Monday, June 26, 2006

Cocktail, Death Cab, Two Sisters...."Weell"

This past weekend, myself and my two future roommates headed out with a group of our 2nd year teachers in the pursuit of something that I had honestly been worrying about for a while....a place to live. Now, I had been to Jackson about two weeks earlier but only to look at my school and meet my director. And while I had a pretty good feeling about the area I was going to live and work in, I've got to admit that I wasn't absolutely ecstatic about the thought of living for 2 years in Jackson. Nothing against Jackson, I just knew nothing about it. So anyways, we left Friday afternoon and spent the day with my second year lead teacher, her roommate, and two other 2nd years. Can I refer to the other people in my class by their real names?....ah, I'll protect the identities for this blog. Anyways, so we spent day one in Yazoo City and just had some good "hang" time. My lead and her roommate went above and beyond in showing everyone the ropes and making sure we had fun. It was just what I needed. We even closed the night with me and my roommates watching a little Cocktail starring Tom Cruise and Elizabeth Shue. Don't act like you don't know the movie, or that you're in some ways too superior to enjoy Mr. Cruise singing "Addicted to Love" in a local TGIFriday's bar. My Ole Miss roommate absolutely loved it....that actually is kind of weird. Alright, Day 2 we get the first class tour from my lead and her roommate. I'm talkin', we spent the day in Jackson just exploring, looking at places, eating great food. I'm not going to lie, I've become a Jackson fan after seeeing the real Jackson. Plus, we found a place live.....just nestled in some cozy little neighborhood. I see my Massachusetts roommate just organizing a barbecue or something......and then offending everyone there....just kiddin. So let's recap....Day 1 = Mexican food/Cocktail, Mexican food/Cocktail = amazing time....Day 1 = amazing time......oh looks like somebody is a math teacher....a little transitive...Day 2 = lot of Death Cab for Cutie...probably won't listen to that for a while....alright I'm too lazy to make up another math property to describe how fun day 2 was, so I'll just be blunt...it was niiiiiice. Now for Day 3......well, normally when you find out you are going to be behind schedule and you have a paper due the next day, you start perspiring a little more.....But at that moment in the car when we found we would have to stay in Jackson through lunch.....My lead looked over...and I knew what opportunity had just opened up.....I'm talking about a place where the Crisco flows like wine....I'm talkin about a place called....Two Sisters. The girls' reputations where on the line.....and they totally delivered. It capped off the perfect weekend. Oh, and then we had a flat tire, and I fell asleep writing my paper....sorry Ann

Bye!

Sunday, June 25, 2006

group work

Alright,
So in our class we tried out a little group work activity to see how the students would do. Now, until this particular class, I must remind you that we haven't attempted this type of setting except in allowing them to do their homework together. They've just always been such a close-knit group that I was a little afraid that because of their closeness, a group setting would be a waste of a period. However, much to my surprise the group work activity that we used worked very well. We were covering material for a test review because the following period they were going to have their third test. It was really fun to watch, because they were very helpful with one another in working their problems out. I really think there was only one girl who would consistantly ask for my assistance in answering a problem because she didn't trust her group. I wish their was more time in these class periods or maybe that the lessons were spaced out more, because I would love to incorporate more group activities. It's just that because we have so much freakin material we have to cover every period that I feel very uncomfortable trying to many new things for fear of being behind. For instance this last week, I mismanaged my time because I thought they would understand my directions a lot better, and we ended up spending way too much time on a simple task. Well, that just tacked on to my next period, and I'm trying to find a way to combine future lessons so that I can go back and re-cover my last lessons........frustrating!!! But anyways, I did like the use of group work. I think I would like to assign my groups though rather than allow them to pick.

Later

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Having to watch ourselves teach

Much to my surprise it actually wasn't that painful to have to watch myself give a lesson over perimeter. I do, however, wish I could've watched a lesson that displayed more creativity than the one I video-taped. Anyways, I think some positive things I saw included a lot of positive reinforcement to kids that seemed unsure of themselves as they attempted to answer a question. Also, I think I evenly dispersed my questions on the board, so that everyone got a fair share to answer. I'm still learning, but I do think that the kids aren't scared to go up to the board and attempt problems in front of their peers. Now on to the negatives.....I sometimes talk really slow and monotone....espcially when I give notes on transparency. I think I let my fatigue affect my teaching that period, because I didn't seem to have as much enthusiasm as I normally do. I don't think it was that bad of a lesson, but I also don't think it was that good. I think our professor was so right when she said teaching is a performance. I've got to use more voice changes, jokes, excercises, surprise tactics, etc. All in all, video-taping was a great tool. I actually wish I could tape more often.

cold cards and startin' fresh

Alright, so this past Thursday in class we implemented the use of cold cards to try and change it up a bit. Now the original purpose of having a strategy like this is to force kids to be attentive and on task. The only problem we ran in to was the fact that our kids usually rank pretty high on the participation side of class. I think I might have mentioned in an earlier blog that for the most part they are all friends and love to participate. So when we threw in a different strategy it almost had the feel of "we're trying a gimmick". They have been consistantly getting feedback from myself and the other teachers on how good of a job they've been doing, so to try something new after two weeks felt like a waste of time. I do, however, feel that it would be an extremely effective classroom method if you are experiencing a lot problems with participation.

