This week, I took over Math. Because of my experience at Bridgeport, I feel like I am so much more prepared to be teaching. I absolutely love teaching; it pains me to just be sitting around. I have now moved away from using the Benedum lesson plan format which to me makes everything so much easier. When I was using the Benedum plans, I felt as if I had to follow them exactly and I constantly wanted to look at them to make sure I wasn't forgetting something. In my opinion, the lesson plan format is more like a script and really inhibits my teaching. I think it is good for tutors and even participants (first semester) to use so that they can think through their lessons, but at this point in our schooling I think that it just inhibits my teaching. I am so happy not to be using it anymore.
This week in math, we learned about adding and subtracting on the number, telling time to the half hour and frames and arrows. Adding and subtracting on the number line and telling time to the half hour was a lot harder for the students to understand than I thought. We had a couple students in tears on these days. On both of these days, I used books to help students understand the concepts. This seem to help them a little bit, but the concepts were just hard for them. It also could have been the way I taught it or how the book went about addressing it. I really wish that there was some other way to go about teaching these concepts and allowing students to practice them without using the text or worksheets. I feel like students are overwhelmed with worksheets. This is something that I need to look into.
On Friday, we had our Fall Festival. A tutor and I were put in charge of the bowling station. It was torture. The wind was blowing all of the pins over. I think that we spent more time picking up the pins than the kids actually bowled. It was a lot of fun though. The students really enjoyed it and had a lot of fun.
Action Research Week 2:
This week's data was a little different than last week's data. There was no clear pattern of students doing better when books were used and when they were not. I think that the material was a little bit harder this week. Students had a lot of difficulty understanding the concepts. I am not sure how I am going to analyze my data because I keep having these different results.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 22, 2010
October 18 -22, 2010
This week was my first week back at Suncrest Primary. After being with 6th graders for such an extended period of time, I forgot how dependent the young ones are. This week has definetly been difficult at times because I am still transitioning from 6th grade to 1st grade. It has been difficult for me to bring myself back down to thinking on a 1st grade level. I have noticed that often times I am expecting too much from them. For example, the other day a student asked me what to do on the paper. I simply told him to read the directions without even thinking about it first because I was so used to saying that in 6th grade. Students in 1st grade are unable to read many of the words that are stated in the directions; therefore, they actually do not understand what to do. I have found myself doing this quite often, but I am working on it. I have started to realize that they are in 1st grade, not 6th. It is nice that I am with 1st grade this semester because I have been with many of these students since pre-school. Many of the students know who I am and I know many things about them. I am already aware of many of their learning styles and behaviors which will definetly help me when I start my full time teaching. I am excited to start teaching! It is always fun teaching the younger kids because they are always so much more interested in everything.
Because I have only taught two lessons this week, I have been able to observe the students. Also, I have had the opportunity to talk to many of the students and get to know them more. I feel like I have really made a connection with a child in the classroom with an unidentified disability. He has a lot of trouble staying on task and by working one on one with him I have been able to get him to get his work done. It has been a rewarding experience thus far. I still wonder: What else can be done to keep him more focused and on task?
I am really looking forward to start teaching math next week. I hate just sitting around and not doing anything. I love to be up on my feet and moving around, teaching something.
Action Research Week 1:
This week, I began my action research. I taught the lesson on Monday about even and odd numbers and used the book: Missing Mittens. It was a really cute lesson and the students were able to make the connection between the book and even and odd numbers. Students were given an exit slip at the end of the lesson which connecting the book to the concept learned. Tuesday and Wednesday, Mrs. Beckner taught the lesson, but the students were still given an exit slip. On Thursday, I did the introduction to the lesson, counting on a number line. I read the book Animals on Board and showed students how to add. I went one step beyond what I should have and I think that I may have confused the students a little bit, but it is a good introduction to next week's lesson. They had an exit slip that related directly back to the book and the concept.
