.
Something I did with my students when school just started was make a class constitution. The students were able to change the words to fit their needs and ideas of a safe classroom environment. They loved it!! They often remind one another how to act according to the rules established in our class constitution. It is the coolest thing! Another way I’m establishing a repertoire with my class is by eating lunch with them almost every day. This is a great opportunity for me to talk and joke with my students on a more personal level. It is my favorite time of the day!
Okay, so my class is really wonderful because we had a really good start to the school year with my awesome mentor teacher, but I do have one problem student who is very, VERY emotional. When things don’t go his way, he breaks down, starts crying uncontrollably, and refuses to talk to me. I’ve learned to leave him alone, give him some space, and let him cool off. Just last Friday he freaked out because he didn’t get a Kleenex box he wanted to use for a social studies project. He was out of control, but I maintained being calm. I ignored him and then when he was trying to get me to yell at him, (I think so he could yell back-I think that’s how he deals with stuff at home), I simply told him to leave because school was over. I was very proud of myself over this issue!
Overall, I feel like I’m learning a lot about how to make a class run smoothly and not so much about trying to control every single child. I am here to help guide my students to make good choices, but I can never squash their little spirits that are unique to each and every one of them.
EEK! I forgot about a big thing we do to keep parents informed of student behavior! We have weekly folders that go home on Thursday where the students are given a score from 1-5 (1=excellent, 5=poor) on the following: Homework, Class Work, Behavior, Specials, and Hallway. Some weeks I've given them a score, and other weeks, I've had the students rate themselves. What a powerful thing to let students grade themselves! These folders are then returned with a parent signature on Friday. I really like this system of tracking student behavior because it allows the student, parents, and teacher to be in communication every week. I also like it because it is private - the information in the weekly folder is for that student's eyes only! Okay, that's it for now!!!
Jen
Dean says, “Hi All” on this lovely Sunday, September 16.
I was BUMMED to read the Cougs blew a big lead to UCLA and lost Homecoming.
Classroom management has been an interesting excursion for me, largely depending on what classroom I’m in and what is being taught.
In the yearbook class, the kids are all fairly motivated and given a lot of the duality of freedom and responsibility, so they are not behavior problems. They do have some issues about working, but not to many about behaving. It helps that Mr. Kirby is the ESL specialist for both the middle and high schools, so most of the kids know and like him, so they don’t want to disappoint him. He’s also enough of a character that those new to the school quickly get along with him.
In Mrs. Causey’s English 10 class, there is a mixed assortment of kids, ranging from those who like school to those who hate school. Most of them are OK, but a couple of them are major problems for a variety of reasons. One girl new to Germany (who wrote such a brilliant essay that I looked to see if it was plagiarized) is one of the least motivated students in class. She hates the fact her parents moved her to Germany and forced her to leave her friends. She is passively aggressive and we need to use the school’s ZAP (Zeros Are not Permitted) policy to get her to turn in any work.
The ZAP policy means that once an assignment is a class period late, the teacher can require them to attend Seminar so they can make up the missing work. If a student does not work during Seminar when ZAPped, they are referred to the office for a discipline violation. So far, the administrators have used detention and in-school suspensions to force reluctant students to do their work.
Mostly, I try to keep them on track and working. If they are not, we/I try to call the parent(s) and let them know what is happening, or wind up sending referrals to the office.
One problem we have in the English 10 class is kids “flashing” gang signs across the room. As any type of gang activity is against school policy, trying to keep these students from doing this and on track is difficult. The main instigator of this “flashing” doesn’t care too much about school, but is smart to not get kicked out, so that makes it tough to keep a lid on him.
As this is a DODDS school, one thing that is not tolerated is overt disrespect to a teacher. This different from a civilian school, so it is too easy to rely on sending the kids down to the office. At the same time, the kids know this is what is expected of them, so it’s not too harsh.
