Rachel’s blog

Reactions:
Wow!  I actually look like a teacher.  I look like I know what I’m talking about, and I look fairly comfortable in front of the classroom.  I also seem excited about the subject matter.  The July video is a huge improvement over the June video.

Strengths:
My voice is much louder.  I sound confident.  My posture looks more “American” (Kopanke’s terminology).  I also move around the room without thinking about it.  It does not seem forced.  My lesson for my July video was on global environmental concerns.  I am fairly knowledgeable about these issues, and it really shows in my video.

Weaknesses:
I often forget to tell the students when to take notes and when not to take notes.  I try and have some sort of guided notes sheet for every class, and they often get involved in what we’re talking about and forget to write.  I need to remember to emphasize the key points and remind them to take notes.  I had too many activities for one lesson.  Since this particular lesson was a block, I thought I would have too much time and over planned.   When I can’t think of what to say, my voice tends to get higher.  This may be seen as a weakness to my students.

What I learned:
The students love pictures, especially of things they’ve never seen before.  They react well to pictures I put up on the projector, and they want to know what we’re looking at before I even begin to explain it.  Positive reinforcement is important.  They are more willing to participate when I am encouraging and praising.

Changes in Style:
I am more myself in the classroom.  In June, I was trying to fit the mold of a teacher.  In July I worked hard on being myself.  I can really see this in my teaching style, and I know my students appreciated it because they told me so in the end of the year evaluations.  I am much happier when I let my personality shine through in my lessons.

It's painful for me to watch myself on video.  I've definitely been putting off this blog, and I'm still a bit hesitant to post a critique about myself.  Let me just preface my actual critique by saying that the day I was filmed, my lesson was switched from third period to first period 15 minutes before the school day began.  I lost my prep, and I was completely unprepared.  That being said, my videotaped lesson in July lesson will probably show huge improvement when compared to this disaster of a lesson.

Reaction

I hated everything about the lesson.  I hated the fact that my overheads weren't prepared.  I hated that I hadn't had a chance to run through the lesson, and I hated the way I looked in front of the classroom.  I have a hard time pretending to be prepared when I'm not.  It was obvious from the beginning of the lesson, that I was not confident in the material I was teaching.  I need to get better at faking confidence.  There is a huge difference in my voice when I know what I'm talking about and when I don't.  I need to find a way to be more consistent in the way I speak.  There was one point during the lesson when I was drawing a food web on the overhead that I seemed completely lost.  I wanted to have a prepared foodweb before the class began, but due to the change in scheduling, I didn't have one prepared.  I realized 3/4 of the way through the foodweb drawing that I had been drawing organisms in the wrong places.  It was at this point that I just moved on to independent practice.  I really should have gone back and corrected myself, but I was so flustered that I couldn't bring myself to do it.  I did end up showing the students the right way to draw a web during the independent practice, but I feel like the lesson would have been way more effective if I would have corrected my mistakes right away.

Strengths

I have good overhead technique?  Even though I wrote some things incorrectly, I do feel that my overheads were clear and easy to read.  Other than that, I'm not sure what my strengths are.  My lessons tend to be extremely organized and over planned.  However, as I said before, this was not one of those lessons.

Weaknesses

I come off timid when I don't know what to say.  I need to be confident, loud, and clear all the time.  I need to learn how to be flexible and adjust.  I guess I need to expect the unexpected.  At times I come off as being uninterested in the material.  It's hard for the students to be engaged when I'm not.

What I Learned

It is really important to pay attention to body language.  I don't want to ever come off as being weak or timid to my students.  I understand better what my team teacher has been telling me about presence.  I have a strong presence at times, but it really shows when I feel nervous or flustered.  I'm hoping for big improvements in July. 

The Reluctant Disciplinarian was a quick read that contained a lot of useful information.  It seemed to reinforce many of the things Dr. Monroe has been teaching us over the last several weeks.  I especially enjoyed reading about the failures of Gary Rubenstein because, not only were they humorous, but they were applicable to our new situations.  I'm sure we'll face some, if not all, of the same hard to deal with students, substitutes, and administrators that Mr. Rubenstein faced.  I'm also sure that we'll make some of the mistakes he made, but I hope, as he hopes, that we'll be able to learn from his mistakes, decreasing the time it takes us to become successful teachers.

Although I found most of the book funny, interesting, and full of useful information.  There's one particular quote that I found particularly applicable.  Rubenstein advises: "Always speak as though you expect students to do what you ask, and allow them room to do it."  He gives the example of telling a student a change seats.  He claims that if he stands there to make sure the student does what she's told, she won't do it.  But, if he walks away and acts like he knows she'll do it, she will.  Rubenstein wants us to be confident in our decisions, and he wants us to use this authority to avoid conflict.