I have collected several different forms of data thus far and quite frankly, I feel a bit overwhelmed. I am not so sure what to do with all of it! I have an exit slip from Monday-Thursday. A chapter 3 pre-test, student work from Monday, and an interest inventory. If you multiply all of that by 25, you get a whole big stack full of papers. I feel that all of my data so far is valuable data and I don't want to get rid of anything. I think that these sources will help me in answering my questions. When looking through the exit slips, I noticed that I am already seeing differences. More students are receiving check pluses and checks on the exit slips when a book is used than they are when a book is not used. This could be due to several reasons though. For one, the material learned could be of a different difficulty level on the days I don't use books. Also, students could be having an off day. In addition, the material could have been presented in a way that was confusing to students. Many factors exist that could explain why I am already seeing the results that I am. I wonder if I will ever be able to answer my question?
Because I have only taught two lessons this week, I have been able to observe the students. Also, I have had the opportunity to talk to many of the students and get to know them more. I feel like I have really made a connection with a child in the classroom with an unidentified disability. He has a lot of trouble staying on task and by working one on one with him I have been able to get him to get his work done. It has been a rewarding experience thus far. I still wonder: What else can be done to keep him more focused and on task?
I am really looking forward to start teaching math next week. I hate just sitting around and not doing anything. I love to be up on my feet and moving around, teaching something.
Action Research Week 1:
This week, I began my action research. I taught the lesson on Monday about even and odd numbers and used the book: Missing Mittens. It was a really cute lesson and the students were able to make the connection between the book and even and odd numbers. Students were given an exit slip at the end of the lesson which connecting the book to the concept learned. Tuesday and Wednesday, Mrs. Beckner taught the lesson, but the students were still given an exit slip. On Thursday, I did the introduction to the lesson, counting on a number line. I read the book Animals on Board and showed students how to add. I went one step beyond what I should have and I think that I may have confused the students a little bit, but it is a good introduction to next week's lesson. They had an exit slip that related directly back to the book and the concept.
I have collected several different forms of data thus far and quite frankly, I feel a bit overwhelmed. I am not so sure what to do with all of it! I have an exit slip from Monday-Thursday. A chapter 3 pre-test, student work from Monday, and an interest inventory. If you multiply all of that by 25, you get a whole big stack full of papers. I feel that all of my data so far is valuable data and I don't want to get rid of anything. I think that these sources will help me in answering my questions. When looking through the exit slips, I noticed that I am already seeing differences. More students are receiving check pluses and checks on the exit slips when a book is used than they are when a book is not used. This could be due to several reasons though. For one, the material learned could be of a different difficulty level on the days I don't use books. Also, students could be having an off day. In addition, the material could have been presented in a way that was confusing to students. Many factors exist that could explain why I am already seeing the results that I am. I wonder if I will ever be able to answer my question?
Saturday, October 16, 2010
October 11-15, 2010
On Monday, we had Parent/Teacher conferences. It was a really good experience. We learned a lot about our students that we didn't know. It was really interesting learning about our students outside of the classroom. It allowed us to gain insight into how to help our students within the classroom.
This was my last week at Bridgeport Middle School. It was a very sad week. The students constantly reminded me that I was leaving and constantly asked me why I had to leave. It was really comforting to me knowing that the students were that upset to see me leave also. It allowed me to realize that I did make a difference in their lives and left an impression on them.
My experience at Bridgeport, is one that I will never forget. Although, it was tough at times; it was extremely rewarding. I know that I made a difference in several student's lives. Knowing that I have changed how my students feel about science makes me the happiest person. I am so thankful that I was placed where I was and had the opportunity to work with the teachers that I worked with.
This was my last week at Bridgeport Middle School. It was a very sad week. The students constantly reminded me that I was leaving and constantly asked me why I had to leave. It was really comforting to me knowing that the students were that upset to see me leave also. It allowed me to realize that I did make a difference in their lives and left an impression on them.
My experience at Bridgeport, is one that I will never forget. Although, it was tough at times; it was extremely rewarding. I know that I made a difference in several student's lives. Knowing that I have changed how my students feel about science makes me the happiest person. I am so thankful that I was placed where I was and had the opportunity to work with the teachers that I worked with.
