edTPA Beginning
This week I'd like you to share what you have chosen to teacher for the edTPA. Read last week's posts and Alaina and Julie give Kelsey some feedback--I gave you some things to think about in the final post.
Add a highlight and a stretch that happened this week. End with you weekend plans!
posted by Chris @ 10:36 PM
7 comments
7 Comments:
I've been getting better at voicing my opinions with my mentor teacher and she's letting me take over more and more in the classroom. The thing that is frustrating is that even though I've talked to her about working on my classroom management, she will still interrupt if things get the slightest bit out of hand which doesn't allow me to practice reigning students back in when things inevitably get a little chaotic. It's a work in progress!
A highlight of this past week has definitely been a bit of a breakthrough I helped a particular 7th grader reach. He was having a lot of trouble in his daily journal writings and got frustrated easily when he didn't understand things right off of the bat. After I walked through some prompting questions with him, he came up with some really good responses and I could tell he felt like a key component to our discussion surrounding the journal posts after! It is nice to see how one jumping-off point for a student can grow into some really cool ideas all on his own :)
I've also become much more comfortable with the name 'Ms. Phillips'. So awkward at first..haha but now I feel like I fit the role! I've been having a lot of fun creating working relationships with both staff and students alike--especially my cheer squad (okay, duo...it is a very small school)!
Also I completely skimmed over the edTPA part...probably the most important part of the prompt!
I'm doing a unit on Walk Two Moons by Sharon Creech with my 7th graders. I'm excited because one section has several students with special learning needs, like ESL students and some with IEPs. It will be a challenge but I feel confident that they will be able to reach the end goal that I want.
Primarily I want them to understand writing skills like characterization, plot development, foreshadowing, etc. They will also be honing in on how the author uses techniques to relate to a variety of audiences and will emulate this in their own writing.
I think your best bet at being successful is to continue doing exactly what you are doing! Being vocal is definitely the key point. By telling your master teacher what you need from her in order to be successful and have a rewarding semester of student teaching, she will hopefully understand your needs. I think we all hope that eventually she will let go of her class and let you take over it completely by not interfering with your teaching. My teacher told me to stop referring to him or asking him questions when I am in front of our Honors 10 class because the more that I acknowledge him in the classroom, the less experience I will have being the teacher and students may not see me as their real teacher which I am since I have completely taken over the Honors World Literature 10 course. His advice really opened up my eyes and I think it could be helpful to you too if you were to explain it to your mentor teacher. Hope this helps!
For the past two weeks, I have been introducing students to William Shakespeare, his sonnets, and we are now reading Othello. I have decided to teach Othello for my edTPA because I believe that it fulfills almost all of the edTPA requirements - a challenging text with difficult language and a lot of background information including historical context. My main focus has been on the theme of appearance vs. reality or our inner and perceived reputations. This has definitely helped students relate to the text more. I hope to make this play as relatable to them as possible and am working every class period to help them understand the language and the play itself. My highlight of last week was our half day last Friday! It was a very stressful day considering that I didn't have my usual lunch break between AP Lang and Honors World Lit to set up for my Honors World Lit class. A Days are particularly difficult for Mr. Coia and me because he teaches AP Gov and AP Lang back to back then I teach Honors 10 so there is a lot of information on the board that needs to be set up and taken down. This was the day that I chose to film for my edTPA. It was very stressful and my students decided to be particularly quiet that day but I think that I have most of what I need although I may record another 2nd section of me working with students in a small group. After school I grabbed lunch with the other student teacher at Kubasaki (who I worked with briefly at Kadena Middle School while substitute teaching) and it was great catching up with her!
A struggle that I had this past week and yesterday was that two of my students were caught cheating on a fairly easy assignment. One student gave her homework to another student so he could copy the answers to his homework. Unfortunately I had to give them both zeroes, write out discipline referrals to the office, and had to speak with them yesterday afternoon. Mr. Coia said that I should meet with them separately and talk to them about their behavior. Fortunately I didn't have to do it alone and I think that the students were very apologetic. I absolutely hate disciplining students so I was thankful for Mr. Coia's help and advice when talking with the students.
No weekend plans yet except to get ready for Chris' visit to Okinawa! :)
tpa plan/highlight/stretch-
So far my tpa plan has been a bit all over the place. I think we've come to conclusion that I will teach a week long literacy lesson. Im looking forward to taking the curriculum and adding a 'Ms. Phillips' flare to it. As for now Ive taken over all literacy lessons and reading groups. Next week I will take over grammar as well as writing and reading. following week i will video tape. for weeks 9-11 i will have complete control of the class. Im really looking forward to having the kiddos to myself. I think the biggest stretch will be figuring out how to keep organized. once the day starts i find there is never time to gather your thoughts until the end of the day. My main concern is being prepared for every transition.
advice-
As for the classroom management I would suggest trying to do it her way to gain her trust then ease into the way youve been taught. My teacher was very similar last semester. I found that once I tried it her way she was able to witness both sides. Then when i applied my method she could see how much more effective my style was. Just an idea that worked for me.
weekend plans-Not entirely sure. Most likely beginning and finishing season three of walking dead. I am addicted....
Thank you both for your advice! I've been doing a bit more of what you said, Julie, so that is great to know that it's been working for you. And Alaina I agree with keeping that authority figure! It is definitely a better feeling to just answer their questions directly rather than the..."well let me check with Mrs...." approach :) I'm jealous you're doing Othello--one of my favs! I think I out-Othello-ed myself last year though...haha but I;m sure your students are loving it!
I'll keep you guys posted on how things go of course! Just gotta make it through this week then I'm off to Oktoberfest with some teachers! Then official TPA business to ensue! :) :) :)
(So sad we missed homecoming...can't believe we won! GO COUGS!)
Great communication ladies! This is exactly what I hope will help all of you but special support for Kelsey since she is by herself. Kelsey, I've read Walk Two Moons and am anxious to hear how the kids like it. If I remember right, isn't Lewiston, ID part of the scenario--you can get out a map and show them how close WSU is! Connecting with a student and seeing positive results is one of the real perks of teaching. Good job! Really good suggestions for management from Alaina and Julie.
Alaina, I'm looking forward to being in your English classes next week. Shakespeare is one of my favorites too. Cheating is such a tough thing to deal with. Mr. Coia's suggestion to deal with each student separately is a great rule to follow.
Julie, I'm glad you have settled on the content for the edTPA and doing a week unit should give you plenty of film to choose from. I agree that transitions are one of the hardest parts of the day. Lots of time is lost if you don't have your students clear about their responsibilities moving from one task to another and you are right--once the day starts there is little opportunity to plan, let alone reflect!
Chris,
Hope you enjoyed being in our classroom! I think the students really enjoyed Othello and am hoping that they will continue to be excited about our readings. We finished reading one of H.G. Wells' short stories, "The Stolen Bacillus", today and they were full of questions and comments after finishing the audiobook today - they seemed to really enjoy it.
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