In the English 9 classes, the kids are pretty hyped up most of the time. Classroom management is about the same technique as in English 10. It does not help that the teacher’s style is to yell at the kids. These students are the most difficult to handle.
I start taking over in this classroom this week and will be in charge next week. I’m hoping that a lover-key and -volume approach will work with these kids. It helps that they are into Romeo and Juliet, which we started reading this week.
I hope that helps others have some good experiences to share.
And I REALLY hope the Cougs turn it around and earn a couple of victories!
Go Cougs!
October 23rd
Hello everyone,
Sorry about the posting delay I just completed my first week of solo teaching, which has been both tiring (at school til 7 daily)and rewarding.
Classroom managment has been a topic of concern for myself, and reading other's responses I see that I am not the only one. I have severely questioned my school's "discipline" approach and I have been in contact with Dr. Bettis at WSU in search of direction.
In order to maintain a positive learning environment, my school takes a harsh approach to management including the handing out of numerous detentions (mostly during lunch), office referrals, and we even had several kids suspended already this year. Sadly to my disagreement I have also taken on this approach even though I think other, better options exist.
In my classroom my teacher quickly educated the students that nothing other than a respectful classroom would be tolerated. Students who challenged this approach were quickly "nailed" for their behavior. Typically students who disregard warnings will find themselves in my teacher's room for lunch. Students must then complete a form that has them describe why they were in detention, what they should have done instead, and most importantly they must circle one Guiding Principle they violated.
Our students a couple years ago selected 5 guiding principles that made up the acronym PRIDE. Prepared, Respect, Integrity, Determined, and Effort. Our schools goal is to have students self regulate their behavior, but we all know how students truly are.
I am also the lunch monitor during 7th/8th grade lunch, so most all the students know me, but at the sametime I have to carry out harsh cafeteria rules. I have been told by the principal that I have to get more, and I quote, "mean" with the students. If students get in trouble for being too loud we sit them individually away from their friends. One day I was going around mingling with students, until I was called over by the principal who told me not to talk with them. Instead I was suppose to walk around with my arms crossed, staring at them. I completely disagree with this, but being only a preservice teacher I am choosing my battles, especially with the principal.
Since I have taken over the classroom I have had minimal management issues, which I attribute to my curriculum choices. Not to toot my own horn but my lessons have been pretty interesting. It seems that every teacher in my school teaches straight out of the textbook, which the kids get board of quickly. Since I am avoiding that, kids have taken a keen interest in my lessons, and hence fewer discipline problems.
The 7th grade policy at my school is no late work. If students do not turn in homework they are forced to go to "zero club", I can't stand the name, and I continue to refuse to call it by the name. Students names are written on the board for all to see and again I have simply continued the process even though I disagree with it.
One thing that I partially agree with is our team meetings. Our school's schedule allows teams (6th grade team, 7th grade team and 8th grade team) to meet every other day for 80 minutes. Most of our meeting times of lately have been meeting with "problem" students. One thing I do disagree with (just add it to the list) is that the parent and the student must meet in front of this panel, which our team is roughly 10 teachers. We then go around saying why we are having issues with the student, this is very dauntying for all parties and especially harsh for the student. We have already had parents cry and students shut down. But again I am only a preservice teacher.
I know my posting sounds very negative, but overall I love teaching and this school and I feel this is an amazing staff. However out of all topics surrounding schools I probably disagree with my school's management philosophies the most. Outside of that, I love everything we do.
I hope everyone's time is going great and I think two student teacher's and I are going to Salsburg, Austria for Veteran's Day weekend. Email me dallbery@wsu.edu, if you are interested. Bye for now.
Dan
Nov. 30
Hello everyone,
As mentioned in my email, I would like each of you to post a response to what you have learned about classroom management this semester. From your teacher, from the students and most important from and about yourself.