Friday, October 8, 2010
October 4-8, 2010
Monday- Today went pretty well. We finished up our life size gameboards today in reading. All of the groups did very well, except for one. Everyone in the group kind of just sat back and let the one girl do all of the work. When it came time to do presentations, all of the group members looked at this girl so that she would talk. This is when I had to interject and tell them that I wanted someone else to talk. All of the other group members were unable to explain anything about the game. This really upset me because not only did it go with the book, but we have spent over a week working on these. This just proved to me that these group members didn't contribute anything to the project. The way that the rubric was set up for this project was so that everyone received a group grade. Because of this one group, I changed it so that each person got his/her own grade. I didn't think that it was fair to penalize the girl who did all of the work because she had no say in her group members. I chose the groups by random selection so that the class got to work with people they wouldn't usually choose to work with. Now I am wondering...is random selection a bad method to use when choosing groups? In Science, we went over our study guide and then did a vocabulary review. After this, I allowed the students to work on the rest of their study guide. I am anxious to see how many students still walk in tomorrow without it done. They were given almost 20 minutes and by the way the students were chatting, not much worked seemed to be getting done. I have to partially blame this on myself though because I know that I should be more strict with them, but I am not the type of person that has to have a quiet classroom. I want the students to be able to interact with each other and work together.
Tuesday- Today we had our Chapter 2 Vocabulary Quiz. I had students walk in and say I didn't know we had a test today! This drives me crazy because we spent majority of class yesterday discussing the quiz and what was going to be on it! I am not sure what else I could do to get students to prepare better for quizzes and tests. I want them to do well, but I can't hold their hands and make them take their stuff home to study.
Wednesday- In Reading, I taught the students a new song to help them with the word onomatopoeia. This song really allowed them to make the connection. By singing it, they learned how to spell it and what it means. In science today we had our chapter 2 test. Third period was a complete disaster. We completely forgot to set up the measurement lab. Also, we hadn't planned how we wanted to do it. By 6th period, we broke it up into stations and had it all figured out. third and fourth period ended up being our test dummies. Sixth and Seventh period's measurement labs were smooth sailing. I can't even count how many students asked me if they were to use centimeters or inches!!! This was a test on the metric system, by the way!!!! We have spent 2 and a half weeks learning about the metric system and measuring in centimeters and millimeters and meters. NEVER once did we do anything in inches! Needless to say, today was a very stressfulk day filled with lots of problem solving.
Thursday- Today was my birthday. My students all knew it was my birthday so my first period class sang to me. It was so cute! Then at the end of the day, one of the other interns came over and brought me 80 birthday cards! I was so surprised that none of the students accidently told me the surprise. I do have to say that it was one of the best birthdays that I have had. Never have I received so many birthday cards with such meaningful messages. It really made me think that I am leaving an impression on these students and I am teaching them something. Many of them wrote about how they never used to like science until this year because I have made it so much fun by doing all of the hands-on activities. This makes me really happy because I am not really a science person either, but these past 8 weeks have really changed my mind about science. I have grown to love it!
Friday- Today was our second day of doing Tech Steps. So far it has been a disaster. The students just aren't getting it. We have broken it down into the littlest parts possible to help them. We are doing the one about investigating paper copters. So far all they have had to do was write a research question, a hypothesis, the variables, background information, and the materials. It has taken us two days to get this far. We should have had the experiment done by now and be ready to go into the computer lab. I don't know what the problem is. We have done every step with them, they just either aren't paying attention or really don't get it. This is all stuff that we have done before though so I am really confused. We spent weeks and weeks on all of these things. The students performed really well on their test. I am starting to think that maybe they haven't retained the information. I wonder what the problem could be?
Tuesday- Today we had our Chapter 2 Vocabulary Quiz. I had students walk in and say I didn't know we had a test today! This drives me crazy because we spent majority of class yesterday discussing the quiz and what was going to be on it! I am not sure what else I could do to get students to prepare better for quizzes and tests. I want them to do well, but I can't hold their hands and make them take their stuff home to study.
Wednesday- In Reading, I taught the students a new song to help them with the word onomatopoeia. This song really allowed them to make the connection. By singing it, they learned how to spell it and what it means. In science today we had our chapter 2 test. Third period was a complete disaster. We completely forgot to set up the measurement lab. Also, we hadn't planned how we wanted to do it. By 6th period, we broke it up into stations and had it all figured out. third and fourth period ended up being our test dummies. Sixth and Seventh period's measurement labs were smooth sailing. I can't even count how many students asked me if they were to use centimeters or inches!!! This was a test on the metric system, by the way!!!! We have spent 2 and a half weeks learning about the metric system and measuring in centimeters and millimeters and meters. NEVER once did we do anything in inches! Needless to say, today was a very stressfulk day filled with lots of problem solving.
