The second trimester is winding down and the kids are, as tends to be the pattern, getting antsy. I don't blame them really, but I find myself having very little patience for their excuses and attitudes.
I'm quite new to the teaching profession. It was not much more than a year ago that I decided teaching was my niche and I wanted to pursue it fully as my livelihood, instead of just teaching a class here or there. A career has never felt more right to me than teaching does, but lately I'm not enjoying it. I feel like my gas tank is on empty and the next gas station is MILES away. It's sheer willpower that's fueling me on right now, and even that is running low. I'm not naive enough to think I'm one of the only teachers to experience this. I do, however, wonder what it will take to get me to the next gas station. I'm too stubborn not to get there, but it's starting to look like I may be walking a mile or two with the ol' gas can.
This profession is SO demanding and sometimes I just get overwhelmed. I'd really like to know what I can do to minimize the stress and maximize the learning. I've tried talking to some of my fellow teachers, but I think it's something I'm just going to have to figure out on my own. So, that walk to the gas station? Well, it may not have been what I had planned, but it'll work. I'm just getting some exercise with the gas I need.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Monday, February 8, 2010
Barrel of Monkeys or Bucket o' Pigs??
Anyone for bacon? How about dead piglets? Anyone? Well, believe it or not, I know quite a few people, teenagers actually, who are excited about the young swine-but not because they get to eat them. Trust me, NO ONE wants to eat these mini bacons. They're preserved in a solution similar to firmaldahyde that doesn't smell quite as bad, but definitely isn't going to be on the market as an air-freshener anytime soon. Still, my science kids are pretty geared up to get the chance to cut into them and do some exploring. I'm a bit anxious too, in an odd sort of way. I don't like the idea of something dying for science, but I'm not about to let their death's be in vain.
This whole mini bacon exploration is going to be at least a little exciting. There's nothing that helps cement your memories and data together like some good old exploring. I still remember the dissection I did in college, which was on a cat. I had issues with that because cats have been a part of my family for as long as I can remember. Yet, once I shoved the idea of the specimen in front of me being someone's beloved Fufu out of my mind, I was able to proceed with the mind of a scientist. Not surprisingly, I learned a lot about anatomy. I have the same hopes for my students.
Ya know, it's funny now looking back to the beginning of the trimester when I had my reservations about teaching anatomy and physiology. I wasn't sure how I could captivate the kids' interests and I needed a bit of refreshing on the content. Now, I'm proud to say, I can look back at this trimester and smile. I truly have had a good time teaching my students about body systems and functions and I think they've had fun too. I wish this class was an entire year instead of only a trimester. There's just so much to learn about and so many ways to tackle that learning. I'm thinking about having the kids play a little with Animoto once I've photographed their work. Then they'll have a solid product to put into their portfolios on this class-a product that they can really show to others to explain their exploration.
Teaching science has been quite the experience for me. I would have laughed at you if you'd told me I'd be educating our youth about A&P a few years ago. Now, I think about how just this afternoon I was carrying 2 large buckets full of preserved specimens out of my car and into one of our buildings. The image makes me chuckle, because I never would have thought I'd grow from playing "Barrel of Monkeys" to hosting a game of bucket o' pigs.
This whole mini bacon exploration is going to be at least a little exciting. There's nothing that helps cement your memories and data together like some good old exploring. I still remember the dissection I did in college, which was on a cat. I had issues with that because cats have been a part of my family for as long as I can remember. Yet, once I shoved the idea of the specimen in front of me being someone's beloved Fufu out of my mind, I was able to proceed with the mind of a scientist. Not surprisingly, I learned a lot about anatomy. I have the same hopes for my students.
Ya know, it's funny now looking back to the beginning of the trimester when I had my reservations about teaching anatomy and physiology. I wasn't sure how I could captivate the kids' interests and I needed a bit of refreshing on the content. Now, I'm proud to say, I can look back at this trimester and smile. I truly have had a good time teaching my students about body systems and functions and I think they've had fun too. I wish this class was an entire year instead of only a trimester. There's just so much to learn about and so many ways to tackle that learning. I'm thinking about having the kids play a little with Animoto once I've photographed their work. Then they'll have a solid product to put into their portfolios on this class-a product that they can really show to others to explain their exploration.
Teaching science has been quite the experience for me. I would have laughed at you if you'd told me I'd be educating our youth about A&P a few years ago. Now, I think about how just this afternoon I was carrying 2 large buckets full of preserved specimens out of my car and into one of our buildings. The image makes me chuckle, because I never would have thought I'd grow from playing "Barrel of Monkeys" to hosting a game of bucket o' pigs.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Technology is for the Dragons...