Chris
Classroom management was my biggest fear coming into this experience and now I feel like I really have it under control. With very little effort I can get my class to pay attention and look like responsible little third graders. I think that the key is to make sure that you share with your students all of the expectations that you have and then let them practice in the correct way. In my class we do a lot of role playing (bad and good examples of proper behavior). At first, I thought we had really beat it into the ground and maybe shouldn't have done so much with rules etc. I have now come to the conclusion that it was very necessary. Every so often we need to revisit the rules and talk about them again as a gentle reminder after a long break. The best part about third grade is that they know what they are doing wrong when they are doing it and will also ADMIT to it.
One of the most important things that I have learned is just to let the students know that I care about them. I think that once they feel cared about and safe they can then return that care and respect for you. Once that happens, it is easy to get their attention. After a few weeks in my class as an obderver the sudents would quite down to hear what I said. I really don't like raising my voice and so sometimes just standing in the front of the room letting them know that I am waiting for them can get their attention. This is one thing that my master teacher has modeled for me.
I have also noted the differences in all teachers and the way that they run their classrooms. Because I am from a family with four kids and all of us are chatter boxes, I can tolerate a much higher noise level than my master teacher. In the first few weeks I am sure that he was sitting at his desk thinking "what have I gotten myself into???" Now that I am more involved in the class and we have gotten more comfortable with one another we laugh about it. Another thing that is really neat, is to note the difference between us and the dynamic because of our gender. I am a female and he isn't. Before this experience I hadn't observed a male teacher and that alone has been interesting. It is true, that the students respond in different ways to a male vs. a female teacher.
I have also learned a lot of things that are not effective with my group of kids and my personality. The thing that I probably use the most is waiting and or writing the word "time" on the board. If I have to wait for a minute, then I make a tally, two minutes equals two tallies. At lunch or after school I have them sit for the amount of time that is on the board. This is something that the students don't like. It is usually only a minute about once a week, but because it is their own time they hate to waste it. They are really good at monitoring themselves.
The one thing that I have been having a hard time with lately is that I am not in control of the class anymore. I am back to observing about half of the day and teaching half. It is hard to watch my master teacher take back over and have fun with them. It isn't that i am jelous because that isn't the correct term but it is something like jelousy.
I returned a suitcase and all of the kids thought that is was time for me to leave and one little girl even started crying. I have been getting gifts from them for quite a while now. As hard as it will be for me to leave I think that it will be good for me to get out and have my own clss that I won't have to prepare for my departure.
Well, that is about all I have to tell you guys. Have a great weekend and last couple of weeks.
Cara
Well, today is December 8th (also the anniversary of John Lennon's death, just a random tidbit of knowledge for you all) and I am FINALLY getting around to answering previous questions posted on the blog. I am sorry I have slacked so much. But now I have more time since I finished my solo teaching last Monday on Nov 28.
Living situation
Up until a week ago, living on base was actually a good experience. Living in the 4th floor temporary apartment made for daily exercise and some excitement from time to time because we had some interesting neighbors. I am grateful the base commander provided housing for us. He is a very nice man and his son is in the 7th grade. I loved my roommate and miss her now that she's gone. My roommate was from Minnesota. She goes to Concordia University which is a private Lutheran school and she will graduate in April with a degree in music education. We got along really well and there was always laughter in our apartment. I wonder what our downstairs neighbors thought of us. For the most part, it felt like I was back in the residence halls again living with so many people, only this time it was multiplied and also having to go out to get food. It was nice to be on the base where the commissary was. I quickly learned going on a Tuesday afternoon wasn't the best idea since it was the day after it had been closed or soemtimes it was also pay day for the GIs so everyone and their family was there. There are three other bases besides the one where we lived. The one the middle school is on, and then the two where the barracks are and these two have more of the shops, post offices and services for soldiers and civilians. It is a little strange that the bases are so spread out, but you get used to it. Schweinfurt is a nice town. There is so much of it that I have yet to see. Sometimes I forget that it is an industrial town and that there is a harbor here too. In a way it is similar to back home with the variety of jobs avaliable for the local people as well as Americans on base and their families. Right now the Christmas market is going on in the main platz downtown. It only takes about 20 minutes to walk downtown from base and about the same amount of time to walk to school each morning. At times it is a little surreal to see soldiers all the time and sometimes in full combat gear but on the flip side it is comforting to know they are there if something should happen. If given an opportunity in the future, I could see myself working in a military community again, DODDS or not.