Thursday- Today was my birthday. My students all knew it was my birthday so my first period class sang to me. It was so cute! Then at the end of the day, one of the other interns came over and brought me 80 birthday cards! I was so surprised that none of the students accidently told me the surprise. I do have to say that it was one of the best birthdays that I have had. Never have I received so many birthday cards with such meaningful messages. It really made me think that I am leaving an impression on these students and I am teaching them something. Many of them wrote about how they never used to like science until this year because I have made it so much fun by doing all of the hands-on activities. This makes me really happy because I am not really a science person either, but these past 8 weeks have really changed my mind about science. I have grown to love it!
Friday- Today was our second day of doing Tech Steps. So far it has been a disaster. The students just aren't getting it. We have broken it down into the littlest parts possible to help them. We are doing the one about investigating paper copters. So far all they have had to do was write a research question, a hypothesis, the variables, background information, and the materials. It has taken us two days to get this far. We should have had the experiment done by now and be ready to go into the computer lab. I don't know what the problem is. We have done every step with them, they just either aren't paying attention or really don't get it. This is all stuff that we have done before though so I am really confused. We spent weeks and weeks on all of these things. The students performed really well on their test. I am starting to think that maybe they haven't retained the information. I wonder what the problem could be?
Friday, October 1, 2010
September 27-October 1, 2010
On Monday, I introduced my Reading students to the life size game board activity I had planned for them. They weren't as excited as I thought that they would be. This really disappointed me because I thought that it was going to be an awesome and fun activity for them to do. In Science, we learned about mass and weight and the difference between the two. The students had a lot of trouble with this and I partially blame myself. I do not think that I explained it as well as I could have. Also, I didn't use concrete examples to explain or show the difference to them. I think that this would have benefited the students alot. Today was the requiz for the students. Almost every single student failed the requiz. I am completely baffled as to why this happened. I wonder why the students didn't do well on the quiz? Was it something I did? Was it because it was a Monday? Was it something the students did?
On Tuesday, I realized why the students in my Reading class weren't excited yesterday. They didn't understand what the assignment actually was. They thought we were making this little tiny game board. When they found out that it was this giant game board that they themselves played on, they were ecstatic. By the time seventh period comes around, I feel that I am just extremely irritated. I feel like I need to get a tape recorder and just press play. I am not sure if it is the students in my 7th period or that it is the end of the day, but my 7th period does not pay attention or listen to a world that I say. I will literally get done saying something and no more than 1 second later someone will raise their hand and ask the same question I just answered. I wonder why this is? After having my seminar tonight, I have decided that I am going to make a survey for the students to take about their quizzes. I am really curious as to why they performed the way that they did. On the survey, I am going to ask students: if he/she understands the material, what he/she doesn't understand, why he/she may have done poorly, and if there is anything I could do to better facilitate their learning.
On Wednesday, I overslept a little bit and had an extra burst of energy. My reading class specifically asked me: What is wrong with you? I was so jumpy and excited for the lesson. My reaction to everything really livened up the class. We had a lot of fun today and I think that my enthusiasm in everything that we did really helped this. I tried to video tape my lesson today, but we had a human error and the record button was never pressed. I guess I will just have to try again tomorrow! In Science, I had the students fill out their surveys as a bell ringer. I had them keep it annoymous. As i watched them fill it out, I noticed how long it was taking them to do. I got curious so I walked around a table and noticed that they were all really concentrated on filling it out and working really hard at it. This made me feel a lot better because it told me that they really cared about this and wanted me to understand. We started our Mini Olympics today. It took a period or two to work on the kinks, but it ended up being a lot of fun. The students really had a lot of fun with it. It gave them practice measuring, while competing.