Rubenstein's chapter on developing a teacher persona was quite interesting.  By the end of the school year, he was having a hard time separating his personal "real life" persona from his teaching persona.  It was sad that he couldn't show emotion when the young girl in his class was shot.  It was sad that he couldn't let the students see that he really cared about her.  I hope that I will be able to control my emotions while still showing my personality in the classroom.  I want to be authoritative, but I also want to be approachable.  Rubenstein finds this balance after much struggle, and I'm sure I'll struggle with my teacher persona just as he did. 

The Reluctant Disciplinarian was full of great advice, and I enjoyed reading it.  I probably should have taken notes, but I didn't think about it until I was done.  Oh well...it wasn't long, and I'm sure I'd enjoy reading it a second time.  I'd probably pick up on a few things I missed the first time around. 

Since biology only has 2 students, I was somewhat limited in the questioning strategies I could try.  I really wanted to try the cold calling, but that obviously wouldn't work in my classroom.  Instead, I chose to use the Bloom's Taxonomy sheet to come up with three questions that increased in level to ask the students in class.

My first question was a level 1 question.  The students were asked questions about population growth graphs.  They had to retrieve the information from the growth graphs to answer the questions.  The students were able to complete this task successfully because they have worked with graphs before.  My second question was a level 2 question.  I asked the students to demonstrate conceptual knowledge based off of the information they had collected from the graphs.  Surprisingly enough, my students did not have difficulty with this task.  They were able to come up with explanations of why things happened certain ways.  My third question was a level 3 question.  the students had to explain phenomena in terms of concepts.  This was an extremely difficult task for them.  They had trouble connecting the concepts with real life examples and using these concepts to explain why things happened the way they did.  However, they did try, and they were able to see the connections after a long drawn out explanation.

The Bloom's Taxonomy questioning strategy helped me format questions that lead the students to think at a higher level.  I think this type of questioning strategy would work well in a classroom because it would allow for the more advanced students to work on their problem solving skills.  It would also allow students that are not able to think at quite as high of a level to learn the basic concepts.  My only issue with this questioning strategy is that it may confuse some of the lower level learners when they are presented with more complex problems.  I will try this questioning strategy in my classroom in the fall. 

    I have found that it’s always important to respect and take to heart the opinions and ideas of those more experienced than me.  I have tried to do this during my first week and a half with MTC, learning from the second and third year teacher corps teachers, and I hope to continue to do this at Rosa Fort High School in the fall with the help of my mentor teacher.  However, it is often hard to know the right questions to ask and when to ask them.  “Delta Autumn,” the tell-all guide written by former MTC members, seems to cover all of those things that I will probably not think to ask.  It’s the perfect read for any first year teacher in the Delta.
    One of the very first chapters in the book covers what to do and what to find out in the first week of school.  Prior to reading this chapter, I was clueless as to how I should act and all of the things I will need to know when I enter my school for the first time. I now know (after reading) not to be surprised if my room’s a mess or I don’t have any supplies. I now know that I shouldn’t be surprised when I have more students than desks or when I have to hold a class on the first day for three hours.   I now know that one of the most important people I can befriend in the entire school is the janitor.  This chapter provides the keys to success for a first year teacher, braving the first days of school.  I plan on carrying around that checklist, making sure I complete each essential task before the first week of school is over.  I hope that completing all of these tasks will make my life a little bit easier, helping me be successful in establishing myself as a teacher.  
    Another one of my major concerns as a first year teacher in the delta is how I will create connections with the parents of my students.  The take-home message from the chapter in this book that deals with parent-teacher relationships is that persistency is key, and it’s always better to make a connection with parents when the student has done or is doing something well, rather than when the student is in trouble.  This allows the parents to feel less defensive because they will have had a previous positive encounter with the teacher.  This is really important because it fosters the development of a trusting, open relationship, allowing for open dialogue between the teacher and the parents.  It also creates parent support.  When parents understand that the teacher really cares about their child, they are more willing to support disciplinary decisions and work through disciplinary problems with the teacher which is a plus for any teacher.
Although parent-teacher relationships are important, I also agree with the authors of this book when they say that teachers should not wear themselves out trying to get ahold of the parents.  This important piece of advice spills over into every aspect of teaching.  Teachers should not wear themselves out.  It seems that time management is always a problem in the teaching profession, and I agree with the authors of this book when they mention that teachers need to take time for themselves and to take care of themselves.  It is easily to get wrapped up in a job or profession and forget to take care of yourself physically and mentally.  First year teacher often forget that it’s okay to take breaks once in awhile.  It’s okay to have “me” time.  Not only is it okay, but it’s important to stay healthy and happy.  
For my first few weeks of teaching, I will probably keep a copy (I still need one of my own) of “Delta Autumn” with me the entire time.  It’s definitely a go-to guide, a quick reference for first year teachers, and I will use it to help me find my way at my high school.