It just hit me that I actually have to plan for two DIFFERENT classes my first year as a teacher, Algebra 1 and Geometry. I don't know how normal this is for a first year teacher but I am thinking that if this summer was hard for me to teach one class, I cannot imagine the difficulty of creating two different lesson plans each day. Come to think of it, because I am on a block schedule which has each of my classes meeting 3 times a week, I will only have to create 3 lesson plans a week for each class. That might not be too bad. Either way I still have a ton to do before the Fall begins and I absolutely do not know where to start or how to manage it all. I'm gonna stop thinking about it for now. Until tomorrow that is.
Peace,
MO
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
Monday, July 23, 2007
One Week Later...
So I have had a week to get settled into my new place in Houston. I really am blessed to have a nice place to live and at a good rate. I took this past week off from TFA and bought a desk, shelving unit, and futon for about $200. Now that's a bargain! My room is slightly small so I had to be creative in how I arranged things and I am happy with the way it has turned out. Last week I had hoped to be a little more productive in creating plans for my classroom in the Fall but I think it was good for me to take my mind off of everything teacher related for a while.
I visited Kiki in San Antonio this past weekend where she just graduated from the army OBC which I am guessing stands for Officer Boot Camp. It was really good to see a friend from Ohio, and I really enjoyed just relaxing with her the whole weekend. She was staying at Fort Sam Houston and it was really kinda scary getting on base initially. The guards liked to ask me what I was thinking when I took my drivers license picture. I either just told them I wasn't thinking or just laughed and drove away. If you have seen my ID picture you know why this is funny. Kiki and I went to the Riverwalk downtown which is the main SA attraction and we went to a Ripley's Believe it or not museum and a wax museum which had many wax figures that did not look anything like the celebrities they were supposed to resemble. We also so the new movie "Hairspray". We both really enjoyed it because the storyline was all about equality and not discriminating against others who aren't like you. One cool thing about being on the base was that I was able to purchase Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the local "mall" when it was sold out everywhere else. Not only this but it was also only $18 rather than $22 AND it wasn't taxed! I was excited. My trip to SA culminated in me taking Kiki to the airport to return to Cincinnati. I know she was super excited to go back to Ohio and be with her family and friends! I was just a tad bit jealous. But no worries, I know that I am down here for a reason and I am going to do what I can to make a difference in Houston TX.
Today was my first day of TFA orientation. The day was long, 8:30 - 6, and the next three days are going to be very similar. The orientation is basically professional development sessions for all the incoming corps members in Houston. Today we discussed leadership in the classroom and what that looks like for us as we prepare for the Fall. There was a lot of reflection questions we were asked to answer. I have a problem with this because I am pretty horrible at reflecting on things. I am not sure what it is but for some reason I cannot focus and I just don't dig deep enough into my mind to really think about things that will help me. I think it is partly due to the fact that I have a Science and Math based thinking and I can only process easily things that are fact or not fact. Also when they tell us to reflect they give us like 3 min and I feel like I need at least 5 times that amount of time to think about something. Either way I know I have some issues I need to work out so that I can be a more effective reflector. ;-)
Tomorrow we begin to look at our standards for what we are teaching which for me is Algebra and Geometry. This should be good because I should be working fairly closely with my Program Director and other CMs teaching the same thing as me. I'm ready to teach Math. I hope I can build the confidence to be a good teacher. This is going to be my hardest battle the next 5 weeks.
I know I suck at updating this and I want to become more consistent and frequent in my updates BUT this definitely doesn't mean it will happen. Here's for hopin....
Peace,
MO
I visited Kiki in San Antonio this past weekend where she just graduated from the army OBC which I am guessing stands for Officer Boot Camp. It was really good to see a friend from Ohio, and I really enjoyed just relaxing with her the whole weekend. She was staying at Fort Sam Houston and it was really kinda scary getting on base initially. The guards liked to ask me what I was thinking when I took my drivers license picture. I either just told them I wasn't thinking or just laughed and drove away. If you have seen my ID picture you know why this is funny. Kiki and I went to the Riverwalk downtown which is the main SA attraction and we went to a Ripley's Believe it or not museum and a wax museum which had many wax figures that did not look anything like the celebrities they were supposed to resemble. We also so the new movie "Hairspray". We both really enjoyed it because the storyline was all about equality and not discriminating against others who aren't like you. One cool thing about being on the base was that I was able to purchase Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows at the local "mall" when it was sold out everywhere else. Not only this but it was also only $18 rather than $22 AND it wasn't taxed! I was excited. My trip to SA culminated in me taking Kiki to the airport to return to Cincinnati. I know she was super excited to go back to Ohio and be with her family and friends! I was just a tad bit jealous. But no worries, I know that I am down here for a reason and I am going to do what I can to make a difference in Houston TX.
