2nd Week of 4th Quarter Placement

I am now in the home stretch! Sort of...This is my last placement of student teaching before I graduate! I'm currently teaching at an elementary school in Menomonie. Though the school is relatively new, attractive school (it was built in 1997) it has a fairly high poverty rate of 43%. Many of these students don't have stable home situations as well. Some families move several times a year because they can't pay their rent, and have to switch schools every few months. In some cases, parents are too busy figuring out where to live next, that their child's school work isn't a priority. Because their home life isn't stable, there aren't rules or structure, children come to school not knowing how to function in an environment that has set rules. I've found this to be true at my last placement as well; regardless of socioeconomic status, when parents don't enforce rules at home, their children tend to struggle in public social settings. Learning that behavior at home isn't necessarily appropriate for school I think will always be an issue. Students come to school not only without supplies but also coats and warm clothes. There is now a program at the school where a local dentist comes into the gym every few months to clean students teeth for free who can't afford to go otherwise, and in this case this is the situation for many students. I believe the school is also starting to set up a system where they provide hygiene products for students in need, because that is also an issue at the school as well.

Guest Speaker: Mr. R

After our class had a Skype session with principal R, it made me realize that I had to be ready for anything in a job interview. While at first I thought that Mr. R was more of a laid back principal, I talked with some of the other students in class afterward and it made me realize the opposite.

He gave us a good list of things to keep in mind for an interview. On the list included showing up on time, dressing appropriately, and making sure you have questions to ask at the end. He also said that he is far more likely to consider someone who leaves a thank you note after their interview than someone who doesn't at all. I was unsure if this meant that you had to leave one right after your interview or if he would still consider you if you sent one a few days later.

Mr. R told our class what sets a cover letter and resume apart from the rest. The list that he gave us seemed random and a bit arbitrary, which I wasn't expecting. Mr. R said that if someone's resume states that they are an Eagle or Girl Scout, he will definitely put them in the pile to consider and interview. He also said that if someone prints their resume and cover letter on fancy paper, sometimes even crazy paper, he might consider that applicant. Mr. R said it showed nerve and the willingness to take risks. He also said that when looking at the resume and cover letter for an art teacher, he expects the layout and design to be a bit more interesting and creative. Much of this seemed random to me and gave me the impression that you couldn't expect anything or have any assumptions about an interview if you were going to apply for a position at his school.

One thing I found somewhat strange and a little bit inappropriate was how he said it would be a good idea to bring up your religion and what occupation your parents have. He said that we should find a way to incorporate both of those into our interview. Mr. R said that if we grew up on a farm or our parents owned their own business, he could assume we are responsible and hard working from having to take on that kind of work. He said that if we could ask after the interview, "I'm new in town, are there any good Presbyterian/Lutheran/whatever churches in the area?" that we definitely should. I think if my religion would be a factor in if I was hired for a position that I probably wouldn't want to teach at that school anyways. I don't feel that is appropriate to bring up in an interview and shouldn't be a determining factor if an applicant is considered.

Day 10

Today was the second day teaching my lesson. Mrs. T and I were going to see how far the students got with their murals and if they needed an extra day to work she would finish with them. Either way, she would be putting the fish they had previously made and hang them in front of the murals. I was going to have the students rotate to different a different table and make a different part of the habitat than they did the previous lesson.

Right after the first day of my lesson I got very sick and still had a sore throat and a disgusting cough for the second part of my lesson. When the students were all seated I asked them if they could do me a favor. I told them that I had gotten sick over the weekend and needed them to help me out by being extra good listeners. If I was talking they needed to stop talking and listen so I wouldn't have to hurt my throat.

Maybe because I was sick or I just wasn't as prepared for this lesson as I was for the previous one, but I felt completely out of control and overwhelmed. It wasn't situation where everything that could have gone wrong went wrong, but I felt like I was off in almost every way. I did a review with them at the beginning for my anticipatory set, asking what they remembered about salt water habitats and what they were working on. Somehow, I underestimated the amount of cut tissue paper and other materials that I needed, forgetting that today the students would be doing 2 rotations. I only had enough for one rotation. With about 15 minutes left of class I ran out of materials and was bombarded by what felt like a hundred kids telling me their table didn't have any more paper. I had found some more, but not nearly enough.  Also, last class I didn't make sure to remember which students left off at which group, so today I couldn't remember and neither could half of the class. Last class the students were very good about not talking when I was talking and when I would clap to get their attention they would clap back and stop working and talking. Today that was not the case. Even after clapping with the microphone most of the time it was difficult to get their attention. I didn't want to shout so I felt like I was constantly clapping. Even once I got the student's attention it would last for such a small amount of time that I ended up talking over them. One student, who I knew was just trying to help, would sometimes start the clapping for me or shout at the class to be quiet. There were boys who were up at the front of the room taking tape that I knew they weren't allowed to use and putting it over their mouths. Instead of telling them to hand me the tape so I could throw it away if they didn't listen tell them I was going to count to 3 for them to give me the tape and keep working, I said "we're not doing that right now" and told them to go back to their tables. Obviously they didn't listen to me. At the end of class, I was going to do a small critique with them as a closure. I had planned to ask them if they could find something on one of the murals that was 2D, 3D, has different textures lines or colors. I also wanted to ask them how they thought something was made and what they could to do it to make it more 3D. Instead, because I was still so overwhelmed, I didn't ask half of those questions and of course couldn't get the kids to stop goofing around and come over by where I was trying to get everyone to gather around. At one point during the lesson I felt so overwhelmed that I literally just stopped and stared off blankly and didn't respond to the 23 kids who were all telling me that they didn't have any more paper.