Classroom Management
For the most part, the students are well behaved and care about their learning. There are roughly 64 7th graders. I have 4 classes and each one has a different personality. A1 is lively had eager to tell you things and participate. AB3 (I see them every day for 40 mintes) is talkative but they all work well with one another. This is the class where all of the special ed students are so we always have an aide in here helping out. B1 is a very sedate class but for the most part they are good. Although there were days when it was like pulling teeth to get them to participate. B5 is my class after lunch so they always come in all wound up and are very chatty. In this class there are two ESL students who constantly remind me I need to have several approaches to an assignment ready to go to be able to help them any way I can. I am still undecided if I like block scheduling over every day. When I was in 7th grade, we had all of our classes every day. It wasn't until I got to college that I had block scheduling on a regular basis. I think block scheduling works better for high school students because middle school kids still need that constant support everyday and to help them gain study skills I think it helps to see their teachers every day. Since I have three classes that I see every other day and one that I see every day, I have had a chance to work on presenting material two different ways. When planning lessons, I make them for a two day period and then have to break it up for a daily lesson for my AB3 kids. If I already covered something with them or didn't bring it up, the students are very on top of telling me what I need to do or what I have forgotten to tell them.
Being that I am not a very large person, nor is my voice that loud, I constantly work on coming up with ways to get students attention. For a few weeks I was under the weather and was starting to loose my voice so I made sure to tell the class this and they were good about not having side coversations and did a better job cooperating overall. I know classroom management is something that I will always have to work on and I gladly accept that obstacle. About 4 weeks into solo teaching, I was a nervous wreck thinking that I was a total failure with classroom management, but then I saw that I was not the only one to feel frustrated and lost as with ways to approach this. I know I need to work on keeping students occupied when they finish activities early before moving the entire class on to other activities, but this experience has taught me it is okay to not know all the answers and that I will find techniques that work, it will just take time and patience.
My mentor teacher has been very supportive of all that I've done and I am going to miss her greatly when I leave. Our class is pretty relaxed. My teacher accepts work late at times from students which most teachers do not do. We give out detentions if students forget their planner or are not working on a task they were asked to complete after being reminded several times. She is pretty laid back about things as I am, but there are times when our stlyes differ, as they should. I have learned ways that I can improve my overall teaching and things that I know I would never want to do in my classes in the future. The school's discipline policy is very connected to the policies that take place in the classrooms.
I always listen to what the students have to stay and try to be as fair as possible with them. By nature I am not a mean person so it is hard for me to give out detentions to kids and I always try to give them the benefit of the doubt. I know I tend to care too much at times, so sometimes it's good sometimes it hurts a situation so I just need to try to find a balance of the two and go from there. So much of teaching is trial and error that I need to keep working on things to see how they work for me to put in place for my own classroom some day.
I will post again.
Sara
Here I go…the last blog response! In response to the highlight of my teaching experience here in Schweinfurt, I’d have to say I really enjoyed solo teaching while my teacher was out while her husband visited for R&R. I really enjoyed bonding with my students on another level. It was a really great way to spend my last weeks fully teaching. I am going to miss my students so much; I don’t even want to think about having to say goodbye in a few days. My heart aches for them, knowing some don’t receive a lot of love at home. I wish I could just take them all with me. But that’s called kidnapping, and it’s highly frowned upon.