Today was my first day of TFA orientation. The day was long, 8:30 - 6, and the next three days are going to be very similar. The orientation is basically professional development sessions for all the incoming corps members in Houston. Today we discussed leadership in the classroom and what that looks like for us as we prepare for the Fall. There was a lot of reflection questions we were asked to answer. I have a problem with this because I am pretty horrible at reflecting on things. I am not sure what it is but for some reason I cannot focus and I just don't dig deep enough into my mind to really think about things that will help me. I think it is partly due to the fact that I have a Science and Math based thinking and I can only process easily things that are fact or not fact. Also when they tell us to reflect they give us like 3 min and I feel like I need at least 5 times that amount of time to think about something. Either way I know I have some issues I need to work out so that I can be a more effective reflector. ;-)
Tomorrow we begin to look at our standards for what we are teaching which for me is Algebra and Geometry. This should be good because I should be working fairly closely with my Program Director and other CMs teaching the same thing as me. I'm ready to teach Math. I hope I can build the confidence to be a good teacher. This is going to be my hardest battle the next 5 weeks.
I know I suck at updating this and I want to become more consistent and frequent in my updates BUT this definitely doesn't mean it will happen. Here's for hopin....
Peace,
MO
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Ciao
The hardest 5 weeks of my life are now over. In 6 weeks I will begin the hardest 2 years of my life. Though the past 5 weeks have been hard, I have grown so much as a teacher and as a person. I have been put in situations where I felt like I could not succeed and seen myself succeed. I can look back on lesson plans I wrote the first week and see how much better my lesson plans were at the end of institute. I have seen my patience be tested and strengthened when dealing with 21 high school seniors in summer school, 6 of which consistently gave me trouble. I have seen my faith grow when I could do nothing but say "God help me" and trusting that everything would work out. My confidence in the classroom has gotten better as well especially with my assertiveness in discipline. I have seen that I can get the students to be silent and paying attention. I know I must have this from Day 1. I know I must really work on a lot of things before I begin teaching in 6 weeks but I know that it is possible to get everything done and I have faith that it will.
Last night I moved out of the dorms as fast as possible and moved into my new place in Houston. I have a friend from church who owns a 3 bedroom townhouse that is about 15 minutes from my school and he is letting me stay with him. It was really nice to not have to worry about finding a place to live while going through institute. I dont know if I could have handled even a little more stress. BUT I dont have any furniture for my room, not even a bed. So I am thinking about going to IKEA to look for a desk, dresser and/or shelves, and a bed frame. I dont know how I am going to get it back to my place unless somehow all the boxes or even one of the boxes fits in my car. I am sure I can find someone who has a truck.
This past week I was thinking about stuff and realized that I really miss being in Cincinnati. I miss all of my friends from Cincinnati, University Christian Church, and of course my family. Its hard not always having someone to call and do something with. I am sure it will come soon enough.
This is the last post that will have a rhyming title. I think "Ciao" is appropriate though for this one because I am saying goodbye to TFA Houston Institute and my home for 5 weeks, Moody Towers. Good riddance.
Peace,
MO
Last night I moved out of the dorms as fast as possible and moved into my new place in Houston. I have a friend from church who owns a 3 bedroom townhouse that is about 15 minutes from my school and he is letting me stay with him. It was really nice to not have to worry about finding a place to live while going through institute. I dont know if I could have handled even a little more stress. BUT I dont have any furniture for my room, not even a bed. So I am thinking about going to IKEA to look for a desk, dresser and/or shelves, and a bed frame. I dont know how I am going to get it back to my place unless somehow all the boxes or even one of the boxes fits in my car. I am sure I can find someone who has a truck.
This past week I was thinking about stuff and realized that I really miss being in Cincinnati. I miss all of my friends from Cincinnati, University Christian Church, and of course my family. Its hard not always having someone to call and do something with. I am sure it will come soon enough.
This is the last post that will have a rhyming title. I think "Ciao" is appropriate though for this one because I am saying goodbye to TFA Houston Institute and my home for 5 weeks, Moody Towers. Good riddance.
Peace,
MO
Thursday, July 5, 2007
POW
So I know its been a week since I wrote in this and you are probably wondering how last Thursday went when I said I was going to take charge. Well, I dont really remember last Thursday but I am pretty sure it was a decent day. I am thinking it was the first day I sent someone in the hall to go talk to them. Yeah, it took me 9 days to send someone into the hall. It should have happened the first day and it will happen the first day this fall. Believe you me. It has to happen. I need to set an example that I am not messing around. So even though I sent a student in the hall I didnt know what to say to them. I still dont after sending multiple students in the hall and speaking to them. BUT that was a big step in my classroom management system.
So then I had this weekend where I finally took some time off from TFA and had some fun. I hung out with my friend Jill and some of her friends on Friday night and watched the movie, Take the Lead. It was pretty good and related to my life in some ways because it was about teaching at an inner city high school like I will be doing.
Speaking of my high school placement in the Fall. I was talking to some people that observed there and they told me that my school has like 70 different languages spoken there. Alot of which are from Africa and Latin America. Im pretty excited to have so many different cultures represented in my classroom. What this means for me as a teacher though is that I will have to somehow learn how to differentiate some material for those that are English Language Learners. This just means make things more visual, step by step processes, and other creative things that make learning easier for not just them but everyone. These are skills I will have to focus on in the Fall though because I think most of my kids are pretty sharp with English in my class this summer. Thats not to say they are not far behind in their vocabulary, reading, and writing skills because those are definitely lacking from my students. I plan to incorporate stuff in my lessons to address that issue too come the Fall.