Last week I had my first meeting/training session for the E2T2 technology grant I'm partaking in. Our first session was long, but informative and interesting. I was introduced to several new products or tools that I can use in my classrooms. I haven't decided yet which resource or resources I want to use, or even which classes I want to implement them in, but I am getting excited about what's out there on the world wide web! The sites I'm most interested in are GoAnimate.com and Glogster. GoAnimate is a site that lets you design your own characters and cartoons and Glogster is like an online poster site. Both of these sites I could work into my art classes pretty easily, but the Glogster might be a nice tool for science as well.
Overall, I'm just excited to be a part of the E2T2 grant. It's going to make me a more educated and well-rounded teacher and it's giving me the opportunity to connect to the next generation on their playing field-the internet. It's going to take extra time, effort and energy to get all parts of this grant done, but I wouldn't do it if I didn't believe it was well worth it. And the newbie bringing technology to the dragons? It's about time I teach my students some new ways to operate in cyberspace.
Overall, I'm just excited to be a part of the E2T2 grant. It's going to make me a more educated and well-rounded teacher and it's giving me the opportunity to connect to the next generation on their playing field-the internet. It's going to take extra time, effort and energy to get all parts of this grant done, but I wouldn't do it if I didn't believe it was well worth it. And the newbie bringing technology to the dragons? It's about time I teach my students some new ways to operate in cyberspace.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
First big observation
Happy New Year!! I can't believe we're about half way through January already! Time flies when you're busy...
Well, I had my first observation last week that counts towards my salary. It was a little nerve racking, but that was just because I knew it was coming and wanted to get it over with. I'm comfortable with my mentor teacher, who did the observing, and I felt really good about the lesson afterwards. The kids were well behaved and engaged for the majority of the lesson, (which can be a trick since our lessons are 100 minutes long). The class also seemed to go by quickly.
I met with my mentor today and discussed my progress and evaluation. It seems my self evaluation and his evaluation were pretty much on the same page. This, of course, is a good sign because it means that I'm fairly self aware of my strengths and weaknesses. It was also good to hear that I'm making a lot of progress! Seems teaching and me work well together!
Anyway, I'm just relieved to have one of the BIG ones over with...
Well, I had my first observation last week that counts towards my salary. It was a little nerve racking, but that was just because I knew it was coming and wanted to get it over with. I'm comfortable with my mentor teacher, who did the observing, and I felt really good about the lesson afterwards. The kids were well behaved and engaged for the majority of the lesson, (which can be a trick since our lessons are 100 minutes long). The class also seemed to go by quickly.
I met with my mentor today and discussed my progress and evaluation. It seems my self evaluation and his evaluation were pretty much on the same page. This, of course, is a good sign because it means that I'm fairly self aware of my strengths and weaknesses. It was also good to hear that I'm making a lot of progress! Seems teaching and me work well together!
Anyway, I'm just relieved to have one of the BIG ones over with...
Thursday, January 7, 2010
New Teacher Orientation & Back to School
Alright, new year, new start-right? This week has definitely been a shot-gun start to long distance race; I'm off and running. By the time I'm done with this week, I will have taught all of my regular classes, attended 4 meetings, started doing work on the technology grant and got my first "for pay" evaluation. You can say that I've hit the ground running!
Our new teacher orientation meeting last night (one of the 4 meetings I mentioned) went really well. They tend to go by rather quickly and this one was no exception. What was kind of nice was that the first part was review for me. The teachers installed a program on their laptops that I've been using diligently since September. That made me feel pretty good because I am usually not one step ahead of the game when it comes to technology. I even showed one of my fellow new teachers one of the lessons I've done on Active Inspire. It was refreshing to be able to help another teacher. It only goes to prove that we can all provide useful tips, regardless of our levels of experience.
The other part of our meeting was about assessments vs. grading. We went over the difference between the two and how they are often mistakingly interchanged. I think I'm going to try and focus more on the learning aspect of my students' progress vs. the achievement aspect. This is tricky to do, for numerous reasons, but is attainable. I think I can work towards doing this by comparing their work on their daily reflections throughout the trimester. I can also see their progress through their assignments, although those may be a little harder to compare. In addition, I need to just keep it in the back of my head that what we as teachers truly care about is improvement and learning. Grades should reflect learning, not the student's ability to fill out a paper correctly or regurgitate information.
Anyway, back in the saddle-cheers!
