First Prompt Spring 2009 due 2-11-09
For your first prompt, please share with us a bit about your base, what you’ve experienced in the area, what you’ve learned about your classes and what additional information you’ve gained from completing the Classroom and Student Characteristics form.
*Secondary folks complete one for each class you will be teaching.Please post your own information, and then respond to at least one of your peers.If you want to talk about an issue or problem and would like input from your peers, here is the place to do it!
Chris
posted by Chris @ 10:14 AM
4 comments
4 Comments:
I am student teaching in Rota, Spain. There is a small U.S. Navy base here in Southern Spain (1 hr north of Gibraltar) that is shared with the Spanish Navy. In addition to Navy personnel, there is a sizeable Air Force contingent, and a handful of Army (my husband is in the Army). The commander describes our base a federal express stop on the way to the Middle East. We have a lot of airplanes (carrying people and equipment) in addition to ships that stop here for refueling and rest. It is a fairly small base with I would estimate roughly 1500 active duty military personnel.
I am an unusual case as my husband is stationed here, and I have actually been living here for a year and a half. I used to live in Pullman, WA, and had put off my teaching certificate while moving around with my husband and having two kids. Now I am trying to finally tie up loose ends and feel pretty lucky that I can do it while stationed here.
I teach at DGF High School, just a few blocks from my house. It is a small school, only about 30-40 students per grade level. I am teaching high school biology. My cooperating teacher has two sections of general Biology, one section of AP-Biology, one section of Environmental Science, and one section of Chemistry. I can see that one of the downsides of being at a small school is having so many preps. I have taken over three different classes so far and get pretty overwhelmed at times with all the work required to prepare material. With two small children at home I have to do a lot of work on the weekends to keep up! On the up side my classes are pretty small. So far I have taken over AP Biology (3 students), Environmental Science (9 students), and one section of Biology (19 students). Needless to say I struggle the most with my largest class behavior wise. However the 9 students I have in Environmental Science are also a challenge, as they are all pretty high risk and very short attention span students.
My teacher had me start teaching the very first day, so I really jumped into things faster than I expected. However the good thing is that I am starting to get more comfortable with my new responsibilities. Good luck at your locations. Lauren Schachner
I am in Bamberg, Germany at Bamberg Elementary School. Military life is much different then anything I have experienced before. Our post is much smaller then other ones I have visited. I love being in Germany. We have visited many surrounding cities so far. My German is still very bad, but I am learning a few more words each day.
I am in a second grade classroom. The students seem to be much more fragile then other classrooms I have visited. I don’t know if this is because of their parents or the location they are. The students are constantly being transferred and moved from school to school. In the time I have been here we have already gotten 3 new students and many left just before the break. About 4 students have had parents deployed in the time I have been here. It is interesting to notice the affect it has on each student. It reminds we that they are all different and need to be treated and cared for that way. I am glad that they have their homework journals to write in each night. I find out a lot about what they are going through. So far I think that is the biggest lesson I have learned, allow the students the opportunity to share with you about their life and you will create a much stronger connection with the child.
We have a lot of ESL students in our classroom. I don’t know if this is common is each classroom or just ours. I love hearing about where the different students are from and I think the students can learn a lot from the other students in this area. Right now we are working on getting our students to make connections with their classmates. I think a lot of the students could use the support of something going through a similar life experience.
I am on RAF Feltwell, near Lakenheath in England. While Feltwell is very remote (a convenience store and the middle school…and that’s about it), RAF Lakenheath has many resources. Already Colin and I have had many opportunities to get to know the staff at Lakenheath Middle School. We attended a retirement party and had breakfast with the man retiring the next day. I cannot think of a better introduction to a student teaching experience than talking with a man who has just left the profession after 46 years! I was really inspired by his positivity and encouragement.
I have 5 classes. Two 6th grade health, two 7th grade PE/outdoor education, and one 8th grade health. So I have all of the ages of the middle school. The students are absolutely amazing! The class sizes are very small (usually about 15, 20 max) and their behavior is remarkable. I think a horrible class here would be a better than average class anywhere else. I do not have many students with an IEP, 4 in all of my classes. I think one of my main considerations in planning my lessons will be that these students come from military families. Many of my students have moved more times than how many years they have been alive. They also have dramatic mood swings when their parents are deployed, and they may miss weeks at a time. This really is a specific type of student and an important consideration to have.
About the classroom and student characteristics form, do we post that on here? Email it to Chris? Or turn it in at the end as a file on the CD?
Hope everyone is doing well, I will comment after everyone has posted.
I am on the army base in Bamberg Germany. The base is equipped with almost everything a person might want or need. Sometimes it is like being in a “mini-America.” I have enjoyed it greatly. I have definitely taken advantage of the bus system that goes around the city of Bamberg. I have explored the city many times as well as to some of the neighboring cities.
I can tell that being in a military family has been tough on some of the kids. I can see the emotional distress that they have when a mother or father is deployed and I have had numerous students cry during class. So far I have had only one student leave and one new student come in. The new student is leaving us tomorrow to go down to a second grade classroom due to the parents’ request. Tomorrow I will be back down to 18 students. I have one student who receives Learning Impaired services every day. I also have two students who are on behavior plans. During parent/teacher conferences last two weeks ago Mrs. Heit and I, along with the parents, began the L.I. referral process for 2 students and the ADHD testing process for 2 other students. The SpEd team as well as the Case Managers at the school work very hard to help teachers and parents determine what services can best suit the student/child. Mrs. Heit’s classroom is based on each student’s developmental learning level to ensure that each student receives what they need and are learning at their individual level. I have never seem a classroom quite like this one but I am learning a lot and I look forward to learning even more.
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