Now, in class about a week ago our professor had uttered a very simple statement that one could totally let slide by if not careful. It's a statement that one may actually describe as "cliche" or "cheesy". But if you allow your brain to marinate on the words of wisdom echoing from Lookout Mt. in Chat-Tn., "we start fresh everyday" will change your classroom's mindset forever. I was skeptical at first; but with a little help from the endless string of analagies and metaphors provided by my roommate (j. drake), I'm on the "startin' fresh" bandwagon. I was even able to see the phrase used effectively on a parent in my roommate's class. It was this past Friday, and I was offered the opportunity to witness (or Nowitness) his first phone call home to the mother of a trouble-making student. It started off typical with the usual strings of a critique followed by a compliment. Then it took a turn for the worse when the volume shot up a few notches. At first he thought it was directed at him, and I could see the panic sweep his face. However, he soon realized it was being directed at the student in a very harsh manner, and for a second I thought he was going to freeze up and just try to get off the phone as fast as possible. That's where I messed up in my thought process, because all this time my roommate knew he had the ace of spades in his back pocket waiting for the opportune time to lay it down and take back control of the conversation. Without much hesitation at all, he quickly got the mom's attention with, "Ma'am we both know she's a smart girl and that's why it's so frustrating." My thoughts....good, good. Now for the money statement. "But, hey, WE START FRESH EVERYDAY, so I'm looking forward to seeing her improvement." Conversation ended....two points to the roommate. I'm sold.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

1st 2 weeks, highs, lows, etc.

Alright, so I haven't been very diligent in my blogs lately, but I promise this will be a reoccurring thing from now on; so on to what has been happening lately. Well, I first of all have to say that I lucked out in a huge way in that my class is amazing. We have 10 girls and 1 boy, and they are absolutely hilarious. It was weird coming in and teaching the first week just because I felt like a student teacher who had no responsibility whatsoever. I was very worried that they wouldn't respect me the way they respected the two 2nd-years. However, much to my surprise, we have connected really well, and I'm starting to get a good feel on how to relate to them better with my teaching methods.
The highlight without a doubt was 2 days ago when I used a variation of an Algebra baseball game. They were jumping, screaming, and (hopefully) learning how to do one-step equations with a competitive twist. The energy in the room was infectious and I even heard a couple of "Mr. Taylor rocks" comments from the class, which definitely made me feel good. (I know that's not the point, but acceptance always feel good.)
My worst day in class thus far was actually the day after. I totally didn't manage my time well enough and I PAID THE PRICE! They weren't really disruptive or anything, but I could just tell that I had lost their attention and willingness to learn. Plus, I think if I did have a more disruptive class, they would've pounced at that time.
Today was actually great though. My lessons weren't very complicated to explain, and we had some fun with it. I feel so comfortable with this class already, which is a great feeling to have. I'm the type of person that I love to play off of people with inside jokes, and I know them well enough now that it's a really engaging fun time. I've still got a lot to learn as far as teaching methods and classroom management go, but it is nice to see substantial progress this early in the summer.
As for the summer grad school class goes, I would say that it has been really informative. The only problem is I'm struggling to stay attentive due to lack of sleep, and I feel like my participation is not at its highest form.(I'll get better A. Mon) The highlight of the class time thus far though was when two former students of our director came in to talk about life in the Delta. They were such good kids. It was, however, very hard for me to understand them. It was good to have an opportunity to see some of the kids that have been taught by our teachers, and what their thoughts were on their teaching styles and influences.
There was one part of that afternoon that I did want to blog about though, and that was when our director started talking about percentages and how many students "make it". I was very pleased when one of the other students asked for his definition of "making it", and given the response of "how many go to college". Now why I am a huge advocate for education (I'm in this program aren't I), I don't think that should be the sole criteria for success. One of the biggest reasons I wanted to get into this program was the opportunity to really influence and equip my students for life. I realize that I have a very limited time frame to give my "2 cents", but I also realize that I want them equipped not only with education but with confidence and self-esteem. In the big pictures of life, I don't want to look back and think that I just taught that student how to do some math problems. I want to look back and think that I tried to instill in each student a mindset that they are adequate and equipped enough to do whatever it is they most desire. If that is college, med school, law school, teacher, mom, dad, lawn mower, librarian, whatever....I want them to believe that this whole social injustice issue will keep them down only if they let it. I want them to know that there is life out there, and if they want to check it out that is great. But I also, think that if there passion is being a mom in some small town and working at the local supermarket then that is perfectly okay. I just don't want them to feel like they were forced in to it. But some of the most successful people I've ever known, weren't viewed as the most successful in terms of the world. Anyways, I just figured I'd blog about that. Well, I think that's enough for now.

Until next time,
Hook'em

Monday, June 05, 2006

Focus paper

Alright, so I checked out Tiffany Bartlett's focus paper on the No Child Left Behind Act. Having never investigated what exactly the Act aims at accomplishing and the steps it takes to do so, I was very fascinated with the information that she presented. One pillar of the act that I had no clue existed was that NCLB gives parents of Title 1 schools the option to stick with that school and receive more help or transfer to another public school and have the original school use its funds to transport the child to the new school. I thought all in all it was a good brief report; however, I would have liked to see some statistical analysis of how affective the program has been since its establishment. I am also wondering if we are allowed to give input in our own focus papers or future blogs about reccomendations for an Act such as this. I think it is a very, very ambitious plan that has great ideals, but I ponder its affectiveness. This did however give me a good visual of what we are expected to compose in the coming month, and once again I applaud Tiffany's paper.

Until next time,
HookemHT

Sunday, June 04, 2006

MTCorps

Well, it's been a full week now, and I'm very happy with the program thus far. Just about everyone in the program seems incredibly qualified, and it already feels like we're a part of something big. I did go and visit my school for the first time last Thursday, and I have to admit that I was a little intimidated. My principal was all business, and he didn't butter up what the kids would be like. Having never worked with this type of kid, I feel a little like I don't know what to expect. This coming week we will begin teaching at our designated summer school, and hopefully this experience will help calm the nerves a bit.

Until next time,
HookemHT