After class ended I felt terrible and Mrs. T gave me really good feedback of what I could work on. She had said that if something isn't working to stop and try something else. If you think of a better way to go about addressing something, it's entirely ok to tell the kids to stop and tell then what they were going to do instead. It's better to fix the problem or trying something else if you think of a better idea. Mrs. T also said that positive reinforcement is a good way of getting the kids to do what you want. Sometimes instead of telling the students they need to use their inside voices a better way to get them to be quiet is to say something like "Table 5 is doing a great job of using their inside voices." This way the students see an example of the behavior you expect out of them, and because they want to be praised as well. Mrs. T also said that another way to get students to listen and stop talking is to wait and tell them that you can't continue until everyone is quiet and listening.

Mrs. T said that doing this is good because then it allows me to see specific areas that I'm comfortable with and strong skilled at, and what areas I'm not as comfortable and need more work with. I now know I struggle with discipline because I can be wishy washy when I want the students to like me. Now I know specific areas that I need to be more conscious of and work at, and I wouldn't have found that out any other way other than actually doing it.

Day 9

Today was the first day of my 2 day lesson.  I got to Mrs. T's room a half hour before class started, which at first I thought would be too much time, but I definitely needed all of that time to set up the video camera and tripod, lay out all of the materials, and get my power point ready.  I wanted to make sure that I had everything laid out at the tables and in the front of the room so that the students would have plenty of time to work. The entire drive to school I rehearsed exactly how I wanted to address the students when they first got into the room and I felt prepared and confident.

It was a very different feeling from last semester when I taught my lesson. I think because I was working with another person, I became dependent upon her because she was far more outgoing than me. I was so nervous last time that I didn't talk, wasn't animated, didn't have good body language and wasn't especially engage with the students. I think subconsciously I was relying on my partner because I knew there was someone to fall back on if I didn't do something right and the responsibility wouldn't all be on me. This time, I knew that everything was up to me and I didn't have anyone to rely on; I had no choice but to go into it being confident.

When the students came into the class I greeted them and asked them if they were excited for the lesson and they all were. I then made the mistake of asking if they were excited for the weekend, which only got them riled up and not focused because everyone wanted to talk about what they were going to do. I then introduced the project and made the focus of the introduction be distinguishing between what is 2D and what is 3D. A lot of the students already knew the difference but I gave them examples and continued to ask "is this 2D or 3D?" to make sure they really understood. From there, I said that the mural they were going to make was going to be 3D, so everything that they would add to it would have to jump off of the page. I then went through the power point and explained that the parts of salt water habitats that were in the power point would be what they were going to add to the mural.

I had made a small project sample with all of the parts that the students were going to add to their own murals. I gave a demonstration of how to make each of the parts, and asked if they had other ideas of how to make them. I explained that like they saw in the power point, coral, rocks and plants come in all shapes and sizes. That meant that they could try a bunch of different ideas and they would all be right, as long as they weren't flat. They would have to work together to make their murals and that made them excited.

Each seat at the table has an assigned color that Mrs. T has specific responsibilities for, so after I finished giving instructions I had the students get their materials. They had a little less than 25 minutes to work before it was time to clean up. I walked around while they worked and asked them how to tell me about what they were making, if something was 2D or 3D, and if 2D, what could they do to make it more 3D? At the end of class I had the same students who got the materials put them away and everyone cleaned up their tables. When everyone was cleaned up, quiet and sitting in their seats I let them line up at the door.

After the kids left, Mrs. T went over her observations and criticisms with me. She said that I was very engaged, the questions I asked them during the power point presentation and during work time were well thought out and helpful. The two main criticisms that she had for me were that I had asked the students if they were excited for the weekend, which got them off topic. She said that would have been a better thing to ask when they were lined up and ready to go to their next class. She said it was good to be engaged and talking with them, but I then had to spend time trying to get them to focus. The other thing she said I should remember for next time was that I had no closure. Before the students cleaned up I should have reviewed what we had talked about, what they learned, or went around and looked at what they had made during class and talking about their work. Instead, I just told them it was time to clean up and let them go.

Overall, I was exceptionally pleased with how the lesson went. The main objective I wanted them to grasp was distinguishing the difference between 2D and 3D and applying it to the sculpture mural. Some of the students understood it when I was explaining and demonstrating at the beginning of class, but when they were making the different parts of the salt water habitat, they were making 2D pieces. For the most part, everyone's pieces that they were adding were "popping" off the paper and the understood the difference.