Our new teacher orientation meeting last night (one of the 4 meetings I mentioned) went really well. They tend to go by rather quickly and this one was no exception. What was kind of nice was that the first part was review for me. The teachers installed a program on their laptops that I've been using diligently since September. That made me feel pretty good because I am usually not one step ahead of the game when it comes to technology. I even showed one of my fellow new teachers one of the lessons I've done on Active Inspire. It was refreshing to be able to help another teacher. It only goes to prove that we can all provide useful tips, regardless of our levels of experience.
The other part of our meeting was about assessments vs. grading. We went over the difference between the two and how they are often mistakingly interchanged. I think I'm going to try and focus more on the learning aspect of my students' progress vs. the achievement aspect. This is tricky to do, for numerous reasons, but is attainable. I think I can work towards doing this by comparing their work on their daily reflections throughout the trimester. I can also see their progress through their assignments, although those may be a little harder to compare. In addition, I need to just keep it in the back of my head that what we as teachers truly care about is improvement and learning. Grades should reflect learning, not the student's ability to fill out a paper correctly or regurgitate information.
Anyway, back in the saddle-cheers!
Wednesday, December 30, 2009
First Science Assessment and Guest Speaker
Right before break I wrapped up the first section of my anatomy and physiology class, the section on the muscular and skeletal systems. To teach this class, I decided to use case models to get the basics of structure and function to stick. For the muscular and skeletal systems I focused on the knee and its components. For their assessment, I took students two at a time and had them perform a patient/doctor "skit" where they had to fill in the blanks of the scripts to demonstrate their understanding.
Overall, I think the assessment I chose worked fairly well. The students who had been coming to class, working and paying attention seemed to get through the skit smoothly and scored well. Not surprisingly, the students who had skipped and tuned out scored poorly. I'm going to give the kids their scores next week and have them reflect in their portfolios on how well they believe they met the targets for those first 3 weeks. I want them to have more substantial reflections and documentation of the A&P class than they did from the Planet Earth class.
After I got through all of the assessments, I had Karen from Steadman-Hawkins come in and do a powerpoint on the knee for the kids. Karen was there for just under an hour and kept most of the students' attention for her entire presentation. I think the kids were engaged because they could relate to the material Karen was presenting; they had already learned a lot about it. Karen did a really nice job of showing how the information I had taught them was applicable in a career. For our kids, I think that really hit home. I was really happy I'd made the effort to bring in a professional to talk with them!
In closing, I'd just like to say that I feel like this trimester has flowed a lot more smoothly than last semester did. I have a better understanding of where I'm going, what I'm teaching and ways to teach the students the information. I'm looking forward to seeing even more progress in the coming months!
Overall, I think the assessment I chose worked fairly well. The students who had been coming to class, working and paying attention seemed to get through the skit smoothly and scored well. Not surprisingly, the students who had skipped and tuned out scored poorly. I'm going to give the kids their scores next week and have them reflect in their portfolios on how well they believe they met the targets for those first 3 weeks. I want them to have more substantial reflections and documentation of the A&P class than they did from the Planet Earth class.
After I got through all of the assessments, I had Karen from Steadman-Hawkins come in and do a powerpoint on the knee for the kids. Karen was there for just under an hour and kept most of the students' attention for her entire presentation. I think the kids were engaged because they could relate to the material Karen was presenting; they had already learned a lot about it. Karen did a really nice job of showing how the information I had taught them was applicable in a career. For our kids, I think that really hit home. I was really happy I'd made the effort to bring in a professional to talk with them!
In closing, I'd just like to say that I feel like this trimester has flowed a lot more smoothly than last semester did. I have a better understanding of where I'm going, what I'm teaching and ways to teach the students the information. I'm looking forward to seeing even more progress in the coming months!
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
New Trimester
Yesterday was the first day for second trimester at our high school. It's always refreshing to start something new and I feel like the first day of classes went remarkably well. The kids were well behaved and engaged in class activities. They participated and asked questions, and in general seemed to enjoy the assignments, (yes, even in Anatomy and Physiology).
I'm just amazed by how much smoother "take-off" was for this tri. I look at the disaster of a start that I had last trimester and have to laugh at myself. Teaching is definitely a learning process, and being that I'm a newbie at it, I'm paying special attention to what techniques are successful and what one's are not. I already feel like things are falling into place much more easily with this term. It'll be interesting to see the progress by the start of third tri!
I'm just amazed by how much smoother "take-off" was for this tri. I look at the disaster of a start that I had last trimester and have to laugh at myself. Teaching is definitely a learning process, and being that I'm a newbie at it, I'm paying special attention to what techniques are successful and what one's are not. I already feel like things are falling into place much more easily with this term. It'll be interesting to see the progress by the start of third tri!
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