So I have been really trying to implement a good classroom management structure for my class so that I can have something that works when I start in the Fall. I tried a money system where I give students fake money for doing good things and take it away for doing bad things. Well they just started stealing everyone elses money and trading money and giving it away. I scrapped that idea as soon as everyone left my classroom. The next day they were like "Where's my money". They seemed somewhat disappointed but I told them that they couldnt handle the responsibility basically. I was offering them different prizes, the best one being Astro's tickets. But that is not going to happen anymore.
It was good to have yesterday the 4th of July off but I ended up working on TFA stuff all day anyways. From 8 - 12 I had to be in sessions they setup for us and then I had a power session with my Curriculum Specialist, one of the higher ups in my school, and a couple other Corps Members (CMs). We were role-playing classroom behavior scenarios for about 3.5 hours. It was crazy, but it was good. Today I implemented alot of what I learned yesterday and it worked pretty well. I had all my students quiet for the most part and some that had been disengaged before were now engaged in the lesson and learning! One student in particular that usually causes alot of problems was quiet the whole class. They all took notes and I am hoping did well on their assessment. I ended up sending about 4 students into the hall but not at the same time of course. Two ended up going to the office and having a talk with the head administrator. So this was another crucial step in my classroom management system. The big thing that I did to start it off was to have every student shake my hand at the door and I told them that there would be total silence and that they needed to get working on their "Do Now" before the bell rang. So of course I had alot of jokers that wanted to just whiz by...well I didnt let them and if they did I made them go back out and come back in the proper way. This took about 10 minutes to get everyone in the room and silent. I had a memo on their desk detailing exactly how I expected them to act and what the consequences were if they didnt. Then we went over them and I began dealing out consequences. It was beautiful. I am definitely not perfect at classroom management by far but I am heading in the right direction and that is what is going to count for my future students who want to learn.
Thanks again for all the prayers. They are getting me through this institute for sure!
Have a great weekend.
Peace,
MO
So then I had this weekend where I finally took some time off from TFA and had some fun. I hung out with my friend Jill and some of her friends on Friday night and watched the movie, Take the Lead. It was pretty good and related to my life in some ways because it was about teaching at an inner city high school like I will be doing.
Speaking of my high school placement in the Fall. I was talking to some people that observed there and they told me that my school has like 70 different languages spoken there. Alot of which are from Africa and Latin America. Im pretty excited to have so many different cultures represented in my classroom. What this means for me as a teacher though is that I will have to somehow learn how to differentiate some material for those that are English Language Learners. This just means make things more visual, step by step processes, and other creative things that make learning easier for not just them but everyone. These are skills I will have to focus on in the Fall though because I think most of my kids are pretty sharp with English in my class this summer. Thats not to say they are not far behind in their vocabulary, reading, and writing skills because those are definitely lacking from my students. I plan to incorporate stuff in my lessons to address that issue too come the Fall.
So I have been really trying to implement a good classroom management structure for my class so that I can have something that works when I start in the Fall. I tried a money system where I give students fake money for doing good things and take it away for doing bad things. Well they just started stealing everyone elses money and trading money and giving it away. I scrapped that idea as soon as everyone left my classroom. The next day they were like "Where's my money". They seemed somewhat disappointed but I told them that they couldnt handle the responsibility basically. I was offering them different prizes, the best one being Astro's tickets. But that is not going to happen anymore.
It was good to have yesterday the 4th of July off but I ended up working on TFA stuff all day anyways. From 8 - 12 I had to be in sessions they setup for us and then I had a power session with my Curriculum Specialist, one of the higher ups in my school, and a couple other Corps Members (CMs). We were role-playing classroom behavior scenarios for about 3.5 hours. It was crazy, but it was good. Today I implemented alot of what I learned yesterday and it worked pretty well. I had all my students quiet for the most part and some that had been disengaged before were now engaged in the lesson and learning! One student in particular that usually causes alot of problems was quiet the whole class. They all took notes and I am hoping did well on their assessment. I ended up sending about 4 students into the hall but not at the same time of course. Two ended up going to the office and having a talk with the head administrator. So this was another crucial step in my classroom management system. The big thing that I did to start it off was to have every student shake my hand at the door and I told them that there would be total silence and that they needed to get working on their "Do Now" before the bell rang. So of course I had alot of jokers that wanted to just whiz by...well I didnt let them and if they did I made them go back out and come back in the proper way. This took about 10 minutes to get everyone in the room and silent. I had a memo on their desk detailing exactly how I expected them to act and what the consequences were if they didnt. Then we went over them and I began dealing out consequences. It was beautiful. I am definitely not perfect at classroom management by far but I am heading in the right direction and that is what is going to count for my future students who want to learn.
Thanks again for all the prayers. They are getting me through this institute for sure!
Have a great weekend.
Peace,
MO
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)