Day 8

Today I worked with Mrs. T discussing the lesson that I would be teaching later this week. She had wanted to incorporate a soft sculpture mural into her curriculum. The students had already studied and made fish, and she wanted to have another project where the students created a mural that the fish would hang in front of. Together we brainstormed how to go about teaching the lesson and what materials would be needed.  Mrs. T said she was completely open as to whatever directed I wanted to take this project, which was nice because I didn't have any parameters or restrictions.

Mrs. T asked if I had any ideas of how I wanted to approach the lesson. There are 3 long tables in Mrs. T's classroom and I had thought that each table could work on a different part of the mural. Mrs. T suggested I make a small power point that briefly went over the different parts that make up a salt water habitat, which would be the kind of mural the kids would be creating. We agreed that it was best to not get too detailed with the power point, and introduce only the parts of the habitat that I wanted the students to create. I decided that the students would work on coral, plants and rocks. Originally I had thought it would be a good idea to have each of the 3 tables work on a different part of the habitat (plants, coral or rocks) but Mrs. T suggested that I could have the students rotate instead, so that they can each get a turn making all of the parts.

Then we talked about what kind of materials I could use. Mrs. T said she was open to anything that I wanted to try, but to keep in mind that it couldn't get too heavy otherwise it wouldn't hold up and pieces could fall off. Even though Mrs. T was calling it a mural, I didn't want to have the students paint at all, at least not for the days that I would be teaching. I felt that if there were too many materials to work with, they each wouldn't be given enough attention and it would also create more of a mess. Together we came up with a list of materials that I could use. I came up with the majority of the list and if I forgot anything Mrs. T would suggest it, but never told me I had to use something or go about it in a certain way. I thought that using tissue paper, butcher paper, colored cellophane, different kinds of glue, scissors, and packaging peanuts. Then while Mrs. T went to work with her ELL student, I got all of the materials ready, cut the mural paper to the exact size of the tables so they would be ready for class, and put the materials onto specific boxes for each of the groups, coral, plants and rocks.

When I left Mrs. T advised me to take some of the materials home with me and play around with them to see which kinds of glue worked best with the different materials. Mrs. T had O-Glue, Elmer's Glue and tacky glue and she said it would be a good idea to work with each of them and see which would stick best.

Day 7

When working in Mrs. T's class I've never had to discipline students or deal with bad behavior, because Mrs. T had told me from the beginning that that was her place. Today, however, it was my turn to deal with a student behaving inappropriately in class. I had seen students misbehaving in Mrs. T's class but I had never experienced a student being disrespectful towards me until today. 

Today there were two boys in the second grade class who were fighting for the entire class period. They were sitting at separate tables, and one of the boys was turning around and staring at the other, which was driving the other boy crazy. He was screaming across the room for the other student to knock if off, and the entire time, Mrs. T never told them to use their inside voices, tell them that language isn't acceptable, or reprimand him in any way. After listening to him scream across the room for about fifteen minutes I walked over to him and asked what the problem was. At first he wouldn't answer me and then I knelt down next to him so we would be on the same level, and repeated the question. He said the other boy was turning around and staring at him and thought he was copying him. The other boy was all the way across the room, so while he may have been staring at him to make him upset, he was too far away to see what he was doing to copy him. I told the boy who was screaming that if he was in fact turning around to copy his work, he should be flattered because that means that he thinks he has good ideas.

I had walked away to help another student and heard the same boy screaming again for the other boy to knock it off. I knew that I couldn't be the only person in the class who was sick of hearing it, not to mention that behavior shouldn't be tolerated, so I approached him again. This time, I told him that we don't use that kind of language in this room and that he needed to use his inside voice. When I asked if he understood what I was asking of him he didn't answer so when I repeated the question, he muttered something under his breath. I said, "excuse me?" and he rolled his eyes and said ok.

Because I have little authority in the class, I didn't think this student would listen to me, but I knew that if I didn't say anything at all, he would think that that behavior was acceptable and continue to act as such.

Day 6

Today the second grade students were working on cartoon emulations. The assignment was to choose one frame of a comic strip, create a grid for it, and blew it up on a large scale. The students had to look at proportion and color matching, which for some of them was very difficult. After they drew and colored their comic frame, they were to outline it with black Sharpie. The students had to blend and mix colors, and learn how to apply different amounts of pressure to create a desired value. Mrs. T showed them how to layer their colors, if they had to use one that they didn't already have. She also did a demonstration of how to make the background fade.

The students were all at different stages of the project, so I was able to help with a lot of different things. Some students were still in the drawing process, trying to match the cartoon to the grid they had on their large paper. When I was helping students during the drawing stage, I told them to turn the comic strip and their paper upside down and draw it that way. It seemed that a lot of the students were drawing their frames how they thought it should look, or how they wanted it to, instead of what it really looked like on the comic strip. This way, they would be more focused on drawing shapes than an image. Some of them tried it for a little bit but got frustrated and turned them the right side up and others ignored me and didn't try at all. I wasn't sure if suggesting that approach would be too much over their heads, but at least one of the students seemed to find it useful. Maybe they were pretending.