The highlight of my experience over here personally was when my boyfriend (with the help of my fabulous roommate Cara) surprised me during Thanksgiving break in Venice. What a fun trip! Not only did I get to visit Italy with Cara and her parents, but also Brad showed up and we had an amazing time! I definitely don’t want to leave this place. I wish I could stay and continue to teach. Schweinfurt has become a home to me, and as ready as I am to go back to the states and see my family, I also don’t want to have to say goodbye to the home I’ve grown to love.
I’d say my biggest challenge over here has been time management! There have been far too many nights I’ve stayed late here at school. I can’t imagine doing that my whole career! I definitely need to work on managing my time during the day so I don’t have to stay late in the evenings. Many people in my life have given me advice on how to stay sane as a teacher: get out of the school! So, managing my time has been a challenge over here, and it is something I will be working on as I continue to grow professionally.
Well, that’s it for now! See everybody later!
Classroom management was a main concern for me coming into student teaching, especially hearing about other teacher's experiences with middle schoolers. And while it is still something I consciously think about, it is not one of my main concerns. Typically always, the students know my expectations to be attentive, but several reminders go out reminding them to raise their hand and to not talk over one another. One thing I have learned about middle schoolers is that they are very opinionated and they want to share their opinions with the whole class.
Overall, my classroom has a nice tone and atmosphere to it, one centered around learning. I attribute much of this to my mentor teacher. When setting up the classroom and delivering expectations, she made it clear that our main objective here at school was to learn. From her clear expectations I continued the same model and for the most part we have a successful environment.
When looking at some other classrooms at my school, I realize how nice the same kids behave for Nancy and I. Many things I learned at WSU I have not used, but one key element I still take with me is about classroom management. As long as one knows their learners and provides engaging curriculum, the students will respond in a positive way. For the most part my students were drawn to the unit on Africa, so telling them to pay attention was not necessary.
Don't get me wrong, daily I will remind one student or another to follow directions, but for the most part classroom management has not been the problem I expected it to be.
Today is December 16, the end of the semester and school before break.
In response to the last question, I have learned a lot about myself and classroom management. I know that classroom management is something that will take time for me to develop. It won't be something that appears magically over night, that's for sure. I have learned that I need to constantly be aware of how loud I am speaking to others in a group.
This might sound a little odd, but I think something that will help me to be louder when speaking to my students is to think of techniques I used while singing. For about 2 years I took private voice lessons and my instructor taught me ways to make my voice louder. That will be something that I will need to test out in other classroom experiences. I will have to try out several different things before I find something that really works for me. By nature I am not a mean person so it has been hard to give kids detentions but I know there is a line that has to be drawn between what's right and what's wrong. That's not exactly how I meant to put that, but I hope you get the point.
I learned that I can be successful at managing a classroom. The students helped too because they would know when to quiet their peers. I got into a routine of saying "Ladies and Gentlemen look up here please" and the class would stop talking and pay attention to what I had to tel them. I know I also need to work on transitions from one activity to the next and that will also help with classroom management.
I know that I can be too caring at times and this will be both a good and bad thing for me when I am teaching. I think this plays a role in my classroom management as well. I hope the kids know that I care and want them to do their best in school, not only Language Arts.
I am really going to miss these kids. There are some that I know I will still worry about but in the end things will work out okay. There will always be those kids that I will worry about, but I need to remember that things will turn out the way they were intended to. I wish I could stay here, but right now that's just not feasible. I hope to come back soon and maybe apply for a job here. Anything is possible.
Have a great break everyone and best in luck of what you end up doing.
Sara
Hi everybody,
I will try to give you four or five prompts this semester so that we are all posting to this site but you also have to check it and respond. Please type the date you post.
I have all the postings from last semester on this site. I will have to find out how to archive them so you can see them but they aren't in the way. We did get one LONG random message but otherwise everything is from last semester's student teachers.
For the first posting, please share with us a bit about your base, and what you have learned from completing the Classroom and Student Characteristics.
If you want to ask for problem solving and input from your peers, here is the place to do it!
Warm wishes,
Chris
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