On Thursday, I read all of the responses that the students wrote on their surveys. The students were extremely honest and I am very pleased about this. They told me whether or not they understood the material and what exactly they didn't understand. They told me ways to help them. For example, playing more games, hands-on activities, more practice, and better explainations. These surveys were very beneficial for me. It has allowed me to think from the students point of view and cater to their needs and wants. I am now building my lessons around what they need and how I can best facilitate their learning (although I do this anyways, but this is more specific). I have changed my lesson plans for the remainder of this unit and have found several different ways to help them understand the material better. I have done a plethora of research! Honestly, I will glad when the metric system is over! In reading, we sang our Figurative Language rap again today. The students absolutely love it! It is so funny watching them sing and dance to. It has really helped them understand the different types of figurative language and examples to go along with them.
On Friday, I found out that one of my weaknesses is teaching unit conversion. I feel like I did a really poor job teaching it. It is not that I don't understand it because I do; it is that it is so hard to put into words. I didn't mess them up too bad though because it is something that is not needed for the test; we just like to touch on it so that they know that this type of thing exists. I had a few students know how to do all of this better than me. They did a better job explaining it than I ever could. By the time seventh period rolled around, I was a pro at it. I think this is honestly because I get more and more practice as each period goes on. I think that if I taught this again, it would definetly benefit me to consult another science teacher or a math teacher!
On Tuesday, I realized why the students in my Reading class weren't excited yesterday. They didn't understand what the assignment actually was. They thought we were making this little tiny game board. When they found out that it was this giant game board that they themselves played on, they were ecstatic. By the time seventh period comes around, I feel that I am just extremely irritated. I feel like I need to get a tape recorder and just press play. I am not sure if it is the students in my 7th period or that it is the end of the day, but my 7th period does not pay attention or listen to a world that I say. I will literally get done saying something and no more than 1 second later someone will raise their hand and ask the same question I just answered. I wonder why this is? After having my seminar tonight, I have decided that I am going to make a survey for the students to take about their quizzes. I am really curious as to why they performed the way that they did. On the survey, I am going to ask students: if he/she understands the material, what he/she doesn't understand, why he/she may have done poorly, and if there is anything I could do to better facilitate their learning.
On Wednesday, I overslept a little bit and had an extra burst of energy. My reading class specifically asked me: What is wrong with you? I was so jumpy and excited for the lesson. My reaction to everything really livened up the class. We had a lot of fun today and I think that my enthusiasm in everything that we did really helped this. I tried to video tape my lesson today, but we had a human error and the record button was never pressed. I guess I will just have to try again tomorrow! In Science, I had the students fill out their surveys as a bell ringer. I had them keep it annoymous. As i watched them fill it out, I noticed how long it was taking them to do. I got curious so I walked around a table and noticed that they were all really concentrated on filling it out and working really hard at it. This made me feel a lot better because it told me that they really cared about this and wanted me to understand. We started our Mini Olympics today. It took a period or two to work on the kinks, but it ended up being a lot of fun. The students really had a lot of fun with it. It gave them practice measuring, while competing.
On Thursday, I read all of the responses that the students wrote on their surveys. The students were extremely honest and I am very pleased about this. They told me whether or not they understood the material and what exactly they didn't understand. They told me ways to help them. For example, playing more games, hands-on activities, more practice, and better explainations. These surveys were very beneficial for me. It has allowed me to think from the students point of view and cater to their needs and wants. I am now building my lessons around what they need and how I can best facilitate their learning (although I do this anyways, but this is more specific). I have changed my lesson plans for the remainder of this unit and have found several different ways to help them understand the material better. I have done a plethora of research! Honestly, I will glad when the metric system is over! In reading, we sang our Figurative Language rap again today. The students absolutely love it! It is so funny watching them sing and dance to. It has really helped them understand the different types of figurative language and examples to go along with them.
On Friday, I found out that one of my weaknesses is teaching unit conversion. I feel like I did a really poor job teaching it. It is not that I don't understand it because I do; it is that it is so hard to put into words. I didn't mess them up too bad though because it is something that is not needed for the test; we just like to touch on it so that they know that this type of thing exists. I had a few students know how to do all of this better than me. They did a better job explaining it than I ever could. By the time seventh period rolled around, I was a pro at it. I think this is honestly because I get more and more practice as each period goes on. I think that if I taught this again, it would definetly benefit me to consult another science teacher or a math teacher!
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